She wipes the dirt from his face with a damp cloth. Then she removes his unkempt clothing and brushes his hair. If she had water, she’d bathe and shave him; but water was a precious commodity now. At least she’d managed to scavenge a tube of toothpaste – that was a luxury that most of the others couldn’t offer.

“My daddy used to say there’s exactly two things that keep us human… The first is: that we understand beauty – true beauty. No other animal does. Sure, a bird might make a fancy nest, preen its feathers…”

She brushes a cowlick away from his face. The outside world hadn’t been nice to this one, a scar ran the length of his face, crossing the remains of a clouded eye.

“But a person – a human being knows what ugly is.” She stares him in the good eye “And we can see beyond that.”

“I only got two cans of beans today,” he mumbles.
“That’s alright, honey… I know you’re good for it.”
“What’s the second thing?” he asks.
She pauses before blowing out the candle, “We don’t fuck for no reason…”