Conquer the Wasteland

Scarlet Incidents

"You know what we should do?" my best friend, Aislynn, said as I shoved another Pringle into my mouth. I shifted a little, angling my body so I was lying smack in the middle of the sofa. The mall around us rang with deafening silence.

"What?" I asked, Pringle bits spraying from my lips.

Aislynn dodged several pieces that flew in her direction, unfazed by the interruption.

"We should do make-overs...." she started.

"BOOOORING." I interrupted, "We already did that twice today. You were the cheesecake goddess and I was the queen of all frying pans great and small." I flopped back down and shoved another handful of cheddar Pringles into my gaping jaws.

"On Liam." Aislynn finished.

I shot up, the chips momentarily forgotten. "Liam?"

She nodded. "Uh HUH."

I grinned maniacally. "I love the way your mind works."

"I know." She tossed her hair.

"You're so evil!" I cheered, snatching her into an embrace. "It's like we are the same person!"

After that, Aislynn and I went to our own sleeping rooms, but eventually she came into my little blanket fort in the bedroom section of the mall. Liam, on the other hand, Would sleep by the doorway of the bed shop, keeping watch. He was very protective.

It had been one day and one night that Aislynn had been with us, and I loved it. Especially since we sent Liam back to the Cheesecake Factory to unhook and drag the generators back to the mall on his little red wagon. The scene of Liam carting off this little scarlet wagon that dwarfed in size compared to him was beyond hilarious. Although, I did miss being carried around, especially in the snow so I didn't have to walk in the cold, and Liam had to suck it up for the both of us. I chuckled out loud at the memory.

It was at this moment of boredom, that I missed the cabin. We had to leave though, since supplies were short and Liam wanted desperately to return to the mall. It seemed he was more attached to the mall than his head was to his shoulders.

It was that morning when Aislynn went to the top floor of the mall to explore, leaving me and Liam alone, like it used to be, but the even sadder moment of realization that I had experienced in the last two days, was we only had enough supplies to make two cheesecakes, and then we all had to eat them in one day so they wouldn't go bad. Aislynn seemed to withdraw from us after we finished our cheesecake, I concluded that she was mourning the short supply of our delicious treats.

My heart ached for another taste of my favorite dessert, but now all of it was gone! When I rushed to Liam and tearfully relayed the news to him, he spent the next six minutes laughing.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY FLOP-TARD." I growled.

Liam only shook his head in silent laughter. He clapped his hands together as his face scrunched up with humor.

"You're acting like a retarded seal Liam." I said. "Get ahold of yourself and save what's left of your dignity!"

"At least I have some left to save." Liam retorted, still chortling softly.

I gasped. "I never needed it in the first place. I OWN who I am."

"That you do." Liam responded, his blue-grey eyes catching mine and holding my gaze.

"What was I complaining about?" I muttered.

A beautiful smile graced his lips. "I don't know, Mat, what WERE you complaining about?"