Born 01 - Born

pants are being burnt. We will have new pants for you in a bit. Until then, try to act like a human being."
    Meg blushes and pulls her skirts around her knees. "Yes, ma’am."
    She glances up at me with a hidden smile.
    Leo is making his weird wolf noise that he makes when he's happy. It nearly sounds like a cat purring but it's lower and deep inside of him.
    The platter is empty, and I've had nothing. I can't stop looking up at Will, who is talking with another man. He glances at me every now and then. I can see he wants to talk to me.
    "The people I'm looking for, Anna and Jake. Will is their brother." I point to him subtly.
    Meg raises an eyebrow. "You think that’s why Leo brought us here?"
    I shrug. "Maybe. I think he smelled the food."
    Meg grins with food in her teeth. "Thank God for Leo and his belly."
    "I'm worried about where they are though. If they're not here, where could they have gone?"
    "The farms." She says it nonchalantly, even though I know she fears the idea of it whether she has met them or not.
    My skin prickles thinking about them in the farms. Anna is old enough to be put to "work" and Jake is strong. He will be made to work hard labor.
    I look up and see people eyeballing us. They pretend to be working near us, but they watch Leo eating. It makes me smile. If only they knew what a pussycat he is.
    I feel fingers dig into my skin. "Wolfie mine!" he shouts into my face.
    The little brat is back. I hate him. His greedy little fingers are wiping an orange paste on my shirt. I lean away from him.
    "Don't look so horrified. He's just a kid." Will picks the little monster up and carts him back to the doe eyed lady. I feel sorry for her. Her life must be horrid.
    I look at the orange stain mixed with debris smeared across my sleeve.
    I glance up at Will. "Is there somewhere I can wash up?"
    He nods at the dark-haired lady. "Mary can take you."
    She smiles. "Follow me." She passes the evil beast with the white hair to a man next to her.
    I look at Meg who nods. "Just don’t get roped into the dress and them brushing your hair. It's a bad experience. Leo's fine with me."
    I walk away from him, not looking back. He'll see my fear and follow. I don’t want him anywhere near the little monster. It's going to touch him and hurt him. Then Leo will bite and they’ll defend their little brat. We'll have to leave, and it will ruin my plan to have a good night’s sleep.
    "You've never seen a child before, have you?" Mary asks sweetly as we walk past a grouping of tents and lean-tos. She leads me down a steep narrow dirt path.
    "Not in over ten years. Just the ones left behind when the moms get taken. I don’t hang around long enough to get to know them, though."
    "That's horrible. You left little kids alone?"
    I don’t care if she judges me. I am alive. "I was a kid too, Mary. I barely took care of myself and Leo these last ten years."
    She crosses her arms. "He gets tired once it's after six. He really is a sweet boy. Once you get to know him, you'll love him."
    I try not to be rude but speak my mind. "He will get you killed with noises like that. The infected love noisy things that lead to food."
    She looks back aghast. "We never leave the camp. None of the children do."
    "So you have an agreement with the infected and the others that they stay out of your camp so the kids can be as noisy as they want?" My sarcasm is filled with more sarcasm.
    She laughs. "You really don’t have any social skills, do you?"
    I shrug. "I've made it this long out there, alone."
    She looks shocked. "How long have you been alone?"
    My anger and pain is pulled away from me when I see it. I stumble past her and sigh. "Since the beginning."
    The walls surrounding it are high and rocky. Nothing can get to the massive lagoon of crystal clear dark green water. The only visible path is the one I'm standing on. I pull off my boots and socks. My scabs sting on the dirt and rocks. I pull down my pants and rip off my shirt. I look back at her and smile. I run down the remainder of the path. I run out onto the huge flat rocks that make a platform in the water. I dive in before I can chicken out. The cold rips through me instantly, but I have never felt this clean. I remember my baths as a small kid. They were filled with bubbles and hard plastic mermaids. This is much better. The freshness of the water makes me feel alive in a good way. I lie on my back and float. The huge rocky walls surrounding me are amazingly high and rugged. The