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A few days had rolled by since Colette drove up an old grown up driveway. Her parents home was not out in the swap, but out on the edge of the city. Memories flooded her as they drove up to the house that day. Now, with Cade resting in her parents bed, Colette moved around the house.
She had kept the place decent , after her mother had moved into town. She understood her not wanting to live out here alone, but Colette wouldn't sell the place. Now she was thankful she hadn't. The place had it's own well, so they had water. Her mother's parent's had left the house to her and her father in their will. Colette had grown up here, playing as a child, then actually living here once her grandparents passed. She had only been about 10. Drunk driver had killed them in a head on crash that year.
The place seemed so empty, but that was good. It was quiet, and she could make sure the place was secure. The truck, had been hidden in the barn out back. Colette had taken care to make sure the place looked deserted.
Arcade was bored. He wanted to get out, do something. But he couldn't, he was trapped in bed. A bandage was around his midsection and he was ordered to not move around. He'd been like this since they left, seeing and hearing Collette come and go, but couldn't do anything about it. He could stare at the roof, pistol on the night stand beside him.
He was getting restless. Hearing Collette come in he waited till she came up the stairs. He smiled at her as she came in. "Morning, or evening, what ever time it is," he said calmly, "where'd you go?" He leaned back. The room was cozy, warm. But he didn't feel safe here. He wouldn't feel safe till he could walk around, patrol the perimeter for weak points.
He tried to move,mist up straighter. It still hurt,ma sharp pain shooting into his side. He moved forward, making room for Collette to come sit and talk with him. It was the only thing he had to do, sit together, the odd chitchat between them.
He looked at her. "You see anyone while you were gone?"
Colette came up the stairs with a tray. She sat it down across his lap," found some soup in one of the cupboards , got a lot of canned things my mother had done up in the cellar too. We shouldn't starve." Her eyes roamed his face," haven't seen anyone besides you, and that is good for me." She wasn't ready, didn't want to be around people, not yet.
She sat down gingerly and patted his leg," wanna try going downstairs with me after you eat? I got my dads old chair set up near a window, so you can be lookout for me while I am outside." She pulled off a walkie talkie from her belt," found these and some batteries out in the barn, dad and tibs used to use them hunting."
"Soup sounds good," Cade said calmly, "though I'm not really hungry right now. You want some?" He watched, looking into her eyes. "So we are stocked up, what about water? Does this place have a well or do we need to get it from somewhere else?" He moved back watching her calmly.
"We could try that. Let's try now. I don't think I can lay in a bed any longer. I'd rather eat sitting in a chair then a bed anyway, if I were to eat," Cade said moving the tray aside. He swung his legs over. "Help me stand."
Colette stood up to help him. She didn't like him not eating, but she couldn't force him. She moved so her good hand was able to go behind him as she bent down and got under his arm, hand gripping the back of his pants to give some leverage if needed." We have our own well, and dad has a generator, he had it installed years ago , after Katrina." She helped him to his feet. She hadn't been this close and personal with him in a little bit. She had purposely been keeping a physical distance from him. He hadn't had much in the way of bathes, and his scent was rich and a bit strong. " you need a bath." She grinned at him," if we can get you moving, maybe we can do that tonight." She let him take his time, supporting him.
Cade steadied himself as he stood. It hurt, it felt good not to be laying down. He put an arm over Collette, draining it around her shoulder. He looked at her. "Katrina, Tibs, why can't I remember you ever telling me these names before now. I think I would remember a name like Tibs." He leaned on her listening to her talk.
"Hey now, I couldn't exactly get up to take a shower. And I didn't have one offer for a sponge bath," he said with a grin. He walked forward, using her the best he could for support. As he moved he made his way to the door. Next came the stairs. He went down slowly, pushing past the pain. At the bottom he made his way to the living room, plunking down in the merest chair.
He looked up at her, placing his hand to his side. There wasn't blood. That was good, he didn't tear anything.
Atlas had been riding for days. Aimlessly pedaling his bicycle until his legs burned and the ache told him he needed to stop and close his eyes for the night. He didn't know why he didn't want to rest. He just knew he didn't feel right unless at least part of him was moving. Riding his bike, keeping west, it felt like the best use of all of that restless energy.
Then again, why was he even heading west in the first place? There was still a part of him that was telling him to go back to Georgia, that was telling him that he still had business there. He couldn't accept that Tobias was dead, he just couldn't. He probably never would unless he saw the body. Yet, as the thought crossed his mind, Atlas couldn't help snorting. That wasn't happening anytime soon, not if he knew anything about himself. Nope, he was going to avoid that as long as possible.
Maybe that was why he was heading west.
He hit a rock in the road and stopped, trying to refocus himself. He had to avoid stuff like that. A bicycle accident was not the most fun way to die in the apocalypse.
He looked up at the place where he'd been stopped, realizing he'd been traveling in a haze for so long that he didn't even know where he was. There appeared to be some sort of farmhouse up the road, possibly a place to rest for the night, as long as it hadn't been overrun. He hopped off of his bike, drawing his revolver, just in case.
Colette could tell this was hurting him, but he kept going and so did she. She pulled a little harder on the waist of his pants, "You also didn''t ask for one." She spoke through gritted teeth. Whether she would admit it or not, this was not exactly easy on her. He was heavy and twice her size.
He was off, or was he fucking with her? He didn't know Katrina? Every resident of New Orleans knew what that was, and would never forget it. "Arcade, are you alright?" She leaned down and stared at his face, "You're worrying me, Tibs, the cook, Des' dad, and come on, the biggest hurricane to hit our city since god knows when." She was so close she could feel his breath on her face as she stared at his pupils.
He said he would like a bath, and she saw that smirk on his lips. She pulled back, "You ass, you had me worried!" she shook her head, and pulled the release on the side of the chair, popping his legs up. "alright, I need to go grab some stuff from the barn, you can keep watch, I left the curtains open a little for you. She dropped the walkie talkie in lap, "they are all set, just press and talk." She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water off the counter, and brought it back to him, "here, least drink if you won't eat." She bent over and stared at his face, "you be a good boy, and just maybe we can see about that bath." She was straightening and walking through the kitchen out the back door.
Colette crossed the yard , headed for the barn. She called it a barn, it had never held animals. Her father's work shed, was more like it. The SUV was hidden in there. the house had a nice front porch and a large back deck. It was a small two story farm house. Her grandparents had kept animals, and were almost self sufficient. Her mother had decided against that tradition when they took on the property after their deaths.
"I didn't think I needed to. Here I though you were friendly. Plus it wasn't on my mind. Not tearing my side every time I moved and bleeding out all over the bed was on the top of my mind," Arcade said moving in the chair. He felt hot, sweat was falling from his face. He looked up at her. "I feel fine go."
He looked out the window, groaning as he moved. "Right I know how to work a wallow talkie. Just don't hold the button or you can't hear the other person." Taking he water he cracked it and took a sip. "There happy," he said closing his eyes, "I'll keep watch."
He watched her walk out. Cade didn't admit, he was burning up. Yet he was cold, freezing despite the sweat. He looked down the road, resting his head in his hand. Everything in the distance was blurry, hard to focus on.
Atlas heard a door open as he approached the house. He could hear voices. Actual, human voices. Some impulse drove him to hide and keep his distance, and so he ducked behind a bush and carefully made his way around the side of the house in time to see a figure make its way across the yard. A woman. He was sure it was a real woman, upon further observation, watching her head for the barn. A hallucination wouldn't be acting so... normal.
But then, maybe he was hallucinating that she was acting normal. He shook his head quickly, immediately forcing himself to put a stop to that train of thought. Nope, he'd just get himself into a cycle of doubt if he kept doing that. He didn't even have evidence he was crazy, he'd never hallucinated anything before the apocalypse. There was no reason to believe the apocalypse would make him go crazy.
He shook his head again, trying to move his focus back to the house, and the woman. There was at least one woman. That meant the house was probably clear of walkers, and that these people probably weren't raiders. Not that he could really determine the second part with any certainty, but if they were letting an objectively pretty woman walk around free, they probably wouldn't do anything too morally objectionable to him right off the bat. Probably.
He creeped closer to the house, trying to get a glimpse into the downstairs windows to see if he could guess how many of them there were. He couldn't know for sure, but he could probably tell if there were "a bunch" or "only a few". But, looking in the window, he saw only one man. Maybe they were a couple? He frowned, watching closely to see if he could see anyone else inside.
Colette didn't know she was being watched as she crossed to the barn. She went inside and closed the door, switching on her flashlight. She hadn't started the generator, not until she could see how much gas was left for it. She needed gas for the truck too.
Inside, she went to the black SUV and grabbed a pack, and a box from the backseat. She wanted to get these things inside. It was what they had left of the medical supplies. She worried they would need them for Cade. The way he was acting, something was off.
The doc had given him medicine for pain. She hoped there was other stuff in here, he hadn't looked right. She walked out and shut the door behind her. Juggling the box with both arms, she made it back up the rear deck, and to the door. Bracing it with a hip, she got the door open and into the kitchen she went. Back door still open, she sat the box down on the table. "cade, I got the med supplies, gonna go through them and see what we have, but I need to go back out and check the gas and generator first, okay?" She stared at him, as he sat in the chair.
Cade kept watching out the window. He was examining everything that was going on. He didn't notice the man, he didn't notice anything. He was watching, but wasn't there. He was out of it. Be it the drugs or the pain, he was gone. He sat staring straight ahead, his chest rising and falling.
He didn't answer when Collette spoke, just reached down to feel the damp wet spot on his shirt. He was bleeding, a lot. The shirt was stoned red as her his fingers when he pulled them away. He looked down, leaning back. His stitches had tore with all the moving, it was to much to fast. What little cut her had as bleeding out all over the chair.
He was pale, barely moving, eyes showing he wasn't there.
Atlas couldn't see much from where he was standing, so he made a quick decision and decided to risk moving closer to the window to get a peek inside the dark room. He only saw the one man inside with the woman, though. He could faintly hear the woman talking, but the windows were closed and he couldn't hear what she said. But even from this distance, he could tell something was wrong. The woman's body language read anxious, and the man was hardly moving.
This concerned him immediately. Any illness or injury could mean impending disaster nowadays. If he was going to chance staying here, he had to know more. Thinking quickly, he snuck back around back, standing by the back door, and waited. The woman would have to return back outside eventually, he wagered. She hadn't seemed settled yet. When she did, he could try talking to her. He just hoped he wouldn't accidentally scare her onto the defensive.
Colette had bo idea she was being watched. Her eyes were locked on Cade. He hadn't answered her and so she had stepped closer. That was when she saw the blood," fuck, shit!" She raced over to him," Cade," he didn't say anything, "Arcade!!" She dropped to her knees in front of him and pulled at his shirt," damnit, don't you dare do this!" Her eyes glanced at his face. He was breathing. She rushed back to the table and grabbed a bunch of gauze. She didn't know what to do, god help her!
She knew what had happened, his stitches, but didn't know how to fix it. She stood and went back to the box. Her eyes saw a shadow near the door. She pulled her gun. Colette moved towards the door." I don't have time for games, I can shoot you now, or you can get the fuck in here , we can get this over with." She didn't have time for this shit, Cade needed her!
Cade felt weak. He was slipping in and out slowly. The good news was he didn't feel the pain. It didn't hurt, he didn't feel,anything. It wasn't infected, just bleeding. He didn't move though, just sat slumped over in the chair. He wasn't coherent, still slightly feverish. He breathed slowly, not answering anytime Collette called. He didn't hear her, didn't hear anything.
As she came in front he didn't look at her,mins read stared straight shades. Shen she stood with a gun aimed at door. He didn't look at both, continued to barely move. He looked one, hands gripping the chair tightly. Cade was unaware of everyone in the room.
Atlas immediately held his hands up, revolver in one hand pointed toward the sky and clearly not in a shooting position. He crept toward the girl, trying to look nonthreatening. Other than the giant bag on his back containing his guitar, he generally did a pretty good job of doing so. "It's okay," he said gently. "I'm going to put my gun away, I'm not here to attack you."
True to his word, he holstered his revolver, and then walked up to the woman. He didn't want to waste too much time, but he had to pause in the doorway, glancing at the man slumped in the chair. "What happened to him?" he asked, keeping his voice low. He didn't ask outright if the man had been bit, but really, that was all he wanted to know. He just wasn't stupid enough to make that the first question he asked this couple.
Last Edit: Feb 23, 2016 10:13:33 GMT -5 by Deleted
Colette watched him lower his gun and put it away, "Good boy." She glanced at Cade, she didn't have time for this shit, right now. He wanted to know what happened to him, but what he really meants was , is he bit, is he gonna turn? It was a typical question, first one most people jumped to nowadays. "He ain't bit, if that's what you're worried about, he got stabbed in New Orleans, and he's ripped his stitches, I think." She looked the man over. Man, he looked awful damn young. "Look, i need your hands, you do what I tell you, don't pull any funny shit and I won't kill you, alright?" She slipped the gun into the waist of her jeans and grabbed some gauze. She looked at Cade, and moved over to him, handing the gauze to the new man in her life, "Hold this while I get his shirt off." Colette pulled Cade's shirt up over his shoulders and rested it around his neck. She came around and squatted down, staring at the wound, 'fuck me, damnit, he moved around too much." She started ripping open packages of the gauze and pressed them to the wound, trying to get the blood to stop so she could see how bad it really was.
She glanced at Atlas, 'You know anything about this sorta thing?" She wasn't going to admit she was out of her element, not yet.
The boy carefully set his guitar and bag down by the door, not wanting them to get in the way, and then took the gauze from the woman, glancing at the man in the chair. He looked even worse up close, but if the woman was sure he hadn't been bit, he was going to have to trust her. For now, anyway. If she was lying, he'd deal with that, and her, later. As she started wrenching packets of gauze open, he got to work carefully removing the man's shirt the rest of the way, making sure there was no chance it fell down and got in their way.
He shrugged at her question, squatting down to help her apply pressure while keeping the gauze in his hand out of the way to keep it clean. "Only what you learn out here. Pressure stops bleeding, keep it clean to avoid infection, don't wrap it too tight or too loose, that sort of thing. I'm a fast learner, though. Just tell me what you need."
Colette glanced at the man, "Colette, this is Cade." She pulled back on the gauze a bit to take a peek, still bleeding. "Listen, while I hold this, go into the kitchen, get a bowl from the second cabinet left of the sink, then a clean towel from the drawer to the right of the sink, grab a water bottle from off the table. " She looked up at Cade and took a deep breath, "We need to clean this, and then we gotta patch him back up." Colette had no idea what to do. They didn't have anyone with medical training and she wasn't sure about sewing him up. She glanced at the young man, could she leave him alone with Cade? She didn't want to chance that she couldn't trust him.
Damnit, this was bullshit. "Look, I don't know about sewing him back up, but I have a staple gun out in the barn. There is a work bench , in one of the drawers, there should be a staple gun and staples, can you go get it, after you bring me the bowl of water?" Colette locked eyes on him, hoping she was making a good choice. She looked up at Cade, and then felt for his pulse, it was there, and he was breathing. Both were good signs. "Cade...." she reached up and tapped his cheek, "Arcade!"
Shauna Kelly: That helped, thank you
Oct 4, 2021 14:40:44 GMT -5
Ayita Hunt: dang, January was my last post.. Jeez it's been a hot minute. o7 guys, sorry for the complete disappearance, life got.. a little interesting this year.
Oct 18, 2021 22:34:19 GMT -5