Chapter 125 - The 14000 Mile Journey II
We have been flying for several hours and night is beginning to descend. We didn't find any water throughout the entire time we were traveling. Hopefully we come across some tomorrow, without it we'll start having trouble. "I'm going to take us down for the night, we'll start again tomorrow after sun rise. I have food to last both of us a few days, but without water we'll dehydrate and eventually die." She'll perish much sooner than me, since my stats are so much higher I don't need food and water that often. I do still need it though, and I'm getting very thirsty. "We have no idea when the next time we'll get to have water. So make sure you prepare mentally for the worst." She looks at me strangely. I wasn't specific enough, I was hoping that I wouldn't have to spell it out for her. "If we cant find water then we'll have to drink our own pee. I know its disgusting, but if needed we will do it." I watch her face morph between disgust and fear. Any person wouldn't want to drink their own pee.
If the situation calls for it I'll do whatever it takes to succeed. I'd rather drink my own pee then die, and I'm sure others would too. "I am not doing that Cera. I'd sooner die then drink my own urine. You can forget about that, so we either find water or you take me back." The stubborn attitude that runs through our veins is going to be a problem. "Switching topics, how much further do we have to go. I'd like to know how much longer I have to ride on your back, I like flying. Just not on my brothers back." I rub my temple and take a breath. Traveling with my sister may have been a bad idea, but its to late to back out now. We are already a good distance away. It could be farther, but flying at full speed is a no when Hailey is hitching a ride. "C'mon, there is no reason to look so frustrated. You need to learn that while you are powerful, others are not. We have to work together if I'm to make it alive. I'm sure you could make it no problem with your power, but I'm squishy compared to you." She brings up a good point, and while I don't like it. I have to take care of her in the places she falls.
I just dive forward and land to get her to stop talking. She gets off and looks at me a little mad. I'm to mentally exhausted from her to even continue talking. I start to walk and she follows, we find a nice spot and I set up the only tent we have. "About your question earlier. We made some good progress. The marker is saying 12988 miles to go, at this rate it will take us 2 weeks to get there. If you let me go full speed we could get there in a few days." I look at her and she looks very apprehensive about flying at 430mph, even if she fell off I'd be able to catch her. She is just scared and that's okay. "We'll have to share this tent, we only have one between the two of us. So if you're a snuggle type let me know now. I'd rather not find out later." She just looks at me stupid and starts to laugh, not hard or gentle. Just a calm laugh. I'm glad she finds it funny, the last time Hailey and I shared a room was before we moved into the old house. She is only a couple years older then me. I don't have very many memories of that time, and I'm sure Hailey doesn't either. The only thing I do remember is how much she farted in her sleep. Hopefully she still doesn't have that habit.
Being in an enclosed tent as she rips them sounds dangerous to me. I don't want to wake up with my eyes burning. "I'm not a cuddle type, but if you want your big sister to help you feel safe I'm more then willing to help." Her jokes are the worst, cant say mine are much better though. Our family is many thing, comedians is not one of them. "I'll think about the speed thing, for now lets set up a fire and rest. I'm tired and I didn't even do anything today, I can only guess how tired you are." I'm not tired physically, mentally I'm ready to lay down and die. We make a fire in just a few minutes and I pull out some dried meat and hand her some as we sit. "What type of meat is this anyway? Its really good." Its deer meat, but all we've ever had was beef or sausage. The dark part about this is Hailey actually likes deer's, so if she found out she was eating them she would freak out. "Never mind, I'll just inspect it and see for myself." Uh-oh. That's not going to be good. I watch her squint her eyes. Just a second later I watch her mouth hang open in total shock. A second later she spits out the food and begins to gag.
Talk about a waste of food. She has been the sensitive type to animals. While she likes meat, she doesn't like where it comes from. She also refuses to be a vegan, from what she told me its because she wouldn't be able to hold herself back from eating meat. I like protein myself, and I couldn't imagine being a vegan. I have a lot of respect for vegans too, it takes a lot of will power to completely shut out meat and only live on meat substitutes. "Don't waste food like that Hailey. I know that you love deer and have never had any. However, this is essential nutrients that we cant get anywhere else right now, so either deer or you starve." She looks at me in fury. She winds her fist up for a punch, but remembers what happens when she punches me. "The next time I hunt I'll try and make sure it isn't a deer. So just sit back down and eat your food." She stops shaking in anger and sits back down. She stares at the meat in her hand and reluctantly starts eating again.
We eat in silence and enjoy the warm night. I lay on my back and look at the stars through the trees. "Do you think mom and dad are doing alright without us. I'm worried that we left way to soon." My sister begins to voice her concerns for our family. I know my parents and while it'll be hard getting over us leaving they'll eventually get back on track. "Los Angeles is a big city. Do you think they might have found any friends. Our home town is big and they had plenty of friends before we were born." I know some of mom and dads friends, but for all I know none of them played Ancients World at any point in time. If mom and dad do have any friends left it would be people on the younger side. LA was both a great and bad place to grow up, and sometimes I regret having to live there for my entire life. The things I learned from being an LA native have served me a lot in life, but there are many things I wish to forget.
I take a deep breath and exhale. "Mom and dad are going to be fine. They will be learning a new style of life and that's a good thing. Marcus is still there with them so its not like all their kids are gone. We'll see them once the teleporters are fixed on their side. While it will be awhile, it shouldn't be longer then a year before everything is back to the way it was." Many things have changed, and what I just said is also subject to change. I look over to my sister and see that she is trying to find something else to talk about. While we are brother and sister that doesn't mean that we know everything about each other. "If you want to ask me anything at all feel free to Hailey. I know we didn't spend a lot of time together as we got older, but I'm still your brother and I love you. We were inseparable growing up, that was until you started going through changes. You made everyone miserable." I laugh hard as I say that last bit. She truly did make it hard on everyone when she started puberty.
One of the biggest problems were all the boys coming over to play. Dad would send them home quicker then Hailey could protest. "You should know better then to say that to a woman Cera. This is why you don't have a girlfriend, you don't know how to stop playing people. Others don't see it, but I do. You are a control freak and a manipulator. I don't know how you became so good at it, but sometimes it scares me." When I told her she could talk about anything I wasn't expecting this. I guess I should be more sensitive to people, I didn't know Hailey saw me like that. There is always room for growth and change. So I'll try and work on that.