Aly glanced down to her wrist band, smudged with grease and synthetic oils. 1630 hours. She flung off her smoke and oil stained apron, and bolted to the time clock on the wall. Mr. Winston, a recently aged out Corpsman and the new manager of the restaurant, tried to flag her down. He knew it was a vain attempt. These young women ran circles around him.
“Aly!” He cried.
She spun around and held her finger inches from the top of the scanner. If she just touched it, then he wouldn’t be allowed to hold her up.
“That’s rude,” She thought. “Yes sir?”
“Why are you off in such a rush?” He asked. “It doesn’t matter, I just haven’t seen a request for time off or a medical eval from Breeders?”
“Well, it's my friend sir,” She replied. “She is going to find out if she is pregnant or not. I have to be there!”
“Wow. It seems that you guys get younger every year.” He said with a false optimism in his voice. “I hope it is good news. And remember, you can talk to me. I’m not going to prevent you from your duties, as a friend or a citizen.”
Aly nodded and forced a smile.
She was happy to have got work so closed to her apartment, it only took moments to get home. She sprinted up the stairs with ease. Flight after flight to the mid level. Every step was quicker and more shallow than the last. She jerked herself around every hairpin turn using the rail. Wham! A door opened into her face, knocking her on the ground.
“Oh shit!” a young man her age said. “Aly! I’m”
“Shut up Spicer!” she yelled as she pulled herself up and held her hand to her forehead. “Sorry, I mean, it is okay Spicer. Gotta run!”
She darted up the stairs again and left Spicer dazed. He looked up at her, until he realized he was staring, and quickly glanced away.
She ripped her clothes off as he closed her door behind her. She could smell the smoke on her and in her hair, and she could not wait for the water to warm up. Her teeth rattled as her hair soaked up her conditioner and the water beaded up on her oil caked hands. Vivi Ann had always told her that her hands would melt the men at Breeders, and her eyes might even stop their hearts. She was still chilled and her skin bumped up as she dried off and ran to her closet. Dresses and shirts were hung haphazardly on hangers and drawers had pants, socks, and undergarments crammed in and spilling out. As she threw her last arm into her shirt, her hair dripped droplets of water on her shoulder.
Aly jerked the door open, and ran into Spicer. She knocked him to the ground.
“Spicer!” She said surprised. “I am in rush, Spicer please, tell me this is important. I don’t care about the door - what is this?”
Spicer held up a small paper card.
Spicer said as he pushed himself off the ground, “I found it yesterday when my unit went out scavenging. I know Vivi Ann is trying to get pregnant. I thought it would be a nice gift to her.”
She emptied the stained and dirty envelope into her hand. The card was from the old world its corners chipped away by bugs and weather, and the ink had bled in many parts. Yet there was still nothing like it. Giving birth was expected, not celebrated.
Aly flung her arms around Spicer squeezing him tightly.
“Thank you!” She said holding him.
“Um,” Spicer said as he squirmed and adjusted himself. “You’re welcome.”
She let him go looking down.
“I have an early shift. I’ll see you around.” Spicer said.
He quickly turned and ran down the stairs not giving her a moment to respond.
“I’m too nice to him…” She thought. “It isn’t fair.*”
Aly took a long deep breath of the stale recycled air in Vivi Ann’s apartment building. Her pollen mask clipped through the belt loop of her black capri pants. She knocked on the door, put a big smile on her face, and waited for what felt like an eternity.
“Vivi,” she said through the door, “it’s me…”
There was no answer.
“Vivi, I am coming in. I know your home.” She said as she turned the handle.
Before the door was opened, she hid the card in her waistband. Vivi Ann was cocooned on her sofa with large blankets and pillows surrounding her. Used cloths littered the floor and tables around her, and charcoal mascara had run and raccooned her eyes. Aly shut the door behind her as Vivi Ann cried again. Aly climbed over the back of the couch unwrapping the blankets and inserting herself inside with Vivi Ann. She wrapped her arms around her and held her tight letting Vivi Ann cry on her shoulder. She started to cry with her, but held it back and supported Vivi Ann’s head.
After a few minutes, the sobs stopped. Vivi Ann held her head up and reached for a cloth, but Aly pulled a fresh on from behind them. She wiped Vivi Ann’s face, streaking the mascara more.
“I had to cancel my appointment…” Vivi Ann said unwrapping some of the blankets around her. “I didn’t miss it.”
“I-I am sorry,” Aly said before Vivi Ann continued.
“I guess third try isn’t the charm. I have to go in for a check up tomorrow. Make sure everything is working properly.” Vivi Ann continued and choked back more tears. “Oh come on, why can’t I stop crying?”
“It’s going to be okay Vivi,” Aly said. “You are still young. You have plenty of time.”
“But what if…” Vivi said.
“Stop!” Aly said. “Don’t think like that.”
Aly stood up and cleaned up the litter of cloths around the room.
“I am going to clean this up. Okay?” She said as she looked at Vivi Ann. “Take a hot bath and relax. You will feel much better, and when you are done. This place will look like new.”
“No,” Vivi Ann replied. “Don’t clean my house without my help. You will make me feel worse.”
“Fine,” Aly said as she threw a cloth at her.
Aly bent over to pick up another one to throw, exposing the card tucked behind her.
“Wait,” Vivi Ann said. ‘What is that?”
Before Aly could answer she swiped it out and opened it up. Tears formed in her eyes, but it was tempered by her smile.
“Where did you get this?” Vivi Ann asked. “It is amazing. You are blessed! And we are excited to meet your blessing.”
“Spicer found it. He gave it to me, said you should have it… though.” Aly said.
“Oh, yeah.” Vivi Ann said as she winked. “What else did he give you?”
Aly rubbed her head and replied, “This giant bump on my forehead. He hit me with his door!”
Vivi Ann began laughing uncontrollably.
“Oh,” Aly said, “shut up! I got him back though, knocked him on his ass as I was leaving.”
“Yeah, and how did you do that? Just by looking at him?” She asked. “That man would do anything for you.”
“Please,” Aly said uncomfortably. “I hate that.”
Vivi Ann smirked.
“He just needs to blow off some steam. I guarantee that if you just lie to him and tell him that you are going to a Breeders, then he will forget all about you.” She said. “Or, you could actually go to a Breeders, and have awkward sex with him.”
“Vivi,” Aly said.
“Don’t Vivi me,” She said. “I am telling you. There is nothing like it, when it is good anyways, just wave after wave crashing over you. It all your choice, older men, Statesmen, if you are feeling generous a young man.”
“It isn’t right, doing that to him.” Aly replied. “I mean, I barely can touch him… I gave him a hug for the card, and…”
“Oh!” Vivi said as she laughed again. “Did he?”
“Yes.” Aly replied.
Aly was vividly red in the face.
“How does he make you feel? Weak in the knees? Does your stomach twist in knots, while your heart flutters?” Vivi Ann asked. “Does he…”
“He makes me feel guilty.” Aly exclaimed.
“Oh” Vivi Ann said.
“He is great, and he is cool, and wonderful. But I can’t give him what he wants. He only ever makes me feel guilty.” Aly said.
She looked around for something to clean up, but found the room spotless.
“Are you hungry?” She asked. “I am starving. I’ll order us some food.”
“Changing the subject?” Vivi Ann said. “Fine.”
The moon hung low and large in the sky lighting the neon streets on Aly’s walk home. The nights were quiet along most of the streets, at least until you came across a Breeders. There were five in Eden, one for each district, large multi story buildings with single rooms, dance floors, and drinks. You could hear the thump of electronic dance beats for blocks way. Aly just happened to live down the street from one.
Men lined the block and wrapped around street corners. Their wristbands were scanned. One particular group of man laughed and prodded at the youngest member of their group. A first timer it seemed. He was young, younger than Aly. He must have just graduated. Aly had caught him staring at her, but he quickly looked down.
An older man in the group, whose hair was graying on the side of his head, waved at her as the rest of his group moved forward into the building.
He said, “I guess the kid won’t be seeing you in there?”
“I’m not sure I am ready for that…” Aly replied. “Well, I know I don’t want that yet.”
The man smirked and nodded.
“I, understand that,” he said. “It took me a few years to muster up the courage to go in. It always seemed too easy.”
Aly wasn’t sure how to respond.
He said in whisper, “It's an illusion.”
Aly, “What do you mean?”
He shook his head as he realized it might have been a mistake.
“You must get pregnant, or get someone pregnant.” He said.
Aly was interested now.
“What if you can’t?” She asked.
“Impossible. Everyone can.” He said.
“But, I’ve seen old books and records. Some people can’t.” She said.
Men behind him were getting restless. Some pushed and some yelled.
The older man laughed, “So you have started to see past the illusion too. There is a young man in our unit. He sees the illusion too, can’t get him into a Breeders either. The other men, they just don’t get him.”
Aly followed his eyes, up to the top of the building and saw a shadowy figure in the moonlight. As she turned back the man began moving forward and she lunged after him grabbing his wrist.
“Wait!” She exclaimed before she hushed her tone. “I- How? I don’t understand. How can they both be true?”
The man shrugged his shoulders and replied, “That is far above my rank.”
He turned to walk inside, but stopped short.
“Maybe not tonight,” he said to the Corpseman standing outside, and he turned and left walking down the street.
Aly stood thinking for a moment. She could feel some stares from the men waiting. Some faces were dumb and blank. Others vengeful and angry for the wait. A few seemed dead and lonely. Young faces in awe and older faces entitled. She felt in their minds she was nothing, or at the very least she was someone else entirely. Somebody she didn’t recognize. She darted across the street and into her building. Slowly she walked up the stairs and continued contemplating what that man had said.
“What if Vivi couldn’t get pregnant?” She thought.
She could feel a pressure in her chest, like some light warming her, but her arms and legs shook and were weak. She wanted to stop for a moment and she could feel her eyes tearing up and she gripped onto the rail and pulled herself. Her breath was shallow and she could feel her lungs join in with her legs. She ran. She bolted up the stairs, her feet slammed onto the stairs, and the stomps echoed off the concrete walls. She passed her apartment and kept going up. There were some yells and the walls thumped like living hearts, but it was all gibberish and drowned out by the thumping in her chest and her ears. She felt like she was drowning in the sound and claustrophobic as walls closed in around her. She got the top the and the final door was cracked open shining a small beam of artificial like onto the roof. She burst through and could breathe long deep breaths as tears dripped from her cheeks.
“Aly? Are you okay?” a voice said in the darkness.
She had forgotten about the man that was up here.
“Spicer?” She asked. “Is that you?”
She wiped the tears from her face.
“Yeah,” he answered shining a dim blue light over his face. “What is happening?”
“I-I don’t know,” she replied. “I can’t explain this. Vivi Ann isn’t pregnant…”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He said and he walked to her throwing a small blanket around her shoulders.
They walked together back into a dark corner away from the door.
“I thought you said you had to work early?” Aly asked as her body began to normalize.
“Yeah,” Spicer replied, “in like 4 hours. But I couldn’t sleep.”
Aly saw a small bended book that hung out of Spicer’s pocket, and she grabbed it and opened it.
“I found that about a month ago?” He said. “I think it was around then. We were in sector 7 looking for a unit who went MIA. I can’t figure that book out, some of the words just aren’t rea-”
She looked up from the book and asked, “Wait, the corpsmen that were just added to the memorial? They all died?”
“At least one of them Bloomed.” Spicer said. “We don’t know about the other three. Never found them. What is more telling is that they weren’t supposed to be out there. No orders, they weren’t scavenging.”
“So did they desert? All of them?” Aly asked.
“Corpsmen don’t desert Aly, we die.” Spicer replied.
Aly dropped the book. She realized something, and it seemed so clear. Far to clear to miss. Corpsmen didn’t desert, but they did. If they did, then they were no longer corpsmen. So corpsmen never deserted, they only died.
Spicer picked up the book and brushed dust off the broken and wrinkled spine. He opened it to an earmarked page and offered it back to Aly who reluctantly took it. The page was mostly blank with a few sporadic lines of text that broke grammar rules and painted pictures with rhythm and punctuation filled with flowery words. The feeling returned to her chest, and she quickly offered it back to Spicer.
“I don’t get it.” She said.
“Me either.” He replied. “But I read it for days while we searched for the Corpsmen. I was told to burn it when we returned, but I couldn’t.”
“Why not?” She asked.
Spicer thought for a minute and replied, “I don’t understand the words, but it spoke to me. I felt full of life and light and fear and loneliness. It didn’t want to burn.”
The rest of the night they stayed silent. They watched the moon and the stars move through the sky until the dawn peaked the horizon. Spicer helped Aly to her apartment, setting her down on her couch. Her eyelids were heavy and she felt herself continuously nod off in and out of consciousness.
“Thank you Spicer,” she mumbled as he closed the door behind him.
Aly shot up off her couch as her wristband buzzed and vibrated against her cheek. 1333 hours. She had overslept. Not only had she missed work, but she had missed calls and messages for Vivi Ann.
Going in to take my test. Wish me luck!
Waiting room is sooooo full and boring. Message me!
They didn’t seem impressed… Not happy about whatever test they had to run.
Please… message me.
Waiting on my test results… really need my friend
Aly… please.
I’m infertile… I can’t live like this. Please answer me!
Aly rushed out the door in the same clothes she wore the day before. Her hair had fly aways and was pressed down and crinkled awkwardly from her sleep. She flew down the stairs, skipped as many as possible, and even jumped over the railing toward the bottom of each flight. She tried to call Vivi Ann. No answer. Her heart pounded as she swiped the holographic projection that wrapped around her wrist to call Vivi Ann. No answer. Again. Still, no answer. She charged through the door onto the street and ran through the market.
People crowded the street around Vivi Ann’s apartment building. They gasped in awe and shock whispering among themselves.
“How traitorous!’’ Some said.
Others lamented, “Such a beautiful girl, such a shame.”
Aly pushed her way through as she shook.
“Please… I can’t be too late.” She thought.
She followed the fingers pointed to the sky, towards the top of the building. It was Vivi Ann, perched on top of the ledge, and her hands spread wide. Aly pushed harder towards the building and shattered the glass of the door with the force she swung it open. After the first few flights, her feet felt heavy. Half way up her calves and thighs begged her to slow down and stop. Almost there, but she felt a pain in her leg. She limped and pulled herself up by the rails as she heard more gasp from outside. She flung the door open at the top.
“Vivi!” She screamed. “Don’t.”
Aly wretched a little and doubled over as fatigue set in.
“I can’t-” Vivi said as tears streamed down her face. “I can’t do the one thing I have always wanted. The most important thing… How can I live like this?”
“Just please,” Aly said, “step down from there and talk to me.”
“I can’t, what will happen to me? I am useless. I am just a consumer now, I can’t produce and can’t help Eden grow? Why? Why should I come down?” Vivi Ann said as her white dress fluttered in the wind.
“Because I love you!” She replied while her voice broke. “I’ve loved you since the dorms. I’ve always loved you. I don’t go to breeders, because I can’t be with you. Not the way I want. You say you can’t live like this, then fine. I understand. But I can’t live without you, I can fake it. If it keeps you in my life then I can pretend like I don’t love the way you look at me, and that I don’t love the stupid jokes you make when things get awkward. But I don’t want to live without you. So lets runaway, leave Eden forever no matter how short it may last. I would rather Bloom with you than live here alone. So please, come down…”
The seconds seemed to drag on for eternity in the silence. Vivi Ann stared through tears and mascara at Aly quivering with vulnerability. She slowly let herself down. Aly took a small step towards her as Vivi Ann moved closer. Right next to her, Vivi Ann threw her arms around her, holding her tight.
As they cried together, Vivi Ann said, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. You are okay.” Aly replied.
Aly pulled her closer, and Vivi Ann laid her forehead against Aly’s. She moved closer, her lips hover over Aly’s, and she took a deep breath and removed her mask, then Aly’s. She kissed her. Aly felt her warmth, the electricity in her body. Her first kiss something she never thought would feel so real, and she kissed her back. For a moment it felt like they were all alone. No longer on the roof, no longer in Eden, but in a new place - a paradise created just for them. For only a moment until they felt someone’s eyes on them.
Spicer gapped at them in a daze lowering his weapon as they noticed him. They looked just as shocked as he did. Whistles rang in the air, and it snapped him awake.
“Come on,” he said, “they are coming for you. We need to leave.”
They hurried down flights of stair, Spicer supporting Aly as she limped, when they heard a stampede of boots on the stairs.
“The next door,” Spice said.
Vivi Ann opened the door into an apartment much like her own, down to the furniture. An elderly woman turned from her window watching the mass of people below. She stared at the three. Their breath fast and shallow, fear written on their faces.
“The closet,” she said pointing into her bedroom.
“Wait!” Spicer exclaimed. “Give me your wristbands, they will track them. Whatever happens, get to the old Arts district. There are plenty of places to hide, I will find you.”
He quickly flushed them down the toilet, rapidly pushing down the lever to make sure they sank into the pipes.
The elderly woman closed the closet behind them. Vivi Ann and Aly pressed close together. A small beam of light danced between them and they stared into each other.
“I’ve loved you too,” Vivi Ann whispered as she wrapped her fingers around Aly’s.
The door was flung open as corpsman rushed into the apartment with their guns drawn and ready.
“What are you doing here runt?” A thick man with a red face asked. “Where are they?”
He had his gun drawn on Spicer.
“Get your damn weapon off me, Gallen. I am looking for the person who was going to jump. Just the same as you.” He replied.
“Bullshit! There are two of them. And one of them is the chick you are so infatuated with! So where are they?” He said pulling a tall and gaunt corpsman over. “They were with you.”
Aly watched through the crack as Spicer pushed Gallen back.
“Back off! They must-” Spicer said before Gallen punched him across the face.
Aly placed her hand over her mouth as Spicer spun around falling onto a coffee table breaking it. The gaunt corpsman joined in and kicked him in the ribs. An older man walked in with a graying beard. The man from the night before, outside of Breeders. He grabbed the two corpsmen by the back of their shirts and flung them into the hallway. Aly couldn’t make out the words, but there was yelling. The man returned as Spicer picked himself up.
“Are you helping them son,” he said.
Spicer stood at attention and saluted the man, “Lt. Strum.”
“Knock that off, and answer the question private.” He said sternly.
“No,” Spicer answered. “When I saw there was no one on the roof, I checked room by room floor by floor. I must have just missed them.”
Strum’s face was fixed in disbelief as he looked around the apartment, ending at the closet with his hand on the door. The two women held their breath.
“He knows we are in here.” Aly thought.
The gaunt men entered the room at attention holding a small palm pad.
“Sir,” he said, “we just got another ping. They are street level.”
“What are you waiting for? Go after them!” He barked.
He grabbed onto Spicers arm and said, “Not you. We need to have a discussion.”
As the room emptied, the women waited until it felt safe. The elderly woman opened the closet and offered them food and water.
“Why are they after us?” Aly asked. “All this for a suicide?”
“When I was young, maybe a bit older than you two, I had a friend. After two attempts she couldn’t get pregnant, so she slit her wrist in repentance for her inability to serve Eden. She survived, but I never saw her again. It is considered treason to damage Statesmen property.” The elderly woman said. “Eat. Eat. You must hurry to the Arts district. They will be coming back for you.”
As they began to leave, the woman wrapped a long beautiful cloth around their heads.
“Be safe, you two.” She said. “And good luck.”
Moonlight shown through a large opening in the ceiling high above them. Aly and Vivi Ann huddled together making themselves small in the corner of the derelict art museum. The museum was built into the high walls of Eden, and the inside had been stripped bare. The paintings gone and burned, and the statues smelted and destroyed. All that was left was blank cracked walls and discolored pedestals and stands. The building had become a home to the forgotten people of Eden. The elderly aged out men, who could no longer serve the Statesmen whether it was in the Corps or in reproduction, had huddled together in a makeshift tent camp of fraying tarps and torn cloth. Most had makeshift mask over their faces, but a few had nothing. The more abled bodied of the men tended the sick and cooked a meal that smelled ghastly. The lot stared at the two, breaking eye contact every so often, but they always found their way back.
A loud commotion echoed through the building as some elderly man crawled away quickly, and some ran helping them up. A corpsman carrying in two large bags startled them and quickly put them down and put his hands up. One man rushed to him and hugged him. They laughed and walked together. The corpsman handing them one of the bags. They opened it, passing out new clothes, mostly socks and underwear, some jackets and mask. There were small bags of synthetic jerky and filtering straws for collected rainwater.
“Spicer?” Vivi Ann called out.
The man looked up and waved. He shook the older man’s hand and walked over to the two women.
“Are you okay?” Aly asked as she reached out to his bruised and swollen face.
Spicer stopped her and replied, “It still really hurts.”
He opened the second bag and pulled out some clothes.
“Here,” he said, “put these on. Can’t go out there in those.”
They started to strip down, and Spicer quickly turned around. Some of the men stared at the two women.
“Avert your eyes, and have some self-respect.” The man who had greeted Spicer yelled.
Most of the men listened and went about their nightly rituals. They passed out soups and jerky and for the most part seemed jovial.
Aly placed her hand on Spicer’s should, and he slowly glanced behind him to ensure they were modest.
“I got you some supplies. Four extra mask, should give you guys an extra two or three weeks. A few extra sets of clothes, and some jerky. I couldn’t get you a gun, but I did find this.” He said.
He handed Aly a decent sized knife, about four inches of blade folded inside. He reached inside the large bag and pulled out 2 backpacks. Clipped to the outside of them were sleeping bags wrapped around a tarp with long strands of cord doubled around.
“Why aren’t the men Blooming?” Vivi Ann asked.
“They will, most of them. Only plants on this side of Eden are trees, they seem to take longer to affect people.” He said as they pulled the bags onto their shoulders. “We have to go.”
Aly had noticed he didn’t have his wristband on.
“I left it at home. The guys they don’t trust me. I bet they are tracking me.” He said as he followed her eyes.
“How did you get all this?” Vivi Ann asked.
“It isn’t that hard to sneak things out of the armory, if you know what you are doing.”
They followed him through the crowd, and the men nodded and smiled and waved. Some wished them luck, others bowed their heads in respect and hope. Behind a patchwork of flapping tarps, they squeezed through a crack in the wall. Soon the wall gave way to lush green leaves and brown roots that grew through the wall a ripped it open to the world outside. Large flowering trees towered over them, and small green ferns kissed their legs and retreated into themselves. Aly reached out for Vivi Ann’s hand and held it tightly.
“This is the world outside?” Vivi Ann asked.
“It is so beautiful,” Aly added.
“Yes, it is.” Spicer replied. “Dangerous too, but I think the most beautiful things are.”
He looked back and the two of them. They needed to move fast, and while Aly’s limp seemed to be far less severe, he knew he couldn’t push her too hard.
They had walked for hours until the treeline broke and a wide body of water stood in their path. The remnants of a bridge had nearly all been masked. Large pieces of steel jutted into the sky cocooned in thick vines and small trees on each side maintaining support. Most of the concrete had crumbled, but the rebar created a lattice for vines and roots to migrate across. Man’s engineering had led to a natural wonder, home to thousands of small creatures. Birds and insect and bats flew around bioluminescent leaves and petals that lit the night air.
“We’ll cross at dawn when we can see our steps.” Spicer said as he set down Aly’s bag.
“You are going back,” Aly said, “aren’t you?”
“Yes-” he said.
A gun shot rang out, echoed off the tall banks, and the bullet tore through Spicer’s shoulder sending him spinning. Another one rang out, and the bullet broke through his hip. Aly’s face was splattered with pink mist of blood. The tall gaunt corpsman from earlier emerged from the overgrowth to their east. He slammed the butt of his rifle into Vivi Ann’s back knocking her to the ground. Gallen approached from the west, his gun trained on Aly. He kicked Spicer’s pistol away and stepped on his hip. Aly could hear the crunch of Spicer’s shattered hip over his screams.
“Damn.” Gallen said with a sick smile on his face. “Not only are you a traitor, but you tried to swindle two women just for yourself.”
Spicer tried to respond, but he failed to through his pain.
“Can’t get him to go out with us, and yet he thinks he can handle them both.” The gaunt man said.
Vivi Ann tried to get up and fight back, only for the gaunt man to kick her in the ribs. She tried to crawl closer to Aly, and stretched her hand out towards her. The gaunt man ripped her away by the collar of her jacket, tearing it down the front so it hung off her shoulder.
“You can’t do this,” Aly said. “We outrank you!”
Gallen grabbed her viciously by the hair, pulling her up to his level.
“Not out here you don’t.” He said as he wiped Spicer’s blood from her cheeks and kissed her.
Aly spit on his face. She slapped and kicked at him, forcing him to move back for just a moment. He backhanded her, and she crumbled to the ground. She saw the gaunt man climb on top of Vivi Ann who fought against it until he put his pistol on her mask over her mouth. Gallen towered over her.
He said, “This isn’t like Breeders, you won’t enjoy this.”
Spicer grabbed onto his ankle weakly. Gallen laughed and kicked him across his face. His mask flew off his face landing a few feet away.
“There, maybe you’ll bloom.” He said smiling. “Was just going to let you bleed out. We will see which happens first.”
A chill went up Aly’s spine as another gunshot rang out and warm liquid splattered the back of her neck. She turned around to see the gaunt man slumped over Vivi Ann who screamed. Gallen fired his rifle around.
“Drop it Gallen,” a familiar voice said.
“Show yourself coward!” He yelled.
He spun around, firing wildly until his gun was emptied. Lt. Strum walked out of the darkness of the growth, his rifle fixated on Gallen.
“I said, drop it.” He said again.
Gallen was in shock, “Sir…”
“Drop it damn it!” He said again.
Spicer was slowly reaching for his pistol. He stretched through the pain, and bit down on his tongue. He could taste the iron of blood in his mouth as the tips of his fingers grazed the gun handle. It was so close, but it might as well have been miles away. Aly followed his eyes and reached for it as well. Spice let out a scream and lunged as much as he could toward his pistol. He knocked it into Aly’s hand, and Gallen spun around and kicked at her. She shot it three times into his chest, and he fell to his knees surprised. Aly stood up and fired one more into his face. She rushed over to Vivi Ann who struggled to push the dead weight off of her, and helped her to her feet. Strum had rushed to them, as Aly was hesitant to put her gun down.
“Why?” Vivi Ann asked. “Why did you help us?”
“He’s be-” Spicer said grunting trying to sit up, but he fell back to the ground. “He’s been helping us.”
“I knew you were in the closet, I knew Spicer was helping you.” He said. “They were going to follow Spicer no matter what.”
Aly and Vivi Ann rushed over to Spicer side. Aly laid his head against her thighs. He grunted as the tears cut through the dirt on his cheek.
“Why did you do all of this Spicer,” Vivi Ann asked. “What was so worth it to you? Aly?”
Spicer laughed a little and winced, then he said, “Yes, and no. You guys were worth it. I saw the entire thing. She talked you down, was willing to give up a comfortable life for a moment with you. It was the realest then I had ever seen.”
His breathing began to labor, and he wheezed. Blood had pulled up beneath him and soaked into the ground.
“Wait Spicer!” Aly said. “Please, we can get you-”
He stopped her. He knew it was too late for him. Nothing but Eden could save him now, and he knew he wouldn’t make it back there.
“Please,” he said, “Vivi Ann, take care of her.”
“I will.” Vivi Ann said through her crying.
“Aly, cherish every moment…” He said.
He stared into the sky, but he wasn’t there. His breathed ceased.
“I will make sure he gets a hero’s funeral.” Strum had said.
The two women were confused and in shock.
He continued, “He died trying to bring you back. Those two absconded with you. You asked me once how both things can be true. Eden is so filled with lies and half-truisms, no one can question the narrative. As far as the Statesmen are concerned, those two are traitors and Spicer is a hero.”
He helped the women to their feet, and handed their bags to them. He held out a map to Vivi Ann.
“It is old, there maybe some overgrowth that isn’t on it. But keep the sun on your right in the morning and left in the afternoon. Keep going. There will be a time for mourning, but you need to start out now, before Corpsman begin scouting.” He said.
Vivi Ann helped Aly up, and they turned to leave. They stopped and hugged Strum.
“Thank you,” Aly said.
“Then live.” He replied. “Live.”
He picked up the book from Spicer’s pocket and handed it to Aly.
“He would want you to have this.” He said before he sent them on their way.
They were half way across the bridge when the sun dawned over the horizon. They took it in together, and intertwined their fingers. Rooted to together, as the rays warmed their skin. A new day was dawning.
Thank you for taking the time to read my short story. As always, any feedback or criticism is a not only welcomed, but encouraged. Love is the Reason is part of my current project, an anthology of standalone short stories set in the Bloom universe. Click the link to read the first story set in the universe. There will be more to come! Again thank you.
