Page 51 of Hunt Me
Warmth, food and pleasure.
Earlier, when she was satisfied with a full belly and a warm blanket, I felt something click into place within me. As if I’ve found my purpose, and something in my chest has warmed for the first time. That all of these hardened years trying to survive in such a brutal world has not left an impact upon me. As if she had simultaneously created a shield around me as well as filled a hole that was missing inside of me.
I knew I was a goner when I first laid eyes on her and in my concussed state thought she was a literal goddess for fucks sake but now, after that earlier feeling I know its far deeper than that and I am wholeheartedly hers.
‘You often talk to these apocalypse Gods?’I ask lightly.
A blush tinges Fauna’s neck, but that is the only sign of embarrassment she lets slip. The rest of her is composed, ridged as she tries to glare daggers at me.
I know Fauna’s glare could make a hard man crumble if she wanted. But in this limited amount of time, I’ve managed to get to know her enough now that the glare she is giving me holds no weight; it is all for show.
‘No,’Fauna responds, her tone defensive.
I’m about to tease her some more, but I’m stopped by her glare, which threatens to turn serious.
Fine, I’ll leave that knowledge for another day when she probably deserves it. I’m not one to judge too heavily anyway many of us have created imaginary entities to keep our lives entertained and anxiety in check. Liam’s been having a one-sided battle with the pigeons that live in the stadium for as long as I can remember.
‘Okay, okay,’I hold my hands up in mock surrender.‘No mention of the apocalypse Gods, noted.’
Fauna scoffs, her button nose tipped up as she glares at me. She looks so adorable when she’s feigning anger.
‘People believe in a God, but the mention of anything slightly different has them thinking I’m crazy. The world was wild well before any of us joined it.’
She’s not wrong there.
‘The world was crazy wasn’t it,’I say.‘How old were you when the virus hit?’
‘Fourteen would have turned fifteen at some point that year.’
Her hazel eyes glaze over for a second, and although I don’t know for sure what she is thinking about, I can imagine it. Those looks aren’t unfamiliar to any of us. From time to time, each of us falls into the memories of the past, what it was like to still be amongst your blood family, people you had grown up with, fought and made up with. Our memories are all that most of us have of them.
‘How old were you?’Fauna asks, surprising me that she wants to know anything about me.
‘Seventeen, would have turned eighteen at the end of the summer.
She hums, pressing her lips into a flat line.
‘Aye, shite eh.’I feel the back of my head, and maybe flex my bicep slightly in the process.‘Would have been going to uni, getting drunk in clubs and ruining my life.’
Fauna laughs,‘judging by last night, getting drunk wasn’t taken away from you when the world ended.’
I usually wouldn’t have gotten as drunk as we did last night, especially being away from the gaff. I’ve been silently beratingmyself all day whenever memories of our drunken words and clumsy movements pop up.
‘Aye, well, that’s not a habit I have. My performance was especially for you.’And it was. My mischievous little deer looked like she needed some form of fun, and all I had to offer her in the moment was a bottle of whiskey and the opportunity to smash some shit.
‘Unfortunately, the girls and I didn’t have a whole lot of other things to do during the winter, so we got quite good at playing drinking games.’Light returns to her eyes as she speaks, but something catches my attention.
The girls.
‘What girls?’I ask before I can think better of it, and by the way Fauna’s entire body goes ridged, I know it was the wrong thing to draw attention to.
‘Nothing, forget I mentioned anything.’She quickly responds.‘So that guy earlier, he’s one of your Skull friends?’
She’s not very subtly trying to change the subject, and out of worry that if I push her on it too much, she’ll spook and leave, I let her. She can take as long as she needs to tell me.
‘Vish and I knew each other before,’This information has Fauna distracted. I can sense the interest emanating from her in waves.‘We were part of a group called The Skulls before the world went to shit, well before it went to complete shit anyway.’
‘What do you mean? You had like a little club together?’Fauna asks.
