They live in the middle of town?
It amazes me that the first time I happened across this mismatched couple was up past the wasteland. But she called him Daddy, I think, or maybe the night air was playing tricks on me. Being out from dusk until dawn is the only safety anyone can have when hunting, but it comes with the danger of the low-hanging toxicity that seems to amplify once the sun goes down.
Shaking my head, I quickly move toward a shed in the back of their home. I know full well that nothing in the air, on the land, or in the streams that weren’t as lucky as the creek I found, can harm me.
I guess being a freak of nature has its perks.
A wry smile creeps across my lips as I quietly pull the door closed behind me, then use my strength to pry one plank just enough away from the small window to tilt it upward and not be seen.
I rest my head against one of the rotten panels and close my eye for a moment. It was a pain in the ass to keep up with them since they were on horses and I was on foot, but I managed to maintain the pace as best as I could.
And here I am.
Hiding in a shack on territory I’m not familiar with, nor have any business being on, hoping to catch another glimpse of Bevie. Even her name is as perfect as she is, but I wonder if she would react to it rolling off my tongue the same way she reacted to it off his.
She wants a husband.
I need a wife.
It’s not something I’ve wanted to admit to myself ever, but I know that if there’s any hope of restoring humanity to the way it was, I’ll have to find a partner.
* * *
“Mom?”
She looks so fucking weak. Her eyes stay closed longer with each flutter of her lashes, and I know she will not survive the night, let alone the winter that’s coming soon.
“I’m okay, Colby,” she lies with a faint smile as she moves a delicate hand to rest on my forearm.
“I don’t know what to do,” I admit quietly as I blink back tears.
“There’s nothing you can do. This is how things have to be and I’ll be okay. So will you. You’re a strong boy and you’ll find a way to fix this.”
I bite my lower lip to keep it from trembling. I don’t know why it’s my duty to fix something I didn’t cause, but Mom told me it’s in my blood. Not just the strength of being from her lineage, but it is in my blood and it’s my duty to do as much good as I can with the gift I was given that I never asked for.
“How?” I ask, my voice cracking slightly.
“You can’t—” she pauses for a moment as her breath hitches in her throat. A bead of sweat rolls down the side of my face. It’s fear, an undeniable dread that I think I just watched my mother die.
“Mom?” I ask tensely and she lets out a strangled breath of air. I run a hand across my forehead quickly, before I reach down for her fragile hand and bring it to my lips, kissing it gently to let her know that I’m still here with her.
“Find someone who deserves you, Colby. You’ll know who when you feel it. Then you can begin to undo the horrors that humanity brought upon itself.”
* * *
Opening my eyes, I rest a foot against the wall and grind my teeth together. Mom’s been dead for seven years and I feel like every day I’m without this magical partner she spoke so highly of, that I’ve been failing her.
I’ve done just fine on my own.
I even gathered a small group of people who had nowhere to go and took them under my wing, provided for them in my home, and kept them safe.
And it still feels like it’s not enough.
“Sorry, Mom,” I mumble quietly as I turn my attention back toward the small home and wait.
I know that if I linger here long enough, I’ll be able to see Bevie, and that will have to do until the next time, because I refuse to let any more days pass by without laying eyes on her again. She’s intoxicated me in a way that no one else has before, and her father wants to marry her off.
I can prove to him I’m worthy of her if he just gives me a chance. If he can see what’s on the inside instead of the outside, it’ll be easy.
Maybe Bevie is the one Mom always went on about, maybe she isn’t, but she’s the one I want.
I run a hand over my mouth before I turn my body toward the window and wait as patiently as I can.
A moment later, I can see a silhouette flickering in the candlelight against the wall. It’s him, with his arms raised like he’s trying to explain something. I crane my neck slightly to get a better look when two more silhouettes dance into view.
One is the undeniable shape of Bevie, and the other I’m not familiar with. But when I watch the dark, shaky reflection raise a hand and swing it down violently against the smaller one, I immediately pull the door open to the shack and run toward the house.
Someone hit Bevie, and that just won’t do.
As I approach the front door, a shriek splits the air and makes me hesitate for a moment.
“I fucking hate you! Daddy doesn’t love you either, no matter what he says!”
I inhale a quiet, deep breath as I slink around to the window I had been peering through from the shed and glance inside again.
The silhouettes are firm now; they’re flesh and bone.
The older of the two females looks like she’s been stricken instead of having dealt the blow. Her mouth is hanging slightly ajar and… Bevie… She’s crying and trying to get her father to embrace her, but he looks like a rat caught in a trap, unsure of which way to turn his attention.
I was right. He’s not good enough for Bevie, but maybe I am, and gauging from this altercation, I know that I’m running out of time until she’s so lost in her lust for him, she’ll see no one else.