Free Home Planet: Apocalypse (Part 2) by T.J. Sedgwick

arms full of edible booty. I got up and helped them, mostly to prevent Reichs from calling me a peasant again. I took some items from him and Laetitia.
    “Why, thank you so much, peasant,” he said, sarcastically.
    “Don’t mention it, my lord,” I said, equally sarcastically.
    He really did bring out the worst in me—a shining example of why you should avoid negative people.
    We dumped the goods in his disorganized stockpile out back and chose whatever we wanted for sustenance. I picked up a hodgepodge of canned and dried goods—some tinned green beans and kidney beans, some canned beef, a pack of cookies and some juice to wash it all down with.
    Laetitia obviously wasn’t eating, so I said, “Hey Reichs, why’s your wife not eating?”
    “First, it’s Mr. Reichs. My wife’s watching her figure right now and tell you the truth,” he said in a hushed voice, drawing closer. “She never was a big eater.”
    “Ah, I see,” I said, humoring him.
    When we’d selected our food, a short argument ensued when I insisted eating outside of the dirty shelter. We didn’t agree, so we dined apart.
    Fine by me , I thought, unsure I’d want to see him eat anyhow.
    Fifteen minutes later, he came out of the shelter with Laetitia.
    “Beautiful, go dispose of Mr. Luker’s trash,” he said.
    “It’s okay, I’ll do it,” I said, getting up and tossing it on the garbage pile.
    “Suit yourself,” he said before taking out the two cans of beer from behind his back.
    “Come on, let’s sit down have a beer. My wife’s a teetotaler, but she’d like to join the boys if you’re all good with that.”
    I took the beer and sat down crossed legged. Reichs and Laetitia sat opposite. The beer wasn’t chilled, but it tasted okay—a small miracle considering its age.
    Reichs took a swig, spilling half of it from his mouth and onto his beard.
    “So what’s your plan from here, cowboy? Catching the last train out of Dodge or staying for some more of our hospitality ?”
    “The first one. Tomorrow or the day after, depending how it goes finding a good landing zone.”
    “And by good , what’s that mean exactly?”
    “People. Civilization. Somewhere with food, shelter, peace. From there, I guess being able to find out the truth about what happened. What happened to my mom and sister? What happened to Earth?”
    “Good noble reasons, Mr. Luker. All very cop-like, I’m sure. So what, you’re going to stay there?”
    “Not sure … See how it goes I guess.”
    “You don’t have dreams of living on the paradise of Aura? Has to be warmer than Earth these days,” he said, belly laughing like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard.
    I gave a tight smile and watched Laetitia’s gaze move to me, her glances neutral, continuing to listen but not speak.
    “Don’t see that happening any time soon without a functioning ship. And with only two men to populate Aura, it’s gonna be a little difficult, don’t you think?”
    Reichs gave a confused look, then pointed his finger, counting the three of us.
    “Well cowboy, unless I’m mistaken, I count three ; And last time I checked, Laetitia was definitely a woman.” He chuckled and said, “Come on, you saw her when she treated you to the view of all them nasty scars!”
    I shook my head wearily.
    “Okay. Whatever.”
    We drank in silence, but it lasted only thirty seconds. Reichs was in a talkative mood.
    “Well, you can remain a doubting Thomas, but me? Along with my fine lady, I will get that shuttle working. We’ve got our pumps, we’ve got our hoses and we’ll make it happen ! First, that launch tube, then that shuttle … or maybe the other way around. Doesn’t matter. Why don’t you wait for the shuttle, cowboy?”
    I got the feeling that if they managed to get the shuttle working, it’d be later rather than sooner. There was no way I’d spend a day more than I needed to with this guy and his scarily efficient killing machine.
    “It’s a kind offer, but