The stupid smile I stopped being able to suppress about ten seconds after I left Zach refuses to go.

Even the sound of Axel and Brielle massacring their guitars doesn't manage to erase the upward curve of my lips.

Maybe, I'm smirking not smiling. I've caught Zach's smirking twitch. I haven't even touched him, and he's managed to infect me.

Inside The Rec, everyone is positioned in their usual spots. Each of us claimed a space of floor years ago and since then, we've continued to sit in them. Axel and Brielle pluck their guitars, Suki is singing, while Seb and Hope watch from their distant spots.

I feel sorry for the younger Naturalists in our settlement. They won't get to enjoy this space. There's too many of them to fit in here without the risk of touching. They'll have nowhere to get away from their parents. Not that we get away completely.

'Hey, Kit.' Axel smiles widely when he spots me standing in the doorway. He stands up but doesn't approach me.

What's the point?

He can't shake my hand or give me a high five or hug me or worst, such as give me a kiss on the cheek like people do in the books I read.

I'm glad. The thought of him doing any of those things makes feel uncomfortable.

All that touching. All those pathogens. It freaks me out.

I see the techies doing it all the time. In fact, I've seen Zach do several of those things including allowing girls to kiss him on the cheek.

My mouth droops unexplainably, and I have to force my lips to curl upwards. 'Hey.'

'We weren't sure if you were going to make it today, but I'm glad you came.' Axel grins

'I've been looking forward to hearing the song you're working on.' It's ok to lie if it's to be nice. I'm not a bad person. 'Have you finished it?'

'Not yet.'

'I'd really like to hear what you've done so far.' Please let it be better than the other two songs you play.

I head over to the space me and Mattan always sit in. We're the only two who share a space, and the only two who can touch another person in our age range which for some reason annoys the others.

Right now, I'm alone in our space. Mattan is missing and Mara isn't in her usual spot. 'Has anyone seen Mattan?'

'I saw him and Mara arguing early,' Hope says.

I frown. 'Maybe, I should go find him.'

'You can't fix all his problems,' Seb retorts.

'He's my brother and if I can help, I will,' I snap.

'I think Seb meant, why don't you give them some time. They're a couple and some things are private. If he wants you, he'll find you,' Suki interjects, sending Seb a look. He scowls in response and she withers in front of him.

Stand up to him, Suki. Be a strong independent woman!

How she likes Seb, I have no idea. Then again, they have quite a few similarities: both have resting bitch face, both lost their biological parents, both have no siblings, both brought up by their grandmothers and they were both the last families to arrive at this settlement.

It's a little weird how similar their lives are.

Eighteen years ago, Suki's father was killed on the way to this settlement by a mob who thought he had Virulence. Suki's pregnant mother and grandmother survived the attack, only for her mother to die during childbirth. Suki's grandmother has been responsible for her since.

Eighteen years ago, Seb's father died of Virulence. His mother came here and didn't know she was pregnant when she was quarantined with Seb's grandmother who was one of the founders. Eight months later, Seb was born in the settlement and a few days after his birth, his mother left the safety of the settlement to cross the wall knowing she'd never be allowed back.

Alma helped deliver Seb. She said his mother cried the entire birth and refused to look at him after he was born. I've never told Seb this, but knowing this information is the only thing from stopping me hating Seb completely.

Losing your family to Virulence is horrible. Your family choosing to leave you is worst.

I know from experience.

'Mattan will turn up soon. He always comes looking for you here on a Sunday,' Axel says. 'Would you like to hear the song?'

'Yeah,' I say with as much enthusiasm as I can muster. It's not much.

Axel starts to play his guitar and Brielle joins in. Both of their instruments belong to their parents who brought them from their old lives. Suki starts to sing and Seb watches her intently, while Hope nods her head as though she's enjoying it.

I always considered listening to them bearable but now I feel like my ears are being attacked with several instruments of torture.

What's wrong with me? Why does my body not respond to this noise like it did to the song Zach played me?

Oh shit! I'm not addicted to music, I'm addicted to Zach's music. This is bad. Really bad.

Axel looks at me and I'm reminded of Zach's comment. I search for signs of him wanting to suck my face and get into my pants. I don't see it. All I see is the boy I've grown up with, a good friend.

Axel frowns, and I force a smile which has the effect intended because his face relaxes. Brielle's face, which is fixated on Axel, also relaxes. Brielle's crush is so obvious. Has Axel considered asking her to settle with him?

Mattan walks into The Rec and slumps beside me, looking upset. Mara's spot is still empty. I lean
towards Mattan and whisper, 'Is everything ok with you and Mara?'

'Don't worry about us.' Mattan places an arm over my shoulder and pulls me into him. His mouth rests next to my ear. 'I see Axel's serenading you again.'

I elbow him in the stomach, and he groans.

Mattan loves winding me up about Axel. He agrees with Zach in a way but when Mattan says it, his choice of words is much politer.

Seb scowls at me, and I narrow my eyes at him. Just because you don't have a brother doesn't mean you should hate me for having one.

Mattan tugs a strand of my hair and says, 'You're so angry sometimes.'

'And you're so irritating all the time.' I hit his hand away which makes Mattan laugh and Seb's scowl deepen.

A cough at the doorway causes the music to stop abruptly. Everyone turns to face the owner. Axel's mum has her hands on her hip as her gaze drifts over the room. 'Can I get you guys anything?'

It's a stupid thing to say. She says this every time she checks on us, which is hourly. Even here, we can't get away from our parents completely.

What would she do if one of us said yes? Because she can't get us anything, even if she wanted too.

Axel's mum remains in the doorway, inspecting our arrangement. She's taken it upon herself to be our unofficial monitor, to ensure we don't act on any crazy urges to start touching each other.

It's ridiculous. We've spent our entire lives not making physical contact with people outside our family, I don't know why she'd think we'd change that now, especially when we all know the outcome.

'We're good, mum,' Axel sighs.

'Glad to hear. Make sure to keep this door open.'

It's always open. No one touches it due to the whole avoiding objects other people may have touched.

Axel's mum glances around the room again, and her eyes linger on me before she displays a tight smile and leaves.

His mum isn't a massive fan of mine. Mattan says it's because every time Axel's been in trouble I've been involved, but I also know it's because I'm the only one out of our friends who was born outside this settlement. All my friends were born within these walls. Mara was the first baby to be born, Mattan second then Hope, Brielle, Axel, Seb and Suki.

I was dropped off after the majority of the world's population died. I should be dead from Virulence and I know everyone else thinks the same.

'Your mum's so sweet,' Hope says.

'You said that about my dad too.' Axel shakes his head while grinning.

'That's because he is. They both are, especially together. They found each other when surrounded by tragedy. They were destined to be together. I think their story is romantic.' Hope shrugs and looks at the floor, slightly embarrassed at her confession.

I stifle a laugh. The story behind how Axel's parents got together is hardly romantic. His father had been involved in the running of his families organic farms and had initially declined the invitation to join until everyone started dying around him, so he fled here. Axel's mother was a member of the Naturalist movement, but she'd believed Virulence would be contained and decided not to join the settlement until she lost her husband and children to it. When they arrived there was a lack of cabins so Axel's parents had shared one to free up room for another family. Twelve weeks in quarantine together resulted in Axel being created and over the years they've added several more to their family.

Mattan stands. 'Kit, it's time for you to help me with that thing you promised.' He grabs my hand and tugs me up to standing.

I didn't promise to help him with anything. He wants to leave.

'See you again later?' Axel asks.

If you promise not to play your songs anymore. 'Maybe.'

Mattan slings his arm over my shoulder and starts to manoeuvre me through the cabin, slowly guiding us around everyone, ensuring to keep a wide berth.

'See you later,' I say.

Everyone returns the saying, apart from Seb who's scowl is so harsh it must be hurting his face.

Exiting The Rec, Mattan exhales loudly. With his arm still around my shoulder, we walk along the path. It's overly warm for this time of year, and we still haven't had any rain. People sit on the porches of their cabins, crocheting items in preparation for winter. It's a favourite hobby among Naturalists. We're all taught how to crochet various items using only our fingers and some wool.

I may be good with my hands, but I hate crocheting.

'Why were you so keen to leave The Rec?' I ask.

'I was saving you from doing something stupid. You looked like you wanted to gouge Seb's eyeballs out.' Mattan grins.

'Me wanting to gouge Seb's eyeballs out isn't anything new. He's always scowling at me, and you don't make it any better by being all touchy with me in front of him, you know it irritates him.'

Mattan chuckles. 'I can't help it. He's too easy to wind up. I know he doesn't have any siblings but come on. It's perfectly normal to hug my sister.' Mattan steers us in the direction of our cabin. 'I feel sorry for Suki if she ends up settling with him.'

'You mean when not if.'

'You never know....' Mattan waggles his eyebrows. 'Maybe Suki, Brielle and Axel will secretly settle together and live in musical bliss.'

Laughter bursts out of me, echoing around us. Several people turn and frown in our direction. Mattan pulls me closer into his side as I shake my head while continuing to laugh.

'Sometimes I worry about what goes through your head.' I snigger.

'It could happen.'

Could it? What would the Council Leaders say if three people approached them about settling together? It's never happened previously but that doesn't mean it couldn't in the future, there are no official rules against it. But if they allowed three people to settle, then they'd have to allow four or five. People might try to settle together in large groups and not for sexual reasons, but simply so they would be allowed physical contact with more than just a select few.

Mattan chuckles. 'What's going through your head right now?'

'Me, you, Mara and Axel could settle together. We could be a foursome,' I say eagerly while trying to suppress my smile.

Mattan looks lost for words. I bite my lip as he opens his mouth and closes it before opening it again.

I shove him away and laugh. 'Your face. I can't believe you fell for that one.'

Mattan shakes his head tensely and I'm surprised he isn't laughing.

I straighten up and stop walking. 'What's going on Mattan? I heard about you and Mara arguing earlier.'

'I don't want to talk about Mara today,' Mattan says stiffly, and his harsh tone takes me by surprise.

I cross my arms in front of my chest and step back from him.

Mattan drags his hand down his face. 'Look, I'm sorry, but today can we not talk about Mara or us settling or the future. I want to spend a day with the two of us having fun, how we used to. We can visit Alma or steal some wood from the shed and start a new project. Or we could test your theory that if we jumped off the roof with a large sheet it will slow our fall like a parachute.'

I grin. 'We tried to do that already, remember? But when Daa saw what we had planned he started to cry and demanded we get down at once. I doubt he'll have changed his mind and think it's a good idea now.'

'That was years ago and we're older. We'll also put your mattress on the ground to cushion our fall.'

'No, we'll use your mattress. The last time we used my mattress you broke all my springs. I had to wait for a year until it was replaced and I had to do extra chores as punishment.'

'Actually, we both had to do extra chores, and I swapped beds with you every other night so we took turns sleeping on the broken springs.' Mattan hooks his arm around my neck and looks at me with pleading eyes. 'Come on, you know you want to?'

I roll my eyes and tickle his ribcage causing him to jerk backwards. Darting away, I run towards our cabin and shout over my shoulder, 'Last one to the cabin has to forfeit their mattress.'

'You're on,' Mattan calls as he bolts after me.

Smiling widely, I run faster but this carefree moment with my brother is tainted with the knowledge that eventually they will stop entirely in the very near future.

Authors note

I updated this on my phone so I apologise for any mistakes. Let me know when you see any.
Please vote if you enjoyed the chapter xx