The hardest part was being alone.
Everyone thinks it's the constant moving around, or the fighting, or scavenging to live. Honestly, once you learn to live without toilet paper, the rest is easy. Besides, things have changed since the beginning. Most of those things don't even apply anymore. I found myself a nice place out in the country with a good view, escape routes and decently preserved crop fields. I'm not moving around anymore. Not scavenging either. It's almost the good life except that it's only me.
I guess that one is kind of my fault really. I avoided groups when I used to move around a lot. Too noisy, too much drama. Groups had a decent longevity but they always got caught in the end. You can't trust nobody but yourself out here. But none of that matters anymore because I went and got myself a girlfriend.
I was damn lucky to find her.
She had only turned pretty recently from the looks of it. And from the tiniest bite I had ever seen. It was just a nick on her pinky toe. I was never a foot kind of guy so a pair of socks ironed that right out.
She doesn't talk much. Just a few grunts and moans when she's happy or wants something. And I try to keep my girl happy. I even went out and paved a trail all the way from the city to my place. People just follow it all the way to my door and I give them a last meal before introducing them to Sharon. That's what I named her, Sharon, after the pretty girl that used to live next door to me. But my Sharon is much better than that Sharon. My Sharon loves me and doesn't think I'm creepy.
We haven't made love quite yet. But I'm searching through the city for condoms everyday. I'm not sure if Sharon can get pregnant anymore but I am damn sure I can get infected. Until I find one, I'll have to be content with cuddling. It took forever to teach her to stroke my hair instead of clawing at it but it was worth it. I started out with taped on mouth guards and a straitjacket. Now we've moved on to mouth guards and a leash. I'm so proud of her. She learned so fast.
Don't get me wrong. I know she doesn't really love me. Not yet anyway. It's still too early in the relationship to tell. But right now, she loves me for my brain and that is good enough for me.