ZERO! the umbrella academy

cinq

THIRTEEN GOING ON THIRTY

"I KNOW I HAVE some alcohol around here somewhere." I peeled off my coat as soon as we got inside my motel room and tossed it on top of the dresser.

Five stood in the doorway and watched as I rushed around the room, looking for something to drink. "So this is where you've been staying?"

"Only for a couple of days." I opened the drawers of the dresser and peered inside them. "I'm only in town for Reginald's funeral."

He shoved his hands in his pockets and meandered further into the room. "Since when did you stop calling him Dad?"

"Since a long time ago." I got on my hands and knees and reached under the bed. My fingers brushed against something cold, and I grabbed onto it. "Found it!" I popped up and lifted the bottle of whiskey in the air triumphantly. "Here you go." I held it out to him.

He took it from me and screwed off the cap. He took a swig from the bottle, wincing at the taste. He wandered over to the nightstand. "Wuthering Heights," he observed, picking up a copy of the book.

"Have you read it?" I walked over to the dresser and got out a first aid kit.

"It's been a while, but yes." He flipped open to a random page and read, "If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger."

I sat on the edge of the bed. "Come over here, Oscar Wilde," I beckoned to him.

He ditched the book and sat next to me. I took his injured arm and rolled up his sleeve. The tie I had wrapped around his wound was soaked with blood. I took the tie and discarded it on the floor. Then, I grabbed the whiskey from him and poured some on the cut.

Five yelped, and I smirked at him. "I thought you said you're not a pussy."

He glared at me. "I'm not." He snatched the bottle of whiskey out of my hands. "Give me that." He tipped his head back and took a long sip, narrowing his eyes at me all the while.

I took a needle and thread out of the kit. "Can I stitch you up, or are you too much of a pussy to let me do that too?" I teased.

He swallowed a mouthful of whiskey. "Just get on with it."

I threaded the needle and pushed it into his skin. He winced as I started sewing up the cut. Once his pain lessened, I said in a firm tone, "Now, no more excuses. I want an explanation, for everything."

He looked down at the hideous pattern on the bedspread. "When I jumped forward and got stuck in the future, do you know what I found?"

"Lollipops and rainbows?" I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

He gave me a stern look. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. As far as I could tell, I was the last person left alive."

My hand holding the needle stilled. "How is that possible? What happened?"