FRIDAY


"Wakey wakey sis." You hear a voice say.

You slowly open your eyes and at first see what looks to be a man standing in front of you holding a shotgun. Then after the blur of your eyes clears a bit, you see that it's your sister Kelly.

Looks like she's still hostile to you as well considering she's pointing a shotgun at you. You don't know why, but then has she ever needed a reason?

You look at your pistol on the floor near the couch you're sleeping on and Kelly just shakes her head.

"I guarantee you wouldn't make it sis. I suggest you don't even try…heh I doubt you'd have the balls to go through with it anyway. I have to admit when I came up here to get something from my room, I didn't expect to glance over this way and see you sleeping here."

Up? Where the hell would she come "up" from? You're in the basement now. Kelly's blocking your doorway, but you think you can make out a glowing light source coming from the basement floor beyond. And then it hits you.

"…he moved the fucking shelter entrance in the house? And it's been right near my goddamn room all this time?" you ask.
"Hey hey! It's about time you used that blonde head of yours other than taking up space!" Kelly mocks.

Well you know where the entrance is, but unfortunately you've got bigger issues now. Kelly pointing a shotgun at you is concerning to be sure and makes you think back to what you saw in the garage. Peter and the other man's body. Their bodies were beaten and their necks were broken. Kelly certainly has the strength and the skill to do such a thing. Kelly's always been hostile to you and barely civil to your other sibling, but to actually kill one…

"When did you find out? When you killed Peter?"
"Pfft. I've always known. Crazy old Ben thought he was being so sneaky moving the goddamn entrance around all the time, but I knew where the fuck it was nearly every time. He had just moved the entrance again a few days before he blew away his family and himself. I'm just surprised YOU never accidently found it given that you lived practically right near the fucking thing for years. If the entrance was any closer you would've been sleeping in the damn thing."

Kelly continues to address you while briefly looking over her shoulder. You don't know if she's just being cautious or if she knows someone else is with you…and where is Johnny anyway?

"As for Peter, that little faggot managed to find out where it was and thought he was going to hide out from the current shitstorm in it with his boyfriend or whoever that other faggot he was with. Had to convince him that he had to go, he didn't listen and tried to resist and well you saw how that turned out."

Kelly briefly moves a bit to her left in your doorway allowing you to briefly look to see if you see Johnny coming, but you see nobody. Kelly notices you looking though.

"So where's that little whore Donna? Heard you moved in with her. She come with you? Julie maybe? Both? How the fuck did any of you survive the week?"
"I'm here by myself Kelly."
"Bullshit. SOMEONE is here with you. I can't see a shrinking violet like you hauling your ass through a bunch of military patrols as well as those freaks. The fact that you're wearing military fatigues tells me that SOMEONE helped you. I know damn well you didn't kill someone yourself for them."
"It's been a weird week Kelly. You never know what you're capable of until you're put into the situation." You say in such a way that gives Kelly a bit of an eyebrow raise.

"Oh? So…are you a killer now, little sister? Tell me, how did it feel when you did it?"
"I threw up. I'm not a fucking psychopath okay?! It didn't give me some thrill! I just did what I had to, to survive!" you exclaim.
"Okay, okay, calm down there killer." Kelly chuckles before getting serious again.

"While this is enlightening and all, we really should be getting back to the matter at hand."

Still no sign of Johnny. Where the fuck is he?

"So what's next Kelly? You gonna kill me too?" you ask.
"Don't know sis…don't know…severely thinking about it. I've never liked you. You've been a thorn in my side since you crawled out of mom's vagina. Always having to be compared to how good and pretty you were and how bad and rotten I was despite the fact I was the one who was shouldering most of the responsibility in this fucked up family. What did you ever do except hide in the goddamn basement? Even now you left the house only to come crawling back here. Yep, I've thought about killing you on many, many, MANY occasions."
"Actually that wasn't my initial intention. My initial plan was to drive out of this forsaken town. I only stopped here because my own vehicle was badly damaged and I had hoped to maybe get Peter's car and some extra supplies before heading out again." You say trying to stall for time.
"Oh? Hmm, you're just full of surprises today aren't you? Well if that is true, you may have just bought yourself a bit of a reprieve sis…okay. What the hell, I'm in a good mood. I'm gonna let you walk outta here alive and you're going to be thankful."
"I don't suppose you'll allow me to gather some supplies or let me have my gun will you?"
"Hah, no. Wouldn't want you getting any ideas of trying to shoot me, you being a killer now and all. In fact let me just take that pistol right now. Stay on that couch and keep lying in that prone position. Don't you fucking move, or boom there goes your pretty little blonde head all over the place."

Johnny is still nowhere to be seen. Did he take off? Did you actually get abandoned by a fucking stalker? Is your luck really that bad?

Kelly now moves into your room, still pointing the shotgun at you, As she's crouching down to pick up the pistol, there is a brief moment that she takes her eyes off of you.

It's apparent that there will be no rescue; the only thing you can hope is that Kelly is going to keep her word and let you go unharmed. Of course you don't really think that's likely and part of you wants to grab for the pistol before she can.

You don't move

It's no good. You'd never manage to grab the pistol before Kelly. Even if you did, she'd probably manage to shoot you before you could shoot her. Fear and panic begins to well up inside you as you believe this is the beginning of the end.

Kelly picks up the pistol and smiles as she puts it in front of her pants. You look helplessly as she does this…and then that's when your eyes wander to your closet.

You don't remember shutting the closet door. In fact you never shut your closet door…

And it's opening right now.

Instinctively you try to flatten your body and disappear into the crevasse of your couch as much as possible. You then place your arms up to your face.

"What the hell are you doing? That's not gonna…" Kelly starts to say and then she hears a creak.

Johnny unloads several rounds into Kelly's body and head. She doesn't even have time to fully turn around. Pieces of her fly out from the exit wounds and she falls to the floor in a bloody mess still twitching a bit.

"Shit. Shit. Oh Shit. Oh fuck. Fuck. Please oh God. Please." You're muttering to yourself the whole time, barely aware of everything else.

Johnny walks over from the closet and kneels over to you.

"It's over Suzy. Calm down. It's over. She's dead. That bitch will never bully you again." Johnny says grabbing one of your hands.

You calm down and look at Johnny. In that moment you don't care about what he has done in the past or what he might do in the future. All you care about is that he was ultimately there for you when it counted.

You sit up and hug him, getting teary eyed in the process.

"Oh god, I thought…I thought maybe…"
"No, I was always there to protect you. I told you. I'll always be here. You're my perfect angel. You give my life…purpose." Johnny replies hugging you in return and patting you on the back.

Johnny also sniffs your hair as he's hugging you at which point causes you to pull back a bit.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just…" Johnny says.
"It's okay. I know. It was the moment." You say trying not to make it too uncomfortable.

With you and Johnny done embracing, you stand up and look over at your sister's body, which has stopped any sort of death twitch it might've briefly had.

You just stare at it silently. Johnny doesn't even speak, he instead watches you looking at your sister. After about a couple of minutes of this, he finally speaks.

"How do you feel?"
"Honestly? I feel nothing. I don't feel anger for what she did. I don't feel guilt or even happiness that she's dead. I just don't feel anything for her anymore. She's dead and that's it. Just like Peter upstairs. Just like my Mom, my Dad, my whole family at this point. They're all dead and I'm alive."
"Well, we don't know about your sister Donna." Johnny remarks.
"She's dead too. I know she is." You say and look at Johnny who looks away and focuses back on Kelly's body.

"Well anyway, it looks like we know where the shelter entrance is now. Why don't we check it out?"
"Well that was the whole goal of this ordeal I suppose." You say.

Johnny exits the room and you grab your pistol back from Kelly's body before leaving. Stepping out of your room you see the hatch in the floor wide open where the fluorescent glow of lighting coming from.

You take a look inside and see a long ladder down leading to another floor, which you imagine that's the main shelter. You can't believe how close it was to your room and how you never knew about it!

"How the hell did you brother do this with you hearing or knowing about it?" Johnny asks.
"I dunno. I mean he managed to routinely change the entrance all the damn time too. Ben had a gift I guess. Everyone does I suppose." you say and you and Johnny start climbing down the ladder and you close up the hatch.

Eventually you get to the bottom and you and Johnny open up a metal door, which is fortunately not locked.

And there it is, you're in the shelter proper. Before you is a dimly lit living area with various furniture and even a TV. Other rooms include a bathroom, kitchen area, a couple of bedrooms and A LOT of storage rooms. One such room is huge, as rows and rows of canned food and bottled water are found.

"Well looks like sustenance is plentiful. Doesn't even look like Kelly put a dent in the supplies." You say.

Another storage room contains a goodly amount of ammo and weapons of all kinds. Mostly rifles. Medical supplies are in another.

One thing that stands out is that Ben's shelter has solid steel walls. You have no idea how the hell he did this and you guess you never will. You do notice on several of the walls something has been repeatedly scratched out though not entirely successfully everywhere.

At one point you make out most of it.

Pr-p---- o- th- Gr--n- -er- Cor---at-o-

"Well, I guess spending thousands on one of those Ground Zero shelters would've been a waste of money for you Seems like you got a nice one for free." Johnny says looking around.
"Indeed. Now we need to talk about us Johnny."

Johnny turns to you and sees you're holding your pistol directly at him. He doesn't react with surprise or anger or anything. It's nothing.

And that's the "real" Johnny right there. The one you've always known even when you weren't quite sure.

"So…what is this Suzy?" Johnny asks.
"I don't know yet. I really don't. I wish I did. I wish I could make a decision. I wish I could be the killer my sister thought I was. This would be so much easier. On the other hand I also wish I could trust and just let go."

Johnny makes no move towards you. He just continues to stand there. You briefly wipe your eyes while still holding the pistol on him.

"Johnny, you've been here for me this whole crazy week. I don't think I would've survived if you hadn't been around…but I know you. I know what you are."
"I never thought that you wouldn't figure it out, you're an intelligent woman after all which is matched only by your beauty of course." Johnny replies.
"Stop. Just stop." You exclaim.

You tear up and sniffle for a moment and then address Johnny again.

"My uncle Ed was a serial killer. We all sort of wondered, but it wasn't until that fateful day when I decided to go snooping around where I shouldn't have that I learned the awful truth. He caught me finding where he was storing body parts, but in his own twisted honorable way due to being related, he said he'd spare my life if I helped him kill someone. Kept saying I was pure and good, and not like the rest of those whores he killed."

Johnny's eyebrows raise when you say this. Now he seems genuinely surprised.

"In a more fucked up twist, he was feuding with a group of cultists into human sacrifice. Wanted me to help kill them. I initially did out of fear, but then I met Bobby during this mission. I ended up betraying my uncle because I felt that connection to Bobby because we both came from fucked up families. I thought it was love, and maybe it was, but it didn't last obviously."

Johnny seems a bit overwhelmed by your new information.

"That's… some story Suzy. I have to admit, I never would have guessed…"
"That what? That I'm not perfect? I'm not good? I'm not so pure? That I'm a backstabbing whore like all the rest?" you snap.

"That…that wasn't what I was going to say at all. Suzy, do you really think I could ever see you in that light?"
"I…I don't know Johnny. You've never told me much about your past. I mean I can piece things together by what you have told me and how you've acted. And that's the problem I DON'T KNOW."
"Okay, Suzy, let's just get it completely out in the open. What exactly is it that you think I've done or what I am?"
"You're a serial killer. I mean I don't exactly know just how bad you are for certain and I can't know for certain, but I do know you're a killer. I've been studying you probably just as much as you've been studying me. I mean…Christ…I don't KNOW if you killed Donna. I don't KNOW if you killed Julie, but the more I think about it and how they just disappeared and the conclusion I come to isn't pleasant. There's also your own suspicious behavior, the incident with the soldier "falling" down the stairs, your rage when beating that guy's head in, claiming that you've done bad things, stealing a jeep and most likely killing the owners in process, and finally your obsession with me. I'm quite familiar with your kind enough that even if I can't prove some of this shit, I feel it in my heart that's what you are."
"Well…if I am so terrible, then I suppose you should kill me."
"Goddamn it Johnny, if it was THAT FUCKING EASY I WOULD! But YOU KNOW it isn't and I KNOW it isn't! Because I also know underneath the fucked up social chameleon predator, I KNOW there actually IS a human being capable of love. I believe you really love me Johnny. I do. I don't doubt it. The problem is, how can I fucking trust that it's going to last?"

Johnny has no answer. He just looks down.

"Well see there's my problem. How do I know that I'm not going to do something that's going to set you off? Make you see me as fallen angel or a flawed person that is fit only for destruction? And this goes both ways Johnny, how do YOU know that I might not strike first? Granted I'm not a killer, but I still manipulated events to cause the death of my uncle. Can YOU really trust me, if I'm scared of you?" you say.

Johnny at this point rubs his eyes and sniffles a bit. He's not exactly crying, but he's definitely having an emotional moment.

"Suzy. I cannot think of anything more that I can do, that would convince you that I'll love you forever and that I will always protect you. It's true I have done bad things…it's also true that I probably would be classified as a serial killer. I'm very sick Suzy. I have a lot of bad thoughts going on in my head most of the time and even though I can emulate emotions, they don't feel genuine. It's like I'm just a mask. But with you, it's different. I haven't felt this way towards anyone since…well my first love. I don't really want to get into that right now, but I want to say it was a much different situation."

Johnny falls to his knees.

"Almost everything I felt during my time with you this week was actually real to me. You made me feel like a normal person. Like I had at last found a purpose to my life. I love you Suzy. You can never fall off that pedestal. I know that this is difficult for you. I understand the alienation and mistrust you feel, perhaps in a different way, but I understand it. But I also know that you want to give us a chance, if you didn't, you wouldn't be struggling with this right now."

You continue to point the pistol at Johnny as more tears roll down your cheeks.

"Johnny…I know you've lied to me or been evasive about things this week. I've been nothing but truthful. If this has any chance of working. I need to know right now. (Exhale) Did you kill Donna and Julie?"
"I thought you said you didn't care what happened to them and that they abandoned you." Johnny says.
"And that may be the case because you FUCKING killed them! Now stop evading the fucking question and answer it!" you demand.

Johnny looks at you. In fact it's the most cold-blooded stare you've ever seen from him. It's like when Uncle Ed looked at you in his van.

"Would you believe me, if I said no?" he asks.
"ANSWER!" you demand.
"Very well. No, I didn't." Johnny says looking straight at you.

You accept the answer

And with those words that you hear from Johnny, everything in your mind just sort of shuts off.

It doesn't matter. None of it does. You see that now.

"Okay." You say and put your pistol away.

Johnny looks a bit uncertain, almost as if he was expecting you to shoot him.

"Okay?" he asks.
"Yeah, okay. If you're telling me you didn't kill them, then you didn't kill them. In fact I don't want to know about your past either. It's just not important. You were there for me this week when nobody else was, that's the important thing and that's what I should place my faith in."

Johnny slowly gets up off his knees. He doesn't approach you right away; instead he just continues to stand at a distance.

"I apologize for my earlier outburst Johnny. I just, well it's been a stressful week. You understand." You say.
"Yeah….yeah I get it. Don't worry about it. I'm fine." Johnny says.
"Good. Good. Well, let's move on to other matters shall we?"
"Yeah." Johnny says.

Suddenly Johnny rushes at you and grabs you tightly. While one arm is firmly around your waist, one hand moves up to your neck and you feel a gentle squeeze as he looks into your eyes. It's the look of a predator that has finally caught his prey.

"Well? What are you waiting for lover? I trust you." you say not resisting.

Johnny's hand moves from your neck and to your face, where upon he strokes your cheek gently.

"You have the face of a perfect angel." he whispers and then he moves in to kiss you.

As your lips touch, he begins to take your clothes off in a hasty fashion. He's definitely getting aggressive, but oddly you're not quite feeling his "enthusiasm" yet…

By the time you get pushed over towards the bed and are basically in your bra and panties, he still isn't quite "ready."

"Do you need some help?" you ask.
"No, I'll be fine..." He says as he tries to get it up.

While you take off the remainder of your clothes Johnny's still having difficulties.

"Look I can help you out, I don't mind going down on…"
"Shhh! No! I don't want you debasing yourself like a whore! I just need to focus!" Johnny snaps.
"Okay. Okay." You say and back off.

You lie down on the bed and try not to stare in an effort to not look judgmental. This is really awkward though.

Johnny starts swearing, as his buddy is not doing what he wants it to do. Swearing turns to shouting and then finally a complete breakdown.

"Shit! I wanted this to be so perfect. I wanted to be everything for you, not some fucking impotent eunuch!" he says sniffling a bit.

"Hey, calm down. It's okay. You're trying too hard, you just need to relax." You say moving over to caress him a bit.
"I know. (sniffle) This just has never happened before." Johnny replies.
"Well, you probably aren't used to…uh situations like this. I mean would it help if I pretended I was dead or something?"
"What? No. That doesn't work. Your body is too warm and submerging you in cold water would be really uncomfortable for you." Johnny says.

As you continue to try to make Johnny feel more at ease, he slowly speaks.

"Suzy…there is something I can think of…but…you're not going to want to do it…"
"Does it involve pain?" you ask.
"No."
"Then go ahead and say it."
"Could…could you pretend that we're related?" Johnny asks.

Why are you not surprised?

"Ah. I see. So you want me to role play as your mother?" you ask going for the obvious serial killer obsession.
"Hah, no. You're a bit too young for that, I don't think I could maintain the illusion, but… um maybe you could be my sister?"

Wow, a murderous boyfriend who fucked his sister in the past, it's like being with Bobby all over again…and there's something vaguely comforting about that. You always did prefer something familiar to something new.

You smile and caress Johnny's face.

"Of course brother dear." You say and passionately kiss Johnny.

From there things get a lot better. Johnny actually is a pretty sensual lover when he gets going. You guess he must've loved his sister just like you once loved Bobby a lot.

Johnny falls asleep shortly afterwards professing his usual love for you. After being awake a little longer yourself thinking about what the future might hold, you go to sleep.

Next day...

SATURDAY


You wake up to the faint sounds of rustling. You look up from your bed and see Johnny getting dressed.

"Where are you going?" you ask groggily.
"I was going to get the stuff I brought in from the jeep and left up stairs on Thursday night. I know we've got more than enough stuff down here now, but I still thought you'd want your clothes which we don't have any of down here."
"Oh. Okay, I'll come with you." You say.
"No, stay here and relax, I got it."
"It's okay really, I don't mind. Besides, I still left things in my room that I'd like to get."
"You sure you want to do that with your sister's body still in there?"
"Oh yeah that's right. Well I'll just help you with the bags from upstairs then."
"Okay. Always enjoy your company anyway and don't worry, I fully intend on cleaning up all the bodies upstairs, not just your sister's. I mean know we're going to be down here for a while, but you never want bodies just lying around to rot in your area. Never mind the smell, but there are also vermin and health hazards to consider." Johnny says.

Well he'd probably know better than most…

You and Johnny finish getting dressed and exit the shelter. From the basement you then head to the ground floor where you see your bags lying on the floor near the front door.

"You said you brought these in on Thursday night?" you ask.
"Yeah, after you fell asleep."
"I suppose it's a silly question since you never seem to be scared of anything, but you weren't concerned about those rabid things possibly wandering around at night?"
"Oh I definitely was prepared in case of an attack, but the strange thing is, its dead silent in your neighborhood. Or at least it seems like it is. I didn't see anything wandering around out there. Rabid or otherwise. If I had to guess, the National Guard exterminated everything in this area and moved on."
"Hm, well from what I've seen they're getting their ass kicked elsewhere. I just hope that…"

Before you or Johnny can say anything else a bright flash shines through one of the uncovered windows along with the sound of a large explosion in the distance. You can't help but take a quick glance out the window.

And there you see it in the far distance, the dissipating remnants of a mushroom cloud rising up in the sky.

"…they finally went and did it." You say.
"…I have to say, I'm not entirely surprised. Johnny replies looking with you.
"From the direction I saw the cloud, I'd say it probably hit Security City and that's fairly far away. I know impact should've at least shattered the windows of the house had it been closer or bigger so it probably wasn't even a large one. Still, we probably should still get down in that shelter." You say.

Johnny agrees and the pair of you grab all the bags and quickly head back down to the shelter.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing we decided to come back here instead of trying to leave town." You say.
"Yeah, I imagine things are going to be quite chaotic for a long time to come. It's better that you're safe down here." Johnny says.
"We're both safe down here." you say, but Johnny's pacing suggests that he's a bit preoccupied.

"Okay, what's wrong?" you ask.
"Well, with this new event come to light, its already established that the situation just got a lot worse and isn't going to be ending anytime soon. Now we've probably got a decades worth of supplies, possibly a little more since I don't eat much anyway, but the fact remains, we're going to need more supplies eventually and that means going up to the surface and dealing with it." Johnny replies.
"Yeah, I know. I didn't really want to think about it, but you're right of course. I think I saw some survival manuals in one of the rooms down here, guess I better read up on them."
"While I certainly wouldn't stop you from getting yourself acquainted with such things, my thoughts are, why do you need to leave here and risk your life at all? I'll be the one going up there."
"Well we are sort of a team now right? I mean don't you want me to help you?"

Johnny's hands touch your shoulders as he stares into your eyes. His hands gently run down from your shoulders to your arms until he's holding both of your hands.

"Suzy, you were too good for this world when it wasn't completely fucked up, you're definitely too good for it now. As dangerous as it was in this past week, it's going to be ten times worse now. It's going to be chaos, anarchy and people killing each other for survival as well as pleasure. In short, it's going to be a world that someone like me would thrive in. I actually belong out there."

Johnny then lets go your hands and raises his arms upward and looks up and around making motions with his hands pointing to the shelter in general.

"And this, all this, is your world. This is all you have ever needed Suzy. Some place to feel safe. Some place locked away from the outside world. I mean you're the honest one here, can you tell me sincerely that you really want to go out there scrounging around for supplies and having to deal with people wanting to rape you or kill you, or hell even eat you? Wouldn't you rather someone else deal with it?"

Johnny focuses his attention back to you. You look at him and you don't even answer because your face is probably giving him his answer already. He's absolutely right.

You don't want to deal with reality. You never have. In fact you got along pretty well without having to for a very long time and whenever you have had to deal with it, it's always been a stressful mess. He's also right in that he's far more suited to dealing with the shitstorm that the surface is going to be.

And maybe that's just one more reason why you didn't kill Johnny. You knew he'd be willing to take care of you no matter what. It's all you've ever wanted, for someone to just love and take care of you while you didn't have to worry about a thing.

You move forward and put your arms back around Johnny and look into his eyes.

"Just don't killed okay?" you say.
"Never. I'll always be around to protect and take care of you Suzy. My love for you will always keep me going forever and ever and ever and ever."

The way Johnny is looking at you while he strokes your hair each time for emphasis when he says "and ever" would probably be creepy to most, but you know its just his way of confirming his love you.

You're so lucky.
Sheltered Princess


The Future…

It's been about a month; Johnny should be home again soon. Just have to keep an ear open for that certain knock and his voice.

You wonder what things he will have brought home this time. You're still pretty much good with the necessities. Maybe he will have found some new movies or books to bring you this time.

At first when he started going out, you worried about him even though he assured you he would be fine. Of course as time went on, you ceased worrying altogether.

Still, after the first few years, Johnny was getting restless. Sure he was going out, but never for long periods of time.

Then one day he went out and didn't return for a full week. For the first time in a long while you worried so much when he did that. This caused an argument when he finally returned. You were so angry.

You even accused him of cheating on you, but deep down you knew that wasn't and would never be the case.

To Johnny's credit he was honest about what the problem was. He apologized realizing he should've at least told you before disappearing like that. He tried, he really tried and he thought that "you" would be enough, but he wasn't like you. He couldn't stay cooped up down in a shelter for long stretches of time. Even though he was in the presence of an "angel" he always felt like a trapped animal. Sometimes being around you made him feel and realize just how inferior he was to you.

He explained how the surface was better than he could've ever imagined. No law, no order, and freedom to do whatever he wanted to whomever he wanted. The pull was too great and was getting greater.

You were upset and rightfully so. After all he had professed that he would always be there for you, and now who would take care of you if he left?

Johnny however insisted that he wasn't going to break your heart. He assured you once again that he would still be there to take care of you; he just needed time to himself. He explained that he just needed to "wander" because deep down that's who he'd always be. He also explained it would be safer for you if he did wander as he didn't want to one day unleash his…urges out on you by accident.

What could you do? How could you compete? He was a slave to his nature. It was like Bobby all over again.

That first time, you practically kicked him out and he left without struggle or even raising his voice, he just told you that he would keep his promise and that you would see that he would not fail you.

Naturally you didn't believe him at the time you were too upset. That entire month was a pretty bad one for you. You spent most of your time crying and wondering if you'd been a delusional fool for sticking your head in the sand and ignoring reality as usual. You even started reading those survival books that you hadn't actually gotten to reading yet and rationing your food and water a little more since you were potentially facing an uncertain future.

But then when that month had passed and Johnny did indeed return like he always had in the past.

At first you were reluctant to even let him back in, but then you realized that he had kept his promise just like he always has to you. The reunion was a happy one and over the years you've gotten accustomed to this arrangement. In fact it's nice to be by yourself too. You'd actually forgotten what that was like during the years Johnny was around all the time.

You hear a familiar pattern knock on the shelter door followed by Johnny's faint voice coming from the other side. After taking the usual safety precautions, you excitedly rush to open it with your pistol drawn.

"I'm home, my perfect angel." Johnny says smiling and holding a couple of bags no doubt stuffed with goodies.
"Well don't just stand there, come in! I missed you." You say and welcome Johnny back home like you always do.

Johnny tells you a few things about the outside world like he always does, but in general you never care that much. As far as you're concerned, what he does out there you don't want to hear too much about and it doesn't matter anyway. All that matters is his time with you.

You happily accept all the gifts and supplies he has brought for you and later on you and he embrace as lovers do.

The pair of you enjoy your time together, until its time for Johnny to wander again. But you never despair about it, because you know he'll always come back.

And one day, you know he'll come back forever.

It's not perfect, but then nothing in this new world is.