I get up from the couch where I've been dozing for the last two hours, I rub my hands against my face trying to clear my mind and I check what time is it. It's only 30 minutes until dawn, we're right on schedule. I stretch my limbs hearing my bones cracking and trying to relax my muscles; I feel a bit stiff but I have no time to do some yoga in order to ease the tension now. I need to take a shower, get dressed and have breakfast; luckily I left everything ready last night and we just need to get on the plane. A movement on the floor catches my eye: Ru is yawning and stretching her limbs copying my own movements, I snort when I see her staring at her empty bowl and then looking at me with puppy eyes. This mutt is the most intelligent and charming I've ever met... well, there's an old saying that dogs grow like their masters. I stare at Ruby curled up on the couch in front of me. She hasn't moved an inch all night... I take a deep breath and shake my head, I can let her sleep for ten minutes but no more.
After giving some food to her pets, I grab my clothes and go to the bathroom to take a shower. These evacuation stations are perfectly equipped so I've spent all night selecting what we need for our flight and bringing it to the plane: army rations, bottles of water, a well-stocked medical kit, weapons, military and survival equipment, warm clothes for Ruby and me, boots, toiletries, thermal blankets... we need all those things, I know that we aren't supposed to be out in the open but that Alaska hangar will be cold and it'll be worse in Siberia. We could die of hypothermia in less than a minute before reaching the bunker door. I get dressed slowly trying to give my girl more time to rest, even if I know that this is a mistake; we really need to get out of here as soon as possible. Quietly, I get close to her... she's so beautiful when she's sleeping, she has a faint hint of a smile on her face and I have to wake her up to this horrible nightmare world again. "Damn!" I whisper while kneeling down on the floor next to her. Gently, I graze her cheek with my knuckles, her skin is soft and flawless, then I run my fingers through her silky brown hair. She sighs and turns slowly on the couch, frowning.
"Ruby... come on honey, you have to get up." I slide my thumb along her jaw line sweetly before grazing her neck and grab her by her shoulder, shaking her slightly. "Babe, it's time to wake up, please."
"It wasn't a nightmare then... those things are really out there..." she whispers with a hoarse voice, shutting her eyes tightly; she doesn't want to face another morning... I can understand that. I bite my lower lip hard trying to stop myself from hugging her, I'm dying to press my lips on her cheek but I don't want to overstep boundaries and make her feel awkward. To be honest, she's known me for just one day and with everything that have happened...
"I'm sorry, honey. I'm afraid that this is real, but don't worry. Everything will be fine, trust me, all right? Now I need that Abigail from Resident Evil, the tough girl that can get through anything, to get up, take a shower and put those warm clothes on so we could go. Quickly!" Ruby opens her eyes to look at me sadly.
"Abigail died in Resident Evil," she answers me in a deadly serious tone.
"Abigail wasn't with me in Resident Evil... No offense to Milla Jovovich." I wink at her and she smiles back finally.
She gets up and grabs her clothes walking to the bathroom, she still seems tired but she looks better than last night. I make breakfast with the leftovers of the food I took from the gas station and I wait for her while I chew a dry sandwich and shove the doggie's things in a bag. Ruby comes out of the bathroom with her hair wet and some military clothes I picked out for her, it seems that I got the right size... Okay. I might've been watching her sleeping last night enough time to have guessed her size. I know, I'm creepy...
"You have apples and some rice cakes. To be honest I don't know if you'll be able to stick to your vegan diet while we travel but I have good news for you: you'll have synthetic meat in the bunker.
