The two were trekking through a largely ruined area as they had their weapons out and remained aware of their surroundings while keeping an eye out for anything valuable, the man was doing most of the scavenging while the woman kept a high degree of surveillance of the area. The ruins looked empty, void of any other scavengers.
The sunlight shined through the damaged ceilings and cracked walls as an overgrowth of wild plants grew around the walls. The woman approached the growth of plants that wrapped itself onto the wall before she went deep into thought as the man went through a nearby pile of rubble hoping to find anything valuable as he stopped for a moment as the woman called out his name.
"What would you be doing if things were different? If things were much more peaceful." She asked while still admiring the growth of plants on the walls.
The man looked towards her form who was admiring the growth of plants around the walls, "Maybe have a job that offers a stable income, a job that is much more simple." he chuckled.
"Why ask?" He questioned before going back to searching through the rubble.
"No reason." She attempted to pretend and shrug it off as a question out of random curiosity.
The woman turned her head back towards the man, "Well, if there were to be different universes out there," she stopped before she smiled to herself and looked back towards the growth of plants, "I just hope that I'll be by your side in every last one of them."
After hearing the words the woman had spoken, the man froze. For a few seconds, he racked his brain about what it actually meant, yet he decided it was a topic to better discuss another time.
"There's nothing of value here," He exclaimed as he avoided the woman's sentimental words.
The man dusted his hands off before he stood up, "We should search somewhere else."
It didn't take long before the two went to move on to search a different location for valuable items. They continued searching throughout the day with the occasional avoidance of other scavengers who were also scouring the area to avoid unnecessary conflict.
The two had found multiple valuable items that were enough to afford their daily supplies for a little while. But the day was coming to an end and they needed to set up a camp. After they had set up the camp, they started inspecting their new found items next to the light of the fire.
The woman opened her mouth in an attempt to speak about something she had been keeping to herself, however she hesitated before closing it again with a sigh.
"What is it?" The man before her asks, noticing her hesitation.
"I am planning to join the military and I signed up for deployment for the start of next year."
The man froze as he felt his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach. Stuck, his eyes fixed towards the items on the ground. He didn't respond andwas deep in thought. Thoughts that were quickly filled with unpleasant ones. He was never a part of the military himself but he was aware about the permanent mental scars that it leaves on people when they are discharged from it.
The silence unnerved her. Attempting to break it and move on, the woman let out an awkward laugh. "Are there going to be any traders we are going to meet tomorrow with all of these items at hand? Hopefully the generous ones are still there."
"I just hope we restock on med supplies soon," She continued on as she desperately tried to turn away from the topic when she's felt the man's demeanour drastically worsening, "I'm running low on bandages unfortunately,"
"But you probably have some still in stock so there's no need to-"
"You're joking right?" The man cuts her off. He must be hearing things.
"Joking about what?" The woman cluelessly pretends not to understand what the man was talking about.
"About you joining the military." He continued with his eyes fixed towards her. She knew that he'd react negatively towards her choice but it was better than keeping it to herself and she refused to look at him.
"What do you mean?" She continued to put on an act and remained clueless about his statement.
"You can't be serious, right?" He was in denial.
"You don't have what it takes to even survive a day there." His voice weakened as his mind started swirling with unpleasant thoughts. He wasn't angry at her, he would never raise his voice towards her, he could never bring himself to.
"I'll do whatever it takes to adapt, like how you taught me to." She defended as she had already made up her mind a long time ago for her determination to somehow save her remaining family from their current state had been racing around her mind for long enough.
"You don't even know how to fend for yourself."
"That's why I'm joining."
"You could die out there." He went on as he was getting desperate to have her change her mind and turn her back from her choice.
"Why do you even care so much?" She asked as she couldn't bear his voice that was spiralling into a state of pure desperation for much longer. She turned her head up as her eyes made contact with his desperate ones which felt like it could tear her heart in half from the inside, for she had never seen so much disparity in his eyes before.
"It's because you're the only living being out there that isn't actively hunting me down." That was it. All his life, the man had spent it fending for himself in a world where every person he met could be a death sentence for him until the woman came along and saved his life all those years ago. He wasn't ready to let her go, not after all this time when he finally found his reason to continue living in this world.
Silence.
The woman had nothing else to say after he had admitted his woes. His words repeated in her mind like a broken record as it really felt like it was tearing her heart in half. The silence was starting to grow thicker every second, yet neither of both individuals spoke up.
The man tore his eyes away from the woman's as he went back to inspecting the items that laid on the ground and remained silent as he felt like he said enough and that nothing could change her mind at that point no matter what he says.
The night went on in silence between the two. The woman felt like the tension was making it colder than usual so she decided to wrap herself in a blanket next to the fire and faced herself away from the man who was now packing away the items as she decided to call it a night earlier than usual. It's not like she could see his expressions in the first place.
As the man finished up packing the items for them to be traded the next day. Seeing the woman who was now fast asleep next to the fire, although facing away from his position, made his heavy heart lighten ever so slightly as he wondered about what he truly felt at that moment.
YOU ARE READING
Rose Tinted Tears
Romance"There are looks that are hard to forget, Looks that you're ready to drown in forever. I dove in. His was special. He had the look of those cursed people who can't cry anymore. These people who are there in front of us but Who in the depths of their...
