Felix marveled over how quickly the slender, shapely legs of Ari’s petite body were able to cover ground as his longer, lean muscled ones struggled to catch him up with her.  If she’d remembered his club foot, she wasn’t giving him allowance for it as she moved along at a pace that was as close to a jog as one could get and still be walking.“I don’t need a bodyguard,” she hissed over her shoulder as she leapt over  a log-like branch that had fallen off a half-dead tree. “What’s bothering you?” he managed with labored breath. “Geez, can you slow down just a bit?”“If you can’t keep up, then go back,” she snipped.  “I didn’t ask you to come along to begin with.”His ankle was beginning to pain him from the unfamiliar demands that he was putting on it, but he held firm. “I’m not going back.”She abruptly stopped

The leg that bore the burden of his club foot buckled from beneath him as he slid from the saddle after a long night’s journey to safety.  Felix quickly grabbed the saddle horn with one hand while holding tight to Eugene with the other, giving thanks for the fact that his mount was not an overly zealous one when it came to exerting his energy through unnecessary movement. Ari was quick to rush to his aid. “Are you okay?”Embarrassed by his weakness, he turned away. “I’m good.  Nothing to worry about.  My leg went to sleep from sitting for so long.”Realizing that her show of concern may not have been the best thing for her traveling companion at that time, she backed away.  “It’s happened to me more than once.  I hate riding in the dark like that.  You can’t relax your muscles at all.”Relieved by the direction the conversation was going, he sighed and gave her

 A loud grunt flew from her mouth as cyborg Rex flung Kendra onto a narrow cot that was positioned against the cold, concrete wall of an equally narrow cell. He said nothing as he turned to leave.  She would have asked him where she was, but he’d slammed her down so hard that she was still working on regaining her wind when the metal door slammed and locked behind him.She lay in silent misery while thoughts of what might have happened to her poor baby tormented her.  When she could no longer stand worrying about it without the means to do anything, she shifted her concerns to where Rex might be and finding a way to escape.Her stomach felt bruised from enduring his rough gait while trussed over the cyborg’s shoulders.  He may look like Rex, but that’s where the similarity ended.  Rex would have been more concerned about her comfort, even if she was his prisoner.  Of course, Rex was human and a conscience was a human attr

Ari paced in front of the single men’s building while she waited for Felix to join her. She hadn’t seen him since he and Olga had gone to fetch Eugene almost two weeks ago. She wasn’t certain, but she guessed that Eugene had been sent off to the main Center Land with the other children since no children were kept in her village for any length of time.  Surely, Olga knew this when she left Eugene in the care of the newborn nursery?  It was just the way things were and there was nothing to be done to change it.  It certainly wasn’t her fault.  She didn’t run the village or make the rules.  She simply followed them to the best of her ability.So, why did she have a knot in her stomach the size of her fist at the prospect of having to face first Felix and then Olga?“After two weeks, you finally come around?” Felix barked as he bounded out of the front door and down the steps to the sidewalk.  “W

Life in the maternity ward was much easier than Kendra had anticipated. Josie paid a good deal of attention to her needs and comfort, which helped a great deal.  She noticed that wasn’t the case with the petite woman and most of the other women in the ward which, of course, made her curious as to why the special treatment.  One day, she broached the subject with her.  Although hesitant to admit it at first, Josie eventually told her that she was trying to make amends as best as she could for the horrors that her brother had inflicted up on her and a few other women in the ward. Kendra was quick to point out that the special treatment given them didn’t endear her to the women who were excluded -which was most of them- but Josie simply shrugged.  She was risking a good deal by providing Kendra and the other handful of women with the comforts that she did without taking on any more.  There was also the fact that Kendra was kind of heart