"Simon, what're these- WHOA!"

Marceline falls backwards and drops the binoculars.

"Oh, Marcy," I help her up and retrieve the binoculars, "Don't go poking around my stuff to much alright? There's some complex items that only I can use..."

"What was that? I could see the mountain peaks!"

"They're, um, binoculars."

"Rhinoculers?"

"No, no. They help you see far away."

"Hmm... How far?"

"Uhh... These are pretty jacked up. Probably can only see a mile or two..."

She looks thought fully into the woods. I check the binoculars' lens to make sure nothing cracked.

"How long has it been, Simon? Since we've been traveling?"

"Hmm... About four-five days."

"...Daddy still hasn't come for me."

I perk up at the mention of her father. I could imagine an eccentric baron who viewed people as nothing more than tools. But I'd never asked actually Marcy about him. All I know is he carried away his wife and abandoned Marceline in the midst of rubble where I found her.

"Marcy... Why did your Daddy abandon you?"

As if in response, she curled up into fetal position and fell silent. Hambo was still firmly in her grasp.

"Um, Marcy, I'm sorry... was it sensitive?"

"I don't know..." She moaned, facing away from me, "I want to see him. I want my Mommy... I want to see them again!"

She's gone through a lot of family complications, it seems. I can't fathom as to why her father would toss her aside. Maybe he had a reason like I would, but I would hate myself indefinitely for it. Does he regret it?

"Daddy lives, sniff, far away. I thought I could see him with those."

These? The binoculars? I fancy the thought of looking halfway around the world through these lenses.

"But it's okay."

"Hunh?"

"You're here, Simon."

As night falls, I sit on the grassy hill just outside city perimeter with Marcy's head on my lap. I look up to long for the night sky that seems so foreign now. If only I could see the sunset... or the stars...

"Simon, where did all the stars go?"

"Oh... They were, uh, all scared away with the sun... by the bomb!" I wave my hands for a horror effect.

Marcy smiles ruefully at the clouds, "I was only able to see the stars and the moon... because I could only come out at night."

"Why is that, Marcy?"

"...I don't know. Sunlight only hurts me."

I wonder at the possibilities of what pathogen could possibly render her feeble in the sunlight. But I guess she's not human anyway.

"Simon, can we go into San Francisco tomorrow?"

I look down at her red hued eyes that reflect my stare.

Cupping her face in my bluish hands, I reply, "Of course."