Remainers

An Unusual Pair, Part 6

The morning began with some a trek through the sandy desert. Their objective was to locate the tanks that were reportedly found buried beneath the sand, but since the two saw no sign of them from their starting position, they would need to go deeper into the wasteland before they could find anything of value.

Thankfully, it was early enough that the place had not gotten too hot yet, though it would certainly become almost unbearably so once the day went on. Caleb had packed some things beforehand to protect himself from the heat, but that didn't mean he could dawdle as he liked. The best plan of action was to find the tanks quickly, do the job, and leave as soon as they could.

The good news was that the two of them would not need to waste their time hunting through the sands. Computer had already pinpointed the general location of the tanks into Hope's navigation, so all they needed to do was reach the requisite area. Additionally, Computer programmed some scavenger capabilities into Hope's systems while at headquarters, giving her a metal detector which she could use with a wave of her arm. That made it a lot easier for the two of them to search for their target, though it still meant that they'd have to trek a good while through the desert.

They had been walking through the desert for over an hour at this point, and the heat was already beginning to bear down on Caleb. It wasn't as bad as it could be, but he could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead. It was a bad sign, especially since this area didn't have a lot of shade for him to rest. If they didn't find someplace soon, he might actually pass out and make things harder for Hope.

After another two hours of trudging through sand, the two were no closer to reaching the tanks. Caleb did not feel discouraged, however; they were making considerable progress, and as long as they kept this pace up, he was confident that they would find the tanks soon.

Hope, however, did not seem to share his confidence. She had noticed that Caleb had been feeling the heat for a good while now, and she clearly did not think he was going to last much longer.

"Hey!" she suddenly called out. "You don't look so good. Are you going to last until we arrive at the destination?"

"I'll be fine," Caleb replied as beads of sweat traveled down his face. "I've been in hotter places than this."

"If you collapse, I'll end up wasting time dragging you out of the desert. Don't push yourself."

"Don't worry too much." Caleb glanced around, then pointed to a rocky outcropping in the distance. "There's a place we can get some shade over there. I'll take a break there, all right?"

Hope seemed unconvinced, but she stopped arguing. Caleb pushed himself to keep moving, even as the heat continued to wear him down. After saying all that, he definitely did not want to collapse in front of Hope now.

The moment Caleb arrived at the outcropping, he collapsed onto the sand and winced. Though it was in the shade, the sand was still quite hot, though it was still cooler than standing in the sun. He pulled out his canteen and drank a measured gulp of cool water. He wiped the sweat off of his brow and tried to cool down as much as possible while eating a bit of dried food.

Hope also crouched down in the shade and watched as Caleb cooled himself down. She watched him with a curious eye, as if she was trying to understand his functions and habits. Caleb took that to mean that she was taking more of an interest in his humanity, and her sudden concern for his well-being was proof of that.

Caleb had noticed evidence of Hope changing even before today. Her speech pattern, while initially stilted in a way that was similar to Computer's, now sounded more like an actual human's. He was almost surprised at how quickly she changed; he'd believed that there would be a more gradual adjustment to Hope's demeanor as the two spent time together. He supposed that Hope was closer to being a human than even he had believed he'd understood.