More Sara Groves lyrics, this time from "Loving A Person". Small changes made for conciseness and grammar. Also more of my experiences and thoughts via Columbus.
Loving people just the way they are, it's no small thing
Takes some time to see things through
Sometimes things change, sometimes we're waiting
Hold onto me, I'll hold onto you
Little Rock and Wichita
"I know we haven't been together that long, but it's hard to remember what life was like without each other," Wichita said. "Five years- two in foster care hell, three on the road staying ahead of cops and criminals and then the zombies. I've always kept her safe, and in a lot of ways she's taken even better care of me." She hugged her sister.
Little Rock hugged her back, hard, but then removed herself to arm's length. "Yeah, but things have changed since Columbus. It's not that I don't like him- he's smart, and sweet when you get to know him- but she never would have been interested in him before." Wichita abruptly began to shed tears, but Little Rock returned a firm, scolding gaze. "Admit it: Without the zombie apocalypse, you wouldn't have given him a second glance."
While Wichita was still trying abortively to speak, Stanford interjected, "Perhaps you are the one who made the change." Both looked at him in puzzlement. "Little Rock, you are entering puberty. It is the beginning of physical adulthood, and of interest in romantic partnership. It would be enough to make your sister think of finding a partner herself, and in choosing a partner for what she would value in a lasting relationship rather than a short-term liaison."
Little Rock looked mutely at her sister, who finally squeaked, "Yes... maybe... What I've thought about most... is that I want you to see that a guy can make you happy."
Little Rock embraced her sister again. "I appreciate it... but could you try not to `show' it while I'm in the same room??"
Columbus and Wichita
Wichita wiped tears from her eyes as she listened to her husband's story. "...I almost never tried to fight them, because I knew it wouldn't do any good. But I got very good at running, and hiding, oh, and climbing. I learned to run in a few circles to lose them, then jump the fence. I would run just far enough to be out of sight, and wait as long as I needed to. When I was as sure as I could be that the coast was clear, I would go back over the fence and try to run back inside before I was counted late returning from recess."
"Didn't you ask anyone for help?" Wichita rasped.
"Who was there to ask, and for what? The playground monitor never gave a * except when I hit back. Most of the time I didn't know which kids were after me, so I couldn't report them anyway. My parents cared, and I suppose the teachers cared- probably why I wasn't counted tardy more often than I was- but they were never there to stop it. And the other kids? If they weren't already after me, then they were just more people who stood by and watched. And that's why I avoided people for so long: They drove me away."
Wichita tried to put an arm around him, but he flinched away. "When I spent time with other survivors, before Tal, I usually ended up wanting to scream at them. They almost always say something like, `I can't believe this is happening!' I wanted to tell them, why act surprised? It didn't take a virus to send Nazis after Jews, or Hutus after Tutsis, or people just like you after me."
He finally reciprocated his wife's gestures by taking her hand. "I guess that's another reason I decided I wanted to stay with you. You knew how tough the world can be, zombies or no."
Columbus and Tallahassee
"Come on, doc," Columbus said. "I love this guy, but there's no way his Twinkie fixation can be healthy."
Stanford leaned forward. "Do you honestly want my opinion? Here it is: Whatever else one may say, his `obsession' kept him alive." Leaning back, he continued in a scholarly tone, "Virtually every survivor has a `quest', usually a place to reach or a person to find. That gives them something to live and fight for- until the quest is fulfilled."
Columbus thought instantly of what had almost been Wichita's parting words to him: "I hope you find who you're looking for. And don't let go when you do."
"But the search for the last Twinkie is necessarily open-ended. When he can't find it one place, he can always move on to search elsewhere. No failure- and for that matter no success- is necessarily final. I suspect that, on some level, he has always known this."
Tal shrugged. "Could be. I'm not the doc."
Columbus's eyes narrowed. "Now it makes sense!" he exclaimed. "I was afraid you were going to try to kill me when I blasted that box of Twinkies. I thought you were either going to cry or start eating what was left of them anyway. But you didn't even lick your fingers! And it was all because you never cared as much about finding the Twinkies as you did about looking for them!"
Tal rebutted, "You want to see how hard I can punch?"
