Marital Law Read online

  Glancing at Ryan seated on the porch alongside Adeline, made me see that Kaylee was just another tool inside Marcella Munford’s chest. She used us all however and whenever she needed. And if she deemed we were broken, she discarded us.

  “It will take a while to build the trust again, Kaylee, but I would like to start over with you.”

  Surprised, maybe even shocked, Kaylee said, “I would love the opportunity to do this over and make it right, Sidnie. I've missed you.”

  “I've missed you too, Kaylee,” I replied, opening my arms to her.

  Kaylee slowly moved forward and we embraced. At first, I could feel her tense up, but eventually she relaxed. We were both in tears, in the end.

  Pulling back, Kaylee reached up and took a tear in between her thumb and forefinger and said, “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to these, but there is something undeniably good about the release they give.”

  I laughed so hard that more tears came to my eyes, and this only further confused Kaylee and me.

  Turning away from Kaylee, I made my way over to Colin. He was still smiling at me, and I felt my heart flutter a bit at the sight of him.

  “Hello, pretty girl,” Colin said, drinking me in with his eyes. “I have something for you.”

  “For me? What on Earth?”

  Reaching inside his pocket, Colin handed me a folded piece of paper and said, “For you.”

  Sidnie, there's more to life than this constant fighting, this never-ending war Marcella Munford has waged against us.

  I've stood watch over you for the last two nights, and it breaks my heart to see you struggle to this degree. The selfish side of me wants nothing more than for you to remain here with me. I would love to see where this thing (I hope there's a thing, and it's not just me reading too much into things) might take us. I look at you and I'm mesmerized. You have this incredible glow about you, this radiance that grabs my attention and won't let go.

  I would never forgive myself if I allowed you to remain here because your love for your family would make it an impossible chore. I just wanted you to know that I've never fallen for someone like this before. In truth, you are my first love. I wasn't looking, but your fire stole my eyes, my heart.

  There's no telling if I will ever see you again or not, but I sure hope so. I've spent these last few days in prayer, since I met you. Praying this will all work out, that MOM will stop this war she's waged against us and allow us to live as one, peacefully. But I know that's never going to happen, unless someone takes a stand, and I've chosen to be that someone. For you, I decided to become the lamb for Marcella Munford's slaughter. For you, I'm willing to risk it all.

  If all is for naught, I want you to know that my heart and mind will always belong to you. Our short dance will continue inside my head, our hands clasped in unity. Silly or not, there's no denying I have fallen in love with you. I just hope one day I will get to give you this letter, that one day I will get to tell you face to face.

  Colin

  Fresh tears rolled down my cheeks. “You wrote this while I was asleep in your room, back when I came to kidnap you and take you to Marcella Munford?”

  “I did, and I’ve been praying all this time that I’d be able to deliver it to you in person.”

  “You have got to be the sweetest man I’ve met,” I said, throwing my arms around Colin and squeezing him tightly.

  ****

  6 Months Later

  It seemed not everyone was in agreement with having a male lead them, but I didn't harbor any hard feelings toward those folks. This was a complete change in thought, in beliefs, in way of life. Most of those who disagreed, moved out of the area, and headed up north, to start a new life. I hoped they would be able to survive on their own, that they find whatever happiness they could in our broken world. There was still so much unknown out there, and I applauded them for venturing out.

  With the pact now disintegrated between MOM and the Badlanders, we’ve had a few skirmishes with them over the last few days. I still have nightmares of the holding area. The spot where Grandfather showed me some of the sick and aged had taken their own lives. Just thinking about the Badlanders feasting on their bodies makes me livid and disgusted.

  Jeremiah, having become the head of our new military force, is trying desperately to meet with the leader of the Badlands, but hasn’t been successful thus far. It would be great if we could somehow bring them into our fold, and teach them to hunt and farm, but how do you trust a group that would rather have you on their dinner table?

  I fear one day in the future we will have to battle the Badlanders, and I don’t think it will end well for either side. We knew very little about them, about their numbers, their skills. With our new community still growing and coming together, I just pray they aren’t smart enough to attack us anytime soon. We aren’t ready.

  Providence bared no resemblance of its former self. In just six short months, Sonia and Wayne have managed to effectively implement a democratic form of government, which affords the people a say in major decisions affecting their lives. They discovered an entire library hidden in the back of Marcella Munford's sleeping chambers that contained numerous books and documents on the old world government system.

  After much research, Sonia decided to implement certain parts of something the old world had called The Constitution, but not everything.

  As it turns out, MOM had warehouses throughout the world, filled with equipment and gadgets that had and would again, make our lives easier. Plans were already in the works to bring the power plants back online and put electricity in all of our homes.

  The Capitol was currently the only building with power: as with most things. We learned that our supreme ruler wasn't lacking in any of the amenities we'd been forced to do without for decades.

  The walls around the Capitol were torn down, and many of the people living inside chose to move out into the main town. Some remained, because they were still cautious of having a male in leadership and wanted to keep an eye on things.

  As for me, my life couldn't be better. Colin and I married a few weeks ago, and it had nothing to do with Marital Law. I love the young man, and it is obvious he feels the same.

  Everyone in Providence is adjusting to not having designated roles in the household, me included. I still hunt for food every chance I get, but often times, Colin is right there alongside me. We make a good team. Colin is good with the spear, but he’s even better with an arrow. This gives us longer reach when we come upon a stubborn creature that refuses to get close enough for my spear.

  I also learned how to cook, but I am thankful Colin had already mastered this skill, because my first two weeks provided nothing but extra crispy meat and a terrible tasting stew.

  One of Mother's first major decisions as our new leader was to have the dwellers move from the forest into Providence. This required more homes to be built, so my father came up with the idea of having the people of Providence work hand in hand with the dwellers on the construction effort.

  I smiled for days as I watched everyone working together. I believe it brought us closer, made us see how we really weren't that different after all.

  I think the best part of our little merger was the children. I got to enjoy them again, and some would argue I was just a big kid myself. They were awesome. Running around without a care in the world, tumbling, twirling, and laughing so hard their chubby little faces hurt. Or maybe it was my face that hurt.

  It might've been said that I was guilty of not pulling my weight in the construction effort, because whenever the children came around I conveniently disappeared. During our evenings together, Colin often commented on how good I was with kids, how I looked right at home.

  Yes, I was guilty of wanting a child of my own, but I decided not to rush things, to enjoy my time with Colin. Besides, I had an entire community of children to keep me busy.

  True to her word, Adeline spent many of her days at my house, and we continued to grow closer. She was
a lot like me, but she was more of a people person. While I was drawn to the children, she seemed more than adept in communicating with the adults. She had numerous friends and spent a lot of her time helping out the sick folks in the area.

  It was nice to have the sick and aged back living with the families. It allowed us all to grow closer to those we'd sadly written off as dead.

  Adeline was known to go from home to home, just to visit and hang out with the older folks, many of which no longer had families in the immediate area.

  Despite what Kaylee had said to Marcella, she decided not to keep both Ryan and Caleb as her husbands. She had her wedding annulled with Caleb and chose Ryan. She later confided in me that even though she'd had a thing for Caleb for years, she'd fallen hard for Ryan and wanted to see where that love took them. In the end, Caleb had lost two girls, but he was young and I was fairly certain he'd find many others later in life.

  Even though Kaylee and I had mended our relationship, part of me still harbored resentment in one area: she'd beaten me in the arena, and that didn't sit too well with me. Therefore, I decided to leave her a little note:

  You have been summoned to the arena for battle. The victor will leave with nothing more than the knowledge that she is the undeniable champion. The battle will begin in three days. See you there.

  Signed, Sidnie Rashellus, still your best friend.

  About the Author

  DW Brown was born in east Kentucky in the Appalachia foothills, and joined the military right after graduating high school. He graduated from Austin Peay State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology. After retiring from the Army after 20 years, he decided to pursue his dream of writing. He currently has five fiction novels out on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble: Lost Time (October 2012), Barter for Life (February 2013), Unconscious Lies (April 2013), To Know Death (March 2014), and The Hum (September 2015). He resides in Alabama with his wife and three girls and writes every chance he gets.

  About the Publisher