DAY 211
January 29, 2025
Braun showed me how to cook rabbit stew and venison steaks. It was a lovely dinner as always. I wish I knew how to repay him for all he's done.
Seth didn't really say anything about last night. I went to his room after I talked with Bayley. Nothing happened. He just held me while I had a panic attack. God, I'm such a loser sometimes. Bayley has a blood-thirsty psychopath after her and I'm having panic attacks because I can't handle new surroundings. It's genetic, but oh well.
Bayley was really quiet today. I told Seth about Corbin. Thank God he didn't treat her any different. He was a little more courteous towards he today. I guess not all pro-choice people are bad! No, but from my experience they're all bottom feeding scum. Just... I don't understand people's reasons for harming a defenseless baby.
I'm getting off topic a little, but if I ever get through this war I need to remember my thoughts during. Who knows, this could be a really good book someday. I could get it published so people can see, and maybe relate, with what I experienced. That would be nice.
Sincerely, Sasha Mercedes Banks
The sun was finally setting behind the horizon. The day was mostly uneventful, other than Bayley winning three games of Monopoly in a row.
Sasha closed her trusty notebook. She wasn't tired in terms of wanting to sleep, but the idea of someone coming for Bayley that wasn't her husband made her uneasy. They'd only met each other just a couple days before, but Sasha felt like she knew Bayley for years; She took on a bit of a big sister roll to the young woman. It would be possible, Sasha told herself since Bayley was only six years younger than her.
The door to her bedroom slowly creaked open. Sasha smiled sadly at the curious dark eyes of her adopted little sister.
"Hey, Bayley," Sasha spoke softly in order not to startle the younger woman.
"Hi," Bayley said simply before shuffling into the room.
Bayley joined Sasha at the small desk in the corner of her bedroom. Her head tilted in curiosity when she spotted the beat-up purple notebook in front of Sasha.
"Is that a journal?" Bayley asked, pointing at the notebook.
Sasha nodded her head. "Sure is, I keep a daily log of all the stuff that happens during the day," she offered the notebook to Bayley. "Wanna take a look?"
Bayley slowly nodded her head and took the notebook. Sasha watched on in slight embarrassment as to what Bayley would comment after seeing her daily thoughts of the day. It was her inner monologue and she wasn't really eager to show people what her daily thoughts were.
Bayley giggled. "You have a crush on Seth?"
"What? No, I don't. Don't be... Stupid, Bayley." Sasha shot back uneasily.
Bayley, giant smile on her face, flipped through more pages. Gradually her grin shrunk.
"Seth's pro-choice," Bayley sighed. "That... Makes a lot of sense."
"He said he changed his mind now," Sasha assured. "I mean... Not all pro-choicers are assholes, right?"
Bayley shrugged. "In my experience, they usually are. But if you say so, Sasha."
All of a sudden, two things happened almost at the same time: Braun's thunderous voice echoed "Lights out" through the home and the sound of wheels tearing up gravel could be heard in the distance.
As quick as a hiccup, Sasha bolted across the room and shut her light off. She turned to Bayley and pressed her index finger to her lips. Bayley nodded her head and mimicked her actions.
Headlights from several vehicles flooded through the breaks between the window blinds. Gravel and snow crunching under boots approached the cabin. Then a booming knock on the door.
"Braun, good to see you again," said a low voice.
There was a short pause before Braun's low baritone could be heard. "Corbin, this week's hand-off already happened."
Sasha's head snapped up to focus on the woman standing across the room. Even in the dim light from the cars outside, Sasha could tell Bayley was two seconds away from having a melt down. Silently, Sasha crept across the carpet to her friend. She wrapped her snugly in her arms, whispering to her that everything was going to be alright.
"I understand that, my friend," Corbin was speaking again. "But I have an issue I'd like to discuss. You see, a few days ago, two people from my group went missing. Roman and Bayley, to be precise. We still haven't caught up with Roman, but we have reason to believe Bayley might be here. Search the house."
Suddenly, the sound of pounding footsteps climbed the stairs. As quick as she could, Sasha pushed herself and Bayley into the closet. Thinking quick, she collected her backpack and coat, then shut the door behind her as her bedroom door burst open and the light was thrown on.
Through the slits on the closet door, Sasha watched as a scarily tall man walked into her room with a shorter man with an assault rifle walking in beside him. Bayley gasped, but Sasha covered her mouth with her hand before she drew attention to themselves.
"No one upstairs from the looks of it, sir," the shorter man said.
"Thank you, Gable," the taller one's voice matched the man that was speaking downstairs; This must've been Corbin.
Sasha felt her heart beat quicken as well as her blood start to boil. Here stood the guy that tormented and hurt her little sister. Since she figured he could out-strengthen her easily, Sasha forced herself from bursting into the room and beating the man to death.
Braun walked into Sasha's line of sight. "Well, Corbin, are you happy?" He asked.
Corbin smirked. "Well, I gotta say, I apologize for assuming you had the mother of my child held captive here," he turned to face the mountain of a man behind him. "Assumptions are terrible things these days, right?"
"Mother of his child?" Sasha whispered.
In her arms, she could feel Bayley rapidly shaking her head. On top of that her breathing was slow and labored like she had been running for quite some time.
"That's right," Braun replied.
Corbin, unzippig his coat, took another look around the room. He turned to the window, shook his head, then looked at the desk beside him like something caught his eye. Sasha watched in horror as Corbin lifted her purple notebook from the desktop.
"Yours?" Corbin asked Braun.
Braun shook his head. "Left behind." His eyes locked on the closet door for a brief moment before looking back to Corbin.
Corbin flipped open the cover of the notebook. "Sasha Mercedes Banks, huh? She sounds like a fighter. 'Day One: Those bastard pro-choice SJWs managed to storm the White House. This country is at war, and I'm stuck in the middle of a pro-choice state. I'm scared, hungry, and thirsty. I wish Starbucks was still open...' She's a smart girl, don't you think? Pro-choice people are disgusting, right?"
"I'm pro-choice," Braun growled.
Corbin chuckled dryly. He threw the purple notebook back onto the desk.
"That so?" He asked, face twitching into a menacing scowl.
In a quick fashion, Corbin removed a pistol from his coat, spun to face Braun, and aimed the weapon against Braun's forehead. Braun didn't flinch; He just continued staring daggers at Corbin.
"I'll give you five seconds to take back what you said," Corbin growled.
Braun smirked. "Pro-life but you so easily take the lives of people that disagree with you," he shook his head. "You are the worst kind of people I've ever met."
The next seven seconds felt like they lasted hours. Sasha squeezed her eyes shut, expecting the crack of a gunshot to erupt through the house and finding the gentle giant crumpled in a lifeless heap on the floor. But it thankfully never came. Slowly, Sasha peaked through the closet door once again.
Corbin clicked the safety on his gun and set it back inside his jacket.
"You're stubborn. I like stubborn," Corbin said with a gut churning smile. "I'll be back in a few days for our rations. Don't be afraid to trade a can of peas for a can of sweet corn. Group loves it."
Corbin strode past Braun and out the bedroom door. Braun didn't move until the sounds of cars driving away sounded from outside.
"You can come out now," Braun told the women in the closet.
Bayley, tears pouring down her face, burst into the bedroom and threw her arms around Braun. Sasha re-entered her room a little slower, still uneasy about the whole exchange.
"I'm so sorry I thought you were all bad," Bayley cried into Braun's chest.
Sasha made eye contact with Braun. The uneasy tension between them could be cut with a knife. If meeting Seth taught her anything, it was that anybody deserved the benefit of the doubt when it came to their beliefs. She experienced a lot of public criticism from others when she started dyeing her hair different colors. Like a hypocrite, she judged others based on their beliefs on a stupid political issue. Braun was some friendly stranger that brought her in and gave her warmth and food and water, and he never once asked where she stood on the issue.
Sasha, wiping regretful tears from her eyes, hurried to Braun also.
"I'm sorry too," she whispered to the massive man.
Seth himself ran into the bedroom.
"You guys ok?" He asked the trio.
Sasha quickly crossed the room into Seth. The two people embraced, Sasha weeping into Seth's shoulder. The dark haired young man held her close to his person, letting her get all the tears out she needed.
"You ok?"
"I can't sleep."
Seth snuck into Sasha's room after lights out when all the excitement died down. Without any hesitation, Sasha let him in her bed and allowed him to hold her again like the night before. They stayed silent for a little while, trying to get some sleep. But the idea of slumber seemed like an unattainable concept at this point.
"What the fuck happened today?" Seth whispered.
Sasha shook her head. "We found out who Corbin was: A pro-life murderer that thinks Bayley is carrying his child."
"Bayley had sex with him?" Seth asked.
"Not by choice," Sasha muttered, already feeling bitter tears come back to her eyes.
Seth's grip around Sasha intensified. She placed her hands over his, making him relax his hold a little.
"That bastard," Seth whispered.
"I want to kill him," Sasha said. It was the first time she said it out loud. It didn't feel good to say, but it was more than necessary.
"Not before I do," Seth hissed.
Sasha rolled over to face Seth.
"We could take turns stabbing him until he bleeds out," she suggested.
Seth smirked. "I like that. Never thought I'd hear a pro-lifer describe a death scene."
"Yeah, well, not all pro-lifers are good people, apparently," Sasha sighed.
Seth sighed. "Yeah, and not all pro-choice people are shitheads either."
"You are a shit head, Seth," Sasha chuckled.
"Oh, and saving your ass over and over makes me a shithead, eh?" Seth asked with a chuckle. "Alright, I'll be on my way."
As Seth began rolling out of bed, Sasha pulled him by the arm to stop him.
"I thought I was a shithead?" Seth asked sarcastically.
"Shut up and hold me, shithead." Sasha said, getting a laugh from Seth.
Seth and Sasha laid in silence for a moment, staring at each other. Seth occasionally brushed hair out of Sasha's face, which would make her roll or eyes or giggle softly.
"Your hair looks so strange," Seth said. "It's hazel on top, but then you have purple everywhere else."
Sasha narrowed her eyes. "I have strange hair?"
"No, that's not what I meant..."
"Hmm, if this is your way of getting on my good side, you are not doing so hot, Seth," Sasha taunted playfully.
"Am I usually doing a good job at that?" Seth asked.
Sasha cocked an eyebrow. "Well, saving my life all the time makes up for all the other times you act like a dick."
"When am I a dick?" Seth asked, playfully offended.
"Right now," Sasha stated.
Seth cocked an eyebrow. "How?"
"I've been giving you the signal for an hour and you still haven't made a move," Sasha topped her light flirting with a wink.
Seth grinned. "You have been?"
"You're still talking?" Sasha shot back.
Wasting no more time, Seth pulled Sasha into him and pressed his lips against hers. The surge of electricity Sasha felt made her gasp into the kiss. Seth parted her lips with his tongue, allowing hers to wrestle with his. Sasha tugged on her sweatpants, as Seth's chapped left hand slid up her shirt and cupped her breast.
"Guys?"
Seth and Sasha let out a collected yelp of surprise. Bayley, nervously playing with her hands, interrupted them before anything could escalate.
"Hey, Bayley," Sasha said, trying to pull her sweats back up at discreetly as she could.
"Oh, was I interrupting?" Bayley asked.
"No, you weren't," Sasha said.
"She wasn't?" Seth asked.
Sasha elbowed Seth in the side but gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
"Um, I know this is gonna sound kinda lame," Bayley began. "But... Can I sleep with you guys tonight? I can't really go to sleep alone right now."
"Aww, of course you can, sweetie," Sasha made room for Bayley.
The frightened young woman quickly joined her new friends in bed. She laid between Seth and Sasha on the larger bed, quickly burrowing under the covers.
"Thanks, guys," Bayley said.
"No problem, kid," Seth said.
Bayley rolled to her left side so she didn't lay on her arm with the stitches.
"Braun is a really nice person," Bayley whispered.
"Yeah, he is," Sasha agreed.
There was a brief silence that covered the trio. Seth glanced over Bayley at Sasha. The purple haired woman gave him a wink and giggled silently.
"Corbin isn't the dad," Bayley said. "I swear I was pregnant before he... Anyway, Roman is the father. He has to be."
Sasha placed a gentle hand on Bayley's arm.
"I believe you, Bayley," Sasha reassured. "Corbin deserves to burn in Hell for what he's done."
Bayley nodded. "And he will. Because God makes everything right in the end."
"That's right," Sasha said.
Seth, who admitted long ago to Sasha that he didn't believe in religion, nodded his head also. Even though he didn't believe in a higher power, he did find some comfort when he joined Sasha in prayer sometimes.
"But we're ok now," Sasha said. "We're warm, we have food and water. Roman is on his way to finally find you again."
Bayley giggled. "I can't wait to give him a hug again. I miss him so much."
"He'll be here before you know it, Bayley," Seth added.
