The snow was falling heavily in the wastelands. Engie and Snippy sat on a few overturned boxes outside of the base, watching while Scribbles played in the snow and Aderyn practiced her fencing moves. They were far enough away that they couldn't hear each other.

"So," said Engie. "Which one are you going with?"

"Huh?" he asked, turning to him. "What're you talking about."

"Repopulation. Obviously."

Snippy felt his cheeks heat up. "We shouldn't talk about the girls like that." Aderyn would stab me to death if she heard.

"They must realize it, too," said Engie, folding his hands. "Pick one."

"It's kind of like trying to choose between a lion and a tiger," said Snippy. "Aderyn would stab me if I so much as suggested it, and I'm not even sure if Scribbles knows what repopulation is."

"She doesn't."

"How do you know?"

"She asked me."

"Ouch."

"Yeah."

"What did you say?"

"I tried to explain it, but I couldn't figure out how."

Snippy looked at him. "What, has no one ever given you 'the talk' before?"

He shook his head. "I read about it in books." Snippy saw that Engie was flushed under his goggles as he said this.

"What did you say, exactly?" Snippy asked suspiciously.

Engie shook his head. "Forget it."

Snippy relented, turning his head so he could watch the girls.

"I think I'd choose Aderyn," Gromov said.

"Bwah! I didn't need to know that!"

"Scribbles punched me in the face. I don't think she likes me very much."

There was a pause.

"Aderyn hates my guts," said Snippy.

Engie sat up a little straighter. "So it's settled, then?"

"What!? No! What?"

"We've picked. I'll take Aderyn, you'll take—"

"Bwah! Shut up! Just, shut up!"

Scribbles glanced over at Snippy and Engie. "What're they talking about?"

"Beats me," said Aderyn as she lunged, then made a swift recovery. "Why do you care?"

She shrugged a little. "They both seem to be embarrassed, that's all." She squinted at them. "I think Snippy hit Engie."

Aderyn smirked. "D'you think they're talking about when you asked Gromov about repopulation?"

Scribbles laughed. "Maybe! Who knows?" She paused, packing a pile of snow into a little mound. "I've been thinking. . . When we grow up. . . We're going to have to repopulate, won't we?"

Out of shock, Aderyn stumbled and fell into a snowdrift, then sat up, wide eyed. "You're not serious?"

Scribbles shrugged again. "I guess." She put Thing on top of the snow mound. "We might be the last seven humans alive."

"Six."

"Six, right." She tilted her head. "I think we can wait until we grow up, though. Right?"

"Totally," said Aderyn quickly, squashing certain mental images out of her mind. "Unless we can run away before that happens."

"Safety in numbers, Ad," Scribbles reminded her. "It's a miracle I survived before I ran into you."

"Yeah, it is," Aderyn agreed. What she didn't say aloud, though, was that it was also extremely lucky that she herself was alive. If she had been injured like when her leg was clawed, she would have definitely starved to death, or maybe she would have been killed by a mutant.

"So," said Scribbles, looking over at Engie and Snippy. "Pick one."

"What for?"

"Repopulation. Obviously."

Aderyn blushed furiously. "Neither!"

"If I had to pick," said Scribbles. "I'd rather choose Snippy. Engie sucks."

"Engie does suck," said Aderyn. "But so does Snippy."

"You just don't like him."

"Understatement city. I hate him!"

"When I was in grade six," said Scribbles thoughtfully. "Whenever you were mean to a kid, it meant that you liked them. Is that still the same?"

"What? No!" spluttered Aderyn, her face turning red. "Why would you even suggest that!"

"Just bugging," said Scribbles, grinning.

Aderyn narrowed her gaze, her cheeks burning. "You're a riot."

She giggled, then flicked Thing so the stuffed cat tumbled down the tiny snow pile and landed on its side.

"But still," said Scribbles thoughtfully, collecting Thing up in her arms. "It's something to consider. Unless we get lucky and find another couple of females who are more mature, it's something we're going to have to face." She sighed and propped her chin up in her hands. "Sometimes I hate being a girl."

Aderyn stood, brushing the snow off of her. "Any particular reason why?"

"Aside from the general inconvenience of being designed to give birth to children?"

"Yeah. Apart from that."

"Well," she said, sitting up and leaning back, crossing her legs. "It would be nice to be a little stronger and faster. Men simply are designed for it."

"True," said Aderyn, assuming a fencing stance. "But I think we're doing alright the way we are."

"Maybe you are," said Scribbles, sounding bitter. "But I've never been particularly athletic. I hate team sports—except hockey—I'm not a good swimmer or a fast runner and my endurance sucks. Well, it's better now. What, with having to struggle every day just to survive."

"Mm," said Aderyn.

"Plus if I were a guy," said Scribbles. "No one would care if I did or didn't contribute to repopulating the world. I mean, I could just sit on the sidelines and let some person who's willing to do it take charge." She groaned a little. "This sucks."

"Yeah," said Aderyn, lunging, holding her position, then making a smooth recovery. "So you never played team sports at all? That was a huge part of my life."

"I didn't say that," said Scribbles. "I used to play hockey. I got pretty good at it, too, then. . ." She drifted off, mumbling the word "fallout".

"Ah." Aderyn sat down in the snow next to her. "I'm thinking of taking off pretty soon."

Scribbles looked at her, wide-eyed. "Why?"

"I don't want to turn into a machine designed to give birth," she said bitterly. "I'm better off on my own."

"Me too," agreed Scribbles. "But if you go, I'm going too."

Aderyn tilted her head quizzically.

"If you go," said Scribbles, feeling pensive. "Then there would just be even more pressure on me to, say, "do the job"." She hooked her fingers in air quotes.

Aderyn nodded. She hadn't thought about the consequences to Scribbles if she was left being the last living female on the planet. She shuddered a little at the thought of what might happen to her.

Scribbles flopped down on her back, looking up at the permanently grey sky. "Running sounds like not a bad idea," she said. "I'm becoming more sane, if you haven't noticed."

"Really?" said Aderyn, curiosity nipping.

"Yeah," said Scribbles, folding her hands behind her head. "I'm pretty much sane all the time, now. Just. . . I pretend to be crazy."

Aderyn narrowed her eyes. "Why?" she asked, exasperated.

"First of all, it's funny," said Scribbles with a grin, rolling onto her stomach so she could look at Aderyn's frustrated face. "Secondly, it'll keep me in Captain's good books."

In all honesty, that hadn't occurred to Aderyn. Maybe pretending to be insane wasn't such a bad idea. She shook her head. Her dignity wouldn't allow it.

Scribbles smirked. "Want me to go ask Snipster about repopulation?"

Aderyn grinned at the prospect. "Sure. How about asking him about whether or not he has repopulated with anyone?"

Scribbles paused for a moment, weighing whether or not that would be a good idea. In the end, she broke out in a grin and said in a loud, high-pitched tone. "Awesome idea, Aderyn! I'll go do that!" She skipped off into the snow, heading towards Snippy and Engie while trying to look aimless. She played with Thing, pretended to just notice Snippy and Engie, then she dashed over to them.

Aderyn got to her feet, smirking. This was a show she didn't want to miss.