Until I Die(18+)

10.

          LUCKY FOR US THE BIN MEN HADN'T COLLECTED the recycling before the epidemic started which meant the big containers were overflowing. They were located just round the corner from the entrance, and unfortunately, outside of the compound.

         "There's a lot," I think out-loud. "But I don't know If we're going to have enough."

        It was hard for me to judge considering I'd never created anything of the sort before.

        Jane looks cold with the way she wrapped her arms tightly around herself and bounced on her toes, but it wasn't the weather making her feel that way. It was the fear of being outside the comfort of the fences. "We can count them once we're inside. Work out how many we can do to a string."

          "Yeah," I agree, wondering if the reason I wasn't as afraid as her was because I proved to myself that I can kill one of those things. Suddenly the weight of my knife in the back of my trousers made me feel like a bad-ass instead of a wannabe. "Let's get started then."

          We approach with our black bags. The stench of muck and garbage almost makes me gag. And it probably would have, if I hadn't learned what festering bodies cooped up in air-tight cabin smelt like the night before. Everything else almost resembled flowers compared to it.

        Behind us, Eric stays silent as he keeps watch. 

        One by one we bag up tin cans, old deodorants bottles, empty beers - heck, if it was metal, glass, or had the ability to create a distinctive sound when knocked about, we took it.

        I made sure to stay alert of our surroundings. In fact, I was practically buzzing with the need to take down another Infected so I could prove myself further. I wanted to be capable. I wanted to feel confident enough to look after myself. I wanted Eric to see that I wasn't as weak and pathetic as I had made myself out to be.

        I wanted my Dad not to have to worry about me. I wanted to show Mum just how strong I could be, then maybe she'd think twice about putting me down all the time.

        But an Infected didn't show and we ended up trekking back inside with five black bags, Eric carrying the lot of them.

        The stress lines on Jane's face visibly melted away once the gate was secured with us inside. I wondered if she regretted volunteering herself to help me make the rattling can defence.

        We headed to the activity hall which was located just next to the dinner hall. It surprised me just how big this place really was. From the outside, you wouldn't of thought it was able to hold so many buildings. Although a contradictive, when I was younger, my brief memories of this place always made it seem so much bigger.

        Once we reach our destination, Eric places the bags onto the large centre table and I remove my Dad's green fishing jacket which Harold had kept safe for him whilst Jane tied back her hair into a messy bun and headed into the tiny kitchen to make some coffee. Eric bids us goodbye. 

        I place the jacket onto the back of my chair before plopping down with a sigh. This was going to take awhile. Tearing a hole into the bottom of the closest bag, I watch as a few tins come tumbling out. I wasn't sure on the best place to tie them but I assumed threading the string through the tabs on top of the cans would be a good place to start.

       As for the rest of the stuff. . .We'd work it out when we came to it.

          --

       "So how long have you and your husband been together?" I ask after a few awkward comments and smiles, followed by a minute or two of silence.