Resistance: The Last Hybrid

Day 8

You and your family walk into a small, desolate town. There's nothing much to look at but the small grocery store. You and Katie go to search the store while Martha and Rosie stay behind to stand guard. The two of you approach the front of the store, finding produce stands. Of course, there is no longer any produce left. Going inside, you find some of the shelves full of contents. You take your daughter to the aisle full of canned food. There you find soup cans, cans of corn and peas, cranberry sauce, and cans full of other items safe enough to eat right out of it. The two of you take plenty of cans and stuff them into Katie's backpack. Now you and your family have food that you need to use sparingly.

    The two of you walk out of the store and return to the road where Martha and Rosie are waiting. Continuing down the street, you find a playground to your left, the only thing still intact. You point it out, and you see Martha smile.

    "Katie, go have some fun on the playground," Martha says to her daughter encouragingly.

    Katie excitedly hurries over to the playground, you and your wife follow behind. The two of you find a wooden bench and take a seat on it. You watch your daughter closely as she has fun on the playground. You hear your wife sigh, and you turn to look at her.

    "I always dreamt of us going to the park, the one over by the school," she says to you. "You know the one, right? I always dreamt of her giggling while going down the slide. You and I would be on the bench, watching her, enjoying the day. Of course, it'd be you as a human, dressed up in a white button up shirt, black tie, and khaki pants. But here we are, with only two thirds of that dream being a reality. But I honestly don't mind. Human or Chimera, I'm glad my husband came home, and I'm glad we're able to finally live my dream."

    She leans towards you and kisses you on the cheek, the only part close to your mouth she can actually kiss. You wish she could kiss you on the mouth, but you agree with yourself that it would be weird if she kissed your fangs. There are many things you wish you can do that you could as a human, but your monstrous appearance has prevented you from doing those things. It frustrates you knowing this. You show it on your face. Your wife hesitantly slides back a little and asks you what's wrong. You point to Martha's bag, telling her to take out the paper and pencil she packed away for you. After she removes a piece of paper and the pencil, you take it and write down your thoughts. You tell her you're mad that you can't do things like kiss her.

    "That's ok," she assures you. "We can always find alternatives."

    Hours pass, and you and your family come across a body of freshwater. You and Martha agree on taking a swim to "clean" yourselves. You all settle your items against a rock before approaching the water. Your wife is the first to start stripping. Looking down at your pants, you find out you don't know how to remove them. You can't seem to remember putting them on for the first time. You fumble around your parents, trying to see if you can take them off. You eventually find parts that can be removed. You first start by removing the metal plates around your thigh, moving on to the knees, the shin and calf, and then the piece around your pelvis. All that remains is the soft thermals, and you easily remove them. Now, for the second time in your life as a Hybrid, you are completely naked. You look over and find your wife in the same situation. She looks at you and becomes surprised.

    "You have... nothing at all," she chuckles to you. You notice her eyes are fixated on your pelvis. You look down and find nothing there. You understand the reason behind the absence of reproductive organs. The creation of the Chimeran strains relied on foreign tissue and converting that tissue into things like you. Because of that, there was no reason to have a reproductive system.

    The two of you enter the body of water, getting deep into it. You know your pack will not short circuit in the water. Aquatic-based Chimeran strains like the Kraken and Fury have packs similar to yours. And there were many occasions in your past where you experienced heavy rain, and even then your pack didn't short circuit.

    After spending a few minutes in the water, the two of you exit, dry yourselves off, and put your clothes back on. You carefully watch as Katie and Rosie go into the lake to get clean as well. They return minutes later, and Katie puts her clothes back on. The four of you come together and return to the road.