Better than I was. Yeah, thanks. [Gingerly capping his canteen, good left shoulder still propped against the nearest wall, disappointment finally settles down into the marrow of his bones. It isn't them. Of course it isn't. He had to know better, even when he asked, somehow in his heart, he knew.

That he doesn't buckle and fall right then and there across the outstretched line of the stranger's arm is a miracle in its own right. ] --mostly.

[There's only a slight pause where his fingers grasp at the wall instead, attention redirected:] You haven't seen anyone else around here have you? A girl, scavenger. Or a uh, a pilot? Tall, dark hair. Orange flight suit.