The Fall of the Four by Matthew Kim

Author:Matthew Kim [Kim, Matthew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-12-10T00:00:00+00:00

Landfall + 20 Days

1 DAYS SINCE LAST HOSTILE EVENT

“I can’t believe you lost them,” she whispers. The two of them lay in a small patch of short grass, elevated atop a hill. The blades of green rustle quietly as the wind cuts through them, a welcome sensation as the sun continues to beat down on them from above. Unfortunately for Proxi, the nice weather doesn’t seem to temper Raie’s annoyance as she reprimands him in a hushed voice. He’s starting to regret his suggestion that she joins him on this hunt.

She’d made quick work of the two clawed predators that they encountered yesterday, stripping them of their meat and cooking several meals from them. When Proxi had finally decided to sleep after a day of back-breaking labour, he had passed by the kitchen and could still hear her chopping ingredients through the thin wooden door.

“I didn’t lose them,” he hisses back at her. Now annoyed, he shoves any positive thoughts related to her being a useful member of their colony from his mind.

“If that’s the case. Where are they? You said they were south, so we went south. Then you said, ‘lets climb the hill so we can see more’.” She punches his arm, surprising him and likely leaving a mark underneath his fading blue jumpsuit. “Even though you see me with my peg-leg, hobbling around, you drag me up this hill. Now what?” After her tirade, he spots an arm shooting down as she winces in pain; she tries to hide the reaction, but he catches it in time.

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing.” She spits back through clenched teeth.

“You know I’m technically the colony doctor.”

“And?” Looking back ahead of them, eyes scanning in front of them.

Proxi’s eyes are firmly locked on her. He knows she can feel it, but she’s stubbornly intent on pretending she doesn’t. “Meaning if you’re tummy hurts, or you have a boo-boo; you’re supposed to come to me.”

“What boy doesn’t love a damsel in distress?” She asks, sarcasm dripping.

He punches her in the arm, just enough to get her attention, but not enough to leave a bruise. “Can you drop the macho mask? It’s just me out here.”

“We’ve established that,” she mutters, “not a single deer in sight.”

“Raie.” Hearing her name spoken, her eyes drift back to him. “What’s going on?” He shuffles a little closer, whispering in a lower tone, “is it a female hygiene thing?”

She clicks her tongue in annoyance, shoving him as he rolls back to his previous position about a half meter from her. “This is why women don’t talk to you.”

Proxi shoots her a smile, “women don’t talk to me because my wicked good looks intimidate them. I’m too much of a catch, you see?” he twirls a section of hair with his finger, “the ladies love the curls.”

She rolls her eyes, but Proxi catches a hint of a smile forming. Satisfied, he turns from her and looks outward. Beneath a rolling section of smaller hills, he spots the sparsely wooded clearing that opens up into the south side of their colony.

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