Poppy began her descent, blowing her hair out of her face as she climbed down. She got to the bottom and waited for him to catch up.
He followed her down, the gun strapped into his back. "We'll need to be careful, since it's lighter out we might be seen easier."
"You might have to be careful," she muttered. "But I am swift and quick. I have nothing to worry about."
"That's a funny joke. It's almost like you think I'm slow, or something." He began walking, scanning the area for unusual movement.
"Ha," she replied. "Funny how that works." They approached the edge of the forest, quiet and alert. Poppy's brows were drawn together in a worried line, and she bit her lip, troubled. "We're still going to have to be careful in the ruins," she said. "There are multiple camps, remember."
"We should come up with a plan if one or both of us get caught. Scream until the other comes to the rescue?" he teased her, watching out from behind a tree.
"That has worked for me in the past. Why fix what isn't broken, and all that. Although, to be fair, I did pretty well on my own there. I had the situation handled. You just helped a little bit with the carrying and stuff."
"I also knocked the other down, but it warms my cold heart to see that was the part you recall," he said mischievously, pulling the gun around and into his hands for emergency.
"Oh, you have a heart?" she asked teasingly, looking pointedly over at him. "That's an interesting development."
"Even I am taken aback by life's mysteries," she replied. They approached the ruins, and Poppy squinted in the dim light. She took a moment to orient herself, and then nodded. "The west wing is this way," she said, walking along the forest line.
He followed silently, watching as they passed the rubble, surprised that it had been a building not long ago.
Poppy stepped lightly, her feet avoiding the less steady pieces of rubble instinctually. She was quiet, as if mourning the ruins that they walked on. Finally, she stopped, her head moving both ways to survey the horizon. "This.. should be it," she said, frowning. She double checked her steps and nodded. "I guess we have to look around."
"This should be fun," he said sarcastically, briefly looking around. "Hopefully it doesn't take long."
"Right," Poppy said, frowning as she bent down and pushed away some rocks. "It's supposed to be nearby." (I might have them have to escape pretty soon. Is that okay with you?)
They had been searching for almost fifteen minutes, with the occasional grunt of effort from pushing aside particularly big rubble. Finally, Poppy's head popped up from behind a wall, a smear of dirt across her forehead. "Francis, I think I got it, but it's wedged under some stuff. Can you give me a hand?"
She wiped her face, really just smearing it more than wiping it away, and pointed at the ground. A black handle was barely visible under a pile of broken concrete. Poppy pulled on the case, and it shifted slightly, but remained stuck.
He pulled away the concrete, gritting his teeth with effort. After the larger pieces came unstuck using force, he tossed away the smaller ones.
