I awoke to the birds chirping outside my tent and drew in a deep breath of air. I stretched as I did so and groaned slightly when I sat up to grab my bag.
My mouth was dry and tasted foul. The awful taste gave me a flash of a memory of Geneva and me brushing our teeth together. Another deep breath followed. I missed her more than anything. She was my best friend, and the world had to take her away.
A few beats passed with this on my mind, but as soon as I caught myself, I shook the thought from my head, but I couldn’t alleviate the heavy feeling in my heart.
I brushed my teeth with a gentle cleansing solution made from mint extract, salt, and water and spat it beside my tent.
The sun was way East, indicating how little sleep I got, but I shrugged it off and went inside the house.
A tall black man stood in the kitchen. The door opening startled him, and he screamed before scrambling to grab the chair beside him. He pointed it at me, using the legs as a threat and barrier, “Who the fuck are you?!”
“She’s the reason you’re even awake right now,” Levi’s voice echoed through the house, and Bear’s look of confusion got even more pronounced. As Levi entered the kitchen, he noticed this: “I met her yesterday. She—” He looked at me for a split second before continuing, “I-uh caught her wandering outside after Minka left to get help, and she ended up making you some medicine that finally worked, thank God.”
Bear set the chair down, still apprehensive, “Is that what that cloth piece was? Medicine?”
I nodded with a soft smile to try to put him somewhat at ease. “Yeah. It was made with natural-grown herbs and rabbit fat. I assume you ate the rabbit meat Levi left for you? If you haven’t, you should; the protein will help you regain energy.”
He nodded at Levi, “Thanks, I ate it this morning after I woke up,” He turned back to address me again, “I still feel...odd? Eating made me feel less awful, but I don’t feel entirely better either.”
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I crossed the kitchen and sat with the two men at the dusty dining table. I bit my lip as I thought about what he could have contracted that made him as incapacitated as he was, but my mind was drawing blanks.
“Can you tell me where you guys were? Sometimes, certain bugs or plants can bite or poison you without your knowledge.”
They both looked at each other, and a beat of silence passed. Then, Levi said, “I mean, we’ve been staying indoors. We have only been eating our rationed MRE meals, we only drank the water we’ve brought, and we haven’t come into contact with any animals or other people. I don’t know. It could’ve been anything, but if it were something like spores or radiation in a house, we would’ve all gotten sick, not just Bear.”
I took in the information, tossed it, and turned it every which way in my head as I chewed on the skin on my lip. I stared at the men as the two started having a conversation while I brainstormed, and during this, I heard Bear mention his desire for a bath.
“A bath?” I echoed, squinting my eyes. “Wait, a bath?” I took in the two men in front of me, and yeah, they were remarkably clean for being out in the wastes—very, very clean. “Have you been bathing in any water you found out there?!” I shouted incredulously.
Levi threw his hands up in defense, “I didn’t do it; I’ve been washing with reserve water.”
I slowly looked over at Bear; he was staring in the opposite direction, clearly avoiding eye contact with me.
“Fucking hell, you guys need a crash course on the way the world works nowadays,” I grumbled as I pressed my fingers into my temples to ease the headache I felt coming on. After a few moments of silence, I pushed my pointer finger firmly on the table and tapped it with emphasis, “To start, you DO NOT under ANY circumstances go in still waters that you find out there. I don’t care if it’s the lake in the Garden of Eden; it’s a cesspool of bacteria, feces, and other shit from the war that will make you sick and possibly even be fatal.” You’d think if they had a school like the Old World, they’d teach their students some common sense, but I see that went way over their heads, “So, running water only, and that’s not a common thing to find out here. I know you’re used to comfort and cleanliness, but that’s nonexistent out here, so brace yourself for the stink or learn how to forage, and you’ll find lots of natural scent deodorizers and cleansers.”
As I spoke, Bear side-eyed Levi, and I could already tell he and I would have to come to the same understanding Levi and I did.
But that plan was foiled with a shrug and a few words from Levi: “I wouldn’t be looking at me like that. She’s an outsider, but she is from out here; she’s helpful.”
Bear scoffed and looked at Levi in disbelief as if he was waiting for him to take it back with a ‘just kidding!’ and a laugh. But he didn’t. Instead, he shrugged again.
Bear chuckled, shook his head, and looked at me expectantly, “So, what else do you know?”