I wipe the sweat from my forehead and dig the shovel into the tough dirt. After getting settled in I was assigned to help plant the potato seeds. Lola pants next to me as she easily digs into the hard dirt. I stop and walk over to the water table. I grab a bottle and gulp down half of it. "Ahh," I exclaim in satisfaction. "Hey Lola you thirsty girl." I pour water into her mouth. Two big arms wrap around my waist from the back. "Guess who?" He says. I giggle and turn around to look at Bion. "You are supposed to be resting," I say, completely aware of his arms still holding me. "I did," he says smiling, his blue eyes light up like fire. "I've been working for what, 45 minutes. You lost 30% of your blood how are you even standing?" He is very strong but still many regular people would be passed out in a deep sleep right now. How is he ok? "Strong will, good circulatory system I don't know but I'm fine. I'm here to help you dig," he says giving me that smile that lights up the room. "Come on what will it take to keep you resting?" I ask. "Maybe you," he says teasingly. But sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between his jokes and him being serious. I mean when he said that he seemed serious, but how could he be. He barely knows me. "Well sorry I'm not available can you do Thursday," I say and laugh. "I'm free for you any day," he whispers in my ear. His lips brush across my ear when he speaks and I shiver. "Now then I'm obviously not going to sleep so are you going to give me a shovel or what." I sigh and grab a shovel off the rack and hand it to him. We start digging side by side. I can feel him looking at me. Ever since I showed up in the infirmary he has barely ever taken his eyes off me. I can swear I've seen his face before. Others work around us and murmur about a full moon tonight. "Did you hear that they are having the celebration tonight!" A girl says excitedly to another. "Are you going to get new clothes from the market? You can easily get some I know the seller, Grey, has a thing for you. Just kiss him up and you can have all the clothes you want," The other says. "Shut up, so are you going to get a date?" I stop listening after that. Bion laughs next to me at their gossip. "What?" I ask. "We are in the middle of an apocalypse and still these girls gossip about romance and clothes," he says. "Not all girls are like that you know," I defend myself. "I know you are very different which is one of the qualities I admire about you," he complements me. "How would you know you have only known me for a day?" He smiles, "I can really read people." He quotes the guy who carried him into camp. A short brunette with blue eyes and freckles walks up to Bion. A red head with green eyes laughs next to her. "Um so Bion I know you just got here and all but I was wondering if you would want to come to the moon festival tonight with me?" She asks. She seems sweet but my stomach clenches inside and I start to get angry for no reason. "I'm Carmen by the way." Bion looks back at me and winks. "Oh I did not know of this event," He says. "Oh well it is a big celebration for us to honor the fallen and celebrate the ones who have lived to see another full moon. We do it every month on the first night of a full moon," Carmen explains. "That sounds cool but Carmen I have become very fond of Shilo over here and I would like to take her. I'm sorry for the inconvenience but Shilo just can't stay away." I playfully punch his arm. He hangs his arm over my shoulder. Carmen gives a disappointed look and says, "Oh I see well that's ok." They walk away and I watch them leave. "What the heck Bion why did you say no? And I can totally stay away," I say trying not to smile but a grin creeps up on my face. "I want to go with you and I think you want to go with me so want to go?" Butterflies flutter in my stomach. Fire engulfs my heart. "Sure Bion I will go," I say. He smiles and lifts me into his arms. He swings me around and are lips get very close. I feel his breath on my mouth. "Um," I back away and nervously laugh. "We should finish up," I say changing the subject. We finish planting around noon. We head to the mess hall together for lunch. In line I see chicken soup is being served with bread and some kind of root. I get my food and look around the room for Mia. I see her eating at a table in the back with Amar. I walk over there and Bion follows me. I sit next to her and say, "Is this seat taken." "Oh hi Shilo how is planting? Sorry about the boring job but most newbies are assigned to use the animal poop and fertilize the crops. So you did get lucky." She turns her attention to Bion. "I see someone else has been working hard. Couldn't just stay in bed and heal could you?" "If you knew me you wouldn't even have to ask that question," Bion said. "So I hear you two found out about the moon festival tonight and are going together," she pries. We look at each other and laugh. "Yea Bion here made sure we were going together," I say. "Well then good for you two," she says. "Have you finished planting?" "We finished our part of the garden but we are willing to do other parts if you want," I suggest. "No, no you are new and I like you so you can have the day off." Bion smiles at this and I wonder what he is thinking. "I have something to take care of," Bion says. "You should rest,"he tells me. "Excuse me who here almost had their hand hacked off?" I say with sass. He chuckles, "Ok hot shot I will see you soon." He walks off. What could he possibly have to do on his first day here? I head back to my tent and find Lola asleep on my bed. She awakes when I sit next to her. "Hey girl want to walk in the woods with me," I say. "Like we used to when we were alone. I sometimes miss that, when I gave my own orders and when I just accepted the end. But now I know I will fight a fight I can't win." I was fine with laying low and living among them, in the shadows. I accepted being the last human, the only one to watch what they do to our planet. I pull back the tarp and follow Lola out the door. I saw the small hole in the wall earlier. It was made by some animal and Lola can easily get it big enough for me to fit. We crawl out and I pull out my gun. It falls against my side clenched in my hand as we walk. The soothing sounds of nature flood through my ears. Just like old times. I hear a twig crack and immediately bring up my gun towards the sound. Suddenly I see Bion running towards me. He tackles me down as I see a bullet puncture the tree I was just in front of. "Stay down," Bion says and runs off into the woods. I wait a few seconds only hearing the beat of my heart. I hear a scream. I get up and race towards the sound and get there just in time to see Bion break a man's neck. I look at him mouth gaping. "Silencer," he says. "How did you know?" I ask dumbfounded. "I got my thing done quickly and saw you go off into the woods. I was worried about you so I followed you," Bion confesses without any hint of embarrassment. "Wow Bion I could have been dead if you hadn't saved me. Thank you," I say and pull him into a tight embrace. He is warm and strong. Him against me is so comforting. He puts his hand on my cheek and stares down into my eyes. "I won't let anyone hurt you, not ever," he says.
