Later Gater: Part One

Most of the old rummy buildings got blown to smices when the nukie hit the town, but some survived the blast. Most had the look-out holes blown into pieces of glass, and some of the walls had survived as well. If you found a place that wasn’t unstable, and if you would just clear out the debris, you had yourself a decent slum.
-Momma-

I don’t know how she was able to do it, but Katlyn managed to beat us home. We walked up the charred steps, opened the door. There she was, all fine and candy, but still out of breath. She was in the cook’s room drinking out of the waterbowl, when we walked in.

She looked up at us surprised when we entered. “Oh thank Gob it’s you!” she ran up to me and hugged me.

“Katlyn, what…I…how?” I stammered. “What happened?”

She smiled at Leo and I and asked if we wanted to know what happened. We nodded and she started to tell us the story. “Well, they started asking me some stupid questions like ‘Have you ever had a man?’ ‘How old are you?’ ‘Are you Katlyn Barle?’ and things like that. I was in this really big room, and I’m not talking about big, I’m talking about the biggest room you can imagine. It was ten times the size of this one.” she stopped for a breath. “So, after awhile they finally decided on what they would do with me, and told me.” She smiled, but this wasn’t any happy smile, it was one that made you feel like she was about to devour you. I shivered, I had never seen her smile like that, and it scared me. “And this is the fun part.” she said. “So they had me in this small room, with this… dorb, and he was all over me. I didn’t want it, so naturally I fought him, but then I remembered something.” she turned to me and said, “You remember that night you saved me right?” I nodded. “Well, I figured that if they were that protective about their privates, then it must hurt to get hit there. Leo’s mouth dropped open.

“How could you even think about doing that?” Leo asked.

“Hey, it was self defense.” she shrugged. “I stopped fighting him and let him get his pants off and all, then I took a wack at it.” Leo flinched and groaned. Like it was happening to him as she was talking. I was going to have to remember his reaction for future purposes. If it hurt to even think about it, then I would have a weapon against any man.

“So what did you take a ‘wack’ at it with?” he asked.

“Well my foot of course. I kicked him.”

“Oh my Gob,” he said. “That poor man.” Katlyn and I both turned and looked at him.

“Excuse me?” she said.

“Nothing.” he muttered.

Her mood took a sharp turn from proud and exited to glum, “Well, basically I’m screwed now because I have the whole town after me.” she sighed and took the back door outside. I followed her, closing the door behind me.

“Well, what are you going to do next?”

“I don’t know, Luna. I’m sure not welcome here anymore, so I just don’t know what to do.” she was silent for a moment. “What if I went to Raski?”

I gasped. “But Katlyn, it’s…no one has ever been there. Well, no one here. When someone leaves, you don’t ever hear from them again.”

“I know that, but it’s just, we can’t be the only ones out here. There has to be others. There just has to be other survivors.”

“But Katl-”

“Look, I’m not welcome here. I’ve screwed up, and I’ve nowhere else to go. Not my mom’s not here, and certainly not to the council. If they find me, I’ll be offed, and I’m not quite ready to die yet.”

“I know what you mean.” I muttered.