0800 Hours [slash]

0800 Hours: Recording #016

Click.

"0800 hours, two days since we ventured from the safety of my house. I think this is the first time that Cye's actually been outside since the Infection."

"Fuck you."

"You'd be so lucky. Anyway, it's pissing wet, as usual, so we can't boil any water or food or anything, and there's literally nothing to do here. We're just sitting here in the tent, doing absolutely fucking nothing. I miss TV so badly."

The faint drizzle of rain hums softly in the background, complimenting the silence. Aside from the faint, airy mist, the only sound in the tent is the shallow breathing of the two occupants.

"... I miss the internet more."

One voice chokes out a splutter.

"Whoa!"

"What? You ok? What's wrong?"

The tone is suddenly wary, a protective instinct kicking in. It is cut off by a lilting yelp of laughter.

"Ha ha! Nothing. It's just like, y'know... You offered a bit of information about yourself without prompting. What a development!"

"..."

"Oh, come on, don't stop there! I'm enjoying this. What else d'you miss? I pure miss taking hour long roasting hot showers after a day's work outside the field. Oh God, the feel of a power shower when you've been doing manual labour all day. Can't beat it."

"I miss showers too."

"No cheating – you can't name something I've already said."

The response is a deep, world-weary sigh, dog-tired and bone-tired.

"... My mum's stew."

"Mm, stew. Motherfucking stew. With Yorkshire pudding and steamed cabbage and neeps and tatties. Why did you bring up stew, I'm pure craving it now!"

"You literally asked me to tell you what I missed."

The laughter starts again, sparking a slight chuckle from the second voice.

"What else?"

"I miss iced drinks."

"Lucky tatties!"

"Videogames."

"Calpol!"

"Ew, seriously? Public transport."

"Fizzy drinks."

"Crunchy cereal."

"Antibiotics."

"Bin men."

"Wait, what? Bin men?"

"Yeah. After everyone started keeling over in the cities, all the sanitation workers went on strike for safety reasons. The rubbish build-up was fucking disgusting."

"Here, where are you from anyway, Cye? I guess I'm from Sutherland, if I had to pick a local council. I went to school in Ardgay? It was an hour's drive there and back though, and it was fucking dire."

"Bridge of Allan. Lower Bridge of Allan."

"Never heard of it!"

"It's, em, a town in Stirling. Pretty boring, to be honest. I'm not a fan."

The rain fizzles against the ground, tapping insistently against the taut tent walls.

"Do you miss McDonald's?"

"... That was so out of the blue. What?"

"See, our nearest McDonald's was the one in Inverness, so I hardly ever went. But it was amazing, from what I remember. Fucking McFlurries. Not gonna lie, I'm mourning McDonald's like a dead relative"