Dominant Species Read Free

gaze lost somewhere to the middle distance.
    ‘You know what it’s like?’
    ‘Only if you tell me,’ she replied, allowing a touch of concern creep into her voice.
    Jake deliberately sidestepped her comment, ‘you know… I’m Twenty-Eight years old and although all I’ve ever known is this… darkness,’ he stared into the depths of his mug as if it contained some secret insight, ‘…it still doesn’t feel...right.’
    Megan moved close beside him, he felt the warmth of body pressed against his side as they both stared out into the grey, misty air.
    ‘I know what you mean,’ she said, shrugging, ‘I suppose one day we’ll get used to it… that’s evolution for you.’
    ‘Well for one, I hope we never do,’ Jake ’s response contained an unmistakable edge of bitterness and he felt her tense slightly, ‘I’d like to remember that it wasn’t always this way. I have to believe that one day, somehow, it might be different.’
    Megan didn’t respond. The latent anger in his tone was something that still took her by surprise, regardless of how many times she heard it. It made her wonder if Jake would ever find peace from his nightmares, whether he’d ever come to terms with his life, however dark and painful it was.
    ‘Where’s Trent and your father?’ he asked, seemingly oblivious to the effect his response had caused.
    Megan turned, looked up into his face as if trying to read his thoughts. At first Jake tried to avoid her gaze, choosing instead to stare resolutely into the bottom of the battered tin mug, but he couldn’t for long and so he turned, briefly looking down into those dark brown, questioning eyes. For a second neither of them spoke, lost in the moment.
    Megan hesitated. She wanted desperately to ask him about the nightmares but knew, as always, that he wouldn’t talk about them anyway, so instead she just answered his question, ‘the crypt, where else?’ She looked back into the mist.
    ‘I suppose Max is there, too?’
    ‘I guess,’ she sighed, ‘Jake you know, perhaps you should...’
    Jake threw her a sideway glance and watched as Megan shrugged. He desperately wanted to say more, but wasn’t sure how to. He wondered if he’d ever be able to explain how he truly felt to her.
    ‘How’s the school coming along?’ he asked, changing the subject quickly.
    ‘Good actually, it makes me feel I’m doing something that really makes a difference.’
    The pride in her voice was obvious, it made Jake feel warm for a second, ‘that’s because you are,’ he said with real conviction.
    For a minute they both stood side by side lost in their own thoughts, before Megan once again broke the silence.
    ‘How’s the drink?’ she asked.
    Jake smiled, ‘good, thanks, as always.’
    He took a last swig , draining the remnants and handed her back the mug. It was a ritual they repeated each morning. Whatever time he woke, Megan always seemed to be there. He suddenly realised that he wasn’t sure what he’d do without her and a finger of fear streaked through him.
    ‘I’d better get going ,’ he muttered and with a last smile he turned to walk away.
    ‘Jake?’ Megan called out softly behind him.
    He turned. She hesitated, and then simply shook her head. ‘Nothing…’ she said, ‘…don’t worry.’
    Megan watched as he walked away with his head down, and her heart felt heavy as she tried to imagine the terrors he’d been through.
     
    The community Jake now lived in consisted mostly of a ragtag group of survivors together with a handful of escapees. The survivors had chosen to try and create a new beginning, a new life, rather than become enslaved by the demons that had risen from the ashes of the war to take control of the City of New York; their City. The escapees were the lucky few that escaped from these demons.
    Their community was one of a scant number that had sprung up in the surrounding areas of Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey. In order to survive they had learnt to keep