I should step in and talk. Clova might not be able to right now.

Before Clova can insert herself forward, you step to occasion and clear your throat. “We're just visiting.”

The man named Ashe leans into his saddle and burns the tip of his cigarette. He stares at and nods. “You ain’t hiding something in there, right?”

“No,” you answer with confidence. “Not even ghosts are in there.”

“She is rundown ain’t she?” He regards the church and then puffs a cloud out and then you. “Relax. We won’t bite unless you give us a reason to.”

“Likewise,” you say. “What brings you here?”

Flick shifts. “We shouldn’t say.”

Ashe looks at him and shakes his head. “Look at ‘em. They work for an outfit. No doubt.” Ashe turns to face you again and clears his throat. “Mutes out here. Fetching guns and running to ****.”

“Mutants?”

He nods. “Been tracking since Montana. Two males and three girls. Sum bitches makin’ us look like tools. Can’t seem to pin them. Almost caught one of them at a lodge a couple of nights ago, but damn Russian junk didn’t work.”

He grabs a rifle from a leather holster. A rusted, trashed AKM is pulled out. “Probably the ammo. Those don’t jam.”

The man shrugs. “Nothing works when need it to, but the damn mute skittered off, and our bounty got out of state. So now we’re out for ****.”

“They get one of yours?”

Ashe becomes sheepish and looks down to spit. “Nonyer’s business.”

“Well, hey. We gotta get back to our unit.”

Ashe asks if the church is safe, and you tell him it is. No more is exchanged afterward, but with Clova again, you find yourself talking once more when you enter the forest.

...

...

“I wouldn’t have cared if you were religious, Clova.”

“I’m not. Does a person have to be some kind of Jesus-freak to go inside a church for some comfort?” Clova answers quickly, clearly peeved.

“Of course I’m not, but…”

“You don’t have—“ Clova wants to say something more but stops herself. “I’m on the brink of blowing the top of my skull cap off. Giving God a chance to explain his actions, or maybe just a chance to help me personally-!? Fuck, I don’t know.”

“No need to explain yourself, Clover. Go at your own pace and don’t have me be the reason to feel bogged down; just keep me posted on how you’re feeling from now on. You’re kind of a part of my life right now.”

“I don’t have the feeling you'll never bog me down. Jesus. Jesus, oh God, I’m sorry for everything. My mind has to filter so much. We could have died back there, Right? I am I right?” Clova covers her face. “And don’t call me Clover, by the way. Clova is fine.”

No reason to argue. You agree and move on…

Clova sulks and lounges around the suite for the rest of the day, not talking and unwilling to do anything outside. You try to hit up a conversation on more than one occasion, and she humors you a few times, but it always dead-ends, or she shuts down. So, to pass the time, you try reading some of the books provided and watching the Sunday traffic of Deadwood pass through your window, but there’s still a long time before it’s dinner time.

You try flipping through the TV channels, but of course, there’s nothing to be seen. Finally, you notice a VHS player on top of the TV, so you decide to dig around the entertainment center to see if there’s watch a movie.

There are a few refurbished tapes that look like they would work. Unfortunately, the dates stamped on some of the cover sleeves are from the last 20-30 years. Thank God for the efforts on preserving products of the era you never got to enjoy first-hand. The Thing, Poltergeist, Halloween III.

As you finger through the collection, you couldn’t but remember Delilah. She loved watching movies, especially horror ones, despite the fact that they terrified her for weeks. Clova, out of nowhere, asks what you are doing when she slithers out of her room. She was silent; it surprised you.

“Finding movies,” you reply. “Do you know if these work?”

“Yeah,” she says, coming over to you. “I watched Halloween and Poltergeist. Did you know that Poltergeist means noisy spirit in German? Das ist, uh, cool, right?”

You turn to face Clova and notice she’s smiling. You smile and let out a little laugh. “Du bist süss.”

“Alright,” her smile widens, and her eyebrows knit. “My German doesn’t go much further than noisy spirit, so how about you hold your horses.”

“Ja, ja.”

A rush of air escapes her nose. “Yah...Hey! If you’re gonna watch The Thing, I’d recommend we wait for dinner and enjoy it together tonight.”

“Thought you wanted to be alone?”

She fakes a stretch and forces a yawn. “I feel bad leaving you out here all day. I might as well make some sort of plan with you. Unless you have other ideas?”

“Of course not,” you say. “I like the idea of spending more time with you, honestly.”

“I knew you would. I’ll catch you in about 3 hours then.”

“What are you doing in the meantime?” you chase Clova with.

“I need to find Kevlokk and see if I can get something before our inevitable departure this week.” She runs her hands through her dark hair, now yawning for real. “It’s important. Don’t follow me this time.”

“I promise I won’t.”

“Danke,” she says with a grin.

You bring your attention to the movies, fighting a grin of your own. “Get out of here.”

“See you at dinner, mkay?”

“It’s a deal.”

Clova leaves the room. Now your only company is yourself and the white noise that replaced Clova’s voice…