She was pushing a trolley of her own. The trolley wasn't even half full, though the colour of the crystallised stones was a bit different. Instead of being yellowish orange, they were a darker shade of orange, crimson would be the better term to describe them.

Apart from her, there was another person, a dark man, similarly tall as me, with a rough beard growing on his face for some time now. He didn't have a trolley of his own, probably because they worked together to fill this much so far.

Both of them were sweating profusely, wet robes stuck to their bodies, and even their skin swelled with longer exposure to the fiery atmosphere.

The two newcomers noticed us two, but didn't bother to acknowledge our presence at first. The woman dropped to the ground in exhaustion and started removing her clothes. She didn't stop until her upper body only had modest underclothes to hide her bosoms. The underclothes were wet too and glued to her alluring shape.

She didn't mind two complete strangers there, gawking at her. She just laid flat there for a few minutes. Too tired to care.

The man wasn't in any better shape, although he controlled his breathing in practised deep breathing. On second look, the woman was doing the same as well, just laying flat on the ground.

"Oh, new boys," the man was the first to break the ice between them. He was a handsome fellow, tall, dark and had his shoulder-length hairs in locs. "From earth, boys?"

"Yes," Cameron beat me to answer. "You're from earth too?"

Well, the question was rhetorical as both parties could already point that out. The man scanned the both of us first, from the injuries we bore to the numbers imprinted on the slave collar on our neck. In retrospect, I did the same. The man had the number 197, and the woman was with the previous number.

"309 and 316," he said with utter annoyance. "They started to summon from the earth again."

The woman lifted her head, hearing that out. "I have been quite some time and we are back in business again," she said. "How long has it been—a year and six months, or more—since the last earthling appeared?"

I wasn't sure if the woman was doing it on purpose, but she was giving valuable information.

"So how many this time around? We have a handful, I reckon, considering the gaps between your numbers."

"No, just three so far," Cam said, trying to be as friendly as he could be.

"As far as we are aware," I added. "Although I have seen them carrying dead bodies every now and then on my stay in that place."

A contemplative look appeared on both of the strangers' faces. "How long do they let you stay where you're summoned?" the man asked.

"I wasn't in my best shape to remember, but I was there for at least eight days," I replied.

"Eight days?" The woman repeated. "That seemed unusual for them to let someone stay there for so long. Most of us that were summoned safely were sent away within a day or two."

"So I was the only one that got the side quest of getting beaten up for a week?" I groaned at the unfairness. I wish I would have an opportunity to return those favours to Kips, Kiln, and the others.

The woman, numbered 198, narrowed her eyes, but chose not to say anything.

"Don't mind him," Cameron said. "He likes to kid, even in the most terrible situations."

"Hey, don't speak like you know me. We literally only met for a few hours. It hasn't been a full day yet."

"So you don't like to joke in terrible situations?" Cameron clicked his tongue. "I might not have a degree in psychology, but I understand human nature pretty well. I could see through you pretty easily, all these jokes are borne out of your coping mechanism."historical

"But they are funny, though." I didn't deny it. Although these jokes, borne unwittingly, being a student in psychology, I could tell whatever Cameron said was pretty much the truth.

"Perhaps, they would be funny if I was in my living room, watching it on the television instead of living it with you."

Our two predecessors watched us skit around with narrowed eyes.

"Anyway boys, I have a few questions for you," Failure 197 said. "In return, we can give you some advice to survive. From the looks of your state, I can tell you the two are in dire need of that."

"We'll be delighted to get some advice," Cameron answered for both of us.

"I'll ask first," the woman said. "What year is it on earth currently?"

"2025," I answered.

"Six years have passed huh," the man said in a melancholic tone.

"Only six years?" The woman snorted. "It felt like an eternity to me."

"So, what has changed in the world?" The man continued. "Who's the president now? Did we beat the virus? Who won the World Cup? . . ."

"Does all this matter anymore?" Cameron couldn't help but say, though he answered the question one after another.

"So it turns out, it hasn't grown any better," the man said. "Anyway, to an even more serious topic." He narrowed his eyes, staring at Cameron seriously. "Is Imagine Dragons still the best rock band of all time?"

"They never were," I snorted.

The woman had an annoyed expression on her face before and it spread to delight as she heard him. Whereas Cameron, who was alarmed about the intensity in the man's eyes, turned to me as if telling me to read the room.

To the man's credit, a disgusting expression crawled on his face. Still, he managed to keep it within himself.

"I forgot to ask your name," he said. "What's your name, mate?"

"Gale," I said simply.

"Gale," the man repeated. He shouted at the very next moment. "Fuck you, Gale!"

"You're full of shits, bloke," I told him as he snorted.

"What about hip hop?" he asked again.

I was about to answer, as it was something more of my study, but the woman groaned loudly, coming before us.

__________

I actually like Imagine Dragons, especially that song (Enemy) from Arcane. . I just don't consider them the best. Also, I wanted to make the infinity war meme so badly, and they were the best candidate I could find.