A few hours ago...
The two boys carefully placed the unconscious priest inside the tree. A slight beep from Thia's watch broke the eerie silence that had fallen between them. He looked at his watch, silencing it in the process. They were late, very late.
Panicked, Thia shouted,"Daang it! We're late Kim"! He turned and ran. Kim followed closely behind. They ran towards where they had kept their heavily modified hove-vehicle. They scrambled into the HV* and Kim started the engine. It roared to life and they bolted out of the safe-zone as fast as they could.
As they neared the Main Gate of the village, Thia asked, " What are we going to do"? We only have one Zelle, it won't meet today's quota". Kim was silent. This was a problem. In the village, if one failed to meet a certain quota for hunts, there were consequences, heavy ones at that. For Kim, who had tasted those consequences one too many times, grit his teeth and came up with a plan. He was going to take the fall, this time willingly. Thia was too nice, a friend. Perhaps the only friend he'll ever have.
Reducing the speed and breathing slowly, Kim replied, " Don't worry I'll handle it". Thia looked confused," How will you handle it"? The car began to speed up again. Thia asked again," How will you do that"? To which Kim replied, " Don't worry about those quota checkers owe me a few favors so I'll just cash in on them," A lie. He looked at Thia from the corner of his eye, he seems to have bought it, good. Sorry Thia, Kim thought to himself.
They arrived at the Gate in silence. A slight beep and the sound of the tall huge metallic and slightly rusted metal gates opened. They entered. A sizzle of chemicals poured all over the HV from sprinkles above and below. This chemical bath was routine as it dealt with killing any and all radiation that has clung on the car during its trip in the safe-zone. Once it was over, they went a little bit further in and parked the car. They silently got off and headed to the decontamination area. They put on oxygen masks and a pair of goggles each.
They were both sprayed with the same chemicals. They both stood there each lost in thought, at least Kim was. A hand wave brought him out of his reverie, Thia was begging for his attention. He turned. The moment he saw Thia, he almost burst out laughing. There was Thia, covered in chemicals that could melt his skin and bones and what was he doing? Well, he was busy dancing horribly as well as making weird postures , imitating all the wild animals found at the village. Kim laughed. Thia was always ready to look for fun despite the situations.
After the chemical bath, they headed into a small cubicle each and spread out their arms. Robotic arms appeared from within the walls and gently peeled off all the clothes they had been wearing. Then a flood of cold water fell on them from the shower head above them . Thia shrieked in surprise while Kim smirked. Thia had not, and probably will never get used to the sudden cold water splashing on him. They showered, dried themselves and wore the clothes set out for them. They got out through a narrow door that led to the hunts area.
It was time to face the quota jerks, Kim thought.
*HV refers to the hove-vehicle. Its a massive double cab truck with an in-built decontamination freezer that was used on the meat they always hunted. It has a rocket engine as well as an electric engine that is normally used when driving in the city.