Life in an Apocalypse

Chapter 22

     Many months have passed after that incident where I was tortured for a good two days and two nights. My body is still recovering from the pain, but the cuts and gashes are all healing up nicely. Thankfully I'm getting away with only four major scars: the stab wound from when I went with her back to her base, one down the length of my back from my right shoulder to my left hip from a machete slash during my torture, a tiny scar right above my right eye from her spiked whip, and the long gash on my right arm that she initially gave me at the start of my personal hell. Cynthia and I have gotten together quite often. Almost every night. To give a bit of context, it's been about a year now ever since I met with Damien and Jack for the first time, meaning it's been a little less than a year since Cynthia woke from her initial wounds and actually met me. From that, it would mean I first actually fell in love with Cynthia for about six months now. I sighed at the memories as I sat on top of a hill leading to the newest city that we made into our home. This city was hidden in between a vast valley, making it a well-protected area from almost all fronts save from aerial strikes. 
    "There you were," Cynthia giggled as she climbed the hill towards me. I turned around to face her, greeting her with a chaste and loving kiss on the lips. 
    "Sorry about that. Had to clear my mind," I told her, intertwining our fingers together, "It's a lot of responsibility now that we've permanently settled into this place."
    "I can understand," Cynthia sighed contently. We finally decided to settle down in this valley city after checking around for supplies. Jack managed to find an underground storage full of untouched supplies, making our stay worthwhile. Being that we were surrounded by lush vegetation and nearby streams and lakes leading to the ocean just a few kilometers from the city borders, this was an ideal place for hunting as well. We started out small with just myself, Cynthia, Jack and Marge. Eventually, as other groups found us, we eventually grew into a prospering and self-sustaining community. And just like with the original tiny group, I was chosen as community leader with Cynthia as my right-hand woman. Jack and Marge became something like advisers to make sure all my decisions for this new community were fair and just. At long last, I felt as if we had returned to some form of the old civilization that I had grown up with; a prospering community where everyone is happily cooperating with one another. 

    After spending a bit of time in the open air with Cynthia, I returned to the community with her to find Jack and Marge waiting for me with smiles plastered on their faces. 
    "Jack, Marge. What's with the smiles?" I laughed as I approached the gates to the city. Marge and Jack exchanged excited looks at one another before returning to me.
    "You are not going to believe this," Jack began, holding on to his lover's hand.
    "Jack just proposed to me with a ring he made himself out of molten bullet shells, Zee!" Marge finished for him excitedly, "And I just said yes!" This time Cynthia and I exchanged excited looks. 
    "Congrats you two!" I cheered happily. Things were becoming more and more exciting as the days passed peacefully. Our community was always lively with activities, from children running around happily in the playgrounds we recreated for them to the adults constantly working hard to keep the community thriving. Everything was peaceful, save for an occasional horde. For the first time ever since the Catastrophe, I felt safe and free-spirited, being with the love of my life and spending the rest of my days with her. 

    However, like many of the happiest days of life, it all comes to a tragic and devastating end. 

    It was one of last things that I would ever expect. Marge was near the end of her third trimester and her belly bump was fully swollen. Cynthia had been taking extra care of her along with the other doctors in our community. We had heard reports that Marge had become violently ill, coughing up a storm. As if that wasn't enough, the bloody coughs that I thought had long since gone returned to me in full force. I knew for a fact that Cynthia was more than stressed due to worrying about two of the people of her life: the mother figure who took care of her when she was unconscious and the one who she loved dearly. 
    "Really, babe, I'll be fine," I tried once more to reassure her that I was a lot better off than Marge was. Cynthia was trying to get me to let her examine me when she found me in our house coughing up a stream of blackened blood. 
    "Please, Zee, just let me take a look," Cynthia persisted, tightening her hold on my bloodied hand. Jack had rushed into the house and wheezed some of the most haunting words I would ever hear. 
    "Zee...! Marge...! She...!" Jack wheezed and struggled to tell me what was wrong. Cynthia let me go, her attention focused on Jack as she and I rushed over to him. 
    "Jack! Breath! Deep breaths," Cynthia ordered him, to which he complied. After finally catching his breath, he announced to me what I thought to be the worst news I had ever come across.
    "It's Marge guys. The baby... she's had a miscarriage and the doctors found her dead in her cot," Jack was tearing up at this point, "My wife and child are gone, guys... Just like that..." His entire body shook as the weight of reality hit him hard, reducing him into a crying mess as he fell to his knees sobbing out loud. I just stood there in shock, and Cynthia pulled into a deep hug, crying openly into my vest. I wrapped my head around the fact that once again, another person I cared for had died. Not to mention that her kid would never see what it was like to live. It was too much, and I didn't bother to hold back my own tears from the sorrow. I wrapped an arm around Cynthia and guided the two of us towards the crying man before us before dropping on my knees to give him a hug.
    "I'm so sorry, Jack," I whispered, my voice shaking from my own overwhelming sadness. I felt Cynthia wrap her arms around the two of us from behind me, mouthing the same apology. The three of us stayed that way for a good while, trying to calm one another so that we could continue to take care of the community we all founded.