Malcom's breathing slowed as he gripped the wooden fence with both hands, his knuckles turning white.
Relaxing to a meditative state, he said with all calmness, "My family..is dead."
"I lost my little girl to a giant centipede looking creature, my wife died soon after."

He pushed himself away from the fence, turning his back to Selene, as he stared in the direction of the city.
"Pay tribute? Sounds like the same policy as the city government, and if you choose not to pay, what will the elders do then?"
"Why do you let strangers tell you how to live, and who to marry?"
Malcom turned and faced her, looking into her beautiful eyes.
"Is this some wacked out religion now?"," Where is the freedom?"
"Why stay here, why not move away and be free of all this burden?"