Merman - Romance

Chapter 21

“There’s no ‘us’ there Ridec.  If I come back to the safety room and find that you’ve gone roaming around this building looking for food I’m going to be royally pissed.  Wait until Kent and I have had a chance to scope out this place before you venture out.  Mary and Kyle are accustomed to this world, they can scavenge for food,” Jessell instructed.

“Accustomed to this world?”  Kent asked.

“Just a figure of speech,” Jessell explained as she strolled off with Kent who had to widen his stride to keep up with her.

“Well let’s head to the safe room,” Linda said strolling off in the opposite direction.

“I’m not going to the safe room,” Ridec explained.

“I’m pretty sure I heard your Amazon woman instruct you to go to the safe room,” Linda pointed out.

“She doesn’t own me you know,” Ridec said defensively.  “I can go wherever I want to go.”

Linda smirked.

“I didn’t hear you making that claim when she was around.”

“He doesn’t have to defend himself,” Rea put in with some annoyance in her voice.

“If I was you I’d stay away from him before she squashes you like a bug,” Linda suggested still smiling.

“Well you’re not me and I still believe that every man and woman has a right to make up their own minds about what they want to do,” Rea said.

“Your funeral kid,” Linda muttered and then sauntered off.

“So where do we go now?”  Rea wanted to know.  “Maybe there’s a cafeteria or something?”

“I’m not looking for food,” Ridec admitted.  “I’m looking for a workshop, someplace I can use to make weapons so I can be useful.”

“You are useful,” Rea said immediately.

“That’s very kind of you to say so but it’s not true.  Jessell has been risking her life for me since we got here.”

“You’ve been risking your life for her too,” Rea pointed out.

“If I was more like Kent…” Ridec muttered not even realizing he had said the words out loud.

“You’re better than Kent, you’re worth a million Kents,” Rea said vehemently.  “You know how to care about people; I don’t think that Kent guy cares about anyone else but himself.”

“He cares about Jessell.”

“Is it always going to be about Jessell?”  Rea asked wearily.  “Can’t you see she doesn’t care about you?”

“Let’s check in this room,” Ridec suggested pushing the door open and strolling inside.  He didn’t want to deal with the topic of Jessell with Rea, she could never understand what he felt.

“So strange,” Rea said apparently sensing Ridec’s hesitancy and changing the topic.  “Imagine there was a time when kids would just gather together in a room like this and every one would probably just sit and talk about all sorts of stuff.”

“They’d gather together not just to talk but to learn,” Ridec pointed out.  It was strange that a girl like Rea had never experienced school.  Whatever she learnt she had learnt from stories being passed along over the various generations.

“What on earth could you find to learn sitting down in a room for an entire day?”  Rea asked laughing.

“There’s a lot you can learn, remember the books in the building you were in when we met?  You learn to read books like those and to even write them,” Ridec explained and Rea looked genuinely shocked.