1 Peaches

The contents of the old Radio-Flyer wagon rattled as the rusted wheels rolled over the dirt road. The sound of the wheels dragging over the dust and pebbles, as well as footsteps crunching the dirt were the only things heard through the summer heat. Two figures walked along, the hot air seeming to bend around them.

Despite the grueling heat, the boy pulling the wagon wore all black. His dark jeans were tattered, dirty, and ripped. His black cotton long sleeve shirt was barely visible from under the strange cape he wore, a thick, pitch black cloth decorated with dark blue swirls that almost seemed to glow and dance around the fabric. The hood was pulled up and the cape ended about halfway down his back. His soft white hair flowed under the hood as his milky blue eyes stared onward.

A girl walked next to him, in an outfit that didn't seem much cooler. She wore black cargo pants and a black tank top, with a worn leather jacket that matched her dark brown, beat up combat boots. Her dark hair was pulled into a messy bun. The most notable part of her outfit lay on her back. The handles of the twin swords sheathed in an X on her back seemed to shine in the sun, looking worn from extended use.

The silence in the street that may have felt suffocating to some was comfortable and safe for them. Quiet was safe.

They had been walking for quite some time now, though often time passed strangely for them. Sometimes one hour stretched into what felt like days, or the sun would rise and set before they even had time to fully wake up. They may have started this particular stretch some eight hours ago, or only two.

"Here we are," the girl said, her voice echoing through the deserted street.

"Cube Smart Self Storage..." her companion read the words off the worn billboard. "This is it?"

"No, Ace, this is a different Cube Smart Self Storage," she replied sarcastically.

Her companion, Ace, gave a small laugh and sighed.

"Come on, we got a hell of a lot of work to do," she continued.

"Is it worth it, though? There must be hundreds of garages to go through..." Ace trailed off.

"If you want to eat, you gotta work for it. Anyway who knows what kind of crazy shit we'll find in here." The girl pulled the tall gate blocking the entrance to the park to the side, and it screeched open. She grabbed the wagon and walked through. Opening the gate might have been a challenge if not for the muscle she had built up over the months she had spent just trying to survive.

"Max, wait up!" Ace called.

"Stop gawking and start helping," the girl, Max, called back.

Max leaned the wagon's handle on a wall next to the entrance of the first storage unit. She grabbed the metal handle of the garage door and pushed it up. The unit seemed to be filled with mostly junk, some antique looking furniture and old paintings.

"Anything good in here?" Max asked, not even glancing at her friend.

Ace closed his eyes softly and tilted back his head ever so slightly. Without opening his eyes, he spoke.

"In the back right corner, under that one table, there's a box of some jars. Seems like food." Ace opened his eyes. "Hopefully is food."

"Yeah. Hopefully is food," she echoed. Max clamored into the storage unit, climbing towards the back. "Here, help me move the table and we'll take a look." She grinned and turned to him. "Might have just found dinner on our first try."

After some struggling, the two were able to wrestle out the box and found nine or ten jars inside. Max's eyes lit up.

"Peaches," she breathed out with a sigh of relief.

"Thank the stars, I'm starving," Ace exclaimed as he energetically pulled a few jars out of the box.

"We can eat now and go through the other units later," Max said, making her way out of the small garage.

The pair sat down by their wagon and cracked open a jar, sharing it as they wolfed down the food. This lifestyle had become their day to day. Walking for hours on end only to crawl through abandoned shops and storage facilities searching for food, or anything of use. In the sweltering heat of the desert's summer, there wasn't much they could do but look for abandoned packaged goods. At least, until they got where they were going. Ever since the day the sky bled it had been like this.

But Max wouldn't call it a bad thing, as even through all the blood and pain, it had brought her to Ace. And for that she'd be forever grateful.