I sigh. “Truth.”
“Boring,” he sings playfully.
“I’m not about to go out in this shitty ass building, in the dark, with dead people walking around.” I harrumph.
He snorts before asking, “Okay . . . have you ever had a threesome?”
“Dude, is every question going to be about sex?” I ask, rising to my elbows from where I’m positioned on the floor.
“Well, yeah. I’m a guy,” he responds.
I grunt. “No, I’ve never had a threesome. Shit. Now, truth or dare?”
“Uh, truth.” He squirms in his spot, and I glance at his face. The small space heater allows us to see a few feet around us, including his expression.
“Hmm,” I ponder, tossing a tennis ball up and catching it in my hands a few times. “How did you meet Sofia?” I ask. I mean, yeah, I’m still curious to know.
He strokes his chin thoughtfully, staring into space. “I thought I told you. Actually,” he starts and then stops for a moment, and I raise my brow, but he’s not looking at me when he continues. “I met Sofia at the football stadium. At first, they tried to create a haven there, but there were just too many people, and eventually, it fell. Anyway, when the place was overrun, we escaped and have been together ever since. Well, until now. . .”
The thought of being inside a space the size of the stadium makes me shudder. Once again, the loss must have been astronomical, and there are so few of us to begin with.
“I’m sorry. Were you close?” I ask. I don’t detect sorrow in his tone.
“I mean yes, but no,” he says, turning his face away.
Guiltily, I wonder if maybe he’s more affected by her death than I thought, but it doesn’t stop me from my line of questioning.
“Did you have sex with her? Were you together?”
“What?” he laughs. “No, we weren’t together. Where’d you get that idea?”
“I don’t know. I guess because you guys came together.”
“Yeah, no. I think she was sleeping with that Manny guy,” he says with a chuckle.
I pause at the mention of his name, my heart thumping in my chest, but I will the ache away, desperate to maintain this ordinary moment. Although, I can’t help but to mentally fist pump the air because I knew she had her dirty claws in Manny. I guess it’s an empty victory, though, because they’re all fucking dead anyway.
A sudden quiet falls between us, and I startle when he stands abruptly and says, “Sorry.”
But I can’t be bothered to wonder or worry about why he’s upset when he walks away because my chest fucking hurts, and I’m fighting just to breathe through the sorrow. Instead, I turn over and stare at the red glow of the heater until my eyes close and I fall asleep.
December passes into January soundlessly as snow falls outside in bright white loops of ice. We no longer venture out because the roads are icy, the weather cold and snowy, and nobody would be moving around in this anyway. But we do open the doors once a day and stand outside to survey the surroundings and listen for changes.
Nothing does, and we spend all our time searching the building, rearranging the goods, eating, and chatting when we’re bored. Enzo no longer annoys me to no end, but I think my lack of enthusiasm about just about everything is getting on his nerves. Sucks to be him. The last two people on earth, and he’s stuck with me.
I’m surprised to find that I like being around him though. It’s nothing romantic, but he’s funny and jokes a lot, even taking pains to ensure that I don’t get hurt for the complex jobs. He’s stepped in more than once to save me with zombies, which proves, at least I think so, that he isn’t out to kill me, and he hasn’t tried to make any sort of sexual advances, so I finally allow myself to let down my guard on that front as well.
We still play silly games when we’re at our wit’s end with boredom or wander through the store and play with all the goods. This includes Nerf gun fights in the aisles, rearranging the shelving to piss each other off, and one such morning when I woke him with a piece of rotten meat on his chest.
Although we cleared as much as we could, the decaying flesh was too much, and instead, we sealed the refrigerators and walk-in freezer and settled in closer to the front door.
We don’t have much in the way of running water because the pipes have long since stopped working, so showers are a thing of the past. We allow ourselves a bottle of water a day to clean ourselves. Whether that means brushing our teeth, washing our pits, or wiping our asses, it’s up to us. We just simply can’t afford to risk the rest without knowing that a plentiful source is available elsewhere.
Needless to say, we stink, and it’s gross, but we’ve gotten used to that too. We have plenty of clothes to change out of and we take full advantage, although eventually, those will have to be washed too, but maybe by then, the snow will be gone, and we can pack up what’s left of the food and drink and move on.
This, the last two people on earth thing, is getting old, but I’m grateful not to be alone because I not only have someone to converse with, but he could be a fucking annoying idiot, and he’s not. Besides, Enzo is pretty to look at, even if he’s not exactly a sparkling conversationalist.
February brings lots of snow, so much so that we can’t go outside even if we want to. So, we hunker down and listen to the wind howl outside while freezing our asses off inside. We still have plenty of food and drink but resolve that we need to get the hell out once the winter weather breaks. It’s just too much, and the constant dark isn’t helping my levels of depression any.