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hezzabeth · 5 months

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"You brought the baby back," Nani remarked with surprise the moment Sugafana and Jay got back. Nani then gasped with surprise when Sugafana placed the baby on the bed.

"That’s a different baby; that baby looks like Lakshmi," she remarked.

"It’s not," Jay said, and Sugafana sat down to explain exactly what had happened.

"Oh Bhagwan! You only went and adopted the lost princess's baby," hissed Nani.

"I did?" Sugafana asked, shooting Jay a questioning look, who merely shrugged.

"The news is all over the camp; her husband accused her of having an affair with another man. She’s dead, and the maternity droid she owned vanished," Nani cried as she grabbed a bag from the pile of laundry and began to dramatically pack everything.

"This could all be a big coincidence," Sugafana protested weakly as she sat down next to baby Dityaa.

Baby Dityaa began to cry, and suddenly Sugafana felt a peculiar painful sensation in her chest.

"Coincidence? You said the baby's parents are classified! She had green hair! An assassin came after you," Nani hissed as she wrapped the creature up in two old shirts.

Baby Dityaa began to nuzzle Sugafana’s shirt.

"Your Nani is probably right; there have been far too many strange occurrences," Jay replied, and Sugafana gasped.

"There’s milk coming out of me," she said, gesturing to her chest.

"Of course there is! You changed the baby's DNA, and now you’re her mother! Feed her," Nani said gently as she tugged down Sugafana's shirt, much to her embarrassment.

Baby Dityaa latched furiously onto Sugafana, sucking away.

"I didn’t know it worked that way," Sugafana muttered as she grabbed a blanket, trying to cover herself up.

"You don’t need to be embarrassed; I’ve been breastfeeding hundreds of times," Jay assured her.

"I’m going to start packing; when you’re done, I’ll arrange for us to go to BritinduSarvadharma," Nani said.

"Brigindusarvadharma is on the other side of the planet!" Jay gasped.

"It is also big and easy to get lost in; the population is almost a billion people," Sugafana mused.

"How would we get in? They’ll turn us away at the border," Jay said, and Nani shook her head.

"I know people," Nani said with a small shrug.

"Your friends' grandchildren, who are all smugglers! They’ll make us teleport hidden in empty oil drums! We could end up with mixed-up DNA," Sugafana pointed out.

"And do you have a better use? This place is filled with gossips! People here know that you and Jay are not romantic partners who created a baby," Nani pointed out, and Sugafana sighed.

"I guess you’re right," she admitted.

Baby Dityaa finally finished eating, and with a small sigh, she fell into a deep sleep.

Day six

Suddenly, there was the distant sound of someone screaming, and Sugafana sighed with frustration.

"Oh, what now?" Sugafana grumbled.

"Probably someone fighting over what play the camp actors will put on tomorrow," Jay said knowingly.

"I don’t know why they bother fighting about it; they always end up performing that ancient folktale about Mister Burns," Nani said as she pulled down the tapestry, shoving it into the bag.

Another scream, the pounding of footsteps.

"I need to pack," Jay said.

"You do?" Sugafana asked, faintly confused.

"I’m coming with you! I’m Dityaa’s fake father, and I can’t leave you," Jay said firmly.

"You can’t leave me?" Sugafana asked nervously.

"Oh, for goodness' sake, girl, the boy is clearly in love with you," Nani cried with frustration, and Sugafana glanced at Jay, who was now staring at the floor.

"Nani, can you take the baby out for a minute and give us some privacy?" Sugafana asked, and Nani nodded.

"No kissing unless he asks you to marry him," Nani said firmly.

For a second, everything was quiet and fragile. Sugafana felt like she was watching a piece of fine china flying through the air, and if she moved the wrong way, it would crash into a million pieces.

"You can sit next to me, Jay," she said, and he smiled, a tiny relieved smile.

Sugafana had caught the plate.

"So, you're in love with me then?" Sugafana asked.

"You're intelligent, funny in a very dry way, and kind! Who wouldn't love that?" Jay asked with a small smile, and Sugafana reached towards Jay, her hand hovering above his hand.

"I am fond of you, Jay... it's just, well," Sugafana began.

"Well, what?"

"I had a girlfriend during the beginning of the war; we only dated for a few weeks, but she exploded," Sugafana admitted, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Exploded?" Jay stammered.

"Then when I first arrived at the camps, I was with a man named Paul; he was fun, but then he ran off to join the northern resistance," Sugafana added, and then she glanced up at Jay. It was easy not to grow romantically attached when all she saw was a sliver of eyes. Now, however, she found herself taking in the elegant slope of his long nose, his surprisingly full lips, and the way his short beard surprisingly framed his jawline. Charismatic, Jay looked charismatic. Of course, he did.

"Nani thinks I'm cursed," Sugafana added.

"I thought you didn't believe in anything," Jay reminded her.

"True," she admitted before pulling his face towards hers. The kiss felt like a shock of static electricity against her lips. Jay's lips moved against hers, and the shock turned into a vibrating purr, traveling right down her knees. Jay's lips felt so very warm and soft, aching in a way Sugafana didn't even know she was missing. Sugafana pulled away slightly dazed and then nodded.

"Your Nani said no kissing before a wedding," Jay stammered, sounding incredibly flustered.

"I had to make sure we had chemistry before making a decision," Sugafana pointed out logically.

"I think we do," Jay replied.

"Yes, surprisingly I agree," Sugafana admitted with a firm nod.

"Does this mean I can come?" He asked, and Sugafana nodded.

"And can I kiss you again?" He asked, and Sugafana nodded again.

"What were you two doing in there for so long? I've been waiting for almost an hour," grumbled Nani.

"An hour? Really?" Sugafana asked dubiously as she patted her hair back into place.

"Alright, half an hour," Nani conceded before nodding down the cave's dark corridor.

"Six people have already run past! I'm guessing a fight has broken out in the soup kitchen again," Nani said as Sugafana took back Dityaa.

"Sometimes I think we need an elected official to run this place; every time there's a fight, we end up having to scrub blood off the walls," Sugafana whispered as they walked through the dark.

"What, like a warlord?" Jay asked.

"No! More like a group of sensible, practical people who make good decisions based on everyone's needs," Sugafana said, and Nani snorted.

"Sounds like a silly fairytale to me," Nani said, and Jay suddenly squawked as he tripped in the dark.

"Nani, did you pack the torch?" Sugafana asked.

"Of course! But we don't want to waste the battery," Nani pointed out.

"We also don't want Jay to trip over and break his neck before we even get to his dorm," Sugafana pointed out.

Grumbling to herself, Nani rummaged about in her sack, and with a flash, the tunnel filled with a faint warm light. Jay gasped, the baby whimpered, and Nani swore.

A dead body was lying on the stone floor. An actual bloody dead body.

Sugafana merely choked a little before composing herself. It wasn't the first dead body she'd seen, and it probably wouldn't be her last.

"Appliances?" Nani whispered, and Sugafana shook her head, still feeling sick.

"Appliances vaporize humans; they don't leave a mess," Sugafana whispered.

The body was dressed in torn black pants, no shoes, and a loose grey shirt. Its hands were missing, blood trickling from the wrists.

"What the… " Jay gagged, and Sugafana stepped over the body, trying to avoid getting blood on her pants.

"We need to keep moving," Sugafana whispered as she rubbed baby Dityaa's head.

Silence didn't exist in the camp. Even in the dead of the night, the corridors and caves were filled with the constant thrum of people. Snow farmers getting ready to meet the Martian sunrise. Small children running around the corridors while their parents slept on the ground. Baba's thieves and traders drinking long into the night. Sugafana would often fall asleep to the distant sound of their cave neighbor two doors down singing.

Silence didn't exist.

Until now.

"Raiders?" Jay whispered as they approached the camp's nursery. Many people arrived at the camp either pregnant or carrying tiny babies. A couple of years ago, an enterprising flash named Pooja noticed this and created the nursery. It was really no more than a medium-sized enclave with a dozen cardboard boxes turned into cribs. The nursery's curtain had been ripped aside.

"Do you think we should look?" Jay whispered.

"Normally there's at least one baby crying in here," Sugafana replied, and Nani held the torch up. All the baby boxes were empty, and the attending nurse was lying dead on the floor.

"That's Arya's girl Priya; she's only seventeen," Nani cried, leaning down towards the girl.

"Her hands are also missing," Sugafana realized, her voice catching in her throat.

Jay leaned down, placing his hands gently on Nani's shoulder.

"This has to be something new, something new and terrible," Nani choked.

"My sleeping pod has a lock on it; we should all be able to squeeze inside," Jay said gently, helping Nani to her feet.

"And then what?" Hissed Sugafana.

"This thing is probably like a monsoon; it will storm past, and we can leave when it's gone," Jay whispered, and Sugafana shivered. Other people, braver people, would have insisted on finding the monster in the dark. They would have fought it to the death, saving those who remained. Other people, however, were not balancing a baby in their arms while standing next to a sixty-three-year-old lady with weak legs.

"Ok, we'll hide," Sugafana whispered.

Sugafana and Nani had only spent a week in the dorms before the claustrophobia made them flee. The sleeping pods were no more than two by two feet dingy gray boxes with locks on the inside. Sugafana had ended up trading her late mother's pearl earrings to secure their cave.

"Chi chi! I can smell them from here," Nani grumbled.

"Be polite," hissed Sugafana, although Nani was right. Even in the dark, it was easy to follow the stench of old cooking, human sweat, and volcanic sulfur.

"I keep my pod very clean," Jay said defensively.

"Of course you do," whispered Sugafana.

There was an edge to the smell this time.

Sugafana had caught the plate.

"So, you're in love with me then?" Sugafana asked.

"You're intelligent, funny in a very dry way, and kind! Who wouldn't love that?" Jay asked with a small smile, and Sugafana reached towards Jay, her hand hovering above his.

"I am fond of you, Jay... it's just, well," Sugafana began.

"Well, what?"

"I had a girlfriend during the beginning of the war; we only dated for a few weeks, but she exploded," Sugafana admitted, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Exploded?" Jay stammered.

"Then when I first arrived at the camps, I was with a man named Paul; he was fun, but then he ran off to join the northern resistance," Sugafana added, and then she glanced up at Jay. It was easy not to grow romantically attached when all she saw was a sliver of his eyes. Now, however, she found herself taking in the elegant slope of his long nose, his surprisingly full lips, and the way his short beard framed his jawline. Charismatic; Jay looked charismatic. Of course, he did.