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“I found the perfect place to start a new life. There is food, water, and shelter. It’s an abandoned bunker that has been left untouched since before the Rise. A few survivors had been trying to get in for weeks, but there wasn’t enough juice left in the structure to open the gate. All it took was my electricity, but it opened. Finally, I found a place where I could have kept Helios safe. But he’s already gone. I have failed him. It all seems meaningless now. But I keep going. Because what else am I supposed to do? Life finds a way, whether I want it or not.”

Extract of a handwritten journal, by Oliver Kang, 2060.

Margaret comes to help us tow the Firefly back to Gears and Giggles. The area surrounding the dam has been completely abandoned by men and gods alike.

It takes a good part of another week to repair the broken aero engine and the damage to the hull. We also rearrange the inside of the Firefly to fit a normal-sized bed for two by getting rid of all the extra chairs and cupboards.

To our surprise, Stellan and Perri appear one evening. They traveled from the market to visit the women. Apparently, the King let them leave, knowing that Jude was here. We take it as a good sign. And word has spread that we saved Gandalf from the Highwaymen. Maybe next time we encounter the King, he won’t try to kill us. That’s a fight I’d rather avoid.

Stellan watches me for a long time after embracing his mothers. Until, at last, he offers me a handshake. He tries his best to crush my fingers, but there is a little smile at the corner of his mouth. I think I won his approval by getting rid of the threat that hung over all their heads. Perri’s smile is brighter as he jumps into Jude’s arms.

We stay for another three days while Perri hacks into the Firefly to improve the AI by merging it with another incomplete Intelligence he had in his computer for years. By the time he’s done, Fyfe has a British accent that Jude finds endearing. He still calls us Mr. President and Mr. Vice President for the hell of it.

On the last night before our departure, Perri walks to me with a bag in his arms. I’ve been working on finishing the Firefly’s new look. We’re covering every surface except the solar panels with reflective sheets to divert sunlight and help fight heat in the desert during the day.

“Here,” he says, dropping the bag at my feet. “I brought you some clothes from the market.”

I raise a brow. “For me?”

“Yes. When I talked to Jude on the radio before leaving, he told me that you still wore the Hawaiian shirt I gave you. He said it suited your bright personality. So, I brought you more.”

I try to keep my face neutral as I open the bag and pull out colorful shirts one after the other. One even has flamingos with sunglasses on it. Bright pink flamingos.

By the time I find it in me to thank him, Perri has a shit-eating grin on his face. The little fucker knows what he’s doing.

“You have to wear them all,” he tells me. “Take it as your rehabilitation therapy. They’ll turn you into a better person. You can’t be mean with those shirts on.”

That’s debatable. I killed a few people while wearing the first one he gave me. I think that would qualify as being mean. At least to the people who are dead now.

“Very well,” I say fondly. I would wear them every day if it made Jude happy. “Even though I think the things I’ve done over the years won’t be erased by a few flamingos and flowers.”

Perri nods. “You’re right. It’ll take a lot more than that. But it’s a start.”

He pulls out two bottles of beer from his back pockets and hands me one. Stellan appears in the mobile-home door frame. He watches us for a moment before disappearing inside again. Funnily enough, he now trusts that I’m not a threat to Perri.

We sit on upside-down crates and open the bottles. The Highwaymen used to provide those beers and much more to Margaret and Jess. Now that they’re scattered to the wind, they’ll find themselves lacking. But, thankfully, the traveling merchants should come back to the area. They’ll be fine.

“What will it take,” I ask Perri, coming back to our conversation, “for me to erase all the things that I’ve done?”

“Start by understanding that you can’t erase them,” he says, clinking our bottles together. “All you can do, I think, is balance them out with good things. It’s your job to figure it out.”

“You’re so wise for a teenager,” I say.

Perri scowls. “I’m twenty-one!”

I laugh. I knew it, but Jude’s teasing is rubbing on me. It’s so easy to get a rise out of him.

We drink our beers, and he tells me about his life and the market until Jude and Stellan come sit with us.

Later that night, Jude joins me in bed for our last night at Gears and Giggles. The Firefly is ready, and so are we. He takes all his clothes off, and his lithe body slides over mine. I can never get enough of the feel of his skin on mine. So warm and soft.

Tomorrow, we leave together.

I still think that I don’t deserve any of it. I don’t deserve him.

Jude nuzzles my neck, and I feel his tongue leave a wet trail up to my ear. I shiver.

“Don’t move,” he whispers.

My fist tightens over the blanket, but I obey. He likes to use me as his plaything. Most of his life, people have tried to use and abuse him for his beauty. But that never worked for him. He wants to be the one to take. At least, until the time is right, and he can’t control his needs anymore. Only then does he want me to fuck him into oblivion. But, meanwhile, I can be his plaything all he wants. I crave it.

He pulls the blanket off my body and closes his hand around my cock. Blood rushes through my veins, and electricity sparks under my skin. Jude’s short hair floats above his head, as if caught in an electric storm. I can never hide what he does to me, and he loves that.

He slowly starts to jerk me off, and lubricant pours out of my black tip. His hand makes a wet noise as it goes up and down.

“Do you hear that?” he purrs. “I freaking love it.”

My hands twitch as I fight the urge to tackle him on the bed. His breath tickles my neck, and his erection rubs on my hip.

“I want to try something,” he says.

“What?” I whisper.

“I want to fuck you.”

My head turns too fast to be casual, and my eyes find his. He’s deadly serious, even though there is a wicked smile on his lips. He loves to see me flustered. My cock twitches in response to the offer. The lubricant pours generously and slides down my balls and into my crack.

“Will you let me fuck you, Oliver?” he asks.

How could I say no to that? I’ve been wanting it for weeks. But I’m too afraid to say yes out loud.

All I manage to say is, “My body is yours entirely.”

Jude’s hand tightens around my cock, and his pupils dilate. He pumps me twice, then slides his slippery hand down to my entrance. I spread my legs wider. My heart is hammering against my ribs like a caged bird eager to take flight. He nudges the circle of muscles with the tip of his finger while his left hand encircles my cock once again. He starts jerking me off again as he fingers me. The dual stimulation is overwhelming, and I almost come here and now. Jude gasps as electricity crosses from my skin to his. It doesn’t hurt him. Never again would I let my powers hurt someone I love. But it’s still a part of me. One that he’s not afraid of.

His finger goes deeper, and I wince from the alien sensation. Jude’s face appears above mine. He’s watching me intently. I have to fight the urge to hide my face.

“I love watching you go through all the stages of surrender,” he says.

My pride shudders. After years of being the one in control, it has been trained to give ground to the rest. To lust, happiness, and love. Only when it was done did I realize that pride and ego were my heaviest shackles. They pulled me down and ensured that I stepped over everything and everyone on my way through life.

But only to Jude would I surrender wholly.

The alien sensation is slowly replaced by something incredible. I can’t stop the little moans and gasps from escaping my lips.

Jude looks ravenous as he watches me. He opens his mouth, and his tongue peeks out. A drop of saliva stretches toward me, and I open my own to welcome it. Our kiss is sloppy and urgent. My nerves are on fire. I need him to do something more, now!

“What are you waiting for?” I say between gasps. “Fuck me already…”

The effect on Jude is immediate. He pulls his fingers out and appears between my legs. He swipes a hand in the lubricant, slathers his cock with it, and keeps his eyes on me as he slowly pushes in. My eyes widen, surprised by the feeling. I already feel stretched to the maximum. I’m much bigger than he is. How can he take me daily and not die?

I bite my lip not to cry out.

“Fuck, baby… I can’t stop now…” Jude says between rasps. “If you want me to stop, you’ll have to kick me off.”

The fact that he just called me baby almost ends me. Nobody ever called me that. I had no mother, my father was a monster, and the scientists all hated me.

Helios was too scared of me to call me endearing names. And I can’t blame him.

But Jude says it so naturally. With him, everything always seems so easy.

I encircle his back with my legs, making sure that even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t be able to pull out.

“Don’t you dare stop…” I say.

His eyes find mine, and they’re stormy. He pushes deeper, until he’s all the way in. He starts thrusting hard and fast. The discomfort is soon replaced by an earth-shattering pleasure.

My stomach is slick from the lubricant pouring out of my tip. He hits that sweet spot with every hip thrust.

“Shit… I need to pull out or…” he says, breathless.

I get a hold of the back of his head and pull him into a kiss.

“Don’t,” I whisper close to his lips. “Keep going until I forget my fucking name.”

Jude turns his face and sucks on my thumb before biting it. Pleasure and pain mix in an explosive combination. He reaches for my cock and jerks me off in sync with his movements. My head hits the wall of the bus repetitively, and I’m pretty sure we’re waking up the entire camp. I don’t care.

In a heartbeat, I’m coming in generous spurts over my chest. Jude keeps going for a while longer, and my eyes roll in their orbits. I’ve already orgasmed, but the sensation deep inside me is overwhelming. I hang on to him for dear life as he takes his pleasure.

I could spend my life here, under him.

At last, Jude digs his nails into my waist as he comes. Warmth spreads inside me and between my legs. We kiss deeply.

He relaxes on top of me and buries his face in my neck. I can read the electric current going through our bodies. The energy we create together has a different flavor; one I’m already addicted to.

I trail my fingers through his sweaty hair, which has already grown longer. He asked Jess to buzz the sides with clippers. There is a beginning of lush ginger locks. He’ll be unstoppable once it’s back to his favorite haircut. The most beautiful man to ever walk the wastelands.

Jude rolls his hips. Once, twice. Until there is no mistaking what he’s doing. He hasn’t even pulled out yet, but he’s already going again. I can feel him harden inside me.

“You still haven’t forgotten your name,” he tells me as our eyes meet. A wicked smile pulls at his lips.

One more hip thrust, and my cock is leaking lubricant again. I drag him down for a kiss.

After thoroughly ravaging me, Jude cleans us with a wet rag, and we lie in bed. I caress his elegant shoulders, tracing the fern-like scars with my fingertips.

“I’m sorry about the burns,” I say, recalling that fateful night when I almost killed him.

I would have if Helios hadn’t stopped me. I shudder just thinking about it. I almost killed Jude before our story even began. I would be dead now, buried under the ruins of my underground city. Maybe it would have been a mercy.

“I love them,” he says. “They’re cool, don’t you think?”

I frown and kiss him. “You’re impossible.”

When we finally say goodbye to our friends the next day—I’m still marveling at the fact that I can call them my friends—a month has passed since our fight with Maeve.

As we sit in the cockpit, Jude offers me his hand.

“Where to?” he asks.

“Wherever you want,” I say. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll follow you.” I drop a kiss on top of his hand.

Jude offers the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen, and I thank life for being so sweet.