Capsule

Chapter 13

Yonge grumbles at the irony of their situation as they drive south around the levelled city. Synth is finally awake and happy again, but Epsilon is shut down and cannot play music.

"Did my book survive the storm by any chance?" Synth asks.

"I thought you'd never ask," Yonge says excitedly. "Reach into my left leg pocket."

Synth reaches across Yonge's lap and reaches into his pocket. He finds the crumpled plastic paperback.

"You know what this looks like, right?" Synth says, chuckling to himself.

"..Well... I mean... while you're down there." Yonge says, smiling.

Synth elbows Yonge in the gut. He tries to laugh through his coughing. Synth takes his book and sits back in his seat.

"Can't blame a guy for asking," Yonge says, still coughing.

Synth opens the book to where he dog-eared the book.

"Do I even have to ask?" Synth asks.

"Read away," Yonge says.

Synth begins to read aloud from the book.

The journey is long, but both of them, but the story keeps them entertained. The passionately violent battle between the ice trolls and the Harvaks helps distract them from their dire situation. After making it around the heaping mess of Saskatoon, the battle is finished. Synth continues to read:

"'The prince collapses as the battle is won. As he fades in and out of consciousness, he sees a glimpse into a possible future. Every kingdom ever built slowly erodes to the ground. He feels the vast emptiness of this new world. Does his journey have meaning, or was it some hormone-bound vendetta? An ice mage kneels in front of him. He feels the chill of a thousand blizzards pierce through his wounds. His whole body begs him to fall asleep, but his mind is wide awake. His mind races across the abyss, searching, searching for any sign of life. But despite what feels like eons of endless searching, he finds something, it is small at first, but it grows and grows until it is blinding. As he exits this intoxicating trance, he realizes what he saw. Hope. Hope that he could make this world a better place.'"

They continue onwards, passing a few more dead towns along the way. Synth stops reading as their anxiety grows.

"So... do we know how much food we have left?" Yonge asks.

"I'd say we have about a third of the Terra Omega box left." Synth says.

"Great. That's great. Tell me if you see any game along the road, we're probably going to have to start hunting."

The day is chilly, with a few small clouds here and there. The sun is bright; the prairie is cold and dry.

"I think the days are getting shorter." Synth says.

"I agree," Yonge replies.

There is an awkward silence between the two of them.

"What are we doing?" Synth asks. "We're both clearly anxious. Let's just talk about it. Look. We haven't found a single intact town since Yorkton. And we're both clearly on edge."

"I think we're going to have to prepare to live out on the prairie," Yonge says.

"But there's nothing out here to hunt. It's not like we can plant crops."

"Well, what the hell do you want to do!"

"I don't know. Keep driving until we run out of fuel! I'm just scared!"