Chapter 5
The next morning, Flora woke feeling relaxed. She stretched, marveling at how good sleeping in a bed felt. That was probably the best night’s sleep she’d ever had. She sat up and saw Q sitting at the desk.
He glanced over and smiled. “You’re awake. After you use the restroom and get dressed, we’ll head out. I’ve been looking for shelters where you can stay, and I think I found a few that will do.”
“Oh. What is a shelter?”
“It’s a place you can stay where you’ll have a bed to sleep in while you get back on your feet.”
She didn’t want to be separated from Q, but he wasn’t her family. Her stomach twisted. Maybe she shouldn’t have run. Would it have been that bad to stay and be married off to Jebediah? That was the man’s name her father had wanted her to be with.
A shiver slid through her as she thought of the way he’d looked at her, his beady eyes narrowing as he’d licked his lips.
Being close to him had made her feel weird.
It wasn’t just that he was older, like around sixty, but she had nothing in common with him.
At least she’d only seen Anne, his previous wife, with bruises a few times.
It wasn’t like Donald’s wife. That woman always had bruises.
They stopped for breakfast before heading out.
While they were eating, she decided that she liked the jeans.
They felt good on her legs and kept her warm.
The T-shirt was okay, but the weather was cold, and she wished she had long sleeves.
The jacket he’d bought for her felt good, but she didn’t want to wear it while they ate.
The shoes were heaven. She was so used to her feet hurting from stepping on rocks and limbs that the shoes felt like a treat.
They drove for a few hours then stopped at a gas station.
She went in with him and used the restroom, which was weird.
There were four stalls, which was the most she’d ever seen before.
The place had so many different drinks and so much food wrapped in packages it was overwhelming.
Half the stuff she didn’t even know what it was.
She picked up an apple because it was familiar.
She took note of how much Q paid for the food and gas. Money wasn’t something she’d ever really handled. Q seemed to have no issue spending money on her. Everything was different, and she wasn’t sure she liked it.
At one point in the drive, she drifted off and woke to cars driving around them so fast she gasped and jerked away from the door. Then she looked at the buildings in the distance and gasped again.
“What is that?” She pointed to the buildings in the distance.
“That’s downtown San Diego.”
“Oh my, how many people?”
He chuckled. “The city has about one point five million people.”
She shook her head. “This must be the center of the world.”
“Hardly. This area isn’t the biggest population center in California.”
“But there’s only like five million people in the world. How could there be a bigger city?”
Q didn’t want to make fun of Flora, but sometimes she said the wildest things. “I think there are a lot of things you didn’t learn correctly.”
She turned to him as he glanced over before turning his focus back to the road. “There are more than five million people in the world? They didn’t all die off in the great purge that happened years ago?”
He shook his head, trying not to act shocked by her words. “No. There are a little over eight billion people on the planet.”
“No, they all died. The illness took over, and they were all purged by the great one.”
He glanced over, seeing if she was pulling his leg. She looked very serious. “No, even with wars and diseases that hit, the population is still growing.”
She looked out the window, staring at the cars and people, feeling lost in the huge wide world. The founders had told them everyone else was dead, and those who’d lived had sold their souls to demons. “So the people out here, they aren’t ruled by a demon?”
Q chuckled. “Well, some of them may have bad motivations, but no, there isn’t a demon in charge of them. There are good and bad people in every group. You have to be careful. No running around without clothes on. That would not be great.”
She pressed her lips together and stared out at the cars passing. “I had no choice before. I was in the ground. After they dug me up, I would have been shown to all the men in the community. That’s when my husband would have possessed me.”
“We don’t do that here. And you shouldn’t have been made to do that there.”
She let go a heavy sigh. There’d been so much that felt wrong in the community.
Her father hadn’t been able to keep as tight of a hold on her as her mother could have if she’d lived.
She’d had cooking and cleaning, but it hadn’t been enough to keep her mind from wandering.
“It’s why I ran. Well, one of the reasons. ”
“I’m glad you did. We’ll find someplace for you here.”
“So I won’t be with you?”
“A shelter can help you get on your feet and build a life.”
Worry hit hard. “Will I see you again?”
Q didn’t answer immediately. “I’m sure we could figure something out. There’s a place I looked up that accepts women who need help. You’ll need to get a job, but they will help you set up a life.”
She wasn’t sure she liked the sound of it. This world was much more complicated than she’d thought. How could she survive with so many people racing around in cars so fast? She wasn’t used to this, and now she would be on her own setting up a life. “Okay.”
“We’ll drive by now. You can get a look. I’m sure it will be great.”
She nodded, not sure what to say. She didn’t want to leave Q, but she wasn’t his.
She didn’t know him, and he wasn’t family.
She could do things for him, like take care of his house and cook for him.
She didn’t know what life here was like, but she could learn.
The idea of him leaving her somewhere brought fear.