perimeter checks."
"Do it." Avery sounded very concerned. "I worry about you so much, Emma. You're out there all on your own. I wish you'd come with us. We wouldn't mind."
"I know you wouldn't, Avery." Emma smiled at her friend's kindness. "I'm just not ready. I'm still thinking about it."
"You've been thinking for four years, Emma."
She snorted. "Yeah, you've got me there."
"I heard that Outpost Nine is sending more patrols out beyond the wire. Like way beyond," she added. "Chloe said she saw some Enhancements in the market near New Town."
"No way!" Emma had never laid eyes on any of the so-called Enhancements. They were cyborg soldiers created during the Last War who had proven far more resilient than their makers had intended. They had outlived all those humans and many more, and had all but taken over the entire state of Texas. Or, rather, what was left of Texas. "I wonder why they're patrolling so far out, Avery."
"Mom and Dad think they're looking for women. There are some rumors about infertility in the Outposts."
"Really? Maybe they're not so unlike us then." After the nuclear fallout, the biological agents, and the zombies, so few humans had survived. Most of the males had been rendered infertile by the biological weapons used to blanket cities and quell the virus. Human children like Emma and Avery were a rarity indeed, especially three generations down the line. Folks on the Chain had told her stories of new medical experiments to increase human numbers, but those tales were as much myth and legend as they were truth.
"Emma, just be careful. You're my friend, and I love you. I want you to be safe."
"I will be. I promise."
"Okay. Look," Avery sighed, "I've got to run. Rotten toenails beckon. I'll check in with you soon. Remember what I said about the zombies. They could be headed your way."
"They're going to catch a wad of lead if they do." Her hand drifted to the backpack and weapons strapped to her back. She never left the house without enough firepower to put down a small army.
Avery laughed. "I don't doubt it. All right. I'll catch you later, Emma."
"Later, Avery."
The radio went dead, and Emma experienced a sinking sadness. Being alone 24/7 was finally starting to wear on her. After her father's death, Emma had dug deep and found the resolve to continue on with her life. She had kept the little hobby farm running and made products for barter. She had survived and done well.
But it wasn’t enough.
She had turned twenty-one two months earlier and had celebrated totally alone with some homemade shortbread cookies eaten by candlelight. Oh sure, there had been radio blasts from her friends along the Chain, but it wasn't the same. Voices were great, but they were no substitute for the flesh and blood warmth of another person. Emma craved the touch of another human. She wanted all the things her parents had enjoyed. She wanted love and sex and friendship and support.
Things she was never going to find if she stayed on the farm.
At some point, she was going to have to take a step outside that fence and find a new life. She had even considered going to the New Town market or Borden's Crossing to find a man willing to join her out here and start a life. Arranged marriages were fairly common these days, and no one would have thought ill of her for choosing that route to find her life partner. Only a ridiculous sense of romanticism had stopped her. Emma wanted to fall in love, wanted to feel passion and excitement. She wanted to be swept off her feet and experience the kind of romance she read about in her favorite books.
For now, at least, she wasn't willing to give up the fantasy. Soon enough, reality would force her hand but, for the moment, she intended to believe that someday the man of her dreams would waltz right up to that fence and steal her away from the hell of an outlands existence. That optimism was all that helped maintain her sanity. It had to get better. It just had to, and if
"Do it." Avery sounded very concerned. "I worry about you so much, Emma. You're out there all on your own. I wish you'd come with us. We wouldn't mind."
"I know you wouldn't, Avery." Emma smiled at her friend's kindness. "I'm just not ready. I'm still thinking about it."
"You've been thinking for four years, Emma."
She snorted. "Yeah, you've got me there."
"I heard that Outpost Nine is sending more patrols out beyond the wire. Like way beyond," she added. "Chloe said she saw some Enhancements in the market near New Town."
"No way!" Emma had never laid eyes on any of the so-called Enhancements. They were cyborg soldiers created during the Last War who had proven far more resilient than their makers had intended. They had outlived all those humans and many more, and had all but taken over the entire state of Texas. Or, rather, what was left of Texas. "I wonder why they're patrolling so far out, Avery."
"Mom and Dad think they're looking for women. There are some rumors about infertility in the Outposts."
"Really? Maybe they're not so unlike us then." After the nuclear fallout, the biological agents, and the zombies, so few humans had survived. Most of the males had been rendered infertile by the biological weapons used to blanket cities and quell the virus. Human children like Emma and Avery were a rarity indeed, especially three generations down the line. Folks on the Chain had told her stories of new medical experiments to increase human numbers, but those tales were as much myth and legend as they were truth.
"Emma, just be careful. You're my friend, and I love you. I want you to be safe."
"I will be. I promise."
"Okay. Look," Avery sighed, "I've got to run. Rotten toenails beckon. I'll check in with you soon. Remember what I said about the zombies. They could be headed your way."
"They're going to catch a wad of lead if they do." Her hand drifted to the backpack and weapons strapped to her back. She never left the house without enough firepower to put down a small army.
Avery laughed. "I don't doubt it. All right. I'll catch you later, Emma."
"Later, Avery."
The radio went dead, and Emma experienced a sinking sadness. Being alone 24/7 was finally starting to wear on her. After her father's death, Emma had dug deep and found the resolve to continue on with her life. She had kept the little hobby farm running and made products for barter. She had survived and done well.
But it wasn’t enough.
She had turned twenty-one two months earlier and had celebrated totally alone with some homemade shortbread cookies eaten by candlelight. Oh sure, there had been radio blasts from her friends along the Chain, but it wasn't the same. Voices were great, but they were no substitute for the flesh and blood warmth of another person. Emma craved the touch of another human. She wanted all the things her parents had enjoyed. She wanted love and sex and friendship and support.
Things she was never going to find if she stayed on the farm.
At some point, she was going to have to take a step outside that fence and find a new life. She had even considered going to the New Town market or Borden's Crossing to find a man willing to join her out here and start a life. Arranged marriages were fairly common these days, and no one would have thought ill of her for choosing that route to find her life partner. Only a ridiculous sense of romanticism had stopped her. Emma wanted to fall in love, wanted to feel passion and excitement. She wanted to be swept off her feet and experience the kind of romance she read about in her favorite books.
For now, at least, she wasn't willing to give up the fantasy. Soon enough, reality would force her hand but, for the moment, she intended to believe that someday the man of her dreams would waltz right up to that fence and steal her away from the hell of an outlands existence. That optimism was all that helped maintain her sanity. It had to get better. It just had to, and if
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