Shan giggled silently, accepting his kiss as if it were the last affection she would ever receive. With his state of mind, half the time, she was afraid that at any moment, she could lose it all. She kept her smile as he pulled away, making sure that he could see she was truly happy, and she began picking at her own tiny handful of weeds. She glanced around as they ate, glancing at the berries and little flowers on all of the plants. The majority of them were either poisonous, or were nutritious in small quantities. They couldn’t risk a misidentification. So, she frowned and picked at a wild muscadine vine.

As Matt moved around, she too did her own searching, picking the sour green grapes from the vine, and stashing them in a tiny fanny pack she had picked up from one of the stores long passed, in a town long since died. She rustled the leaves around, finding more sprouts and green twigs than she had anticipated, which she also stored in the small pack, before her ears became alert to his words.

She turned to him, zipping her snack pack as she stepped over a few broken logs. She had to agree about gathering the camping supplies. A tent and some fuel of some sort were going to be essential, if there were no campers or cabins in the campground. She nodded, letting him know she was following his plan, and then signed.

“I think we should go. There could be a big opportunity, and maybe…”, she stopped and let her hands drop for a second, “…maybe there’s someone…you know…from before…”