Caleb can taste the prey’s panic hangin' thick in the air, sweet as spit and rust. A predator’s grin splits his weathered face as he steps off toward where his hunter’s gut is pullin' him - them little prairie dogs do love holein' up in their burrows.
Chris keeps a tense watch from behind the corner of some half-ruined barn, crouched in the sorghum thicket, trying to breathe quietly.
He frowns and stubbornly doesn't answer, watching the cowboy a little further away.
"Yeah, m'lady... things like that do happen," he rasped in a low, rough voice, his eyes slow-travelin' over her face. "And I'm mighty curious to know where the rest of them... jackrabbits are holein' up."
He pulled her closer still, his grip iron-tight.
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He yanked her a notch closer, usin' his free hand to wipe a smudge of soot from her cheek. He rubbed the grease between his calloused fingers, instinctively catchin' the smell of machine oil, and let a pleased grin spread across his face as his hawkish gaze locked onto her.
🝐
The girl's fussin' with the generator amused Caleb. He knew fine well she had to feel his presence - everyone in this realm felt it, just like they felt the others like him, dragged here by the Entity’s will. And yet, she kept right on ignorin' the clear and present danger.
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because a lot of people in this realm dressed differently and it was the new normal. she had other priorities on her mind, anyways, like guiding her companion to their hiding spot.
ᅠ
The law of the Frontier was simple enough: prey was prey.
Still, curiosity won out.
He reached out and took her hand - gripped it firm, but not hard enough to hurt, as though his own strength remembered the frailty of another's flesh better than he did.
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When she reached out, clearly still clueless about who was standin' beside her, he took a proper look. Copper hair, a face covered in soot... seemed like a right purty face underneath all that grime. Not that a purty face had ever stayed Quinn's hand before.
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Mechanics were an art, and he didn't care for folks handlin' complex machinery so carelessly, even if it was left behind by someone to give these unfortunates a fightin' chance.
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Quinn was a tracker at heart; he liked the thrill of the hunt, and draggin' a foolhardy girl away from a machine like that just felt a mite too easy (though he wasn't above a quick grab when the mood struck).
The sudden explosion drew a disgruntled grunt from his throat.
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// Hey new people! Let me know if you are okay with interacting/being tagged! Edited this to exclude shipping as my shipping is closed for now. I'm very, very selective and kinda want to tone it down to being single-ship(ish).
"I hated how hopeless I felt... I had to fight and I had to survive, no matter what happened. I'll prove I have what it takes to survive."
{All purpose Pinned Post for Pom's portrayal of Rebecca Chambers.
Will add to thread if things are forgotten}
♡ & ↻, for 𝐓��𝐞 Becca Bun