days before they found me. Everyone thought I was a goner. I can’t remember much about it, just …” He flexes his hands and looks down at his fingers as if he’s surprised to see them still there, attached to his hands. “I don’t much like forests.”
“So being in this creepy dead forest brought that old memory back,” Ana says. “No wonder you panicked, suddenly getting hit with something like that.” But even as she’s reassuring him, she can’t shake the feeling that the trance Todd fell into was more than just some remembered trauma.
Todd makes a noise in his throat, like he’s trying to shrug off the incident but not quite succeeding. For one crazy second Ana wants to throw her arms around him, wants to hold him and say everything’s going to be okay. Instead she meets his gaze as he turns to face her.
“We’re gonna make it,” she says, wishing she could say more, wishing she
knew
more. “We’re making good time, and once we get to the sea, we’ll find out what’s going on.”
“I guess.” Todd walks over to sit next to her on the long, flat stone.
“So much for amnesia, huh?” Ana says. “What’s the use ofhaving no memory if the first thing to come back is all the crap that you actually
want
to be rid of? And at the worst possible time, too.”
He frowns at this, and Ana could kick herself for making a bad thing worse. She doesn’t know what to say to fix it, but then Todd clears his throat, like he’s ready to put all that behind him. “I don’t know about you,” he says, “but I’m starving.”
“Oh, definitely,” she says. “Right now, I could eat a giant worm.”
Todd looks at her with such a shocked expression that she bursts out laughing, surprised at how easily it bubbles up, how it makes everything else seem insignificant—even if just for this moment. She opens her pack and roots around inside. “Mac-and-cheese? Beef stew? Sweet-and-sour chicken?”
“Yes, yes, and yes.”
She grins. “Your call.”
“Fine, beef stew.”
“You read my mind.” She grabs two packets of beef stew, tosses him one, and turns her attention to her own. The instructions are printed on the package, but Ana must have used these before, because the actions are instinctive. She gives the packet three good shakes, then rips the top cleanly off. This unseals the outer heating pack, which she peels back and folds over the bottom half, punching the heating tabs into their slots. She puffs the packet out so it stands on its own. The whole time her hands are going through the motions, there’sno thought involved. She grins a little when she realizes this. Another piece of her lost self being reclaimed.
“The famous three-minute readymeal,” Todd says with a grin. Ana smiles as she sees those words printed on the wrapper.
Each packet has a biodegradable spork attached to the outside, and before long Ana and Todd are sitting side by side, picking carrots and potatoes and chunks of lean meat out of the silvery wrapper, under a cotton candy sky, with the Dead Forest at their feet.
“Beef stew at the end of the universe,” Ana says.
Todd turns to her and his look is a little too serious, as if there’s something he might want to say, if he could get it out. Then he sighs and stuffs another bite into his mouth.
“Beef stew appears to agree with you,” Ana says, not sure if she should be disappointed by his not sharing whatever was on his mind.
Todd smiles easily. “One hundred percent daily additives!”
She smirks as she sees that he’s still quoting from the packaging, and wants to laugh at the incongruity of the situation. The odd moment has passed and they return to eating, but there was something there, something she might recognize if she saw it in another light, something she doesn’t really want to think about right now.
Instead, she finishes her meal, turns the packet inside out to start the biodegrading process, then leans back onto her elbows on the stone
“So being in this creepy dead forest brought that old memory back,” Ana says. “No wonder you panicked, suddenly getting hit with something like that.” But even as she’s reassuring him, she can’t shake the feeling that the trance Todd fell into was more than just some remembered trauma.
Todd makes a noise in his throat, like he’s trying to shrug off the incident but not quite succeeding. For one crazy second Ana wants to throw her arms around him, wants to hold him and say everything’s going to be okay. Instead she meets his gaze as he turns to face her.
“We’re gonna make it,” she says, wishing she could say more, wishing she
knew
more. “We’re making good time, and once we get to the sea, we’ll find out what’s going on.”
“I guess.” Todd walks over to sit next to her on the long, flat stone.
“So much for amnesia, huh?” Ana says. “What’s the use ofhaving no memory if the first thing to come back is all the crap that you actually
want
to be rid of? And at the worst possible time, too.”
He frowns at this, and Ana could kick herself for making a bad thing worse. She doesn’t know what to say to fix it, but then Todd clears his throat, like he’s ready to put all that behind him. “I don’t know about you,” he says, “but I’m starving.”
“Oh, definitely,” she says. “Right now, I could eat a giant worm.”
Todd looks at her with such a shocked expression that she bursts out laughing, surprised at how easily it bubbles up, how it makes everything else seem insignificant—even if just for this moment. She opens her pack and roots around inside. “Mac-and-cheese? Beef stew? Sweet-and-sour chicken?”
“Yes, yes, and yes.”
She grins. “Your call.”
“Fine, beef stew.”
“You read my mind.” She grabs two packets of beef stew, tosses him one, and turns her attention to her own. The instructions are printed on the package, but Ana must have used these before, because the actions are instinctive. She gives the packet three good shakes, then rips the top cleanly off. This unseals the outer heating pack, which she peels back and folds over the bottom half, punching the heating tabs into their slots. She puffs the packet out so it stands on its own. The whole time her hands are going through the motions, there’sno thought involved. She grins a little when she realizes this. Another piece of her lost self being reclaimed.
“The famous three-minute readymeal,” Todd says with a grin. Ana smiles as she sees those words printed on the wrapper.
Each packet has a biodegradable spork attached to the outside, and before long Ana and Todd are sitting side by side, picking carrots and potatoes and chunks of lean meat out of the silvery wrapper, under a cotton candy sky, with the Dead Forest at their feet.
“Beef stew at the end of the universe,” Ana says.
Todd turns to her and his look is a little too serious, as if there’s something he might want to say, if he could get it out. Then he sighs and stuffs another bite into his mouth.
“Beef stew appears to agree with you,” Ana says, not sure if she should be disappointed by his not sharing whatever was on his mind.
Todd smiles easily. “One hundred percent daily additives!”
She smirks as she sees that he’s still quoting from the packaging, and wants to laugh at the incongruity of the situation. The odd moment has passed and they return to eating, but there was something there, something she might recognize if she saw it in another light, something she doesn’t really want to think about right now.
Instead, she finishes her meal, turns the packet inside out to start the biodegrading process, then leans back onto her elbows on the stone
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