He glanced at her as she rubbed her eyes. She didn't seem very steady on her feet just yet, and even if it hadn't occurred to him that she had yet to eat he could understand why. Carson was a bit of a juggernaut--very little slowed him down, even if he were exhausted, and climbing through even knee-height snow had drained him considerably. Malia, who was considerably less durable, must have felt nearly exhausted. He yanked her in and lifted her up off her feet, carrying her pack and all bridal-style down the last stretch of the mountain.<br/><br/>"Operating it is simple. One handle controls the acceleration, there's a foot pedal to shift gears, but we won't need to worry about that. We're going to take it slower going back. We don't have much time--but we do have some." Despite knowing how much he'd have to train the Runner volunteers, he felt better about the way things were going. They had their alliance, and the Vanguard would find it much harder to destroy the Runners with even as little as four Striders standing in the way.<br/><br/>They neared the spot he'd stashed the Growler amid the tangled hulk of ancient vehicles, all piled up beneath the concrete pillars and chunk of road suspended dozens of feet above the ground. When they reached it he eased her back onto her feet and slung his pack off of his shoulder, digging through it one-handed until he came up with some dried meat and bread. "I only just realized--you haven't eaten all day, have you? We're taking ten minutes here and now to stop and fix that. No argument."