The Gajuri

Part one

Sweat beads up along my brow. I've been running for almost the whole day. I should wait for Minithro. I sit down, breathless and unwrap my bandage.

“Kesh!” My leg is bleeding buckets of blood. I need a new cloth, but until our resources are replenished I need to wait. I rewrap my leg as tight as I dare. I hear heavy breathing and pull out my pocket knife. Minithro comes into view and I relax.

“Did you find anything?” He asks me as he sits next to me.

“No, you?” He pulls out a cloth, grapes, wheat, and smiles.

“Give me that!” I reach for the cloth and he smirks.

“Oh, you want this? Come and get it,” he shoves it down the front of his pants.

“Real mature M-thro. You know I need it.”

“Yeah, here.” He pulls out the cloth and unwraps my blood-soaked one.

“Kesh! It got worse!” He scrunches up his nose and gags. He rewraps my leg with the new cloth and ties it.

“I wish we could get you to a hospital. I can't stand watching you die like this.”

“Yeah, well there's nothing we can do about it. Not since those Gajuri took over.” I sigh, if only I was healed. Then Minithro wouldn't have to baby me so much. At least we still have food.

“You ready to eat?” I ask, my stomach grumbling.

“I thought you'd never ask!” he grabs the grapes and the pathetic excuse for bread I made last night and some goat cheese I stole yesterday. Compared to our other meals, this is a feast. I try to enjoy my food, but hunger wins out and as I sink my teeth into the soft, gooey cheese, and tough, hard bread I have to try not to laugh. Minithro looks at me and laughs becuase he’s doing the same thing. This has to be the first time we've done anything normal since the Gajuri came.

I had a family once, before they came. Two younger sisters, my mom and me. My dad died in a car crash. Since then I've been the father figure in our house. It wasn't easy. I got a job to get us by. Mom was always so stressed. I can remember her crying behind locked doors. And then the attacks happened. My mom disappeared. Jacey and Kerrie died in my arms. It killed me, as I watched them cough up blood the color of grass. Dark green, and the scent was overwhelming. It smelled of rotting things and sour milk, all mixed together. Their tears leaving trails on their faces, as they asked me to help them and I couldn't. They were just kids, not even nine. Kerrie had just turned five and Jacey, she was only two. I raised them since they were babies and I taught Kerrie how to ride her bike. Jacy didn't really understand anything, but she knew I was safety. That I was home. And I watched. Them. Die.

“We need to go. Now.” Minithro grabs our stuff and starts shoving it into our packs. Food, water, a compass. Next thing I know, we're running at top speed. I slip and he starts spewing out profanity. I'm back on my feet and we're off like bullets. I can barely make out his silhouette ahead of me when I hear a beeping.

“Get down!” He yells and we dive to our left when the blast goes off.

“What the-”

“Shut up Asaeri! Do you want us dead?” He’s in my face now and coming closer as I lean back.

“I don't want us dead.” I shove him off of me and look around, we’re clear.

“We’re clear, let's go.” I'm ahead of him for a few feet before I have to slow down because of my leg. He groans and drags me along with him, pain searing up my leg. He hates our predicament as much as I do. Or maybe he likes it, you never know. We stop after a while and rest. I fall asleep sometime and dream of my sisters. I wake up drenched in sweat. I look over and Minithro is staring at me.

“Nightmare?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“Want to talk about it?” I shake my head. Thunder rolls in the distance.

“Come on, we need to find shelter before it storms.” He walks away briskly, blushing. I eventually catch up to him and we see a cave up ahead and we sprint for it. I try to favour my leg to no avail. We make it just as the rain starts falling. I sit in the mouth of the cave watching the lightning dance across the sky. Minithro comes and sits next to me.

“Did you have a girl? Before all… this?” He asks gesturing to the wasteland before us.

“No. Actually, I’m gay.” I blush.

“Oh,” he looks out into the rain.

“What about you? Did you have a girl?

“No.” His ears turn red.

“Aw, come on man! You probably had girls on each arm!” He shakes his head, “I don't believe you for a second.”

“I’m gay too. But no one really like me.” He looks embarrassed.

“Really?” I poke his foot.

“Yeah.” He looks at me, hopeful in a way. I lean forwards and press my lips against his. Hard. His lips are soft and warm. I can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, but I don't care. I kiss him again, harder and pull him into me. He places his hands on my chest and kisses me back so hard it hurts. He leans into me and sighs.

“That was fun. Come here,” he leads me to the fire where I sit down. He lays down, placing his head on my lap. We spend most the night talking, I play with his hair, and there's a lot of kissing. I don't know what happened, but I guess finding out that I could still have a chance at love made me kiss him. He falls asleep and I watch his chest rise and fall. A small smile settles on his lips and I wrap my arm around him.

I eventually find sleep and wake up to the sun rising. I stand and start getting ready for the day. I find that the cave we currently reside in is near a small village where I take a new cloth, some eggs, and milk. He’s still asleep when I come back, so I start making a breakfast of sorts. When he rises I have the eggs cooking, a bit of bread laid out with the rest of the cheese and the remaining grapes.

"What's the occasion?" He trudges over to my side.

"No occasion, I just wanted to do something." He nods, not fully awake yet. How did I survive before I met him? I hand him the newest cloth.

"Would you mind?" I ask showing him the one that he gave my yesterday. It looks almost purple. He unwraps the cloth that was on my leg and looks away.

"What? What's wrong?" I start to panic.

"It's. Infected." I glance at my cut and come close to fainting. Green and black pus covers what I'm guessing is my calf.

"What the heck? How did this? When did it?" My mind can't comprehend what's happening. Minithro's lips are moving, but I don't hear anything. Everything starts fading out into darkness...