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The landing site on the other side of the Arklay Mountains was silent after the nuclear blast. Jill was staring off into space, the pine tree not nearly interesting enough to warrant her scrutiny. Carlos, for his part, thought it was rather cute (despite the circumstances) and wondered for a moment if she had one of those nifty powers that B.O.W.s sometimes got; this time some kind of laser vision.
"If you turn your head a little more and then concentrate really hard you could probably make that thing catch fire," he said approvingly. She snorted in response and turned to glare at him, making her eyes go very wide on purpose.
"Is it working?"
Carlos snickered, adjusting his vest. "Yeah, I'm feeling a little warm."
Jill shook her head, brushing off her jeans. "Sure that's not radiation sickness?"
"Ouch…"
The steam and smoke were still visible with only the wind for company. After the past few days of near constant moaning and rasping whispers, it was downright eerie to just hear… nothing. Nothing at all. Somehow that was even more anxiety-inducing than the unending chase from the Project Nemesis tyrant. All of those emotions just crashing down with no outlet and it wasn't a terrible dream?
Jill hoped that Chris was doing way better than she was.
Carlos seemed to sense her growing upset and moved to sit next to her on the log.
"You okay?" he asked. "I know: stupid thing to ask, but… really."
"Nope." Jill shrugged. "I'm probably not going to be 'okay' for a while. It sucks. This is… a crap situation." She looked at him. "Think anyone else got out?"
"Probably," answered Carlos. "But they're not us. We got… very lucky with our training and… everything. We can't have been the only lucky ones, though," he added, seeing her face. "Odds are there were others."
Jill nodded, silent as the grave they'd only barely escaped. "Well, that's a nice thought."
Carlos slunk an arm around her shoulder. "More than a nice thought. You got me out. It's good to know that you really aren't okay with living in a Carlos-less world."
"Don't push it."
He leaned forward, brushing her nose with his. "Not pushing anything."
Jill huffed. "Jerk."
"Still not pushing it."
She flicked his cheek playfully. "Gonna keep this up?"
"Yep," he said, kissing the tip of her nose.
Jill returned the gesture. "Smooth move, wise guy," she grumbled.
"Hey, you're the one who saved me. You're stuck with me, Valentine."
"Great. Worst decision of my life." She cracked a smile. "Glad I made it."
Carlos bonked their foreheads together. "Same here."