The Greene farm kitchen was more brightly lit than usual when they walked in. The warm aroma of freshly made soup filled the air, mingled with the smell of baked bread coming from the counter.
Maggie only released Jason's hand after they crossed the threshold, as though only at that moment did she remember they were in public. Even so, her expression remained relaxed. She didn't care if the family knew about her "relationship" with Jason; her father had already given an "implicit" approval when he saw them growing closer over the past week, and given the way the world was now, she didn't have many options when it came to romance…
And even if the world ever returned to the way it was before, she would still choose Jason a thousand times over.
After all, he had been the only one capable of awakening in her that emotion that blossomed incessantly in her heart…
On the other hand, Jason merely glanced at Maggie before turning his gaze to her sister. Beth appeared from the adjoining room, still wiping her hands on her apron.
"You took forever…" she said with a little smile, but her eyes scanned both of them, clearly checking for injuries. "Everything go okay?"
"Everything's fine. Here are the meds. I'll put the shotgun away and be right back…" Maggie replied, handing over the bag full of medication and passing the machete to Jason, who took it casually. She then slid the shotgun off her shoulder and went to store it in the usual spot her father always used.
Beth, who had taken the medicines, kept her eyes fixed on her, sensing that something had happened. Then she turned her gaze to her brother-in-law—to Jason—and asked:
"Did something happen…?"
"Just a turbulent morning on the road…" Jason said calmly. He cast a quick look at the backpack on his shoulders and continued: "I'm going upstairs to the room. I'll drop my backpack there and the machete too…"
Beth opened her mouth to say something but held back for a second, as though carefully choosing her words.
"Don't take too long to come down for dinner, okay?" she said at last.
Jason, who had already started walking, paused mid-step and looked over his shoulder.
"Okay…" He gave a single nod and continued down the narrow hallway toward his "room."
When he reached the room he had been using, Jason pushed the door open with his shoulder and entered without making unnecessary noise. The space still carried that faint smell of old wood mixed with soap—probably Patricia's doing; she must have cleaned while the two of them were out getting medicine.
He let the backpack drop onto the bed with a dull thud.
For a moment, he stood still.
Everything that had happened on that trip flashed through his mind: almost "sleeping" with Maggie at the pharmacy; the horde of walkers that got in their way; the way he reacted to everything with perfection, killing several of the dead with ease and showing no unnecessary emotion in his actions. On top of that, there was the way he had learned countless things in just a few hours, at an almost "perfect" level. All of it was… incredible. But nothing compared to the fact that he was dating such an amazing and beautiful woman.
Whenever he thought of her, something warm and quiet spread through his chest—steady and constant.
His life in this world wouldn't be bad if he had her by his side; that was what he felt, with a silent certainty that rooted itself deep in his chest…
And along with that feeling, something else was growing… firmer, more urgent: the need to become stronger and learn more every day. He wanted to be a man capable of keeping this cruel world far away from her, someone who could protect her and offer her something better than merely surviving in it.
Was it strange to be thinking about this so soon?
According to one of the studies in psychology on love, in high-stress and survival situations—like the world they lived in—emotional bonds tend to form and deepen much more quickly. Constant proximity, shared danger, and the sense of depending on each other activate attachment mechanisms in the brain, releasing substances such as dopamine and oxytocin that intensify emotional connection. The steady warmth he felt in his chest was a classic picture of the beginning of romantic attachment taking hold: less explosive than pure passion, but more stable and quiet.
Moreover, the impulse growing inside him—the need to become stronger to protect her—was psychologically consistent with the development of deep affective bonding. When love begins to mix with commitment and attachment, the instinct of protection and responsibility for the loved one's well-being commonly emerges. Far from being too soon, what he felt made perfect sense in the extreme environment they lived in, where emotions intensify, priorities crystallize rapidly, and the heart learns to choose without hesitation…
Huh…
He needed to stop those psychological monologues he used to explain his own emotions and the events of his own life. It was a somewhat strange habit, though understandable. Anyone who accumulates a great deal of knowledge about the brain and falls in love with the subject ends up—almost without realizing—trying to dissect every little thing that happens around them.
Even more so in his case, considering the absurd situation of having been reborn into a world dominated by a walking-dead apocalypse.
The problem was that this habit had already put Maggie's life in danger earlier… And though he had promised himself he wouldn't get lost in thought again, all it took was a moment of calm, an instant when danger felt distant, for the old habit to creep back, as sneaky as ever.
Well, it was time to change that…
Jason exhaled slowly through his nose.
He leaned the machete against the wall beside the bed, exactly within arm's reach, ran a hand over the back of his neck, then turned his gaze to the door.
Time to head down.
He left the room and started down the stairs.
It didn't take long to reach the kitchen. Over the next twenty minutes, he helped Beth and Maggie set the table. Soon afterward, Otis appeared and took his usual seat; the two struck up a conversation about various things. Jimmy showed up shortly after and, though somewhat shy, quickly joined in. Before long they were already talking about "guy stuff"—sports, cars, and everything else…
Beth and Maggie soon sat down too, and the conversation turned to various simple topics…
But they were soon interrupted by Hershel's arrival; he took his place at the table as well. After that, everyone ate in silence.
The soup served was hot and well-seasoned, with vegetables and dried meat. Jason took his first spoonful and felt his body practically thank him. He had expended a tremendous amount of "energy" learning medicine at the level of a fully trained doctor in just a few hours, in addition to becoming a martial artist and mastering the rest of the general skills he had acquired…
The soup was eaten in silence for a few minutes—the kind of silence that doesn't weigh but embraces: the sound of spoons against bowls, the low crackle of firewood in the fireplace in the next room, the gentle wind tapping the windows. Patricia finally sat down, wiping her hands on her apron, and looked around the table with that tired but satisfied smile of someone who had seen her family return whole.
Otis was the first to break the silence, as usual.
"So, kid…" he said, pointing his spoon at Jason while chewing a piece of bread. "Tell us: how was town? Lots of those walkers, or just dust and the perfect image of a ghost town?"
Jason finished swallowing before answering, his tone calm and direct.
"Both, but nothing we couldn't handle. We got the medicine and… a few other things."
Maggie lifted her gaze from the bowl, her green eyes shining with quiet pride. She wiped her mouth with the napkin and turned to her father.
"We went to the library after the pharmacy, and Jason spent the whole morning in the medical section. He studied a bunch of other things too… apparently he's a genius and picked everything up really fast…"
Hershel stopped his spoon halfway to his mouth, his eyes narrowing with genuine interest.
"Medicine?" he repeated in his deep voice, then looked straight at the young man and asked: "I thought you weren't interested in that, since you were into psychology before…?"
Jason nodded, setting his spoon on the table.
"Yes, I'll always have an interest in psychology because studying the human mind was my passion… But with the world the way it is now, having knowledge in many areas directly increases our chances of survival. For example—not to brag or anything—but I basically learned all the knowledge needed to graduate and practice medicine…"
When he finished speaking, the silence that followed was one of those heavy ones. Not uncomfortable, but dense, as though everyone at the table was trying to fit what he had said into the right place in their heads.
Otis reacted first, letting out a short, incredulous laugh and tapping his spoon on the edge of his plate.
"You're kidding, right, kid? You read some old books and now you're a full-fledged doctor?" He looked at the others, expecting someone to laugh along, but no one did. "It's a prank, isn't it? You and Maggie set this up to mess with us."
Maggie shook her head slowly, her smile small but firm.
"It's not a prank, Otis. I saw it with my own eyes. He grabbed about thirty medical books, flipped through them in under half an hour and… understood. Everything. I even tested him with Dad's first-aid book that he'd read during the last week. He answered instantly, without hesitating, like he'd studied it for years…"
Beth's eyes widened, her spoon frozen in mid-air.
"For real? Like… you know how to stitch people up now?"
Jason shrugged, the gesture simple, almost shy.
"I know how to do it. Complete theory, technique, dosage, everything. If I need to, I can do it…"
Patricia put a hand to her mouth, her eyes suddenly misty.
"My God… this is a miracle."
Hershel didn't speak right away. He just stared at Jason. After a long moment, he exhaled slowly and leaned back in his chair.
"You read… and you learned. For real…" He sounded skeptical—extremely skeptical: "I've studied veterinary medicine my whole life. I read books, took courses, made mistakes, got things right, killed and saved animals… and you simply read and already know a subject that's even more complicated? You're not messing with us, right…?"
Jason nodded, without arrogance.
"It's not a joke, Hershel. I really can remember everything I've ever read—and not only that, I instinctively know how to do the things I read about with ease…"
"…"
Otis was still laughing, but now it was a nervous laugh, the laugh of someone unsure whether to believe it or not.
"All right then, prove it… Honey, grab that little booklet Hershel keeps in the kitchen drawer—the basic equine veterinary one. He probably hasn't read that one yet, since he's apparently read everything else…" He turned back to the young man and said: "Jason, flip through it quickly and tell me what's written on page seven, line five."
Patricia was already standing before Otis finished speaking. She returned with the thin booklet, yellowed cover, pages marked by old creases. She handed it to Otis, who opened it to the first page and passed it to Jason.
"Go ahead, doctor. Show us."
Jason took the booklet without hesitation. He opened to the first page; his honey-colored eyes slid top to bottom once, turned the page, slid again, turned… In under ten seconds he had reached page seven. He closed the booklet and handed it back to Otis.
"Line five: 'In cases of severe colic, the administration of mineral oil may be necessary to facilitate intestinal transit.'"
Otis blinked. Hershel leaned forward, taking the booklet from Otis's hands and opening it exactly to page seven. He read the line in silence. Then he raised his eyes to Jason, wide for the first time.
"It's identical…" he murmured, almost to himself.
Beth let out a soft "Wow!", mouth open. Jimmy just stared, not fully understanding but clearly impressed.
Maggie laughed quietly, the sound husky and proud, and touched Jason's arm under the table.
"I told you… I had the same reaction the first time I saw it…"
Otis shook his head, incredulous, but a smile spreading.
"All right then. You really are a genius. Welcome to the family, doc."
Hershel closed the booklet slowly, keeping his eyes fixed on Jason. There was no longer any complicated look there—just respect and, perhaps, a trace of gratitude. Though he had experience as a veterinarian, he knew it wasn't the same as human medicine. In a world like this, having a doctor around was a luxury very few could afford. Still, knowledge wasn't everything. They would need to test Jason's practical skills, not just his flawless memory. After all, remembering everything he read was one thing; applying it to living flesh and blood was something else entirely.
But he was glad his daughter had found such a good partner. His eyes passed briefly over Maggie; he knew her feelings for the young man well and could see clearly that she was happy.
With that, he decided he would support their romance, though he knew he would still need to have a private conversation with Jason later.
After that, dinner continued at a calm pace, yet charged with a curiosity no one could hide. The questions started timidly, almost as though the family were testing the waters, then grew more direct, more urgent, as though each person wanted to confirm with their own ears what their eyes had already witnessed.
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(A/N: Advanced chapters have been posted on my Patreon, and releases there will be more regular.
My Patreon: patreon.com/Adam_Kadmon
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