An Unlikely Ally

Chapter 11 - Long time coming

John's watch vibrated furiously, causing him to startle from his sleep the watch read 7:00 a.m.

"Ugh- Snooze-" John said deliriously, fumbling with his watch and pressing a button to silence it as he fell back asleep again, mumbling incoherently.

"ow!-" John yelped, as he had rolled over to the right too far and hit the table leg with his head. Rubbing his forehead he slid out from underneath the table and sat up, leaning against the wall. He checked his watch and groaned while holding his head in his other hand. "Slept in too late, it's already 10, so better get a move on. I gotta get a bed today." John said stretching a bit and slowly procuring a muesli bar from his backpack as he rested.

"Sleep was all but what I got last night. Just, kept seeing that creature coming back in the middle of the night, having changed its mind or something..." John said while rubbing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "No, its not real John. You've never seen one of those aliens, act like what this one has. Listening, understanding, reasoning, all things that once seperated the two. He, she, it; is different. I hope." John held the last word and swallowed the last mouthful of the muesli bar, before unzipping and placing the wrapper in the front pocket, which he dedicated for rubbish. "Enough thinking, more doing." John remarked as he stood up.

After John finished his morning routine, he donned the 2nd last pair of fishing clothes, redressed the wound on his foot and finally put on two layers of socks. "Plan for today, go to the now safe residential area, grab mattress or couch cushions, then come home. Oh, also maybe laundry detergent, I need to wash my clothes." With that, John walked out of his bedroom and then finally out of the cafe, setting off to the residential area.

"Hmm. I wonder what would happen if I bumped into that alien again. Just a 'Hey what's up' and casually talk about stuff? Or should we just, keep our distance from one another? Idk, part of me is worried about overstaying my welcome around it. The other part is also just curious, like this is an alien after all. Like the ramifications of alien life -if it didn't sort of end the world- is profound. Like damn, scientists would be all over me if they knew I was on sort of good terms with one. Just, sort of wish the aliens were all like the one I met yesterday." John's thoughts were interrupted as he heard something.

He strained for a few moments and listened out but smiled, as he realised he was close to the alien's house and could just barely hear the audiobook. "Metro 2033, he is maybe 6 chapters in? Damn on a marathon heh, though that begs the question. He does not mind that level of volume, so he must know where the other aliens are and that they are further enough away to not here him. Because yikes, my simple-yet-stupid mutterings in a field nearly got me killed." John paused and stopped walking. "Ugh, just like what I am doing right now infact. Oh whatever, it helps me think and if I keep it to a whisper I am alright, most likely."

John peered into the window of the door, he was on the porch of a modest home that appeared to be in good condition, with no smashed windows, and no signs of a scuffle either. John readied himself as he tested the door handle, smiling as it rotated without issue and quietly clicked open. He gently pushed the door inwards and walked inside onto a stiff carpeted floor, coughing a bit at the stale and slightly damp air. "At least I know nobody has been in here, let's just hope there isn't mould on the stuff I need." He said covering his mouth and nose with the back of his wrist.

John stopped at the entrance and took in his surroundings, he was in a wooden hallway that led to the wall, to the right of the hallway, in 3 metres there was a wide doorway and opposing was a narrow backdoor that led outside. The left face leading to the left doorway was lined with coats and underneath a few pairs of shoes on a small wooden shoe rack. He walked in and studied the coats, one had caught his eye, being padded with wool on the inside and looking just about his size. "I am a few months off winter, so I should start thinking things I would need. I will come back for this later, there might also be other stuff in the house." He said nodding to himself.