That was… weird.
I thought about that as I used a tube of toothpaste that was expired, then borrowed a cracked deodorant I found under the sink. With the towel wrapped under my armpits and my wet clothes in my arms, I opened the door and stood there. We were past me being shy about shit now. Earlier today I’d peed with him standing three feet away from me while he pretended not to see and hear me.
There was nothing but silence in the cabin though.
Stiff as hell, I headed straight for the dresser. I opened the first few drawers and found a pair of flannel pajama pants and a dark brown flannel that looked baggy enough to hide most of my boobs. With my back to the rest of the room, I tugged the pants on under the towel and then buttoned the shirt up.
Eyeing the couch, I had to fight the urge to plop onto it and fall asleep. I was running on fumes, and I needed to focus. Needed to dig up the rest of my energy.
It didn’t take me long to drape my wet clothes over different places to dry, and with a grumbling stomach and a headache that was going to need more painkillers soon, I found cans of beans, a couple cans of Spam, and pancake mix that only required water. The mix was expired but only by a couple months. But it could have been a couple years and I would have eaten it. Alex would have done the same. I’d caught him licking the lid for the pears last night.
After gulping down a couple more painkillers, I found a pot. I boiled water and poured it into a pitcher to cool. Then I found some salt and oil and cooked the meat in it before adding the beans. In an old skillet, I made as many pancakes as I could without finishing the box.
I had no clue where Alexander was, but I wasn’t about to panic over that shit.
If he’d finally decided to leave me, I couldn’t hold it against him. I was too tired to worry about it that much.
I sat down on the tiny couch and ate beans with a slice of Spam, surprised by how good it was. Then I finished off a pancake, adding a little bit of honey I’d found in a glass jar because I remembered reading somewhere that honey lasted forever. And at this point, if something was going to kill me, as long as it tasted good, there were worst ways to go. I’d already gotten lucky to not be crapping my brains out from drinking creek water.
There was a radio that looked to be from the eighties sitting on the side table, and I reached over and fiddled with the knobs, getting a pop before staticky voices filled the air. “…they’re monsters. The government needs to do something about them before it’s too late. I don’t care what anybody says about those three. They aren’t human. Why would they watch out for us? We need to put them down before they put us down!”the angry voice shouted.
I rolled my eyes as I turned the knob back in the direction it had been, turning that shit off.
I rolled my eyes again as I got up.What is wrong with people? He’s a pain in the ass sometimes, but he isn’t a monster,I thought while I cleaned up, then walked over to the door and cracked it open.
Lying in the clearing of grass and what I was pretty sure were pine needles, a few feet away from the porch, was one of the strongest people on the planet. Arms spread wide, eyes closed, his chest rose and fell slowly and steadily. He was still dressed in those dirty sweatpants and hoodie that were a mix of orange and brown-black mud.
But I’d watched him enough to recognize the depth of his breathing and what it meant.
The fucker wasn’t asleep.
Were his lips moving?
Knowing damn well he’d heard me and knew exactly where I was, I went back in to get him a plate. Carefully, so that I wouldn’t step on anything pokey, I crept outside. Everything shook while I crouched and set the plate of food beside him.
One eye opened. Both his nostrils flared.
I pushed the plate a little closer as I pretty much plopped onto my butt.
His other eye opened too, right before he knifed up and reached for the plate. Placing it on his lap, he started shoveling the Spam and beans into his mouth, peeking at me once or twice while he pretty much inhaled it. After that, he started in on the pancakes that were half covered in bean and meat juice, carefully cutting a little piece with the edge of his fork and taking a tentative bite.
Those dark eyes flicked toward me as he took a bite and then another, spreading the honey around the top of the three pancakes I’d stacked.
“There are two more if you want them,” I offered when he set his fork down and folded them in half, finishing them in three bites.
He got up with a nod in my direction and disappeared into the house.
I tipped my head back, sucked in a small breath of the clean, cool air, and blew out a slow, slow breath just as the door opened. It smelled better now that I knew we weren’t going to have to sleep outside.We’d gotten away.
We were… safe.
Even if they found search dogs to locate us, it would take them twice as long to follow. That reality was the only reason I’d probably been able to sleep.
I had to strain to hear his steps on the deck, then on the grass before he took a seat beside me again. I kept my gaze upward on the little bit of sky visible through the trees. I’d seen so much of it over the last few nights, but somehow it still looked totally different each time. When it seemed like it had been long enough for him to finish eating, I looked over at him, the plate on his lap. A single pancake remained.
He held it out toward me.
I shook my head.
