"He's feverish," Ava's gloved hand caressed Jayden's head as he lay in his bed.
"He'll pull through. He's a fighter," said Leo as he pierced Jayden's arm with a syringe, injecting him with precious antibiotics. "Keep him hydrated."
Jayden had gone to the surface to hunt for food. With the city demolished, wild beasts roamed freely. One wild boar could feed their underground community for days.
A plague had killed one in ten surface dwellers already. Jayden must have come in contact in it, so he was quarantined in the care of Leo and Ava.
"Ava, you need rest too," Jayden smiled weakly. His pale form a far cry from the robust man Ava knew and had come to.. love? Ava's cheeks burned at her realization. She averted her eyes.
"I'll rest when you prove to me you're getting better," she retorted, a gentle smile forming beneath her mask.
Jayden's heavy lashes fluttered as he tried to force his eyes open.
"I gave him a sedative as well," remarked Leo. You both need rest.
"It'll take some time for the antibiotics to kick in, then he should be fine," smiled the doctor.
-------
Hisssss, a snake slithered over Emma's foot. She jumped back in fright.
"Keep quiet. They only bite when threatened," sighed Sandy, her bunk mate.
Gold glinted in the pile of ruins that was once a majestic boutique."Found it," Sandy pulled out a thick gold chain belt.
A tiger's roar was the last thing she heard. Pain tore through the back of her neck, her life draining away as blood gushed out.
Abruptly, the pain vanished. Sandy found herself floating out of her body, watching in horror as the tiger tore into her corpse.
"No!" She cried. "Emma, help me!"
Her friend did not seem to see or hear her. Emma's eyes were transfixed on the tiger before she turned and fled.
Sandy felt flames engulf her as she burned in agony.
The Death claimed her, then Hell followed.
-------
Bolting the gate behind her, Emma's legs gave way.
"What happened? Seen a ghost?" Mason eyeballed the panting woman.
"Tiger attack," she gasped. "Killed Sandy."
Mason rolled his eyes.
Wild beasts and plague had killed a fourth of the population. If Emma wants to risk it, that's her problem.
Head held high, Emma strode to her 20-bed dorm. The medics carried away yet another guy on a stretcher out of the dorm.
"Plague?" She asked
A medic nodded in reply. "Three dead so far from your dorm, five critically ill. I'd stay away from section C if I were you," he added. "But, as long as you worship the beast, you can do as you please."
That was the motto in this new age, where bigotry, prudishness and intolerance were not tolerated.
That was the motto in this shelter that only took in people with the mark of the beast.
-------
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"Good to see you're up and about." Ava sat at the edge of the rock, swinging her feet, creating little splashes in the warm underground spring.
"Get's boring in there without you," Jayden's eyes sparkled mischievously as he plopped himself beside her and held her hand.
Heat rushed to Ava's cheeks as she averted her eyes, hoping he wouldn't notice. "So you're here to harass me?"
His smile widened. "Hardly. I'm here to thank you for all you've done."
They fell into a comfortable silence, gazing at the flowers surrounding them, lit by the soft light that poured down through the cavern's entrance above them.
"How do you do it? I mean what keeps you going in spite of the beast, Babylon and all the horrors that are going on?" Ada's voice trembled, barely above a whisper.
"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." Jayden recited. "That's from the book of Luke."
"Huh?" Ada tilted her head, curious eyes gazing at him.
"In other words, keep your eyes up there. When our Lord and Saviour comes again, he'll rescue us."
*******
Notes
Revelation 6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
