I hoped Tovis followed through on his promise to bring me food, just for the sake of variety.The jerky he’d given me had been the best thing I’d ever eaten and I wished I’d had the self control to save some.Scurvy was becoming a real threat the longer I lived on these gross bars.I almost believed the alien male had been part of some loneliness induced dream.
What were the chances I’d really met a six-foot-tall alien, with horns and red skin?It seemed far more likely I’d just hallucinated the whole event and for some reason that depressed me.
As if summoned by my thoughts, a loud knock sounded from the back door, followed by a,
“I’m back!Jessa!”
I choked on my bar, hacking and coughing as I stumbled to the back room and wrenched the door open.Sucking in a desperate breath, I inhaled a fleck of bar and felt my eyes bulge as my throat seized around the invader.
Tovis stood outside the door, his brows rising as he watched me sag against the door frame, pounding my chest and gasping for air.
“Hi,” I wheezed out, closing one eye and struggling to dislodge the protein bar dust.He stepped forward, one big hand landing on my back and giving me several hard strikes that almost took me to the ground.
Stumbling under his helpful assault, the debris in my air way finally cleared and I held up a hand as I took a shaky breath.
“I’m good, I’m good,” I choked out.“Thanks.”
Tovis eyed me worriedly and I gestured him inside, quickly locking the door behind him.
“I didn’t expect you back so soon,” I said, doing my best to pretend the last few minutes never happened.
He lifted a huge sack that looked like it was made from a bedsheet.
“I brought gifts.”
“Oh.”I stared at the bugling sack, unable to hide my excitement.As if sensing my thoughts, Tovis strode to the empty package table and dumped a pile of food out.One hand went to my chest as I stared at all the goodies he’d brought me.
There was canned food, everything from sweet corn to ravioli.Candy, little plastic single serve bowls of soup and noodles, and a single huge package wrapped in brown paper.
The smell of roasted meat filled the air, and I stared lustfully at the brown paper, covered in grease stains.
“Is that meat?”I whispered.
“It is,” he said proudly, picking it up and presenting it to me.I reached out and he set it in my hands, the paper was still warm and I could barely restrain myself from ripping into it like a feral cat.
“Amy said it is venison.It was cooked this morning.”
“Venison,” I breathed, inexplicable tears welling in my eyes.“Holy crap, thank you so much.”
It had been months since I'd eaten real food.I hadn’t been big into wild game before, but this was better than my wildest dreams.
“She also sent a care package.”He reached for his belt and handed me a purse, bursting at the zipper.I shakily accepted it, unwilling to let go of the fresh meat to look at whatever was inside.
Tovis scratched the side of his face and scrunched up his nose.
“She said there was lotion, meds and fem-femine-something for women.”
“Wow.”I couldn’t decide where to look, there was so much to appreciate in his haul.“Um, come in.I’ll find a place to put all this.”
The meat was going straight to the break room table, because I was going to gorge myself.Tovis stuffed everything back into his sack and followed me out of the back room.I hadn’t turned on the lights in the main area, and it felt strange, hearing someone else's steps echoing through the dark empty space.
I hadn’t imagined Tovis, he was real and he’d come back.Which meant the humans he knew were real, too.
“Can you tell me about the other women?”I asked, leading him to the break room and plopping the wrapped meat in the center of the empty table.Tovis handed me the sack and I quickly started sorting through everything.
“There are five mated females in my band,” he said, watching intently as I stacked the precious canned goods on the barren counter.I’d told him I had plenty of food, but it had been at best an optimistic exaggeration.I rationed harshly, but after six months I didn’t have a lot of food left and the thought of running out kept me up most nights.Tracking calories like a psycho, I allotted myself fifteen hundred a day, to the point of cutting up my protein bars just so I didn’t accidently overeat by even ten calories.
Once my protein bars were gone, I’d have to choose; stay in my safe haven and starve, or face reality and venture out into the apocalyptic wasteland I hadn’t even had the courage to look at yet.
