Eric stood at the top of a skyscraper, staring out at all of Chicago, waiting for his bride to arrive. He had met his soon-to-be wife when she and her brother joined the faction. For as much as he and her brother hated one another, he was head over heels in love with her. The wind lightly blew in the late summer season, but it felt nice. The sun sat heavy in the sky, casting a warm golden glow across everything on the rooftop.

Leaders from each faction sat around him, all waiting for Victoria's arrival. Eric nervously stuck his hands in his pockets, twiddling his fingers. He was wearing a black, velvet-trimmed suit that had been hand created for him. It was a strange feeling to be dressed so fancy. Both Eric and Victoria lived in their training uniforms or otherwise ripped and baggy clothes. His dress shoes were the most uncomfortable, having never been worn. He felt trapped in his own concrete kingdom. Still, he managed to strap a gun and a knife to the inside of his suit without anyone knowing.

Just then the metal door that opened to the roof, unlocked. It creaked open and a line of men, dressed in black walked through. As they came through the door they stepped to the side, waiting. Slowly Victoria came out. When Eric saw her, he did his best to hold back. He wanted to run to her, scoop her up in his arms, and spin her around. She was breathtaking in her black wedding dress. A long train of fabric followed behind her off the strapless gown she was wearing. Her hair had been pinned up in a braided crown and her makeup was smokey and dark. She was flawless. Her small shaking hands grasped a black rose bouquet. Three more men followed behind her and stepped to the other side of the aisle.

Victoria gradually moved towards her husband, trembling like a leaf. Each step she took she worried she would fall. She wasn't used to wearing high heeled shoes as she hardly ever wore anything besides her combat boots or sneakers. The air seemed so quiet as they both felt all eyes on them. Victoria stepped up to where Eric was and he noticed a tear rolling down her cheek. He wiped it away with his thumb and she smiled at him, pressing her face into his rough hand. She was so nervous.

"You're so beautiful." He whispered in her ear, making her smile and blush. She mouthed, 'I Love You' to him. The man officiating their ceremony cleared his throat, preparing to begin. As he spoke Vic couldn't help but think how this was not the wedding she wanted. She would have preferred her wedding to take place around her brother and their friends, in some abandoned lot. Surrounded by music and happy people, a few drinks and a couple drags…

Instead, they were top officers. Which meant their lives had a certain order to them. If they were getting married it had to be done with those they reported to, along with the rest of the faction leaders. It meant a lot of armed guards and not a lot of privacy. They had to dress formally and have a formal ceremony. They would sign their documents before they left on their honeymoon weekend and it would all be made official and public by Monday.

"We are gathered here today—" Victoria looked up at Eric, almost reading his mind. She knew he didn't want a ceremony like this, either. Eric was a private man and he didn't celebrate much. She knew he would have preferred a small ceremony, no more than eight to ten people and a private celebration. They were asked a question and both snapped back to the ceremony. They recited the lines they had to memorize and finally got to the rings.

Eric pulled them from his pocket, handing his to Vic. Eric first slipped a beautiful black diamond ring onto Victoria's finger. On the dark metal band were blue and white sapphires spun around it, adding to the sparkle-factor. Victoria stared at the ring in shock, having seen it for the first time. Eric had saved most of the money he ever came into contact with. He had enough to craft a ring with a shop in the city. Jeanine had been present for the decision, but Eric had funded and designed all of it. Vic then slid Eric's ring on. It was a black tungsten ring with a band of tiny black, white and blue diamonds wrapped around it. The colors each represented the faction they were in and the factions they were from.

They wrapped the ceremony up with the formal kiss of the bride and a soft applause from the audience. Vic grabbed Eric's hand, holding her black roses in the other. They quickly moved off the platform and over to the lawyer who was pulling out their marriage license. They were each handed a pen and quickly signed. Jeanine came up, ushering them down the stairs. Jeanine had them both well trained. For both of them being such dominant personalities, they were entirely submissive to her. Victoria the most. Eric had always been someone Jeanine naturally liked. When Victoria came along, she had a harder time with Jeanine accepting her.

Everyone filed down the stairs and they came out to the sidewalk. Eric's car had been parked right in front of the door and one of Jeanine's men was standing beside the car, holding a bottle of champagne. The car had been packed with all their camping things and enough food for the weekend. Chicago sat in the backseat, his head sticking out of the half-opened window. Jeanine handed Eric his keys.

"Take three days off, and I will see you when you return. The GPS has been set the special location. It's off the grid, so enjoy. We won't be able to reach you out there." She turned away from them, getting in her own car. Her group of bodyguards surrounding her. The cars left and finally, they were alone. Eric lifted his new bride into his arms and kissed her, setting her back down onto the sidewalk.

"Are you ready to go on our honeymoon, Mrs. Coulter?" Eric teased her, making her blush again. She bit her bottom lip, giving him another kiss and getting in the passenger seat. When she got in the car, she saw a change of clothes for them both. She was relieved when she saw her oversized black hoodie and her sweatpants. She peeled out of her heels first before wrangling her body out of her dress in the car. When Eric got in the car, she was half naked. They both paused as he cracked a smile closing the door. She tossed his clothes at him and continued wrangling herself out of the miles and miles of fabric.

"Fuck, yes!" He quickly threw himself into the back hatch of the car, slipping out of his suit. He threw on his long-sleeved shirt and ripped jeans, kicking on his black sneakers. When he got back into the front seat and started the car, she was finally out of the dress. She quickly pulled on her hoodie first, getting herself situated and dressed the rest of the way.

"Ready, Doll?'

"Yes." She happily sighed as he put the car into drive. She turned on some soft music and rested back in her seat. She could fall asleep in this car. Eric sped through the city, following the GPS directions the car gave them. Eric noticed it was going to a certain longitude latitude, not a named place. Eric wondered if this was the deep woods and mountains that existed far within the walls. The plan had been to create a community there too, but nothing ever came of it. There were also rumors that people who had tried to run away from the factions lived out there.

Jeanine owned a property out there that had a cozy cabin with mountain views. Eric assumed that was where the GPS was taking, but he wasn't sure. Eric was her best officer, but she still treated him like a dog sometimes. He half expected a cabin and half expected a campground outside. He was fine with either. He was with the only person who mattered to him.

Eric looked over at Vic who was getting comfortable with a blanket she grabbed from the backseat. She had taken her makeup off and her dress was carelessly thrown in the back hatch. She was back to looking like her normal, makeup-less tattooed self. He loved her so much. Before he had met her, he was an angry and bitter person. He was cold and he hadn't cared about anyone ever. When they met it was like sparks flew and instantly, love at first sight. She loved him for him and as a result it made him better.

"I love you." He whispered to her, taking her hand and giving it a kiss. He felt her lean against him, kissing his neck softly. It made the hair on his back stand up. They were on the edge of the city roads now. Small homes and businesses lined the edges. The small white concrete homes reminded her of where she grew up. Her family's home was an identical white concrete square, just like the others around it. Except, inside it was very different. While none of the homes were particularly nice some homes tried to bring in as much light as possible. In her house bad things tended to happen and all the curtains were always drawn. She remembered a time she opened one of the curtains and her father struck her for it.

"You, okay?"

"Huh?" She blinked a couple times, looking over at Eric. Her head had gone to a dark place and he had noticed. She rubbed her eyes and realized they still stung from all the makeup that had been applied to them. She nodded looking back at him.

"I'm fine." Eric said nothing, knowing that she was lying to him. He knew when she was getting too deep in her head. They both had trauma, hers was just easier to notice when it was happening.

Eric turned down their first dirt road heading down it for a very long time. They took three more turns before they were on the final stretch of road. The sun had long set before they arrived at their destination, which happened to be the cabin. Eric was pleasantly surprised. It sat on a small hill, looking down at a lake with a gentle creek. Out in the distance you could see mountains and so many stars.

A fire crackled away, waiting upon their arrival. A large pile of firewood sat near a tree, all of it under a tightly wrapped tarp. It was predicted to rain tomorrow and they had prepared. Eric pulled the car as close as he could to the cabin door. All three of them hopped out of the car heading straight inside the cabin.

It was a very small cabin that only had a loft and a small bathroom. There was a tiny kitchen with a fridge, fully stocked with enough food for the weekend. There was a living room with a ladder in the corner, taking you up to the loft. Behind the ladder was the bathroom door. In the living room was a fireplace that was already crackling away. Victoria turned on the kitchen light and pulled out some food. She was starving.

"I'll grill theses steaks." Eric took two steaks wrapped in wax paper out of the fridge. He grabbed the bag of charcoal and the lighter and went to start the grill outside. Chicago followed him, sniffing around in the trees.

Victoria devoured half a container of strawberries before cleaning up her mess in the kitchen and going to take a shower in the one-person shower. Vic grabbed the things she needed out of her bag and walked into the compact bathroom. Right beside the door was the single sink vanity, across from the vanity was the toilet and built into the wall was a standing shower. Victoria turned on the hot water and the bathroom steamed up in less than five minutes.

In fifteen minutes, Eric was finished cooking dinner and Victoria had just come out of the bathroom. She smelled like lavender and her hair felt so soft. Eric looked at her for a moment, admiring her in one of his sleep shirts. She walked over and took a seat at the dining table. Eric served her a piece of corn and a piece of steak. Vic got up and poured the bottle of wine sitting on the counter. He pulled biscuits from the pantry cabinet and the salt and pepper. They both sat at the table and quickly dug into their luxury honeymoon meal.

"Cheers." They jinxed one another, clinking their plastic cups together. After they finished dinner, they poured the rest of the wine into their cups. Victoria leaned up, burping loudly and quickly pressing her hand over her mouth. She looked at her husband shocked.

"That hurt." She remarked, rubbing at her throat. Just then Eric burped just as loudly. He did not look shocked, to say the least. Vic sat there staring at him for a moment before breaking down laughing. They each burped the bubbles out, a couple more times. Finally, it was over and they were feeling a little buzzed.

"Time for tattoos?" Victoria eagerly asked, sitting up and leaning towards her husband. He smiled and got up to pull his gun from the special travel bag. They moved over to the couch, setting some towels down on the green upholstery. Eric placed a needle on the gun and got his ink out to start her tattoo first. They decided once they got married that they would tattoo a of a sun and a moon onto them. They were getting them behind their left ears. It would be a somewhat painful spot, but the tattoo would be fairly quick. Hers was a thin and hollow circle with triangle shaped rays framed around its edge. Eric's was no more complex, being just a hollow crescent moon shape.

Eric pressed the needle up against the surface of her skin, turning it on. Instantly, she felt a warm and pleasant sensation wash over her. To Victoria, there was a high associated with getting tattoos. She and Eric were both addicted to the feeling, which was why they had so many. Both of them had tattoos covering them from their neck to their fingers and toes.

As he continued dragging the needle across her skin, she began bleeding. Yet, she didn't move a muscle. He admired her and how unbothered she acted. The sting of the tattoo needle wasn't anything to her. After all, she had been shot in the shoulder before. He watched a small drop of blood pool behind her ear before sliding down her jawline. It hung to the bottom of her chin before splashing into the towel underneath her. He finished drawing the last ray of her sun, turning off the gun. He gathered her hair into one hand, moving it to the side and placed a cold, wet wash rag rub against her bloodied and tender skin.

She rolled onto her side, looking up at him. He looked down at her while continuing to dab the wet rag behind her ear a couple more times. He rinsed it in the small and then wrung the wet rag over her skin. All while creating a small wet spot on the towels. He released her hair from his hand as she sat up.

She gently ran her fingers over her new masterpiece. The skin behind her ear was raised and stung to the touch. She pulled her hand away and looked down at her fingers. They still had blood on them. She carelessly wiped them clean on the bottom of her shirt. She walked to the bathroom and looked at her newest addition in the mirror. It was perfect.

She walked back to the couch and began changing out her supplies, while Eric lied down on the couch. She knew Eric's tattoo would be the easiest and quickest. Victoria had been an artist since she was eight. She could draw anything.

She set in with the needle, dipping it in ink. She turned it on, slowly placing it behind his ear. Quickly the blood began to spill down his face, dripping off his lips and into the towels. Just like that, she turned the needle off. She was done.

She took a new rag, dipping it in fresh water and wiping away the blood. Before she could get all the blood he sat up, taking the rag from her. He dragged the terry-cloth material across the surface of his skin. An effective and painful method for getting the blood in one wipe. He went to the bathroom, coming out with a smile spread across his face.

"I love it."

"Me, too!"

Eric came over, wrapping her up in his arms. They stood in the living room hugging for a moment before they let go. Eric looked around the cabin. They had made a bit of a mess.

"We need to clean up…"

"What if, we clean up and then go watch stars?" It sounded like a good plan to him. They quickly got to work disposing of their trash and cleaning up their small blood bath. Victoria finished cleaning up the living room first and went to grab a blanket to wrap up in. When she came back down from the loft Eric was ready to go, putting on a hoodie.

They walked out of the cabin and sat by the outdoor fire that was still roaring. They sat in a hammock tied between two thin trees that was next to the fire. Gently Eric swinged them side to side in the little hammock as they looked up into the night sky. There were so many stars in the sky, once you got away from the lights. Victoria snuggled up on her new husband, resting her head on his chest. They watched the sky, watching for shooting stars.

"Before, civilization fell apart… There used to be satellites all over the night sky. They looked like tiny lights moving in a straight line. You can see one every now and then, but not many are left."

"What happened to them?"

"They fell apart over time and turned into space junk." They were quiet. She tried to imagine a night sky covered in satellites, but she had never seen one. Eric had seen two in his entire life. Once when he was small and once when he was a teenager.

"Eric?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think we'll ever get out of here?" Vic spoke barely above a whisper. Eric looked down at her, caught off guard. He got nervous talking about those things outside of the house. He looked back up at the sky. He was thinking about his answer.

"Soon." Was the only thing he said. Victoria was quiet after that. She didn't know how soon, she didn't know if he meant tonight or a year from now. She was just as nervous talking about leaving as he was. To betray their faction and Jeanine would mean they would risk their lives. Jeanine would kill them both. The thought made Victoria's blood run cold. They stared back up at the sky for a little longer before they saw two shooting stars trailing one another. Eric looked down at her, thinking how perfect she was... She had devoted her everything to him and there was no one he trusted more. And despite being so small, she could take a lot of shit. She also knew how to clear a room in a matter of second. With or without a firearm. She yawned closing her eyes and hugging her arms around him. She could fall asleep laying in the hammock next to the fire, and she did. He carried her up the ladder, climbing with one free hand up the side rail. He laid her in bed and she woke up.

Chicago stood at the bottom, looking up at where they had disappeared. After a couple minutes the dog realized she wasn't coming down and he began to cry. It didn't take him long to figure out how to climb the ladder himself. Belgian Malinois had a tendency to do excessive shit like that. Chicago was too smart for his own good sometimes. Victoria woke up as he pulled the covers over her.

"Be right back, doll. I have to put out the fire." He quickly rushed outside, spraying it down with the hose. He locked everything up, pulling the wooden covers over the windows and locking them from inside. He was paranoid every time he slept outside of his apartment. He put out the fire in the fireplace and turned off all of the lights. He crawled back up to the loft and found her laying naked on the bed.

"You are beautiful."

"So are you." She pulled his shirt off and ran her hands up and down his 6-pack. Their jobs kept them fit. Plus, every time one of them got pissed off they worked out for two to three hours… Eric, no matter how much he had changed, was still a hot head. He worked out the most compared to anyone on the planet.

They lied together through the night, bodies intertwined under the thick blankets. It wasn't until early in the morning that they were finished. Victoria had passed out first and Eric was close behind. He lied there barely awake, running his hand through her hair. He had never been with a woman so amazing, before her.

He couldn't wait to get them both out of the walls… He had heard a rumor from the underground society about a community in Seattle, Washington. It was the biggest settlement that had a democratic government. The remaining members of the United States government, military and first-responders worked and lived there. The legal system had since been revised to finally fit current conditions. Same with health care and public protection.

Eric had been sneaking out to watch satellite tv in a section of the underground. It was always dangerous for him to go, but he wanted to know about the rest of the world. Someone had managed to set up a far-reaching satellite, picking up a local Washington news station. Something they didn't have anywhere in Chicago. The reason being that there was no freedom of speech. Jeanine and her disciples controlled was the community heard and read.

More than anything he wanted to have strong house and raise a strong family. He wanted to be able to choose a profession and hobbies rather than being told what to do. Washington was his only hope of keeping his children and having a true family. Eric had been on his own for a long time. When he met Vic everything got better. Now he had a reason to risk it all and escape. He knew if he made the right plan and was able to convince her brother, it would make the plan possible. In addition, he knew their mother was alive somewhere in the underground.

She moved in his arms and he sat still, not wanting to wake her. She settled back and he felt her squeeze his thumb. He kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes. Neither of them had ever felt more content.