Vitality In A Wasteland

19

Claire had walked throughout the entire day, beyond what she could consider possible. The sand grew even emptier and even wider. It was like walking upon an ocean if it was only salt. Nothing outstretched or loomed, the distant blue horizon held no cloud nor did her scanners pick up even a gecko walking within as far as she could reach. Upon walking so long she had been suddenly jolted back to reality when someone shook her.

"Madame," Madeline waved at Claire's face and snapped her fingers. Claire stopped walking and gasped.

"What? What is it?"

"Have you not been hearing the warning?" Madeline asked.

"The..." Claire did suddenly hear a familiar sound resign within her ears. She looked to her controls and sighed; Dalia was running low on power again. Power, out in the middle of nowhere, how was she supposed to find power now?

She pulled off her headset and looked into Madeline's eyes, for a moment Claire was stunned to see a strange emotion in Madeline's face, it looked like worry.

"What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Madeline said, "You haven't slept in such a long time, Madame. Your eyes are red, and your skin looks purple."

Claire shrugged. "That's the life of a knight. What of it?"

"How can you pilot under such conditions?"

"I don't. My legs just walk."

Madeline searched through Claire's eyes and said, "You're not a machine. You need sleep, yes?"

"Sleep comes later. Right now, we have more issues like power. What are we supposed to do out where not even ants walk?"

Madeline said, "Did you check the map?"

Claire shook her head and sighed, realising her stupidity. She raised the map and examined it closely, regarding that Dalia was so far out of Capital reach that not even her systems could find her. She cursed silently and said, "We may have to go analogue for a while."

"What does that mean?"

"It means we will probably be stranded and left to the radiation storms if we can't find anything to get us moving. Dalia has enough power for at least a few more hours, but not enough time for us to even get close to any form of pre fall civilization."

"There is always hope, madame."

Claire shrugged. "Trusting hope is like trusting a Denjura to be fair in a poker game."

Madeline smirked and chuckled softly. "Funny."

Claire again felt surprised, "That was funny?"

"I would think so, Madame. Shows there is hope if you have such beliefs." She came beside Claire. "Let me pilot please Madame. You need rest."

"You pilot? We haven't been out of Capital for me to even have a hint of trust with you, your still technically only my passenger."

Madeline was silent for a moment before saying, "One you connected with. And one... you kissed."

Claire's eyes widened and she felt something strange, it was like her heart skipped several beats. She focused her sight on Madeline. Madeline looked away, a flush of red glowing on her cheeks. One you kissed. Claire was uncertain why that statement stood out to her the most. She pulled it and tumbled it over and over, trying to decode why it had such significance and yet no answer was showing.

"An hour," Claire said softly.

"An hour?"

"Wake me up if you see even a cloud rise."