The light fog added a moisture to the air. The coolness of the night wrapped around her like a wet towel, sending a shiver up her spine. She was lucky she knew the area so well, or she could have easily become lost. She looked through the trees at the house where he lived, slightly smiling at the one electric candle burning in the kitchen window.

She kept to the path walking as stealthily as she could manage. Since the plague human beings were a bit of a rarity, and this one was a man, she hoped that he was alone then she could start a brood. She walked around the house noting the solar panels on top and the small windmill that obviously gave some electrics to the place. She wasn't too sure how electrics worked.

She had only been in school for a few years when the plague came and her reading and writing skills were never more than rudimentary, survival was more important. At fourteen she knew she could breed but she wasn't sure how it all worked. A few people that she had encountered had called her names; she didn't know the meanings of Cunt hussy, home wrecker. Of course these words came from the mouths of women who had men, and they guarded them jealously. She didn't understand why but after the third try she decided that she wanted one too. She watched him working in the house she had no idea what he was doing but he seemed to be moving around. There was a pen of Chickens and some hogs in the yard. She understood why she was now in the middle of nowhere, cities were no place for a girl, no place for anyone who didn't have bangers. That was another thing she didn't understand. They were devices, which were held in the hands and made a loud bang, and then whomever they were pointed at exploded in gore or sometimes there was just a neat hole in them and they died, well usually they died. She waited as the mist burned off. She hid in the tall grass by the house waiting.

The door opened and the man walked out. Followed by a large black dog, she trembled the only dogs that she had known were known to tear people to pieces, they roamed the cities in packs and attacked anything moving she had only just escaped one pack not a week before, they were terrifying creatures. The dog barked and stood still as if frozen, "What is it boy" the man asked, "you see something?" the dog remained frozen. "Seek" the man said and the dog bounded across the field in a straight line for her the man following quickly after her. She pulled her knife and turned and ran she knew she was useless with the knife but it was the only defense she had against the large animal. She managed maybe fifty steps before the dog was growling on her heels. Captain "Hold" she heard the man say and she could hear his foot steps as he followed her she ducked into the brush finding a tree to hide behind she could feel the branches scratching her bare arms. She wanted to cry but she knew if the dog got her she was as good as dead. The sound of the steps grew stronger as if the man somehow knew where she was. "Come on out" she heard him say. She could see his shirt it was better tailored than the ragged and torn t-shirt she was wearing it looked to be very comfortable. "Girl come out I ain't gonna hurt you"

"What about the dog?" she yelled back finally deciding the futility of her situation.

"Oh Captain he won't hurt you either." He said in a sure voice. She scrambled from under the overgrowth and crawled out he was maybe five feet away she could still probably hurt him if she had to.

"Well come on" He said "supper is cooking and I ain't go time for your foolishness if you want to eat then come on." She stood and followed him he didn't even look back she could attack him with his back turned, she could she knew it but the big black dog made her nervous and her stomach growled she had only eaten a handful of acorns in the last day and those had made her almost sick the sour bitter taste still lingered in her mouth. They reached the threshold of the house and the man stepped inside and the dog followed. She could run now get away. What was that smell, sweet like and wholesome like the cooked rats she had smelled once or twice. She found herself inside the door as her stomach overruled any caution she had. "Well sit down," he said there were three chairs next to the table. She found herself sitting as the man placed a bowl of hot steaming mud colored goo in front of her, and a round circle of brown, it looked like a rock, but it smelled soo good her stomach gurgled loudly and her mouth was watering. "Well" the man said "sounds like your hungry don't wait for me I'll be along in a moment or two with mine and he handed her a silver tool with a round end that had a depression in the middle of the round end, she figured it was for the liquid she put the spoon into the goo and brought it to her mouth, it tasted Devine, she thought that she had gone and died, it was so rich and thick, she started shoveling it into her mouth. The man sat down with his own bowl of soup. "Slow down there easy don't want to make yourself sick" he said. And she paused looking at him "Your about half starved aren't ya?" She nodded, eat some of that bread he said pointing to the brown rock on the table. She lifted it up and it was surprisingly light she bit a chunk out of it and slowly chewed the sour flavored gummy food. "You got a name" he asked

"Sara" she said as she gulped down the bite of bread.

"Nice to meet you Sara my name is Martin, an this here is Captain" he said his fingers ruffling the dogs ears.

"Will you breed with me?"

"Well now that's one hell of a question to start off with?" He chuckled

"I need to find a man to breed with that's what women are for to keep and protect and breed with their man, you will be my man won't you?"

"How old are you?" he asked and she shrugged

"When was your birthday?"

"September second"

"Okay that's a start how old were you when the plague hit?"

"Seven"-she lied it seemed like an important lie.

"Well that would make you right around seventeen or eighteen then wouldn't it?"

"I don't know," she said around another mouthful of soup

"It would you been bred before?"

"No I never had a man before"

"do you know how it works?"

"Um not really..."

"Well why don't you take a break from eating there is plenty more later if your still hungry. And lets get a look at you."