Blistering skin and exhausted footsteps sprayed sand with every step. Noland and Jade held their jackets above their heads trying to shield themselves from the blistering sun.
Roughly half the day had passed before they crested another dune and saw a strange husk.
"What is that?" Jade asked, sweat dripping from her chin.
"It looks like one of your delicious friends."
"Oh! You're right!" Jade exclaimed. "But I doubt there'll be leftovers."
"Eugh." Noland shook his head, and the two of them descended.
"You better get used to it if that's all there is out here. I'll eat them all and you can starve to death."
"I'll eat them! But I can eat them and hate them too."
"Hah!"
It was the husk of a gigantic insect, half-buried in the sand. Twice the size of either of them and hollow, Noland doubted they would find any food but at the very least, shelter. There was no sign of life as they approached and inside was only shade and sand.
Frowning, Noland lowered his jacket. It was scorching hot and painful to touch on the outside. But leaning over, he eyed the dry interior of the exoskeleton.
"It looks like it's been dead for a while. No signs of life or water… What do you think killed it?"
"The heat," Jade responded flatly. "What else?"
"No fancy theories from those monster books you've read?"
"None come to mind."
Sighing tiredly, Jade sat in the sand under the shade of the husk. Noland did the same but his eyes continued to study the interior.
"No scratch marks or signs of struggle on the outside. Just a clean husk."
"Again, it was probably the heat. Otherwise you'd see it."
"What if it was-"
"I'm not in the mood. Let's wait until nightfall and keep moving."
"You want to sit in silence until nightfall?"
"Yes! That's exactly what I want!"
He leaned away in surprise when she raised her voice, legs pulled close to her like a kid as she buried her head. There wasn't anything he could say. No words to comfort her when he himself wasn't all there.
Instead they remained silent together, using the jackets to cover some of the holes as the sun fell.
Jade had fallen asleep next to him, completely exhausted. He couldn't help but fall asleep too since there was nothing else to do, and he was just as tired.
When he woke up, starlight was shining in under a cool breeze.
'Fuck, I'm tired… Ouch!'
Everything hurt, especially his face. Getting kicked around, punched, and battered, the wounds were finally registering. Even on the ship he hadn't really settled down, and everything felt like static.
Groaning, he eyed Jade again, then froze.
In front of her face was a scorpion the size of his palm, but most importantly, he could see the stinger on its rear.
Pointing at it, he channeled magic, and a breeze swept it back into the exoskeleton. It writhed and jabbed randomly with its stinger before it cracked sharply under the pressure of his magic.
'I don't know how dangerous you are but I'm not risking it.'
Looking back at Jade's sleeping, dirty, and stained face, she was peacefully asleep. He wanted to let her stay like that, to feel better and recover. For the three of them to challenge this ordeal together.
'But Lucky's dead, and it's my fault.'
Looking around between these bitter thoughts, he saw no more critters.
'As much as I want her to sleep, we need to move,' Noland thought, feeling the cool breeze again.
"Wakey wakey, killer Jade."
"Mm…"
"Wakey wakey-"
A wild hand swung out but from experience, Noland leaned back just enough to avoid it. Jade, groaning and whining from pain and exhaustion, shifted in the sand before groggily propping herself up.
"What is it?" she mumbled.
"It's dark out. Perfect time to move," Noland said softly, then pointed at the flattened scorpion on the wall. "Turns out critters do live out here."
"Can't we eat it?" Jade asked, bleary eyes studying it.
"No, I don't think so."
"Mm… You didn't even check," Jade sniffed and crawled over to it.
"Don't tell me you're-"
A sharp crack and she removed the stinger. A small flame flickered to life from her fingertip. She crossed her legs and sat there, slowly roasting the scorpion.
"I know this one from my books. Just remove the stinger and roast it, you'll be fine. Did you find any more?"
"No?"
"Shame."
After a few minutes, she stopped roasting it and ripped it in half, offering half to Noland. Gingerly, he took it but still eyed it with disgust.
Crunch-crunch-crunch
Jade was already munching away. He could hear the squelching insides between the crunches and sighed before eating his.
'At least these aren't lab-grown.'
The two of them stepped outside together and looked up in awe. Under the beautiful full moon, twisting colors of violet and gold painted the clear sky between stars. Clean, cool air filled their lungs in a refreshing way that contradicted the brutal day and felt purifying compared to the Iron City's smog.
"Is this really what the world used to look like?" Noland breathed. "I'm jealous of those that came before us."
"If not for the lack of food and shelter, I'd stay here..." Jade whispered beside him.
"Don't want to make one of your delectable insects a home?" Noland teased, but ironically the thought was on his mind.
"No," Jade chuckled emotionally, tears forming in her eyes. "I wish Lucky could see this with us."
Bitterly, with tears forming in his eyes, Noland looked up again. It looked even more beautiful through the blur and blending of tears as he croaked emotionally next to her.
"Yeah... and he would've loved it."
---------------------
Slowly, Lucky's vision returned. There was no pain. He could still feel and hear the hissing of a steam-pipe nearby.
Lucky slowly realized he was laying down and there were no longer any straps on his body. With a painful deep breath he jolted up, looking around wildly to see a completely barren room. It wasn't a cell, the floor was clean and smooth and there was lighting. There was even a dresser and mirror.
Panicked, however, he pulled off his gray tunic shirt to check his body.
'What the fuck?!'
"AAAAAA"
Lucky screamed in panic, his hands slapping at his chest. Underneath his stitched up and scarred skin, moving with a life of its own, an amorphous gray substance shifted and moved. Just when he couldn't freak out anymore, the door opened and his vision spun.
His right eye moved with a will of its own to the door, locking on and zooming in onto a masked officer who stepped in with incredible detail.
The overload of sensations, the panic and emotion, was too much for him as he continued to scream before blacking out.
The officer tilted its head and sounded confused when speaking.
"That was a bit much?"