“What is it you want?” Jacob asked the sentry, his voice flat and without emotion.

Without hesitating, the sentry gestured to Jacob’s wife. 

“I want her, of course,” he answered with a grin.

Jacob cast the horseman a confused look. 

“You realize she’s sick, don’t you?” he lied. “Look at her distended belly. She’s not pregnant. It’s called ascites. Fluid is filling up her belly because her liver is failing. If you take her, you’ll get it, too.”

The sentry paused to mull this information over.

“Don’t you have it, then?” he asked.

Jacob nodded his head in affirmation.

“Yes, but I’m not as far along as she is. I’m in the preicteric phase of the disease. I won’t show signs for a few more weeks. Right now, my stomach just hurts. I feel nauseated all the time. And, I have no energy.”

The man nodded his head thoughtfully. 

“Will it kill you?”

Jacob nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.

“Not for a few years. Eventually, our livers will just stop working and we’ll die.”

“Why move out here then if you only have a few years left to live?”

Jacob laughed lightly.

“It took years to apply for this place, complete the paperwork, get approved, and move out. Nothing in the city moves fast. By the time it was all said and done, we were infected and on our way to dying. We didn’t want to let that stop us, though; because at least out here we can die in the fresh air.”

The sentry chuckled in agreement.

“Well, in that case, how about I come back for some crops sometime?”

Jacob shifted into a more comfortable stance.

“Sure,” he said with a nod.

The sentry nodded in return before turning his horse around. Without another word, he took off into the distance in a light trot.

In his wake, Jacob heard his wife let out a sigh of relief. Stepping to her husband’s side, she relaxed her head against his shoulder. Together, they embraced. Jacob’s hand moved to her belly. The little baby inside her shifted. Jacob felt the infant's foot kick his hand. He smiled. It was a half-smile—a tired smile—but a smile nonetheless.

“What are we going to do?” Emily asked. 

Jacob sighed.

“I don’t know."

“What did you find in the ground?” she questioned, next.

“It’s a gun,” replied Jacob.

“What’s a gun?”

“A weapon that not even the city has.”

Emily pulled away from Jacob. She cautiously looked at the pistol tucked in Jacob's work pants. Then her eyes fell upon the reflective metal of the case. Kneeling down, she paused to look at her reflection. The very sight of her own face caused her to gasp. Her soft pink lips parted in awe. Without thinking, her hands went to the edges of her face and cheek bones. She studied herself intently. Afterwards, she opened the lid to the case and stuck her hand inside. To her surprise, she found a folded piece of paper. She withdrew the piece of parchment and spread its ends apart. A single sentence rested on the page.

“Use me to start the counterrevolution,” Emily read aloud.

Both Emily and Jacob exchanged looks. A mixture of confusion and intrigue filled their eyes. In the background, their Labrador pounced on a mole and tore it from the ground.

Proceed to Chapter 2