Chapter One
Jane's head is throbbing. It has been twenty-four hours since she last had anything to eat. Her muscles are fatigued, and she feels the delirium setting in. Finally, she realizes that she cannot go any further for the day and calls it a night where she is. She looks down at the ground she stands on—it is moist but has no signs of rocks or debris. She slowly crouches down and sits. She looks around, and this place is similar to all the places they’ve been in the last couple of months. It resembles the heartland—rolling hills, farmland, and a small decrepit town, forgotten among the last recession. A few small buildings remain. Most likely former family-owned businesses, which were the only means for locals to buy premanufactured goods back in the day.
She looks over at Henry. "We have to find somewhere to call home. I can't keep doing this."
He walks over to her and sits beside her. "I know, babe. I just don't know where to go."
"How long have we been traveling this time?" she asks, defeated.
"Probably a few weeks now. It is hard to tell."
She grabs the canteen, takes a small sip, and then hands it over to him. "Well, I guess we set up camp tonight and start again tomorrow?"
He scans the area. "I guess this place is as good as any. I haven't really seen any signs of anyone, which seems weird, though."
"Isn't that a good thing? Everyone we've come across so far has been horrible," she says as she looks down at the large scar on her leg.
He scoots closer to her, puts his arm around her, and kisses her forehead. "I know, babe. Not everyone can be bad, though. We'll find more people like us."
Henry stands up and gathers some supplies for their makeshift campsite. Since the apocalypse, they have learned to travel light and carry the essentials. Before this, Henry was an investment banker, and Jane was a cycling instructor. Every now and then, he looks back on his life before this one and just laughs. He had a great life—so much money he didn't know what to do with it. They lived in a fancy apartment in Central Park South and had decided that they were enjoying their lives so much they would hold off on settling down and having children. It seemed like they had nothing but time. They lived the American dream—success, money, good looks, and the world at their fingertips. Now, though, they go days without food, and he sometimes questions the point of even living.
He looks over at Jane, who is more than malnourished. She was always very slim and fit, but her muscles had disintegrated into bone. She has dark circles under her eyes now, and she just always looks pale—so ghastly white she has lost all remnants of her Hispanic heritage. He wishes there was more he could do for her, but there is nothing he can do. Every day is just a fight to stay alive, and the only reason he does it is for her. He could never leave her to endure this alone.Â
"Are you ok with staying here a few minutes while I see if there is anything nearby for food?" he asks.
She nods, and he approaches her and hands her the gun. "I think you need that more than I do," he says. “I don't like you being without protection. I have a knife if I need it." He leans down and kisses her.
"If you aren't back in thirty minutes, I will come looking for you," she says.
"You got it. I'll be back soon. Love you," he says as he walks away. Every time he leaves her, he knows there's a chance he won't be back, but she is too weak right now to come with him. He will be fast.
Jane watches as he lightly jogs away. She sits in her solitude—reflecting on everything that has happened. She knows she is blessed to be with him, and he has been more than she deserves in such troubled times. He has been a true protector, and she recognizes that she has been a burden. She gets angry when she realizes how unprepared she was for all of this. She acknowledges she took her prior life for granted, and now every day she wakes up is a struggle.Â
She doesn’t know what she would do if anything ever happened to him. While she never considered herself a true feminist, she did believe that she was just as capable as a man. Moreover, she believed that women were superior. After all, they were the ones blessed with child-bearing. But it didn’t take long for her to realize that once society loses its social construct, and lawlessness endures, strength is what keeps you alive—strength she did not possess.
Yet, despite all the bad she had endured, she tries to stay positive. They are still alive, and unlike so many others, at least they were together when everything fell apart. She constantly reminds herself there has to be something more out there—they just haven’t found it yet. There must be cities still thriving—they just have no way of knowing. It can’t all be gone, can it?Â
