Panacea (3)

“You’re going to die from lung disease,” he announced.

She snorted and walked ahead.

Between the hills of abandoned garbage, they weaved. Arch walked with all the grace of a fish that was just thrown out of water and was now flopping around on dry land. In other words, he stepped on everything that was in his vicinity.

There was a clatter behind her.

Par winced at the noise. She whipped around to glare at Arch, who was rubbing his leg after stumbling on an unopened box of bolts. “Would it kill you to stop tripping over everything? Goodness, do you want to alert the police that we’re here?”

“It’s not like I’m doing it on purpose,” he protested.

“Then try to walk straight on purpose!” she snapped. “And this better not be like last time, when you accidentally stabbed yourself in the foot, and I was the only one actually getting any work done.”

He snorted. “It’s not my fault my pain tolerance is low. Besides, considering you’re the one who started this whole business in the first place, shouldn’t you be doing the most work anyway?”

“If you’re that insistent on being a useless waste of space and oxygen, just say so,” Par threw over her shoulder. Before Arch could respond, she was already too far away, bending over to peer at some coils on the ground.

Arch actually did end up doing sufficient work. He found a couple of gently-used metal parts, a few unopened packets of wire, and a generator. Par wasn’t sure if it worked, but if it did, they could probably sell it off at the market for a good few bucks.

She made him drag the duffel bag of objects back up the landfills, where Red was waiting for them. She scrunched her nose at the dirt on their clothes and faces. – good details

“You should really consider a different line of work, Par,” she commented. “It’s not like you’re not built for the heat. Or picking up pieces of metal at night. Or doing any work that requires a lot of physical exertion. Or working at all, actually.”

“One day, when we’re rich and can afford a house in the High Valley, I’ll be able to laze around all day,” Par replied, hauling a bag on her shoulder as she passed Red.

“What? You really think we’ll be able to afford to live there?” Red bounded after her, leaving Arch to drag the remaining bags by himself, which he did dutifully with a sigh.

“Who knows? Maybe one day, we’ll get lucky and a really rich client will hire us. Their family will see three poor children forced to work for free under illegal circumstances and give us a house in the Valley.”

“No one just has a house to give away,” Red snorted dismissively. A moment later, she frowned. “Do they? Is anyone rich enough to be able to give away a house in the Valley?” Without waiting for a response, she twisted her head around to shout at Arch, who was trailing behind, considering the lack of help carrying the bags. “Is anyone rich enough to do that, Arch?”

“If you go up high enough, probably yeah.”