Ande fiddles with a few more things while I look for a good place to stay out of his way. A window leaks fresh air into the cab and I lean out for a moment to check the track ahead. It's still dark, not much to see, just passing scrub and more moonlight over the quiet desert.
"Don't mind Ch-ch-chime," Ande says as I turn back and meet his eyes. "She's r-r-really a good person. Just... well, we're all k-k-kind of freaked out by the Crawlers being af-f-fter us."
"I'm sorry," I start to say, but he shakes his head, hopping down to join me at the window for a full breath of air expanding his skinny chest to almost comical proportions. He gently punches my arm with his little fist. He's bony, almost like Socrates, but more gangly as though he will end up very tall and very slim when he's done
