Peering through the window into the darkness of the cabin didn't provide Aura with much useful information. She was just about to move to the next window, when the creak of the front door made her nearly jump out of her skin.

“Probably a tiny bit safer in here, babe,” his muffled voice greeted her from inside the dark cabin. “A tiny bit.”

“Right...” she whispered, looking around her once more before moving toward the voice inside.

Once she stepped into the cabin, the door was pushed shut behind her, causing her to startle once again. He then turned on his cell phone's display to provide them with a tiny bit more light.

“So you're my rescue party huh? Unexpected,” he added more quietly as she could just barely make out his impossibly dark eyes moving over her from underneath unruly dark curls.

“Micah, right?” she breathed the words more than spoke them. Possibly because of the irritation in her throat and lungs, possibly due to a few other factors right then.

“And I'm guessing you're Aura? Definitely didn't expect anyone to be willing to come find us out here at all, let alone...” he left the sentence there as he continued watching her from just outside of the ring of light provided by his phone.

Trying to keep her nerves under control despite everything, Aura grasped for more words, “Um, I brought you--”

“Shh,” he hushed her as his eyes were immediately drawn to something on his phone.

He turned it around to look at the screen again, and finally provide her with a much better view of the gorgeous eyes she could now actually see above his cloth mask.

“Shit,” he swore with well hidden panic at whatever he saw on the phone.

“What is it?” she asked, her own already sky high anxiety rocketing even higher then.

“Stole a cop car. This is the dash cam,” he said as he turned the phone back to her. There, she could clearly see two of their horrible alien visitors moving around the car.

“Fuck,” she returned, now painfully attempting to force back that panic of her own. “How far away is that car from here?”

“Not far enough,” he told her plainly. “Come on, there's a basement.” Without waiting for any other response from her, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her in said direction. “Harder for their fucked up heat vision if we're underground,” he offered as his only further explanation before pulling her with him towards another door inside the cabin.

“Shit, fuck,” she muttered as he tossed the basement door shut behind them, and hurried down the stairs, still clasping her wrist in his hand.

“Love a girl who talks dirty,” he replied. She could almost hear him smirking behind the mask.

“What?” was the only response she could manage as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Sorry, long apocalypse,” he told her as he began moving the phone around to illuminate the room they now found themselves in.

“There's nowhere else to hide out here. They'll find us,” she worried aloud, her breaths getting shorter as her attack became even more imminent.

“Way to be positive. Remember who's survived this shit for three months already? Without a cozy little bunker? Come on, in there,” he switched gears quickly as he nodded to a large freezer in the corner of the basement.

“The freezer?” she looked up at him with wide eyes.

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“If they do come close, it'll block their heat vision, and there should be enough air in there for at least a few hours. Get in,” he told her more urgently.

“Air? You can't know that!” she returned with ever increasing terror.

“Actually I kinda do, and even if I didn't, you really think sittin out here is any safer? Get in,” he repeated firmly.

“But... What about you?” she asked as he nudged her toward the freezer.

“Right behind you, doll,” he assured.

“What? Both of us, in there? You can't be serious. That'll be even less air!”

“Six hours, thirty-seven minutes, based on our approximate combined weight and body mass, as long as we don't chat, or panic, too much. Now, after you, hon,” he stated more firmly.

Aura shook her head up at him with disbelief. But he was right. They didn't have any better options. At least none that she could think of right then. She swallowed hard and moved to crawl into the thankfully already empty freezer. She had just adjusted herself inside, when she felt him jumping in after her.

As he pulled the lid shut, the two complete strangers found themselves in the precarious position of him laying atop her in the darkness of the steel box.

“Um,” her breath caught as her eyes tried to focus on his in the dark. “Wouldn't this be easier laying next to each other instead?”

“Easier? Maybe. But probably less fun,” he chuckled behind the mask.

“Fun?” she gasped. “You're a complete psycho aren't you?”

“Well, that hurts. I wouldn't say complete,” he teased further, seeming somewhat amused by her reaction. He then finally let out another breath, adopting a more serious expression. “Sorry, like I said, it's been a long three months, for many reasons.”

“Yeah, no shit,” she agreed, glad he couldn't see her blush in the darkness. Though as close as they were, she wouldn't be surprised if he could feel it in the coldness of that box, even with them both wearing masks.

“Really, bunker-girl? I'd love to hear about all the trials and tribulations you've had since the world went to shit. But again, air supply is a bit precious right now.”

She scoffed at his sarcasm, but said nothing more right then. She was too busy averting her eyes and trying as hard as she could to keep her heart rate under control.

* * *

Adan was pacing the living room frantically nearly an hour later. That was when he finally heard the outer door of the bunker unseal. He breathed an audible sigh of relief as he rushed to open the inner door to welcome them back.

“Ade!” Cleo squealed his name as she rushed into the bunker ahead of Ilian. She was already tearing off her gas mask, and tossing it carelessly to the floor as she rushed into his arms.

“Fuck,” he gasped at the pain caused by her embrace.

“Oh sorry!” she cried as she moved back, just then noting the sling. “Guess this'll have to do instead!”

And with that, Cleo covered his mouth with a long kiss, barely even giving him the time to recover from the earlier pain. Though even that pain paled in comparison to the terror on his face as he pulled out of the kiss and turned to where the door had now sealed shut behind Ilian once more.

“Where is she?” Adan asked, biting back tears as he addressed the question to Ilian.

“Who? I'm right here,” Cleo chimed in, totally oblivious to the distraught expressions displayed by both her companions.

“She's not...?” Ilian shook his head, the answer obvious. “I'll go back out and find them I suppose. But I'll probably need your phone to do it quickly. Which would leave you without one if they tried to contact you. So...” Ilian looked terribly troubled by either option.

“Can't we just call them?” Cleo offered innocently. The simplest answer had apparently not occurred to either of them after having spent so long without using phones for anything at all.

Adan shook his head as he lifted his phone, “Texting would probably be safer. In case those--that patrol is close enough to hear them talking.”

And with that, Adan sent off a text as quickly as his one good hand could manage. He breathed another sigh of relief as he received a text back a moment later.

“Their safe-ish. They had to hide from the patrol,” Adan passed on the message. When he received another message, he passed it on as well, “She says they were gonna wait a little while longer before checking to see if the patrol left.”

“That doesn't sound ideal either,” Ilian stated, but quickly added, “but at least they're still alive, I suppose.”

“Cool. So you have food here, right?” Cleo interrupted once more, causing Ilian to just glare and move past them into the living room, while Adan just looked down.

“Of course there's something resembling food here,” Adan replied, trying as best he could to force a smile as he nodded for her to follow Ilian into the living room as well.

“Thank god!” she stated over dramatically. “Damn, this place is nice for a hole in the ground. Almost makes me think you might not have missed me at all, Ade,” she teased as he closed the inner door behind them with another heavy sigh.

“Who wouldn't miss you, Cleo?” he offered her another distracted smile before gesturing for her to follow him in search of some sort of meal after her ordeal in getting there at all. But his mind was a million miles away, his eyes never leaving his phone for a moment.