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8

Talia looked into the fire as the words flooded from her.

" My village has had difficulties keeping babies alive for the last five years. Our men began to act strange- collecting in the forest not allowing the women to join. It was strange as we had always been one. MM, er husbands and wives in my village hold no secrets from the other. The elders began to say any woman who does not produce children may need to be tried by the council to see if the seed of the male was any good." Talia visibly shuttered at this." I was far too young when they first began changing. My sister Anna Marie had been wed to her husband for a year and no child came. He had gone with the men to the forest- all of the wedded men had. My sister done everything she could to produce a child with him. Arron was a bright man, so smart and so loving and kind to her. But he changed as they could not produce a child. He started doubting himself. Saying he wasn't much of a man if he couldn’t make offspring. Anna Marie assured him this was not so. then like someone turned a light out Arron brought my sister before council and asked that they make her bare child. They preformed the "mating right" with him present. I learned later he held her hands down as the council elders offered their untainted seed." she spat into the fire. tears running down her face. "It worked, they got a child. But my sister was broken. She lost love with Arron. he began to blindly follow the elders and as soon as they felt Anna Marie needed another child it was done again, and again. It wasn't just my sister they did this to. Other women in the village became with child. Some women, and a few unwed men rose up against the elders. They were slashed in the open before all. It was a warning not to disobey. To submit and know your place. My sister had three boys before she gave birth to her girl. I was in the room that day when she gave birth to her. The moment the midwife told her it was a girl my sister asked for it. She smiled, tears streaming down her face. She kissed the little pink girl on her bald little head. She was beautiful, perfect in everyway. My sister, my Anna Marie covered the baby's mouth till she stopped moving." she wailed bringing her knees to her face as best she could with her own stomach protruding. Ari gave her a few minutes to collect her self.. "For killing a girl child it was a death sentence. I never saw my sister look so at peace the day of her execution." she poked the fire making the hot embers float to the ceiling. "It was not long after that I had learned I was expecting. It was my lovers. We had kept it a secret from the elders that I was spoken for. They had begun to arrange who was with who. And I knew I did not not want my matt to be like Arron. So we ran. Us and three others. We sent word to, extended family that we were coming. Matt and I got separated from the group. I think I know where they have gone but I can not get to them right now. So that is it, That is everything." she whipped at her face one more time.

Ari had listened to every word she had said. It was not uncommon in the settlements for some religious zealot to force reproduction. But she was not sure how all the other males weren't producing when only the elders were. Maybe something in their environment making the newer generation be sterile? And if that was the case why only the males? Were they ingesting something when they'd go to the woods? After a few minutes of processing Ari looked over at Talia, “You have not explained everything Talia." She froze. "What do you mean?"

"Explain where Matt is."

Ari could hear Talia's heart skip a beat. Talia's voice dropped, “He is dead. He died protecting me." she rubbed her belly as if comforting her unborn child. "Was that when you hurt yourself?" Talia blinked as if coming out of a dream, "Huh?" she looked down to see the hem of her dress had blood stains, and a small trickle of dried blood revealed there was a wound on the upper part of her leg. The wound was not openly bleeding but it had been a slow bleed for sure. "Yes." she whispered the confession. "We were running when something bite me. I fell. Matt came back to help me. He tried to help me, he really did but they got him. They shot him with some kind of dart. I had to watch him take his last breath unable to help him or me."

"How did you get away?" Ari prompted.

"I hide till the danger had passed. They took his body. I don't know if the others were hunted too but I have to try to get to the settlement in Silver Mines if they are alive they will be going there."

Ari nodded not saying much else. After a few minutes of reflection Talia got the nerve up to ask, "What about you? Have you always been alone?" .

Ari sighed, she did not feel like going over her life's story. Of her parent deaths, of finding friends, watching friends die or go crazy. She figured a quick sum of more recent events would best answer the girls question, "For a good bit yes. I was traveling with a group about a week ago out of the dead zone regions. We had gone into the bigger city to try and get anything left of value. We were hunting for food along the way. We lost three men when zombies attacked. I'd told the dumb fucks to not to shot so close to the deadlands, but they saw a huge buck and just couldn't resist." she tisked. " Then as we were skirting the deadlands, we'd held up in a old building. We'd thought we'd be safe honestly. We boarded up all windows and doors. There was a large room we had all camped in one night. The seven of us. It couldn’t have been past midnight when someone broke into the building. The fire guard, George and Kelis, woke the rest of us and we prepared to fight. The damn thing didn't come through the door though, there was two of them you see. A diversion and the attack. Something banged on the door outside our hallway and the fireguard went to take it out. The rest of us waited in the room, weapons ready. It burst through the boarded window. Took out one guy, Marko, as he landed on him. Another began swinging, that was Tommy, big guy. The horrible creature just reached out and grabbed him so lightening fast. He drained him fast. Then went for Dilion who was firing off in the corner. The bullets did nothing to this thing. I mean full blown had holes it and did nothing. When his clip went empty the thing attacked. Just ripped his throat right out of him. Justin got the bright idea to attack this thing while it fed. It didn't stop drinking, just reached out and grabbed Justin and held him there. When he was done with Dilion he just swapped over the Justin." Ari shook her head. "That left three of us. George and Kelis his partner. As soon as we had crossed well into settlement areas they headed south. I wish them the best of luck I truly do, but honestly I do not think going south would make much of a difference in this life."

"And how did you escape Ari?" Talia looking curiously at her. Ari swallowed the now very large lump in her throat," The thing, the vampire, he said he was saving me for last. “That was it, her confession. She knew it would come for her one day. Once a vampire had a scent they never forgot it. The question truly was did it mean the last of their group? That was what George and Kelis thought, that was why they ran. Or was there another stage she was not aware of?

That seemed to end the mood for talking with the women. the weight of their confession hung in the air between them. both raw from recalling their wounds.

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