At some point, Levi thought it would be best to turn the radio up and switched to a random station playing 80's music. They had been driving straight for an hour now with the earth around them gradually becoming dry cracked earth with stumps of odd looking plants and cacti and the road getting more bumpy and faded. The sun was a blazing giant egg yolk and the sky was a soft baby blue with clouds smeared on it. The interior of the car was getting warmer from the sweltering afternoon heat outside. Unfortunately with the car being a senior citizen, the air conditioning wasn't good as Levi had hoped. Even so, Eren fell asleep with his head slumped to the side of his seat and his hands limp to his torso.
His stomach was queasy with anxiety as he watched the gas tank haltingly decrease the farther and farther they travelled. They didn't have money for gas money, but at least they were in such an isolted area with no seen humans around. It was so alien, almost out of place. Levi was always used to being in areas with a high concentration of people. He felt as if he were trapped in a child's picture book or a snowglobe; frozen in time and doomed to repeat and relive the same moment endlessly. To his luck and potential chance of being recognized, he could see the pointed silhouettes of house rooftops and buildings. He could see a ferris wheel and water tower. It seemed a little grim to him, it being out of nowhere and all.
When it was about late afternoon, Eren began to wake up. Levi noticed how confused he appeared whenever this happened; his brows knit together and his eyes squinting in all directions as if he could not remember where and when he had fallen asleep. Suddenly, he panicked and straighted his posture as if shocked. His eyes went wide with alarm.
"Hmm?" Levi grunted.
"Bad dream. It was just a bad dream," he answered but it sounded as if he were talking to himself. Sweat glistened on his forehead. He tried to regulate his breathing as he gradually began to calm down.
"You alright?" Levi asked.
"I'm fine. It was nothing like all the other dreams I've had, that's all."
"Want to talk about it if it makes you feel better?"
Eren exhaled slowly as he rubbed his temples gingerly. "It was a very odd dream. I was trying to search for something I misplaced, something that I thought I'd never dream of missing when I lost it. Oh, it felt horrible; like my world was falling apart."
"What was said missing object?"
"I can't remember. All I can recall is that it was supposedly important to me," Eren continued and looked away as he swallowed nervously.
"Are you sure you're fine? You're looking very pale right now. It's quite concerning."
"It was a very vivid dream, let's just leave it at that." Something in Eren's voice suggested that he didn't want to go on with the topic anymore. "Anyways, do you have any idea where we're heading?"
"I see a town in view and I think we have no other choice than to stop there because we're just on the brink of running out of gas," Levi informed him as he jutted his chin to the side of Eren, where the image of said town was growing.
"What if someone recognizes you?" Eren asked as he looked over at him.
"We already talked about this, didn't we? I won't care whether or not they see me anymore. I'm in the grey now," Levi said as he shook his head with dismissal.
Eren was no longer listening. He had his face pressed up the window like an excited child on would when they see a carnival. His breath fogged up the glass and his pupils seemed to search across the stretch of the town curiously. "I don't think that's going to be a problem anymore."
