Chapter 1388: Story 1388: I Loved Her Monster
She wasn’t like the others.
Not when the fever took her.
Not when her eyes dulled.
Not when her veins turned black.
Even when the hunger hit, she looked at and whispered my na—once, before the growl replaced her voice forever.
And still, I didn’t run.
Her na was Leena.
Before the world crumbled, she was the wild one.
She kissed first. Shot first.
Always made the first move.
Even that night when the bite was fresh and I begged her to let amputate…
She smiled through bloodied teeth and said, “Too late, love.”
She changed in stages.
First the cold sweats, then the silence, then the stiffness in her limbs.
But she never attacked .
She watched .
Like so part of her still rembered.
Still cared.
I built a cage in the back of the burned-out café.
Not to trap her—but to keep her from the world.
Or the world from her.
She paced.
Snarled at birds.
Tore a stray raccoon apart once, but left untouched.
At night, I’d sleep beside the bars, fingers through the tal, and she’d curl near my hand like a dog guarding a grave.
So would say she was gone.
So would’ve put a bullet in her brain without hesitation.
But I knew.
She knew .
Even in that decaying shell.
When I read from her old journal, her head would tilt.
When I played her favorite record on the cranky old player, she’d stop moving entirely, just listening—like music made her human again for a minute.
I stayed for 28 days.
Feeding her. Talking to her.
Loving what was left of her.
Then ca the strangers.
A scavenger crew. Ard, tired, paranoid.
They saw her behind the bars and didn’t ask questions.
Just raised their rifles.
I stood between them and the cage.
Told them she was different.
Told them she was mine.
They laughed.
They said I was mad.
Maybe I was.
One of them—a woman with a scar shaped like a crescent moon—asked, “Would you let her eat you, lover boy?”
I said nothing.
But the answer lived in my silence.
That night, I unlocked the cage.
She stepped out slowly. Her body jerked, inhuman. Her breath rattled.
She stood inches from .
And I waited.
For the end.
For love’s teeth.
But she didn’t bite.
She touched my cheek.
Once.
Her skin cold as river stone.
Then turned and disappeared into the ruins.
I haven’t seen her since.
But sotis, when the wind howls and I sll rot and roses, I think she’s nearby. Watching. Rembering.
I loved her monster.
Because her monster still loved .
And in this world of death, that was more human than anything else.
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