she used to walk with others, a man and a woman. they were husband and wife and they had stayed together during the time when the sky was filled with wings. they told many stories of the time before, stories of buildings tall enough to scrape the sky. she enjoyed their stories, though she stayed silent.

one night, when they were on the edge of one of the ruined cities, the woman was nested. a bird, she could hardly tell what kind, flew into the woman's mouth. she choked and her neck bulged and then the bulge subsided. then she cried because she knew what that meant.

the woman begged her husband to kill her, but he couldn't. she did it instead, using her rifle.

minutes later, she heard chirping from the dead woman's abdomen. the skin rippled. she cut it open with a hunting knife and saw the baby birds in their nest of viscera. she raised her rifle and made sure to kill each one.

a few days later, the man let himself be taken. she was not surprised.

she has not had a companion since.