Kennedy & the Yautja

Chapter 7 - Nashville-Part 1

Kennedy stood at the peak of the overpass, taking in the grand sight of downtown Nashville. The broken windows in the tall buildings glittered in the sunlight. Trees grew in a forest from the bottom up, their green leaves showing that there was life in this apocalyptic wasteland. Once a center for country music, Nashville was but a shadow of its former glory.

Soft clicking beside her pulled Kennedy to the present.

The sight of Vah'keil was impressive, as always. He surveyed the dilapidated city with interest, his hands splaying out on the concrete edge of the overpass. Their hands were awfully close, but she didn't mind.

"Is it everything you hoped for?" He asked, his claws tapping the ledge as he looked at her.

Kennedy leaned forward to rest her elbows on the ledge. "Jury's still out." She smiled, "But, whoa, you can't deny that view."

Seeing Nashville for the first time in years brought emotions that she had suppressed for years to the forefront. This place was familiar—a common meeting place with a colony of survivors. Together, her people and theirs were working to establish trade routes so they could rebuild their cities while protecting against the Rebels. The last she heard of the Nashville folks...it hadn't been good. The talk of the Rebels' involvement wasn't promising.

Who was left, if anyone?

They would have to keep going to find out.

"Nashville is...my last major stop before home. My uncle Bobby lived south of the metropolitan area. If he's still alive, he could give us shelter." Kennedy explained as they continued on their way.

Her head was on a swivel as they passed the charred skeletons of cars. Any vehicle that could be looted had been burned out long ago. Along the massive highway, in the parts that were passable, there was nothing left to find.

Uncle Bobby would have supplies if he was still kickin'. That old coot was the child of doomsday preppers and had a few screws loose, but he was reliable, as well as her one and only surviving uncle. Her other two had died to Zekes before she was born. Family wasn't plentiful in this world, but she hoped that at least one of them was still alive.

The jury was still out on whether her own colony was still around, but uncle Bobby? That guy was a cockroach that the world had yet to conquer.

"Uncle...Bo-bbeee?" Vah'keil queried, cocking his head in question.

Kennedy smiled wistfully, "Yeah, he's adopted into the family. He helped me hop a train up North when the Rebels attacked my commune."

He grunted in response. As always, he was a man of few words. Grunts, clicks, and rumbles were his typical responses when they talked. Over the last few days, though, she grew to like his quiet company. Just looking at him directly...well, the sight of him elicited other feelings.

Under the sun, his red and black skin looked wicked. He was beautiful in a deadly way.

It was strange how he was the first person she had such a...carnal interest in.

That stray thought reminded her of something that happened days earlier, prompting Kennedy to swiftly change the direction of her thoughts. Vah'keil had wandered off into the dark, and for hours she had heard what sounded like animalistic sounds of pain. Did he still have underlying issues from the tiger attack? She was sure he was healing well; the scar was mostly healed by now.

As the two carefully treaded down a grassy off-ramp, Kennedy confronted him.

"Vah'keil," Kennedy gently began, "are you okay? That other night, by the fire, you left in an awful hurry."

The male visibly bristled, his hands clenching. He cast her a sidelong gaze as she climbed over a barricade.

Her Yautja companion rattled, "I am fine." It was the way he seemed to be on guard that alerted her to the male fibbing.

Was he embarrassed? There had to be some reasonable explanation for it, right? Kennedy hadn't been around men in a while, so she wasn't exactly familiar with their anxieties. And with an alien? She was clueless! Their worries were drastically different, for all she knew. Vah'keil had shown himself to be full of ego. That was the only thing she had to go by, so it seemed likely.

"You know, if you're still upset about your ego being wounded, maybe you can learn to take the L and move on?" Kennedy suggested, testing the waters.

Instead of responding, he snarled and walked ahead. His locs visibly tensed, and the little spines that sparsely peppered his body straightened.

He was like a walking, talking alien cat. Gosh, he was adorable! She couldn't help but smirk at her joke.

Maybe she could teach him manners after all!

"I get it, ya know? You're a walking tank. It's easy to see that somewhere along the way you developed a massive ego, even rivaling that noggin' of yours."

That seemed to be the last straw. Vah'keil spun on his heel with a quickness she hadn't seen. She jumped, a gasp leaving her and her body moving into defensive mode. The Yautja loomed over her, his chest rising and falling in time with the rumbling growls leaving his throat.

"Oomani-di, if you keep pushing me, I will feed you to the Zekes." He growled, his voice harsh and guttural.