The Recluse of Ocado Cove

Chapter 7

"No way, man. No fucking way."

Dave walked away from the cashier area. We had arrived to the store and explained the situation to him, as quickly as possible.

"Why ?" I exclaimed.

I turned around, following him as he walked through an aisle all the way to the back of the store. Sally followed me as well.

"Did it ever occur to you that some people don't wanna die ?" he spoke almost jokingly, opening one of the freezer's doors.

"You're not going to die," I assured as we stopped walking. "We'll be there, to protect you."

He turned to me. "You ? Protect me ?" He scoffed, taking out beer bottles out of a box one by one, putting them into the freezer.

"Dude. You should know better than to underestimate me. You're shorter than me."

I heard him laugh. "That's low, Johnson."

I sighed. "Dave, please. Trust me on this one !"

He stopped his work, turning fully towards me. He seemed serious, and that didn't happen often.

"Look, man... It's complicated." he explained. "Maybe last week I would've agreed to come. But now... I met this girl, and–"

I raised an eyebrow. "You have a girlfriend ?"

His eyes wandered around, and he nodded nonchalantly. "Yeah."

I crossed my arms. "You're not joking, you're not pranking me right ?"

He shook his head. "Nah."

"Why'd you never tell me before ? How did you guys meet ?" I couldn't help but smile.

He shrugged, smiling as well. "I dunno I guess I..."

We began chatting, furthering ourselves from the purpose of my visit.

"Hey, idiots." Sally said. "Focus."

We suddenly stopped talking, turning to him.

Dave observed him. "Who's that Charles Manson cosplayer ?"

That seemed to have struck a chord in Sally as he gave an angry glare at my old friend, practically shooting daggers at him through his eyes.

"He's..." I stumbled on my words, focused on making sure they wouldn't start a war. "I found– I mean I met him, on the island..."

Dave looked at me, widening his eyes. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh." I rolled my eyes. "Are you coming with us or not ?"

Sally crossed his arms. Dave looked away, seemingly ambivalent.

"Come on, man..." I insisted. "I'll cover some night shifts for ya. How about that ?"

He grimaced. "I kinda like night shifts... They're less busy..."

I got closer to him. "Well... When we come back–"

"If we come back." he interrupted.

"No, we will come back. Safe and sound." I corrected. "And the best part is... You'll have this great story to tell your girlfriend..."

That seemed to light something up in him.

I kept going. "You can tell her you went there, fought for your life to save the world and boom ! You'll be her superhero."

He stuck his tongue out slightly. His eyes avoided me for a second before he finally looked back at me.

He nodded. "Alright."