Sunday Snippet: Numb

Wish I had commentary about The Last Ship. Looking forward to the new episode tonight. Where's Rachel when we need her to figure out the science? I'm actually wondering if her former flame has something to do with the green mist stuff. Can't wait to find out who's behind that.

Killjoys continues to intrigue me. I'm so excited to see where this season ends up. I love how the various factions all seem to have pieces to a puzzle but no one knows what the puzzle looks like yet.

Dark Matter had a terrific episode. Great to see Five get some screen time to remind us of her mad skills. Three and Four make a fun team. I'm interested in finding out what else is going on behind the scenes.

Babylon 5 has two episodes left in season two… I think. Can't remember if they did a standard twenty-two episode season or not. I'd forgotten how much of an impact Talia's betrayal had, even if she had no idea what happened.

No Strike Back this week. Had way too much other drama going on to be able to watch. *sigh* Maybe I'll get to it this week.

That's the TV update for this week. Tonight's post is from Numb, a novella that started with a detailed prompt. Characters are apathetic. They're not happy, not sad, they just don't… feel much anymore. The sparkle of life has gone and they're going through the motions.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Cyan Fitch and Theron Dibney have a great relationship—hot sex, rock solid friendship, and mutual respect. When a mostly lethal virus tears through their community, the couple works side by side to help as many as possible, but it takes a toll. They can't quite get comfortably numb while they face the devastating losses and neither is willing to bend for fear they'll break.

And a preview snippet…

Theron stood beside the grave, trying to feel something over the exhaustion weighting him down. Cyan swayed but caught the action and straightened, squaring her shoulders. He'd lost count of the death toll, but the number hovered in the triple digits. The service ended and people, less than the day before, made their way to the walking path leading out of the cemetery.

Cyan remained, dry-eyed and solemn. Theron moved forward and finally put an arm around her, offering whatever small comfort he could. This one hit hard.

Cyan spoke with a broken whisper. "I can't believe she's gone." Her eyes filled and she blinked the tears away.

His heart broke for her. "She fought hard, Cy. And she helped so many." Ciara Fitch gave everything she had.

Cyan turned and buried her face in his shoulder. "I thought she'd pull through. That she'd be the one to find the cure. Answers." A shudder wracked her.

Theron wrapped his arms around her and let Cyan mourn. Losing her mom wrecked not only Cyan, but lowered the chances they'd beat the bio-curses. No one knew the biology better then Ciara, and she hadn't been afraid to use the dark arts to find a counteraction to the hexed virus taking so many lives.

Cyan eased away from him, tilting her head back. "Take me home, Theron. We've earned a brief reprieve." Glancing toward the grave, she nodded to the crew.

They began lowering the casket into the ground.

Theron slid his hand into hers and gave it a squeeze. "We'll take a full twenty-four hours, Cy." Sadly, they couldn't have more. "Then we'll get back to work." Ceaseless, unending, and soul-sucking.

Cyan laced their fingers together and lifted her chin. "I'm going to meet with the council. I'm done being reactive. It's time to get proactive and find the assholes who unleashed this damned virus on us." Stepping away from her mother's grave, she started for the path.

Theron didn't argue. She'd have a tough time convincing the council to let her go on the hunt but, in the end, the group of twelve would allow the pursuit.

Theron would make certain, no matter the price.

I loved this prompt and had several ideas fall into place almost immediately. Can't wait to finish this one.

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye