Safe to Talk

The Wilderness - Bighorn Basin, Wyoming

Perrine sat at the front of the wagon, Luna's powerful form harnessed to it, ready to embark on the next leg of their journey. The wagon, laden with carefully packed supplies, emitted occasional creaks and rattles as it adjusted to the uneven terrain beneath Luna's hooves and the new passengers climbing aboard. Peekaboo, the white mouse, nestled beside Perrine, occasionally glancing around with curious eyes.

Perrine waited patiently until everyone was settled and then without even a word, Luna seemed to know it was time to embark. When Sophia thanked him, he simply smiled and nodded in an understanding and empathetic way. He then turned back around and focused on what was ahead.

Whisp, the barn owl, soared gracefully down from the rafters, landing next to Perrine for a brief moment before returning to the comfort of his slumber. Overhead, a murder of crows circled intermittently, their cawing serving as a peculiar form of communication with Perrine.

The wagon's wheels groaned as Luna set it in motion, the rhythmic sounds merging with the steady beat of hooves on the worn path. The wagon, a patchwork of salvaged materials and makeshift repairs, bore the scars of countless journeys through the unforgiving wilderness.

As they left the more tamed surroundings of Jonathan's home and the underground mutant community, the landscape transformed. The post-apocalyptic wilderness revealed its strange evolution – mutated flora and fauna, remnants of a world reshaped by the Rupture. Luna navigated the terrain with a practiced ease, her steps sure despite the challenges presented by the altered environment.

The crows, like vigilant sentinels, continued their intermittent flights overhead, occasionally swooping down to converse with Perrine. Their avian language exchanged messages of the ever-changing surroundings and potential threats, a form of communication that Perrine had come to rely on in the unpredictable wilderness.

Peekaboo, having now perched on Perrine's shoulder, observed the shifting landscape with keen interest. The air carried a mixture of scents – the earthy aroma of mutated plants, the faint remnants of pre-Rupture civilization, and the distinctive odor of creatures adapted to a world forever transformed.

Once they were safely off the property and outside the jurisdiction of the mutant community Perrine finally turned around. He hadn’t needed to drive at all, Luna was taking care of that. He had been on sentinel duty. He didn’t trust the mutant place entirely. Perrine spoke up, his speech impediment prevalent, “Is thar zomewher yu want uz to take yu?”