Chapter 20

As their journey continued, the land changed.

It was a very gradual change; one they might not have noticed had they not known there was to be change.

The changes in the landscape took days.

At first, they would notice little bits of flora dying. Some of the grass was a little bit browner in some areas. The air smelled a little bit different.

“This land is dying,” Ga’min said sadly.

Min’sun nodded her head. “And it is spreading. And it will spread. A week ago, this land was healthy. Now, it bears no fruit.”

Ga’min shivered. “It is colder here.”

“Min’sun again nodded in agreement. “I almost desire to seek shelter. Or clothes.”

“Clothes! Perish the thought!” Ga’min said. “We will find the source of this madness and defeat it, so this land once again will live.”

Min’sun nodded. “We can only hope.”

For weeks, they travelled further into the dying land.

They came across more and more villages, with larger and larger housing – but all of the villages were abandoned, empty as the lands around them.

The lands were now void of color, of any greenery, of any plant life at all. The flowers refused to grow here.

Every once in a while, they would find the remains of an animal, long dead.

Every night, Ga’min and Min’sun made love.

“IF we stop to love ourselves, we cannot spread love,” they reminded each other. So, they continued to love each other and to love themselves.

But still the landscape grew deader, until they found no traces of life.

The bodies began to appear.

Skeletal remains of human beings, long stropped of their humanity, lay bleached by the sun in a landscape which was becoming a desert.

The ground grew harder under their feet.

The villages they encountered grew bigger and bigger, more and more elaborate, built with materials neither of the women had ever seen.

But the villages were without life.

They lost track of the days, of the weeks, of the months. It felt like it had been years since they had seen another human being, something which they longed to find.

But they only found desolation.

The land was quiet.

The sun was relentless.

The land was dead.

The bodies grew fresher.

Flesh remained on some of the bones.

Weeks more into their journey, and they could find intact corpses as far as their eyes could travel. Most of the dead were men, but women were scattered amongst the dead. All had met their ends through violence.

At first, Ga’min and Min’sun tried to take care of the bodies, but found the chore too great, the grief too great.

Yet, they continued to honor their vow, they continued to make love every night.