War of the Sexes

Chapter 29

The following 2 days passed slowly. Within a few hours of the murder of Zee, the Boys’ military had found her floating body and hopefully assumed it was me. John didn’t want us to leave until he was positive that they wouldn’t be waiting for us outside of the cave we were in.

               Clayton hadn’t spoken to me once. He went out of his way to stay away from John and I, grumbling about anything that involved us. He had made his own little corner in the back of the cave to where he stayed.

                John had found a type of plant that was edible for us along the edge of the lake. That’s all we’ve had aside from the lake water. My stomach was constantly growling for more, unsatisfied.

                John and I hadn’t spoken much since before, but we did talk more than Clayton did. It was eerily silent without Zee.

                John grabbed my elbow, pulling me over to him.

                “You have to talk to him” He growled threateningly

                “What do I say? He’s pissed at me” I said, feeling horrible inside “He saw me cheat on him…”

                John’s expression flickered to confusion before he shook his head “Look, Clayton never finished school. He doesn’t have a firm knowledge of what life was

like before the War started. Bullshit something up.”

                I bit my lip, not liking the idea of lying to Clayton “But…”

                “Just do it” John said in a terrifying voice.

                 I sucked in a deep breath, nodding slowly “Alright”

                “Now” John gave me a shove. I stumbled forward before catching my balance. I took a deep breath before walking over to Clayton’s corner.

                He didn’t look at me, grunting as I sat in front of him.

                “Clayton I want to explain” I said quietly

                He made no move that he heard me.

                I sighed, regretting this already “Clayton, John told me to explain to you what life was like when I lived. I know you’re furious that you saw me kiss him and

then say that our kiss meant nothing but…”

                I trailed off, noticing his body shift towards mine. I licked my lips, my heart skipping a beat. He was listening.

                “But I lied before.” I said truthfully “Our kiss meant a lot more than you realize. But you’re supposed to hate me so I lied to you.”

                The truth stopped there “The year I come from wasn’t what you think it was. Do you know what polygamy is?”

                He didn’t move, waiting for me to continue.

                “It’s when you’re with more than one person. In my time, that’s how life was. Which is why I kissed John too”

                I felt horrible lying, but there was a point in time where polygamy was popular. I just wanted him to understand that I felt horrible.