Born 01 - Born

success. I walk to it before I lose it in the dark. As I reach for it, a stabbing pain hits my hand and wrist. It moves one final time
    "Shit," I whisper and pull back. Quills are everywhere. I kick the beast over with my foot and pick it up with my other hand by the belly. I nearly drop it. It weighs a ton. It must literally weigh thirty-five pounds. I struggle with it and end up hugging it. The quills are slicing into my chest and stomach. I wince.
    I carry it back to the camp as fast as I can. It's huge.
    I drop it at the fire and look at the quills all over my hand and the front of me.
    "Oh, shit. Are those barbed?"
    I shake my head. "I don’t know. I've never been stuck before. I don’t shoot porcupines ever, and Leo is smarter than to attack them. I couldn’t see it in the dark."
    Mona, the older lady I've become fast friends with, comes and sits. She pulls out a small kit from her backpack. When it is unrolled, she pulls long tweezers from it.
    A deep voice breaks the silent inspection. "You have to be careful. If you break it off, it's harder to get out. Then you have to dig around. They're barbed, and they move deeper when you move."
    We both look back at Will hovering over us. She hands him the tweezers and rolls her eyes. It makes me smile.
    He takes my other hand and pulls me to a log closer to the fire. I try not to notice the way my hand feels inside of his.
    I sit down. He holds my hand so it faces the firelight.
    He sits and starts to pull the quills out in an abrupt jerk. I don't notice the pain. I notice the way the light hit his face. I notice how intensely he looks at my wounds. I notice how soft his touch is.
    My stomach whirls inside like a tornado is in there.
    Mona and a man, who looks older like her, start to prepare the porcupine. Some of the other people brought other food to the camp. A hare, an owl, and a large rat-looking thing were all laid on the ground in front of the fire.
    Berries and roots are dropped down by the fire. People had gathered along the hike down.
    "I've never cooked a porcupine before."
    "Joe, you gut it and skin it just like anything else. It's good."
    "Here, let me."
    "No, you ain't got no control with a skinning knife. There won't be any meat left."
    Will grins listening to them. "They've been married for a long time," he whispers but never takes his eyes off my quill situation.
    "How did you find all these people?"
    He grins. "Me and Marshall got out of the breeder camp together."
    I grimace. "They had Marshall at the breeder camp?"
    He laughs. "He is a scientist. He is a disease specialist. He was never used like the rest of us. Too old and fat. Plus he has diabetes. No, we left together. He got me out."
    I can't help the feelings I have for him. They are stronger than anything else inside of me.
    "How did you find all the people?"
    "Marshal freed them from a work farm." He looks at me. "Star's brother helped."
    I gulp.
    "He was a CIA tech guy. Anyway, he has this fortress over near the farm. It's the kind of place you could ride out the entire war and live out your life without worrying about outsiders. Anyway, he lives there and has intel on all the farms and how their systems work."
    I don’t want to talk about Star but it's like a train wreck, and I can't look away from the dead scattered across the tracks. I ask without the ability to stop myself, "So what's up with you and Star?"
    His eyes dart to mine. "I saved her from the breeder farm."
    I feel my eyebrow rise skeptically. "That’s it?"
    He grins. "What else do you want it to be? Do you need for there to be more to the story?"
    "What?"
    He plucks me like I'm a chicken and blows on each hole after the quill is out. "You seem bent on there being more to the story."
    I pull my hand away. "There is more to the story. I can tell. She touches you with a familiarity only a girl whose 'known' you would have. If you can't be honest with me then I guess I don’t really care what the answer is."
    I stand and walk to the far side of the forest. In the dancing light of the flames I pluck my own hand and chest. It is sharper and more painful without the warmth of his touch. The stomach hurts the most.
    I know he's watching me, but I ignore him.
    Leo stalks out of the woods forcing momentary panicked looks until they realize it's my friend. He nestles in next to me and waits for the food.
    I pluck and try to ignore the hollow feeling in my chest.

Chapter Twenty-Two

    Her name is Muriel. I've never heard the name