~

A dull and heavy cloud had found its way into the Wasteland's skies. It filled the stratosphere for miles around, and bore down upon the inhabitants below. It brought no moisture as snow or freezing rain, but sent a sharp, dry wind across the shattered streets. Like a screaming arrow, the wind passed between the mangled towers of steel and half-standing buildings. Once, the Wasteland was seen through a pale red hue, the color of rust and dried blood. But since the cloud had come, even that desparate shade had been washed away. Those who walked the Wasteland saw it in dark, dry grey.

Amid a broken old hotel, the wind seemed to feel strongest. It swooped down from high above, careening through missing windows on the only wall that still remained standing. It rode inches from the brick, stone, and debris that covered the ground. And unsuspectingly, it rose, and stabbed through the weary young women who stood amid the aged destruction.

Selphie tightened the wrist straps on her worn leather gloves. She pushed away chunks of broken sidewalk; something was shining below them. Just for once, if she could find something on the list, she might have a decent meal or a warmer place to spend the night.

To no avail; the shining object was a dented copper pipe. She picked it up, and tossed it behind her back. A tired sigh, and she returned to her work.

A piece of exposed metal scraped against the skin of her arm. "Ay!--ehh..." She began a pained cry, but stifled herself before it released.

"Selphie! Was that you, Selphie?"

A young lady hopped energetically over the rocky ground, flailing her arms. She was thin, with skin the color of ivory. Her hair was a soft blue; it was long and straight, and it settled at her shoulders when she slowed her pace. Metal reinforcing bars scraped at her black one-piece jumpsuit, but she paid them no mind.

"Are you all right?" she cried, grinding to a quick halt at Selphie's side. Her voice was light and airy, though it held a most serious tone.

Selphie nodded. "Yeah, it's all right...just scared me, that's all. Better go back to work."

"Are you sure? I heard you crying! People don't cry when everything's all right!"

"I'm sure," she rolled her eyes. "Okay, Mina? I'm just fine. Now let's hurry up before they notice us!"

Mina shook her head vibrantly. She grabbed a determined hold of Selphie's arm, and examined it. Selphie's jumpsuit sleeve had been torn through, and her skin was smattered with a little blood.

"Oh my goodness!" cried Mina, "that's horrible! Wait right there, and I'll go find a bandage!"

Selphie caught hold of her suit as Mina turned to leave. "Are you crazy?" she whispered. "They'll find out if we don't keep working! It's okay, really! We'll just leave it go until tonight, all right? It's better that way."

Mina stared bluntly at Selphie's face, but finally gave in. "Well, you would know best...but I still think you should at least..."

They heard a gruff shout from behind the lone wall. A man stepped around it, tall and imposing, and clothed in a thick black suit like their own. But his chest was fitted with a homemade armor plate fashioned out of scrap metal, and he wore a fighter pilot's helmet with the visor flipped down. A rusted shotgun lay in his grip.

"What's goin' on down there?" he called, leaving a wake of dust as he approached.

Selphie's heart raced. She cringed her face nervously. "Quick! Mina, wait here, I'll run over to that..."

"Stay where you are!" shouted the guard, raising his shotgun. "Hands where I can see 'em, now!"

Selphie and Mina quickly obliged, and waited frozen until the man reached them. He lowered the weapon to his waist, and stared them down. "What's the hold-up? You two haven't found a thing today."

"S-sorry, sir!" blurted Selphie. "We didn't mean it, we just..."

To her absolute horror, Mina cut her off. "You see, sir, my friend Selphie fell down and cut her arm. It looks really bad!"

She grabbed Selphie's limp arm, and presented it dutifully to the guard. "I think it needs a bandage. Do you have one?"

Selphie held her breath, blinking in absolute disbelief. She fought to keep her composure and stood without moving, forgetting that Mina still held her proudly by the arm. The imposing man watched them, stone-faced, and Selphie's heart pounded for an eternity.

The guard swung up his shotgun, and struck Mina in the stomach. She yelped and fell backward into the rocky ground. Selphie lost her balance, but managed to remain on her feet, staring once again at the expressionless man.

He scowled at the two of them. "Quit playing around and work. There's guns under these rocks, and I want to see at least two by the day's end." And with a kick of dust into the collapsed Mina, he returned to his patrol.

Selphie dropped to the ground beside the wounded girl. Mina lay on her side, curled up in the dust, and littered with rocks and metal. But her pearl-white face, scratched from the rough ground, was placid and calm. With her right arm, she tried to lift herself. But she looked down, and seemed to weaken, and fell back against the rocks.

"Don't move," said Selphie gently. She placed a nervous hand upon Mina's back, and another on her shoulder. "Just relax, it'll be all right...can you breathe?"

Mina raised her calm visage. "Oh, yes," she replied. Her voice faltered, but did not sound pained.

"Oh, thank Hyne! Thank Hyne, you can breathe. That's good. Um, okay...is anything else wrong?"

Mina glanced her eyes to Selphie's, and allowed a weak nod. "Yes...I think...I think I hurt my arm."

"Okay...well, don't move it...let's try to keep it still. Which arm?"

"My...my left one...the one I'm laying on."

Selphie bit her lip. "Uh...all-right, all-right...let's try to get you off it."

Mina stared back. "Are you sure? I...don't think you should."

"Yeah, I'm sure. We've gotta get the pressure off it. I'll help you roll on your back."

Mina seemed to protest, weakly straining as Selphie carefully brought her down on her back. She brought her good hand up to Selphie's face. "Wait, wait..."

But Selphie brushed it eagerly away. When the hidden sight met her, she instantly forgot the menacing guard who might return. Her unmet quota of weapons briefly escaped her mind. And her panic maifested itself tenfold.

Mina's white-skinned arm lay against the ground, covered in dust and tiny concrete bits. Just below her elbow, a contorted mess of electric wires bloomed from a large, round hole through the flesh. The wires were live and sparked furiously. Streams of black oil squirted out of the wound, and dripped across her skin and into the dirt.

A long black bar made of steel, a reinforcing bar from a long-demolished wall, poked up from the ground. It passed through the wound in Mina's arm, and out the other end. Covered in dirty oil and wrapped in hissing wires, it stared in Selphie's face.

Mina rested her head against a chunk of rock, and swallowed weakly. "It's rather funny...isn't it?" she smiled. "We both hurt our arms...on the same day."

~