Chapter 23: THE BOUNTY HUNTERS [PART FOUR]

The glow of firelight, a canister of siphoned energy released against the cold air of a frigid night. Within the small outcropping of rock does the pair of souls find rest, a day’s battle and travel easing into the howling wind of the Baitan Plateau. Silence against a universe, the only sound a faint crackle of slowly cooking survival rations and the loud crunch of snack food consumption.

“Are you going to save some for me?” The girl asks as she warms herself against the pale flame.

“I will.” The sibling replies as he inhales a half-eaten piece of stale cake.

Dry and sugary, wrapped in old frosting covered paper; white flour hardened through exposure to air. Expiry unknown from a town far away, but sustenance undeniable in digestion. A luxury in the desert, delicious even in a fallen state such as it is.

Watching as her brother continues to eat the girl sighs. “That does not seem like the case.”

“I am hungry. I need to eat.”

“You are always hungry.”

“Correct.” He replies coldly.

A pause as she rubs her hands together, blinking as she remembers. Familiarity with the sight of completeness, a light smile bridging on her face as she quietly watches the cooking food above the fire.

Synthesized rations from ley line towers, gifts from dead gods. Split into five portions of entrees and snacks, each was delicately packaged within plastic and marked with ancient lettering. An opened product sits upon the fire, a singular block of protein, carbohydrates, and emulsifiers broiling upon a hot iron stove. A meal split between two beings of one blood, the craving of flesh too much.

“Is the meal done yet?” The girl asks impatiently.

“It is almost done.” The boy replies straightly.

She pauses as she watches the meal. “Does it need to be cooked in such a fashion?”

“It is being cooked for your convenience and enjoyment. I do not require for my nutrition to be cooked but yet you need it as such.”

The girl blinks. “I am hungry now.”

He narrows his eyes in response, brown irises reflecting dim light. “The quality of this specific ration is only improved through cooking. I do not recommend eating it before it is finished.”

“Then how long will it take?”

A glance at the surface of iron, the boy’s eyes igniting as he measures the temperature alongside his own cook time. “Perhaps three more minutes.”

“Give me some of your portion at least.”

“We agreed on this allotment of resources.” The boy pauses. “Correct?”

“We did.” The girl admits begrudgingly.

An open hand, within it a single unopened package of small, unmarked sugar cookies. “Then I assume this will prevent further complaining.”

Taking it slowly from her brother the girl tears it open. Small, individual sphere shaped balls of baked confectionery stare back in the darkness, the scent of pure refined sugar and vanilla wafting into its soon to be consumer.

Produced in the heavens above, from ancient ley lines the blessing of the sleeping gods to be eaten by the lowly mortals beneath them.

Savagely stuffing the small things into her mouth with both her hands the girl consumes the entire bag without restraint, bloodlust satiated in hunger.

In utter silence she speaks, reminiscence reserved for the fulfilled. “Do you ever think of… home?”

“Home?”

“The location we spent our early lives within.” The girl specifies. “I have been remembering it.”

Memory takes them across endless deserts and oceans of sand. A land where waves of heat distort the air itself and great beasts roam, imagination augmented with memory flourishing as the mind's eye takes them to lost landscapes.

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A clean room of two beds and white walls of steel; plates of warm, fresh food and water. The equilibrium of a paradise a facade against truth.

Brutality, the soulless eyes of purposeful intent. Living beings as simple tools, the rarity of their condition pitted against scientific dogma and religious fact.

Destiny drives forth horrendous acts as they carve flesh.

“I attempt not to do so.” The boy blinks.

The girl pauses. “But at least you never went hungry.”

“This is a preferable lifestyle despite its risks.” The boy replies as he watches the fire. “I find that your remembrance finds only the most positive of memories despite the actuality of the events.”

“I was attempting to soothe your current emotional state.”

“In that case you have failed to cure a non-existent issue.”

The girl humphs, crossing her arms as she stares down her sibling. “If I had a singular wish it would be to have escaped with a better traveling companion. Someone more grateful.”

“That would be a grave waste of a wish with consideration to the state of the world.” The boy replies.

“Then what would you wish for?”

“A decrease in global temperature.” The reply comes straight. “This will help solve many of the world’s problems.”

“That is boring.”

“It is practical.”

“You would not wish for more food?”

“A resultant effect of a global temperature decrease would be the theoretically ability to grow food without hydroponic gardening in the Southlandic Regions. Therefore, it would be practical.”

“That is still boring.”

“You are entitled to your own, uneducated and selfish opinion of the matter. However, realize that in such a case the usage of the wish is sub-optimal.”

A silent glare, the girl turning away.

“The main meal is done.” The boy alerts his sister, reaching over to the central fire. “As agreed before, I will split the…”

A twinge of reality catches the mind’s eye, abstraction against a world of absolute functions. Reaching out into the wasteland a familiar scent catches upon trained ears, the subtle distortion of gravity itself arriving with terrifying implication.

“Is there something wrong?” The girl asks as she turns around to face her brother.

A raised hand, finger to his lips. Quiet in the howling wind, the crackle of a chemical fire echoing across sun bleached rock.

“What is the issue?” She continues against the order. “I am hungry. Please distribute the food.”

“Silence.” The boy orders vocally as he turns to scan the darkness beyond the firelight.

Above the pair of siblings the Five Suns stand in rest, once sources of near unbearable heat now asleep in dim afterglow. A rage suspended in nightfall, augmented sight scanning the distant peaks of eroded rock.

The girl continues with cold sarcasm. “Why, because you have realized that your wish is truly boring?”

A warm female voice from above, the dark form nestled within the rock outcropping. Accent from across desert sands, the sound reaches the twins like thunder. “The girl, although correct in technicality, makes an assumption of the timeframe.”