So slow to catch on

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"I did. But not you." Chris breathed, the grief of it all taking hold of him as it hadn't done in some time. "Wesker uses you to get to me. He's always hated me. One day...I'm going to have to stop being a coward and face him head on... No one should have to suffer for me."

Chris shrugged his shoulders and turned to go. "That sounds like a plan. You guys have a good day." He waved at them as he began heading back up the street he'd come from, whistling all the while.
Dave sighed deeply and rubbed at his forehead. Wesker had been right, the other man didn't even remember that he'd been killed right in front of him. "This wasn't worth it." He muttered, unable to hide his disappointment. His father was right, no one cared.

"Why did you contact him in the first place?" Ruby asked, though she was still watching Chris as he walked away. She couldn't understand this resentment she was feeling towards a man she had never even met before.

"Chris Redfield helps everyone, Ruby." Dave whispered, dropping down to the seat behind him and burying his face in his hands. "I thought maybe he would help us too. Not just with Wesker..."

"With what?" Ruby asked as she sat down next to him. "Maybe it's me... I was stubborn, like you told me to be... I guess he just didn't really want to help me."

"No...I said don't be stubborn." Dave sighed. "I give up. I don't know how to keep us hidden...feed us...there's no way to do anything without Wesker finding us."

"I can feed us." Ruby replied firmly. "You just prevent me from doing so. You still think of me as a helpless little girl."

"Ruby, I'm not going to let you do something put yourself out there. You stand out, sweetheart. You're not like me. You don't blend in." Dave said, finally lifting his head. "I don't know what else to do."

"Don't patronise me." Ruby replied sullenly. "I can blend in just fine. Why would I stand out?" She added, pouting somewhat now at the thought that she was incapable of doing something.

"You just do." Dave muttered, getting to his feet and holding out a hand for her. "Come on. We'd better follow Chris. Maybe I can say something to change his mind."

Ruby stubbornly folded her arms across her ample chest. "I told you a hundred times already, we don't need anyone's help! Least of all his. I don't get why you are so adamant that we ask him for anything at all!" Her bright sapphire eyes were blazing, her detest running deep.

"I don't know why you seem to hate him so much." Dave groaned, blowing out two cheek fulls of air in frustration. "You don't even know him."

"You didn't really know me, when you shattered my spine." Ruby replied darkly.

"I told you..." Dave didn't bother to finish. Instead he closed his eyes and tried not to scream. It would do little good for him to throw himself on the ground to cry and scream like a spoiled child. "Come on, Ruby. I'm already losing his scent."

"And you say I'm the one who is too weird to blend in." The dark haired woman snorted, pushing to her feet and walking on ahead of Dave.

"It's weird to get frustrated with you?!" Dave shouted. "It's weird to want to strangle you?! No. Guys do that sort of thing to their girlfriends every day!"

Ruby stopped walking and slowly turned around to fix her steady sapphire gaze upon Dave. "You've never called me that before." She commented. "And for the record, I meant it was weird that you can smell Chris. I mean... Can you smell me, when I'm not right here?"

Dave nodded, looking a bit embarrased by this fact. He wasn't sure just how weird she thought it was. "That's how I found you in Wesker's place. Your scent."

"You never did tell me why you came looking for me." Ruby breathed, taking a step back towards Dave. "I thought you hated me..."

Dave shook his head though it wasn't clear whether he was saying no to hating her or refusing to answer why he'd come looking for her. "Are you hungry?" He asked suddenly. "I have just enough to get us a hot dog and a soda." He finished, holding out a handful of ones.

Ruby shook her head, hugging her arms around her already rather thin frame. "You can have the hotdog, I'll just have some of your soda."

"I'm not that hungry." Dave sighed, pushing the money back into his pocket. "You know, I'm starting to think you were better off with Wesker."

Ruby's eft eye twitched slightly at the mere thought of this, anger beginning to bubble up inside of her. "oh yes, I was much better off half dead in a lab somewhere." She spat, as usual unable to control her temper.

"At least you weren't starving." Dave muttered, rubbing at his temples. "Come on. We need to keep following Chris. Maybe we'll have better luck talking to Jill."

"Why?" Ruby asked stubbornly. "I told you, if getting food is all you're worried about, I can get it!" She insisted. "Won't you at least let me try? you can meet with this Jill... While I prove I'm not completely useless."

"Why are you so afraid of these people?" Dave sighed. "Why do you have to be so hard headed? You act like you hate them."

Sherry waited until after dark to slip into Ark's room. She slid into the bed with him, listening a while to his deep and even breathing. She needed him, even if he might not know who she was.

"Are you really blaming me for being mistrustful of people?" Ruby hissed. "You tried to kill me... Rebecca forgot about me, and Sherry..." Ruby shook her head, finding it painful to think about her only friend. "I'll never see her again, though that one is probably for the best. All that aside... Even my parents didn't want me!"

Ark's arms slid around Sherry and he smiled. She always smelled so good, and sleep was all the more satisfying when she dared come close enough.

"You don't even know that for sure." Dave whispered, sliding his fingers through her's as he led her toward the tiny gas station across the street. "You never knew your parents. You're the lucky one."

Sherry pressed her lips to Ark's, hoping he wouldn't wake up and kick her out. She wanted nothing more than to share the night with him. She wanted to believe that she truly belonged to him, even if it was only for a few hours.

Ruby's fingers were tight as they held Dave's, as though subconsciously, she was afraid he would leave too. "You rescued me... They never even tried." She whispered.

Ark was awake just enough that he returned Sherry's kiss, his fingers sinking lightly against her hips as he held her close to him.

"I don't know that they knew about you. Maybe...we should find them instead." Dave suggested, shoving open the door to the gas station and nearly crashing into Chris and Jill.

"Don't stop." Sherry pleaded, pushing her own fingers up through his hair. "I need you."

Ruby crashed into the back of Dave when made a sudden stop, cursing under her breath as she rubbed at her pert nose.
Jill had come looking for Chris, ready to compromise over the things that were threatening to drive them apart. She hadn't expected to find him in the gas station buying cigarettes, she had initially come here for something to drink.

"I don't want to hurt you... " Ark breathed, though he was kissing Sherry again. "I... Don't want you to leave me..."