“I’m sorry. It’s a shame what happened to the mothership, but it isn’t your fault. We watched it all happen from Earth. It happened so fast you couldn’t have done anything. You did everything you could, and I don’t think anyone else could’ve done better. Certainly not me.”
“The point remains: I am old, and I may not be able to offer you a mate bond, even if you wanted. I am surprised my chest even rumbles like the young hunters. Bonds seem to form between young hunters and their mates.”
“Fertile young women,” she said, nodding with understanding.
“But even if there is no bond, I wish to spend time with you. I am not the young hunter I once was, and all I can offer is my companionship. I am aware of a human custom known as ‘dating.’ We can do one date at a time.”
Dottie looked amused. “So you really want a date? Even if it may not become a relationship?”
“I do.” I stilled, watching her expectantly.
“Well, if you put it that way. What could it hurt? I accept.”
I sat on the sleeping mat and pulled her into my arms. “It will not hurt. I will make it very pleasurable.”
Her body reacted almost immediately to my words, as if it wanted an encore of my recent performance. But that would have to wait.
First, we had some shopping to do!
Chapter 17: Dottie
With the flyers circling overhead, I wondered where Ror’k planned to take us shopping. The large mall closest to New Franklin and farthest away from the now-defunct scourge nest was mostly looted out by our foragers. The one closer to Old Downtown Franklin still had tons of goodies, since this was the first year we had access to it because it was too close to the nest.
I lay in the sleeping nook, watching the scene of Xarc playing around me. The walls of his shuttle had turned into a field of rustling blue and purple grasses, and the sky above wasn’t the gray of the clouds that had rushed in despite this morning’s clear skies, but billowing with fluffy clouds. Alice introduced me to the scene when I’d traveled with her and Kaj’k to loot—er, I meant liberate—the books from the old reference library.
Ror’k had been happy to put on the scene for me as we traveled, since he wanted to keep the exterior display on the shuttle walls to better monitor the flyers overhead. I preferred not seeing them circling above me. He’d assured me that traveling slowly while on the ground would be safe as long as we didn’t draw the attention of another centicreep or a group of scuttlers and spitters.
I knew that some ingenious engineers had programmed Earth scenes into the system. But I liked this one. I particularly liked the strange animals that grazed all around me. It was easy to pretend they were deer or cows, and the scourge was nowhere to be seen.
As I lay there, I reflected on our recent conversation. I hadn’t even considered the fact that he might not be able to bond with me at all, but he made a fair point: so far, all the couples who had formed mate bonds were of childbearing age. I was too old, but I was certainhisswimmers would still work if he reactivated his fertility at the mothership building.
But me? I was done making eggs for good, and good riddance too.
The scene around me dimmed, and Ror’k’s voice sounded from the other side of the barrier. “We are here.”
Curious to know whereherewas, I retracted the barrier and with it, the projected scene. I was immediately greeted by the cobblestone roads of the Olde Factory District, worn smooth by decades of foot traffic.
I used to walk these streets on lazy weekends, weaving through the cafes and shops. The air had always smelled of roasted coffee and warm bread fresh from the bakery.
The old factory building was still standing, and my throat tightened.Buckles and Fastening Co.was still stamped along the side in faded paint, though the letters were chipped and faded. Before the world fell apart, the place had been converted into lofts. I’d toured one once, thinking I’d move in once the divorce was finalized. I remembered loving the high ceilings, the exposed brick, and huge windows.
The shuttle slowed as we passed the ground-level shops. The clothing stores’ windows were shattered, and the mannequins toppled. The sandwich shop I used to stop at was completely boarded up. The coffee shop, the one with the locally roasted beans, was worse. The storefront was completely melted and unrecognizable from spitter acid damage.
Tilly had lived here with Waffles for almost a year after the collapse. She’d been a bit of a hoarder and had years’ worth of water and food hidden away in one of the lofts. They’d since transferred all that to New Franklin. I didn’t know why I never thought I’d actually see it again.
In front of the restaurants, tables were overturned and chairs were scattered across the cobblestone.
I pressed my palms to the shuttle wall. “I used to come here all the time,” I whispered, mostly to myself.
Ror’k said nothing, but he reached over to rest a hand on the small of my back. I was grateful for his presence. My heart ached with every familiar landmark we passed, each a stark reminder of how quickly everything had changed. I’d spent most of the last few years hiding in New Franklin. It was easier only seeing the new life we’d built for ourselves.
The world I knew was gone. And yet, here I was returning to the bones of a not-too-distant past, guided by an alien warrior who had no idea what this place meant to me.
“You are upset. Coming here was a bad idea. I am sorry.”
“No,” I said. “Don’t be. It wouldn’t matter where you went. I’m sure I’d have reacted the same no matter where we went to find a new jacket. It’s the reason why we all decided to build New Franklin out from where we are instead of moving to a partof town that is more suitable now that the nest is gone. No one wants to be reminded every day of the past.”
Sometimes, it was easier to give up what was and start over completely. And boy, did I know that.
