We drive silently through the morning. Corax has to ask for a recharge every few hours, his acrobatics are consuming an awful lot of power. Once the afternoon arrives I feel Vince stir in my back seat.
“Morning Little Vince.” I whisper back to him, trying not to wake Cassie.
Ivy lets out a small surprised chuckle.
“Can’t say I’m the biggest fan of that nickna.” Vince says with a smile. “I take it you’re feeling good?”
“Yeah, as long as I don’t think about whether Silver's safe or not.”
“Silver’s going to be fine.” Vince reaches over and puts a hand on my original body’s shoulder. “They’ve dealt with way worse before.”
“Ok.” Vince knows them better than anyone. If he’s confident they can handle it, I just have to trust him.
Despite my effort, our whispering wakes up Cassie. She sits up and tries to stretch, only for her new arm to fly towards the roof. A loud noise rings through , and a small dent is left in my ceiling.
“Fuck! Sorry.”
“It’s alright.” Vince gently reassures her. “The roof’s still intact, no harm done.”
“I thought I had the hang of this thing.” Cassie begins to clench and unclench her hand. I’m not sure if it’s from frustration, to demonstrate, or to practice.
“You’ll get it.” Vince doesn’t linger on her problems, instead he turns towards the front of . “Ivy, can you call Lucas?”
“Go ahead.” Ivy says after flipping a single switch.
“This is Vince to Lucas.”
“Oh look who’s finally awake!” Lucas’ voice fills my cabin, followed by his boyfriend’s laugh.
“I had a long night. How does lunch sound?”
“Wouldn’t it be breakfast?” Ethan’s voice is barely audible, followed by a barely stifled laugh from Lucas.
“Sounds great.” Lucas hides his laughter only long enough to respond.
Lucas’ car takes a sharp left turn towards the largest sand dune around. We can see clearly for miles around from our vantage point. It’d be impossible to get ambushed up here, even if Corax takes a break.
I unplug myself from the car. My mind instantly reaches for a motor that’s no longer there, for sensors that will never again speak. A wave of sadness floods my mind, screaming to plug myself back in, to re-attach my missing limbs.
I’m ok. These are not reasonable thoughts, they’ll pass. I should not let myself stay plugged into anything for more than a few minutes. I’m not sure I’d have the self control to leave if I stayed for much longer.
Corax makes one more large circle around us, high in the sky. Once he’s satisfied, he drops from the sky and takes his perch on my shoulder.
“Safe.” He announces.
“Good, thank you. Did you have fun?” I ask him.
“Flying good.”
“I know.” I rember how free it felt when I lived his mories. It’d be nice to experience it again, but I’m not sure how I’d do that. Maybe I could create a second body like his? Although, no, if I can barely handle leaving the car, there’s no way I’ll be able to leave my body, even if I wanted to.
Lucas is struggling to pull out a large pot and an equally large hotplate from the back of his car. It’s just as full as ours, but instead of endless supplies most of it is dominated by a few large battery banks. Hudson has to go over and take control, lifting up half the trunk to finally get the pot free.
Once free, Hudson has no problem filling it with water and placing it gently on the hot plate. There’s gallons of water in there, and his muscles barely had to work to move it.
Lucas and Ethan prepare a handful of glass jars full of dried and powdered who knows what while he waits for it to start boiling. I head over to them to talk, who knows when the next chance I’ll get will be.
“Hey Blue!” Lucas welcos as soon as he notices approaching.
“Hey.” I stay standing. It could be really bad if I got sand into my joints, and at least my feet were designed for this sort of thing. “How do you cook?”
“You don’t know how?” Ethan sounds surprised.
“I know the dictionary definition, but my dad had to be selective with what information he put in my mind."
“Sure!” Lucas sounds so enthusiastic to share. “Well, we’re making a stew. So basically we just throw everything into a pot, add a lot of salt, and stir it for a while.”
They have salt? I know about the salt flats, but it can’t be cheap to ship it all the way from what used to be the coast. Actually, the sandstorms probably pick up a lot of salt. Maybe it’s possible to extract it straight from the sand.
“But how do you know when it’s done?”
“Mostly by feel.” Lucas shrugs. “I can rarely make the sa thing twice, so I just wing it.”
“The secret is eating half of it before it’s done.” Ethan gives Lucas a small poke in his side.
“Hey! How else am I supposed to tell if it’s cooked?”
“Uh-huh. I’m sure that’s the only reason.”
“Like you’ve never eaten early.” Lucas gives him an obvious eye roll.
“Nope. Never.” Ethan grabs a dried tomato from one of the jars and pops it into his mouth.
“At least share.” Lucas pretends to pout.
Ethan leans over and gives Lucas a long kiss. When he pulls back, Lucas has the goofiest look on his face.
“Is that better?” Ethan asks with a smug smile.
“Yeah. Much better.”
It’s not until the water is gently boiling that Lucas manages to recover. He grabs so jars and begins to toss in food seemingly randomly.
“This seems like way more than eight people can eat.” Although maybe Hudson needs several people’s worth of food?
“Well, we skipped breakfast and I’m sure everyone is hungry. I’m making enough for dinner too.” Lucas pauses his work while he explains, giving his full attention. “Vince is in a hurry. If I don’t make leftovers, he’s not going to eat.”
“Really? Does he do that often?”
“Only when ti matters.” Vince’s voice surprises , sending my mind into a panic for a mont at his sudden appearance. I can definitely see why humans jump when they’re surprised. Vince and Ivy spread out a towel on the hot sand and sit down. “It slls really good.”
“I really hope it will be.” A little bit of enthusiasm leaves Lucas’ voice. Things still must be a little tense between them.
“You have no idea how excited Vince is to eat your food again. He wouldn’t stop talking about it all night.” Ivy leans over conspiratorially and loudly whispers to Lucas. That makes Lucas’ smile look a little more genuine.
“I only ntioned it once or twice.” Vince objects.
“If you say so.”
“Hey Vince, I’ve been aning to ask you sothing.” Ethan says. “What’s the plan for the Southern Pass? Isn’t it pretty dangerous?”
“It certainly can be. Corax and Ivy shouldn’t have any problem keeping us safe though.”
“That’s great, but I’m more worried about the way back. What about us? How do we stay safe?”
“Well, it’s been a long ti since I’ve traveled this route, but from what I rember, it’s a pretty big area. About 20 miles across at the smallest. I guess it’s possible it’s gotten safer since it’s so busy, but I wouldn’t count on it. It’s not a good place for ambushes, so any raiders should be in cars, and I’m pretty sure Hudson can take care of that.”
“That doesn’t fill with confidence.” Ethan says.
“Sorry, that's all I got. Unless you want to go to Vegas and find a caravan back. That might be more dangerous than just heading back on your own though.”
“I doubt we have the cash for that anyway.”
“It’ll be alright.” Lucas reassures him.
Everyone else soon makes their way over to the pot, I assu led by the sll. Everyone splits into smaller, private conversations. The words blur together, making it impossible for to understand any of them. Instead, I focus on petting Corax.
Liam waves to get my attention.
Ok? He flashes a combat sign to .
Ok. No hear. Many people. I hope that gets my point across.
Ok. He responds, and returns to his conversation with Lauren and Hudson.
After less than ten minutes of boiling, Lucas turns off the hot plate.
“It’s done!” He announces, bringing an end to the other conversations. He begins passing out jars full of stew wrapped in small towels to everyone.
Nobody has anything to say while they scarf down their food. Lauren and Hudson don’t hesitate to dive back in for seconds.
“I’m going to need a lot of leftovers. I’m not sure I can survive on Vince’s cooking for long.” Cassie jokes and dives back into her food. She’s using her organic hand to carefully eat while holding the jar between her knees. I guess even a small risk of a mistake with her new arm is too much when it cos to food.
“How is it?” I ask Vince.
“Really good.” Vince is eating slowly, savoring every bite. “Any last minute tips?”
“It’s the sa as always.” Lucas responds. “Just a vegetable powder broth, and throw stuff in. Just don’t overcook it.”
“See, I try not to, but-”
Other people begin to talk once again as they finish their food. The words once again blend together, leaving separate from everyone else.
“I’m going to go wait in the car.” I tell Ivy.
She gives an understanding nod and doesn’t even try to respond verbally.
Corax and I climb into the back seat, far away from the console.
“Do you want to fly more?” I ask Corax.
In response, Corax climbs down my chest and into my lap.
“Alright, one second.” I grab his blanket and spread it out for him.
“Battery.” He flips onto his back.
I remove his chest piece and connect his battery to . It only takes a few minutes to top him off. He was already 80% full when I started, but I’m sure he wants to be fully charged before scouting again.
I guess he’s not ready to go out yet though. Even after his charging finishes, he still remains relaxing in my lap.
It’s not long before everyone else returns to the car, carrying a few jars of stew. Vince takes the wheel, Cassie sits shotgun, and Ivy climbs in next to .
“Alright.” Vince sighs as he sits down. “Let’s get moving. We’ll reach the Southern Pass in a few hours, keep an eye open.”
Corax stands tall, ready to get back to work. I roll down the window for him and he flies out, heading directly into the sky.
“Ivy, shouldn’t you get so sleep?” I don’t think she slept much last night, and she certainly hasn’t slept in the car.
“I’m not going to be able to until right around sundown.”
“Why not?” I ask.
Ivy lets see conflict on her face, debating how much to share.
“Let’s call it a secret.”
“Does that an you’ll share the next ti I see you drunk?”
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