Maggy and Hazel, #14

"What was that?" Zalika said, moving slightly closer to Sam, "It doesn't sound happy"

"Calm down", Sam said."Just don't move too aggressively." A grey wolf nuzzle peeked out of a bush.

Zalika stared over at the animal, still staying close to Sam, "What is it?"

"A wolf. My wolf, to be precise", Sam said."And he's making a showvoutta himself. Get out, Oberon." A wolf skipped out of the bush happily.

"A wolf. You have a wolf?" Zalika asked, still staring at the wolf uneasily.

"I have a wolf", Sam nodded. Oberon sniffed Zalika from a cautious distance.

"That's odd, how did you get it to trust you?" Zalika asked, now curious about the wolf.

"I'm not sure you want to hear it", Sam said. Oberon approached him and nuzzled into his waist."It's because of your people. This whole area is under radiation. They are afraid, all the animals. They search for a place to hide.

"They said all animals had been wiped out" Zalika noticed, taking a small step away from the wolf and Sam.

"That's what they want you to think. They also say that the outsiders in numbers are few", Sam shrugged petting Oberon between the ears.

"Does that mean it isn't just a few of you? How many outsiders are there?" Zalika continued with her questions.

"Thousands. Millions", Sam said with a sly smirk.

Zalika blinked, "Really? b-but they said there were less than thirty of you"

"And you believed them? Darling, if they are anything, they are liars", Sam said heading deeper into the woods.

Zalika followed behind him, not wanting to get lost, "So if they are liars, what else have they lied about?"

"What have they not lied about, would be the better question", Sam said.

"Oh" Zalika said, and stayed silent for a minute. "Why are you showing me this?" She asked, "Why are you taking me to the outside?"

Sam looked at her for a second."You deserve better."

"Better?" Zalika asked, confused, "But it's safer on the inside, safe from the deliria"

"Deliria isn't an illness. It's a human emotion", Sam argued.

"People went insane because of it" Zalika noticed, "People killed other people. The world was a dark dangerous place when they celebrated the deliria"

"If people think it's an illness, of course they will go insane", Sam continued.

"But what is good about it?" Zalika asked, looking up towards him.

"It has been said, in old books, that love was a source of joy. Happiness. Light", Sam said.

"That's absurd" Zalika shook her head lightly, "If it's a source of anything it is a source of darkness"