“Brendon and I exited the forge to a cool, clear night. The heavy metal door sealed itself behind us. A full moon illuminated the sky, providing sufficient light. We each ate a protein bar and had a sip of water. Water would be a precious resource without the filter, but it was worth the trade. Now travel to Texas would now take a few days instead of a few months. Travel on foot have been far too risky.
I took out our map and asked Brendon where, specifically, we were going.
‘I was born and raised in El Paso, and my parents still live there,’ he responded, ‘I told them I’d come back if there ever was any trouble, and this is quite a bit of trouble indeed.’
I respected his optimism and figured El Paso was about as good of place as any to start a new life. Except that it was about a thousand miles away if I was reading the map right.
‘You think we can make it before our water runs out?’ I asked. ‘Looks to be about a thousand miles and I have no idea what the roads will be like.’
‘It took me about 16 hours to get there before all this, so if it take 20 now, we should be fine,’ Brendon responded. I didn’t raise my doubts about his time estimate.
‘So what happened to you? How’d you end up with all metal looking?’ I inquired.
‘Well, I was just walking around the compound during my free time, the woods truly are amazing, when I blacked out! I woke up and, well, there I was!’ He responded.
‘What about you?’
‘Yeah, the same,’ I lied. In reality it was much more painful. I was conscious as I mutated into the mess I am. I only blacked out after the process ended, as the other gasses in the air poisoned first my lungs, before entering my bloodstream and being distributed throughout my body.
‘What’s wrong with you anyway?’ Brendon asked.
‘Okay, that sounded bad,’ he added, ‘but you don’t have any VISIBLE mutations,’
‘Well, I need this ugly tin can to breath!’ I retorted, ‘Anything but pure oxygen and, well let’s just say it would be rather, ummm, uncomfortable without it.’
‘It’s a rather fancy tin can! How is it powered?’ Brendon pressed on.
‘Solar, or battery, or solar powered battery, I don’t fully know. But if it’s not in the sun enough, it takes double-A’s,’ I laughed, ‘And it can do more than just filter air. It’s best of the best. I was darn lucky to get my hands on it. The thing does a bit of everything. I can turn on night vision, put it on infrared, or blacken it out. All of those drain the battery though. It fairs pretty well against bullets too. Of course, it can’t stop one, but it can ricochet one if hit at a shallow enough angle. And as you saw a few minutes ago, the mouth piece flips out, allowing me to eat without taking it off, breathing through my nose. It’s really something.’
Brendon looked at my ‘tin can’ in awe. I think he rolled his eyes, but its hard to tell.
‘We should leave tomorrow at sun-up,’ I said. ‘Best get some rest.’”
I took out our map and asked Brendon where, specifically, we were going.
‘I was born and raised in El Paso, and my parents still live there,’ he responded, ‘I told them I’d come back if there ever was any trouble, and this is quite a bit of trouble indeed.’
I respected his optimism and figured El Paso was about as good of place as any to start a new life. Except that it was about a thousand miles away if I was reading the map right.
‘You think we can make it before our water runs out?’ I asked. ‘Looks to be about a thousand miles and I have no idea what the roads will be like.’
‘It took me about 16 hours to get there before all this, so if it take 20 now, we should be fine,’ Brendon responded. I didn’t raise my doubts about his time estimate.
‘So what happened to you? How’d you end up with all metal looking?’ I inquired.
‘Well, I was just walking around the compound during my free time, the woods truly are amazing, when I blacked out! I woke up and, well, there I was!’ He responded.
‘What about you?’
‘Yeah, the same,’ I lied. In reality it was much more painful. I was conscious as I mutated into the mess I am. I only blacked out after the process ended, as the other gasses in the air poisoned first my lungs, before entering my bloodstream and being distributed throughout my body.
‘What’s wrong with you anyway?’ Brendon asked.
‘Okay, that sounded bad,’ he added, ‘but you don’t have any VISIBLE mutations,’
‘Well, I need this ugly tin can to breath!’ I retorted, ‘Anything but pure oxygen and, well let’s just say it would be rather, ummm, uncomfortable without it.’
‘It’s a rather fancy tin can! How is it powered?’ Brendon pressed on.
‘Solar, or battery, or solar powered battery, I don’t fully know. But if it’s not in the sun enough, it takes double-A’s,’ I laughed, ‘And it can do more than just filter air. It’s best of the best. I was darn lucky to get my hands on it. The thing does a bit of everything. I can turn on night vision, put it on infrared, or blacken it out. All of those drain the battery though. It fairs pretty well against bullets too. Of course, it can’t stop one, but it can ricochet one if hit at a shallow enough angle. And as you saw a few minutes ago, the mouth piece flips out, allowing me to eat without taking it off, breathing through my nose. It’s really something.’
Brendon looked at my ‘tin can’ in awe. I think he rolled his eyes, but its hard to tell.
‘We should leave tomorrow at sun-up,’ I said. ‘Best get some rest.’”