Elemental Hunger

Chapter Four

"I think she's here," the younger sentry said, jerking me out of the fear-filled cloud in my head. "I want my knife back. I say we wait."

"You're the Unmanifested who missed when you had the chance. Wait if you want, boy. I'm done here. She's long gone—and we're wasting time. The only thing we've got on our side is this infernal weather."

"What does that mean?"
"Come on, boy. Don't they teach you anything at that school? Firemakers need heat. It's a good thing this winter has been so cold—and so long. Now let's go. This freak is fast, and my boss is impatient." The Tarpulin sentry's voice faded as he moved away.

After a moment, the Crylon sentry followed, whacking the plastic door as he went.

I waited until I was sure they'd gone, thinking about how the temperature affected me. I'd never noticed it before, but I could summon and control my fire more easily when it was warm.

I couldn't shake the fact that two sentries were hunting me. And just thinking about Tarpulin made my hands shake as I pushed myself up, waiting for the feeling to come back into my legs. They felt like they'd never forgive me for pushing them to run all night. Each step proved painful, as the blisters on my feet rubbed against my shoes.

I discovered I'd been hiding behind a long coat hanging in the corner of the closet. I pulled it down and found gloves in one pocket. And in the other, something crinkled when I touched it.

I paused at the noise. Minutes passed, and no one showed up.

I pulled out the object, ignited one finger, and looked at the slim bar. The brown wrapper had writing I couldn't read and made a lot of noise when I ripped it off. The bar inside was brown, crisscrossed with grayish lines.

I sniffed it, but smelled nothing. When I bit into it, the insides broke into little pieces. I found it disgusting—and gritty—but, hey, food was food.

I searched the closet for more to eat but came away empty. After slipping my arms into the too-big coat, I hobbled out into the room. The floorboards creaked. I froze with one foot hanging in midair. But no one came back.

Not daring to light more than a single finger, I searched the room. The desk drawer held more gritty bars, and I shoved all five of them in the front pocket of my hoodie.

I crept away from the plastic door, listening for the sentries. I heard nothing. After igniting both palms, I looked around. I stood at the mouth of a warehouse. Cracks ran in weaving patterns over the cement. Towering steel shelves held weeping cardboard boxes.

Cautiously, I moved forward, snuffed out the fire in one hand and pulled the nearest box toward me. A scratching sound scraped through the silence.

Status: Empty.

All the boxes on the lower shelf had been emptied. Maybe the city hadn't been abandoned as fast as I'd supposed. I extinguished my other hand and let my eyes adjust to the dark.

After a few minutes, I could see well enough to hoist myself onto the shelf in front of me. Boxes: Barren.

I climbed up another shelf. Status: Dusty.

Then another. The top shelf held boxes that hadn't been opened. I slashed through the tape with the sentry knife and pulled out two cans.

They had pop-top lids that grated on my nerves when I peeled them off. The smell wafting from the cans made my mouth water. I drained them both, balking a little at the chunks of meat. At least I thought it was supposed to be meat. Either way, the stew would provide enough energy to keep me going.

I had to travel light, so I only took four cans of stew, shoving one in each of my pockets, glad my jeans were of the cargo variety. The last two cans went in my coat pockets.