Corn, Cows, and the Apocalypse

New Roles, Same Rules

I sat on the edge of the railing looking over the dirty plank floor below. A fresh layer of hay had been spread over the barn, but it still reeked from the last vestiges of bovine. There was enough room in the loft behind me to stock a winter's worth of hay, which I concluded was... a lot. I had never been in a barn this big, and frankly, I didn't think they came this big, but somebody, once upon a time, thought themselves a dairy farmer.

The dance was about as far north as I had been in years. My pre-apocalyptic travels hadn't taken me far, so I wasn't much help in finding the place. The hills in the area rolled gently, which was a nice change from the flat valley I was used to, but it did leave room for error. Danger could, literally, be hiding over the next hill.

There was a live band, which was a rare treat, even though the drummer sounded like a new recruit. There was something to be said for the bravery it took to try a new hobby during the end of days. There was also something to be said for the enduring boredom that all but forced you to open your mind to new possibilities.

Below I could see August dancing with a fine specimen of a man. She rarely let her hair down, but over the last two months she had given me more responsibility, effectively lightening her load. I thought it would be harder to deal with, but in a way I was doing the same thing I had been doing all along. I was caring for my family.

Instead of acquiring the right chips and toilet paper, I was decimating grim. Preventing intestinal distress and raw butt wasn't as glorified as killing grim, but it was still me protecting them.

I could see Devin below, dancing with a petite blonde that was playing cowgirl for the night. She even had the double-hipped pistols. He caught my eye and smiled. He mouthed, "You okay?"

I smiled. I knew if I walked downstairs and asked to cut in, he would have dropped his sure thing, and wrapped his arms around me to dance as long as I wanted. That was enough for me. Just knowing I could. It was more devotion than any man had ever shown me, and I wanted to keep it that way. "I love you," I mouthed to him.

"I love you too," he mouthed back, drawing his cowgirl closer.

"You two make me sick," Haden snarled as she climbed up to my loft via the death trap ladder. I hadn't heard her until she spoke. That disappointed me, but given the loud music and my being distracted by my platonic lover, I didn't let it get to me.

"Why's that?" I asked when her glower didn't readily disappear.

"Why don't you just fuck each other and get it over with?" She looped her legs over the railing and pouted while she sipped her beer.

"What are you doing up here? I told you I'd watch."

"There aren't any decent men tonight. August got the last good one," she said, with sour grapes dripping into her voice.

"He is something special. I'm sure if you asked Devin, he'd forgo his evening's catch."

"No!" If she were a dog, she would have snapped at my proffered hand. "He's got someone for tonight. He can have me any night."

"Can he?" I asked cautiously. She furrowed her brow and shrugged off the foreign language I was speaking. "Maybe you should remind him of that. I mean, I understand that you both enjoy the variety of a non-committed relationship, but you might find that given the choice, he might still choose you."

Haden looked me over, most likely debating hitting me, laughing at me, or just calling me a name. "Why haven't you slept with him? You're not still holding off because of me, are you?"

"Why are you so concerned about my sex life?"

"Other than the fact that you probably haven't gotten laid since you lost your virginity?"