Chapter Four

Felix was so deep in thought as he paced the perimeter of Arthur’s house that he didn’t notice Alice until he collided with her.

“Did I hurt you?” he gasped. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.   I’m so sorry.”

“You looked pretty deep in thought,” she said with a friendly tone as she stepped back and battled with controlling the desire that arose from being so close to his powerful physique while gently wiggling the pain from the foot he’d managed to step on. “No harm done.”

Just then, it struck him that he hadn’t seen her for some time. She didn’t live there, but she’d been around so much that, when she left, her absence was noticed.  “Where have you been?”

She looked and sounded hesitant when she spoke. “Arthur asked me to notify the founding members of the community about the impending zombie threat.”

“I’ll bet that went over well,” he said with a hint of sarcasm.  He’d heard enough whisperings while wandering through the village to know that his family was being blamed for bringing chaos and bad luck to the community.

She chuckled, uncomfortably, and shook her head. “We’ve been fortunate these past years.  With the exception of an occasional predator out on the hunt, we’ve escaped the dangers that most living in inner earth must contend with.”

“It was the same for us on the surface.  I spent most of my life being told to watch out for zombies and aliens, but I never saw one until we left the cave that I grew up in and ventured out into the world,” he said with a saddened tone.  “I sometimes wish we’d stayed in that cave.”

Recognizing the opportunity to find out a bit more about Felix and his family, she seized the moment.  In a world where meeting the opposite sex wasn’t that easy, she was curious about Kendra and Rex.  Although he was handsome, he didn’t compare to Felix; in her eyes, anyway.  It was clear that Kendra and Felix had a strong fondness for each other.  She couldn’t help wondering why, if they were raised together, Kendra didn’t pair up with Felix instead of Rex.  “Was Rex with you then?  I mean, were you all raised together?”

He shook his head. “We met him while out searching for a new home.  It was instant friendship between him and my aunt.  It took longer for Kendra and me to trust him.”  He looked at her for a moment and then added, “He was a wanderer, you know.”

“I didn’t,” she said with a nod.  She now understood why Kendra chose Rex.  He was new, handsome, and different.  “It explains a lot, though.”

His brows raised. “How so?”

Her mind scrambled for a response. The last thing that she wanted to admit was that she now understood why Kendra chose to be with the new guy instead of the old and familiar. She especially didn’t want to broach such a subject after the drama and tragedy that occurred over his wife’s suspicions and jealousy where he and Kendra were concerned.  The small smile that she gave him while she chose her words formed appealing dimples in her cheeks;  something he hadn’t noticed when her flesh was so wrinkled.

“I was thinking about the fact that he’s adept at a lot.  He seems far more informed about the way of things than Kendra does.  She is a courageous hunter and warrior, but the sheltered life she’s led sometimes shows.  Wanderers tend to have more knowledge of life,” she explained.  “I would have guessed your aunt to be a wanderer too if Arthur hadn’t said differently.”

“My aunt was a wise and worldly woman before the war,” he offered.  “We’re lucky to have her.  Between her education, life experience, and religious beliefs, she makes for a fantastic protector and a formidable opponent to our enemies.”

“I’ve witnessed some of it,” she said, “but probably not the whole of it.”

“No,” he agreed, “not the whole of it.”

He couldn’t help admiring how shapely her calf was as she brought his attention to it when she nervously shuffled her foot in the soil.  It was like he was seeing her for the first time.  He noticed that her capri length pants left the damaged flesh on her legs exposed for the naked eye to see, but it didn’t bother him.  Having an imperfection himself, he was less critical than most when it came to the human body. Even so, he had to admit that he found it much more pleasant to enjoy the beauty of her face- that he didn’t even know existed- now that it was no longer hidden beneath a sea of wrinkles.  His aunt was a miracle worker, to say the least.

“Is she a… a witch?” she asked with hesitancy.

He threw his head back in laughter. “I can see where someone who wasn’t raised by her might think that.” Then, with more seriousness, he said, “I guess I’d have to ask you your definition of a witch before I can answer that.  If you mean, is she super smart and educated in chemistry, energy, herbology and the like, and has she learned to use the psychic abilities that all humans have but very few tap into, then, I guess I’d say that she’s a witch.”

“I can’t imagine being that smart,” Alice said, wistfully.  “I got some semblance of education, but not that much.  I was an ugly orphan living amongst people who fed me and gave me the bare necessities.  For a while, there was a woman who looked past my skin problem.  She gave me love and taught me the basics of reading and calculations, but we lost her during a zombie invasion. After that, I was lucky to get food tossed at me and minimal protection from them.  The dogs got better food and treatment than I did. Half the time, I slept under the stars on the ground near the fire.”

“You had dogs? How come?” he asked.

“They warned us about anyone or anything approaching,”  she said. “Plus, we ate them.”

“I’ve never eaten dog,” he mused. “In fact, I’ve never really been close to one.  Olga was very careful about the animals we raised.  They had to be quiet and nothing that would draw visual attention from the drones.  Dogs were out of the question.”  After a moment of silent contemplation, he asked, “When did you come here?”

A look that was a mixture of sadness and regret came over her. “We were running from some cyborgs who’d discovered our camp.  There were at least fifty of us and only three of them.  They were quick with their killing and capturing, but I managed to slip away along with a half-dozen others.  We stumbled upon a tunnel and decided to see where it led to.  The deeper we went, the darker it got and the more frightened we became. We’d abandoned our camp without packing up, so we had no food or water with us.  After days of wandering in the darkness of the tunnels, I overheard them whispering about killing me.  They wanted to drink my blood to compensate for the lack of fluids and use my body for food.  Over the years with them, I’d witnessed them eating a person or two. It wasn’t a common occurrence, but it had happened.  It was during a time of crisis and food was scarce.”

“You’ve eaten human flesh?” he gasped.

She vigorously shook her head. “Like I said, it was during a food crisis. The last thing they were prepared to do was to share their precious meat with the likes of me.  I was left to fend for myself.  I ate a lot of worms and bugs until we reached a more amicable environment for survival.”  She took a deep breath before continuing.  “The only reason they hesitated at all was their fear about ingesting my meat because of my skin.” She gave a wry grin and a snort. “It was the one and only time that I was grateful for the affliction.  I didn’t wait to find out if they were going to actually kill me.  As soon as I realized what they were contemplating, I ran for my life.  It was pitch black and there were multiple tunnels to choose from. I ended up wandering in the dark until I fainted from hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and fear.  When I awoke, I was in Arthur’s home.”

“I understand the darkness that you talk about,” he said with a nod. “We spent days in it.  Even though we were prepared of sorts, it was still almost unbearable.  I can’t imagine how it was for someone who was starving and running for their life.”

“It was hell,” she agreed.

“What about the others?” he asked.  “Did Arthur find them too?”

She nodded.  “Three found their way here.  He didn’t allow them to stay in Hopeville, though.  They admitted that they found us because they were tracking me.  After I told him how many of us entered the cave and he found out that they planned on eating me, he suspected that they ate the others.  He can’t abide cannibalism so they couldn’t stay.”

“I thought that the village was governed by a group of people,” Felix said.

She nodded, “There is a council of sorts, but, ultimately, Arthur has final say.  Hopeville started out as his home and then people built around it as they arrived and were invited by him to live here.  His is the very first homestead and he’s the original resident and founder.”

“So, is the council just for show?” he asked.

She shook her head, “They tend to a lot of things for Hopeville.  It saves it all being on Arthur’s shoulders.”

“I guess it would,” he mused.  Then, with a smile,  he added, “You’d never know how much power he has by talking to him.  He’s a pretty down to earth kind of guy.”

She nodded. “That’s one of the things that I like the most about him.  He hasn’t let his station go to his head.”

A thought suddenly came to him.  “He plans on going to the surface.  How will the people of Hopeville react to that?”

She scowled and looked away.  He thought that she looked extremely uncomfortable with the question, but, since he’d never taken the time to really look at her, let alone get to know her, he couldn’t be sure.

Arthur’s call for them to join the others for the evening meal put a halt to all further conversing for the moment; which suited Alice just fine.