The town the group hoped to find still took an hour to drive to. Glasses watched with wonder as the scene came into view along with the mountainside—they had built directly it into it. Taking up a series of carved ledges, a town of primarily wooden and stone houses and inclines climbed up steep rocky faces. The group was pleased to see smoke coming from the chimneys; it meant someone was still alive.

When they got close enough, Helmet signaled for Slacks to come to a temporary halt. The metal legs of Angela’s machine stopped behind them.

“We probably shouldn’t take the Reaper any closer, Glasses. You hang back with Angela, and the rest of us will go into town.”

To Helmet's words, the young man grabbed a hook and jumped out of the vehicle. He snagged it on the opening as the jeep sped off again. As Glasses’ head popped into view, the sight of Angela drumming her fingers along the armchair of the machine greeted him.

“They’re heading into town, so we can wait here,” he explained.

Angela crossed her arms and shook her head.

“I would have been fine alone,” she grumbled. “You should enjoy your time in the town or whatnot.”

“We won’t be staying long, anyway; we don’t enjoy sticking around somewhere for too long.”

“Must be tough,” Angela muttered as she rolled her eyes.

“It can be; even brief visits get people attached.”

“Why not just stay then?” Though she asked the question, her tone was of general disinterest.

“We’ve had plenty who’ve done so, but the few of us remaining want to keep moving.” Glasses pressed his back against the metal wall of the machine and slid down to a seated position. He fiddled with the lenses and pushed them closer to his face.

“Seems like a waste of effort.”

“Well, there’s no guarantee any town will stay around too long after we’ve left; there are plenty of risks with both options.”

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Angela’s red eyes stared out of the machine's hole and to the mountainside town. Her brow furrowed, and she moved her lips back and forth before speaking again.

“What do people still do in towns?”

“What do you mean? Just normal stuff.”

A heavy breath escaped the young woman’s lips.

“I mean, do families still eat dinners together? Do friends still go out after school? Are there still stores to shop at? Do people still argue? Do they have mundane conversations about the weather? Do they still laugh or cry?”

Angela suddenly stopped and bit her lower lip to interrupt her rhythm. Glasses paused momentarily as he contemplated his following words; he wasn’t sure what to say. Helmet would have had a better reply, but the young man knew he lacked enough experience to really talk.

“Well, yes, people still carry on like before; you’ll find they can be quite stubborn when facing our odd invaders.”

“It seems pointless; why bother?”

“I don’t like letting some aliens decide what I can and can’t do.”

Angela sighed and shook her head.

“You are continuing on a long journey just to be stubborn?”

“Well, I’m going on the journey to find the last great city.”

“And what about after that? You just settle down?” The young woman’s words dripped with sarcasm.

“I suppose I’ll find a place to live. Maybe see if any skills I picked up on this journey are worth anything and make a life from that.”

“And if you die before all that?”

“That will be as fine an end as any other.”

“You all don’t seem concerned with your deaths,” Angela spoke with disgust. Glasses shrugged.

“It’s really no big deal.”

“I wish I was as stupid as you.”

“You might get that way if you stick around with us long enough.”

“I hope not.”

The conversation paused momentarily as the two shifted their posture and looked everywhere except at each other.

“Well, we used to have a bigger group before meeting you,” Glasses finally broke through the pause. “We grew up in a small town, I think I mentioned before, and all worked in the same place. I wasn’t quite in…the best state that day, but the Worms came in and started destroying everything; it seems that’s what they’re good at. By the time I was…together enough, a large crowd of us was walking away from a plume of smoke. Honestly, it would have been better if I died in that battle… but I’ve made it so long I need to carry on for the others. If I can reach the end, I’ll probably retrace my steps….”

“I see,” Angela replied softly. She said nothing as they listened to a calm wind whistling across the mech’s plating. The first thing to interrupt was an alarm that rang through the metal machine. She turned the machine to look away from the town. In the distance, far back in the direction the group came from, something that looked like a black cloud hovered and sparked with purple lightning. It was moving close to them, but slowly. Glasses pulled back the slide on his gun and stood to look at it.

“Not good?” he asked.

“I have a bad feeling,” Angela confirmed.