The escapee - Marvel

Chapter 60 - The motherland

Peter and Aria walked for miles in a deafening silence. The weight of Seven's death was hurting them both and her body hanging between them was a constant reminder.

The sun was hovering above them now but it did nothing for the chill that lived within their bones. Peter worried that he may never be warm again. 

Aria thought's were filled mostly with the memories of her family and the life she used to have. The startling realisation that she was now a completely different person set in, and the fact that her parents would never meet the person she was now, or the person she would become had stunned her into silence. 

Aria cried for herself, for her parents, and for Seven, whose hand she was still gripping to her chest.

Peter could hear her sniffling but made no move to try and comfort her, deciding that she should be allowed to grieve in peace. He was too busy drowning in his own grief to offer any reassurance anyway. 

The two orphans carried on walking, neither looking at the redhead's face for fear of breaking down. 

By the time Peter spotted lights in the distance they had been walking for almost twenty hours and they were too exhausted to celebrate, legs burning. Aria almost burst into tears again out of relief.

Peter had gained a lot of respect for the child in the last nineteen hours. Although they had exchanged more than ten words and knew virtually nothing about the other, she hadn't complained once. The one time she had spoken it had been to offer to carry Seven for a bit so Peter's wounds could heal, an offer he declined but appreciated.

Now they crept through the dimly lit streets of an unfamiliar Russian town, thankful for the darkness to conceal Seven's wounded body. 

Their first priority was some sort of shelter so they avoided the town centre where there would definitely be none.

 The two brunettes wandered towards the outskirts of the town, looking wistfully at the restaurants that they passed. Peter laughed when Aria squealed and ran away from a family of rats who ran past them and she scowled at him and stuck her tongue out.

They passed an area lit up by street lanterns, families dancing carelessly as a band played in the middle of the celebration. Aria danced by Peter's side, twirling to the upbeat tune. They made sure to keep a low profile until the music started to fade into the background and could no longer be found. 

Eventually, they came across an abandoned warehouse that Peter deemed safe for the night. He poked his head inside and found it empty so he motioned for Aria to follow him inside, not at all surprised when he spotted her in the middle of the room, doing her own check. 

In the corner there was a platform supported by a beam, a ladder leading up to the top. 

"Can we go up there?" She asked, pointing to the ladder.

"Sure" Peter followed her over and made sure she had her footing on the ladder before scaling the wall, sticking to the surface with his feet and left hand, his right placing Seven's body on the platform before pulling himself up to sit on the edge, legs dangling down.

Aria made her way up and hauled herself over the edge, allowing herself to stop moving for the first time in twenty long hours. All that could be heard was their shallow breathing as they tried to recover from all the activity.

The warehouse didn't have any lights but instead huge windows, the moon illuminating their silhouettes and providing them with some light. Aria crawled over to the other side of the platform so she was able to stare out of it, tucking her knees underneath her chin.