On the back of a two-headed horse, we had traveled several days from the bunker, further than I'd ever been. The stranger had my arms and legs bound by his magnetic nets, and for hours, my mouth was also gagged. 

"You hate me now, but after we get the gas out of your system, you'll understand I'm doing you a favor," he said, but I couldn't argue while my mouth was stuffed. 

Daylight was fading, so no matter how quickly his horse ran, we had to stop for the night. Even then, he refused to untie me. I watched as he made camp, laying out blankets and taking out drinking water. After he watered his horse, the stranger uncorked my mouth to offer a drink. He held his canister to my lips, but I refused it and warned, "Luke will come for me."

Shaking his head, the boy went to lay on his blanket while I remained on his horse's back. He may have left me there all night had I not eventually fallen off with a humiliating thud. The stranger laughed briefly and neglected to move me away from his animal's feet while preparing to rest. 

"How many times do I have to say there is no Luke," he said with an antagonizing sigh. 

"I spent two years with Luke. You expect me to believe someone I love was just a hallucination?"

"Yes," he answered.

How? How was he so sure, so cold, so unphased? 

"You're insane," I spoke, perhaps terrified by the stranger's impenetrable delusion.

"You're not the first person I've had to save. The gas makes people imagine all sorts of things. I was exposed once and thought my sister was my mother," he revealed while further making himself comfortable.

Layer after layer of his armor came off as he stacked it with his other things.

"I was careful never to breathe in the gas," I said.

"For how long? When did you realize it was a threat?"

He had an answer for everything, didn't he? There was a counter to my every word, but I argued, "I'm not crazy. And when Luke finds us," until he laughed.

Words in my throat were too dazed and embarrassed to enter space with his laughter. 

"It's impressive. Most people have simple hallucinations, but you were exposed enough to create a new person entirely. And you turn into him too. That's never happened before, not that I know of." 

"Then maybe that's not what happened at all." 

My eyes looked away to focus not on my abductor but on the place he had brought me. We were still in the jungle, though nearing its outer limits. Vegetation was scarce. Fallen buildings were lightly covered in moss and vines, unlike the deeper regions that were dense with nature. We were perhaps in the middle of a road, but several vehicles and rubble kept a perimeter around us.

"You attacked me, nearly killed me more times than I can count. But now you can't even free yourself," he spoke and focused my attention again.

"I'm not Luke," I said.

"Sure. Feel free to believe whatever you want. When we make it back to camp, I'll get your head cleared up."

"Let me go. I never asked for your help."

"You'd rather go back to living alone?"

He sat up, and for a breath, I hesitated to answer. Yet still, I replied, "I have Luke."

I never imagined finding other survivors would be so testing. In my dreams, I imagined something far more uplifting. But in reality, I was bound, suffering a head wound, and trying desperately to avoid a horse shiting on my head. Arguing had made the ordeal an endless struggle. When, or if, Luke eventually caught up to us, I wondered what he would do. Would my protector kill the stranger? How disappointed would Luke be to find I was gone? But beneath it all, curiosity was my worst enemy. Despite how it happened, I had finally found another living soul. More than that, he offered a land with other survivors. I didn't want to abandon Luke, but I was tempted not to fight too hard. That, of all things, may have been the biggest betrayal.

"And who else?" he said.

"I don't know you. I don't know anything about you."

Sighing, he rustled through his things to pick out a remote. I was confused until he used it to undo the net, keeping me bound.

"I'm Galvin Briggs. The Machine sent me to earth for being unproductive," he spoke and returned to lying back. 

What was his plan? With nothing holding me hostage any further, I could have quickly run away. I stood up, and the thought weighed heavy. 

"A slacker then," I remarked rather than running.

"Not all of us are tech geniuses. I wasn't cut out for running computers," he chuckled and tossed an apple as if to taunt me.

I caught the fruit and held it, perplexed.

"Then how did you build your armor?" I asked.

"Armor?" 

"Your space armor," I said, stepping near.

"Preston, when you look at me, what am I wearing? 

"Metallic plating," I answered, but he explained, "I have shoulder pads and a helmet. 

"But your weapons? The magnetic net," I stammered.

"There's a market that sells tools and equipment."

Impossible. It had to be. 

"Look, if your boyfriend comes for us, he can follow. But you're not in any danger with me. Leave if you like, but I think you want what I have to offer." 

Would he honestly let me go after making such an effort to abduct me? 

"You can always go back when we're done. But you must be curious," Galvin tempted me further. 

With grave hesitation, I joined him on the blanket. As he shut his eyes to sleep, I wondered if the fruit he offered was poison. Was he not adorned in well-crafted armor? Was Galvin telling the truth? 

It couldn't be. I knew my love for Luke, but in the end, I took a bite of the apple and found it sweeter than any I'd known. And with my second bite, there was nothing but bitterness.