Lorna hummed a tune to herself as she flipped through a comic book, which one of her new neighbors had let her borrow. It was an old and fragile Pre-Merge comic that she had never gotten to read before, but she found herself in love with it, even though it had some references to things she did not understand.

Hattie and one of her men had carried Ean’s unconscious body to the clinic a couple of days ago. The doctor had determined that his body had been full of some strange new hallucinogenic they were going to research on. When the rescue team had arrived at the cabin, he had started screaming at them, believing them to be demons, but the drugs had made him too weak to put up much of a struggle.

Lorna had felt so relieved to see him again, glad that he was going to be okay. He had slept for three days, getting up only to go to the bathroom, which she had to help him with, and she made him drink water and eat a little bit of food to help him gain his strength back.

Ean was like a zombie, a creature that was in the comics she was reading, as he stumbled to the bathroom, barely comprehending that she was there. He had been through a great ordeal, and Lorna was happy to help him the best she good.

He had done so much for her after all.

Lorna glanced up from her comic to check on her uncle, and her eyebrows raised in surprise as she saw him grabbing a glass of water next to him. His shaky hands made water slosh all over the place.

"Uncle, be careful!" she gasped.

Lora set the comic book aside, and she rushed to take the glass from him. She set it back down, and Ean looked at her through wide eyes.

"Lorna?" Ean croaked, his throat still sore from the abuse he had put it through at the cabin.

Lorna smiled at him, and she brushed some of his hair out of his face.

"Yes, it's me, Uncle," she said.

"This isn't the cabin. What are you doing here?"

"We have a lot to talk about, but let's get you sitting upright so you can drink some water."

Lorna lifted her uncle’s upper body, and she stuffed pillows behind him to help him stay upright. Then she grabbed the glass of water on his nightstand, and she pressed it to his lips. He drank most of it before he was finished.

"Are you hungry? Lorna asked as she tucked the blankets around his body. "These people are very generous with their food, and I made some stew for you. Would you like some stew?"

"I am hungry. If you wouldn't mind heating it for me, I would certainly appreciate it."

Lorna nodded, and she went into the kitchen to heat a bowl of actual beef stew, something she had ever thought she would be able to taste for herself. She poured it into a mug for him, and she took it into the bedroom. He offered no complaints when she spoon-fed him the soup.

"How did you get here?" Ean asked after a few bites.

"Do you know Alex? The one without a last name," she clarified.

"The Merger? I do know him."

"Well, he got into a fight with a Merged wolf while he was traveling with some medicines, and he lost a lot of blood. I had heard his gunshots, and I hoped it that was you. I went out to look for you, but I found him instead, bleeding out and unconscious."

"You should have stayed home," Ean scolded. "It's too dangerous."

Lorna smiled, and she nodded.

"It is dangerous, but I'm glad I left. I like it here. Everyone is nice."

"There are lots of people who aren't, Lorna."

"I know that, Uncle. I ran into a few people on the way here, and I'll tell you about it while you eat."

Ean listened while Lorna told him about agreeing to follow Alex to the town, about getting kidnapped by the same people who had held him hostage, and about her getting an infection in her side. He interrupted her every once in a while to remind her that the world was very dangerous, but for the most part, he let her tell her story.

"You can blame all of that on traveling with Alex," Ean said. "Raiders aren't very fond of him."

"So I've learned, but he's a good man. He has a special ability, and he uses it to help people. He also helped save you, so you owe him a lot."

"I don't owe that asshole shit. This just makes us even."

Lorna chuckled, and she leaned forward to kiss her uncle on the forehead.

"He said you'd say that."

Ean rolled his eyes, but he took a spoonful of his stew without any complaints

"Why didn't you tell me that you leave the cabin to help people?" Lorna asked him. "Why have you left me stuck in a cabin in the middle of nowhere?"

"Because it's safer. You don't have any idea how many people I've dealt with who aren't very good."

Lorna nodded.

"I understand, but it's safe here. There are children here, and some people have chosen to stay here."

"People have betrayed Hattie before, and they got a lot of people hurt."

"I don't doubt that, but I feel safe here. Plus there's so much to do, so much to learn. You have no idea how boring it was to be at home reading the same comics over and over again while you were away. Besides, there are actual doctors here, and they can perform actual emergency surgeries on people. And so much better than I can."

Ean sat there, quiet. He took a spoonful of stew, and he was quiet as he thought about what she said.

To Lorna's surprise, tears shone in her uncle's eyes.

"Ean?"

"You probably want to stay here, don't you?"

"I do. I like it here."

"I don't want you to leave me."

Lorna frowned, and she let the spoon fall back into the mug, which she set on the side table. She grabbed his hand, which was rather cold.

"But I wouldn't be leaving you. This is your apartment, isn't it? And I'm here with you now."

Ean shook his head.

"You'll be wanting to go out on your own, and I won't be able to protect you. I don't want you to get hurt, Lorna. You're all I've got left. I can't—I don't—” Ean paused to take a breath. “Stay with me, Lorna. Please don't leave me and get yourself killed.”

"Uncle, I don't want to leave you. I love you. Where is all of this coming from?"

"You already went out on your own. You almost got yourself killed—"

"Uncle, I wasn't on my own. I was with a Merger. He might not be well-loved among raiders, but I think I was safest with him than I would have been with anyone else, you know?

"But none of that is the point. Uncle, I don't want to leave you. I think—I think maybe it's time we started traveling around together, don't you think?"

"No, no, no, Lorna, it's too dangerous. I can't let you do that."

"We could watch each other's backs out there. 'Two is better than one.' That's the saying, isn't it? I know how to use a gun, and I've already got some experience under my belt. It would be much easier to travel with someone else, wouldn't it?"

Ean shook his head, tears streaking down his face. Lorna sighed, and she leaned forward to kiss his forehead again. She released his hand to grab his mug of stew, and she went back to feeding him.

"I understand it'll take some time to convince you, Uncle, but I'll convince you. We should work together from now on. I'll be learning lots of important things while you recover, and you'll change your mind. You'll see."

Ean only sighed in response.

It was impossible for Lorna to feel bitter about her uncle's preferring to protect her in a tiny cabin than a big community full of people. She had been five years old during the Merging, and she remembered the giant monsters that had appeared out of nowhere and trampled over entire neighborhoods and people.

Lorna had watched her mother and father die to protect her, and Ean had taken up raising her without question. He had scooped her into his arms and carried her to safety, and he had built her a home to protect her with his bare hands.

In addition to that, he had taught her all of the things she knew that had saved her during her ordeal with the raiders—that had saved him before any of that happened. Lorna was grateful to her uncle, and she understood his paranoia, his fears. There had been so many times she had woken in the middle of the night to hear him having a terrible nightmare.

Lorna had survived for a long time because of her uncle, and she was grateful to him for it.

She smiled as she spooned the last of his stew into his mouth, and after she set the empty mug onto the table, she grabbed his hand.

“I told you everything that happened to me,” she said, “so why not tell me everything that happened to you?”