7 UNLIKELY FRIENDS
We walk into the wastes, away from Pinevale and its hidden horrors, into an unknown future. Tee has become strong enough to walk but the sniffles won't end. I have to think of a way to cheer her up.
"You like music?"
I can only think of one song, in all its irony. She nods. I clear my throat.
"The wastes are alive, with the sound of scorpids,vand the song they have sung, for a thousand years!"
My singing is good but all I can think of is that awful sound the scorpions make. The song is obviously written by a nut-job but it reminds me of home, the home I once had. Mother sung the song to me in our canyon home. I am a born tribal, spear, bone necklace and all. I still wear the necklace.
"The wastes fill my heart with the sound of music, my heart wants to sing every song it hears!"
Tee manages a small smile. I notice a crow has been circling us for quite a while, probably planning to pluck out Tee's eyes.
"See that crow? I bet he's hungry. Here, take this and throw it." I hand her a small chunk of roast iguana. She looks at me like I'm crazy to waste the food but runs off and throws it anyway. We move away, stopping in the shade of a crabapple tree and sit down to take the edge off of weariness.
"Now watch."
From fifty yards off we sit silently as Tee drinks the last of my water. I don't need it anymore. I feel neither hunger nor thirst these days, though I force myself to eat. Since I drank the scorpion venom a part of me has died. My brain isn't working. I take a bite of lizard and offer her some. We wait.
The crow circles a bit and then lands, hops over to the bite and gulps it down. It stands there, lifting one foot and then the other from the hot ground, looking at us.
"Here, throw this as far as you can," and she does.
The crow hops closer and now we can make out her details. She has human looking eyes, yellow eyes, set beneath a heavy brow. What maybe once was feathers had become oily dark green scales. It clacks its beak at us, a warning, but still comes closer. Instead of a sleek beak, there are rows of jagged teeth. Whatever it is it's no crow, not like I had seen before. It devours the treat in one gulp, lifting its face to the sky and jerking it's head backwards until the bite disappears down its throat. I check the .22 pistol, it’s still loaded.
Tee looks on in eagerness. "Here, throw it another,” I say, “so it lands a little closer to us and maybe we'll get a better look," and I rip off the iguanas head and hand it to her. She has a good arm on her and throws it with accuracy.
"It's a dragon," she says.
I laugh. "There's no such thing," I said, although I am alarmed at the thought of a fire breathing bird.
"Here, keep throwing bites," I hand her the greasy iguana and stand up to pick crabapple. The tree is loaded and soon I am fully involved in plucking the bitter fruit, forgetting the danger in my tiredness.
Twenty minutes later I have a plastic bag loaded with fruit and when I turn back to Tee the creature is sitting in her lap, purring. It's no crow, just another mutant that maybe in ages past had been a bird or lizard.
"Tee, don't move!" but she doesn't listen and pats and hugs the creature. I dart in close, kick it out of her arms and grab her to my side, "Don't go near it!" I say and it attacks me, leaping into the air to tear at my face with its talons. I fall backwards, drop the gun and cover my face with my arms in surprise.
"No!" Tee screams and she plucks the creature off me, and now I see it's venomous tail hovering near her face, pointed at me.
"Shush" and she puts her hand on the bulbous stinger and lowers it, only to have the creature raise it again. Its overly large eyes watch my every move.
I'm standing in seconds, scrabbling for the gun and ready to shoot the mutant but by the goddess I realize Tee is not in danger. Whatever it is, it likes Tee. A long tongue emerges from its jaws and licks the dirt and sweat from her face while Tee giggles. I take a step closer and the creature begins to hiss.
"Tee, looks like you've made an unlikely friend, though she doesn't like me much."
"I know why, you kicked her! Her name is Triple Sec."
A single drop of venom hangs from the creature's hovering tail, which swings left and right in a slow, hypnotizing motion.
"You know what that is?" I ask Tee
"It's a crow," she says, running her hands over its sleek scales.
"No, no... Like you say, it's a dragon." I look up at the sky and ponder the time we lost. "Come on, we have to keep moving. Just keep it away from me, It hates me." I can still see the distant smoke which is our destination.
As we walk I take sidelong glances at the creature who keeps a close eye on me as well. Another mouth to feed. Or feed on us. Maybe it's all a ruse. Maybe it will pluck out our eyes in the night and feast on our corpses. But maybe, just maybe, Tee has made a friend. Obviously it’s some sort of mutated lizard with a busted sense of pair bonding.
"What next Tee, sorcerers and princesses?" And she looks up at me hopefully.
I laugh. For the first time in a long time I laugh and I just can't stop and Tee is laughing too. Finally I'm gripping my stomach and I'm crying, wasting water, and I force myself to calm. Dragons and sorcerers. What a joke. There's nothing like that in the wilds. Just dust, wind and mutants.