Better to stay put and surprise attack him that way. Quite frankly if you don't get the drop on him, you're probably not going to get the chance to run anyway.

You get the closet and hide in the extra niche space within it. Hugo comes kicking in the door, he wanders in and probably looks around the room first, and then you attack hoping you kill him before he shoots you.

You took out one of those rabid things by yourself and that was pretty dangerous right? You can do this. You can do this. You can do this.

You convince yourself as you wait in a closet to ambush a large and heavily armed retarded redneck rapist…

You wait, still hearing Hugo clomping around and probably knocking shit over if the sounds are any indication. You also start hearing some shouting outside. You can't tell what's going on, but you're more focused what's going on inside.

At any time, you expect to hear the sound of boots loudly stomping up the stairs, but you don't, in fact the sounds of Hugo's stomping get faint and soon you're not hearing it at all.

At first you think maybe he went back outside, but then it occurs to you that Jed told Hugo to look for Leslie. And if Leslie were here, he'd probably be in the basement so that might be where Hugo went.

You cautiously come out of the closet and try to listen for Hugo, but the only thing you're hearing now is Jed making "whooping" noises as well as shrieking. You peek out the window again just to see what the hell is going on.

You see the girl that was in the bed of the truck now bent over the tailgate and Jed raping her. Her arms are still tied behind her back, but she's not unconscious anymore. She's obviously squirming and making the shrieking sounds you heard before. Something isn't right though, and it's not just the whole rape thing. The noise that this woman is making doesn't entirely sound…well "natural."

You think she might be one of those crazies. That doesn't seem to bother Jed however, he just keeps laughing and punches her in the back of the head every once in a while to "calm" her. His shotgun is leaning up against the side of the truck. You guess he got over the idea of "catching" something.

You shake your head at this fucked up situation and then suddenly you hear a shotgun blast from within the house.

You then remember there are still four of those things locked up in those rooms in the basement. You have no idea if Hugo's just opened up one of the doors and killed one, or they've gotten out on their own though. You don't hear another gunshot, so you also don't know if he successfully killed it or it (or they) possibly got him.

Meanwhile the shot briefly get Jed's attention and he actually stops raping for one minute, but then he quickly goes back to it and starts shouting at the crazed woman.

"Hah! Sounds like my brother just put another one of you crazy bitches down!" he exclaims and then slams her face into the bed of the truck.

Well it seems like both brothers are suitably distracted and divided which is the best situation you're going to get.

Ideally, you'd take out Jed first and grab his shotgun. The only problem is there is no way you can really sneak up on him since his line of sight is directly in front of the house. Walking out the front door even quietly as possible and even with him in the middle of his rape of one of the rabid, if he sees you, it won't take him long to grab his shotgun and open fire.

Hugo on the other hand might very well already be dead for all you know. If he is, that doesn't necessarily mean things are going to be any easier with one of those insane people or possibly more than one lurking around free in the basement. Even if he isn't dead, the same problem arises that you're going to have when you thought he might come up the stairs. Might even be harder given the corridors don't allow for many places to hide and he's going to be more alert now.

Whether Hugo is alive or there are a group of cannibals eating him right now, you still feel like Jed would be easier for you to deal with armed only with a machete.

You move the dresser and cautiously leave the bedroom. You continually keep looking around as you head towards the stairs.

You make your way down the stairs and try to keep your head low so you don't possibly get seen through one of the broken windows.

The front door is wide open and you can see Jed with the girl. Right now he's got his head down and isn't paying attention to what could be in front of him, he's too busy slamming his dick into crazy woman and keeping her from getting away from him.

As quickly and as quietly as you can, you slip out the front door and hide behind one of the front porch pillars. You think if you're quick enough you could make it to hide behind the front Lilith's vehicle and then from there just crawl alongside that vehicle to Jed's vehicle, grab the shotgun and you're home free.

You peek around the pillar and see Jed's still engrossed in his activity. You immediately make the attempt…

Then another shotgun blast emanates from the house just as you're a the bottom of the front stairs causing you to stumble a bit and Jed to look up.

Your eyes meet.

"SHIT!" pair of you shout and Jed starts fumbling with his dick and pants.

You MIGHT make it if you make a sprint to grab the shotgun, but then again you might not and not getting it, means game over.

You've probably got a better chance if you run back into the house, but in that case you're going to be playing a game of cat and mouse with him and considering you just heard a second gunshot, it would seem Hugo is probably alive too.

You run for the shotgun

You're going to be at a severe disadvantage if you run away, better to just get this over with and if you die today, then you die.

Ignoring any pain you might still have with your ankle, you sprint for the shotgun. Jed at this point doesn't bother pants anymore and goes to grab the shotgun. Seeing that he'll easily beat you to it, you throw the machete at him.

It's enough to cause him to jump and stumble when he thinks it's going to hit him, which is enough time to grab the shotgun, unfortunately just not enough time to shoot Jed with it.

"Fuckin' bitch!" Jed says and elbows you in the side of the head. You try to hang on to the shotgun, but he manages to pull it away from you and then kicks you to the ground.

You hear a racking sound of the shotgun and you don't look up. While you're certainly scared, you're angrier that you failed more than anything else.

"I remember you…you were Miss sick weren't you? You don't seem so sick now. In fact you don't even seem like the crazies in town. Guess you had a big laugh about pullin' one over on me huh? LOOK AT ME!"

You look up, but maintain a defiant look in your eye as Jed continues to point his shotgun at you.

"Oh. Still the tough bitch huh? Well it don't mean shit and it ain't gonna change shit. Tell ya what though, I didn't get to finish up with my current girlfriend over there and as you can see my dick's still hard. Suck me off like the whore you are and MAYBE you might get a quick death." Jed says.

You take a brief look at Jed's filthy dick and look back up and smile.

"Jed, you better just shove that shotgun barrel in my face and pull the trigger because that's the only thing you're getting in my mouth and blowing a load in. It would at least be a lot more spectacular than what's actually between your legs."

Jed's face nearly becomes red with rage.

"Yer gonna WISH I blew your head off, you cunt!" Jed says and he pulls the shotgun up and then flips it around to use the butt of it smash you in the head. He's not quite quick enough though since you manage to shield your face with your hands. Still it's enough to knock you back to the ground in pain.

"Where the fuck is that machete." Jed says and grabs it from the ground before approaching you with it one hand and still holding the shotgun in the other.

"Been awhile since I fucked an amputee, guess we'll see if I can cum before you bleed out…"

Jed in his haste to "teach you a lesson" has completely ignored the fact that he is no longer restraining the crazy woman he was violating. You see the thing recover and get up from it's previous vulnerable position.

"You sure you want to do this Jed? Think your girlfriend is jealous." You say.
"Wha…AGH!" Jed says and turns just in time for the crazed townie to bite Jed between the neck and shoulder.

He drops the shotgun and swings the machete in an attempt to kill the rabid woman. While they struggle you scramble and grab the shotgun.

Jed manages to fight off the rabid woman and finishes her off with a chop to her neck.

"Aww, I was rooting for her." You say.

Jed turns around and sees you pointing the shotgun at him. He doesn't look scared.

"What, you think I'm scared because you're pointing a gun at me? Ain't the first time I've had one pointed at me blondie." He says.
"Heh, blondie now is it? Not whore, bitch, cunt, or whatever other unimaginative name you've called me before? I may not have been doing this as long as you have, but it seems like someone is scared."
"Pfft, you don't even know how to use that thing, the fucking safety is on you dumb bitch."

You pull the trigger and literally blow his balls off. The kickback hurts your arm, but it's a lot less pain than what you imagine Jed is feeling right now.

Jed howls on the ground in agony and you walk over near him.

"Did you actually expect I was going to fall for that like in a movie? Get me to check like an idiot and give you just enough time to possibly rush me? I just heard you rack this fucking shotgun not a few seconds ago. Not to mention with the time you spent playing with rabid girl over there, I would have had more than enough time to take the safety off and that's even if this particular shotgun HAD a safety feature on it to begin with which it doesn't!" You say.

Jed just looks at you with a mixture of pain and disbelief that you would even know that much about a gun.

"I know, brains and beauty. It's a curse sometimes, but after this week I'm starting to get the hang of it." You say and blast Jed into oblivion.

The first thing you do is keep an eye on your immediate surroundings. You, Jed and crazy woman made a hell of a lot of noise. Who knows what the hell might have been attracted. Not to mention the last thing you need is Hugo to have heard all of this and come running out. You seem to be okay for now though.

The second thing you do is search Jed's body or what's left of it for keys to the truck. It's a gory mess and the only thing you succeed in doing is getting your hands bloody. You do remember seeing Hugo getting out of the driver's side, so you imagine he's probably the one that has them.

"Well, he was going to be next anyway." you say and head back towards the house.

Once again you enter the house with caution. You get the feeling Hugo didn't hear anything outside or if he did, he's too pre-occupied with shit in the basement. Come to think of it, you haven't heard another blast and you know there are at least two more of those things down there, then again you've been a little pre-occupied as well.

You make your way to the stairs leading to the basement. You aren't hearing anything at all, which makes all the more scary.

"Made it this far by yourself Suzy, you can finish this…" you say and descend.

You get to the bottom floor of the basement and just looking down the corridor, you see several of the doors are open. No sign of Hugo or the "patients" though.

You head down the corridor fully ready for anything about to leap out at you. You look into the first room with the door open and see nothing. In fact, this is your old room.

The next two rooms obviously housed "patients." One of those patients is laying dead face down half in the doorway. The other is still in his room and hadn't even broken his restraints.

You notice the next room is empty, but the door looks like it was broken open from the inside. It would seem these rooms weren't as secure as Lilith thought. It is at this point you notice splatters of blood all over the floor and a trail of it leading to the last open door which again looks broken from the outside.

You slowly peek around the corner.

There you see one of the patients lying near the entryway with his head twisted all the way around and blood around his mouth. His teeth are clenched in a creepy death grin and you also notice the remnants of a couple fingers still gripped in it.

It would appear Hugo didn't get a chance to shoot this one.

Another patient lies further in the room with its brains bashed into the floor. It also has blood around it's mouth and in this case nails too.

Finally you see Hugo sitting up against a wall with his shotgun nearby on the floor. He doesn't look so great though. He's clearly wounded very badly. It looks like he's holding his stomach, which he is bleeding out of and you already know he's lost some fingers.

When he looks up at you. He doesn't even go for his gun, he just stares…with one eye. He apparently lost one of those too.

"HUGO HURT BAD." He says.

Either he doesn't recognize you, he doesn't think you're a threat, or is too concerned about his injuries.

"Yeah, doesn't look too good." You answer, Hugo still makes no move to the shotgun despite you walking in.
"YOU THE SICK PRETTY LADY." Hugo says finally recognizing you.
"Yeah, well I got better."
"DOC CAN MAKE HUGO BETTER."
"Doc's not here."

Hugo at this point winces in pain and coughs up some blood.

Hugo is just a retard; he probably doesn't even know he does bad things. You imagine his brother Jed has been manipulating him all his life.

It might even be tragic under normal circumstances.

"YOU SEE JED? JED MAKE HUGO BETTER."
"Sure I've seen him, I'll take you to him."

You point the shotgun at Hugo who doesn't even really realize the gravity of the situation and with a mixture of avenging angel and angel of mercy you pull the trigger and put Hugo out of his misery.

Probably quicker than he deserved, but it got the job done.

You exit the room feeling a bit drained. You weren't really expecting to do all this the first thing you got up this morning, but you handled it about as well as you could have.

It's amazing how much someone can change and what they're capable of within just a few days. You just killed two people this time and granted they deserved it, you still feel a little weird that you aren't sick about it or something. Maybe Lilith was right. Maybe you are capable of great violence without a second thought.

The jury is still out on that since as far you're concerned you haven't killed any innocent people, just two people who fucked with you. In any case you're a far cry from that "good girl" who hid in the basement.

Speaking of basements, you decide to check out the rest of this one since you're down here. You don't find much though except one large room that is obviously where Leslie did all his "experiments." Looks like he took most of his stuff and left a couple of dead bodies on his table behind. You don't really stay long due to the smell, which is pretty awful.

You leave the basement with a second shotgun and Hugo's truck keys.

You spend the rest of the day looting the house for any potential worthwhile items. The Morningstars left surprisingly a lot of every useful items behind, but then again they're going to be in a nice safe shelter so there really wasn't any need you suppose.

You pack what bags you can find full of stuff until you feel you have enough. After doing that you take a break to wash up again and eat. You grab something out of the fridge that looks like lasagna.

It doesn't taste like any lasagna you've ever had, but then again you've only ever eaten the microwavable kind, so that might be why it tastes a hell of a lot better. Leslie might've been a horrible human being, but damn if he wasn't a good cook.

As the sun starts to go down, you wonder if you should leave or stay one more night and leave in the morning. You ultimately decide now that you're a lot better armed, you can probably afford to stay one more night. You don't know if you'll get to sleep on a proper bed again.

Once again you take all the proper precautions of securing the house as much as you can and once again end with pushing the dresser to block the door of the bedroom before turning in to sleep.

A little less reluctantly this time given that you have two shotguns and as well as a machete for protection now.

Next day…

SATURDAY


You wake up to the sound of a noisy vehicle outside. You waste no time in springing to your feet.

You cautiously peek out the window and see a military truck pulling up behind Jed's vehicle.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Is fate just determined to make my life more hell than it needs to be?" you say to yourself.

You then see a familiar figure getting out of the truck and carrying a rifle. He looks around and then wastes no time in running to the house.

"Bobby?" you say and then go move the dresser. By the time you've gotten out the door, you hear him downstairs kicking over the sofa in the front door entryway and calling out your name.

"SUZY! SUZY!" he shouts in a panic as you hear him knocking over shit in an effort to look for you.
"I'm right here and you're lucky it's just me, because anyone else would've long since blown your head off with the way you're announcing yourself by now." You say coming down the stairs.

When you see Bobby, he definitely looks like he's seen better days, but when Bobby sees you he drops his weapon and his face is one of extreme elation. Like a great weight has been lifted off of him by seeing you. He rushes forward to presumably hug you and you immediately pull your own shotgun up.

"Alright, stop." You say.
"Wha…it's me! Bobby!" he exclaims.
"Yeah, I know who you are silly, I'm just wondering WHY you're here. Who else is with you?" you ask.
"Nobody! It's just me! Suzy, just put the gun down, I'm…"
"I don't think so, after the week I've had I'm not too fucking keen on just putting my weapon down. Besides we didn't part exactly on the best of terms or have you forgotten?"
"I know! I know! I was an asshole about that! I didn't mean any of that shit I said! I was a big fucking asshole and you were right the whole time! I should've realized sooner that you were always the one for me and that I should've made the sacrifice for you because you're completely worth it and I still love you"
"And…what? You just realized this today?"
"No! I realized it soon after my aunt called telling me she had you over here."
"Wait, didn't she call you on Tuesday? I was drugged and held against my will by your psycho aunt and uncle and you didn't think to come here sooner?"
"I…it took me awhile to sort out my feelings…I was still confused…"

You can't believe this!

"Took you awhile to sort out your feelings?! Confused? Are you fucking kidding me?! That's your excuse?"
"It's no excuse! That's how it was! I thought there was no chance again with you given how bad we broke up! And besides, I'm sure my aunt told you how I pleaded for your life. It's probably why you're still alive."
"Yeah, okay fine I'll give you that. Your groveling probably kept me alive initially, but if you REALLY wanted to come here and play white knight and save the damsel, you REALLY should've got here fucking sooner! Do you even know what the fuck I've had to deal with here for past three days?"
"No, but I really did try to get here sooner! Seriously I did!"
"Oh yes, sorting out your feelings and probably getting one last fuck from Diana…"
"Hey! For your information I killed Diana."

Well Bobby's peaked your interest enough that you lower your shotgun.

"Wait, you killed that bitch?" you ask.
"Well it wasn't on purpose, but yeah I accidently killed her when I was trying to leave the compound. I told her to either the hell out of the way or I was going through that gate anyway. Never believed she wouldn't move and the crunch under the tires was pretty much an indication that I killed her." Bobby replies.
"That's not exactly an accident Bobby, but that's okay. That's another point in your favor."
"Anyway, I ended up getting held up in town by the fucking National Guard, when both of my cousins decided it would be a good idea to antagonize them even more by firing upon them. That went about as well as you'd expect…"
"Your cousins? You brought family with you?"
"Wasn't exactly my idea. Two of my cousins, William and Aaron wanted to leave the compound as well, so they followed me for a while in William's vehicle. Then before I knew it, Aaron was firing at shit, which called more attention than it needed to. I parted company with them as soon as I could, but by that time I had the National Guard all over me. Crashed the vehicle and nearly got shot. In fact I probably would've gotten shot had it not been for this tight ass government official insisting I be held for questioning. Thought I was a terrorist or something."
"So you were held captive by the National Guard?"
"Well I was on Wednesday and for part of Thursday until the camp got overrun by fucking crazy cannibals. Nearly getting eaten was a nice change of pace of getting punched in the face and beaten."

Well that explains the bruises and scratches on Bobby's face and arms as well as the condition of his clothing, which is torn in several places.

"Spent the rest of Thursday just trying to get away from those fuckers and trying to make it through the town which was a warzone at this point. Wasn't until Friday night I managed to get a hold of a Guardsman's truck and drive out of there."

You remain silent as Bobby at this point walks over to you. He takes your hand.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner Suzy, I really wanted to and I really tried. My mind was always pre-occupied with concern of if you were even still alive or not. I can only imagine what horrors you had to face here. I don't know exactly what happened here, but I saw all the bodies outside and the state of the house…and well I can guess you didn't have an easy time of it. I'm here now though and you don't need to worry anymore. We can go anywhere you want. We can run away to anywhere just like you wanted. I'm done with my family; I'm done with my religion. From the moment I knew you were being held here, I knew YOU were my family. YOU were my religion and I love you so much. You have to believe me."

You look at Bobby and see in his eyes he really means all this. You stroke his face lovingly.

"Oh Bobby…"

And then promptly slap him. He gives a surprised look.

"…you're goddamn right you don't know what horrors I fucking faced! I was scared the entire time!"

You go into an exaggerated tirade about what you experienced while you were here. Not that what you really went through wasn't bad, but to be honest it sounds like what Bobby went through was probably worse in his attempt to get here and you're not going to let Bobby just think he can waltz back into your life and get you back with ease with his "hero" attempt.

"…and did I mention I was nearly RAPED by rednecks several times?"
"They didn't…"
"No they didn't, but I had to fend for myself and I did a pretty damn good job at it. Proved to me that I have an inner strength that I never took advantage of before and when the chips are down, I don't really need anyone."

Bobby's face starts to show one of distress and just before he goes into his routine of telling you more honeyed words of his love for you and begs you to take him back, you stop him by continuing to speak.

"…but there also were times where things would have been a lot easier had someone had been around to help me."

Now you take Bobby's hand.

"(Sigh) Look Bobby, maybe all this crazy shit that's happened between us and to us is like wiping the slate clean or something. Maybe we do have a future. I believe you when you say you love me and obviously you went through a lot to try to get here to save me. But we can't just jump back into this like we were before. You're going to have to give me some time."

Bobby nods.

"Okay. I understand Suzy. I do."

You and Bobby just stare at each other for a while. It's funny how you never thought you'd even see Bobby again, let alone reunite with him. Somehow the argument you had earlier in the week just doesn't matter anymore.

"Okay, let's head upstairs to the bedroom." You say and pat his hand.
"What for?" Bobby asks.
"For sex duh." You say.
"Sex? I thought you said you needed some time."
"Yeah well I decided that some of that time involves pleasuring me. Besides, this isn't YOUR reward, it's MY fucking reward for surviving this shitty week. So I hope you're prepared to do a lot of licking."
"Hey whatever you need." Bobby says following up the stairs.

Doesn't take long for the pair of you to be totally into your reunification. In fact you're enjoying yourself so much you nearly don't notice the bright flash coming from the window and loud noise in the distance.

"Shit that was bright, glad I wasn't looking directly at whatever that was." You say.
"I wouldn't know about the light since my face was buried in your pussy at the time, I did hear the noise though." Bobby says.

The pair of you wander over to the window and in the far distance you see the remnants of a mushroom cloud. Probably landed on Security City or near it. You can only guess it probably wasn't a big one.

"So…they finally went and did it." You say.
"Looks like." Bobby says.
"Oh well, we'll be okay."
"You seem very sure of that, I remember a time you would've been worrying about radiation and everything else."
"Well you've been through this hellish week the same way I have and we both survived. Together I think our chances are even greater. Besides, your aunt told me GZ put drugs in the water that are supposed make people more resistant to radiation and disease and such."
"What seriously?"
"Seriously. That drug is what also made most people go batshit crazy. Doesn't affect everyone though and I never did get a solid answer on why I wasn't affected. Guess you aren't either."
"Maybe we're already crazy?"
"Probably." You chuckle.

You and Bobby go back to doing what you were doing and why the hell not? It isn't like the apocalypse isn't going to still be there.

Later you Bobby load up his army truck with all the stuff you think you'll need. You aren't sure where you'll go yet, but you maintain a positive attitude that you'll ultimately be fine.

As he begins driving away from the house, you open up one of the Tupperware containers of food that you took with you when you left and start eating.

"What is that you're eating? It looks awful." Bobby remarks.
"I dunno. I think it's some sort of beef. I know it's not much for looks, but it tastes delicious though. Your uncle Leslie was a really good cook. I've never been a big food person, but I'm seriously going to miss eating from that house. I took this as a last hoorah as it were. You want some?"

Bobby's face begins to look a little concerned.

"Suzy, you've been eating out of my aunt and uncle's fridge? How much have you eaten?"
"I dunno. I've had at least one meal a day there. What the hell else was I going to eat? I'm telling you though I'd like to know how to make this stuff, but I imagine just picking up meat from the super market isn't going to be an option anymore."
"Oh you can make that stuff without needing a super market. Suzy, my aunt and uncle were fucking CANNIBALS! You've probably been eating human meat for the past three days!" Bobby exclaims.

You stop eating and start looking at the meal you're eating. You poke at it a few times wondering if you're going to come across a finger or something, but after doing this for a few seconds you don't find anything out of the ordinary, and you scoop out another piece and eat it.

Bobby looks shocked.

"What? Still tastes good. Think of it this way, at least we know I'm willing to eat human flesh if things get tough out here in the big bad apocalyptic wasteland. You sure you don't want any?"

Bobby just shakes his head and continues to drive.

"Hm, more for me." You say with a shrug and take another bite.

"You really have changed Suzy." Bobby remarks.
"Yeah, well happens to the best of us." You say.
Love SICK Too


The Future…

"You know how mutants are dear, they act on impulse sometimes." You say as you sew up a shirt.
"Yes, I get that, but I specifically told my congregation NOT to attack Iron Union transports! Last thing we need is the GZ corporation sniffing around this town asking questions. I'm just glad I managed to convince them to clean up the mess, even if some of them were bitching the entire time." Bobby exclaims.
"Hm, well you are very persuasive when you want to be. Guess that's why they listen to you at all."

Bobby just sits down in a nearby chair continuing to rant about the troubles with his "congregation." You've heard the complaints before several times and really this is just a normal routine for you both. Bobby complains and you listen to his troubles. Just part of married life you suppose.

Making adjustments to accommodate your significant other's desires is another part of married life.

Bobby may have very well left his "religion" behind, but the cult leader part of him never really left him. You're not even exactly sure what "higher power" Bobby believes in now, if he does at all. Personally you think he just made up some shit and managed to convince a bunch of mutants to follow him. Not that you really care. He's bringing in the loot with his little band of brainwashed mutants and it provides him with a sense of fulfillment, despite the fact he's doing a lot of complaining right now.

"Bobby, you're worrying too much again. I'm sure your minions aren't the only mutants living in this town that have attacked Iron Union transports. Besides, last I heard the Iron Union is in the middle of a civil war. So even if they did find out, I doubt if they've even got the firepower to launch an attack on a place that has the reputation of being a large and extremely dangerous mutant town." You say.
"Heh, well they certainly got less now. There were some nice weapons in that transport." Bobby chuckles.
"See? Just gotta look on the bright side of things." You say.

Maintaining an optimistic mindset certainly came in handy during those early years when it was just you and Bobby surviving on the road, drifting from place to place. Not that it was all-bad and some of it was even fun, but you and Bobby were never truly happier when you finally managed to lay down roots here in Emberville.

You, of course for the reasons of comfort and security. Bobby of course still wanted a family. He had you of course, but you know deep down he still wanted to have children with you.

Which also became another adjustment, but really not one you were so resistant about anymore. You just needed time like you said and eventually you felt it was the right time.

"Alexander! Your shirt is done!" you shout.

Your son comes in from his room. Normally he's out playing, but there are times where he just shuts himself away and reads whatever books Bobby or you find for him. It's good that he has a variety of interests.

"Hey this looks as good as new." He exclaims.
"I doubt that, but I did the best I could with what I had."
"Where did you learn to sew Mom?" Alexander asks.
"Oh, my mother taught me when I was little. Never thought I'd actually ever take it up again though, but in this sort of world, it's sort of a handy skill to have."
"Hey how come you never told me about that little interesting tidbit about your life when we were first going out? I remember being surprised when you told me you had seamstress skills" Bobby asks.
"Like I said, I never thought it was important until this whole world went to shit and sewing up clothes was something I had to actually do more frequently." You answer.

"Did she teach you how to cook too?" Alexander asks
"Hah, no. I didn't learn how to do that until much later in life and I taught myself mostly." You say.
"Your mother is misremembering things again. She actually learned a lot from Mrs. Zerul down the street. Before we moved here, your mother's cooking probably nearly killed me more times than gunfire." Bobby jokes, which gets him a glare.
"Hey, there were several times that we didn't starve thanks to me." You snap.

"Well I think you're a good cook Mom." Alexander remarks.
"Thanks son, at least someone here appreciates me. Now go out and play and try not to ruin the shirt you're currently wearing. Especially if you play with that Jenny girl."
"Who's Jenny?" Bobby asks, not knowing all of his son's friends as usual.
"Jenny is a cute little mutant girl with talons instead of normal nails. Last time they were playing and Alexander came home with a shirt that was beyond my sewing skills."
"You sure they were just playing?" Bobby asks.
"Bobby!" you say.
"Hey, kids grow up fast without traditional social norms!" Bobby says.
"And what exactly would YOU even know what traditional social norms are?" you ask.
"…well I do know what they were even if I didn't actually practice them. In fact I'd say I'm a living example of what happens to a child growing up without traditional social norms." Bobby replies.

Alexander isn't quite sure what you and Bobby going on about, but speaks up.

"Me and Jenny were just playing tag that time my shirt was all ripped up, like I said."
"Yes, I remember and I believe you. Now off you go, and remember dinner will be ready just before night fall."

Alexander agrees he'll be careful and runs out to play with his friends.

You watch him briefly from the door.

"Sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't be a little more protective of him." You say.
"He's fine. Better he get some claw scratches and bruises now so he doesn't grow up to be completely sheltered." Bobby responds.
"Yeah I know all too damn well what the dangers that can bring, especially with the way the world is now. Still, can't help but worry at times."

Bobby stands up and walks over to reassure you.

"Well of course you worry, you're a good mother. And here you always thought you wouldn't make a good one, remember?"
"Yeah, that was a whole other lifetime ago. I can honestly say I'm glad those old days are behind us."

Bobby nods and begins to caress you. You return his affection with a kiss and the pair of you just sort of hold each other for awhile.

Seems surreal at times that you arrived at this point. Married, a child, and living modest home in a town mainly consisting of mutants. Though given both your family and Bobby's, maybe it makes sense you fit in better with a community full of mutants.

To be honest, you think the only real problem you ever had with moving in and marrying Bobby to begin with was due to the situation with his sister Diana. You wonder if you would've done all this sooner had she never been in the picture. Oh well, no point in playing "What if" especially since everything worked out.

This life is harder than your old one in several ways, but given all the new skills you learned and all of what you've managed to achieve, you're definitely a stronger and better person now than you ever were before.

"Well I guess I better get started on dinner. Unless you want what Mrs. Zerul is serving down the street." You say elbowing Bobby in the side for his previous comment.
"Oh yeah because hideous old women with humps on their back and scales on their face really do it for me. You know I was joking about that."
"I know. You brought the groceries right?"
"Yeah, just vegetables and meat though. Didn't get a hold of much else this time."
"It's all I ever really need. I know you're probably tired from getting the stuff last night, but can you help me get started?" you ask.
"Sure. Meet you in the kitchen." Bobby responds.

Bobby heads to the root cellar and you head to the kitchen when you start your preparations. You're lucky to have the kitchen amenities you have compared to most in this town. Wood burning stoves aren't that common here, but then again most mutants don't bother cooking their food at all. You and Bobby of course aren't savages.

As you're getting everything set, Bobby comes up with the groceries and sets them down on the large prep table.

"There you go baby. You need me to help prep the meat?"
"Nah, I can do it. Doesn't take me long."
"Okay, I'm going to get some sleep. Call me if you need anything."
"Will do. Thanks dear." You say and Bobby kisses you on the cheek before heading off to bedroom.

You grab your machete and stare at the table.

The tied and gagged naked young woman continues to squirm on the table. If she could, she'd probably scream or beg. You're guessing she was part of whatever caravan Bobby and his congregation raided. Probably the merchant since she doesn't look like a guard. That's a good thing; her meat isn't going to be as tough.

This would be the other advantage of living in a mutant town: They don't frown upon cannibalism here.

The young woman's eyes widen as you bring the machete down to finish her off.

As you chop up the rest of the woman's body, you briefly think about the past again, specifically when Bobby's aunt was psychoanalyzing you.

She certainly was right when she said you were prone to revel in great violence under the right circumstances.