The Badlands: Kinship

I can't help but think she has been travelling before. I shake the thought out of my head. I must be out of my mind to think it possible.

"Pack whatever you'll need for the trip to New Boston." She says.

"Suggestions?" I ask.

"Masks, a cloak and hood, goggles. if you have one a sword or gun." She lists her basics. "After that you fill a bag with water." She sighs.

"No food?"

"Only two days worth." She glances to me.

She seems so concise with what she says and would do. I am more of a coward than one to try to walk through the Badlands. I can't just let her out there alone again to die.

"It's enough to stop you from starving and it's light enough so you can run." She explains.

"Oh." I sigh.

She sounds like she speaks from experience. I don't ask. I continue through the home and grab some water and scarves. A mask and pair of goggles. I shake my head.

"The old world had to have been better than this.. Why would They lay the world to wastes?" I ask to myself.

"Probably money." Mia takes a deep breath. "We aren't far from finding out though." She says.

"God knows how many feet down." I huff.

"Well that and New Boston." She smiles.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I say as the walls rattle lightly from the breeze outside.

"I mean we have to travel across before we even climb down the site." She says.

"So who's all in on this?" I ask.

I swing the door open as we walk outside into the intense heat. The sandstorms always leave with this intense arid heat. sometimes Basha is lucky to be even with people living here still. The rumors of the coast settlements like Lost Angels, sound like they are paradise. However, I haven't a clue as to what may lurk below the waters surface. Let alone if they can drink that water.

I suppose this is why Mia wants the instructions for making a water purifying system. sure, we boil every bit we get, but that doesn't always kill all the disease that is within it. I've seen people go without distilling fully and end up dead a few days later. Nobody is sure what kills us like that in the water, but we assume it's from the Old World.

"Well, let me think." Mia says as she pulls out an odd black device. "About Seven for this trip." She recollects. She places a small set of twelve batteries into the black device.

"What is that?" I ask.

"It's apparently from Old Russia. A laser blaster. one of the many violations of the old laws, I am sure." She sighs.

"What's it do?" I can't help but be curious.

We continue walking for a while before she even acknowledges my question. she nods and looks around. She must have seen something I can't because she fires off into the desert. red beam bellows out with a high pitched whir. Then a squeal of pain echoes from the direction she fired from.

"What did you see?" I ask.

THUD.

I hear a body hit the ground near us. the beast was not actually far, just good with making deceptive noises. It comes into view.

"I call them camo riders." Mia says.

"Alright." I look to its pink skin and set of six legs with tusks that would drag along the ground it seems.

"They are usually hiding from something bigger. either way, let's keep going. Any more questions?" She asks.

"Not right now. no." I sigh.

Mia and I walk along the desert. all I can think about is this insane heat. I don't think the world will ever cool down from the war of the old world. It's been over two thousand years and we still are seeing effects from the amount of radiation.

I look up and around. it seems like endless sand every way I look into. Mia seems determined and certain of her travel path. now that I am away from Basha, I know it's nearly impossible to just wander out into another settlement without someone who knows their way or at least have a map handy. The old world tool of a compass no longer works as the radiation messes with its ability to find true north, so even then it's unlikely to find another settlement.

"Hey, Etha." Mia breaks the silence.

"Yeah, what's up?" I ask.

"Have you ever seen anything growing before?" She asks me.

"The one lot of land in Basha, it grows these small red tomatoes." I reply.

"I see." She sighs. "Well, be careful not to touch the greenery up ahead." She says.

"What for?" I ask.

"If you get scratched by it, it can kill you." She says flatly.

"I see." I swallow deeply.

I look up to the distance ahead of us. A huge field of spiked green plants fill up the upcoming part of the desert. How exactly are we going to avoid these?

"We are going through. Walk through where I clear." She says.

"Alright."

"I'm going to shoot them, the heat of the laser should be enough to burn the plant." She says.

Before I even think more on it, she's firing her laser blaster into the field of plants. The high whirring repeats with every shot she fires. I only wonder what purpose this tech had in the old world. Are we really ready to handle the old world technology?

I follow behind Mia as she guides my through the plant field. It seems like everything out here is lethal. Any thing has the potential to kill me and the thought is terrifying.

We have been walking for hours already and I feel like I am going to die. The heat is getting to me even quicker due to the heat from the laser burning the plants away. Seems that whatever in it that poisons us, is what burns so well.

As we come through the other side you can see mountains of to the left in the far distance. I take a moment to enjoy the view. The sun is on its way towards the horizon line for nightfall.

"We're going to want to set up a camp." She says.

"A camp? What for?" I ask.

"Well, we stay put and rest up, eat and watch each other over night until we can actually see where we are going. I take it you've never been out at night?" she asks.

"I haven't. I was always told it was a danger to do so." I reply.

"Well, I do it a lot, comes with my field." She sighs.

"And what field is that?" I ask her.

"I'm a mercenary. the last known guild for us to work from was in Fifty-Five Hundred Twenty-Seven." She replies.

"So like a gun for hire?" I ask.

"Kind of." She sighs. "Honestly it's nothing in comparison to the storm riders. they were the Badlands version of a true mercenary. Man was I born in the wrong time." She rambles.

We keep walking for a while longer. she stops in one spot and takes a seat on the desert ground. there is no wind barrier, what if a storm comes?

"Hey uh, Mia, not to question your experience, but don't we need shelter?" I ask.

"We do, I have the solution." She laughs lightly. she must have done this before. It seems she is ready for almost anything.

"And what would that be?" I ask skeptical of her statement.

"Yeah, in this.." She pauses as she scrounges through her pockets. "Thing." She finishes holding up a short silver cylinder.

"An oversized coin?" I try not to laugh.

"Laugh while you can." She huffs and throws it.

It lands on the sand kicking up a bunch into the wind. Then I can hear a quiet whirring and clicking to follow it. Mia stands beside me and elbows me.

"Watch this." She says confidently. "The old world had all kinds of neat stuff they left behind." She adds.

The cylinder expands and opens up, popping a metal tent shaped shelter. My jaw drops. never have I seen anything like this.

"This is magic." I say.

"No, just some really advanced science we don't understand anymore." She replies.

"It looks like magic."

"Something can appear to be one thing and be another, Etha." She laughs.

It seems I really am clueless about things that are in our world. Can I ever learn enough to not be blindsided like this? I only hope so.

"So, We are sleeping in there?" I ask.

"Only one bed, funny business. I'll burn you like them plants." She says as she aligns the blaster to her eye. "got me?"

I quietly nod. She is attractive, although that's the farthest thing from my mind. survival is the way. Survival is how we live.

"Yeah." I reply. I take a hard swallow while she lowers her blaster.

"Good. now that we have an understanding, I'm gonna get the inside ready." She says.

It seems rather odd. She seems so defensive yet she is openly active in her routines. She seems to not care if I'm here or not. So long as I don't cross any boundaries.

"Hey, let's get a fire started to cook up something to eat." She says.

"I'm on it. We have any fire-making supplies in there?" I ask.

A metal tent tosses out of the tent what looks like a candy box from the old world. I pick it up and stare in confusion. This can't be for a fire.