Trial X6

My God Damned Juice Box

  "Max is sick....again." Normal was looking at us as if we were stupid.

  "Up all night," Original Cindy started shaking her head. "I couldn't get her out of that bathroom. I think it's-" And she proceeded to say a word I'd never heard of.

  "Or diphtheria." Alec added while putting mail into his bag.

  "Oh, or maybe bubonic plague." Normal looked at the male transgenic.

  "Oh yeah, heard that's going around."

  "Look, you wanna cover her shift as well as your own, makes no difference to me. Happy riding." Normal walked away after pushing some boxes toward Original Cindy. She handed me a few while turning around. Looking at Alec, he then raised his hands and shook his head.

  "Mm-mm."

  "Hey!" Sketchy screeched to a halt again, actually running into me this time. "Ooh, sorry about that Shadow!" His face scrunched up as he got off his bike to help me pick up the boxes. "....You have a tattoo?" I stood up quickly while pulling the back of my shirt down. "Oh, don't be embarrassed! Chicks with tattoos are hot. Though, didn't think you'd have one. It's always the quiet ones." He shook his head with a smile as he handed me the boxes he picked up. Looking at Original Cindy, he grabbed a package off the top of her stack. "Is that going to sector three? Trade ya." And he switched packages.

  "Whateva'."

  "I got a tip from the paper about a grotesque mutant living in the sewers over there. Maybe I'll get lucky and snap a shot." Sketchy grinned as he got back on his bike and left.

  "What do you think?"

  "Uh, I think he'll slug around in the sewers for about an hour, come back empty-handed, tired, and smelling like garbage."

  "For our sakes, I hope you're right." I muttered before beginning my day of deliveries.

~

  During lunch, I sat next to my locker while straddling the bench and eating a chicken sandwich. Original Cindy, who was sitting next to me on the other bench, reached over and took a few of my chips before dropping a box of juice in my lap.

  "Is this any good?"

  "Yeah, boo. I scored a whole box of 'em yesterday." She smiled. Poking the straw into the silver circle, I took a drink.

  "Not bad."

  "Heh, you look like a little kid." Alec said as he sat in front of me on the same bench.

  "Shut up, dick. Adults can have juice boxes, too." I growled while taking another drink.

  "Yeah, but most adults aren't as tiny as you either."

  "Leave my size out of this, I was made for stealth, and being six foot isn't necessarily stealthy." He raised his hands.

  "I'm stealthy!" I opened my mouth to say something, but Original Cindy shoved a chip into my mouth.

  "Not now children, we got company." She said as Sketchy walked up. He was grinning while holding up his camera. "What's up? Looks like you ran all the way from Sector 3." She cringed. "And you smell like it too."

  "You guys will not believe what I just saw." Sketchy paused. "A mutant. A real-life, miscreation of science, and I got the photographic proof." He raised his camera. Alec gave Original Cindy and I a look.

  "Well, uh, why don't you take a load off and tell us all about it?" He said while taking Sketchy's camera and handing it to Original Cindy. He did it so nonchalantly that it didn't look suspicious at all.