"Here, hold it tight. Got it?"

"Ya, go ahead."

"Alright hold on."

Biting her lower lip, Cali focused on her task. Nodding in approval, Flo reached to her right to retrieve the can opener and placed it on the edge of the metal tin. As they got better at it, the blade, already dulled by time and rust, worsened. It took them a few dozen tries to punch a hole big enough allowing Flo to pour the thick mixture of meat and beans into their small iron pot.

"It's okay, I’m on it."

Leaning in over Flo's busy hand, Cali grabbed the pot between the stumps of her arms and carried it over to the smoldering ashes of their fire. She rubbed them together to wash away the extra heat off her skin then sat back on her bunk. Flo opened and closed her mouth, deciding to keep her words to herself. She shivered.

The silence lingered for a while before Flo spoke again. "I'm going to fetch a few bigger branches to make sure we have enough for the night."

"Want me to come with?" Cali said looking at her friend, the side of her face illuminated by the warm, red glow of the burning coals.

"I'll be fine, this should only take a few minutes."

"Okay then."

Crutching around the flames, Flo headed in-between the overgrown trees near their camping site, stopping every few meters to take a good look around. Squatting, she unfolded the long piece of cloth looped around her neck and strategically stuffed it with twigs, branches, and bits of chipped wood until nothing more could fit inside. Straining to rise on her sole thigh, she carefully made her way back towards the light, her makeshift bag jangling to and fro against her empty hip.

Back at the edge of the woods, she stopped abruptly. Her eyes opened wide, ready to panic, and scouted the darkness beyond their resting spot. Cali's ears didn't catch the sound.

“What’s…”

Flo raised her hand to silence her. She could hear the faint crackling of the embers, the wind ruffling the leaves high up in the trees, but nothing more.

--------------------

“Breadsticks, definitely.” Cali said before craning her neck to accept Flo’s next prepared mouthful.  “Dipped in salsa, mmmmmmh.”

“For me, it’s wine..” Her eyes drifted off into the night sky. “The kind that just sloshes around in your mouth until your eyes water because it’s so good.”

“How the hell do you drink your wine?” They both burst out laughing. Cali folded herself in half to grab her water bottle with her stumps. “Or just a good night’s sleep.”

“Yeah..” Flo’s hand wandered off to her left leg, where her thigh had been amputated close to the hip over 4 years ago. She mechanically relieved an itch where her bionic leg used to connect to reassure herself. “Oh, sorry.” She shook her head to chase her memories and prepared a spoonful.

“Hey how could…” Cali interrupted herself to wolf down on another bite, stuffing most of it in her cheek to let her talk clearly. “I can’t really be that demanding when you’re already helping me eat.”

“I’m just really eager for tomorrow." She paused.  "Think we’ll be lucky this time?”

“Only time will tell.” Cali frowned. “You’ve got sauce on your cheek.”

Flo scrubbed her face with the back of her hand. “Better?”

“No, the other cheek.”

“And now?”

“No! You’ve just… C'mere young lady…”

Her bottle still between her arms, Cali angled it against her knee to spill some of the water on a rock beside her. Moistening her right arm in her own mess, she leaned towards her friend and slowly smudged the sauce off of her skin. Satisfied with her work, she gently squeezed her cheeks using her stumps before straightening herself, eyes darting to the side. Flo had heard it, too. A finger on her lips, they scanned the shadows, again, for the thousandth time tonight already.

--------------

“PUUUUSH!!!!”

“I’M TRYING!!! URGGHHH!!”

Her back solidly camped against the unstable pillar, Cali set both her feet against the wall and strained as hard as she possibly could, momentarily disconnected with the ground. Flo, right at her side, jammed her crutch in the opening she had just created to use it as a lever. Slowly, the entire thing topped over and loudly crashed down into a pile of rubble. Without any arms to catch herself, Cali flailed her stumps and smashed her butt against the concrete floor.

Flo crutched over to grab Cali's raised stumps. “There. Let’s just hope we can find some replacement limbs here.”

“Thanks.” Cali groaned and pulled herself back up, her gaze falling on her friend’s receded shoulder. Instead of a short stump, her arm had been completely scrapped and the bones of her shoulder remodeled, pushed back towards her neck. “Your arm… It’s part of the first generation, right?”

Flo sighs. “Yeah..”

“Do you… Do you really think we’ll find that here?”

Her hand found her empty shoulder. “My head knows it won’t happen. But even if it does, what are the chances it’ll still be functional… But again, I am here. I wouldn't if I didn't have hope. There’s gotta be one, just one shop that wasn’t hit as hard by the EMP." She sighed, her nails digging in the skin of her shoulder. "Come on. Let's see if we can find anything useful.

The Implants stores were organized much like any other big electronics store back before society collapsed. Wide open space stretched before them for 30 meters before splitting into a series of smaller departments and aisle specific to product lines. Eyewear, Hearing, Limbs, Brainchips… End of the line gadgets shared the shelves with all sorts of licensed knick knacks, sporting anything from Marvel superheroes to Hello Kitty. While most of it had already been looted after the EMP hit, what little remained had been smashed or was visibly short circuited.

On their way towards the robotic limbs section, they passed by a big central pedestal onto which they would usually display any of the newest products released. Flo vividly remembers attending a demonstration with living mannequins when Implants first launched their augmented limbs products. They had showcased a woman, both legs missing at the hips, being fitted with articulated legs that allowed her to stand up from her wheelchair and walk around the store, much to the astonishment of the gathered crowd. That's what had convinced Flo to buy a right arm, surrendering her own in the process. Her leg had followed a few years later after their technology had evolved and been refined.

"Hey, wait for me!" Flo's voice reverberated into the high industrial ceiling.

"Come on, Granny! Faster!" Just like during their visit in the previous store, Cali had bolted ahead of her friend to get a first look. She gasped. "FLORIDA!!! FLORIDA!!! WE FOUND ONE!!"

Flo hobbled faster. "Seriously?! What is it?"

"Standard Articulated Robotic Arm, third generation", Flo's excitement died down, "compatible with most amputation levels for a custom fit that everyone can enjoy." Leaning over a seldom empty shelf, Cali was reading information off of a sealed and incredibly clean box. She shouted back at her friend. "Quick!! Help me put it on, let's see if it works!"

Both arms on the box, Cali tried to lift it up to no avail. Flo erupted to her side, slightly out of breath, and saw her friend grunting against it.

"Is something wrong Cali?"

"It's stuck.' She changed her angle, tiptoeing to wedge her right arm behind the box. "Care to give me a hand?"

"It's like someone screwed it on the shelf." Putting all their weight into a tug, they dislodged it with a loud snap. Wobbling like an undercooked noodle, Flo managed to stay upright, box in hand. "It's empty!"

"What do you mean empty?!" Cali turned around to inspect their find, tapping a stump against the cardboard. "Look, what do you think that is?"

Lifting her right arm, she showed Flo a plastic wire that dangled limply, seemingly glued to the bottom of the box.

"That's weird, it doesn't look like the usual anti theft stuff they used back in …"

Flo's sentence was cut short when the girls heard an unexpected noise : a firework going off, rocketing and whistling through the air. After a brief second of silence, it detonated. Covering their ears as best as they could, they crouched behind the shelves, expecting more explosions that never came. They dared speak only after a minute or two.

"What the hell was that?" Cali's voice was barely even a whisper.

"I think someone planted the box as a trap. The wire must've triggered the firework when it snapped." She peaked over the shelves, looking at the entrance. "With the noise that thing made, it's going to attract raiders, probably those who installed this."

Cali's eyes conveyed the fear that had sunk in her stomach. "We need to get the fuck outta here."

"No, you get out as fast as you can and we'll meet back where we slept last night. I'll only slow you down."

"I'm not leaving without you." Cali looked around at the back of the store." We'll find a.. a.. a wheelchair, then I can push you around a lot faster."

"There's no time, California! Raiders might be on their way right now, I can't let you get captured just because I can't run."

"And what do I do when I'm alone without arms, Florida??" She clutched the empty box with her stumps, still in her friend's hand, and failed to snatch it from her. "I'm useless by myself, I need you, you told me we would stick together…"

Flo stared back at her friend, knowing that they were wasting precious seconds. She kept darting her eyes between her friend and the gaping hole of the exterior wall where the door used to be. As her mind raced, trying to plan their escape, an elongated shadow appeared in the entrance.

"Shit!! Someone's coming!" Flo's whisper sounded like a scream to her own ears. Feeling Cali behind her, an arm pressed to her back, she turned around and pointed further down the aisle. "Let's hide this way.."

As they stood again, Flo's crutch abandoned her arm pit and plummeted to the ground, knocking loudly on the tiled floor. It echoed in the empty open space, both girls wincing at the idea that someone might have…

"Who's there?" It was a man's voice. Rough, muddy. "I know you're in here. I have a gun and I'm not afraid to use it. Identify yourself."

Still in hiding, the girls' blood turned ice cold. The only visible exit was blocked off by their new aggressor. From a slit in the corner of the metal racking, Cali caught part of the man's figure. A scruffy looking beard, unkempt clothes, a shotgun. There was no doubt in her mind : he wouldn't hesitate to shoot if they tried anything funky with him. Tapping on Flo's back with her stumps, she mouthed a few words. Her friend shook her head, pointed further down the aisle to a large pillar. Knowing it was the right thing to do, Cali fought back her tears and reluctantly sneaked away, cautiously avoiding the debris scattered on the ground.

"Please don't shoot." Flo shouted. "I'm alone and I can't hurt you."

Flo heard hurried steps. "Show yourself. Raise your hands in the air." As the steps grew closer, she raised her shaking hand as high as she could. He pumped his shotgun. "Both hands, beautiful. I can't let you play any tricks on me now."

She took a deep breath. "I don't have two hands."

"Stop fucking with me. Step out of there." She could hear the leather of his belt squeaking as he fiddled with it. "Don't make me ask this again."

"I need to pick my crutch back up, I'm going to crouch okay…"

"I said no tricks!!" His belt screamed again followed by a gunshot fired in the air. "Step. Out."

Shifting her weight on her toes, she pivoted her foot outwards, then pushed on her heel to aim her toes the same way, and repeated the motions again. Inch by inch, she shuffled towards the voice, her hand still raised high above her head.

"Well would you look at that." He lowered his shotgun as she emerged from between the shelves. "Look what Marcus' little firework has caught for us."

He stepped forward, strapping the shotgun on his back. His plaid button up shirt hung loose at his side, perhaps revealing of a recent weight loss, much like his ragged baggy jeans. Short grayish hair poked from under his hat, contrasting heavily against the dark brown of his beard.

Flo stopped to regain her balance once she was completely exposed. She slowly let her hand down, encouraged by the shotgun's disappearance.

"Are you the one who booby trapped that box?"

"No. But I know the guy who did." He studied her from head to toe in silence, his eyes obviously interested in what she lacked. "You half-humans all have the same look."

She recoiled. "Half-humans?"

"Yeah, that's what me and my gang call you lots. Before, you were half-human, half-machine. Look at you now." He walked over to her, placed his hand on her armless shoulder, held it too tightly to Flo's taste.

"You're hurting me, let go!" She tried to pull herself away, unable to move her shoulder back, not jumping away by fear of falling over. "Please!" She clawed at his hand with no effect.

"I bet it didn't hurt one bit when they chopped off that arm of yours. Sedatives, opiates, you must've had one hell of a fucking cocktail." He grabbed her hand with his left and held it up against her will, moving his right on her empty hip.

"Please, just let me go." She struggled against him in vain, kicking from her left side as if her augmented limb was still in place.

Feeling the tensed atrophied muscles, he cackled. "See? Without them you're nothing. Barely even half a human."

"I've done nothing to you, all I'm hoping for is some of my freedom back." She quickly bent her knee, hoping to loosen his hold on her hand.

"Freedom? You call that freedom?" He shoved her to the ground, her head whiplashing against the floor. "While you and your rich little friends cut off your limbs for fancy technology, folks like me were rotting in the suburbs. Too poor and too stupid to be worth treating anymore. You clogged the healthcare system for add-ons, gadgets, throwing away perfectly good limbs while we were out there dying like bugs."

Her vision blurred, the back of her head wet to the touch. Her fingers smelled of iron. He wrapped his hand around her ankle and dragged his prey out of the store, Flo’s mind rocking in and out of consciousness . He unceremoniously slumped her into the passenger seat of his golf cart, binding her hand to a hook bolted in the dashboard.

"Where are you taking me?" She coughed.

"Oh, you'll see soon enough."

She slumped to the side and passed out.