A World of Grime

The Long trek ahead

The sun shone through the windows directly into Oscar's eyes and he groaned, rubbing them. He looked up from his blankets, to see Manuel wasn't there. Swiftly, he stood up, throwing the Blankets into the bedroom and collecting his things, searching for Manuel. "Ah, you're up, good." Oscar spun around to see Manuel step out of the Bathroom with his clothes in one hand, and his cushion in the other. "Pass it over." he held up his cushion hand, and Oscar went into the bathroom, grabbing it from under the blankets he threw and placing it into Manuel's hand. "Come on, let's get moving then." He grabbed the sign and stabbed it back into the ground, setting off.
"What time is it?" Manuel squinted, holding his hands up to the sun, placing them one after the other.
"About 6:45?" Oscar groaned again.
"Why so early?"
"Because at this rate, we'll only get there by 9 pm with you grumbling all the damn time!" Oscar closed his mouth, sighing and hiking his travel-pack up onto his shoulders more.
"Well alright then, let's get going."

The road was long and almost never shaded, so it didn't take long until Oscar was panting and practically crawling along the road. Surprisingly, Manuel held up rather well in the weather, placing two pieces of dark glass on a wire over his eyes, handing a pair to Oscar as well. "Where the hell did you get these?!" Manuel looked down.
"Found some broken beer bottles and blunted some of the glass, turns out they make great sunglasses."
"Heh, should call them 'Beer goggles'" Manuel had a sudden snorting giggle fit, repeating 'Beer goggles' constantly, before eventually returning to a stoic stare at the road ahead with a sigh. "Wow, the man can laugh!" he rolled his eyes, grabbing out a glass bottle of water. "oh, pass me some, I'm dying here." Mid-swig, Manuel stared at him. "Oh, come on, you're not gonna die if we take drinks from the same bottle, Mate." he looked down at the bottle, and grabbed out a cloth, wiping down the rim of the screw cap, passing it over. "Thank you." he took a clear swig, handing it back, feeling the rush of cold dribble down his body. Quickly, he realised most of it missed his mouth and had fallen down his shirt, but it didn't matter because he at least had some of it. To Manuel though, it was a crime against life.
"What a waste..." he whispered, shaking his head. The sun had begun to fall again, but as they were walking, Oscar noticed a sudden change in atmosphere. what was once quite simple walking, with shacks along the road side, had become practically unbearable to travel through for long without stopping for Manuel, his coughing erupting out of nowhere constantly, yet all the houses had coats of paint, fixed roofs, and a feeling of modernism Oscar hadn't felt in a while. He turned to Manuel, to see him bringing out a small face mask, handing another over to Oscar. "The air here's already getting bad. It's the bloody industrial revolution again." he murmured from behind the mask. Oscar put it on, feeling the soft cloth on his mouth. Oddly enough, he didn't feel any difference, taking the cloth off again, handing it back.
"I think I'm good," he nodded at Manuel, "But thanks anyway." The walk continued. Manuel was coughing still, but a little less now he had the mask.

As they continued their walk, the area ahead was finally dark enough that they had to turn on the torches again. As they turned a corner, the spotlights suddenly flashed on, temporarily blinding Oscar, and Manuel could see someone came out from a house to the right.
"Name." they blurted. Manuel sighed, bringing out a small slip.
"Manuel Vernan, this is Oscar, an explorer who lost his way. Just bringing him back." The figure looked up, staring at Manuel.
"You the doctor in one of the slums?" Manuel had a small twitch, but simply nodded. "You helped out my little girl before we moved. I never gave you anything for it." Again, Manuel nodded.
"You could help us now; we need directions to the explorer's quarters." The man looked up, nodded, and wrote down directions onto the slip Manuel gave him.
"Follow this and you'll be there in 10 minutes' time." the man nodded a final time, switching off the lights and walking off.
"Caitlin's your girl, yes?" He stopped.
"How-"
"I remember everyone." he walked over, patted the man on the shoulder, turning back around. "I hope she's alright." he walked over and grabbed Oscar, trudging on with the directions in hand.
"Ok, what the hell was that? Don't you have to get searched or anything?"
"Kindness pays, Oscar, I thought you'd know that by now." he stopped, turning right harshly.
"You mean karma." Manuel simply moved his head, but Oscar could tell he'd rolled his eyes.