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“You know what I’ve been thinking about? The old gods—maybe they’re just the planet’s guardians. They ensure that life stays within the boundaries of what Earth can carry and manage. Pest control, of a sort. And you know who disappeared from the planet before us, millions of years ago? Dinosaurs. What if? Listen up. What if the dinosaurs weren’t killed by a giant meteorite? What if the old gods rose and managed life on Earth for a few centuries before going back to sleep? Leaving behind only the lifeforms that could adapt. What if mankind was the new pest?”

Video transcription of a video shared among survivors, creator unknown, 2046.

To Jude’s request, Fyfe flies to a place where we can ‘take a dip and get clean’. His map might be outdated, but many natural landmarks haven’t changed since the Rise. And so, we land near the Arizona hot spring, close to the Colorado River. It used to be a trail for hitchhikers, and some of the rusty signs are still up.

But even the prospect of taking a warm bath isn’t enough to chase away the haunting in Jude’s eyes.

“You go first,” he says to me, pointing at the hot spring with his gun. “While I cook. You stink.” He throws a towel he found in the Firefly at my face, followed by the soap.

I grab both and frown. “No, I don’t.”

Jude laughs and starts building a fire. We’re hidden between the canyons, and the light from the flames will be hidden from prying eyes.

I sigh and walk to the hot spring. It’s a knee-deep pool. I’ve never liked to get into water—not since the scientists used to drop me into the jellyfish tank—but I’ve learned how to keep my fear in check.

I take my clothes off and throw them in the hot spring. They need to be washed, too. The pants might be black, but they’re still covered in dried blood. And there’s a hole in the crotch area where Jude stabbed me on the first day. I walk into the pool naked.

Jude isn’t even trying to hide the fact that he has been watching me take my clothes off. I hold his gaze. There’s hunger in those haunted eyes now. I can’t remember the last time someone looked at me this way, without fear. Oh, there is hate and disdain, definitely, but no fear. He thinks he has tamed me and that I’m his to use and abuse.

I grab the soap and start washing my clothes first. Once they’re clean, I put them on rocks to dry. I dip the back of my head in the water and wash my hair.

The wounds on my chest and stomach, against all odds, have closed already. My mutations saved me once again. The skin is still pink and sore, but the scabs disappear in the hot spring as I wash myself. The damage to my organs will take longer to heal, but judging by the return of my electricity, they’re mending.

Meanwhile, I keep an eye on Jude. I get on my feet and rub the soap all over my body, offering him a full view. I don’t know what I’m doing—luring my captor and abuser. Poking the tiger, as they say. Or, in this case, the jellyfish.

And it works. Jude rises to his feet and walks to the pool.

“I’ve changed my mind,” he says. “I need a bath now.”

I do my best to ignore him as he takes his clothes off swiftly, keeping the gun in hand. Then he points it at me as he walks into the hot spring.

“Help me get clean,” he says, coming closer.

The tip of the gun finds its usual spot under my chin.

I slather my hands in soap and start with his slim shoulders. I could send an electric charge right now as we stand in the water and kill him instantly. But all his muscles would lock up and his finger would pull the trigger. I would be dead instantly. So, instead, one of my hands circles his throat and squeezes a little. His eyes flash in warning. And with something else—something dark and lustful.

My eyes drop, and my hands slide lower, over his chest and abs. He’s lean, but his muscles are defined. His waist is quite thin for a man. My hands fit perfectly around it.

He’s already hard and has a nice cock. Average in size but good-looking. It rubs against my inner thigh, and it takes me all I have not to reach for it. I’ve been hard for a while now, since Jude’s eyes fell on me in the pool. My own erection leaks lubricant onto his lower belly. He hasn’t missed that fact, judging by the lazy smile on his face.

My hands get close to his dick, and he arches into my touch.

“I need a distraction,” he says. “Make me come.”

An ugly retort crosses my mind, but I keep it in check. I want to touch him.

I get a hold of his cock with my right hand while grabbing his ass with the other. Jude gasps as I start pumping. The little noises that he makes are like music to my ears. How can someone be so mean all the time and yet so adorable? The duality of him drives me crazy.

One of my soapy fingers finds its way to the tight circle of muscles, and the tip slides inside. Jude moans and thrusts into my hand.

He looks as delicious as sin. I’ve never wanted to ravage someone more. To bend him over the rocks and break him in half.

I speed up, and suddenly, Jude slips on a rock. He falls backward, surprising us both, and the gun falls to the ground, away from the pool and out of reach. We both look at the gun, then at each other. Our eyes meet, and for the first time, I see fear looking back at me. But there is something else, too. Resignation. He knows I’ll kill him, and for a moment, frozen in time, he accepts his fate. His surrender is unexpected and such a turn-on.

I grab him by the throat and kiss him. I devour his gasp as I thrust my tongue between his lips. I must be losing my mind. I should be burning his entrails right now. Kill him. Destroy him. And yet—

Jude struggles for a moment, expecting death, but melts into my arms soon enough. He’s craving it as much as I do; there’s no denying it. We’re two hateful bastards, starved for touch. I’m the monster nobody can love, and he’s the jellyfish that stings anyone who gets close.

Thankfully, I’m immune to his venom.

My free hand once again finds its way to his cock, and as I encircle it. I send a small electric shock. It’s not enough to hurt, but I know from experience that it tingles as it travels through the nervous system. Jude moans and buries his nails into my chest, right on the sore skin. I groan, grab both his wrists, and twist his arms behind his back, forcing him to face the other way. I push him down until his knees hit the rock bottom, and he swears.

“Let me go,” he orders.

But there is no real bite to his words. There is no strength behind them. Just surrender.

“No,” I say, close to his ear. “You wanted a distraction. Let me oblige, master.”

Jude gasps. His skin is covered in goosebumps.

We both know he’s not my master, and I could just kill him right now, but it makes the game more fun.

I bend him over a large rock, smoothed by the passing of water over centuries. While I keep a hand over his nape, he arches his back, offering me his backside. A few people have offered themselves to me over the years. My heart might have been for Helios, but I still had needs. But no one ever looked so fucking good and decadent as Jude does now.

That same heart, which has been broken by Helios, is now pumping my dark blood through my veins with a heartbeat I know is stronger than that of normal humans. My cock is almost entirely black as my veins swell. It’s leaking a copious amount of lubricant. I swipe a hand in it and use it to insert a finger inside Jude. He shouts as I force his entrance with the tip, then slide my entire digit in.

There is no finesse or beauty in the way that we want each other. It’s raw need, desire, and hate mixed in a dangerous combination. We’re both so angry at each other and at the entire world, yet we crave more.

“More!” Jude says.

I want to fuck him to death, and I’m pretty sure he wants the same. His hands find their way to my thighs, where he digs his nails into my skin. I add a second finger with more lubricant, and he pushes back on my hand.

“More,” he repeats.

And there’s something strange in his voice. He sounds truly desperate this time. As if the events of today are weighing on him and the need to push it all away takes over.

I’m desperate, too. I keep thinking about Helios, day and night. About the monster I’ve become in his story. I’m the monster who haunts his past. He has now found a lover, and they’re traveling the wastelands together. I’m left behind, to fuck a man who hates me and can’t wait to put a bullet through my brain.

And yet, this man is the only one who wants me on this earth. Even if it’s something as fleeting as lust. For now, it’ll get us through one more day.

I align my cock with his entrance and start pushing in. Jude’s moans turn dirtier. No wonder he managed to worm his way into the King of Merchants’ bed. He’s a siren. I thrust, going deep, and his sweet moans turn into screams. If there is an old god living in those parts, we’re screwed.

I start thrusting hard, with no care to make it last. I can’t control myself. Neither can Jude… After only a few back and forths, he’s coming all over the rock. The smell of his arousal only urges me on, harder and faster. A sob escapes his lips. I pull his body along mine, his back to my chest, and my hand encircles his throat to keep him from escaping.

He’s crying openly now. I know it’s not because of me. The orgasm opened the gates to the flood, and his feelings are pouring out. His tears, strangely enough, turn me on. Not because he’s sad, but because his vulnerability is refreshing. And through all this madness, they’re the only thing that feels real.

Jude, the ruthless survivor, is crying in my arms. And I can’t get enough of him.

A few more hip-thrusts and my own orgasm takes me. I don’t pull out and come inside him. I lick one of the tears sliding down his cheek. It tastes salty, like the water in the jellyfish tank.

We catch our breath for a moment. His chest rises and falls under my hand. I can feel his heart beating through the thin skin of his throat. Thump-thump, thump-thump. It echoes my own.

Jude tries to push me away, but I get a hold of his hands again.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I say in his ear.

He gasps as I turn him swiftly and push his back against the smooth rock. He struggles for a moment, and I send a light electric charge in warning. I pull his legs apart and insert two fingers inside him. He finally stops fighting me. He’s so warm and slippery. His body melts over the rock, turning liquid. I fuck him with my hand and kiss my way over his stomach and to his nipples. He moans loudly, and his hands pull on my hair enough to hurt.

“I’m not done with you yet,” I tell him when I reach his lips.

“Fuck…” he breathes out, “it’s…”

I kiss him again. “Happy to oblige.”

His eyes are red, but he’s not crying anymore. He’s arching his back as I tease that sweet spot inside him.

Oh, yes. I’m far from done with him. I want to fill him with my semen and lubricant.

“You asked for a distraction. Prepare to be distracted,” I say.

His laugh turns into a scream as I bury my fingers even deeper. A courtesan in a small town on the coast taught me how to find the prostate a few years ago. I’m now using that skill to make Jude lose his mind. He squirms under me, and I bite his nipple.

“Fuck… you…” he says. But his hands are still in my hair.

Once I have him begging for more, I open his legs even wider and penetrate him without warning. This time, there is no resistance. His body is getting used to me.

Jude throws his arms over my shoulders and hangs on to dear life as I fuck him.

A god could walk by, and I wouldn’t be able to stop. It feels like I’m the one losing my mind.

The water sloshes around us as I ram into him over and over again.

This is madness. But madness has never felt so good.

Jude scratches my back with his nails before encircling my throat with his right hand, cutting the airflow. It urges me on, and I bite the tender spot between his neck and shoulder. He shouts as he comes. His semen drips down my stomach before disappearing into the water. He goes slack in my arms as I keep on fucking him.

My dark veins swell all over my body, and my electricity comes to life. But I keep it contained.

Jude is lost to rapture; his eyes rolled back. I gently drop him on the rock again. Right as I feel my orgasm rising, I pull out and come all over his chest and cock. I want him to smell like me. I want my abuser to be covered with evidence of my victory and pleasure.

When I’m finally done, I put both hands on the rock to keep myself upright. My vision is darkening and I close my eyes. I feel faint from the exertion. I’m not as healed as I thought I was. My legs are weak, and it takes me all I have to stay upright.

Jude stays under me for a while, breathing fast. But right as I’m starting to think he has fallen asleep, he slides out of the cage I made with my body.

He walks out of the pool on shaky legs and grabs his gun. I don’t try to stop him. My lubricant and semen drip down his inner thighs. I file the image into my memory. He hands me the towel he gave me earlier.

“Come on. It’s my turn to wash. Dry yourself and get out,” he says, as if I just didn’t fuck his brains out.

For once, the gun isn’t pointed at me. It hangs loosely in his hand.

I don’t try to argue. This is not a fight I want to have right now. I’m too busy sorting through what just happened. What I did.

I dry myself up, grab my clothes, and finish building a fire. This time, I do my best not to look at Jude as he washes himself. First off, because I’m still hard and very much naked myself, and secondly, I don’t know how to act now. And if what we just did changes anything.

Apparently, it doesn’t.

“That’s a lousy fire,” Jude says as he walks back to the Firefly a few minutes later.

I offer him a scathing look. “The wood is wet.”

There are no trees around, so everything comes from the river shore.

He laughs. “That’s what he said.”

Jude helps me gather more wood, and as soon as the flames are high enough, we put our wet clothes on the folding chairs close to the fire. We sit on our towels, naked except for the blankets he brought back from the Firefly.

Everything feels so… domestic. As if we were two friends traveling the wastelands and not two enemies who just partook in a hate-fuck.

We stay quiet as our food cooks over the fire. Jude keeps his gun close, but his hand isn’t as tense around it. The silence stretches as we eat, until Jude finally breaks it.

“How long did you stay in the lab?” he asks.

I freeze, my fork halfway to my mouth. “I left when I was five.”

“After your father killed the scientists.”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember it?”

“I do.” Sadly.

“My early childhood is a blur,” he says. “I barely remember living at sea. We owned a boat until it sank. Then we moved around the wastelands a lot. But my teenage years are vivid. They fucking sucked. That’s when I started thinking for myself, and I realized I was living among monsters. My mom put a gun in my hand when I was eleven and made me kill my first man. He was a traveler who had stolen some of our food during the night, and I caught him. His death was my prize.” He bites his lips. “The worst part is, I’m so used to killing now that it wouldn’t keep me up at night. But I cried myself to sleep for a week after I killed him.”

Why is he telling me all this?

“My first kill was when I was two,” I say. Jude raises an eyebrow at me. “I came back to the lab when I was a teenager. I watched all the footage. They recorded everything. I had electrocuted a few people since birth, but it wasn’t until I was two that the electric charge was strong enough to kill. She was one of the scientists, and she needed to take a sample. She drew blood. She was wearing isolating gloves, but I reached for her with my small hand, and I killed her.”

In the video, my younger self had cried when she fell to the ground with a loud noise. The other scientists rushed to reanimate her, but it was too late. Her heart had stopped beating. In the panic, I cried and I cried, but no one tried to comfort me. I can’t blame them.

After that, their dislike turned into palpable hate.

“What did they do to you?” he asks.

“They locked me up and never touched me again without putting me to sleep first. Then, by my third kill, they dropped me into the jellyfish tank.”

I spent most of my formative years without touch. Without love. So, when I stumbled upon Helios in the desert and he was so sweet and full of smiles, I latched onto him like a leech. I fed on his kindness, his affection, his tolerance…

Jude gapes. “And your father?”

“I don’t think he cared at first. He thought it would only make me stronger.”

“You never electrocuted him before that day with Aurora?”

“I did. A few times. But one time, I got really close to killing him. And when he came back to himself, he shot me in the leg.” I lift the blanket and show him the bullet wound scar on my thigh. “To teach me a lesson.”

“Jesus…” breathes Jude. “And I thought my parents were bad. At least they didn’t try to maim me. But my brothers tied me to a pole in the middle of the wastelands once.”

It’s my turn to raise an eyebrow. “Why?”

He shrugs. “I think they hoped I wouldn’t survive the night. That some old god would find me. Or the coyotes might eat me. Too bad for them; I was still alive by morning.”

“Was Malcolm one of them?” I ask.

Jude sighs. “He was.”

“Then I’m glad I killed him.”

“And I’m glad you made him suffer. It’s just too fucking bad I wasn’t the one to do it.”

“Most of your siblings are still alive, aren’t they?” I say.

Jude smiles. “Indeed, they are.”

Later, Jude ties me to the Firefly again. He knows that I’ll still take any chances I get to steal back the aircraft. But this time, he doesn’t mock me. He just secures my hands and feet, then throws another blanket over me. He falls asleep near the fire, his back to me.

By morning, our clothes are dry. Jude unlocks the shackles around my feet to allow me to put them on. But instead of locking me up again, he throws the shackles inside the Firefly. For the first time since he dragged me out of Bunkertown, I’m free to move as I please. He says nothing, and I don’t either. This truce between us feels fragile.

We drink our coffee around the fire.

When Jude finally breaks the silence, I already know what he’s going to say.

“We’re going to rescue Marika. She’s a friend of mine, and I won’t leave her in that mutant’s hands. Her life in Hell suited her, but I don’t know if she enjoys her stay with her new master. And we need her to hack into the Firefly. Then we can both be free of each other.”

My attention catches on to his wording. He said, ‘we can be free of each other’, and not, ‘so I can put a bullet through your brain’.

But for a reason that escapes me, he looks angry.

“To the Hoover Dam,” I say.

He nods. “To the Hoover Dam.”