“We’ll start working in the morning. Get some sleep first.”
This came as a relief for the Girl, since she was feeling extremely tired, and Civilization was just a few steps away. She was about to go find a hotel, when she was stopped.
“We’re not transporting you back and forth. And you’d never find your way back here. You’re roughing it overnight.”
“I was wondering about that!” This would also save on her having to change clothes, which she had plenty of in her bag, which had miraculously remained intact. She pulled off the bare threads that made up her torn outfit, and put on some sleeping garb more suited for indoors than outdoors. She chose a bare spot that looked reasonably comfortable, and wrapped herself up in the leaves there, using the moss-covered roots of a tree as a pillow.
The Pale Boy took out some cross-hatched netting and was about to cover the Girl with them, when the Burned Man stopped him.
“Don’t give her protection tonight. Let her feel the full effects of nature first. She needs to appreciate its power.”
The Pale Boy briefly looked concerned, but understandingly obliged.
When the Girl woke up the next morning, it was because of the hundreds of bugs that were swarming her, sucking away valuable body fluids that she desperately needed to live. But the biggest shock was what was resting besides her - a near perfect naked replica of her.
“So close!” the Burned Man said, in a mocking tone, snapping his fingers. “Just a little longer, and you would’ve been replaced!”
“Wha - bleh- ” the Girl proclaimed, still waking up and spitting out insects that had gotten inside her mouth as she spoke. She was still in the process of waking up and in no mood to comprehend the lecture she was being told.
“This is why you can’t afford to sleep on the job! Otherwise, Nature will reach up and grab you the instant you stay still for too long. We’re on call at all hours, which means working long into the night unto the next day.”
Somehow in the dim recesses of her mind, she intuitively understood why she was being treated this way. She was confused about many things, but decided to lead her questions with the simplest one.
“Don't you guys get tired?”
“It's not that difficult,” the Burned Man said, pointing to the Pale Boy. “He’s practically a machine, and I don’t sleep much anymore.”
“Where did they all come from?!” she asked, frantically brushing off the numerous species that had spontaneously decided to converge all over her. They’d even managed to burrow inside her clothes without her noticing. She must’ve been more tired than she thought.
“There’s a particular plant that smells like a rotting body in order to attract flies so it’ll spread its spores around. They must’ve been attracted to your scent.”
The Girl was incredulous. “I don’t smell that bad, do I?!”
“If it walks like a corpse, talks like a corpse...”
“I wasn’t dead, just sleeping like one!” she yelled, finally shaking off the remainder of the bugs crawling all over her. “Okay, I’m wide awake now. What’s for breakfast?”
“There’s all kinds of available foods if you know where to look. You’ve practically swallowed some of them overnight.”
“I’ve had my fill of bugs. What else is there to eat?”
The Pale Boy extended a blade, and made a quick slashing motion near her. Then he handed over a familiar-looking head. It was the plant copy that’d grown near her overnight.
“Pods are full of delicious nutrients. Or so I’ve been told.” the Burned Man said, smacking his lips.
Normally, she would’ve been averse to eating vegetables that looked just like her, but she was extremely hungry, and wasn’t going to pass any free food down. She bit into the duplicate face with extreme vigor, casting a defiant glare at the Burned Man. She didn’t even care how it tasted - she just wanted to show this awful man that she wouldn’t be intimidated so easily.
Feeling somewhat dejected, the Burned Man turned away, letting her eat in peace. “Let me know when you’re finished. Then we’ll get started.”
This wasn’t exactly indulging in self-cannibalization, since this body was mainly organic. She decided to start with the eyes first. She popped them out with her fingers, making a squelching noise, then warily popped them in her mouth. They tasted as good as you’d expect vegetable eyes to taste. “Ugh! This is awful!” She was more used to prepared foods ready for eating, and was totally unprepared for consuming the ingredients raw. To her untrained tongue, it was the worst thing she’d ever eaten.
She looked at her twin soulless husk with plucked out eyes, which didn’t make it that any more comforting to look at. So she decided to try the insides next. She cracked the head in half down the middle, revealing the green texture underneath with pulpy strings stretching throughout. She removed the gunk as best as she could, and focused on the more solid mass she could latch onto.
“Yetch! Bletch!! This is terrible! I can’t stand it!”
(If you hate it so much, why are you still eating it?) , a silent nonjudgemental voice asked.
“Because I’m starting to like it.” She took another bite. “Ugh, this is disgusting.”
And so the food review commentary continued with her complaining all the while, every time she chewed.
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