Disclaimer: This story is not for profit. Merely fun.
A/N: Thank-you to the few who have taken the time to review. It's always nice for a writer to hear their work is appreciated.
Also, I know the quotes at the beginning of each chapter have so far been a hit, but I have to say I may not always include one. It depends on whether I find one that suits the chapter or not.
This is one of those chapters.
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Months came and went. She liked to pass the time, endless time it seemed, imagining painting the drab walls bright yellows, mauve's, purples, blues. Anything to keep the light inside.
Flowers sprouted out of the cracks in the walls, pushed up to the invisible sun pass the ever present sand, dirt, grim, and pain and solitude. Grass grew to tickle her feet, sweet clovers to tickle her nose, buttercups to stain the underside of her now too sharp, too-starvation-prominent chin.
She liked to picture the yin-yang her grandfather had once shown her when she was a little girl, one lazy Sunday afternoon. It had been breathtaking in her mind; light and dark, two complete opposites co-existing. Everything could co-exist. She was sure of it.
Although there were times, times when Ruby came to clumsily shove pitifully tiny morsels of spoiled food under the door, times when men trapped in the bodies of monsters came to laugh at her, times when her resolve cracked and she imagined no flowers, no sun, no gentle tickles, but instead darkness, and a lonely void and all of this but nothing at the same time for all eternity; times when she liked to imagine the light edging over the dark, crushing it beneath it's silver-lined feet.
This was silly, of course, for here in the desert there only ever seemed to be light, harsh and unyielding. And the monsters, they frolic both day and night. Still, she'd watch in fascination, her eyes growing wide as her mind's eye played out a victory for the Light and the Good.
Until He came.
She had been sitting there in the corner where she liked to imagine the stream (the same one behind her childhood home) trickled by, while wild strawberries grew among. Behind her eyelids they burned a vivid red, just as red as the blood that flowed from her various and accumulating cuts, and from between her legs once a month (always once a month-Life. Her only calender in this place). She could smell them, sweet yet tart at the same time, when He entered.
The stink of danger invaded her senses.
"I'm here to talk to you, girly." His voice was deep and cold; she pictured the icy snow cap of some far away jagged and treacherous mountain peak. It was completely absurd in the circumstance.
He said his name was Jupiter, a name that tasted thick and sour and sweet on her tongue, like sucking on the end of a daisy stem. He told her to listen, and to listen good. She was in a unique position, and she shouldn't go about spoiling it with her whining. Laura listened good.
"Now," Jupiter continued with the air of a prepared speech. "M'boy Lizard's mighty fond of you. He's fought hard to keep you 'ere, and I suggest if you got any brains at all you get this, and get it fast. We ain't gonna hurt you. But you gotta help us if we help you."
Laura listened to the strange man before her with growing disquietude. Dressed in a simple attire, Jupiter looked almost normal except for the fact that he was exceptionally hairy, a long beard among the most noticeable of characteristics. She noticed that his shirt hung awkwardly against his body and she wondered, with a small shiver of terror, what was responsible for it. That feeling of terror amplified as Jupiter continued with his explanation of what was expected of her both short term and long term.
"Y-you, what?" Laura asked.
"You deaf, girl?" Jupiter said, lip lifting in a snarl.
"I heard you!" The girl snapped.
Jupiter grinned in response, "It's fair, ain't it? You live and in turn, so does this family."
"But..."
"The boy ain't touched you yet?"
Laura's faint blush was all the answer Jupiter needed. His booming, wild laugh (so at odds with his voice) filled the room until Laura was sure she would hear it linger long after he left.
"Lizard's hardly a boy anymore," Jupiter continued once he had calmed down. "Gotta be fair." He gave Laura a stern look. "You and I at an understanding?"
The girl gave a stiff nod and Jupiter left with a growl of agreement. Laura was left to ponder just what being a part of The Family entailed.
***** ****** *****
Laura had been preparing herself for yet another day of endless boredom in the bedroom when the door was kicked in. The intensity and anger behind the force hinted at the cause. In Lizard stalked, his face set in the perpetual pissy scowl he never seemed without. He raked his eyes over her briefly, before telling her to follow him. Laura did so without a second thought. After a few months of dealing with the man's temper, Laura had decided (quickly) that it was better and easier to simply do as Lizard asked, instead of fighting and risking a stinging slap or a none too gentle kick to the ribs.
He stopped her on the porch, the girl blinking at the sudden intrusion of bright sunlight, "You understood Papa?" He gave her a hard shake as though to emphasize his words.
Laura assured him she did, and before she could truly comprehend her new position, Ruby had taken her brother's place at Laura's side. The smaller girl offered Laura a grin and tugged on her hand to signal that she should follow.
The two girls wandered far, farther than Lizard had yet taken Laura. Ruby proved to be good company. She had quite the collection of small treasures from her scavenging of the wreaks left behind by the more malicious members of her family. Best of all, the girl's magpie tendencies lent itself to a small but varied collection of clothes as well. Laura happily exchanged her soiled nightgown for the more comfortable and practical cover of a deep brown house dress. Thankfully the dress had capped sleeves and hung far enough down her legs that her skin was given some reprieve from the sun.
Dressed to impress now, Ruby also showed Laura the site of Gas Haven, where Fred (whose name she later learned from Cyst, one of the older and wiser of the Family) lived and did his part to help the Family. The two peered down at the small station from a good distance, aided by the pair of binoculars Goggle, a curious creature, never went without. In a moment of distinct cruelty, Goggle pointed out the road where travellers met their fate. He smiled with relish at Laura's pained look.
Proving sweeter than Goggle was the woman formerly known as Betty Stuart, now titled Big Mama. She was a local whore who had taken up with Jupiter years before, after her own family had petered out. Although she came from stock also affected by the radioactive fallout, the only visible deformity Mama had was the fact that her head was larger than most and shockingly bald. The woman welcomed Laura into her house (shared with Jupiter and one they all called Big Brain) with surprisingly open and warm arms. Mama had near endless questions for the outsider girl, although Laura was able to detect the same natural distrust in her voice that Jupiter had reserved for his questioning. It was only halfway through her own explanation of her old life that Laura realized that Mama had been testing her. Trying the girl for any hints of rebellion, any sign of body language that would spell out trouble for The Family. Warm and comforting as the older woman proved to be, Laura understood that, as Jupiter had stated, the Family came first. And if Laura was to be a part of this family, as it surely seemed, she would have to prove herself ten times over.
Laura found herself concluding the day listening in mingled shock and interest to Big Brain and Cyst, cousins to Jupiter and half-brother's themselves due to a wandering father, as they explained life as it existed for them. Big Brain, confined to his chair day in and day out due to a grotesquely over sized cranium, repeated over and over and over and over how the bombs had rained down upon his grandfather and his family, how they had refused to give up their lives and instead took refuge in the near-by mines.
Cyst, with his shockingly soft voice and easy grasp of the English language, filled in the gaps if Big Brain became too caught up in his misery to continue in a string of consistency. Cyst himself was also confined to the Test Village, although afforded some mobility. The neck brace attached to his body caused him to move in stiff, painful movements. It was with jerky, animation that Cyst continued explaining the Family to Laura, long after Big Brain had lapsed into a silent anger and Ruby had curled herself up next to Laura's side. On a primal level, Laura was beginning to understand the Family's motives and characteristics; she did not condone it, but it would be in her best interest to attempt to forgive them, these people who were forgiving her for her upside down, outsider ways.
This was how Lizard came upon the girl later in the evening. He had traipsed in, hands and upper body bloodied , to converse briefly with Jupiter and had cast Laura a heated glance. The dim-witted Pluto, second oldest of the four children born to Jupe and Mama, took a great interest in Laura's hair. He sat down heavily, scaring Ruby from her own refuge against Laura's side, to reach out with one thick finger and wrap a strand of dark brown hair around and around. Laura kept her disgust below her skin. It was with some feeling of relief that Lizard appeared, already playing the part of saviour in her mind, to kick Pluto away.
Laura made herself scarce at this point, taking Ruby with her out back into the desert. The cooling night air caused chills to rise on her skin, but could only be half attributed to the feeling of ill contempt and disgust that coiled in her belly. She wasn't impervious to the Family's chosen method of attaining their sustenance. She was well aware of the cannibalism that took place, although thankfully she had yet to truly witness it beyond the sometimes blood-stained limbs of Lizard or other members of the clan.
Instead, she walked with Ruby, whom it seemed also looked upon this one characteristic of the Family with disdain. The pair, mismatched in experience as in looks, wandered until night fell black and Lizard appeared to take them back to the Village.
The trio passed the door to Jupe's house and Mama's voice floated to their ears, "He's right gone on her."
Giggles followed them as Lizard tightened his grasp on Laura, pushing Ruby to the side with one knee.
As tired as Laura found herself to be that night, she envied Lizard for his ability to drop off to sleep so easily. The girl found herself awake with a mind fumbling with the images of sand broken bodies blue eyes metal raining from the sky.
