[It doesn't take long for Barry to finish fastening the chains, and he gets up off his haunches with a dull grunt. The cold around them seeped into their pores and the more time spent in the thick of it, the worse a person began to feel.

Cagey was as well worn on him as the military service bracelet on one of his wrists. It was comfortable, and his stand-offishness typically kept him absolved from any unnecessary amount of bullshit at the end of the day.]

I don't mind. [Taking him back, that is, the offer had been sincere even if it was just his way of changing the subject. Barry was lucky enough to have a car here when the vast majority didn't.] I'm Barry. You'll have to tell me which way you're headed. I haven't been here long enough to get a real good lay of the land.