After Helmet had finished his story, Angela sat in silence for a long moment. Her red eyes darted around the chassis until she finally clamped them shut. After taking a deep breath, she looked at the older man and spoke.

“And?”

“You don’t seem to understand why we continue our journey.”

“Yeah, and it still makes no sense.”

“I…no, we have a sense that we need to carry on. Our loved ones will remain with us, and we can all settle down once we reach a new home, wherever that is.”

“Sounds like a bunch of happy thoughts. Nonsense even, you’re wasting your time.”

“Maybe so, but there is nothing left for us to do than continue this walk. The Worms have guaranteed that. If you want to be more practical, the fiercest fighting is to the west, and the further we get away from it, the less we have seen laser guns and high-spec Reapers. Things have been more peaceful over the last year…relatively speaking.”

“Hey, are you guys coming!” Glasses shouted from the jeep below. They had come to a sudden halt after Angela tried to throw Helmet out. She sighed, and the metal machine marched forward once again.

“I’ll drop you off where we stop, then I’m leaving. I will not stay with people about to die.”

“You’ll be alone if that’s the case; everyone dies, you know. Why I could get sick tomorrow, and that would be it, even in a town, no Worm invasion or crazy battles,”

“You know what I meant.”

Angela said nothing more to Helmet after, though he tried to make conversation. She pushed herself firmly against the seat and focused on the rocky path ahead.

She thought for a moment about the stupid group, how they reminded her of people in the past, then shook her head in an effort to shake the thoughts out. Such memories were not something she wanted to return.

The rocky mountain path narrowed as the left side gave way to a cliff, and a steep mountain face blocked the right. At some point, a road had cut through—indicated by the cracked pavement. Rusty guardrails weakly prevented a fall—the height of a one-story home—into a river below.

Angela angled the Reaper so that it pointed its side forward. The path was narrow enough that she wanted to ensure there was little chance of tripping and falling.

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Slacks slowed the jeep down and drove close to the rocky face as they descended the path. As the ruins of a road went forward, it curved slightly. Slacks slowed to a crawl as they moved around the bend. As they pulled out, a rumble shook the mountains. A mechanical screech—like nails on a chalkboard—echoed through, and rocks shook, then fell.

They couldn’t see the rockslide, but everyone had heard enough of it from behind to act. Slacks must have punched the wheel—a short honk belted out—and slammed on the gas; behind him, the Reaper chased as rocks engulfed everything behind them.

Angela no longer cared about falling off as she moved to avoid a premature burial. Above their heads, the falling rocks caught up and surpassed the fleeing group. Slacks weaved to avoid stones falling directly in front of the jeep, and Angela leaped over boulders as she tried not to trip.

“Shit!” Slacks yelled loud enough for Angela to hear; he swerved to the guardrail. The jeep side scratched along a dodged rock and went through the rusty road protection. Glasses and Bandana shouted as they fell.

Angela let out a bloodcurdling cry and leaped over the edge after them. She snatched the jeep just before it hit the water, not realizing the sudden stop would batter the group around and render them unconscious. The water was up to the waist of the Reaper, but she trudged forward as the landside continued to fall on them.

“There’s an indent in the cliff side!” Helmet shouted as he fearlessly leaned his whole torso outside the hole. Angela didn’t bother to argue as she sloshed through the water and took cover in the spot. Minutes passed before the screeching stopped, and the rockslide along with it.

“What was that?” Angela hissed after it grew silent; she wasn’t sure if anything else would happen.

“Probably some Worm transport coming through. Sounded monstrous enough to be one. Hopefully, they aren’t doing anything in these mountains.” Helmet replied.

They waited longer to ensure whatever came through was gone entirely. After confirming, Angela carefully dug the Reaper's hand and feet into the rocky cliff. She pulled her machine up enough to carefully set the jeep back on the rough road before maneuvering the rest of the machine up and getting the metal feet back on solid ground. Behind where they had come, rocks piled high like the mountain had extended across the road.

As Angela studied the fallen rocks, Helmet descended from the mech and went to check on the others. The older man banged on the window and shouted: “If you’re not dead, wake up!” gruffly. Angela turned the mech in a sharp jerk so that she could see and leaned low.

Bandana was the first to move. He waved a hand in the air.

“Did anyone get a license plate from that truck? Cause it ground us to muck.” He mumbled.

“If it was a truck, I’d at least like to see some elves or something fantasy!” Glasses added as he moved.

“Shut up, you two, my head is killing me,” Slacks added as he rubbed the side of his head. “And what about Co–” the bald man stopped speaking and finished his sentence with a cough. The others remained silent for a moment, and Angela squinted her eyes.

Helmet nodded and turned back to the mech.

“They’re all okay!” he shouted to the young woman with a wave. Angela released tightly clawed fingers from the side of her chair and steadied her breath. As relief washed over her, she shuddered and shook her head. Why was she feeling that way? Her expression grew sour.

“Good for you!” she shouted back in a tone that snuffed out all concern.