Austin sighed before seating himself in his own tent breathing in deeply as the slightly cooler air of the tent hit his skin, he had both side flaps unzipped on either side out the small window like holes. He glanced to his right , he could see Tony through the hole and his face softened. Tony had almost lost his mind during a breakdown before they lost everyone to the herd. He was kind, soft and emotional and Austin couldn't help but feel protective over Tony. Tony reminded Austin of his younger brother even though Austin and Tony were the same age. The memory suddenly pierced Austins heart, he wasn't sure if his brother was dead or not. It caused him to turn away from Tony and look down his eyes moist.
Austin pondered if Tony had simply toughened up or if he was pushing all of those emotions deep down. "So when are we moving on from this dump anyways?", the words were sudden and drew Austin out of his thoughts. He looked up, Shiloh was crouched in front of his tent looking intently. Austin simply gave him a dumbfounded look in return. "Fine, I'm sorry about not helping at the damn ladder alright?" said Shiloh as he took off his sunglasses, thinking Austin was ignoring him.
Austin chuckled in return, he had learned how to push Shiloh's buttons a certain way. "I'm not sure. Whenever we decide to leave but we've gotta have a plan." Shiloh motioned for Austin to move over, Austin gave him a confused look but did so. Shiloh sat down in the tent beside Austin and glanced out at Tony before turning back to Austin. "You know we're not going to see any of them right? They're dead or gone, they aren't going to just stroll by." he said in a hushed voice so Tony couldn't hear. Austin glanced out at Tony, part of the reason they'd stayed on this gas station this long was for a small hope they'd catch sight some of their original group, that and stocking up, but the gas station was almost bone dry at this point. "I know." he said quietly before gazing back at Shiloh. And the main reason Tony was on watch was because he was waiting in hope that someone they knew would pass by. He'd take watch as often as Austin would let him. Austin had to talk him into resting in his tent sometimes, no need for sunstroke.
"That kids got a big heart, but we can't stay here any longer waiting for people who aren't going to show up. To survive in this world we have to keep moving." Shiloh said quietly, his hand motioning towards Tony. Austin nodded, and Shiloh nodded back. They both emerged from the tent and Tony looked over at them with a half smile. "Look uh..." Austin started, not making eye contact at first, he rubbed the back of his own neck with his hand. Finally he made eye contact with Tony "..the gas stations picked clean so we should head out soon. We've already been here for a few days." Tony's half smile faded, "But shouldn't we wait a little lo--". Tony was cut off by Shiloh. "No one is coming and we're leaving so just deal with it."
Tony's face seemed to get even more pale and he looked down at the ground but nodded, his grip on the rifle tigthened. Austin gave Shiloh an angry look. "You just can't help yourself can you?" Austin crouched by the chair Tony was in. "We need to move on Tony, it's for the best. You'll see." he said, then stood back up "Let's leave in the morning, we can rest up tonight and pack up." . Austin looked over his shoulder making sure Shiloh heard him. Shiloh's outburst caught the attention of a nearby walker who wandered over beating on the wall of the gas station below. Shiloh grunted, "I've got it." Rounding around the back of Austin's tent grabbing a long metal pole they had been using to pick off any walkers that decided to mess with the gas station, one end of the pole was stained dark red from the skulls it had already impaled.