by Leela Ash
About a half an hour later, Jessa knocked on the door of Teresa’s little villa style home with her son swinging his arms by her side.
“Come on in, dinner is almost ready.”
“Do you need any help?”
“Sure, come on in the kitchen, the men will be here soon. You look real nice. I don’t see you dress up much. Is it because of the fella I told you about?”
“Well there is rarely a reason to anymore, so I thought, ‘Why not?’”
“Isn’t that the truth.”
Shane ran off in the direction of Aidan’s room, knowing the way by heart. Teresa had one of the larger houses in the community and the two boys played there often. Her house was bigger, not because of her family size, but because she was married to the leader, Billy. He was a nice enough guy, though Jessa didn’t like the way he looked at her when his wife looked the other way or tended to something in another room. That was just another reason to dislike Teresa. She was unable to keep her man on a leash.
Jessa couldn’t stand those types of men, one eye always looking for a woman on the side. Times had changed with so many more men to women, and as such, a woman had to be extra careful even going out of the community. There was no longer an option to be a victim or the luxury to leave personal safety in someone else’s hands. Luckily, Jessa was raised to defend herself from just about anything.
A person could not be over ten years old without a gun or some similar type of weapon. People used crossbows, spear guns, and sometimes just relied on hammers or crowbars. Whether it was a gun or a baseball bat, one thing you could count on was that everybody was packing something. While many would think this would make things more violent, it seemed to have the opposite effect. People respected each other and their space a lot more than they used to back when government and business ran the world.
Women had more of a choice in how they were treated, though they had to stick to groups to avoid becoming prey to some man’s indiscretions. In the few years since Kraven’s passing, she had been both in groups and on her own at times. She found the group she was with currently and had stuck around. It was just safer in numbers, especially for women. If you were an attractive woman, with a face like Jessa’s, and an ass to boot, you had to be twice as careful.
Jessa stuck with the group for many reasons. A group would typically accept anyone to boost its numbers, but her survival skills and planting and herb knowledge made her a valued member. The fact that she already had one son boasted towards her fertility as well, which was highly valued. She was 29, a bit older than society used to like, but she was a survivor. That was what was needed now, and had become more highly valued than a delicate figure. Of course she happened to be both skilled and hot. She was tall and lean, with a mind that was sharp and thoughtful. She could grow, preserve and cook food better than most and she knew the skills needed to thrive in the rough landscape. She was a prize in many eyes, yet she had no desire to give herself up to a man.
Still, she had to admit that there were some aspects of being with a man that she missed, and not just because of the protection such an arrangement offered. Her physical needs often drove her to consider a toss with one of the locals, though she hadn’t broken down just yet.
Jessa was in the kitchen next to Teresa. They were talking about their day and making final touches to the meal. In addition to being her annoying neighbor, Teresa was the local teacher to the colony. Shane adored her as a teacher, so despite her irritation with the woman in general, Teresa tried to keep it in check for his sake. And there was still something deep down that she liked to preserve – a sense of neighborliness that she missed from the world she had grown up in. Besides, as much as it pained her to admit, she could see that Teresa had the best intentions.
Teresa was a typical woman of the colony, soft spoken with a hidden strength in her eyes. She was about a half a foot shorter than Jessa and quite a bit smaller because she lacked the heavier muscles and body structure that Jessa had utilized for her own survival. Teresa had clearly not been on her own the way she had been, raising Shane after Kraven’s passing. To boot, Teresa had health problems that kept her from hard work and her skin and muscle mass showed it.
The new breed of women were either independent like Jessa, with bodies that showed it, or they were like Teresa, living from one man to the next to ensure their safety and survival. Jessa thought of them as leeches, and felt disgusted by their parasitic nature. It was shameless to rely on someone else for your survival, and inexcusable unless you were a child. It was too difficult for her to respect.
The two women used the two wood stoves to finish making dinner. They even added some meat, making this meal a treat that Jessa was excited to share with her son. Once, long ago, there had been meat in every meal and acres and acres of domestic pigs and cows to make such extravagance possible. That was a thing of the past now. At this point almost all meat came on the point of an arrow, though some chicken and milk cow domestication was still practiced. There were two milk cows, a couple of goats, and about ten chickens in the community. One chicken apparently met an untimely end just for this occasion, and was now the main dish of their feast.
“Jessa, can you grab that skillet out of the bottom cabinet? I just can’t seem to lift it.”
Trying not to huff, Jessa grabbed the pan and hoisted it up onto the top of the table. It couldn’t have been more than 20-25 pounds, she thought, struggling to mask her annoyance. Luckily she didn’t have to try long.
The back door swung open at that moment and Jessa looked behind her to see a few men coming through, led by Teresa’s husband. Jessa was about to turn back to what she was doing at the table, when she saw a stranger walk in. He was trailing along behind the rest of the men and came in last, closing the door behind him.
3
Michael walked in after Seth, James and Billy. He had crossed paths with Billy on his way across the country, and had come to join the community at Billy’s urging. Michael had been wandering for years, and had thought maybe it was time for a rest. Maybe if the quest he had begun hears ago hadn’t turned out to be a wild goose chase, he would have been able to find some kind of purpose to his life. Still, as fruitless and empty of satisfaction as his crisscrossing journey had been, he had nevertheless been unable to stop.
Staying on the move became his only comfort. He had lost his wife and small son ten years before to a raiding party, and the subsequent fast moving fire that swept through their home had left him wandering the world as a lone soul. Since then, he went from town to town, searching for the ones who were responsible for the deaths of his family.
All he knew about what happened came from a few bits and pieces from passing witnesses. A gang had raided his home, leaving no survivors. A burned out shell was all that greeted him when he returned from his hunting trip. He and the other men had only been gone overnight but that was long enough for tragedy to strike. In that one evening he had lost whatever semblance of peace he had been able to create for himself in the barren world.
He had a friend named Solomon with him who had lost his own family as well. The two men started out searching together, but Solomon could not take the quiet nights and had taken his own life years before.
All that Michael had to go on in his search was a half burnt leather jacket with a laughing skull emblem on the back that he found snagged on a nail on the burned out timbers of his porch. There were also plenty of motorcycle tire tracks in the dirt around his house. These were the clues, along with the words of those few witnesses, which set him on his search for the motorcycle gang. Bikes were easier to maneuver around clogged roads and had become the vehicle of choice for most nomads. With all the debris and the roads in disrepair, motorcycles were the way to go – if you could get the fuel that is. Surprisingly, there still seemed to be enough of that for those dedicated to go hunt for it.
Michael remembered the world before all the destruction. He was a young college student when the first bombs dropped. He had s
een more death in his time than anyone “pre-bombs”, as they called it, could ever imagine. Sometimes it felt to Michael that he had seen more people die in those years than many had seen alive in their whole lives. He had spent the first couple of years burying the bodies of his neighbors after the short stint he had spent living in an underground bunker.
After a huge outbreak swept through his hometown, killing almost everybody he had ever known and loved, he decided to hit the road. He couldn’t handle the constant reminder of death.
Eventually, he found purpose again in the form of his wife. Her whole family had died on their way home from a scavenging run and she was left alone. She had hidden when a group of bandits appeared. When he came across her, she had smiled at him just right and had needed his protection. He needed someone to need him and her infectious, up-beat personality sealed the deal. A year later they welcomed their son Christopher into the world and Michael was happier than he had ever been before. But they say life is cruel, and he learned first-hand just how cruel it could really be.
Michael had not seen a soul in weeks when he ran into Billy. When the stranger suggested he join up with their group, he couldn’t deny how good a home cooked meal sounded. He was in need of a little conversation. He had other needs that needed to be satiated as well, but he had learned that it could be months before he might find a suitable woman on the road. So, in short, he had more than a few reasons to accept Billy’s hospitality.
Truth be told, the lure of good food had been the real persuasion for him to put his mission on hold and rest for a while. After ten years some of the urgency had faded anyhow. He had been looking for years and still questioned if he was just chasing ghosts or his own demons. He deserved a break. And more to the point, he actually needed one for his sanity. He really just needed something to take his mind off of the past.
Despite his latent desires, he had not been expecting her. His throat practically closed up when he saw the women in the black dress, standing by a wood stove with a pot holder in her hand. Not the sexiest setting, but she looked at him with the deepest green eyes he had ever seen and the faintest hint of a smile on her lips. He could tell his sudden appearance disconcerted her for a moment as well. For just an instant they locked eyes, and then just as quickly they both looked away. A quick, perturbed frown crossed her face before she finally turned back around to set the pot holder down on the stove.
Facing him again, Jessa walked the few paces up to the men to say hello.
Billy was first to speak.
“Jessa, this is Michael. He’s just passing through on his way west.”
“Well I may stay a little while after all...”
His smile deepened as he stepped forward to shake the enchanting woman’s hand. He was stunned, just as she had been, upon first seeing her. There had been – and still was - an instant attraction between the two. Michael felt a stirring in his loins as he looked at her.
He was surprised by the firmness of her handshake and as he got a better sense of her, he noted the subtle rebellious stance that seemed to be her body’s standard pose. She was actually trying in vain not to be noticed, though Michael could not help but notice her. He had a feeling she knew exactly what was on his mind and he wondered if he really was as transparent as her reaction seemed to indicate.
“Nice to meet you Mike, welcome. I hope you are enjoying the community so far.”
“Oh yes, very much so.”
If Jessa would have been any other women, she may have swooned. Michael was just her type, if she had actually had one. The vibes she was picking up off of him were turning her knees to jelly. He was a hair shorter than her, maybe 5 foot 8, and built very well. He was obviously not afraid of hard work and that strength attracted her even more. Michael was wearing a cut off T-shirt that had many miles on it, with khaki carpenter shorts. He looked delicious and her chest tightened almost immediately to his presence. It had been far too long since she had felt this animal attraction, and she felt a sudden flush that caught her off guard.
To keep from embarrassing herself, Jessa nodded politely and went back to the skillet of chicken on the table. She turned her back to them all, dismissing them to give her body time to recuperate. Jessa needed a few minutes to settle her needful desires.
Michael waited for her to turn back around, but she didn’t. With one last backwards glance, he followed the guys out onto the porch to grab more wood as Teresa had requested. He made a mental note to find out what he could about this intriguing woman from some of the other men. He didn’t see a ring on her finger, but he figured that someone had a claim on her. You just didn’t find single woman like her anymore. It just didn’t happen.
***
“Damn Billy, I didn’t even say hello to your wife. I am sorry man.”
Billy just kind of chuckled to himself, “Yeah she has a way of doing that to a man, doesn’t she?” They both knew that the conversation was not about Billy’s wife anymore.
“So what’s her story, is she with anyone?” Michael knew that the chance was slim, but there was still hope in his heart. Even if she was with someone, maybe he could win her away from some other guy that didn’t deserve her as much as he did. His mind always found a way to create hope, to keep going. Everyone had to find a way to do that in this desolate new reality.
“Nope, but good luck with that one. No one has convinced her yet and she has been here for several months now. Some think that she likes women, but she even turned down the two lesbians who made a combined effort on her.”
Michael just kind of smiled to himself. He always did like a challenge.
4
Dinner was served a little while later and Michael was glad that he had decided to come back with Billy. He had not seen that much food selection in a long time, even at some of the bigger towns he had come across over the years. Between the food and the new woman, he was thinking that stopping here was one of the better decisions he had made in quite a while.
“Wow. May I ask where all of this food came from?”
“Didn’t you see our gardens when you came through town? The biggest one is at Jessa’s house though. In six month’s time, I swear, it’s already like a jungle over there. I don’t know what we would do without her. She keeps us all well fed. Even when there is nothing to hunt, we always have food.”
Jessa gave Teresa an embarrassed look. Her match making skills were as bad as her attempts at subtlety. The woman was not particularly stealthy with the wink that she sent her way either. Jessa wasn’t used to all the attention. Combined with this high school crush feeling that had come over her, all she wanted to do was to change the subject quickly.
Michael looked at Jessa then, though she would not meet his blue eyes. She instead turned to her son and helped him cut up some of the chicken on his plate. The conversation soon turned to the dangers of the road and the men all joined in with opinions on how to keep the town safe.
Michael told the table about the city just twenty miles from there. He had come across people that were not people anymore. Like the animals that had mutated, many of the humans that remained in the city close to all the supplies changed into something not quite human. He seemed particularly adamant when he spoke of the motorcycle gangs of nomads that were causing terror throughout the country, wreaking havoc wherever they went. Those were who Billy should worry about, in his opinion.
The whole room was quiet for some time as everyone there remembered their own run-ins with dangerous elements. Everyone had a story and they had all had more than one close call.
Jessa looked over at Michael a couple of times while the conversation flew all around them. She actually made solid contact with his haunting aquamarine eyes once. Disconcerted with the shiver that ran up her spine, she had looked away quickly.
Jessa did not stay much longer that night and she feigned a headache to the company. She bade them all farewell and left quickly. She sent one last look at the man that was sitting across from her before she g
ot up to leave. Shane wanted to stay longer, but she was firm with him and he relented after he realized that she was not going to give in.
Michael was disappointed that she had left so soon. He had thought she might be interested in him, and felt a pang in his heart that perhaps he had misread her feelings. Maybe she really did have a headache. Regardless, he hoped that he would get to see more of her soon.
He told himself that he would make it so and continued the game of darts that the men had started outside. He was completely aware the entire time though, of the silent woman who was entering the house next door to them. He could see what Teresa had been talking about. There did seem to be a rather impressive growth of plants around the quiet woman’s home. She certainly had the magic touch when it came to horticulture. His musings were interrupted as he noticed the dim candle lights quickly light inside and her soft shadows as she moved through the house.
5
Never being one for darts, Michael lost often and usually by a wide margin. Tonight was no exception, especially considering that he could not get the woman out of his mind. He couldn’t help but constantly glance over at the house next door.
There was only one room lit after a while and he assumed that the woman had put her son to bed. He mumbled something about having to piss to the other guys and started walking toward the outhouse behind Billy’s house.
As he neared the rear of the house, he caught himself looking into Jessa’s windows. He stopped moving when he saw the flickering light move to the last room in the house. Slowly he walked further back, forgetting completely that he had to go to the bathroom. He stopped again, taking in a sharp involuntary breath as he spotted her through the window.
