to pack supplies. Leah was there, rifling through the supply closet.
“What are you doing?” He asked as he stood over her while she sat with her skinny, long legs stuck out in front of her and packages lying all about.
“Organizing,” she said, looking up over her shoulder at him as she talked. “I’m creating an inventory of every item we have and separating them by category. Foodstuffs here, clothing here, tools here...”
“It’s already organized. They didn’t just throw all this shit in here for us at the last minute. Every container is marked.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. The food, for example, is all vacuum sealed in these containers but they aren’t categorized. You want chicken? Good luck finding it. I’m going to make it ... easier.” She flashed a smile and winked at him.
“I have something better for you to do. See that container right there?” He waited for her to find it. “Okay, open it. Good. Grab that silver package and open it up. It’s a thermal wrap. While I’m gone I need you to seal the inside of this shuttle as best you can with it, got it? We can’t afford to sleep every night in subzero temperatures.”
“How does it go on?”
“You’ll figure it out,” he started to leave.
“How much do I put on? Should we save some?”
He mumbled something obscene and kept on walking, but then something occurred to him to tell her just in case she really was that dense. “Just don’t cover the door, okay? Or the vent shaft. God forbid you suffocate before I get back.”
“Where are you going?” She asked, jumping up and following him out of the room. Leah stood in the hallway and waited for his response.
Josh fixed his gloves on and said. “For a hike. I’ll be gone for a few hours.”
“What if you get lost, or hurt? How am I supposed to find you?”
He sighed and looked at her with tired eyes, “You don’t. Chances are if I’m not back by tonight I’m probably dead, so you might as well just kill yourself and get this whole fucking charade over with.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“I’m not the one who isn’t supposed to be here. I don’t even want to be here, especially with you. If you’d had gone to the academy, you’d be capable of coming with me and I wouldn’t have to look after you like an infant. Instead, you just stay here and play dollhouse with our supplies and read your completely and utterly useless book.” His eyes ran up and down the length of her body. “At least clean yourself up before I get back.”
With that he left for the hike and became increasingly despondent over their situation. It was a sheer stroke of cosmic injustice, a dark fate leveled against mankind that he would be paired with an invalid. He knew her type from his studies and the rumors about civvies and how they lived outside of the academy. She was coddled, naive, the type that expects life to part before her every step whether in good deed or in error. The type of person that expects everything and gives nothing.
Somehow, in Leah’s infantile mind, it would all work out no matter what. Some people called this faith. Josh understood it lowered their probability of success to nearly zero percent.
Chapter 4
Josh could feel the temperature fall by the minute as he climbed over rocks and pushed through skeletal undergrowth that reached up from the ground like elongated fingers. He stopped for a rest to get his bearings, and the air about him was still. Silent. The tall, ancient pine trees stood all around him like hairs upon an ungodly beast, he a mere flea crawling amongst them. Occasionally the tick tack sound of a dry pine cone would make its way down from a high branch until it thudded onto a bed of dry needles.
Josh pulled out his tablet and checked his progress. He was still about thirty
“What are you doing?” He asked as he stood over her while she sat with her skinny, long legs stuck out in front of her and packages lying all about.
“Organizing,” she said, looking up over her shoulder at him as she talked. “I’m creating an inventory of every item we have and separating them by category. Foodstuffs here, clothing here, tools here...”
“It’s already organized. They didn’t just throw all this shit in here for us at the last minute. Every container is marked.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. The food, for example, is all vacuum sealed in these containers but they aren’t categorized. You want chicken? Good luck finding it. I’m going to make it ... easier.” She flashed a smile and winked at him.
“I have something better for you to do. See that container right there?” He waited for her to find it. “Okay, open it. Good. Grab that silver package and open it up. It’s a thermal wrap. While I’m gone I need you to seal the inside of this shuttle as best you can with it, got it? We can’t afford to sleep every night in subzero temperatures.”
“How does it go on?”
“You’ll figure it out,” he started to leave.
“How much do I put on? Should we save some?”
He mumbled something obscene and kept on walking, but then something occurred to him to tell her just in case she really was that dense. “Just don’t cover the door, okay? Or the vent shaft. God forbid you suffocate before I get back.”
“Where are you going?” She asked, jumping up and following him out of the room. Leah stood in the hallway and waited for his response.
Josh fixed his gloves on and said. “For a hike. I’ll be gone for a few hours.”
“What if you get lost, or hurt? How am I supposed to find you?”
He sighed and looked at her with tired eyes, “You don’t. Chances are if I’m not back by tonight I’m probably dead, so you might as well just kill yourself and get this whole fucking charade over with.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“I’m not the one who isn’t supposed to be here. I don’t even want to be here, especially with you. If you’d had gone to the academy, you’d be capable of coming with me and I wouldn’t have to look after you like an infant. Instead, you just stay here and play dollhouse with our supplies and read your completely and utterly useless book.” His eyes ran up and down the length of her body. “At least clean yourself up before I get back.”
With that he left for the hike and became increasingly despondent over their situation. It was a sheer stroke of cosmic injustice, a dark fate leveled against mankind that he would be paired with an invalid. He knew her type from his studies and the rumors about civvies and how they lived outside of the academy. She was coddled, naive, the type that expects life to part before her every step whether in good deed or in error. The type of person that expects everything and gives nothing.
Somehow, in Leah’s infantile mind, it would all work out no matter what. Some people called this faith. Josh understood it lowered their probability of success to nearly zero percent.
Chapter 4
Josh could feel the temperature fall by the minute as he climbed over rocks and pushed through skeletal undergrowth that reached up from the ground like elongated fingers. He stopped for a rest to get his bearings, and the air about him was still. Silent. The tall, ancient pine trees stood all around him like hairs upon an ungodly beast, he a mere flea crawling amongst them. Occasionally the tick tack sound of a dry pine cone would make its way down from a high branch until it thudded onto a bed of dry needles.
Josh pulled out his tablet and checked his progress. He was still about thirty
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