"Hey Jack, is that outhouse large enough to prop up a spear inside it?"
"Um, I think so. Why? You taking one of those instead of the bat?"
"Yeah, I was remembering something I watched once talking about how the spear was an easy weapon to learn how to use even for someone completely unskilled which is why it was used so much in ancient and medieval wars amongst infantry. I'm just thinking I'd probably want something like that with me instead of a bat if we encounter a bear or something I want to keep at a distance."

Jack looks at you a bit impressed.

"Well, look at you. Suzy, warrior princess over here. You said you didn't know anything." Jack says smiling.

You take the spear and then look over at the shield.

"Jack, help me get that shield down from the wall." You say.
"What?" Jack responds.
"I want to take the shield with me too."
"Suzy, you're just going to the bathroom, not to war!"
"Hey you said it yourself, we still don't know what this place is all about and I want to feel as secure as possible, so if that means carrying around a shield, then that's what I'm going to do!"
"…alright…" Jack says and then proceeds to grab the circular shield down from the wall and then hands it to you.

The shield isn't light and is made of strong thick wood; you definitely feel the weight just holding the thing.

"You sure you don't want the sword too?" Jack asks.
"Nah, I think this is all I can carry. The shield is definitely heavier than I thought it would be."
"I really don't think you're going to need that." Jack says wrapping a fur around himself and grabbing the axe he brought with him from the Gray Building.
"And like I said, it makes me feel better. Come on let's go."

Upon exiting the cabin you see the sun shining down and you feel the cold wind blow.

"Shit, even with these furs on I forgot how cold it was." You say.
"We'll get another big fire started when we get back." Jack says.
"I'll look forward to it, so which way?"
"Oh to the left and then past some trees, it's not hard to find."

You and Jack make your way to the infamous outhouse. You both look around periodically, but see nothing dangerous. When Jack's not looking around, he's studying you.

"So you ready to fight the Persians?" Jack asks with a smirk.
"I dunno, but I have to say I do feel rather empowered." You reply.

Eventually you get to your goal and it looks exactly like you thought it would.

"Well this is it." You say unenthusiastically.
"Your shield is going to be kind of bulky, leave it out here with me. Unless you plan on getting attacked from below and if that's the case, a shield isn't going to help."
"Fuck, now I'm going to be worrying about something lurking down there and reaching up to grab me. Thanks a lot!" you say and give the shield to Jack.

You enter the outhouse and endure the unavoidable. Thankfully Jack makes no attempt to speak or make jokes to you while you're inside.

Eventually you come out and start putting your hands in the snow. Jack watches you and then goes back to looking around.

"Well, wasn't as bad as I thought, I'm still missing modern plumbing though. Wish we had soap too." You say.
"I guess if you want to sanitize your hands even more I suppose you could pour some of that mead we have at the cabin on them."
"Will that work?"
"It's got alcohol in it, I assume it can't hurt. You ready to go Valkyrie?" Jack asks and hands you back your shield.
"Yeah, you see anything out here?"
"Nah, just a few more of those white rabbits I always see hopping around."

As you and Jack make your way back to the cabin, you and he speak on if either one of you knows anything about hunting. You of course know nothing, Jack says he's not much better, though he thinks maybe you both could start making simple traps or something, especially given that there are obviously rabbits around here to be caught.

"Wish we had the Internet so we could at least look all this shit up. God, I really miss the Internet…I think this is the longest I've been without it and I suppose those days are over as well." You say as you approach the cabin.
"Oh, you don't know. We're still just stuck out here in the wilderness, like I said, maybe there is Internet and hover cars somewhere else."
"Love that optimism Jack…" you say chuckling and heading towards the door.
"Hey Suzy, wait is that blood in the snow?"

You and Jack both stop a few feet away from the cabin, you're still closest to the door, which suddenly swings open, instinctively you put the shield up to cover yourself as much as you can.

Before you, you see a man with a good amount of facial hair and wearing several furs and clothing much more suited for this sort of weather.

He's not completely standing upright, but is in a somewhat stooped position as if wounded which judging from the blood in the snow is probably the case. While it's difficult to tell his facial expression due to the hair, his eyes are wide as if he's surprised, desperate or possibly even afraid. Maybe a mixture of all three.

The major thing you see however is the crossbow he's holding and pointing at you and Jack.

The man shouts something at you in a language you don't understand and fires, but fortunately you had the shield in front of you and the bolt is prevented from hitting your body and merely goes stops half way through the shield instead.

There is the smallest pause in this encounter where you realize that you just came close to being killed again, Jack realizing you nearly came close to being killed and the man realizing he's failed to kill you.

The man quickly backs inside and hastily attempts to reload his crossbow, meanwhile you don't think about your near death experience and just act. You charge forward with the shield up and the spear out. You even start screaming like you're in an action movie.

Your charge is stopped when you hit the man full on. The spear sinks into his body and he cries out in pain dropping the crossbow. You attempt to pull the spear as hard as you can back out, but it isn't easy because the man keeps you from doing so by gripping the top of the shaft and the man still has enough strength to grab the knife on his side with his other hand.

Fortunately he can't quite reach you and swings helplessly with one hand. Since you can't pull the spear out, you instead start wiggling it to the left and right no doubt adding to the pain as well as internal organ damage. The man once again screams in agony and lets go of the spear allowing you to pull it out. He falls to the floor.

Jack who was having difficulty in getting around you before finally succeeds so he can get in closer to swing his axe down at the man on the floor.

"Suzy, hang on I can…agh!" Jack exclaims as the man desperately slashes at the closest leg to him with his knife, which happened to be Jack's. This causes Jack to reel back and nearly stumble into the fireplace. Fortunately he only falls into a small pile of logs for the fireplace.

You press your advantage by stepping up and attempting to plunge the spear into the man's neck, but he manages to dodge and you only hit the floor. He grabs the shaft of the spear again in an attempt to keep you from using it. He's got a weak one-handed grasp though.

You drop the shield on him

Thinking unconventionally and with a bit of a heft from your shield arm, you drop your shield on the man's body. He isn't expecting the sudden weight smashed into him and expects it even less when you decide to jump on top of the shield, putting more crushing weight on his wounded torso.

The man bellows and lets go of your spear. He doesn't even have the energy to do anything with his other hand holding the knife.

You quickly lift the spear from its original position and looking directly into his eyes, you thrust it directly into his throat and twist.

The man makes sickening gurgling sounds as blood comes from his mouth and neck, his eyes bulge and his body convulses for a few seconds and then stops.

Meanwhile, you're breathing heavily and just staring at the body.

"Suzy? Suzy? You alright?" Jack asks.
"Huh? Yeah…I just…I just killed a man. Never did that before…well not directly I suppose." You say and step down from the shield and the dead man's body.

Jack limps over to close the door and then over to you.

"You…you sure you've never fought before? I mean it all happened so fast, but you seemed to just suddenly go into some sort of warrior mode."
"I dunno. Something just clicked inside my head. Can't explain it myself either. Maybe it was just a fight or flight response and I've been sick of running lately. This guy was trying to kill us and I had no choice but to kill him."
"Well it was certainly one of those situations."
"Yeah…I guess. Is your leg okay?" you say moving your shield off the body.
"Yeah, It's superficial, I guess I better clean it out with alcohol and wrap it up though. I think I saw a roll of linen wrap in one of those drawers."
"Looks like that's what this guy was attempting to do too because the wrap you mentioned is right there on the table along with an open jar and a big pouch. This guy was obviously already hurt when we found him. Look there." You say and point at the man who you now notice has an ugly gash on his arm that looks like some green stuff was smeared on it. You lift up a few more of the furs on his body and notice another wound on his side as well. You weren't responsible for either of those.

Jack goes over to get the wrap and inspect the open jar.

"I think this might be some sort of ointment. Smells awful and has the same green color on his wounded arm. This pouch looks like it has more of his items. I'm going to take a look." Jack says.

While Jack goes through the dead man's bag, you decide to directly search the body. You don't find anything though except a half full quiver of crossbow bolts and his fur clothing, which you start taking off of him.

"Suzy, what are you doing?" Jack asks when he sees you stripping the dead man.
"I'm looting his corpse. So far this is the only set of proper clothing we have for this sort of weather. Might as well keep some of it, we can always get the blood out and I can sew up the holes later. The boots alone should be worth keeping." You say.
"…well I suppose you're right. You need any help?" Jack asks.
"Nah, I got it. Just patch up your leg." You say.

While Jack does just that, you proceed with your task. By the time you get the man down to his raggedy loincloth, you temporarily stop to just look at the body, exhale and rub your hand over your face.

"Not a pretty sight from here either." Jack says.
"No, it's not that. It's the fact that I've just realized that I've been sitting here stealing a dead man's clothes and I don't feel bad about it. And even coming to that conclusion, I STILL don't feel bad about it. It's like nothing."
"Well I admit, this is sort of fucked up, but he did attack us first."
"The thing is though is we're the trespassers. I mean he owned this place. Probably built it with his own fucking hands. From his perspective and any right thinking person's, he had the damn right to try to kill us. I know if someone invaded my home I wouldn't like it. We just stumbled in and started going through his shit and stealing it." You say.
"We needed to survive." Jack says.
"I'm not debating that. I just…well…does this make us evil? Because if it does, I have to say, I'm perfectly fine with that and that's probably a scariest thing I've just learned about myself this week and the funniest too, because I can also honestly say killing this guy was one of the highest points of motivation I've ever had and that includes all the times I was running for my life this week and especially attempting to get a job in a shitty comic shop." you say.

Jack doesn't respond, he just sort of looks down and then away, going back to wrapping his leg.

You stand up and grab the man by his feet.

"Jack can you get the door?" you say.
"Yeah, and don't try to drag him by yourself, I'll help." Jack replies as he heads over to the door.
"It's okay. I got it. Just get that fire going while I'm dragging his body out into the wilderness." You say.
"Suzy, we're in this together. I'll help you." Jack says.
"Yeah, you're right. Grab the other leg after you open the door." You respond.

You and Jack drag the body into the wilderness. You make a mention that maybe you should bury it at some point, but as long as it's immediately out of sight and away from the cabin, it's good enough where it is.

The pair of you then quickly make your way back hoping nobody else has shown up at your home. Which is certainly what it is now considering you just killed the owner. You're still feeling a bit numb about that.

When you're back inside the cabin, Jack speaks up again.

"Just for the record, I don't think we're evil." Jack says.
"Well evil people don't tend to think they are." You answer with a minor chuckle.
"I dunno about that, there are tons of evil bastards that revel in their evilness. I mean I'll admit I feel a little bad about what we did, but I just don't want you to beat yourself up about what happened too much. It's done."
"I'm not. That's sort of my point and why I was wondering if I was evil in the first place, but you're right. It wasn't something to brag about, but it's done and there's no point in worrying about it."

You close the door and bar it.

"I'm a little tired. I'm going to go lay down on the bed." You say.
"Okay, I'll get this fire going like I planned to do before all this happened. I'll clean up some of the mess around here too." Jack replies.

You get on the simple bed, which is basically made up of straw, animal skin and furs. It's not a sofa, but it's all the comfort you're going to have in the near future.

Even though you already talked about this with Jack, you still can't help but go back to it. You start wondering if there is something genetically wrong inside your head and part of you takes after your uncle Ed, or maybe if when you went through all that shit in the Gray Building you "lost" part of yourself somehow.

Then you start wondering if maybe it was just a desperate situation and in such times, people do desperate things even if they normally wouldn't have done so. Like Jack said, you are trying to survive and like you said, that man was going to kill you and you had to prevent that from happening.

It's as good as a rationalization as any. Jack seems to be fine with it and you are too.

You sit up slightly from your position and watch Jack clean up the place and stoke the fire. It's weird to think you met this guy in a comic shop and here you are with him who knows where.

You've had more adventures with him this week than you ever had with anyone else. And that includes Bobby because it wasn't like the two of you ever went anywhere.

As you think on these things, your hands start to wander and you feel a lump in your pocket which you forgot being there. You half expect it to be your dead cell phone, but what it is, is the thousand dollars and the car keys Jack gave you.

"Heh, I forgot these were even in my pocket. Guess we have another reminder of the old world." You say jingling the keys a bit at Jack.
"Sadly, I doubt if all that cash is going to be useful here, well except for kindling." Jack replies
"Well at least the keys can be a reminder of your first gift ever to me." You respond.
"Great. My first gift to you was a car and a thousand dollars. That's going to be tough to top now." Jack says.
"Actually I got an idea of how you might be able to match it. Jack, stop cleaning up, I want you over here." You say.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. I'm just remembering earlier that we were in middle of something, and I'm thinking we need to get back to that again."
"Wha…oh…" Jack says suddenly getting it when you start taking your clothes off.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get your clothes off." You say.
"Suzy, we don't need to do this you know. I'm perfectly fine waiting." Jack says.
"Yeah, well I'm not. It's been a while and I haven't even been able to set time aside for splittin' the kitten so this is as much for me as it is for you. Besides, after surviving the week we've both had, I think we should have a little celebration don't you think? What the fuck else do we have to do?" you say.

Jack doesn't respond, he just starts taking his clothes off a bit shyly. It's at that moment you remember the fact that he seemed a little inexperienced when you were kissing him earlier.

"Jack, you don't need to be nervous around me. We can start off slow if we need to and I'm not going to judge. It's just me and you okay? Just like it's been all this week."
"Okay. I just…I'm…I'm a…"
"I know and it's fine, just come over to me." You say reassuringly.

It isn't long before Jack and you are both on the bed naked. Just as you said, you take it a bit slow with him. Feels a little weird being the "aggressive" one, but there certainly is a part of you that's enjoying the role.

You're in the middle of it, when Jack says something that makes things slightly odd.

"I love you Suzy." He says.
"… I… love you Jack…" you answer back.

Well, maybe it isn't TOO odd, considering you're probably the only girl Jack has ever been with and spent any long amount of time with too.

In fact you sort of wonder why you even hesitated to say it back, after all, you are fond of him and you've had a budding relationship with Jack all this week. You just suppose that "love" hasn't really been in your mind since you broke up with Bobby.

Still, it's a nice feeling after all the shit that's happened this week.

Afterwards, you and Jack hold each other and generally talk about shit that doesn't pertain to your immediate situation. There is much that will have to be done, but for now the pair of you are enjoying shutting out the outside world.

Just like when you two were living in the basement.

Day eventually becomes night and the pair of you turn in a little earlier than usual.

Next day…

SATURDAY


You groggily wake up and see Jack over at the table like he was the last time you woke up in this place. He looks like he's studying a piece of paper and doesn't notice you waken immediately this time.

After sitting up, you call out to him.

"Hey, cunninglinguist whatcha discover today?" you ask rubbing your eyes.
"Oh hey, you're up. Just looking at this parchment that was in this large pouch here. It's a crude map from what I can tell."
"A map? Well that's convenient. Anything good?"
"Well I don't know all the symbols obviously, but I THINK this might lead to a couple towns. Some of these look like roads, I don't know though until we do some exploring."
"Let's do it." You exclaim.
"What right now?"
"Sure. I mean we're going to have to at some point, might well start getting some of this shit out of the way."
"Well okay, guess we better get dressed then."

You nod and start grabbing your clothing. As much is you might like the furry boots, They're a little big on you. They're actually a little big on Jack too, but they at least fit him better, so he gets them. You both of you put on furs much like you did yesterday, then you grab your spear and shield.

"I think I'll take that other spear. Seems like it worked for you yesterday." Jack mentions.
"You sure you don't want to take the crossbow?" you ask.
"If I knew how to use one properly, sure I'd take it. But I think I'm going to have to practice with something like that first. Seems slow to load and it won't do you any good if you're in trouble and I can't use it effectively. At least with this spear I can help you directly."
"Yeah, good idea."

After hiding a few of your more valuable items (Like your only pouch of coins) you both leave the cabin.

"So which way should we go?" you ask.
"Hmm, I'm thinking we should follow the tracks of the guy who lived here. They were going to the right before he came back. According to the map, there is a town in this direction. Or at least I think there is, guess we'll find out."
"Okay."

You and Jack head to the right. The occasional blood in the snow makes it pretty easy to follow them though the tracks have been partially covered by snow or stomped over already.

"I'm thinking it was sort of a good thing that guy was wounded yesterday. He wasn't exactly easy to put down. I can't imagine the fight he would have put up if he had been at full strength." Jack says.
"Yeah, but now I'm wondering what the hell he was fighting before he met us and how many." You respond.

Eventually after a bit of traveling, you and Jack see something lying in the snow. It looks very large too. The pair of you cautiously approach.

When you reach the body, you notice that it's a massive… creature with grayish blue skin and tusk like teeth. It's dressed in the barest of fur clothing and has several crossbow bolts and arrows in its body and face. You also see signs of deep cuts across its body. Next to its body is a large club, which resembles more of a broken tree branch rather than a proper weapon. However it would certainly kill someone if swung at them and judging by how massive this creature's muscles are, it looks more than capable of smashing someone's head in even without a club. The club has signs of blood on it.

"Holy shit. What the fuck…" Jack says.
"I think we just found what that guy was running from or limping away from rather. Must've been quite the fight." You say.
"I think there is more stuff up ahead, well more blood anyway."

You and Jack leave the creature's body behind and follow the rest of the blood trail noting a broken sword along the way.

You soon find a second body, but this one looks human, or at least you guess it was, since the half of the head is caved in. Blood and brains are scattered about the snow. It's a pretty grisly sight, but you're long since desensitized by now.

You see a bow nearby, but the body still clutches a bloody dagger in its hand. A fur hat also sits several paces away. You assume it probably was knocked off during the fight.

"I guess this was his friend" Jack says.
"I'm thinking it could have even been his girlfriend, smaller frame, even with the furs on I can see the chest is bigger. Long hair and from what I can tell of what's left of the face, it looks slightly female…is that ear pointed?" you say.
"…yeah…that ear is definitely pointed." Jack says looking
"What the hell, did we step into some sort of fantasy world?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. Told you that Gray Building could have sent us any fucking where."

You exhale, not quite knowing what to make of all this.

"Let's keep going a bit further." You say.

Jack and you press on, but you don't find any more signs of battle. You do eventually find that the wilderness ends and the edge of a road begins however. Sort of hard to tell due to the snow, but there definitely is a road here. Across the road are more trees. Sort of reminds you home that way.

"Well I guess this is one of the roads, which means I guess I got something on this map correct at least. Looks like if we go south, we'll hit the closest town. Still looks quite the like a walk though." Jack responds.
"Maybe we should cut the exploration trip a little short for today. Let's gather all that useful stuff from that battle scene and take it back to the cabin. We can certainly use some of it. The boots on that girl look like they would be more likely to fit me anyway and wearing something like those would be a hell of a lot more pleasant for walking around in." You say.
"Okay, let's go back."

You and Jack return to the battle scene and begin looting the dead girl first. Along with the furs and her weapons, you also find a nearly empty quiver of arrows and a small pouch similar to the one that the man had. You take a quick look inside and see several items for you to inspect when you're in the comfort of your much warmer cabin.

When you and Jack are loaded up, you and he leave the dead woman mostly naked in the snow, much like you left the man and make your way back.

Upon getting back to the body of the monster you attempt to pull out some of the bolts and arrows lodged in its body, but some are either partially broken off inside or just sunk in too deep and you're not willing to make the effort to hang around and pull out every single one. The monster itself wasn't carrying anything save for it's minimalistic fur cloth around it's waist and neither you or Jack are interested in taking it.

Soon you both get back to the cabin where you drop your new loot and go warm up by the fire. The pair of you are silent as you sit, watching the flames flicker.
Jack however breaks up the silence eventually.

"So, you really think that woman was the owner's girlfriend?" Jack asks.
"Maybe wife, I dunno how it works here. Seems like the logical conclusion though." You respond.
"Just didn't notice a prominent second set of tracks around the cabin."
"Well it has been snowing off and on, there is the wind to think of, not to mention animals running around. Maybe she was walking behind him so she didn't have to get her boots engulfed with snow. All sorts of reasons why you might not have noticed them. Don't worry about it. Besides, you said it yourself, you're not a tracker."
"I suppose. I guess I just feel that missing a detail like that could be fatal given what we've experienced as well as seen."
"Yeah, this does seem to be a pretty harsh place. Still don't know what the hell that blue gray thing was. Definitely want to avoid encountering those things though…and those." You say pointing to the ugly head on the wall.
"I'll get rid of that thing later today. I know it bothers you." Jack says.
"Nah, it can stay. I'm strangely sort of getting attached to Toothy over there."

A pause of silence in the conversation follows before Jack speaks up again.

"If that was his wife or girlfriend though, that's sort of fucked up that he just left her body like that." Jack says.
"Well, it seems like that thing was still chasing him, maybe he didn't know if was dead or not and wanted to get to a place where he could better defend himself and heal a bit. He could have always returned for the body." You say.
"Maybe. I just want you to know I'll never abandon you like that." Jack says causing you to chuckle.

"Well that's sweet Jack, but if I already got my brains splattered on the ground and there's a hulking monster around by all means run your ass to safety. No point in both of us getting killed." You say.
"I don't even want to think about something like that. I just…I can't imagine a life without you now." Jack responds and grabs your hand.
"Well with as brutal as this place seems to be, you never know."
"No, I can't think about such depressing thoughts. I love you too much."

Jack's face displays one of concern, like he's worried you're going to die right this very second and he can't even bear the thought of you gone. It's apparent he's fallen for you a bit hard; perhaps a bit more than you've fallen for him, but you suppose it's better that he's like this rather than not giving a shit.

You give him a reassuring hug.

"Don't worry so much Jack, I'll try to last as long as I can in this world before the monsters get me."
"No, you're going to survive. I bet you'll even survive longer than I will. You'll survive everything."

Jack's confidence in you is a lot higher than your own though you have to admit, you've been doing pretty well so far. You're certainly not that "good girl" that hid from the rest of the world any longer.

You have no idea what's in store for you or how you're going to deal with it, but whatever the future hold for you here, you will make your best attempt to survive and push through it.

…

Eternal Mother


The Future…

It's a harsh world.

"Number 660."

Possibly more than your old one was, but you eventually learned how to deal with it. You even managed to make a proper life for yourself here despite all the trials and tribulations.

You remember how hard that first year with Jack was. Struggling to survive, learning how to hunt, dealing with the elements, dealing with unfriendly people and creatures, and generally just being a "modern" person who didn't have too many survival skills to speak of and being thrust into a primitive environment.

You think learning the language was the most difficult part. Jack was always a little better at it than you were. You probably still sound like a retard to some folks, but it gets the job done.

"Number 661."

During those early years you also ended up having to do a few things you never took pleasure in doing, but it was always it was always for survival.

In those instances you were always a little better at that. Jack would definitely always support you, but then he loved you very much and would have followed you into the Gates of Hell.

You suppose it did get to a point where rationalizations really didn't excuse what you did, but then you don't think you ever cared about those anyway. You were a woman who was willingly dating a human sacrificing cultist at one time after all.

You smile upon thinking about your old flame. You think Bobby would have fit in very well in this world.

Maybe to some extent, you did too.

"Number 662."

You think for a while you might have gotten a little colder and ruthless. Seemed like this was a place where the strong ruled over the weak and fuck you if you couldn't keep up. From what you could tell people here had three choices:

Beg and hope their tormenters took mercy on them, which was almost never likely.

Die and just roll over to accept death because it was preferable to keep living in this shitty world.

Or struggle and fight tooth and nail for what little you actually did have. And in that case you either won or kept it, or you died and lost it.

You know which one you chose.

"Number 663."

Things did change a little though when you had your first child. You never planned on ever having a family before, let alone one in a world like this one since it seemed more like a punishment than a blessing…but Jack always had a way of making you see the positive.

You loved him for that.

Another child followed and for a while it seemed like everything was going well. You had a loving family, a larger dwelling; you weren't struggling to survive any more. You even had another baby on the way and you didn't even mind it.

Hell, you probably achieved quite a bit for a pair of former basement dwellers.

You were starting almost feel "normal" or as normal as you could ever be or get in a place like this.

And then just like everything in your life, it all eventually went to shit.

"Number 664."

While the occasional wandering ogres were certainly dangerous, they tended to stick a little further north. Other than that dead ogre you saw the first time you came here, you fortunately never encountered one in person again. The freedom fighting elves gave grief to the government, but never really made raids on civilian settlements. Indeed they tended to stay hidden.

The barbarian tribes however were always an ongoing problem in Rask, but you always figured you were far enough away from them and you knew there was at least an Empire Fort in the area they would attack first before moving deeper into more "civilized" territory.

Of course the Empire has always had a hard time maintaining order in this place. You suppose that was one of the upsides of living here, you didn't need to deal with the oppressive seemingly monolithic government that controls a vast amount of land here.

But it was also a downside as you would soon experience one dreadful day and the fact it all happened in broad daylight does make it seem all the more horrible.

A small group of seven barbarians from the Wendigo tribe suddenly attacked, possibly the most vicious of all the tribes in fact. They attacked without warning and so fast, that your two children were dead before you or Jack could even spur into action.

While you and Jack had long been experienced in combat during your time here, you and he were no match for them or their numbers. Especially in your condition at the time.

You sometimes wonder if a baby hadn't burdened you, you would have been able to at least save Jack.

"Number 665."

Before he tried to hold them off to give you time to run, you remember Jack's last words to you;

Go. Our child needs to survive. YOU need to survive.

You almost didn't want to. You almost wanted to meet death right there with him, but you think two things stopped you.

One, your will to survive has always been stronger than your defeatism.

And two, you loved Jack enough to honor his last request.

You remember when you managed to get far enough away to the safety of a town; you broke down in tears and cried over him for at least a couple days. You still do sometimes. You miss him so much.

Your eyes tear up a bit upon thinking about Jack and then you hear your number being called out. It's time to do this.

Maybe you could look after this child, but it would be a struggle. A struggle you just can't do. Part of you feels like you're going back to your "old ways" by taking the easy way out, but you haven't come to this conclusion lightly.

You stand up and make your way to the front of the long waiting room. A tired looking clerk behind a counter looks at you and the bundle you're carrying.

"Name?" she asks.
"Suzy McCray." You answer.
"And I take it that this is the baby you wish to put into the care of the Empire?"
"…Yes…"
"Very well. Sign this, and you'll receive your payment."
"I don't want payment." You say which causes a very confused look on the clerk's face.
"Don't want payment? Well that's a first. We got some people here all the time bringing in babies. Probably stealing them in fact, but at least it's better than those dark elves do."
"Well I don't want payment."
"Well I'm sorry, but that's sort of a law. You have to take something."
"Can't you just make sure that he'll be given a good home?"
"I can't make that promise, I don't even do that process! I'm just a damn underpaid government drone. If you're so damn concerned about him, why the hell are you giving him away?"

Just as you're about to yell at the clerk, another woman walks over. She has long white hair and very dark skin. She's very pretty. You wonder if this one of those svelk you've heard about.

"Frieda, what's got you all flustered and generally acting like a typical monkey as usual?" she asks.
"Huh? What the hell are you doing here? You slumming or something? Shouldn't you living the good life in the Emperor's Palace like my high and mighty brother?"
"Jealousy is a terrible thing Frieda especially when I've spoken to Jacob on more occasions than I'd care to and I can honestly say you have nothing to be jealous about… but then neither would he. However, for your information I'm here on official business."
"Hrm. Well good for you, now let me get back to my fucking job."

At this point you intervene.

"Look can we please get back to me?"

Just as the clerk is about to say something. The svelk woman speaks out again.

"Frieda. You're obviously burned out, why don't you let me take over for awhile?"
"You? Working a lowly job like this?"
"Sure, I'm no stranger in performing tasks nobody likes to do."
"Fine by me. I'm going on a LONG break." She says and storms off leaving you and the svelk woman to talk.

She smiles at you in an attempt to be friendly, but right now you just want this to be over with and you're starting to think this was a bad idea.

"Don't pay any attention to her, I'm sure you have a very good reason for giving your child to the care of the Empire." The svelk says.
"I don't want to, you know." You say.
"I believe you. I don't think any mother truly ever wants to give up their child, but if I may ask, why are you doing it?"
"It's just…(sniffle) I lost my husband and other children in a Wendigo raid and I barely have anything left. (sniffle) I can't take care of him the way I want to. I mean maybe I could try, but I just don't have the energy left in me to do it. I don't have the drive and if I do a half assed job of it and something happens to him because I can't do my fucking job, then I'm even shittier mother than I thought. I can't take another loss in my life." You say trying to keep it together.

The svelk woman nods.

"I see. I think I understand. So what is it that you were exactly arguing about before? I heard something about not wanting payment."
"I don't, I'm not selling my baby for financial gain, I'll be fine. I'm giving him to the Empire because I'm hoping there is an off chance that the fucking government will do a better job at raising him or finding someone to raise him than I can because I'm too emotionally drained to do it any more." You say.
"Well, I hate to destroy your hope, but many of the children put in the care of the Empire aren't exactly that much better off. In fact in some cases they might be worse and as for getting someone to adopt, well it's a possibility a good family will, but usually they're just passed off to anyone."
"Great. So this has all been a waste of fucking time. Nice to know the Empire is fucking incompetent as well as being oppressive."

To your surprise the svelk woman laughs a little.

"You speak your mind. I like that. Hmm. Well, tell you what I CAN put him in the special E Wing."
"What's that?"
"Oh just a place where they often put unwanted babies from higher born families. Bastard children spawned by lust that would create social embarrassments, that sort of thing. Typically these children are very well looked after and special care is gone to make sure they aren't going to sweat shop owners or something equally hideous."
"And he would get a good home?"
"Well maybe, I should inform you though that it's still rare and if not adopted within a certain period of time the Empire still raises them directly. These children are typically raised to be officers and commanders in the military. Their training is severe, but the results create very well disciplined and skilled men and women…are you okay with your child possibly being given that sort of life?"

You look down at your baby. He's been very quiet throughout all this. Hasn't cried once. Never been much of a crier really. It's odd. You begin to think about how harsh this world is, and maybe it would be best if your baby got that sort of life. At least he would be better able to survive this world. Much better odds than you can provide.

You begin to sniffle and cry. You nod.

"Okay (sob) okay. Do it. It's a better life than I can ever give him now. (sob)"
"Very well. Let me have him."

You reluctantly pass your baby to the svelk woman who smiles as she holds him.

"I'm usually not fond of the way human babies look, but I have to admit, this one is sort of cute. What's his name?"
"Name? Oh…yes. Well his name was the same as his father's middle name." you say and tell her your baby's name.
"Hrm. Strange name, but then I've always found human names a bit weird."
"Do I need to sign anything?"
"Nah, I'll take care of this myself and have two of the best workers here take him to the appointed location. Contrary to the horrible lies about my people, we svelk cherish the lives of infants. You don't worry about this little one any longer, he's truly in good hands now and will either get a good home or receive the very best training the Empire can provide. You have my word and I say that as one of the Emperor's top advisors."

"Goodbye." You say, tearfully waving at your baby one last time. The svelk woman holds your baby's hand up and makes a waving motion with it. You can't stay any longer and you leave the building as fast as you can.

The streets of the capital are busy, but you still manage to find a secluded spot to release your anguish. You still don't know if you made the right decision, but it's done and now all you can do is hope.

Eventually in time you manage to get over your loss and move on with your life. You've suffered much tragedy, but above all you've always been a survivor and you'll survive this too. Jack was right about that.

 as years always do and eventually you grow old. Much of the political climate changes within your lifetime, but as a fairly mundane citizen who never makes waves and knows how to keep out of the way during times of strife you're never ever in the middle of it.

You spend your remaining years living day-to-day and occasionally brightening up you life by dwelling on happier times.

When you finally die, it's not an important death, as you were never considered an important person. However you and your decisions probably made more of an impact on this world than anyone would ever really know.

For it was your little Francis that grew up and became…

ETERNAL