I Don't Care If You're Contagious

So much for having the company of my brother. I sigh aloud to myself as I walk toward the house my brother and I own. It’s not much but its home. It’s where we sleep, eat, fight…you know. I open the front door and step inside. It’ feels a tad drafty. I looked to see Mike had left one of the windows open. Or at least I hope that’s the case. Then again, our home really isn’t worth breaking into. We don’t have much and what we did have didn’t seem to be taken. I take on the small task, strolling over to the window to close it, locking it shut. They were so dusty and grimy. The paint on the wooden pane was slightly chipped. Spiders even made it their home. At least they can be of some company. It’s too bad they can’t talk. Even if they could talk, I doubt they’d make any sense. They’d probably just ask where I keep my flies. Sigh, this is me when I’m alone. I don’t make much sense half the time. Then again when the world has seen it all, you run out of things to talk about.
I leave the window, going to our shitty little bathroom. I pull my bag off of my shoulder, dropping it on the counter on my way. I close the bathroom door and begin pulling off my dirty tattered coat, tossing it to the cold grimy floor. I lean over the edge of our gross looking bath tub and try to turn the handle. I listen to it creak wildly, except nothing seemed to come out. I try turning the handle further, yet all I get are a few drops. I sigh, hitting my fist down on the faucet like a hammer. I only bathe once a week, sometimes only once every two weeks. The one time I want to bathe is when my shit decides to stop working. Whatever. The water is almost as cold as the river anyways. I might as well take a bath there. I stand up straight again and leave the bathroom, highly disappointed in our “new-age technology”. Remember when we thought we’d get flying cars or holographic television? Yeah, well, we got zombies instead.
I decide that since I’m going there anyways, I might as well take some clothes to wash. So I gather up some things and throw them in my backpack. Maybe Mike can appreciate that I took the time to clean his clothes for him. I leave the house through the back door, not wanting much attention. Luckily our house is practically right next to a small forest of trees which grew there over the years, making it easy to avoid people if wanted. Not that many people bothered me; I’d just rather not risk getting stopped by someone I know. I make sure the door locks behind me before scattering off into the trees. At least in these woods, I didn’t have to worry about some undead creature trying to eat my flesh. I push past the obnoxious twigs and sharp stems of bushes and plants. By this point I’m mostly used to the unforgiving outdoors. You get over things like bugs, snakes, and harmful plants after you’ve had them as neighbors for a while.
Luckily, also, not many people come to this small river. Most people don’t like taking the time to travel out here. You might be wondering how big it is exactly around here. Well, to answer your question, it’s about 108.7 miles from one end of the gate to the other. Year after year we’ve built more and more around the gate. It took a long time but we eventually got to where we are. It’s kind of hard to build when there are zombies on the prowl 24/7, I’m sure you can imagine. And with only roughly 2,000 people here, it’s a bit roomy. Well, 2,002 now that those two came; Jaime and Tony. Just as long as they stay away from me I should be fine.
I climb over a fallen tree and blush past a ton of vines before finally stumbling upon the river. I could hear the water flow over the rocks with trickling noises. The sun reflected off of it brightly, making it glisten so bright I thought I’d go blind. I exhale sharply through my nose as I step forward, pulling my backpack off as I kneel down at the small bank. I unzip the small zipper and began dumping the contents of it out onto the grass. I pull off my shoes and roll up the legs of my jeans before stepping into the frigid slowly running water. I shivered as the icy temperature smothered my feet. I got over it quickly because it felt good in contrast to the hot climate of the sun beating down on my shoulders. I pick up a dark blue colored shirt from the ground, or at least I think it’s supposed to be dark blue under all of the dirt stains. I think Mike falls down more than necessary. His clothes are always dirtier than mine. Then again, he’s so tall and lanky; I bet the wind blows him over sometimes.
I drown the shirt in the water, pushing it under the stream until it disappeared. I pull it back up, watching as water spilled from the hem, dripping back into the river below me. I wring it out by twisting the shirt between both of my hands, watching all of the water fall out. I repeat this step over and over with each piece of clothing, often scrubbing the fabric to get out grass stains. A lot of our clothes have blood stains in them. Those usually stay. It’s just one of those things you get over though. It’s not like we can just go shopping for new clothes now. I mean, there are people who make clothes, but it’s not like we have the money anyways. Those types of things don’t matter anymore either. You start to lose interest in material items. Honestly, the only thing that matters to me anymore is Michael. Without him, I might as well have nothing to live for. I mean, sure I have my friend, Oliver. But Mike means the world to me. He’s the only family I have left. Therefore, I have to do everything I can to make sure he stays unharmed. Though I’m sure I’ve explained this a million times.
I finish rinsing the clothes, so I take all of them and lay them down on a tree branch not too far from me. I look around, seeing no one. I go back to the river and step back in and look over my shoulder, still no one. I don’t hear anyone. So I assume it’s safe. I sigh to myself briefly as I begin pulling up the bottom of the old filthy shirt I have on. I can’t see anything as I tug it up over my head. Soon it comes right off of my shoulders. I look down at the dark green shaded fabric in my hands and begin turning it inside-out.
snap.
I stop what I’m doing.
My ears pick up the small sound.
I look up from my shirt to see no one in front of me.
I don’t see anyone standing across the bank.
I look to my left.
I look to my right.
Nothing.
Suddenly I see a small animal climbing through a tree; a squirrel, actually. I sigh to myself, figuring I must be paranoid. I look back down to the shirt in my hand, not being able to help the feeling like there was still something near me. I figure maybe I should just go back and-
“Boo.” a voice makes me jump and almost scream. I move my feet to turn, but I don’t realize the rock just an inch away from my feet and I trip, falling backwards into the water. I splash dramatically, my whole body engulfed in freezing waters. I jump up immediately and gasp, my shirt covering my face.
“Mike!” I scream suddenly, “Don’t do that shit!” I grab the shirt from my face and pull it off to rub the water from my eyes before opening them, only to see a grinning face that wasn’t my brother’s.
“I think you got some water on you” the man teases. I begin to fume. I clench my hands into fists as I begin to stand up, slapping his hand away when he offers to help me up.
“Don’t fucking touch me.” I hiss bitterly through gritted teeth.
“I was just trying to help” he shrugged.
“I don’t need your help, Jaime!” I burst, “Go away, already!”
“What’s got you in such a bad mood?” he asked casually. I can’t believe this guy.
“Do you think you’re funny!?” I ask in frustration.
“I mean, I’ve made a lot of people in the past laugh. So I’m guessing I am.” he smiled dorkily.
“You’re not funny to me.” I retort bitterly.
“Give me a chance and I might be.” he said as I walk up onto dry land, the hot sun quickly restoring my body back to warmth.
“No!” I walk past him, “Jaime, just go away” I groan, “Can’t you see that I don’t want you fucking near me?”
“Ouch. Are you always this honest?” he asked but I just ignored him.
“Only a true friend would be that honest.” he said with admiration. I roll my eyes.
“Can’t you just go be annoying somewhere else?” I ask as I trudge my legs which were being weighed down by drenched pants.
“I could” he said as he began to follow me, “But I’d rather just annoy you.”
“Jaime, I swear to god, if you don’t-“ I turn around to face him but I pause stiffly when my face is met with his, just inches away.
“What? Leave?” he asked me. I lose my temper. I bring up a hand, swinging it across his face, the loud SLAP echoing through the woods.
“Ow!” he yelps, holding his cheek, “That really hurt, you know?” he looked at me.
“Then get out of my face before I do it again!” I scold and he quickly takes a couple steps back. I huff and turn back around, stomping over to the tree where my belongings reside.
“Are you still here?” I ask stiffly as I begin pulling shirts down from the branch.
“Who, me?” I hear him ask.
“Who else would I be talking to?” I roll my eyes.
“I don’t know.” he shrugged, “thought you didn’t want to talk to me. so I assumed you were talking to someone else.”
“Don’t be stupid.” I groaned with a sigh.
“But it’s what I do best.” he said.
“Look.” I turn around to look at him, my arms full of clothes, “Why are you even here?” I ask him.
“Just thought I’d go for a walk.” he shrugged, “I’m not familiar with this place. So I wasn’t sure where I was” he explained, “But then I saw you.”
“I’m not sure I believe that story. But whatever.” I say and walk past him again to retrieve my backpack.
“and what are you doing here?” I heard him ask from behind me.
“Laundry.” I answer flatly and I open my backpack.
“So that explains all of the clothes.” he said.
“What did you think I was doing?” I asked with another sigh.
“I don’t know.” I heard him say, “I thought you’ve been hired to drown other people’s clothes.” he said sarcastically.
“I’ve never heard anything more ridiculous in my life.” I said.
“I’m sure you’ve heard dumber.” he said as I stuffed the clothes in the backpack.
“Can you just leave, already?” I sigh, “This conversation isn’t going anywhere.”
“I thought it was going swimmingly” he said, “No pun intended.” he added.
“I’m just all washed up” he said and I turned to glare at him.
“Okay, that pun was intended” he admitted. I roll my eyes, throwing my bag over my shoulders.
“At least I got my bath” I murmured to myself but Jaime must have had super hearing because he heard me.
“Is that what you were doing?” he asked, “That’s kind of awkward”
“It’s not like I was naked.” he said plainly as I slipped on my shoes.
“Unfortunately.” he muttered out.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” my eyebrows pull together.
“Hm? What?” he asked like he didn’t know what I just said, “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I just groan to myself, figuring to just leave it at that. I just wanted to leave at this point.
“Where are you going?” I heard him ask as I began walking away from the scene.
“Home.” I replied stiffly.
“You don’t want to stay and talk?” he asked.
“I thought I made it perfectly clear to you that I don’t want to speak to you. Not now. Not ever.” I said flatly.
“Really?” he asked, “I thought you were just starting to warm up to me.”
I groaned in response.
“So I’ll see you again?” he asked with a smile, showing off the dimples in his cheeks.
“I’ll make sure to pray that doesn’t happen.” I say before venturing off back into the woods.