Age of zombies

[59] Tavern night for day 1 (part 3)

"What about you, Jake? How was playing therapist all day?" Liza asked with her head resting on her hand.

I sighed, setting my beer down on the table. "Yeah, it was... interesting."

Daisy raised an eyebrow. "Interesting? That's all you've got? Come on, give us the details."

I hesitated for a moment, thinking back to the little girl, Emma, and the game of Memory we'd played. "I had my first client today. Little girl. She lost her mom to the whole zombie thing, and her dad brought her here from Calgary. She wouldn't talk, wouldn't even look at me at first."

Liza's smile faded slightly, her tone turning more serious. "Shit. That's rough. How'd you handle it?"

I shrugged. "She wasn't responding to anything I said, so I had to get creative. I ended up playing a game with her—Memory, you know, with the cards. It worked, sort of. She didn't talk, but at least she was engaged by the end."

Ethan leaned back, his beer halfway to his lips. "Damn, man. That's heavy. I don't know how you do it. I'd be shit at that job."

"It's not easy," I admitted. "But, I don't know, I guess it feels like I'm doing something that matters. Helping people get through their shit, even if it's just one kid at a time."

Daisy nodded, her expression more thoughtful now. "Yeah, I get that. It's important. These people have been through hell."

Liza leaned back in her chair, taking another swig of her beer. "Well, at least we're all doing something useful, right? I mean, that's something."

Yabe smiled softly, her hands wrapped around her mug. "It's nice, having a purpose. I was helping out in the clinic today—just basic stuff, but it felt good to be doing something that mattered."

"How'd it go for you?" I asked, glancing over at her.

She hesitated for a moment, her gaze dropping to the table. "It was hard. We had a few patients come in—people who were hurt, mostly. And there was one man... he'd lost his whole family. He didn't say much, just sat there, staring at the wall. It was heartbreaking."

I reached over, giving her a gentle nudge. "You're doing good work, Kohai. You're helping people heal."

Yabe smiled, though there was a sadness in her eyes. "Thanks, Senpai. I just wish I could do more."

Daisy took a long swig of her beer, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "We're all doing what we can. That's all anyone can ask for, right?"

Ethan chuckled, raising his mug. "To doing what we can."

We all raised our mugs, clinking them together in a toast. The sound echoed through the warm, crowded tavern, blending with the laughter and chatter around us.

"To surviving another day," Liza added, smirking.

"To surviving," I agreed, taking a long drink. The beer was still bitter, but after a day like today, it tasted a little sweeter.

***

Back at the motel, we pooled together what little pay we'd earned from our first day on the job. It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep us off the streets—or, more accurately, out of the snow—for another week. Daisy spread the coins out on the bed, counting them with a frown.

"Barely enough for another week here," she muttered. "This place is a dump, but at least it's warm."

Ethan stretched out on the couch, his feet hanging off the edge. "Yeah, and that dump of a couch is slowly destroying my back."