wormwood, pt. 5

There was no one on the streets on their way back home. When they arrived, Nicole built a little pyramid out of their stolen cigarette packs, and finished off the last of the absinthe while Rosalind read the news on the internet. The locusts were moving faster than anticipated, but workers still anticipated being able to save a good portion of crops. The riots were intensifying, with reports appearing from more and more cities now. The rationing programs weren't working too well, and they regularly ran short. There were reports of thriving black markets for food and other necessities, but these were sketchy at best.

Eventually she closed the laptop and lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "We'll probably be getting riots tomorrow."

"It'll be better than the creepy-ass empty streets. City streets aren't meant to be that quiet."

"Still. This won't be fun." Rosalind closed her eyes. "We're probably fine here but we'd better be ready for anything. Pack up a bag. Hopefully once it all goes to hell we'll at least have cigarettes to barter with. Though I'm afraid that means we'll have to destroy your cigarette-pyramid."

"It'll be fine. You know, I always wanted to be in a riot. Could be fun."

"Maybe some other time, Nicole. You need to stay with me."

"Why's that?"

"You're pretty. I need pretty things to keep me inspired."

Nicole punched her in the arm. "Ass. Whatever, I guess we can hang out while the whole rioting thing's going on. You're not too bad."

"Anyway, we can go looting after it's over. It'll help."

Nicole lay down next to her on the bed and kissed her on the cheek. "You always know just the right things to say," she whispered.