The Hunter

Chapter 3 - Green Eggs and Ham

The city of New Hope is teaming with human life. A census is taken every year to see how many people live here. Apparently, there's now 1,043 people living in her, 78 more than last year. It was built to hold about 10,000 people, so half of the city doesn't have any residents. Caleb is a hybrid like Adam, but he stays in the city year-round because he's the leader. However, he chooses to live like everyone else, so Caleb and his family live in a small, one story house, in the center of town. A golden retriever by the name of Goldie waits for us by the front stairs, frantically wagging his tail when he sees the three of us. I remember when he was a small puppy, and how I used to play with him when I was little.

"If you think he's happy to see ya, wait till everyone else comes out," Caleb told us, as he unlocked his door, and invited us inside.

Oil lanterns hang from the ceiling. New Hope has batteries, but they're sparse, and oil lamps last longer. The interior is tan like the outside. A small couch with a table in front of it are on one side of the house, with a bookcase across from it. The other side has a counter with a sink and ice box on it, along with a dinner table. New Hope is one of the only places that has indoor plumbing through a series of people stopping by every morning and bringing water by. As soon as we come in, the rest of Caleb's family comes out.

Anna, his wife, is pregnant, and comes out first. Her mouth instantly opens up wide, and she covers it with her hands. A small tear escapes as she comes over to hug us, her long, blonde hair flying everywhere. Their three kids come out to see what's going on. The oldest is a boy named Brandon, and he's a few months younger than me. He's also my best friend in the whole world. His younger brother, David, who's about teen, begins jumping up and down when he sees Adam and me. The youngest, a three year old named Elissa, runs over, and instantly jumps in my arms.

"Martin and Uncle Adam are back!" Elissa shouted as she climbed down from me, and jumped onto Adam's leg, her dirty-blonde pig tails jumping too.

David came over and hugged me, coming up to about my waist. He looks exactly like Caleb, with his dark eyes, and dark hair. After hugging me, I embrace with my best friend. He looks the most like Anna; long, blonde hair, and bright green eyes. He's only a couple of shorter than me, but we'll both be eighteen soon, so he'll catch up.

"Long time, no see," Brandon says, releasing me, "I'm going to steal you for the rest of the day, I have to catch you up."

"Sounds good, I could use the normal day," I answered as Anna begins to speak.

"Breakfast is ready, you guys are just in time," Anna announced just as I noticed a table full of food.

We all migrate over to the table, and begin to put food on our plate.  They eat a lot of eggs in New Hope, so I pile them on, along with some fresh strawberries from the community garden.  Water is passed around, and I fill up mu cup.  I gulp down half of it before I even notice how much I've drunk.  Before we begin to eat, Elissa speaks.

"Mommy, these aren't green eggs and ham!" She complains, putting on a tiny pouty face.

Confused, I looked at Anna, who said, "Eli and I have been reading an old book called Green Eggs and Ham, and that's all she wants to eat.  Don't worry, Eli, these eggs taste just like the green ones, and we'll have ham later."

"Fine," Eli says, beginning to eat her eggs. 

"So, how many vamps did you guys come across?" Asked Caleb.

"Not many," answers Adam, "None of them within ten miles of here.  Those within twenty are dead, Martin and I took care of them."

I nod, too focused on the food to speak. They talk about politics, how life has been going in town. Anna talks about how she's going to have a baby in three months, and everyone talks about possible baby names. No one knows if it's a boy or girl until it's born because we don't have that technology, but Anna says she doesn't care. Eli said she wants a girl, while David wants a boy, while the rest of is don't care unless it's healthy. Caleb and Anna have unofficially adopted me as their child, treating me as if I was their son. Adam has always been the strongest father figure in my life, Anna and Caleb are the only other family I have. David and Elissa have become the little siblings I never had, and Brandon is one of the only friends I've ever had. Sometimes I wish I could live with them forever, but I know that's impossible. Caleb's family is full of half hybrids since Anna isn't a hybrid, but they chose to live a different life than Adam. Because Adam's my mentor, and pretty much my father, I've always been with him. Though as we finish up, Brandon comes over to me.

"Grab whatever you need, we're going to go have fun," whispered Brandon, and a smile grew on my face.