A Volatiles Claim

BONUS Stressful Days

             Stepping through the elevator doors into the apartment, I finally released the sigh I was holding in all day. I shrug off my bag from my shoulders and let it fall to the floor with a soft 'thud', not really caring too much about its contents as there wasn't anything fragile. Words could not express how tired I was at this moment. And when I say tired, I don't mean just physically because even though the achiness in my ankles and upper back were prominent and calling for me to take some pain medicine, there wasn't much I could do about how mentally drained I was. All I could do at this moment was lean against the cool metal of the closed doors of the elevator and close my eyes to reflect on what has me feeling this way.

I have been spending the past few weeks at the Baba's church to learn more about her... unique medicinal practices that were different than the typical herbal ingredients most used. I have to admit, when I heard of her and her approach to curing a wide array of illnesses and injuries, my interest was greatly piqued and I knew I wanted to learn more about it. Sure, some would call her a witch or batshit crazy because she uses infected body parts and bodily fluids in her 'potions', but hey, if her customers have all reported that it works, who am I to judge. Hell, I find it amazing that that is even possible to do, and it's not like we would get infected from ingesting or covering wounds in her products as we are all infected. She is an amazing teacher to learn from, taking the time to thoroughly explain her processes and knowledge about her ingredients, and is with me every step of the way to ensure I am doing things correctly. But, it also comes with a ton of standing, traveling, mixing, and basically, a ton of physical activity to not only replicate her medicine but also to keep up with her. In between listening to her and concocting things, I needed to also make sure I kept legible and coherent notes for me to look back on in the future if I ever need to. In all honestly, it feels so much like school before The Fall and is too much at times for me to handle to the point where all I want to do is stay in bed for a few days to mentally recover. But if I did that, it would be a disrespect to her and her time, so I suck it up and force myself to give her all of my attention and my best work.

After a long day of carefully slicing infected organs and grinding up a week's work of plants into a powder to prepare for next week's activities, I nearly shouted in joy when the Baba told me to go home and rest for a few days as she wouldn't need me for a bit. But before I was allowed to leave, she insisted on me staying for dinner as a reward for such good work I have been doing. I of course refused initially because not only was it extremely generous of her to cook and use ingredients for an extra person, but also that I wanted to get home as quickly as I could to catch a specific pilgrim before he left for the day to prepare for a series of runs into dark zones. Though, after she listed the foods she was going to prepare and elicited a starved rumble from my tummy, I sheepishly agreed.

I looked out of the large, tinted windows of the living room and can't help the sad feeling I get when I realize that night had already fallen. My gaze sluggishly slides over to the coat hangers on the wall to my right and wither slightly when I confirm that Aiden had long since left the apartment as evident by his missing coat.

"Damn... I missed him." I mumble out into the empty room, not really expecting an answer.

My eyelids begin to feel heavy, a sure sign that I was running on low energy and needed to sleep soon, or else I would start to move around and act like the average biter only not fully turned. Not even in the slightest bit hungry for a quick makeshift energy drink, I decide to take a quick bath before heading to bed for a quick nap. Pushing myself off of the elevator doors, I quietly shuffle to the master bedroom and to the large wardrobe to pull out some night clothes before making my way to the bathroom.

"Shit!" I groan out as I am undressing when I realized that I needed to boil some water for my bath. The water we store in our penthouse is collected from rain catchers on the roof, meaning that it is surely cold and that any attempt at using it to get clean is almost a guarantee of developing a cold the next day.