I felt my cheeks flush as I dared to meet the commander’s eyes. My tongue felt like sandpaper. There was no way I could form words. Thankfully, Jack took on the role of explaining our new situation.
“Summer and I decided that we wanted to be married. Life is too short and recent events have forced us to see just how fragile this life really is.” I knew he was alluding to the incident with the two former village soldiers who’d been infected. The commander almost looked uncomfortable, but quickly regained his composure. “We just felt it was important to make our love for each other official.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so?” The commander asked almost too sweetly. “We would have held you a large ceremony in the village. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a wedding here.”
“We thought about it, sir,” Jack lied so convincingly he almost had me fooled. “But ultimately we decided to keep it small. It was just our siblings, the pastor and Sofia and her granddaughter Kaia,” he said motioning to Kaia and her grandmother. They waved towards us with huge grins on their faces.
I knew exactly what Jack was doing. He was making it very clear that we had multiple witnesses to our wedding to make it all that more official. The look of shock faded from Michelle’s face as quickly as it had come on. It was replaced by a look of pure hatred. She glared at me and if looks could kill she would have shot daggers into my chest with her stare.
“Dad this doesn’t count. If it wasn’t in front of the whole village, it doesn’t count,” Michelle whisper shouted at her father.
The eyes of the whole community were on us, and the commander was smart enough to realize that. And he was also smart enough to realize how quickly Michelle could get out of control. She was about to make a scene. Jack even tensed beside me, though his face remained calm, not giving anything away.
“It does count,” the commander replied calmly to his daughter, while still looking directly at Jack. “All we really require for a marriage to be validated, is for there to be two witnesses and the pastor to perform the ceremony. They have that and more. Congratulations,” he said reaching out his hand for Jack.
Jack took his hand firmly thanking him. The commander reached out for my hand next. I only hesitated a moment before giving my hand over to him. He held my hand in both of his much more gently than he did Jack. I didn’t like it. He looked deep into my eyes, like he was eyeing me up and down and measuring what I was truly worth.
“You’re a very smart young woman to catch yourself such a prize as our Jack,” the commander said to me as he released my hand.
“Thank-you sir,” I replied a little nervously. The way he was looking at me was still confusing. I wasn’t sure what he was exactly implying. Was it that I made a smart choice or that I was smart enough to outsmart his manipulative daughter?
“You can’t let them do this,” Michelle insisted. “Not tonight. You promised me. They can’t get away with this.” Michelle moved towards Jack and I so quickly, I was positive she was about ready to slug one or both of us. Her father had lightning-fast reflexes. He caught a hold of her arm and dragged her off.
Jack and I stood there uncomfortably waiting as the commander had a quiet, but clearly heated debate with his daughter. It was clear by the way the conversation was going that it wasn’t going her way.
“The rules are the rules,” he said loud enough, for Jack and me to hear. He said it firmly and dismissively.
Michelle’s anger wavered for a moment. I swore I saw tears forming before the rage came back to her features. “Don’t think this is over,” she said to both Jack and me as she rushed past us. Then she took off running before a single tear could fall. She pushed past the crowd and nearly slammed into my sister and Billy as they came trapesing in through the door. “Out of my way!” she shouted.
“Someone’s in a mood,” April almost laughed as she came to join us. April for once looked in a good mood, which was strange, given we both knew what was still coming tonight. Hopefully, she’d get a little reprieve from any decisions seeing as my marrying Jack surely shifted things a bit as far as the forced couplings went.
The commander looked less than enthused to see my sister. She and Billy were standing side by side, which was unusual, but I guessed they were just trying to get along for Jack’s and my sake.
“So,” the commander said with forced joy, “I hear you were both blessed to be present at the special event.”
Before April or Billy could reply, the pastor came walking up. He looked even more happy than when we’d left him, and we’d left him in a pretty good mood. “Those two weren’t the only ones to join in a holy union tonight,” the pastor beamed.
As if on cue Billy reached out for my sister’s hand. She hesitated for only a moment before accepting it, interweaving her fingers with his. She was looking at me with both a look of apology and a look of pleading. I realized that she needed me not to act surprised. I picked up on her hint right away and stopped my mouth mid-gape. Jack wasn’t as good at reading my sister. His mouth had nearly hit the floor when I gently elbowed him in the side. One look of warning from me and he quickly closed his mouth. Thankfully, the commander was too in shock, to even notice Jack’s lapse.
The commander quickly recovered himself. It was evident that while he was okay with mine and Jack’s union, the same could not be said for this latest announcement. Our union hadn’t given any hint to knowing what announcement was in store for the community tonight. But my sister marrying Billy, a man she openly despised, was beyond suspicious.
The commander practically ground his teeth as he gave his congratulations. Unlike with Jack and I, he did not extend his hand. April didn’t seem to care. She was smart and knew the commander was sceptical. But she knew how to play her part. She wrapped her one arm around Billy’s shoulder as she placed her other hand on his chest leaning into him.
“I guess it’s true what they say,” she said sweetly as she placed her head on Billy’s shoulder, “opposites really do attract.” I had to practically bite my tongue, to keep from laughing. Jack was struggling just as hard beside me.
“There was just no fighting this insatiable animal magnetism between us,” Billy added as he pulled my sister in for a deep and passionate kiss, his one hand going in for a butt grab. He caught even her off guard, but she quickly figured out that she needed to just go with it. Billy was going to surely pay for that one later.
“Yeah well,” the commander cleared his throat, “we’ve monopolized the dinner hour enough with these antics and we have plans for this evening, so let’s get the meal going,” he said loudly enough for everyone to hear.
I saw several people looking at each other questioning what the plans for the evening were. Only my small group was privy to that information. Even the pastor didn’t know. He was completely oblivious as to why the commander had been so unwelcoming to my sister and Billy.
“Was it something I said,” Pastor Lewis asked.
“It wasn’t you,” I assured him. “My sister just has that effect on people.” I shot my sister a dirty look. She was going to have to do some serious explaining when we were alone later.
The dinner proceeded as normal, though the topic of the two newlywed couples was all anyone could talk about. It was difficult to finish our meal because people kept coming up to us to congratulate us. They always quickly congratulated April and Billy after, though those congratulations almost sounded like a question. Where the commander was suspicious, the rest of our village appeared confused.
After more people joined the pastor’s call for a celebration, the commander relented though he looked less than thrilled at the idea of celebrating our unions. He wanted to get on with his announcement. But there was also a look of recognition in his eyes, when he looked at us, that I just didn’t like. It was like he was working on a plan to use our celebration to his benefit. I didn’t see how, but I knew he was thinking it.
My mother used to tell me I had a gift. She didn’t believe in psychic abili
ties, but she did believe in intuition, and she said mine was always on point. I got a feel about people right off the bat and it was either good or bad. There was no in between. And I’d never been wrong. April had it too, though not as strongly as me. It was the reason she’d trusted me when I told her we could trust Jack and Billy…that and I was dying, so she didn’t have much choice.
The commander reluctantly agreed to the Pastor’s suggestion of a dance, after the meal to celebrate the two sets of newlyweds. We’d had some quiet gatherings in the past, but I had never heard music in the village. Apparently, there was an actual band that performed on special occasions, and this counted. After running back to get their instruments, the group of five made their way to the centre of the room which had been cleared of tables after our meal.
The group included a bongo player, a guitar player, fiddler, banjo player and flutist. It was a weird combo that really shouldn’t have worked well together, but they did. After the guitarist congratulated us, Jack, and me, as well as April and Billy, we were invited onto the dance floor to have our first dance together.
They played a song they’d written. It was slow and melodic and perfect for a first dance. I’d tried to protest the whole dancing thing, but Jack was all over it. It was a part of my fantasy wedding that I’d dreamt of as a child. But that was before the apocalypse had gotten in the way of my learning to slow dance. Put on an up-tempo tune and I was golden, but the slow stuff scared me. April didn’t have a problem. She’d had ample opportunity to attend dances with Andy. She and Billy were naturals on the dance floor and even I had trouble remembering they weren’t in love. Me on the other hand, well I kept accidently stepping on Jack’s feet. I was very relieved, when the lead singer invited everyone else to join us on the dance floor.
“Ouch,” Jack whispered under his breath as he tried to hide my disastrous dancing from the rest of the village. There really was no point in attempting to save me from the humiliation. Everyone had already witnessed me step on his foot four times prior to the community joining us.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized again. “We should sit down. I’m not getting any better at this.”
“Nonsense. We’re not missing out on our own reception. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine. Your feet are probably bruised by now, if not worse. Anymore of this and Billy might have to take you into the clinic to check them out.”
“They’ll be fine if you just let me lead.”
“I really am trying. Maybe we can get the band to play something a little faster. Then the risk of injury would go down significantly.”
“Not going to happen,” he replied, as he pulled me in closer. His hand was on the small of my back and there was barely any space between us. I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks. “Then I wouldn’t be able to hold you this close and I don’t want to let you go.” His lips moved to mine and once again it was like we were alone.
I felt a pang of longing for him. I wanted to be with him so badly and if it weren’t for the sudden music stopping, the two of us might not have remembered the crowd. We turned around to see Commander Tate, and some of his soldiers standing beside him.
“If you’ll all join us outside, the council and I have an exciting announcement. One that will move our progress to rebuilding the world forward.”
Jack and I, both took in a deep breath as we followed the crowd outside.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Most of the crowd seemed shocked by what they saw before them. The soldiers weren’t. And there were a few other people privy to the secret as well. Jack and I did our best to look as surprised as the others. Billy and April weren’t as good at schooling their emotions. It was clear now, that the Commander knew someone spilled his big announcement to the four of us. But he had already congratulated us, he couldn’t take it back. But the evil smirk on his face, let me know that he wasn’t done dishing out surprises.
In the middle of the empty field, outside the dining hall, was every pack of contraceptives we had in the community. It was piled high. Apparently, contraception used to be a big deal. Jack told me that now that we were more autonomous, the commander and the council believed it was time for a population boom. It made me sick. By the looks of the other people standing outside in the cold, I could tell I wasn’t the only one that felt this way.
Underneath the mountain of prophylactics was a pile of firewood, and I swore I could smell some kind of accelerant. “What’s the meaning of this,” said one of the women in the crowd. She looked only a few years older than me.
“I’m glad you asked Cindy,” the commander smiled. “We’ve been in survival mode too long,” he raises his voice to reach the crowd. “Now that we’ve finally managed to get ourselves to a self-sustaining state, it is time that we think about the bigger picture. While the human population of the world continues to dwindle, the monsters’ population continues to rise. We will no longer allow a zero-population growth rate to continue.” He motioned for one of his soldiers to light the pile of contraception on fire.
The fire caught quickly, and though the heat reached me fast, I continued to shiver. Jack pulled me in close. He whispered, “We’re fine. He can’t hurt us.” I tried to believe that, believe him. But with the way the commander was looking at me, I knew he could see the fear in my eyes.
“So, you’re taking away our right to choose whether we start a family or not,” Cindy replied. There were a few other women, who now drew closer to Cindy, mirroring her outrage. It gets so much worse, I thought.
“You signed a contract, Cindy. You all did.” I watched at the women’s outrage faltered just slightly. “This is not a time for anger though, it’s a time for celebration. We will bring about the renewal of humanity.
“Those who are not already married,” the commander continued, looking right at Jack and me, “will be partnered up. Anyone over the age of eighteen will be required to produce a child.” At this there were more cries of outrage. Now the men were acting just as insulted. It was about time they spoke up. Not that it’d do anyone any good.
I looked over at April to see her seething, even though she knew this was coming. Billy had his hand around her shoulder and appeared to be saying something to her. Whatever it was, she looked over at me, took a deep breath and schooled her anger.
“Enough,” the commander bellowed. “This is not a democracy. You all know this. If you do not like this decision, you are welcome to leave,” he said pointing at the gate. In the distance we could hear the howls of the monsters. My shaking grew stronger, I thought Jack was going to have to scoop me up in his arms. Earlier the thought of that was romantic. Not now.
“You will be paired up. The counsel has begun a list, it obviously needs to be adjusted with the two new marriages.” People turned to look at Jack and me, some with suspicion. I could hardly blame them. We knew about this and only shared it with Billy and April. The guilt was overwhelming.
“You’ll have three months to conceive. If you do not, you will be asked to leave or swap partners. Whether you’re married or not.” The commander grinned at me, as he said that last part. I felt my knees buckle underneath me. Jack caught me just in time. I was trying so hard not to cry, but the commander could clearly see the defeat in me.
Even if I wanted to have a child now, I wouldn’t be successful. If I managed to conceive at all, I’d miscarry and then I’d be forced to be with someone else. Worst of all, Michelle would get what she wants. The crowd had grown quieter now, but you could still hear the occasional sob. Even my tears fell silently.
The commander, with satisfaction, dismissed us to our homes, promising tomorrow the list of couplings would be completed. Jack walked me back to my cabin, holding on tightly so I didn’t fall. He kept whispering to me, but all his words sounded hollow. Just like the day we met. April walked with Billy, beside us.
When Jack opened the door to my cabin, April pulled me in for a big hug. She was crying too, but hers were angry tears. “We’ll t
alk tomorrow. I’ll be back for my things in the early morning,” she said.
I looked at her confused. She was looking at Jack and then it suddenly dawned on me. I was married. April was married. We wouldn’t be expected to share a cabin anymore. I grabbed back onto my sister, pulling her in tight as I tried to fight back the sobs. “The bastard won’t win, I promise. Trust me.” She pulled away and gently nudged me towards Jack, who without saying a word, lifted me into his arms.
This was not how I imagined my wedding night. Me sobbing on the couch, while my husband lit a fire. He was everything I didn’t deserve. This should have been his time. My mother always said that wedding was all about the bride, the wedding night was all about the groom. The idea of sex with Jack used to fill me with butterflies. Now my stomach was twisted in nauseous knots.
Once Jack finally managed to get a decent flame going, he came to sit beside me on the couch, pulling me in close. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Why?”
“This can’t have been what you envisioned this night to be.”
Jack smiled, and I laughed despite the tears. “I did imagine tears, but it was after we had the best sex the world has ever seen, and then they were happy tears…oh and it was me crying in this scenario.” I smacked his shoulder as I laughed. He pulled me in tighter.
Seeking Hope: Book 2 in the Seeking Saga Page 26
