A Non-Approved Relationship

I awoke with a start, and immediately sat up. Squinting into the darkness I realised the sound that had woken me up was just the wind banging the shutters against the window. I shivered in the damp barn and began looking through my bag doing a quick check of the food I had left. A small tin of beans, two individually wrapped after dinner mints, half a bottle of water and three cereal bars. I let out a sigh. I was feeling hungry, but at this rate my stash wouldn't last much longer. I hadn't managed to find any further food in the last few days. Since the whole area had been evacuated three months ago, I had managed to come across bits and pieces of food in abandoned houses, but most of them had now been cleared out, meaning that I had to make what I had last even longer than I thought I would have to.

I was now out in the countryside, far away from the civil war that was still raging in the city. I was nearly five years since the financial collapse had caused most of the businesses on The Island to close. Then the protests had started, peaceful at first, but then more violent, erupting into looting and rioting.

The Governor decided to evacuate families with children under eleven first, helping them into boats that would take them safely off The Island to countries that were accepting refugees. I had said a tearful goodbye to my sister, her husband and children, promising to look for them as soon as I could, although I had a

feeling that I wouldn't be leaving any time soon.

Next came the married couples, those with single children under twenty-one and those who were in authorised relationships, all of which had to be registered and approved by The Governor. An authorised relationship was one which would be able to bear

children, keeping The Island populated for years to come.

The old, the widowed and vulnerable were forgotten on The Island, as if they served no purpose. The singles, like me were expected to keep the essential services moving at first, but slowly these were dissolved and we were left with no income and little support.

Many of my friends had been caught out by registering relationships, without having the evidence to prove that they were real. The punishment for this was death.

Eventually The Governor abandoned the Island himself, making his way on the last boat with his advisors and military leaders. This left the rest of us, fighting for our survival amongst the chaos. It became clear that heading out into the countryside seemed

like the best option. At this moment in time I wasn’t sure I had made the right decision

A sudden rustling sound outside interrupted my thoughts. Panic rose in my chest. I had nowhere to hide. There was nothing in the barn other than the old garden chair that I had dragged in last night. I reached for the knife I had hidden down my sock,

picked up my rucksack and slowly stood up, edging towards the door. I had no idea whether I would be strong enough or have the guts to disable someone just by using a knife, but it might be my only chance of survival.

The door flew open, taking me by surprise. I had wanted the person to sneak in and to be as scared of meeting someone as I was, not barge in with such confidence.

"Stop There!" I screamed; my voice much shriller than I had intended "I've got a knife".

The tall hooded figure stopped at first and then slowly took down his hood and smiled.

"Don't do anything rash, it's me, Adam, from school, we were in the same form"

Still gripping the knife in my hand and holding it out, poised for action, I looked at the young man and felt a wave of sickness come over me.

Adam! The boy who I had a crush on since the first year at school. The one I watched from the side lines, wishing he would notice me. He was always the sporty one, attractive and confident. His parents owned the only bank on The Island, making him heir to a

fortune. Always surrounded by a crowd of girls who adored him and boys who wanted to be like him. I was the geeky one, skinny, with glasses and braces until well after I left school. Definitely a late bloomer.

I was suddenly painfully aware of how I must look. My long hair was filthy and matted. The clothes I had on, I had been wearing for weeks and had only mange a quick wash in an abandoned house or a stream. In the early lockdown weeks of war, I had worked

out in the gym every day and had built up a strong muscly body. I certainly didn’t look as thin and weedy as I had.  Then I looked more closely at him. He wasn’t filthy like me, but he certainly wasn’t as well groomed as he used to be, and his sense of style had taken a bit of a hit. I started to laugh.

Adam looked at me with his head on one side "What's so funny?" he asked.

"You" I replied with a chuckle "Not quite the well-groomed Adam that I remember"

"Well not exactly the shy, skinny kid that I remember either" smiled Adam.

" I can't believe you remember me!" I replied "You were always surrounded by the beautiful people. Your adoring fans. The pretty girls"

"Yeah well, it wasn't what I wanted. They were only after the money. They didn't really want to get to know me. They all disappeared quickly when the walls came crashing

down"

"I guess that's why you're left behind with the singles like me then? Couldn't find the right girl to settle down with and marry?"

“Something like that” replied Adam a small smile on his lips, that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“You’re welcome to rest here. I was ready for moving on anyway. I’m going to have to look for food before I run out” I said waving my hand in the direction of the old chair.

“I’ve got a settlement down by the river. It’s in the old water mill. I have food, heat and plenty of water. The only thing I’m lacking is a bit of company. I go out each day hoping to find someone to share my place with. It’s as lonely as hell. Why don’t you come and join me? It will be so much better than living out here alone!” Adam said excitedly.

“That would be great. I can come and stay for a while, but I’ll move on if you get fed up with me. I’m not sure how much we have in common. We don’t really know that much about each other really” I answered. Then I added “I think you should know that I’m gay. That’s why I never had an approved relationship. I don’t know how you feel about that, whether you approve”

“Ah Simon, me too mate. Lets just see how it goes shall we” Adam laughed holding out his hand.