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Since Millions Knives brought down all the satellites and disconnected humanity from one another, this planet has dried up and gone eerily quiet. But the desert will always be full of life.
The buzz of glowing worm wings flying overhead in the cold night. Herds of toma mothers calling their young.
The muffled curses from two women whose truck broke down in an abandoned town.
“Sure are a lot of stars out here tonight,” Milly says. “Like yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that…”
“Hold the flashlight straight, Milly.” Meryl lies underneath the truck and uses the wrench to fix the issue. “And don’t drop the car on me.”
“Right, right! I would never!”
She rolls out from under the car and shakes off her thick coat. “All done!”
Milly gently places the wheels of the truck back on the ground. The hunk of junk squeaks and sighs like it’s dying. The loud noise spooks a nearby flock of worms. The worms take flight from the roofs and swirl above their heads. The hole in the fifth moon looms over their heads.
“Meryl Stryfe speaking. Year 113, March 22nd.” Meryl records a voice message to update their non-existent audience. “Our car broke down, but we were able to fix it. We are in the ruins of Deuce Dump City, no signs of human life. Wildlife has already reclaimed the buildings. Ironically, it’s quite a beautiful night, if you can stomach all the worms…”
“Well, I sure can!” Milly puts her face right next to the microphone. “Milly Thompson here, signing in! What’s for dinner, Meryl?”
She sighs. “Worm on a stick, again.”
“Yippie! My favorite!”
“Log over.”
Milly warms her hands near their portable stove for a few seconds before Meryl turns it off.
“We have to save on the battery, remember.”
“Right, right, chief!”
They huddle together for warmth instead. They’ve grown quite close over the past few years.
Meryl lies in Milly’s lap, Milly’s arms wrapped around her.
“Look, look!” Milly says and points up. “That star constellation looks like a banana!”
Meryl sheds a single tear. “Remember when we had banana sundaes…”
“And millefeuille cake with Ceylon tea…” Milly sobs and wipes her eyes.
“And remember back when we used to get paychecks…You know, when I was fresh out of university and got my first job as a journalist, I bought these–” Meryl flicks her dangly gold earrings.
“They’re so pretty, just like you!”
Meryl blushes. “Nooo, stop it… Anyway, I bought them for my first paycheck. The next month Roberto and I headed out to investigate the Plant thefts. We found Vash tied up in the desert, and then…”
“Everything went wrong?”
“You could say that.”
They really have grown quite close over the past years. They fuck in the backseat of the truck with fogged-up windows because the sand gets everywhere otherwise. They ride out the sandstorms by rocking their bodies together.
Surely one day, Milly will get a paycheck again once they adapt to a new way of life.
And whether that’s on the Earth fleet,
On whatever new place they arrive,
Or if they return to Earth,
Or if they stay right here, on this beautiful planet she will always love no matter what,
They will eat tasty food and sweets again. And she’ll buy an even nicer ring and ask for Meryl’s hand.
The End