Capítulo 38: Supply run
(Ray)
Sunlight began streaming in through the bedroom window, illuminating everything it touched. The darkness of the night was slowly overwhelmed by the light that took over in its stead. Birds chirped softly as they flew around in the morning sky. A new day had dawned.
Ray was lying down on his back, his puffy eyes staring at the ceiling above him. He had been awake well before the sunlight began filling up his room. The previous night was one of the worst sleeps he ever remembered having. He passed out and woke up multiple times in the last few hours. No matter what he tried, he just couldn't get himself to relax.
'Sheep well… I can't believe I said sheep well.' he scolded himself, 'Why sheep? What's wrong with me?'
Several such thoughts lingered in his mind all night, preventing him from getting any rest at all. Realizing how improbable it was for him to fall asleep now, Ray sighed loudly and sat up on his bed. He immediately felt his head start to throb. He placed a hand on his forehead in an attempt to prevent it from spinning.
"Ahh… fuck," he whispered softly. He tried to shake the weariness away but that made the throbbing even worse. Ray realized that there was only one thing now that would help with his grogginess: coffee.
He swung his legs off the bed and planted his feet onto the tiles. His eyes fell on Meghan sleeping peacefully in front of him. She was laying on her side with a hand under one of her cheeks. A few loose strands of hair had fallen over her elegant face. Her lips looked thin yet somehow, more supple than he remembered. All of her graceful features were elevated further by the soft sunlight that caressed her resting visage.
Ray found himself frozen in place, unable to move or look away. He didn't think anything else in the world could be more beautiful than what he was seeing now. He had to fight an overwhelming urge to reach out and tuck the loose strands behind her ear. Few things in life had challenged him harder than what he was going through at that moment. His heart thumped heavily against his chest as a small smile formed across his face. But then, almost immediately, he lightly slapped himself across the face and forcefully turned away from her.
'Stop staring,' He thought to himself. 'That's creepy. Don't be a creep.'
Before he got transfixed by Meghan again, Ray rose up from the bed and walked over to the door. He opened it carefully and squeezed through, trying his best not to wake her up. He headed straight for the kitchen and prepared his coffee.
He walked over to the balcony with a steaming cup in his hands. He slid open the glass window and stepped outside. He took a sip of coffee and started to scan around Prime Gardens. What he saw below caused a prideful smirk to cut across his cheek.
The Deathless had returned. Dozens of them roamed the ground floor in the same lumbering fashion that Ray had gotten accustomed to seeing. From this height, they looked like nothing more than insects, crawling around aimlessly in the vastness of the world.
'This is great,' Ray thought, 'this only confirms my theory. The Deathless hibernate at night and become active once it is morning again. This is big. Knowing this will really help us in making a more stable escape plan.'
Ray finished off his coffee in the next few gulps and leaned over the railings. He suddenly felt very sleepy. Not wanting to pass out and fall off the balcony, Ray went back inside and slumped down on the couch. He kept the cup on the coffee table and threw his head back against the cushions. He rubbed his puffy eyes with his fingers, feeling his whole body sag with exhaustion. Soon enough, sleep started to seduce him with Ray gladly letting himself fall to its advances. He dreamed about Prime and how life had been before the outbreak. All of his boys were there. They were alive and safe and human. There was also an incredibly beautiful girl that he recognized but couldn't quite remember her name. She waved at him with a radiant smile on her face. Ray knew her, he definitely knew her. Her name was on the tip of his tongue.
..............…..
(Rody)
Rody woke up early and saw that Samantha was sleeping on the other end of the bed. He sat upright and stretched his limbs. Feeling sour about how their interaction yesterday had gone, he leaned over and called out her name softly. She didn't respond. He tried again and got the same result. He pulled himself back and sighed.
Wanting to get some fresh air, Rody walked out of the guest bedroom and entered the hall. A faint smell of coffee met his nostrils. He turned towards the kitchen and found a pot next to the stove. He looked in and saw that there was a few cups worth of coffee inside.
"Oooo…" Rody said as he helped himself to some.
He walked into the living room area and found Ray resting on the couch.
"Hey, dude…" he called out. When he got no response from him, he tried again. "Yo, Ray! Can you hear me? Hello?"
Ray woke up with a start, "Huh?" he said in a daze. His eyes were barely open, they also looked kinda swollen. Ray quickly jerked his head around him, as if unaware of where he was. "Where—where's Momo?" he asked.
"Huh? I—I don't know." Rody said. "I went to sleep first, remember?"
"Ahh, yeah…" Ray said and leaned forward with his face in his hands. He finally seemed to have collected his bearings.
"Were you sleeping here?" Rody asked.
"Well I was trying to… till you woke me up." Ray replied in a groggy voice.
"Ahh my bad, man. Did you sleep in the living room the whole night?"
"No, no. I uh—just woke up early and came here." He said, "I wasn't able to get much sleep though."
"Yeah, I can tell." Rody said, "I slept okay. I usually wake up at like five in the morning to workout but I felt like staying in bed for a bit longer today."
"What time is it?" Ray asked.
Rody checked the clock above the dining table. "Seven a.m." He replied.
"Hey," came a voice from his right. "Good morning."
Rody looked up and saw Meghan approaching them.
"Oh, hey. Morning" Ray greeted, "You're up too! I'm surprised."
"A stupid insect stung me and I couldn't fall asleep after that." She explained.
"An insect?" Ray asked in confusion. "What kind?"
"No idea, I didn't see it." Meghan said, "It just stung me and ran off somewhere. You know, I've noticed that I'm always the one getting stung by these things. No one else ever does. It's frustrating!"
"What is?" Rody asked, "You getting stung or that other people are not experiencing it?"
"Both," Meghan replied casually.
Ray pressed the back of his hand to his mouth and held back a laugh. Rody looked at both of them, wondering whether that had been a joke or not.
Meghan reached the couches and glanced at Ray. "What happened to you?" she asked.
"Oh, I…"
But before Ray could answer, they heard a door being unlocked. It was coming from the room that was the farthest away from the hall. Rody shifted his attention towards it and sure enough, the door of the master bedroom swung open.
"Leon!" he called out and rushed forward.
"Hey dude," Leon said with a forced smile.
"How are you holding up?" Rody asked.
"I'm—I'm better." He replied, "Is everyone else already in the living room?"
"Yeah, c'mon. Can you walk okay?"
"I'm fine. It doesn't hurt that bad anymore."
Rody nodded and walked back to the living room with Leon close behind him. Ray turned towards them and he saw relief wash over his face when he spotted Leon.
"Hey buddy," he said, "glad you decided to join us."
"Yeah, I can't shut myself in the room forever. Figured I'd have to go out at some point."
"True," said Rody before he sat down in the two-seater.
Leon sat beside him and winced a little. Not wanting to make a big deal out of it, he pretended like it didn't happen.
"So," Leon started, "I'm sure I missed out on a lot of stuff. Who's gonna fill me in on the deets?"
Rody, Ray and Meghan took turns telling him everything that had happened since their last meeting in the master bedroom. Rody told him about their plan to retrieve the fire axe, Meghan detailed her experience during their recon mission and finally Ray explained his hibernation theory.
"It ended up being true, by the way." Said Ray, nudging his head towards the balcony, "The Deathless are back. I confirmed it earlier this morning."
"So, does that mean we'll be able to leave Prime tonight?" Rody asked, "All we need is another car, no?"
"Woah, calm down." Ray said, "Just because the Deathless here hibernate at night doesn't mean all the other ones do the same. We also don't know if yesterday was a one-time thing or not. We'll need to go on another recon mission tonight. This time, to Athani."
"Yikes," Rody said, "do we really need to do that?"
"We do." Ray replied simply. "We still don't have enough information about them. I'd rather make a foolproof plan than risk our lives by going in half-assed again."
"Alright," Rody said with a sigh, "What do we do until nightfall?"
"We could go back to our homes and get a few essentials." Meghan said, "We know that we'll eventually be escaping from Prime, right? We should pack up whatever we think we'll need for the journey."
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Leon said, "I want to change back into my own clothes. Wearing Ray's feels kinda off. No offence."
"Ahh, alright…" Ray said, "We'll do that later on in the afternoon."
"Why later?" Meghan asked.
"I'm… not in the best shape right now. I barely got any sleep last night." Ray replied.
"Dude, just go to bed." Rody suggested, "We'll handle things here."
Ray looked around at everyone and then dropped his gaze to the floor. He nodded slowly though Rody felt he did it reluctantly.
"Alright," he said, standing up. "I'll try to get some sleep before our supply run. Don't do anything crazy while I'm asleep. And don't burn the house down either."
"Can't guarantee that last one, chief." Leon joked.
Ray rolled his eyes and smiled before heading into his bedroom. Only the three of them remained in the living room now.
"Can't believe the only people alive in Prime are here in this flat," Leon said.
"We don't know that for sure," Meghan replied, "There could be more, hiding in the safety of their homes."
"Hmmm… true," Leon said, "we could've found out if we had a way to broadcast a message to everyone."
Suddenly, an idea crossed Rody's mind. He looked up at Meghan and Leon and said, "Actually, I think I know a way. It's not technically broadcasting but it should have the same effect. If there are any more survivors out there, this could help us find them."
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