The First Of Us | TLOU Prequel

Chapter Three

2003

It was the same as yesterday, and I thought, the same as tomorrow. Alarm sounded, I scrubbed my eyes with balled fists, rubbing the tiredness away. I hated this job but something had to pay the bills. Feet swung off the side of the bed, I cringed before they made contact with the hard wood floors, they were always cold. You shouldn't leave the air con on all night, that's what my mom would say, if she were here. I grinned. She wasn't. The days were getting longer, the sun barely peeking above the horizon as I pulled open the curtains. The sky a baby blue in that way you only get at the absolute crack of dawn.

Each step was cold as I trudged my way to the bathroom. Shower, wash hair, dry hair, brush, floss, skincare, pick an outfit, leave. And when I climbed back out into the steam filled room, wiping the mirror with the flat of my forearm, something soft and warm wrapped around my calf.

"Mornin' Bacon."

He meowed back. God, I loved this silly cat. He was definitely getting a bit fat though. My fault. I couldn't stop giving him treats, I mean, that face. He meowed again.

"I know, I'm coming!"

His fur soaked up some of the droplets as they ran down my leg. I hurriedly dried my body, choosing to don some wide legged suit trousers, a nice shirt and a pair of flats. Air, my skin needed air in this arid heat. Unusually warm for September, highs of 88. But it was Texas, and I chose to live here. Another sentiment of my delightful darlin' mother.

Bacon continued to meow, pawing me.

"Watch the damn trousers, boy. I'm comin', hold on!"

And so I crumbled to his will, ridiculous to let a small creature rule your life but, well, here I was. He stalked around me as I reached for his food, I had to keep it up as high as I could cause he learned to get into it when he was only a kitten; that led to some real fun cleaning up for me. The coffee machine buzzed as it brewed my morning pick me up. I checked the clock, shit, I was running late already. How? I swear some mornings time went faster than others. I threw a scoop into his bowl. He looked at me, clearly unhappy with his portion size.

"You're on a diet." I retorted, pouring my coffee into a thermos. "Right, I'm away, have a nice day." I blew him some kisses upon my departure, half jogging to catch the bus, just making it by the skin of my teeth, flashing my monthly pass.

"Mornin' Levi."

"Mornin' Miss. Gonna be a hot one today."

Feet stumbled as I made my way to a seat, fighting the motion of the vehicle as it pulled away. I stared out the window, the sun rising over buildings, thoughts already wandering to the food truck outside the offices. Warm, fresh breakfast awaiting me. I glanced at a newspaper an older man was holding, the front page was inflammatory as usual in bold black text, all caps, "admittance spikes at area hospitals". Fucking tabloids. I squinted to read more but my vision was jostled by every crack in the road. I sighed, giving up, returning to stare out the window.

It never took long, maybe 10 minutes. I didn't even have to ring to stop, Levi knew.

"Have a good day!"

"And you, miss."

I waved him off as he left.

For once, I'd finished my coffee on the commute, so I decided to get another with my breakfast. Hands exchanged four dollars for an americano and a waffle, which I subsequently balanced as I pushed the glass doors open with my freed hand. A cool breeze greeted me. Air con, sweet, sweet air con.

Eyes glanced at the clock, only a couple hours had passed. I wasn't surprised, this shaky feeling I had was really raising my self-awareness. The seconds hand ticked so slowly I was beginning to believe it was broken. For probably the fourth time in the last half hour I stood up and weaved my way through the desks to the water cooler to fill my little plastic cup up again. It didn't escape everyone's notice, I heard heels tap the worn down carpet.

"You feeling alright?"

Amanda. Her desk was across from mine.

"Yeah, just had too much coffee this mornin'. This heat too..."

I trailed off, shaking my shirt which I had unbuttoned slightly to encourage movement of air over my damp skin.

"Oh honey, it's pretty balmy in here. I've got some Advil in my purse if you need one, you just holler, okay?"

I didn't need a fucking Advil, I needed air, Amanda. Teeth bit tongue trying to keep the not so nice sentiments within the confines of my mouth. Instead, I stretched my lips out into a smile, muttering my thanks.

I marched back to my desk, my annoyance raising. Then my ankle twitched causing me to trip a little and spill some water on my trouser leg. Oh, for fucks sake. At least it was cooling, providing some momentary relief. My face began burning up even hotter than I already felt, so I tucked myself underneath my desk as far as I could, refusing to make eye contact with anyone around me for as long as it would take my ego to recover.

I continued watching the clock, my emails becoming less passive and more blunt, more aggressive. God, I feel awful. My mind began zoning back in every now and then, bringing to painful attention that I was day dreaming for minutes on end to another plain. My wrist began twitching so frequently I couldn't type. It was barely lunch hour before I decided to call it a day, knocking on my bosses door, explaining I felt unwell. There's been a lot of it going around, don't worry, go home, rest.

Then I was at home, Bacon at my feet. How did I get here? I couldn't remember anything between the office and my lounge doorway. It was getting dark out. Where had I been? What was the time? Panic rose in my chest, tightening my throat. I looked down. There was blood on me. Whose blood? Mine? Someone else's? Oh my god. Anger simmered within my guts. His soft, warm body continued twisting between my legs.

"Bacon, would you just fuck off?!"

My foot twitched, I was going to kick him. I pressed the bottom of my heel into the floor to stop myself. He looked at me in a way that broke my heart. My wrist twitched. There were sirens.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me."

Where had I been? I felt like something had taken control of me the last few hours, something that wasn't me. That anger I felt grew larger and larger.

I zoned in again. I was in the bathroom, looking in the mirror at my bloody reflection. What the fuck was going on. I raised a fist and smashed right through it without a second thought.

I zoned in again. I was in the street, bashing my neighbours skull against their garage door. I was screaming. It wasn't me. I was—

Gone.