Sometimes, Luz wanted to pack up her bags and move into the Country Club, where it seemed like it was always summer. Topher and Ada were her closest friends and, while she spent much of her free time there, she could not shake the unmistakable LOYALTY she had to the capitol-- to Aiden. Even on the darkest days when her brother’s ghost rattled the windows and whispered frightening insecurities into her ears as she slept, she could not leave the place they’d built together. Topher and Ada were her closest friends, but Aiden was something different.
Scavenging duties made her scheduled more flexible than many of the others’--she could be out for days or weeks at a time and it wasn’t abnormal. Between that and building their gym, she hadn’t been at the capitol enough lately. Briefly, she made a mental note to do better by the folks there, but for now she’d enjoy the moment. “Now we don’t have to sneak.” Luz beamed over the small stack of tupperware. “It’s not as good as Mama Lynda’s but we’ll make due. At least Topher’s produce keeps us in peppers.” Pulling the lid off one of the containers, she passed it over. “Eat then gym, or ... what do you think?”
Adalene knew just how loyal Luz was to the Capitol, just as Ada had loyalty to the Country Club. It wasn’t nearly the same, especially with ever-changing leaders, but there was something about sticking with the group that helped keep you alive. Of course Ada wanted to be in camp with Luz -- to survive and look out for one another in a much closer proximity -- but it was like they both had an unspoken understanding that the Capitol and the Country Club needed Luz & Adalene. They were no doubt staple members in their groups. Adalene even knew that Luz was a sort of second leader for the Capitol, knowing that if something ever happened to her camp leader, she’d be looked at to take over. Adalene couldn’t even imagine the type of burden and responsibility that rested so heavily on her best friend’s shoulder.
It was why they made the most of the time they got to spend together. They knew they needed an identity AWAY from their camp roles and it was partially why the gym was being created. They might be in an apocalypse but that didn’t mean they needed to live in a survival monotony, did it?
She eagerly dipped into the Tupperware to retrieve a taco, not even waiting to answer Luz’s question, taking a large bite and maneuvering her mouth to not let a simple crumb fall to the ground. “Shit,” She dragged the word out, chewing heartily, glancing at Luz with playfully dreamy eyes. She couldn’t remember the last time she had something like this -- something so familiar to home. “Mejor amiga, you have truly outdone yourself. These are incredible.” She took another big bite, managing to shovel the rest of the taco in as she chewed. There was something beautifully sad about memories of home: Luz and Ada had lost so much and Luz had even lost something so recent. She knew Luz was doing okay, as well as she could be, proud of the strength Luz has maintained through it all. “You’ll have to wheelbarrow me to the gym.” She teased, now taking a seat on a nearby bench.
