1stwitness | (no subject)

"I honestly don't know. I've never had reason to look for one."

They turn down another aisle and into what looks like the clothes he's seen young men wearing on the streets of Sleepy Hollow. She grabs one off the rack and slips it off the hanger, again, without even looking around.

"Here, put this on."

Ichabod looks at it.

"Must I? Really?"

But he's already shedding his coat again and reaching for it.

"Yes. Absolutely."

She tries to keep a straight face, because laughing right now would really hurt.

"And what does this logo signify, may I ask?"

When it's on, he buttons his coat over it like armour.

"It's for a comic book character. A super hero."

She waits until he's all buttoned up again, and takes off in another direction. If he's used to terrain navigation, he might realize she's circling the centre of the store.

"Do you smell that? It smells like..." She turns her head again. "It smells like fresh air."

He knows navigation, but this is entirely unfamiliar ground, and the landmarks are very strange. He latches onto that like a hunting dog, though.

"And fresh air means outside. That way."

The centre of the store is a broad open area. Well, as much as any area in Walmart can be described as open. There are dome tents and camping gear spread out over a swatch of astroturf that is standing in for the Outdoors.

Alex's head casts around.

"No, I lost it. Shit."

"One moment." He stands still, closes his eyes for a moment and concentrates, then turns, eyeing the astroturf with deep mistrust. "Over here."

She waits, and watches. And when he follows, she does so. They walk through the little city of dome tents. Something's rustling inside one of the tents. She approaches, holding up one hand to tell him to hang back.

With one finger, she gingerly pulls back the rain fly.

There's an explosion of movement and sound, and something small and black flies passed her face, up into the high ceilings of the store. She jerks back, startled to the point of letting go a loud squeak.

And then she laughs, wincing again at her ribs.

"Bird! It was just a bird!"

"...good Lord." He blinks at the tent, then up into the ceiling. "Now where did that come from, I wonder...?"

The only sensible thing to do is to look into the tent, really.

He's greeted by the same particular brand of darkness they've experienced all through the night. It's accompanied by the sweet scent of yucca flowers and a breath of cold, dry air, clean and crisp.

Alex's heart is still pounding from the start. "Well?"

"This is definitely the way out." He turns back to look at her. "At night, a dry place, and a smell of flowers, though not one I recognise."

"Thank God. Let's get out of here." She's trying not to worry about how this wild ride will end, if they'll ever find their way home. She's also trying not to think about Gene, sitting there, waiting for her to come back and worrying about when she didn't.

She takes his hand as she kneels, and goes down on all fours, crawling into the darkness. This had to be another step closer.