“One month ago you kissed me in the barn, and asked me to take a risk with you, for you and me to be together. That night was filled with my first moments of not being alone, of being linked so deeply with another.”
Sweetie tenderly takes Rosaline’s hands within hers.
“Ros, you are everything I could want out of life, and so much more.”
Overwhelmed by the emotions swirling within her, the young warrior’s eyes grow wet, glistening under the setting sunlight breaking through the windows.
“I laugh every day with you. I go to sleep every night excited to wake up in the morning next to you. When we touch I feel complete, in a way I didn’t know I could.”
Sweetie pulls Rosaline close to her. Their bodies press together, her arms link around her companion's neck, Rosaline's around her partner's waist.
"You are the best part of being alive." the short, emotional warrior says.
"You're amazing nena. I always felt like I was missin' something, like I'm empty in some weird way, but ever since I met you, that feeling has been less and less. Over the past month I realized that what I was missing was you. You've filled the empty parts of my heart, healed me in a way I didn't know I needed. You make me so happy."
The world fades away. In this moment there is only the two of them. Only the wondrous sense of joy surging between the lovers. Sweetie's brow raises, her eyes beckoning.
"You gonna kiss me or what nena?" Sweetie says, an elated expression filling her face.
She leans into her partner, their lips meeting in a tender display of passion. The Family cheer, soaking in the blissful experience. These moments aren't bountiful, for any of them, but today there is no disease, no infected, no Adapted, no morbid savagery. On this day there is only jubilation.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
The wind bustles with a low hum, the faint sound of brittle winter leaves crackling carries across the muddy land. The sun is out, but even in the height of day gloomy clouds plow over the star, washing out its rays. The atmosphere of this once lively planet pounds with dread, and on this day more so than it has in the rotations preceding.
The hum of the air, the crackling of the leaves, the cries of a defeated and anguished man. They carry on separate waves but mix within the ear. A somber, dreary chill blankets the marsh-like soil, bearing down upon them like a great weight.
Norman howls, he sobs, his fist pounds the dirt, his tears add more moisture to the shirt of his shallow breathed lover. Jack’s pigment has all but faded, his strength passed from his figure long ago. The hand that covered his wound now resides on the ground, balled into a loose curl.
The sound of a rustling, something being pulled from a leather case, the click of a safety being switched off, the pull of a handguns hammer. The noises permeate the damp air. Norman’s ears prick up, he whirls around in a frenzy of emotion.
“NO!” he screams, his voice straining to sustain the one syllable.
“Norman.” Karo says, filled with more compassion than any of them have witnessed from him.
“No! He has more time, he has more time.”
Jack’s eyes blink, he winces, a rough cough slips from his throat.
“Nor...Nor-”
Norman turns back to his husband, his hands grip his face.
“No, no. You-you can’t...you have...you have more time.”
“He doesn’t.” Karo says from behind them, his tone flat, but curved with empathy.
Norman squeezes his eyes shut, his teeth grit in a fury.
“He does!”
“Norman, please.” Daisy says, moving closer to them.
“NO!” Norman shouts again.
Patrick’s head hangs down, his hands covering his ears. He hasn’t moved from next to Jack since he sat beside him.
“He’s not your husband, you-you don’t get to decide.” Norman says.
Karo’s brow furrows, a look of pain and torment smacks across him.
“It’s not up to any of us.”
Daisy places a comforting hand upon Norman’s shoulder, but the sorrowful man shrugs her away.
“Don’t make him turn. We don’t know what that’s like, he-he shouldn’t have to know.” she says.
“He has more time.”
Karo raises the gun, pulling the hammer back again.
“I’m sorry Norman.”
Norman throws himself back on top of Jack, his face pressed against his companion’s.
“Please, please, don’t. I’m-I’m not ready.”
Daisy’s lip quivers, her body trembles. She peers to Karo, loss and sadness resting in her gaze. They exchange no words, no movements or actions, there are none to be had. A fit of coughs quake the dying man’s chest. Norman lifts off him, his hands race over his lover’s face.
“I love you, I love you so much.”
He stares into the eyes of the man who holds his heart, and watches as the gleam flickers and fades from them. His ducts dried, his gut sore from the tremors, his gaze lay wearily fixed on the pale figure that has been his world. There are no more emotions left to come, only eventual acceptance.
“Patrick come here.” -Daisy’s arm extends to him- “You need to move away now.”
“Norman.” Karo regards him again, “You need to-”
The grieving man nods, his hands slumping in defeat.
“I will, I-I just...”
Norman kisses the forehead of his lost lover. His fingers gently close Jack’s eyes. He unties the jacket residing around his husband’s waist, bundling it up and holding it close to his chest. He rises to his feet, his knees weak and soggy.
“I-I can’t watch.”
“I know.” Karo softly replies.
Norman slowly trudges away from the lifeless body that has brought him so much joy, knowing that he’s walking away from a piece of himself, a part of his soul, a bit of his own purpose. He doesn’t look to Daisy as he passes her, her arm wrapped
