Genesis

Chapter 10

The children swarmed David, jumping all over him, grasping at whatever limb was available, climbing his back, taking him over "Ahhh! I'm being swarmed. Tactical warfare, huh? Sneak attack. Smart move. You'll never overpower me, though!" David wrestled around with the kids as Eden sat next to me, taking David's seat. She smiled at me and said "Good morning, little lady. How yah feeling?"

     "I'm pretty good, thank you. How are you?" "Another beautiful day, living, so I'm doing great." She glanced down at the map and laughed lightly "Told you about the S class zone test, huh? He wouldn't shut up about it last night. He's very excited about you."

    I nervously laughed and kinda just looked down at my lap. A moment passed before Eden put a reassuring hand on my shoulder "Hey. If you don't want to, it's okay. Really. He's persistent, but if you tell him you really don't want to, he'll let it go. He believes in you, so he won't give up right away, but if you really don't want to, he'll understand. We all will. It's okay. We'll still be your friends, honey."

     Friends? Wow. I hadn't really thought about that. We've been hanging out, and stuff, but I didn't know they considered me a friend. I looked over at David, he was still wrestling down on the ground with his children, they were giving him a run for his money, but he wouldn't admit it. Being around these two filled me with a sense of ease, and stability. I know it's only been a literal day, but for some reason, I feel like whatever choice I make, it'll all be okay.

    I took a moment and searched inside myself. What do I wanna do? I'm obviously capable, just look at what I've done. But there's still that doubt eating away at me. Damn it.

     I took a deep breath and sighed, before just saying the first feeling I could grasp on to in my heart "I'll do it! I'll try out." I caught myself by suprise. I just knew I was gonna say no.

     Through the laughter of children I could hear David say "Really? Hey, no biting, punk! That's amazing! Ahhh, that's my knee! Hey, I only count five. Where's big dawg?" That last part was directed towards Eden.

   She responded saying "Oh he's with his favorite baby sitter, Lilith." David laughed and said "Little guy's first crush. Isn't it cute? Hey, get your finger out of there!" Eden stood up and laughed, heading towards the door "Come on, Carly. Let's hang out for awhile."

      "Wait what? No, you can't leave me with these monsters, they'll tear me to pieces!" "You'll be fine, sweety. Later gator, I love you." I stood up and followed behind her, taking one last look at David and said "Good luck. See you later." "Wait. No! No! Noooooo!"

     Eden and I made our way outside and as I followed her I asked "So where are we headed?" "I'm glad you asked. We're gonna go get you some clothes. I noticed you didn't come with much, so I figured you'd enjoy a little shopping."

"You guys have clothes just.... There? That's not hard to come by?"

    "Eh. Yes and no. We've got a cheat code by the name of David, maybe you've met him. He makes the usually impossible, much more possible. Fabrics and whatnot, sewing machines, presses, you name it, he'll get his hands on it. He'll get his hands on whatever you need, honestly. That's why Ricket city is such a popular place. We're a huge settlement that's always expanding, and we've got so many amenities. Don't tell anyone I told you, but he's working on getting TV signals soon."

    "Really!?" I said a bit excitedly, drawing attention to us both "Ssshhh. Yes, he is. But he hasn't told too many people, cause he doesn't wanna get their hopes up, and possibly let them down."

     I looked around for a moment and took in all the smiling faces, air filled with chatter and laughter. The people here are truly happy. The weight on David's shoulder to maintain that must be incredible. "He's a great guy." I said to Eden as we walked together