Chapter 23: Eradication | 2

A couple of hours had passed after Gregory and Astrea saved and then killed that young woman.
"So this is where you get all your wood from?"
"Basically."
In front of them, were clusters of weird-looking, almost shiny trees. They had no leaves, and their branches were few and far between, but they were still alive, and there were many of them. Ranging in size, from saplings all the way up to trees that were taller than a house. Their exterior was a shiny brown color, and it looked like they had a flaky texture, which shone bright and reflected the rays of the glorious sun. Gregory had never before seen trees like these, they must have been another product of the nuclear apocalypse.
"And... how do we deal with those?"

By far the most striking feature about this flora, was the armadas of insects living on them. Assassin bugs and termites. Unlike the usual insects out here in the desert, these insects weren't the size of humans each, they were only about the size of half a human arm.
"Normally I'd kill them individually, but I want to try this..."
Astrea spoke with intrigue in her voice, as she produced a bundle of cloth that was wrapped around itself, in the shape of a rough sphere. It had an... interesting smell, and it looked like it was soaked and coated with something.
On top of the tree's surface, an eternal war was raging on. Swarms of termites were trying to break apart the wood from the trees for sustenance. In protection of the trees, assassin bugs individually killed and consumed said termites. The assassin bugs had the shape of a pumpkin seed, with long slender arms protruding from their main bodies. Their body was black as the night, in contrast of their shiny orange limbs, a form of aposematism found very commonly among insects. Their heads were narrow, and a lengthy rostrum was located at the head's end, in the front. This is what they used to inject venom and digestive enzymes into the attacking termites, which would paralyze them and dissolve their insides so they could be slurped up nice and easy by the assassin bugs. One truly striking phenomenon was the relationship the bugs had with these particular trees.
"What is that... thing... coming out of the trees? Is it safe?"
"Yes, but don't get it on you. It's difficult to clean up. I will see if this thing is any good, and then you will watch me harvest some wood, after that I'll let you try." See was getting ready to launch this mess of a cloth ball into the direction of the trees.

The "thing coming out of the trees" was resin. The assassin bugs used that to cover their frontal limbs, and catch termites with it, so they wouldn't escape from their deadly grasp. Each fallen termite would have its nutricius innards drank up by the assassin bugs, and then the empty has that would fall down would be absorbed by the tree's roots, giving these trees their unique chitin-like shiny brown texture. A perfect symbiotic relationship.

As fearsome as those assassin bugs were, and as ferociously as they were defending the trees that provided them with natural weaponry, they were no match for a dedicated human.
The cloth ball landed in front of one of the trees, right next to it. All the insects that inhabited it started fleeing immediately. Some even falling off and dying before they had a chance to escape.

"That's the thing we made with Frederick, right?"
"Correct."
Both of them were just standing still, waiting for the insects to leave the tree so they could harvest some wood. The ball made of tangled cloth that they launched was laces with natural insecticides from the mortis princeps fungus. They had managed to gather some live specimens of its fruiting body from the corpses of the junkie invaders. After vast observation and experimentation, it was found that the reason the junkies were able to roam at night, despite the swarms of different man-eating insects, is because this fungus naturally produces insecticide to keep its host safe from the horrors of mutated giant insects. All to ensure that the human host will stay alive and feed the main fungus body more human flesh. This insecticide could be extracted in liquid form and it's proven to be very effective. The junkie invaders were useful, after all.

After the insects had fully evacuated one of the trees, the duo eventually stepped up and Astrea begun harvesting some wood.
"Watch."
She pulled out her tactical knife, pointed and placed the tip of it next to the tree, and proceeded to hit the back side of the handle with her other, free, arm. Like a sculpture making a stone statue.
Chunks of wood came falling down from around the point of impact. The texture of this wood was truly unique. It seemed to be made out of some wafery like flaky cardboard. After all, most of the nutrients these trees could get were empty termite chitin exoskeletons.
Gregory followed in her example, and they left with half a backpack's full of wood, which they needed for a campfire and other needs for their journey.

***

A few hours passed. It was afternoon in the wasteland.
Two figures had been walking in one direction, navigating the wasteland in search of the nearest junkie encampment that was causing them problems back home. Human fatigue and hunger caught up, so they had to stop for the day, eat and rest.

Our duo was sitting opposite of each other around a blazing small campfire. Normally, campfires were used to provide warmth and  a sense of safety to brave adventurers. Campfires were a symbol of society, technology, and safety. All of the above still hold true to this day.
On top of the blaze were sticks, holding pieces of eleodes beetle meat, and cooking it in the process. The two heroes could only make it so far with rations from the settlement. They had to first try and get fresh food, and only resort to rations in case that failed. And giant beetle flesh was perfect for that. Beetles in the wasteland were large, easy to fell, had a great meat to chitin ratio, and their flesh and blood weren't toxic, mostly. The desert heat was starting to turn into a biter frost, and the silence in the atmosphere was being partially filled by the strong wind and the crackling of the fire.
"So... what was this place like before?" Gregory still had many questions about this place, he didn't know where to begin, but he had to start somewhere. He knew Astrea wasn't the type to answer these questions, but there wasn't really anything else to do or talk about now.
"Before what?" She responded to his question with another question, in a dejected monotone voice that was being muffled through an old gas mask.
"Uhmm... like, the apocalypse, the war."
"Oh, that. I wouldn't know, I've only heard stories about it."
"You were born after that?"
"Mmhh... Not exactly."
"Then...? Ohh! If you don't mind answering of course!"
"Maybe I'll tell you one day. We should set up the tent now."
"Right. Let's get to it." Gregory said as he finished the last bite of cooked beetle meat. It left an aftertaste of seafood in his mouth, a flavor he slowly got accustomed to while living here and eating insect flesh.
After their meal, they started setting up a temporary shelter for the night.

***

A tent-like structure made of an aluminum style material now stood tall, among the harsh desert wasteland, resisting the wind's ferocious attacks which were trying to knock it down.
Astrea had just finished putting out the fire, so that it wouldn't attract any giant insects. And to make sure of that, they dug holes around the tent, and placed more insecticide carrying spheres. This should keep them safe.
"Hey. I'm feeling tired. I'll try to get some sleep now. Tomorrow we set off early right?"
"Yes, I'll wake you up."
"Haha... as always." He was embarrassed by that fact. It reminded him of his childhood days when his mother would always wake him up so he wouldn't be late to school.
"I'll get some rest too, make sure to notify me if there's trouble, even if I'm asleep." The machine-like voice said, getting rid of the muffled sound mid sentence as she took off her mask, revealing her gorgeous pale face.
Gregory could feel his mouth cheeks getting rosy, he often forgot what lay beneath that gas mask and hood.
They laid down the thin tent material that was covering the harsh wasteland ground. Even inside here, it was still cold.
"Hey, did you only bring one blanket?"
"Yes, we should pool the heat from our bodies. It's cold out here."
Huh... that makes sense I guess, but...
"A-Alright, yeah..."
"..."
"Okay, g-goodnight then." He said, as he covered his freezing body with a relatively thin brown blanket, made from a synthetic material.
"Goodnight." The voice that answered his shaky mess was calm and mechanical.