The Badlands: Kinship

We continue for a few more hours on foot before the groups stops and sends out the camping tech. Mia sets up our usual camp along with theirs. I suppose safety in numbers and all that. I watch as the mercenary group with general Timerus is setting up their tech based camps. They even have storm guard systems, in case of a sandstorm, which is very common out in the badlands.

We would usually just base ourselves in the tents in that scenario. I join Mia in the tent when we have the camp fully set up. I get into my bed and she crawls in with me. I sigh as the night begins. We hope we are safe with these guys.

“So, we are one step closer to getting to the project that can finally give us all drinking water.” Mia sighs.

“Yeah, that and we are closer to calling this life we live behind us.” I say.

“Are you saying you aren’t going to want to do another adventure after we are done?” Mia asks.

“Well, I am not sure.” I reply. “It’s exhausting to think we are almost always at risk of dying, doesn’t that bother you?” I add.

“Well, yeah, but we can do so much good with that risk being taken.” Mia explains with confidence.

“That’s a fair point.” I say.

She is right, who am I to argue this? Maybe I should consider doing more work for mercenaries when we are done with this mission. I wouldn’t be with the reputation I have now, if it wasn’t for Mia getting me out of Basha.

“You two have done plenty for the world.” Timerus speaks as he lays a hand on my shoulder.

“This is true.” Mia sighs. “But, there is always more to be done, like retrieving project purity.” She adds.

“She’s right.” I say. “It’s not like the work load will lighten at all.” I sigh.

We all walk towards a campfire in the middle of the mercenary encampment we have set up. I can smell heated metal as i approach. They must be preparing some canned goods, back from the old world. I can only hope this tastes good. Everything that comes in a can tends to taste like metal, mainly.

“Maybe the next thing will be making proper food available to the badlands.” Mia suggests with a laugh.

“Let’s get the water situation done first, Mia. We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves.” I reply.

Timerus sighs, sitting on a stone while eating his canned food. I dare no even question what we are eating, as it is a brown thick paste like I’ve never seen. I try to put forward a face of enjoyment, but this food is repulsive by sight. The smell is only like metal, nothing more. Mia even is wearing a brave face as she tries to stomach the food. It takes only that for me to decide I am better off not eating tonight.

“Ain’t you hungry?” Timerus asks me.

I can’t offend the food, but its truly a ghastly site, almost as if they are eating droppings of an animal. I shudder inside, watching him take another bite from the canned mess. I swallow, hoping my dread of the food is not that obvious.

“Nah, I think I still am shook up from earlier.” I try to play this off, like it is the real reason I’m not eating this meal.

“That and I’m guessing it's exciting for tomorrow, when we hit the St. Lawrence Canyon.” Mia adds.

“That’s true. I’ve only ever heard of the place.” I admit.

“That’s because it’s a dangerous area.” Timerus pipes up. “Not many live to travel through, let alone two times, so not too much is known about the St. Lawrence Canyon.” He adds.

“Well, I suppose we will find out for ourselves tomorrow. We will follow the canyon, where the project was researched is just along it.” Mia says. “At the top or bottom of the canyon however, we don’t know because of how much time has passed.” She adds.

“Well, we will just start at the bottom, then look at the top. Odds are it will be at the bottom, seeing as so much erosion would happen over such a time.” I say.

“He has a point.” Timerus says. “It would also mean we may not have to climb the other side of the canyon. Who knows what would be on the other side.” He explains his thoughts.

“Fair enough.” Mia says. “Either way, I’m going to the tent, we have a long day ahead tomorrow.” She gets up and heads for our section of the camp.

“I’m coming too.” I say, trying to keep up with her.

I follow her as we make our way through the camp and into our tent for the night. Mia seems to be thinking of other things as she gets situated for bed. I only follow suit. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. We have to explore the St. Lawrence Canyon if we expect to bring out project purity from the old world’s ruins.

“We should get as much rest as possible.” Mia says as she climbs into the bed.

“Agreed.” I strip down and climb into the bed with her.

“Hey, Etha...” She whispers in the dark.

“Yeah?” I exasperate.

“Thanks for everything.” She says, sleep filling her voice.

It isn’t very long before she and I both fade into sleep. I am thankful for everything too. If only she really understood that. Maybe it needs to be made clear to her.

I awaken from my slumber to a loud horn. The camp outside I can hear clamouring about the day ahead. I quickly roll from bed and get back into my clothing. Mia rolls over in the bed and opens her eyes.

“Good morning, I am guessing we will have a breakfast before we all pack up and leave.” I say.

“Right.” Mia gets out of bed and gets dressed.

I try to not be awkward in times like this. She is so comfortable with me being around. I would never want to make her feel any different. I start packing my gear for our journey.

“So, the St. Lawrence Canyon is in our path today..” I utter.

“Nervous are we?” She chuckles.

“A bit.” I admit.

It takes a moment before she is fully ready. We take our leave from the tent into our camp. The tent folds back into the device it comes from and Mia pockets it. I sigh gently.

We walk through the camp to find Timerus. It is not too crowded here, so we should be able to find him pretty quickly. Mia leads us to the spot where we had dinner last night. My stomach growls. I should’ve eaten the garbage from those cans, at least to tie over my hunger.

“Well well, you two awaken easy.” Timerus says from behind us.

“We were actually looking for you before we head out.” Mia says.

“What’s on your mind?” He replies.

“We are hoping to get there quickly, the St. Lawrence Canyon, that is.” Mia says.

“The sooner we finish this mission, the better.” I agree.

Me and Mia feel like we have built a bond beyond normal. Almost like we share a brain. I wonder if she thinks along the same lines.

“The groups going to eat before we depart” Timerus says. “A well fed group is a strong group.” He adds.

“Alright. Make it quick, we been on the road for weeks.” Mia says.

“Has it been that long?” I ask.

“Yeah, Etha, we left Basha about three weeks ago now.” She reassures me.

“That’s unreal.. It feels like a few days have gone by.” I admit.

I sit down at the ashes of last nights fire. Everyone else eats. I still refuse to touch that garbage in the cans. I couldn’t imagine trying to stuff down food from the old world, when its so old. Who knows how long those cans were intended to last.

“Why aren’t you eating Etha?” Mia asks me.

“Not hungry.” I sluff it off so I don’t make everyone offended.

“Fair enough.” Timerus says. “Then let’s make the most of our time in camp, Etha.” He adds.

“What do you have in mind?” I ask.

“Follow me and you’ll see.” He sounds full of excitement.

“Okay.” I accept his offer.

Before I get the chance to signal Mia I would be fine, Timerus is heading off to the other end of the camp from where we slept. I wonder what he has in mind? It’s a couple of minutes before we walk upon some crates.

“Load up with a primary, secondary and make sure to get a few boxes of ammo.” He says, prying a crate open, revealing a whole slew of ballistic weapons.

“Just take my pick?” I ask.

“Yeah.” He reassures me.

“Alright.” I nod.

“I’ll see you back at the dining section and then we will leave.” Timerus says.

Before I can reply, he is already walking away. I sigh. I suppose I best dig into these guns.

I toss the lid aside and start rummaging through the old world’s guns. All of the guns are salvaged from the old world, so this is nothing new. I find a fully automatic rifle and lay its strap over my shoulder. Something about having this much firepower in my grasp feels comforting. I walk my way back towards the center of camp.