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The town is quiet. At least for now.
Spike holds onto Twilight's hand as they walk through the desolate streets. They move slowly, careful not to alert anything that might be nearby.
Twilight keeps her unoccupied hand over the gun on her belt, scanning the street before them. Spike tugs on her hand and, when she turns to look at him, starts signing.
"How much longer do we have to walk for?"
Twilight's lips purse into a thin line and her brows furrow in sympathy. "A little longer," she signs back.
By the way Spike tries to hide a frown, Twilight can easily tell that he's displeased with her answer, but doesn't want to appear "childish". It always hurts her to think that Spike has to spend his early teens in such awful conditions instead of having fun with his peers.
Twilights holds onto her little brother's hand a little tighter.
They continue down the street.
---
After a few hours, the duo finds a mostly intact building, seemingly free from the creatures that roam the world now. Blocking the door through which they came in, Spike and Twilight go up to the third floor, where they set up camp for the night.
Twilight watches the streets through the breaks in the glass windows, while Spike scribbles away in his journal. As the sun gets lower, the younger's eyes start to droop, his head lolling back and forth in his attempts to stay awake.
His sister notices that and, shaking her head fondly with a tired smile on her face, moves towards him.
"Come on, it's time to go to sleep," Twilight says, sitting down next to Spike and pulling out a well-worn blanket out of her backpack. She attempts to lay it over her brother, but he, from where he has been laying on the ground, rolls over and sits upright.
"No. You need to sleep, the bags under your eyes are bigger than even your backpack," Spike points at her, doing his best attempt at a glare, though it still looks like he's trying not to fall asleep.
Twilight, who has already been in this situation, sighs. "Say what, you sleep first and then we switch shifts. Deal?"
She extends her hand for a handshake so their deal could be sealed. Spike seems to think it over, but his sister already knows that she's won. The boy blinks a few times before he reluctantly shakes her hand, still trying for a believable glare.
Spike lays down on the hard ground, and Twilight lays their family's blanket over him. She has to watch as he huddles into himself under the thin thing. Just as she's about to go back to her spot near the window, the barely heard whisper comes from Spike.
"I hope we'll find the others soon. I miss them."
Before Twilight's able to say anything, Spike is already softly snoring. She's not sure that she would have any words to say.
The open journal page catches her eye, and she debates with herself whether she should look or not. ...well, one peek wouldn't hurt. Twilight picks up the small book and turns to the first page.
Spike's journal seems to be a mix of day entries and drawings. The entries would include his thoughts on what's happening and just things he and Twilight did that day. It hurt the woman that such a young soul has to be so miserable.
But what really gets her are the drawings. Drawings of their friends, of their family, of their home. Pages upon pages with sights from their hometown. With portraits of the girls, of their older brother and parents, even just the people that they would see almost every day.
At that moments Twilight decides that she can't tell Spike about seeing Rarity on the streets. She can't break his heart like that.
---
Twilight watches as Spike slowly wakes up, blinking away the remains of sleep. He pushes himself up on his forearms and blearily looks at his sister, but then his gaze gains a sharper edge.
"You said we'd switch," he mumbles, closing his eyes for a few moments.
"Yeah, I must have gotten lost in thought." Twilight chuckles awkwardly, but, thankfully, Spike doesn't pick up on that. He rubs his eyes before reaching for his journal. Twilight doesn't say anything, keeping her lips in a straight line.
They pack up the little amount of possessions that they have and descend down the stairs. Spike writes down a message for anyone, who might be passing by after them, on one of the walls of the first floor. After he's done, he goes back to Twilight's side.
Twilight looks at her brother and offers her hand, which Spike gladly takes and begins tugging his sister out of the building. With a melancholic smile, Twilight follows after him.
They continue travelling through the town.