5.22

The six heroes, along with the dog, had been walking through the trash for ages. Portals continued to open in the sky and drop trash all over the world, though nothing else seemed to be happening.

“What are we looking for exactly?” Woolpack asked.

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” said Hunter.

“Then why are we walking in this direction. What if we should be going another way?” Irritation laced Woolpack’s voice.

“Because we’ve gotta go somewhere,” said Silas. “Besides, the dog hasn’t told us to go anywhere else.”

“Why are we trusting the dog anyways?” Woolpack asked.

“There’s nothing else out here,” replied Jimena.

Suddenly, there was a rumbling noise in the sky. The dog froze and looked up. Its tail moved between its legs, and it began to whimper. It broke away from the group and buried itself in some trash.

“You were saying?” Woolpack retorted. The group followed after the dog, but each of them left their faces partially uncovered so they could see what was coming.

They couldn’t make out much as the thing was mostly covered in shadow, but from what they could tell, it was a colossal creature.

A giant, toothy maw opened up and a purple tongue shot out. The tongue opened up at the end, revealing another, smaller mouth. The tongue grabbed some trash and then quickly retracted back into the mouth.

The creature floated there for a while. It would shoot out its tongue and grab more rubbish and then continue to eat it.

“What is that?” whispered Silas.

“It makes Gadgeteer’s golden robot look small,” said Jimena. The dog continued to let out a quiet whimper and the group refused to move from where they were.

After what seemed like an age, the creature in the dark finally moved on. The dog dug itself out of its hiding place and paced in front of the group and yapped at them.

Hunter was the first to come out of hiding, the rest came out at the same time.

“I do not want to confront that thing,” said Gauzelle.

The dog pointed its body again in the same direction they had been travelling. Hunter leaned over and gave it a pat before setting off. The dog relaxed and continued to weave around their legs.

“Where are you taking us buddy?” Hunter asked.

They came to a place in the trash that appeared to be arranged in such a way to almost be done on purpose.

The dog weaved around what appeared to be a small wall and through what could have been a broken gate. The dog disappeared into darkness.

“Where’d you go?” Hunter called. The dog gave an excited bark. “Come on, lets go.” The group followed after the dog.

They walked into an area that was poorly lit and found themselves looking at something that looked like a rundown house. The dog paced back and forth, yapping at the house.

“You reckon the Trash Queen lives there?” Silas asked.

“Doesn’t seem like much, does it?” said Woolpack.

“Let’s finish this,” said Brickla. She charged forth and crashed against the front of the house.

The door opened and revealed an elderly woman standing in the dim light.

“Hello?” her voice was high-pitched and scratchy. Brickla slammed herself to a stop and looked shocked.

“Hi,” said Hunter.

“Can I help you?” the woman continued to look out into the darkness, not quite locking a gaze with any of them. The dog let out a playful bark and ran through the woman’s legs and into the house.

“Your dog led us to you. I’ve gotta admit, we never expected to find anyone else here,” said Hunter.

“Oh dear me, I’m such a bad host. Come in, come in.” The elderly woman toddled back into the house and left the door open.

“What, what do we do?” asked Silas.

“We go in,” replied Hunter.

“Don’t you think it could be dangerous?” said Brickla.

“We found another living person in this world; I think we could learn something.” Hunter shrugged his shoulders and followed after the elderly woman. The rest shared looks at each other and made their way into the home.

The place was small, cramped. It clearly wasn’t designed with lots of people in mind.

“I hate to be rude, but who are you?” Hunter asked.

“Are you friends of my daughter’s?” the woman asked. She sat on a small chair and looked in their general direction. In the light, Hunter could see that she was blind.

“Wait, the Trash Queen is your daughter?” snapped Gauzelle.

“Who, Bernita?” asked the woman.

“Is that her name?” asked Silas.

“Yes, that’s my daughter’s name. Would any of you like something to eat or drink?” The group shared a look with each other, worried about what they may be offered.

“Don’t worry, I eat good, proper food here. I don’t eat the trash.” The woman chuckled and gave a cheeky grin.

“Who. What. Bernita?” blurted Gauzelle.

“Yes, Bernita. And my name is Gladys. Bernita is my daughter. And this little fella is Bertrand. Good boy Bertrand.” The dog stretched up and barked happily at Gladys.

“You’ll have to forgive us if we’re being rude. But we have so many questions,” said Brickla.

“So many questions,” repeated Silas.

“You’re not being rude just by asking questions. If I can answer them, I will.”

“Why everything? This place?” asked Jimena

“Why does Bernita come to Athena City and kill people? Why is there so much slaughter?” asked Brickla.

“Why are you here? Are you held captive here?” asked Hunter.

“Your daughter?” asked Silas.

“What was that giant creature swimming through the air?” asked Silas.

“What do you do for fun?” asked Gauzelle. The others shot her a look and she just held up her hands.

“My oh my, so many questions. Well, I think I can answer all of them. Are you sure you don’t want something to eat or drink? I make a wicked carrot cake. And the coffee is delicious.”