She perched on the edge of the couch with her feet planted firmly on the floor. “He died in the beginning during the first wave. He was a whiskey enthusiast. There were bottles and bottles of it at his place; he liked to tell me stories about the origin of each one, talk about the notes of this and the hints of that. I never understood any of it, and I wasn’t all that interested in the details. I just liked spending time with him.”
Her love for him was clear in her voice, her eyes. “What about your mum?”
Liv looked at the artwork on the wall behind me, her voice seeming to drift in the air. “I’m not sure. My parents were already divorced for a few years before the virus kicked off, and she was halfway through a trip around Australia with her new husband. Last I heard, they were in lockdown in their motorhome all the way over in Broome, and when communication went down, I lost touch with her.”
It sounded like she’d accepted the worst must have happened to them. The chances of two people making a trip from one side of the country to the other were slim, and back when we were still getting news reports, they'd estimated that ninety percent of the population would be gone by the time both waves of the virus had done their damage. After seeing the devastation, I wouldn't be surprised if the number was higher. “Any siblings?”
She shook her head. “Only child.”
The lack of emotion in her voice suggested she’d long since made the switch to survival mode. We were all in the same boat in this new, fucked up world. Allowing yourself to get too caught up in feelings made you vulnerable and opened you up to a whole host of dangers. All that emotion, all the missing someone, and the memories? Lock it in a box and save it for later.
“You?” she asked.
I rested my clasped hands on the surface of the desk and met her eyes. “My parents are gone. They both passed toward the end of the first wave before the biting started. My younger brother Diego was the last to go, and I've been on my own for about six months now. The place where you’re staying...” I changed direction to avoid unearthing the memories. Losing my parents to the virus had been bad enough, but putting my own brother down would haunt me for the rest of my days. “Have you been living there the entire time?”
She looked like she wanted to offer sympathy, but we both knew it was pointless, so she focused on my question instead. “It was my apartment before the pandemic. I bought it with the inheritance I got from my nan when I was eighteen—and I know this is going to make me sound like one of those fanatical doomsday preppers, but I stocked up on... everything. Ordered online. Bottled water, canned food, special meal pouches with a twenty-five-year shelf life. I had it all shipped in, and we’re only just getting low on food now.”
I'd struck gold finding someone who believed in being proactive rather than reactive. I’d only ever seen her running the streets on her own, though. “You sound smart, not fanatical. Andwe? You’re not alone?” If she had a boyfriend or husband living with her, it wouldn’t change anything in terms of wanting to get to know her or form a group, but I couldn’t deny the dynamic would be different.
“I live with my elderly neighbour," she explained. "His name's Haruto. I convinced him to move in with me when his wife died and everything turned bad. He’s... not well anymore.”
“Bitten?”
“No.” She stood to look out the window, only she did it in stealth mode and kept off to the side out of sight. She was smart, one step ahead of the game, and if I’d been in PE class with her back in high school, I would have picked her first to be on my team. “I think he has cancer,” she said, shooting me a glance. In that split-second look, I saw all the sadness and concern she’d been trying to keep contained. “He doesn’t have long to go now. Weeks. A month if he’s lucky.”
I didn’t considerluckyto be the best fit for his situation. He’d need pain relief and palliative care to make his last days bearable, but I was smart enough to keep that information to myself. “If you’re thinking about searching the desks for medication while you’re here, I’ve checked the top three levels so far. Nothing but stale snacks and staplers.”
“Thanks. I’ve found enough to keep him comfortable for a while now, so we’re good.”
“Is he still eating and drinking?”
Liv turned to face me fully. “Drinking, yes. Eating, no. Not really. We’ve only been having one or two meals a day since the beginning to ration supplies, but he’s not even interested in that anymore.”
She was right about the end being near. All she could do now was keep the pain relief coming and wait for the end. I released a long breath through my nose and leaned back in my chair, wishing it could have been different for them. Sometimes it felt like you were taking one punch after another with no way out, and it would hit her hard when she lost the one person still tethering her to the old world. I'd been through the same thing with my brother and it sucked more than I could explain. Since I had no words for a situation like this, I tried to convey my understanding with a look.
Our eyes locked, and she slipped her hands in her pockets as she held my gaze, appearing completely at ease with the connection.
There were no pretenses with her, I realised, nothing that had me wanting to back off and reevaluate now that I'd met her. She was solid, upfront, and exactly the kind of person I needed to be around. “What did you do before everything fell apart?” I asked.
Liv wandered to the doorway and peered out into the open office space. “I was a personal assistant at Harmony Music just down the block from here.” She faced me again and raised her brows. “What about you?”
“Cop.”
She smiled, appearing thankful for the change in subject. Her gaze travelled over me, and she raised her brows. “What kind?”
I let out an amused breath, entertained by the playful look on her face. “Homicide detective, but when the pandemic took a turn, none of us had designated roles anymore. We were anywhere and everywhere trying to keep the madness under control.”
“I guess you would have adjusted to the horrors that came after better than anyone. Do you miss telling people what to do now?”
I laughed for real this time, the first genuine laugh I’d had in... shit,years. Our eyes connected again, and we shared a smile as warmth passed between us. "I miss people in general," I said, wondering how I'd been fortunate enough to stumble onto her. I needed her on my team—or I wanted to be on her team. Whichever way you put it, I didn’t want to lose contact with her now that we’d met.
“Are you going to show me your place?” I asked. “Introduce me to your friend?”
She flicked her long braid over her shoulder and huffed out a loud breath. “I don’t know. Weliterallyjust met.”
I lifted my brows. “I showed you mine.”
Liv narrowed her eyes at my teasing tone. “This isn’t yours. You’re just passing through. You want to go my actual home.”
