"Nothing. Just wondering how you became such a ladies' man."
"That's easy. I was born this way. It's all natural, baby."
Yeah, right. "What's your favorite food?"
"Pizza, the meat lover's kind. What, are we playing twenty questions here?"
Another mosquito—fortunately not giant-sized like some of the other bugs in the valley—landed on her arm and prepared for a meal. She squashed it and wiped away the splattered blood. Wonder whose blood that belonged to? "No. I'm just trying to learn more about you. You don't talk about yourself or your past much."
"You'd like me to, wouldn't you?"
"Well, yeah."
Hunter stopped, and Lucy bumped into him. He caught her around the waist, but then pulled back to look at her. "Let me ask you a question. Do you like talking about your past?"
Lucy considered. She'd never had to talk about her past before, to anyone. "Actually, no, I don't."
Hunter's pupils dilated and his green eyes looked even brighter. "We're not our past, Lucy. It influences us, sure, but even then we choose how it shapes us. One guy can grow up with alcoholic parents and become one himself, while another guy raised in the same family dynamic becomes a therapist who helps hundreds conquer their addictions. The past is just a collection of shady memories strung together by emotion. Nothing more. The choices of the moment make us who we are, not what happened to us as children. We are the values we choose to live by in the present. The past isn't important beyond the lessons we learn from it."
He locked eyes with her, as if trying to tell her something very important with just a look. "You won't learn anything real about me by exploring my past. You'll get to know me better by observing the kind of man I am now."
She wondered if he had secrets he was ashamed of, but then decided it didn't matter. His words made sense. She couldn't be judged by the life she'd lived at Rent-A-Kid. That life didn't define her, or speak to all of who she was on the inside. At least, she hoped it didn't. But her choices, they did speak to her character. What would her recent choices say about her?
They broke through the thick foliage and neared a cliff that reached high into the sky. Lucy craned her neck and looked up. "Maybe we could climb out?"
She didn't have to see the look on Hunter's face to know that climbing was preposterous. Even if they'd been skilled mountaineers, they would have found it impossible.
Hunter grabbed her hand and led her to the left, walking along the cliff face. "Maybe we'll find a way out of the valley if we follow this far enough."
She squeezed his hand. "Maybe, but doubtful. The answer is likely more complex, otherwise why wouldn't Mr. K just tell us?"
"Not sure. Maybe he's just messing with us because he's lonely and doesn't want us to leave. Can you imagine what it must be like for him here?"
To her horror, Lucy realized that she hadn't given much thought to what Mr. K's day-to-day life was like, with no one to talk to, no way to leave. "I don't think he'd deliberately keep us here. He's not like that."
Hunter responded sadly, "You don't know what people can become if put in the right—or wrong—circumstances. Desperation is a powerful incentive."
She did know what people could become, having experienced some pretty scary shit, but she refused to believe that of Mr. K. She focused instead on following the cliff as it curved ahead of them. It didn't lead to an exit of any kind, but it did put them on the edge of a small lake fed by a waterfall. Lucy had an overwhelming urge to jump in and get clean. Her body odor and greasy hair made her want to crawl out of her own skin, especially with Hunter so close.
"Check it out. Nature's shower. I need to get clean, will you stand watch?"
He waggled his eyebrow in excitement. "I'd love to stand and watch! Better yet, I could use a shower myself."
She swatted him in the chest. "You're not watching or joining. Now turn around and look elsewhere."
"You can't boss me around. You're not my boss. You're not even an agent."
"Maybe not, but I'm a lady. And thou shalt not gaze upon me. Also, I can kick your ass—and don't think I won't if I catch you peeking."
Hunter's snicker followed her as she made her way to the water. She reached to pull off her shirt, but turned first and waved her arm. "Shoo. Go occupy yourself some other way. Keep an eye out for killer ants or something."
"Fine."