Black Death (TNN)

The Photo

The light rain fell from the sky, the group walked through the countryside. Their destination was Whitfield. If there really was a cure, they wanted to get to the bottom of it. Carly held the map in her hand. They still had quite a way to go. Max looked around, he had never been so far away from the place he once called home.

Everything was unfamiliar, on the deserted country roads he had even seen a broken down car. His father and sister had told him stories about before the apocalypse. But he could never imagine what it was really like.

Beth kept glancing at Sorscha. She had a stubborn look. She knew that expression, Sorscha fell back into old patterns. She reminded Beth of the time when they first met.

" My Love, what's on your mind?"

Sorscha sighed. " It's strange to see them again... Reece and Carly..."

Beth took her hand. "That's totally understandable."

As evening fell, the group arrived in a small village called Falcutt, which was not far from their actual destination.

"Is this a town?" Max asked.

Reece laughed lightly. "No, this is just a village."

" It's like everything is frozen in time." said Carly." We'd best find somewhere to stay."

Reece lit a candle, which he had found together with a pack of matches in the house where they would spend the night.

Beth searched the kitchen to see if there was anything useful left, even after all these years.

Sorscha had spread out all the equipment on the living room table to get an overview of how much they had of everything.

Max was standing in front of a bookshelf not far from Sorscha. He picked up a book. "The Shining..." he mumbled quietly.

"Best not to read that kid," said Sorscha. "Otherwise you'll have nightmares."

Max quickly put the book back.

"Aha!" exclaimed Beth. Reece, who was also in the kitchen, raised his eyebrows sceptically. The woman held up a tin of pineapple. "I don't think you can still eat this." said Reece sceptically.

" Oh come on. It's a tin. It's not going to expire."

Beth walked quickly into the living room closely followed by Reece. "My love. Can you open it for me?"

Sorscha took the tin in her hand.
"Pineapple? Sunshine, I don't know if it's still edible." She turned the tin round. "February 2023... Wow..."

"We can try... you know I love pineapple," said Beth.

Sorscha grinned at her. " I know... After all, you have a tattoo of one."

"Sorscha!" The blonde immediately turned red in the face.

Reece sat down on the chair at the table. "I'd best not ask where the tattoo is."

"What's a tattoo?" asked Max.

"A motiv on the skin that is engraved with ink and a needle," his father explained.

Sorscha was opening the tin with a knife when Carly came into the room. With a broad smile in her hand. "Look what I've found!" In her hand was a polaroid camera.

"Does it still work?" asked Reece.

The young woman smiled, snapping a picture of Reece in response.

"There you go, Sunshine." Sorscha handed the opened can to Beth. "Are we doing a photo shoot now?"

"With you, we have to make sure we get your good side," said Reece.

Sorscha crossed her arms. " Are the blind jokes becoming a running gag now?"

"Don't let them tease you," Beth whispered to her and held out a piece of pineapple.

Carly put the picture she had taken of Reece on the table. So the camera is still working. Max looked curiously at the device, he had never seen anything like it before. "Do you want to take a picture?" Carly asked.

" If I can..."

Carly smiled and handed Max the camera. Reece sighed and got up from the chair. "This calls for a group photo."

" I hate photos..." Sorscha mumbled.
" My love, don't be a spoilsport. Do it for me." Beth spoke calmly.

Reece stood in the centre. Next to him was Carly, who smiled broadly and made peace signs with her hands. Sorscha stood next to Reece with her arms crossed. Beth hooked on to one of Sorscha's arm and smiled warmly.

Max took aim with the camera and pressed the shutter release.

"Show me," Carly called out immediately.

Sorscha sighed. " I don't want to see it..."

" What are you afraid you have blinked?" asked Reece.

"Ok Ken, enough jokes!" said Beth sternly.

Even though they all had a difficult past, that evening they were carefree and could forget everything for once.