Lockdown – Day Four
Hi folks
Here is day four of my story. Hope you enjoy…I wonder if John and Sarah will get on…don’t forget to comment with any thoughts…and feel free to share with any friends or family members in this time of staying indoors…
Thanks for reading!
[image error]Photo by Thierry Fillieul on Pexels.com
DAY FOUR
Sarah
John is waiting for me when I come downstairs in the morning. The sun must have risen hours ago judging by the temperature. I’m not sure if he’s slept much. He has bags under his eyes, maybe he has been crying, and he watches me coming into the comfortable, darkened lounge. It makes me uncomfortable the way that men stare at women, it hasn’t always been this way, only in the last year or two, but even though he doesn’t mean anything by it I still don’t hold his gaze.
“We need to talk,” he says to me calmly.
“What’s up?” I ask.
“You need to tell me a bit more about what happened and we need to decide what’s next.”
The royal ‘we’ got mentioned there, perhaps he thinks he is staying.
“What do you want to know?” I ask.
Pointing towards the rear of the property he asks, “Was my wife already dead when you got here?”
I nod.
“And you just left her there?” he asks, though not in an accusatory manner.
“When you’ve seen as much death as I have, you don’t really have any choice. There are bodies everywhere. I try to avoid them. I figure they might have the virus.”
He doesn’t get aggressive. He just nods. I don’t think he had thought about that. “Good point,” he says.
“Do you know how you catch it from people?” he then asks.
“Nobody ever said. It spread too fast. Maybe I’m just lucky but I don’t want to push my luck.”
“OK. Maybe it is from touch or breathing in or body fluids. I guess it’s sensible to avoid them all just in case.”
I doubt he’s a virologist in his spare time and he’s preaching to the converted here. Maybe he’s just voicing his thoughts. I don’t respond.
“Are you thinking of staying here?” he asks me.
Is he going to ask me to leave? I quite like this little house with electricity but it still won’t last forever. “I don’t think I can. The food in the local area will run out eventually. Then I’ll need to move.”
“Where to?”
“Wherever I can find somewhere else that can support me.”
“How about a base that can support you long term?”
“Like where?” I ask.
“Maybe somewhere with fish? Somewhere crops can be grown?”
“Do you know how to grow crops or go fishing?” I ask.
“Not really. Maybe there are books in the library?” he suggests.
I’m realising that this author is perhaps more lost in his thoughts than in actually being able to live the life he is talking about. “Do you know much about living in the woods? Did you grow crops there?”
He looks a little guilty but still smiles wryly as he says, “Not really. I mostly drank bourbon, ate crap and wrote for three months.”
“Oh.”
He then drops a real bombshell, “Can I come with you?”
How do I feel about having an extra pair of hands who might be useless? Do I want company? I think I feel a little safer with him around just because he’s a man. I wouldn’t say he was very manly though. I look at him properly for the first time. He’s thin. He looks drawn. His hair is long and brown, he has a beard that is trying to catch up in length. I assume he is pretty intelligent given what he does but then this virus has shown that intelligence doesn’t count for much and he might die before I get to know him. I don’t know if I can deal with more loss.
John
I can tell that she is trying to decide if I’m useless. She is doing fine on her own without my help. She must be a very practical person. Maybe she thinks I’m going to drop dead at the drop of a hat too. I’ve done nothing to show I can be trusted yet except sit in the house while she goes out and not do anything to draw attention to us being in here. Her hesitation to reply speaks volumes.
“I can help forage for things, share the workload, I know a few recipes too…my rice krispies in tomato sauce is legendary!” I grin.
She laughs. It’s nice to see her laugh. I can feel us both relaxing. I realise that laughter is something I rarely do when alone, it just isn’t the same as laughing with someone else. It must be part of the human condition, to crave the humour of company. I raise my eyebrows expectantly.
“OK,” she smiles, “but only until you annoy me.”
She appears like a young girl for the first time, albeit one who has seen so much horror.
“Deal, or until I catch the virus and die.” I chuckle a bit and she does too.
I offer my hand but she doesn’t take it, “We don’t do physical contact. Too much risk.”
There goes the levity.
“Shall we go out?” I ask. “I’m starving!”
She nods. It’s time I start to earn my keep.
Only when I venture into my local neighbourhood do I truly realise the dreadfulness of what has occurred. Even with Sarah’s account I didn’t imagine it could be this bad. The smell alone in some houses has me retching. I don’t know how she can put up with it.
“I think I’ve gotten used to it,” she says as if feeling like she needs to explain, “it’s the flies and maggots I hate.”
I’ve seen plenty of those too today. Enough to last me a lifetime I suspect, though I also think this might be repeated often. Progress is slow due to checking for anyone or anything that might get in our way. Food is pretty thin on the ground and we end up trekking across a couple of streets in our search. We manage to find some canned tuna and noodles in a house where she has to go into the kitchen alone due to the dead being in there. At least we can have a meal tonight. It’s plainly obvious that we will need to leave here and fairly soon.
The rest of the day mercifully passes uneventfully. We can enjoy a little peace. She has offered to read to me again so things almost feel a little normal.
