{"id":723,"date":"2011-09-30T00:00:27","date_gmt":"2011-09-30T04:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=723"},"modified":"2011-09-19T16:40:32","modified_gmt":"2011-09-19T20:40:32","slug":"day-15-chapter-10-marin-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=723","title":{"rendered":"Day 15 – Chapter 10 – Marin – 11"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom came back to our cubby after dinner that evening bare-chested with damp hair, face ruddy with sunburn.\u00a0 He smiled faintly at me as I looked up copying over a list of books we\u2019d salvaged from the library, and I smiled back.\u00a0 \u201cClean?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He nodded, shuffling over to the mattress and sinking down next to me.\u00a0 Most of the bruises on his chest had faded to sickly brown and yellow, but a few were still dark at the center, deep and painful-looking.\u00a0 \u201cCold, but clean.\u00a0 I think I just made the bath house a bigger priority than previously anticipated.\u201d\u00a0 He reached for the blanket that was half underneath me, tugging on it pitifully until I grinned and moved over.\u00a0 He pulled the blanket around his shoulders with a slight shiver.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019re you working on?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cBook inventory.\u201d\u00a0 I slid my pencil through the clipboard\u2019s clip and smiled at him, setting it aside.\u00a0 \u201cBut it\u2019s nothing that can\u2019t wait until another night.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom grunted as I eased closer to lean against his shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cThere a lot of books left to pull out of there?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAnother four of five days\u2019 worth of work, I think.\u00a0 But we\u2019ve got a lot of it out, which is good.\u00a0 Using all of the cars to store them was a good idea; I\u2019m glad you thought of it.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He shook his head a little.\u00a0 \u201cNone of them seem to be working, god only knows why.\u00a0 Might as well get some<\/em> use out of them, right?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Davon had cursed a little bit about that when he tried to get one of the engines started the other day.\u00a0 He tried almost half of the cars left in the lots and found that he couldn\u2019t get any of their engines to turn over\u2014that came in the wake of the last of the generators crapping out.\u00a0 The flatbed was still working, but we\u2019d all been eying it warily ever since, wondering when it, too, would give out on us, just like everything else.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cRight,\u201d I agreed, sliding my arm around his waist.\u00a0 He smiled at me and brushed some hair out of my face.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019d you and J.T. wander off and talk about earlier?\u00a0 He okay?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I hesitated for a bare moment before I nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, he\u2019s all right.\u00a0 He\u2019s\u2026less worried about you than he was before, which I think is probably a pretty good thing.\u201d\u00a0 I grinned up at him and gave him a slight squeeze, which he answered by putting an arm around my shoulders.\u00a0 Just ask, Marin.\u00a0 It\u2019s as good of an opportunity as you\u2019re going to get.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cHe did mention something, though.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cOh?\u201d\u00a0 Thom arched a brow, stretching his legs a little and not quite looking at me.\u00a0 \u201cAnd what did my brother from another mother see fit to mention about me that\u2019s got you bothered enough to mention it?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Either he\u2019s in a good mood, or he\u2019s being flip to hide the fact that he\u2019s <\/em>not in a good mood.<\/em>\u00a0 I exhaled silently.\u00a0 Too late now, anyway.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cHe said Kira wrote you a letter before\u2026things happened.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t think you ever read it.\u00a0 Did you?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom stiffened a little, looking away, but didn\u2019t recoil.\u00a0 His arm tightened around me instead, fingers digging into my shoulder almost painfully for a moment before he realized it and loosened his grip.\u00a0 \u201cSorry,\u201d he murmured in apology, then fell silent again.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I rested my head against his jaw.\u00a0 \u201cAre you okay?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He shook his head slightly.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve just been trying so hard not to think about it.\u00a0 That\u2019s the one that really hurts, you know?\u00a0 She\u2019s\u2026she was my best friend, the closest person I had in the family, even if I did spent about half the time teasing the shit out of her.\u201d\u00a0 Thom rested his head against mine, eyes bright with gathering tears.\u00a0 I reached up and ran my fingers through his hair and he sighed.\u00a0 \u201cShe\u2019s gone like the rest of them.\u00a0 Everyone who wasn\u2019t here with us when it happened\u2026they\u2019re just gone<\/em>.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMaybe not,\u201d I whispered.\u00a0 \u201cYou never know.\u00a0 There\u2019s no way we can, not until we go looking ourselves, or other people come looking.\u00a0 We can\u2019t<\/em> know.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He looked at me for a moment, eyes brimming.\u00a0 \u201cYou really believe that?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My thumb brushed against his cheek, catching a tear that escaped from his eye and erasing it.\u00a0 \u201cI have to, Thom.\u00a0 There\u2019s more than just us out there.\u00a0 There has to be.\u201d\u00a0 I offered him a brave smile.\u00a0 \u201cWe can\u2019t lose hope.\u201d\u00a0 There has to be more than just out there.\u00a0 There <\/em>has to be.\u00a0 Nothing makes sense if we\u2019re the only people on the planet left alive.\u00a0 That\u2019s just not even possible.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cRight?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom was quiet for so long I thought he wasn\u2019t going to answer, or that he was trying to find a way to tell me I was wrong without shattering us both.\u00a0 Finally, his head just dipped and he nodded slightly, staring at our knees.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cYeah,\u201d he whispered.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, you\u2019re right.\u00a0 You\u2019re right.\u00a0 We can\u2019t possibly be alone.\u201d\u00a0 He rested his forehead in the crook between my jaw and shoulder, against my neck.\u00a0 \u201cDo you think she\u2019s maybe alive?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI hope so,\u201d I whispered.\u00a0 For your sake, above and beyond anything else, I hope she\u2019s alive.\u00a0 I hope she\u2019s okay, and I hope you get to see her again.<\/em>\u00a0 I rubbed his back gently, holding him close.\u00a0 \u201cAnd if she is, I know we\u2019ll see her again.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cPromise?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I nodded.\u00a0 \u201cPromise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom came back to our cubby after dinner that evening bare-chested with damp hair, face ruddy with sunburn.\u00a0 He smiled faintly at me as I looked up copying over a list of books we\u2019d salvaged from the library, and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter-10","category-day-15"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-bF","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=723"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":726,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723\/revisions\/726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}