Born 01 - Born

in.
    She walks to the large, flat stone and stands there, mesmerized.
    Mary is beside me suddenly. "What's her story?"
    I shrug. "Abandoned by her own mother. Sold to the military for smokes. Sent into the breeder camps. They take them young now and get them healthy so they can breed them as young as fifteen or sixteen."
    She looks horrified.
    "It's so much worse than you can imagine."
    Mary squeezes my hand suddenly with her warm soft hand and whispers, "Let's not ruin the moment for her then by discussing it."
    I love Mary. I can't help myself. Her kid is a pain in the ass and she lets grown men have relations with sixteen-year-old kids, but I still love her. Even though we kissed and I liked it, I love her like a sister. An older sister. She is free the way Jake is. None of the bullshit has destroyed the joy inside of her.
    I pull my shirt off, determined to be the first one to crack the flat glass of the calm water. The moon is full and high in the sky. It is reflected perfectly on the lake water. I push my bottoms off and see Mary pulling her dress off. I kick my boots off, run for the water and shallow dive in just like my dad taught me to do.
    The cold water shocks me. The air is warmer than last time but the water is still really cold. I want to scream and holler and have fun. I look back at Sarah.
    "Can you swim?"
    She shakes her head.
    I swim back but Mary steps in and mothers her.
    "I won't leave your side. We will do it together, and I won't let go, okay?"
    Sarah smiles and pulls her shirt off. She kicks her pants off and sits at the edge of the water and dips her toes in. She gasps from the cold.
    Mary sits on the edge beside her and lifts herself into the water delicately. She hangs onto the rock and takes Sarah's hand. Sarah lets her body flop into the water, not gracefully.
    She panics and slaps her hands around like Leo does when he swims.
    Mary takes her hands and focuses her face. "Calm. Swimming is all about being calm."
    Sarah is gasping in fear. Mary takes her hands and kisses them both. "Stay calm. Now trust me and we'll have you swimming in no time."
    Sarah stops slapping and splashing. Mary turns her on her back. "Just relax. Let me float you. You look at the stars."
    I decide to do the same. I lie on my back. I let go the nerves of watching Sarah freak out and just float. The water calms me and Mary's soft voice whispers to us both.
    "Relax the body and let the water lick at it. Feel my hands holding you up. I'm strong enough to do that. Look at the stars. Look at the shapes on the moon."
    The moon is so bright and blue. I've never seen it like this before.
    "It's so blue," I say to no one.
    Mary laughs, "It happens once in a blue moon. The moon appears blue because of dust and debris in the air."
    I feel sad. I know they’ve blown something else up. The bombings in the beginning were bad. The TVs in Brian's bunker were filled with images of the war in the beginning. The sick wandering the streets dying, or somehow living with the sores and brain damage from the high fevers.
    The bombs dropped when the countries assumed it was viral warfare from each other.
    The mess they left us is bad enough. To have the group who masterminded it all left behind with us is a cruel joke.
    I lose myself in it all and watch the moon. We made such a mess of this place.
    I look to the side of me and the water is flat again. Sarah and Mary have climbed out. The stars are reflecting in the water. I am lying amongst the stars. I am one with the universe.
    The only ripple comes from my body. I lie completely still and am one with it all. I am in the sky, floating and being.
    The moon is so bright the stars seem muted up close to it. I feel the waves rock me. I look up to see Jake in the water with me. I let my body sink. I am naked. I imagine he is, as well.
    "It's so amazing here," Anna shouts from the shore on the big rock.
    Jake looks up. The beauty silences him.
    Anna jumps in, barely making a ripple in the water. She surfaces next to me.
    She smiles. "Meg is never going to forgive you."
    I snort, "She's lucky I don’t tan her hide with Jake's belt."
    He frowns. "Keep me out of your savagery. I'm a lover, not a fighter."
    Anna rolls her eyes. "Who have you been loving?" Her face goes red when she realizes what she's said.
    He laughs.
    I see a white figure jump from the rock in a perfect dive. Will surfaces beside Anna. He makes a face. "Are you guys naked?"
    Anna swims away from him. "Okay, gross. You