City of Decay: The Cleaner | MxM

Chapter 32: Who needs Doors anyway?

"Would you not..." I hear the Shadow mumble beside me, pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "I swear... One fine day he'll break every bone in this glassy body of his," he keeps on mumbling.

I just lean in enough to look out the window, spotting the Doc waiting for us to get out of this building.

"He's fine," I try to reason with the Shadow and I get a chuckle in return.

"Of course he is." There is a sarcastic undertone in his voice, something I haven't really heard from him... Or I forgot it. I figure it's just his way of caring for the Doc, especially if said doctor just jumps out of the window.

There's just another floor below us, but it's still high enough to break a leg... Or worse.

"It's the fabric, I tell you. There is so much of it he probably landed soft and comfy," Ash snorts, climbing out of the window as he speaks. "Mind laying out some of that fabric? I fear I may land on my bum," he tries to get a reaction from the Doc, but the man in question just moves away a few steps to not be in the way.

It would be comical and tragic at the same time would one of us accidentally fall on him now, after he jumped out of the window just fine without getting hurt.

Ash makes an effort to find a good grip so he can climb down a little further. In a second, he slips and all I see is him lying on the ground, looking up at me in confusion.

"Are you alright?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm fine kiddo. Must have slipped. It's getting harder the older you get, you know."

"What, climbing out of windows?"

"For example!" He moves slowly to make sure everything is, indeed, fine and then he slowly scurries off to the side, closely watched by the Doc.

I shake my head. I'm not old and I haven't had many reasons to climb in and out of windows so far. I glance at the Shadow who's grinning sheepishly. I doubt he'll ever get tired of sneaking in and out of places using windows and other things not meant to be used this way.

Now it's my turn, but I hesitate. I can move fine, the Doc did everything he could to patch me up, but I am far from healed. There is still a lot that needs to heal naturally, a lot that magic can't fix easily. I already felt it sting and pull when we climbed in.

The difference is, I felt confident before. Now I'm aware of the still persisting pain that occasionally arises, and therefore I hesitate. I still could just walk out of the door.

Who cares who would see me. If Thayer finds out I've been here, the Duke might be in bigger trouble than I'd be.

But... Could I bear this responsibility? Not really. And there is a big man standing right next to me who would hunt me down to not make this one mistake. Of all the things he told me, that's the one thing I believe the most. He won't let me be that reckless.

I inhale deeply and lay my fingers on the windowsill. I feel the cold wind that colored all our cheeks and noses red. Winter has officially arrived, and if the snow outside isn't evidence enough, the cold sure is.

We've been lucky so far that we haven't had another black fog. There is something about this white scenery. A white blanket that covers all the dirt, all the rot. It's almost beautiful, if it wasn't so deadly for so many people. A bittersweet sight. It's serene, somber.

The silence is soothing, but at the same time I should feel ashamed for seeing something comforting in such a deadly thing. There are people out there starving, dying of sickness, and freezing to death. I've seen many of their bodies. I'll see many more.