As we packed up our things in the morning, Alicia approached me.
"I know we haven't had much time to talk, but I was thinking about what we were saying back in Franklin," she said.
"About the way a small child could overpower me in a fist fight?" I said, though it was irritating to admit it out loud.
"Yeah, and though you really should work on that at some point you obviously don't have the time to do so right now."
"So what's your point? I'm not staying behind," I said narrowing my eyes at her.
"No, I know you won't do that. I just noticed that you only carry a few weapons on your belt plus that shotgun on your back and seeing as, without weapons, you're pretty much screwed, I thought I'd just show you how to carry a few more." She flashed me a grin.
"That's perfect." I looked at her with surprise. "Thank you."
"Well it's for my benefit as much as anything else." She sat down next to me and produced several knives which were held in various types of sheathes. She then went about showing me how she hid knives in her boots and how to strap them to my forearms.
"It's worth keeping some weapons concealed, especially knives, because if you're captured, they'll take anything obvious away." She seemed to be speaking from experience.
"In what circumstance might we be captured?" I asked.
"Well, not everyone out here is all that nice. If we ran into some nomads, say, they can be a little aggressive at times. Or the travelling gangs, or the territorial gangs for that matter-"
"Okay I get it," I stopped her before she completely terrified me.
Alicia laughed and then made me prove how quickly I could reload my guns and corrected the way I loaded my pistol. There was a technique which involved careful timing and quick wrist action that meant I could load a new cartridge in the same move as ejecting the old one.
I dropped the new cartridge nine times before I did it right and then she made me repeat it until I had it perfect.
"Okay, I feel better about you risking your life now," she said finally.
"Thanks, me too."
"Are you girls ready to head out?" Hunter called over to us. Alicia jumped up and ran to the waiting truck, her long, white-blonde hair swishing around her as she went.
I followed more slowly, getting used to the feeling of the knife in my boot and glad she had given me the holster so I could be sure I wouldn't impale my ankle.
Laurie and was already sitting in the truck and Coal opened the door for me to climb in before him.
"I found something pretty cool in the farmhouse," Alicia said as we all settled into our seats.
"I'm not sure that I trust your judgement on what's cool," Coal replied.
"Oh you will." She pulled a clear plastic case from inside her jacket and shook it at him.
"Does it work?" he asked, leaning forwards with more interest.
"Only one way to find out." She snapped the case open and pulled out a shiny, circular piece of plastic which she slid into a slot on the dashboard.
A second passed and the number one flashed up in green next to the slot.
I glanced at Coal who was suddenly looking really happy and was about to open my mouth to ask why when noise filled the car.
There was a lot of crashing and banging but it all worked together somehow to create a beat. I felt a smile spread across my face too as a male voice kicked in and started to sing. Music in the city never sounded like that.
"I hope you like rap music." Alicia laughed and cranked the volume up so that the speakers pounded.
Hunter pulled up next to us, the same excited expression on his face as Alicia's. She flicked a button and the window descended so that we could talk to him.
"We're gunna make use of these trucks today, it'll be the full off-road experience," he called over to us.