Mutual protection, part 2
Mutual protection, part 2
Chapter 5: Mutant
Melvin was struck by the beauty of the girl.
Unkempt, long red hair framed her heart-shaped face, that was dominated by large green eyes. Her bright red lips stood out, even more than their color warranted, from the contrast with the pale, almost yellow hue of her teint.
Her lips curled into a warm smile and her eyes lit up as she noticed that Melvin was awake.
“Hello, mister! Feeling better?”
Melvin instantly recognized the voice. It was the same voice he had heard in his dream. Which, then, perhaps had not been a dream at all?
Melvin did not reply immediately. He felt he had to gather his thoughts. But instead of focusing, his eyes had a mind of their own and wandered away from the girls' face, to her body.
She was slender, but not thin. The muscles on her arms and abdomen betrayed a life with little luxury and lots of hard work. Her chest was flat. Two large, dark orange areolae, adorned with small red nipples, showed where one day she would develop into a woman. She sat cross-legged, unashamedly exposing her immature sex, just a closed slit and yet so enticing already, that would normally be hidden between her coltish legs.
And then, suddenly, in Melvin's slow mind the synapses connected.
Her yellow skin. She was a …
“Mutant!” he exclaimed in panic.
His hand shot to his hip in a reflex move, but instead of finding his weapon holster, he only felt his own naked skin. He looked down and now noticed for the first time that he was just as naked as the girl. He was lying on top of a bed of dried grass, wearing absolutely nothing.
He looked back at the girl. She had assumed a defensive position, but mostly looked startled, and sad.
“Don't be afraid?” she begged, “don't be mad?”
“But you … you … you are …”
“Yes, I am, Newfolk. Or mutant, as you call it.”
The way she spat out the word mutant showed her disdain for the term.
“And you are oldfold. Oldfolk, who wants to kill us newfolk. And so I am supposed to kill you. The Elders say it's us or them.”
She sat silent for a short while, her eyes in Melvin's direction but her gaze going right through him, as if he wasn't there. Then she resumed, her voice softer now.
“I could have left you there, you know. In the wreckage of your vehicle. You would have died. But I didn't. I couldn't. You're just as human as I am. So I saved you.”
“I … You could … I would …”
Melvin interrupted himself as once more his brain slowly caught up.
“Wait. You saved me?”
The girl nodded.
Chapter 6: Heal
“How?” was all that Melvin could ask.
“You were lucky that your vehicle broke completely open. That's why I could reach you, to pull you out. You are heavy, for me. But I managed. I pushed you on my sled, so I could take you to this cave. We are safe here. And then I healed you. You were badly wounded.”
“Thanks. I guess.”
Melvin was happy to notice his mind clearing up enough to at least respond appropriately.
“But how did you heal me? I see no med unit here. And I thought mutants … Sorry, I thought newfolk don't have med units. Or electricity.”
He felt that a far corner of his mind was still working on some other inconsistencies. Something was still very odd, odder than healing without med unit. He just couldn't put his finger on it. Not yet.
“How did I heal you?”
As the girl repeated his question, Melvin noticed her thoughtful tone. Her body was perhaps that of a 9-year-old girl, the sound of her voice perhaps matched that, but her thoughtful tone betrayed the wisdom, or at least the life experience, of someone at least twice that age. Perhaps more.
The girl tapped a finger against her forehead.
“I am a healer. It's my … power, is what most people call it. I like to think of it as a gift, though. But the Elders call it a curse.”
Melvin had heard the rumors. This confirmed it. Mutants had started to develop special powers. An increased threat, according to the governor. And yet, he seemed to now owe his life to the powers of this mutant girl.
“So, that's like … like a mental power? You healed me with the power of your brain?”
The girl smiled and moved her hand down from her forehead to her chest, pressing both hands against her left nipple.
“That's what the Elders call it. A power of the mind. But I think it's a power of the heart. If it were in my head, I could control it. But I can't. I heal everyone who is near enough.”
She paused, as Melvin digested this information.
“So I brought you here, in the cave. And I stayed with you, and then your wounds healed.”
“But … why?”
“I was close. I felt your pain. I knew you were dying. If I had just gone away, you would have died. I would not put a knife in your body and twist it to kill, but it would be the same. I do not want to kill. I want to heal.”
Melvin paused and let this sink in.
“Thanks,” he finally said.
Chapter 7: Protect
And then, all of a sudden, he realized what the nagging doubt in his brain was about. The air. He was not in a protective suit. He was exposed to Outside air. The cave probably shielded most of the radiation, but what about the pollution?
He had to ask.
“I always thought muta … newfolk don't have air cleaning systems. When did your people acquire the tech? How did you build it? I understand that caves are easier to isolate, but still. Where do you get the power?”
The girl looked at him, clearly not understanding his words.
“Isolate? Air cleaning? What do you mean, mister?”
“The air, here in the cave. It must be cleaned, somehow. Outside air is dangerous. Pollution. Radiation.”
A glazed look in the girls' eyes betrayed she didn't understand a word.
“I would die from breathing Outside air!”
“Oh, that!”
Suddenly the girls' eyes lit up in understanding.
“Yes, oldfolk are weak. You can't live in this world anymore. Newfolk can. We have adapted. We can survive. We don't need tech like you oldfolk do.”
“Yes. Yes, that's what I mean. So how do I still live?”
She looked at him with a look normally only used by parents with a particularly persistent and non-understanding toddler. Then tapped her head once more, then touched her chest again, near her heart.
“Healer.”
“Your power … your healing … it not only cured my wounds, it also kept me safe from radiation and pollution?”
“Of course,” the girl shrugged, “I would not be much of a healer if you died from a bit of air. I protect you.”
Chapter 8: Naked
Melvin felt his head spin from all the information he had been given. And the girl seemed to sense that it was becoming too much.
“No more talk,” she simply said, “now you must rest. Eat and drink first, then rest. Your wounds were deep. They need more time to heal fully.”
As Melvin heard those words, he realized she was right. He suddenly felt how dry his throat was, how empty his stomach. And also that his brain was starting to get foggy again, not just from too much information, but also from simply being weary.
The girl stood up, took two steps to an alcove where a rucksack was deposited. As she turned her back on Melvin, he noticed her buttocks. They were not plump and big as one would expect on a grown woman. They were the undeveloped buttocks of a child, bubbly and firm. He was surprised how wonderful that sight was to his eyes.
As she bent over, the movement made her buttocks part a bit, and he saw a small puckered hole, only vaguely visible in the flickering light of the camp fire.
She had found what she was looking for and turned around again. Once more, Melvin was struck by her beauty. A beautiful girl, for sure. He had already noticed that. But now in his mind he suddenly also saw a beautiful young woman.
And then, as he felt a stirring in his loins, he suddenly recalled his own undressed state, and he quickly used his hands to hide his manhood.
“I am sorry,” he mumbled, “I forgot. I have no clothes. I am naked.”
“Yes, I know,” the young girl shrugged, as she started to walk towards the man whose life she had saved, “and so am I. It's warm here. And safe, We don't need clothes.”
“But … But you are a woman. A girl, I mean. And I am a man.”
The girl paused for a second. Then broke into a wide smile.
“Oh, so it is true what the Teachers told me. Oldfolk think bodies are shameful and cover them. Don't worry. Newfolk know better. Bodies are just that. Bodies. Nothing special.”
And then she walked closer to him, unfazed by the sight of Melvin's growing erection, that his hands no longer covered completely, and stuck out her hands to offer food and drinks. Melvin had no choice but to lift his own hands and accept the meal.
She had given him a jug, and when he took a sip he tasted clean water. In his other hand, he now had a bag. He opened it to find some fruits and two strips of dried meat.
“It's not much, but I have to ration. I can't get more now. We will find new food when you are healed. Eat now. Drink now. Then sleep.”
The girl returned to the alcove, rummaged a bit more, then returned with a second food bag. She then returned to where Melvin was lying and sat down next to him, obviously no longer afraid, and started to eat her own food.
They both ate in silence and shared the jug, until they were both satisfied. Then the girl stowed the jug with the remaining water back in her rucksack, as Melvin stretched out on his improvised bed.
“Sleep now, mister,” the girl repeated, “I will heal. You will be all healed when you wake up.”
“Thanks,” Melvin mumbled, as he folded his hands behind his neck.
“Oh, and by the way, you don't need to call me mister. My name is Melvin.”
“Iole”, the girl responded.
And then she stepped on the grass bed tight next to Melvin, draped one small arm across his strong chest, and folded her lithe body against his side.
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