Page 6 of His to Take

“Fine.” Ann rolled her eyes at her own stupidity and went back to the book she couldn’t concentrate on.

For a while, she went back down to her room and tried to sleep, but the way Rex had sneered at her, and sneered her name, kept running through her mind. Emotional pain, and something she thought might be shame, coursed through every fiber of her being every time she remembered it. Tears fell for a while, and she fell asleep, completely exhausted.

In all the years they’d been down there, Ann had been strong. She’d done her schoolwork up until she was 18, tutored by Rex’s mother, and she’d done her chores without complaint. She swept and helped Stephan clean, and she helped her father with his maintenance when he’d let her. He didn’t allow her to help often, afraid she’d get hurt and they’d have no way to help her. But he’d let her carry tools when he needed to work quickly and didn’t have enough hands to carry everything.

She did the women’s jobs and the men’s jobs, it didn’t matter, so long as she stayed busy. She never wilted in her bedroom and cried over the world that was gone. It was gone, and she was sad about that, but she knew that that life was over. She had her father’s brain, her mother had often said, pragmatic and logical.

Yet, she was still that romantic girl underneath, the one that had always loved Rex. And he’d hurt her deeply. She’d forgiven his laziness, for that’s what it really was, she could admit now in her anger. She’d excused him for all these years, but he’d actually enjoyed having everyone wait on him hand and foot, while he mooned for five years for a life that would never be! Five freaking years!

The fact that he sometimes turned into a werewolf didn’t bother her either. It frightened her at first, but the family had learned to sense when an episode was coming on and they’d lock themselves away. Over the years, the feral animals they would become had also become tamer, and the need to lock themselves in their own quarters dissipated. Sometimes, Rex would still lock himself away, but his parents would often sit with Ann’s family, as wolves, and wouldn’t cause problems at all. Amanda even came to Ann for petting sometimes.

The first time that had happened had been odd, and it had taken a lot of courage on all their parts to let the wolf family out in their animal forms, but it had become a part of their reality over time. At first, they’d all been rather freaked out. The Wolfsons wanted to leave, terrified they’d somehow get out and kill the Adamses in their sleep, but over time, they’d all learned to accept it. As they’d learned to accept so much already.

Ann even found it a little dangerous, in a romantic way, that Rex sometimes turned into an animal. What other form should a bad boy take but that of a wolf, she’d wondered after a while. It was only natural that he’d become something like that.

The adults had discussed the entire matter at length, more than once. Her father, always the caretaker, had refused to let the family leave. They’d have died almost instantly if they had, and he couldn’t have that on his conscience. They’d all talked about it and had decided that it was safer for them all if the family stayed, even in their animal forms.

Rex hadn’t liked it, he’d wanted to go, even back then. He’d thought their animal forms would protect them, that the new ability had given them some kind of special powers, but it had never been proven. And as his mother had pointed out to him, what would they eat, even if the cold and the changes in the air didn’t kill them?

The Earth had shaken for eight days after the event. The bunker had just rolled with the tremors and had never shown any sign of damage. That had been a relief to them all, but they’d all wondered what had happened outside. Was there even a world left out there?

Amanda had reminded them all that the atmosphere had likely changed if that many volcanoes had gone off at once. The atmosphere would be different now, composed of far more gases that might make the air unbreathable. That had finally convinced Rex to stay put. For a while, Ann had wondered if Rex would try to run away from the bunker, but that reminder had settled that question. If he couldn’t breathe, he’d die, so it was pointless to go out there. Even if he took all of the available oxygen tanks, which he couldn’t possibly carry, he’d never make it to somewhere with more oxygen before he ran out.

Rex had only become more complicated, more morose, as time had gone on, and in Ann’s mind, he’d become a tragic, romantic figure. He was misunderstood, and he had been taken from everything he’d known. Of course, they all had, but that didn’t matter. She’d have lived underground for the rest of her life, and probably would, if the air up there was unbreathable. She’d endure it all because it meant she was close to him. And he’d thrown all of that right back in her face with his snide little remarks earlier.

Even in her sleep, the scene at the hatch disturbed her, and she relived the moment until her out of control emotions woke her up. She sat up on the edge of the bed, her hair tangled around her, and quickly braided it with impatience. She used a hair tie that was nearly useless, but still managed to cling to her hair, and took a deep breath. This couldn’t go on. She wasn’t a child anymore, and she had to see Rex for the man he was.

Rex was a complete asshole, she decided, a jerk even, but she still loved him. She could forgive him this, but she wouldn’t forget it either. Besides, if he was the only man her age that she’d ever meet in her life, well, she’d have to just get used to his ideas. Even if they were disturbing.

Feminism was dead indeed. She didn’t think so. She’d give in to her parents' wishes, because they were her parents, but she wasn’t about to let him run ragged all over her, just because he was a man. Not always, anyway. There were times when she knew she’d give in, just to keep the peace because she hated arguments and tension, but she wouldn’t always let him push her over, either.

Or she’d try not to let him do it, at least. He didn’t deserve to be treated like a king just because he’d been born with a penis between his legs. Even if he was the last man her age on the planet, she knew she couldn’t let him treat her like that. She’d have to find a way to make sure he fell in love with her, but also understood that she wasn’t his slave.

Which might be taking it a little far. Maybe his sneer was mockery, and he’d only been joking, she decided. Her nap wasn’t exactly peaceful, but she did feel a little bit better. She had never been the type to sit and cry anyway, and she would have to make that her last pity party, she decided. She headed back up to the safe room and found the two mothers in deep conversation.

The air down here was still, even with the ventilation fans, and she felt almost suffocated as the hours passed. By the time the little window had gone dark, all the women were pacing. Each one stared up at the window and hoped for some sign of the men.

“What if the air was bad?” Amanda said. “Or one of them fell and got hurt?”

“I’m sure they’re fine. But, well, I wonder if it’s still cold? Even with the sun shining earlier, it must have still been cold.”

“Do you know? When I looked just before the sun set, I could have sworn the ice and snow were gone.”

It had been snowing for well over four years now, it seemed impossible that the packed snowfall could just… disappear.

“That’s impossible, surely?” Mary asked.

“The sky cleared in a day, Mom,” Ann reminded her, and Mary nodded.

“You’re right.”

“What do we do?” Amanda asked, and they all looked at her. Mary was about to answer when a noise from above told them the hatch was about to open.

The women all ran back to the safe room and waited for whoever had come back. They were all nervous, on edge, as they waited. Had they all returned? Had something gone wrong and somebody left behind, is that what had taken so long? When the safe room door finally opened, and all three men walked through, the women all but leaped on them in relief.

“Ladies! It’s okay, we’re fine,” Stephan called out as he got a hug from Ann, Mary, and his wife. “You won’t believe what’s happened out there.”

The men had already removed their suits, and they all made their way down to the lower level to have some dinner from a bag. Ann heated water as the two mothers prepared some powdered mix drinks for the families to have with their meals.

“It’s amazing,” John finally said after a few bites of food. “It’s all… gone.”