![[98 Epigraphs#020]] # Chapter 20 Rhett shivered as the cold morning winds ripped through the northeast Georgia pines. *Gets colder every year it seems.* Just the year before it didn’t seem to cool off until November. Now it was cooling-off in September. Georgia weather tended to be that way, oscillating from cold years to warm ones. Rhett had given Rose his leather jacket the night before to keep warm, and she emerged with it a half hour past when Rhett awoke. They’d slept in the truck, but kept the heat off to conserve power. They’d been out east of Athens for a full week now, trying unsuccessfully to find deer or elk. This was their third preserve. “Chill outside ain't it?” Rose asked, rubbing an eye with her fist. “It is.” *Especially in shorts and a tee shirt you poor girl.* “Any animals?” Rose leaned on his shoulder, blonde hair now to her elbow. “Not a one. We need a new strategy.” *So many corpses though.* It was discouraging, but there just had to be more, somewhere. She didn’t respond but stood on her toes and leaned close. “The jacket is mine now.” The cute blonde took off running. Rhett laughed and ran after her, careful not to catch her too quickly. She dipped around a corner, and Rhett heard a yelp. When he saw her, he broke out laughing. “You poor thing.” “This is all your fault, Rhett Kane.” Rose said, arms crossed against her chest, hair dangling like a yellowish white mop. She hung from her ankles, trapped in some sort of hunter’s trap. “Got a knife?” Rhett asked, trying not to laugh any more than necessary. “I do,” She moved one arm from her chest, the other one left tight. She pulled an object out from her pocket, but dropped it. “Dammit.” Rhett smiled, retrieving the knife from the ground. “I can toss it up to you.” “Uhh,” Rose started, face turning deep red. “Just, uhh, just look away when you do it.” Rhett raised an eyebrow, “Huh?” “I, I didn’t wear a bra last night.” She blurted, face turning three shades deeper. “So…” Rose gestured with one hand, the other against her chest. *Ah.* “I understand, ready?” He asked. She nodded, or the closest thing she could do to a nod, so Rhett tossed the knife to Rose. He had averted his gaze, but was still hit in the nose with the blade when it fell back down. “That is what you get for looking at me.” Rose smiled, clearly trying not to laugh. “Go again.” “Dammit woman.” Rhett said, tossing the knife up again. This time he was rewarded by the sound of Rose cutting the paracord at her ankles. Rose paused, looking down at him again. “Just catch me or break my fall, whatever is easier for you, oh, and don't look at my ass.” “How am I supposed to catch you if I can't see you…” He started, catching Rose in his arms. She didn’t weigh more than 120 pounds. She was only fifteen feet up, so it wasn’t bad. Rose kissed his cheek. “Now that is what you were expecting earlier wasn’t it.” Rhett laughed, “Go get your bra on, and we can get moving for the day.” “Bastard.” They loaded up the truck, and left the preserve. It was a half mile ride, on gravel roads. They passed the gate and turned onto the asphalt. Not one deer since the first day they were in Tignall. It was a large male, not unhealthy, but their goal was more of scouting than actual hunting. “We should go back north.” Rose said, feet up on the dash. *Not wearing shoes. Dammit, she’s like my sister was.* It was a painful memory. For all Rhett knew, she was alive, but the odds felt very slim. She’d gone south, to Florida for college, just a few months before the fall. *Gods, I wish I could see her again.* He shoved away the thoughts and responded, “Yeah, we had better luck up there, even if it was the one deer.” The trip to Tignall wasn’t a long one, but it was boring. However, it was good to have Rose along for it. Aside from the obvious fact that Rhett was infatuated with her. It just felt right. They’d been thirty minutes east of Washington, just near the South Carolina border, and thus half an hour from Tignall. She fell asleep within the first five minutes, and Rhett looked over as often as was safe. *Gods, she’s a pretty little thing.* Her feet remained on the dash for the entirety of the trip. *Maybe I’m just cold natured, but how can she wear shorts in this weather?* Rose still wore a tanktop and shorts, which would have gotten her dress coded in any school across Dixie. *So is it comfort or just to make me uncomfortable?* As they left Delhi road, turning right onto SR 15. Rose awoke from the motion and stop, pulling her feet from the dash, and leaning her chair back all the way to stretch. Regardless of her reasoning for her clothes, Rhett did enjoy looking at her. “Where to?” Rose asked, yawning and sitting her chair back up. She leaned on the right side of her seat, face closer to Rhett’s. “You do still have the map right?” Rhett chuckled. “Ah, shit.” She leaned further, trying to pull the map from her pocket. After some shuffling in her seat, she sat back straight, then laid out the map. They’d been to just three preserves in the last week, a couple days a piece. All were private ones, not commercial, but the others to their north were all commercial. Rose pointed to one labeled ‘Bowman Elk and Deer.’ “Promising.” Rhett nodded, accelerating down the road. The preserve in question was another half hour away, between Tignall and Elberton. Rose started to dig through a bag at her feet, tossing random thing’s she’d taken from cars and buildings they’d raided to the back seat. *Gods, I’ll have to clean the whole truck up.* “Rose, what are you after?” “Okay so, forgot about it till today, but after the preserve before last, I nabbed, Ow!” Rose removed her hand from the bag, immediately sticking one finger into her mouth. “Dammit.” With her left hand, she pulled out a small Swiss army knife, corkscrew bloodied. “I don’t know why people like these damn things.” Rose rolled down the window and tossed the small red knife out. “Anyway, like I was saying, I’ve been raiding so many cars in my free time, I stumbled across this.” She pulled a small rectangular metal object from the bag. “An MP3 player?” Rhett laughed, “I haven’t seen one of those since i was a kid. Usually kept all my music saved in my phone or a mini SD card.” “It is a neat little thing.” Rose said, pulling its aux cord from her bag, and linking the MP3 player with the truck. Loud old white girl pop started blaring from the speakers. Not awful music, it was from the 2010s, not the 2020s after all, but Rhett turned down the volume before his ears bled. *Gods above, whoever had this truck before us must have been deaf.* Rose laughed, removing her fingers from her ears. “It has so much music, and even movies and audiobooks. Terabyte of storage in an SD card.” She turned on some classic rock, the good stuff, from before the 2000s even started. *Can’t have been a century ago.* But it had been that long. It made Rhett think of his life much differently. He was a blip in the radar of the immeasurable span of time. The world felt so different, even before the fall, to the era of classic rock. Like it was a whole new era. It probably would be if the federal government didn’t get so bad, and if the secession war never happened. It had only been 50 years before, but it set the whole country back generations. “Someone really loved that MP3 player.” Rhett sighed. “I’m sure they did. It’s even weirder to consider how future generations will use it, if we don't all rot, to preserve proper culture.” “Gods, woman, you make me feel ancient.” “Rhett Kane, you don’t look it.” “Neither do you, sweet Ava Rose.” Rhett smiled at her blush. The rest of the drive was standard, classic rock playing in the background. It was about 8:30 in the morning, and Rhett was hungry. Though she denied it, Rhett could hear Rose’s stomach growling. Rhett got out two sets of bows from the truck bed, and handed one to Rose. “What’s this for?” Rose asked, concerned look on her pretty pale face. “You, my dear, are going to learn to hunt rabbits.” Rhett said with a grin. --- Rose didn’t become a savant with a bow by any means, but she did manage to kill one squirrel in the hour they spent hunting. Rhett also got a good excuse to have his body pressed against hers, feeling her muscles work. Rhett managed to catch two rabbits, and two additional squirrels. The couple sat together in the warmth of a fire Rhett had made, eating the animals they’d killed. “Wouldn’t have veer agreed to this before the fall.” Rose said, chewing with a wrinkled nose. She still wore Rhett’s jacket from the night before. *Guess I need to find me a new Jacket.* She held the stick with the squirrel on it on her left hand, poking at it with her bandaged right finger. The wind kept blowing her hair into her face. “We’ll get used to it, I think.” Rhett had to mask his own disgust at the food. The meat itself didn’t taste bad, but it was gamey. Rhett tossed the cleaned skeleton, well, as clean as he could get it, over his shoulder. He let boredom overtake him, looking straight up, then letting himself fall backwards. He watched behind him now, gaze inverted. *Could do with a good book right about now.* Rhett let his mind wander, back to simpler times. Reading with his sister, the old library in Monroe they used to go to on occasion. He remembered birthday parties, weddings, Christmas. It was overwhelming. “The meat isn’t bad,” Rose commented, unknowingly bringing Rhett back to the present. “And you can be proud you caught it yourself.” Rhett smiled. “Just the one squirrel.” Rose shook her head. “Rose, it took me at least six hours to catch my first.” “Six?” Rose covered her mouth, trying to hide her laughter. “In my defense, it was a rather fast squirrel.” Rose burst into laughter, a delightful sound in Rhett’s ears. *Need her to do that more often. Hell, I should do that more often.* Rhett cleaned up the skewers and packed them away after they finished eating. He then tossed the dish water over the fire. It had been several days since they last showered, back at a Hunters cabin. Rhett smiled to himself as he opened the toolbox on the back of his truck. They both reeked of pine and smoke from their fires, not a bad smell, but it qualified as a reek. From it, he pulled a short hose, sprinkler head, and a small water heater. It was a portable one, with a fillable, flexible reservoir. Enough for one shower at a time. He cranked up the gas generator in the back of his truck. After a few minutes, Rose grew curious and looked to see what he was doing. “Why do you have the gen…” Her eyes widened, assessing the setup Rhett had made, “That isn’t a water heater, is it?” “Sure is. You’re up first, you stink.” Rhett laughed. “Bastard, well I will gladly take it.” Rose said, pulling off her socks and shoes, tossing Rhett his jacket. Rhett looked away as she pulled off her shirt, which she also tossed at him. “I’ll be at the fire pit, Rose.” Rhett chuckled, eyes closed. She kissed him on the lips, then spun him around and pushed him away. He sat down at the fire pit, smiling, despite the world. Several minutes later he heard Rose call across their camp. “This thing is awesome! I love you Rhett Kane!”