Wasteland of the Bears
an excerpt

“Morgan, you were telling us the story of the journal. YOU should continue.”
“Oh yeah. I guess I will, while you try and calm your boyfriend down.” James went back to murmuring comfortingly in my ear. He tried his best, but I was too far gone with panic to notice. He rocked me gently, and I just sat there and let him. I was useless. I was a depressed, angsty English teacher. I had no class to teach anymore. Just James and this Morgan person. They both spoke proper English, making me very useless. I couldn’t go on this way. I could always wander off and just prove them wrong about me being needed. I stood up and started pacing.
“Actually, let me speak. I am useless now. All that I’ve done is ruin the world. You guys would be better off without me. I’ll leave me car for you. I don’t know why you’d need it, but it could come in handy. I’ll just start walking and not stop until I drop of exhaustion.” Morgan sighed, and with an eye roll, stood back up. Walking towards me, I was about to jump back when a hand slapped me across the face.
“We are going to achieve NOTHING with you angsting out like a whiny teenager, Brent! C’mon, if we’re going to survive and prosper like proper little flowers, we need to stick together. You are NOT useless. You have more skills than JUST teaching English, and your boyfriend here would be a sobbing mess if you did leave. Do you really want him to feel that way? Do you really want him to wonder why he was so easy for you to toss aside and just up and leave? Because let me tell you something, that’s how he’d feel. He’d feel abandoned. He’d feel like he must have done something to make you fall out of love with him, and that you’d just found an easy excuse to be able to leave him. You would feel like he had let you down. You’d feel that if he really loved you, he’d have given you more of a reason to stay. Isn’t his entire heart and soul enough of a reason? I know he loves you for more than just your survival skills. That much is obvious. Even in this broken, shattered little world, the love that I see in your guys’ eyes when you look at each other? It does my heart good to see it. Now, will you sit the fuck down and stop acting like a child? God damn pussy fag.”
“…There’s no need for names.” I could do nothing but stare at the ground. Morgan was right. Eerily, read my thoughts right. Maybe he or she or it or whatever ‘it’ went by was psychic?
“I’m not psychic. I just know how love works.”
“I didn’t call you psychic.”
“Yes you did. In your head.”
“You’re not psychic, but you know what I say in my head?”
“Shoot. That just sort of blew my cover, eh?”
“Just a tad. It’s in smithereens now.
“Oh. Well then yes, I am psychic. So that just proves I’m correct about how you guys would feel. By the way, James is about to start crying, so a hug and a kiss might be in order.” I looked, startled, over at him. Sure enough, a tear made its way slowly down his cheek as I watched. Pulling him towards me, I wrapped my arms around him and kissed his wet cheeks.