After Humanity

Chapter Twenty-Seven

So let's get back to Alice and Magnus in the past. When last we left them things were going well between them. Alice was beginning to trust. Let's see what happened next...

30 Years Earlier ~

Magnus

Magnus woke early the next morning, the few rays sun of slipping through the gray clouds above, gently coaxing his eyes to open. Alice was still nestled close to his body, her chest rising and falling slowly in peaceful repose.

He lay there watching her silently. This remarkable creature who had saved him, and in that moment he made his decision. He would free her, if such a thing was possible. It was the least he could do in payment for his life. Once they made it back to civilization it was the first thing he would do. Perhaps she could be released to the human settlements that still lived free in the southern territories. Surely she did not belong in slavery. The animal was still relatively young. She might even find a true life there. A mate, a family. The idea made him smile. After all she'd likely endured, it was what Alice deserved.

The day had risen warmer than the last, but rain clouds threatened overhead. He wasn't quite sure when they might reach an outpost where they could obtain aide. Dulane had owned a significant portion of land that stretched for miles and the surrounding area was barren. Magnus was heartened that they had at least finally found a seemingly viable road beyond Dulane's property. Along it, he hoped they might finally find rescue. They could not survive much longer without proper food and water after all.

Still, it had taken quite a bit of coaxing to even convince Alice to travel and sleep beside the roadside when he'd first suggested it, though he could not imagine how else she thought they might obtain the necessary assistance they would need to return to the civilized world. It hadn't mattered much in any case. Judging by the lack of tire marks on the dirt road he'd been noting, there had been no signs of cars for days.

"They're coming." Alice awoke beside him suddenly, making him jump as she scrambled up frantically from the ground.

"Who's coming?" Magnus asked in confusion as he climbed to his feet. He could see the fear in her eyes.

"Bounty hunters. The authorities. They will be looking for escaped slaves."

"Alice you must be mistaken," he said. "I'm certain there has been no sign of."

The faint sound of a car engine interrupted his words as the vehicle came into sight in the distance. He couldn't believe she'd heard it from so far away.

"There's no way I might run," she breathed. "They'll see me. I'll never escape in time," her panic was entirely undisguised, her eyes wide with fear, her breathing erratic.

"Kill me now, I beg you," Alice pleaded. "It will be a kindness. Tell them I attacked and you had no choice, just do it quickly. Once they get here it will be too late!"

Magnus was horrified by her words but even more so when she grabbed for the knife at his waist.

"Alice stop this!" he demanded, turning to prevent her taking the weapon."This is our salvation. A ride back to civilization!"

"They are looking for me!" she cried out in frustration. "Don't you see that? For you, this is indeed a rescue but for me..." She shook her head. "I should have forced your hand last night. I should have taken the knife and ended this. I am a coward and now I have condemned myself."

"Alice, surely you are over reacting. There was no other way we might have survived without transport back to town. I will simply explain how we managed to escape and."

"You don't understand!" She insisted, cutting him off. "They won't listen. They will know who I am. Escaped slaves always pay dearly, but after what we did. If they arrest me." She stopped and shook her head again. "I can't let that happen. You have to help me. I will do anything!"