Amanda's story

"Where do I start?" Amanda asks, a little flushed. She leads you into a small room that apparently was once an office. In one corner you see what looks like a makeshift bed, made of a large pile of blankets and pillows. Over against another wall, you see a gas camp stove with a pot still cooking on it, next to an old-fashioned Coleman lamp. Above this, is the window that she originally shouted to you from. Despite the improvised look of everything, it appears very well taken care of. Amanda has clearly spent time here, and tried to make this shelter as comfortable as possible.

"Sorry I don't have too many amenities here, been keeping a low profile." She apologizes, as she offers you a chair. It's a typical office chair, with rollers on the feet. She sits in another that is nearby, and stretches her arms.

"What exactly is going on here?" You ask quietly. You wonder what she meant by "those guys."

"How in touch have you been?" Amanda inquires. She leans forward, placing an elbow on her knee and propping up her head with her hand.

"Pretty out of it actually," You go on to explain the situation with the mall basement. You don't leave out any details, delighted to talk to someone again.

"Wow." Amanda exclaims when you are finished. "You really got lucky then. I don't know how much you know about this virus, but it killed almost everybody. I didn't think too much about it at first, but the problem is that it killed ten times as many women as men. I mean, ten men survived for every woman."

"What do you mean?" You ask, trying to get past the fact that almost everyone is dead.

"It means, darlin, that there are an awful lot of big, nasty, horny men out there."

"Oh," you reply softly, thinking about the implications.

"Yeah." Amanda replies, almost reading your thoughts. "There's a lot of competition for women right now. Even Roseanne Barr and Janet Reno would have full dance cards."

"So you're hiding..."

"Because rape has become something of a national pasttime." She growls angrily. "I've been running since the first guy took a head count and realized that if he wanted to be with a woman he'd have to fight other guys for her."

You shudder at the idea of men splitting each others skulls for the chance to be with a woman. The chances that she could say no after he risked death for her would be slim to none.

"Yeah," she murmers. "I didn't like men much before this happened, and now afterwords..." She lets it drop, as she looks into your eyes.

"Need a hug?" you ask, with a little smile on your face.

"God, yes!" Amanda laughs, as you stand and cross to her. Your arms surround her, and you feel her human warmth against yourself. You hold each other for a few moments, just reveling in the ability to be with another person again.

She breathes deeply, and then pulls her head back, to stare into your eyes.

"You're very beautiful." She says calmly. Your insides seem to melt as you look back at her. A thought runs through your head, screaming at you to kiss her.