2040

The sound of Silurian’s beating heart echoed through her head. Her breath shortened and ragged from her pushing the limits of her stamina. It had gotten dark and the light from the porch barely gave way to her figure standing next to the suspended sand bag. Time had passed so quickly when she lost herself in her excuse for an activity. The woman’s one blue and one green eye finally focused on the blood smeared over the bag. She could finally see it and not just the pain that pushed her forward. A suffering she couldn’t measure and wouldn’t be able to measure. Everything in her small world continuously remind her of him, and made her feel like he was still with them.

It was a bittersweet thing. In her younger years, she presumably would have destroyed the house by now. She could have found something, anything to take her rage out on, but things were different now. She was older and wiser. It would end up being better for her heart too. She looked down at her hands, blood covering her knuckles from her relentless attack to the exercise equipment, a stark contrast to the blackness under her skin from her veins. Damn him.

Silurian moved over to the railing of the porch, placing her hands on it as she looked at the winding down community before her. She had an excellent view of it and the main gate, the houses, the windmill, the clinic and other various workshops. Memories flooded her mind of the past twenty years, and she was thankful there had been far more good times than bad. Life had been hard on her ever since she was eleven, but that man she married had been a powerful influence upon her happiness. Now that he was gone, it was hard to decide how she planned to move forward. The light breeze carried a few strands of her long black hair over her face while her mind wandered. A familiar face caught her attention, it startled her somewhat as if the woman had suddenly turned up. She apparently walked up like any normal person, but unfortunately Silurian’s mind had wandered and her eyes had set on nothing in particular.

“Hi Silurian. I…just wanted to thank you. I would have rather thanked him but…I’m sorry I’m not trying to be rude. I just needed you to know we appreciate his sacrifice.” The older woman with greying pinned back hair spoke up with a young child, seemingly around eight, standing in front of her with a box in his hands. She held her hands rested on the boy’s shoulders and kept him in place while he stared at the ground.

“No, it’s okay. It was probably the only way he would have rather gone out.” She actually couldn’t help the smile on her face even as her eyes glazed over to betray her in showing her pain. Those eyes turned down to look at the boy, and memories of her sons at that age came flooding back to her. That weekend the boys and he went camping alone. It had been especially stressful, but everything had worked out. It was a miracle, but it worked out. So many close calls and so many triumphs.

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The woman’s eyes widened as she saw the blood drying upon the Silurian’s hands. “Oh, my! Are you okay?”

Sil looked down to her hands, and that smile faded into a smirk. “I’ve got a first aid kit inside. I’ll be fine. Thanks. Have a good evening.”

“Oh, wait, please! Give it to her.” She gave a gentle push to the child to send him towards the porch steps. He still was reluctant to look Silurian in the eyes as he raised the box so she could take it.

Sil had moved along the porch until she reached the steps and smiled as she took the box from the boy. “Thank you. That’s very kind.”

“I figured you might not think about eating so…it’s something.” The woman still sounded nervous as she spoke, as if she expected Silurian to scream and have a fit right on that porch. She would have if it had been her husband.

Silurian took her leave then, moving from the porch to within the house. She was quick to place the box on the island of the kitchen and moved out into the connected living room. The more of the house she saw, the more she wondered if maybe she should just ask someone to switch houses. She would take it easy, not do anything rash, but it all seemed too much. Sitting down upon the couch looked like a suitable compromise from ascending the stairs and laying in bed. How could she ever lay in that bed without him laying next to her?

With the silence of a ghost, Ethan appeared with a first aid kit. Since the hours had passed, he had changed into a more comfortable set of clothes. Black sweatpants laid low on his hips and the matching black tank top shirt clung tightly to his lean build. The shirt he wore left the large circular thick scar on the top of his shoulder visible to the world. He placed the first aid box on the coffee table and sat himself there as well. They exchanged no words between them as he opened the kit, then took his mother’s hand to help clean the cuts and bruising. He took a damp disinfectant bandage and delicately wiped the blood away to find where the wounds laid so he could place a dry bandage in the proper places. This was hard on all of them, but he worried for her. He had hoped that she wouldn’t have resorted to violence, but it was far more controlled than expected.

He turned the woman’s arm around to see the veins trailing under the softer side of that forearm during the process. Veins were typically a blueish color, but the ones he saw had a far more dark color to them, nearly black. His face turned with worry while he went to work on her other hand.

“I’m fine, Ethan.” Silurian finally spoke up to him, knowing what was running through his head.

“If you’re not careful…” He didn’t even want to finish the sentence. He had only heard stories from his mother and his Uncle, warnings of what could happen if either himself or his brother let the temptations of anger and aggression take over. It was the thing of nightmares, and he never wanted to see any of his family like that.

“I know. I’ve dealt with the Virus far longer than you have. I can handle this. So please, don’t worry about me.” As she spoke, her bandaged hand reached up to rest against her son’s cheek. “We will get through this. All of us.” She forced that smile upon her lips again as he continued to fuss over her other hand, not seeming to want to look at her. It was hard on all of them and their journey from this point on had just begun. A new chapter to a life with a sizable piece missing in it…