1
“Times-a-wasting. Hurry up.” He looked up at the ever-darkening sky.
“Since when do we care about time.”
“Since you started walking slow.”
“So, have you not noticed that my leg is, I don’t know, cut really fucking open?”
“Noticed...Don’t care.”
“Very compassionate,” I nodded as he laughed, walking back over to me. I put my arm around his shoulder and he helped me continue down the road.
“Listen, I know some dudes dig scars, but you gotta stop falling off of buildings, and getting cut, and generally almost killing yourself. I mean, if you really wanna die, I’m always up for a suicide pact.”
“You’re a fuckin idiot,” I said laughing, my leg giving away under me for a second as I winced in pain.
“Seriously though, this is serious. I can’t keep stitching you up. Not because I don’t want to, but because supplies are thin right now. Right up here,” He said reassuringly as I leaned on him even more.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll stop getting stabbed when people stop stabbing me.”
“Very reassuring, great enthusiasm, 10/10 dumb badass energy. But still.”
“I haven’t really looked, can you see the bone?”
“Uh...” He stopped leaning down and looking at the cut, “Yes, but less so then the arm was.” I laughed.
“I think I have about 3 more yards of walking before you have to carry me.” I winced out.
“Good thing we’re starving. The Apocolypse is the only time where I’m strong enough to carry anyone. It’s not that much farther, you’ve made it this far.”
“This might be the end.”
“Really?” He said extra dramatically as we wobbled towards our base.
“Yeah, all my worldly possessions go with me to the grave.” I nodded.
“Well, I think I can afford to lose one-fourth of a granola bar.”
“All my otherworldly possessions go to the sky gods.”
“Damn you, sky gods!” He laughed up at the sky. We finally got to the base and he pulled it open helping me inside. I leaned against the wall next to the door and sunk to the ground. The rain started as he closed the door behind us. He glanced out the window before looking back at me.
“Wow, the two of you deserve an award for dragging me all this way. And before the rain too.”
“Two of us?”
“Oh, yeah that’s the blood loss.”
“Ah,” He said nodding as he sat down criss-cross in front of me with the medical supplies, pulling my injured leg into his lap. “This will hurt.”
“Really? I didn’t deduce that yet. Next time give a spoiler alert.”
“Keep going and I stitch your mouth next.”
He wet a cloth with our homemade bleach antiseptic solution. He handed me one of our belt tourniquets that I bit down on as he tied the other around my thigh. He first wiped the skin around the wound before wrapping the cloth around one finger and pushing it into the cut.
I cried out in pain as I bit down harder on the belt. When we had first started biting the belts it was as a distraction, when we weren't used to pain and even the little things hurt. Now it served to make sure we didn't bite off our tounges as we used bleach and stitched without painkillers.
"I'm gonna pour some in to make sure." He pulled his hand away. We were out of antibiotics, we couldn't risk an infection. He filled the bottom of a glass with the antiseptic and poured it slowly over the wound, moving it down the span of the cut to pour some through it all.
He gives me a minute to calm down. I let out the breath I was holding as a tear rolled down my cheek. We were both pretty familiar with pain now, but no matter how many times you get cut, homemade strong bleach antiseptic will bring tears.
I take the belt out of my mouth and set it on the ground beside me as he starts to stitch me up. When he finished he leans on the wall next to me.
"I do think I'm winning, this is a second stabbing for me so plus six points. I'm at 237, your 232." He nodded.
"Guess I gotta go get stabbed then."
"Guess so."
"I might have stolen a backpack off one of the bodies."
"What?" He pulled his backpack off his back, and I just realized that it was different than the one he left the base with.
"While you were getting stabbed I put all my stuff in this bag since it already had more in it."
"How much more."
"Ten cans."
"Ten!? We can actually eat more than once biweekly!" He laughed, taking out one of the cans and using his knife to open it, handing it to me. I took a sip before handing it back.
"I think we should move on soon," He took a sip of the soup before setting it on the ground between us.
"Move on to where?"
"Wanna overtake the government?" He looked at me.
"I think the zombies did that."
"Wanna overtake the zombie government?"
"Why don't we just start with a city?"
"That's probably a good scale for us." He nodded.
"So we can pack tomorrow, leave the next day?"
"I should check my schedule to be sure, but that sounds good." He laughed looking up at the ceiling and taking another sip of the soup.
