The Runaways

Chapter Forty-Seven - You Can't Teach Someone How To Be Good

Blake

Waking up this morning was awful. My body was stiff and sore from sleeping on the hard floor, to make matters worse I woke up only to find out the baby had just had a seizure. Corban was scared and Warren seemed to be more stressed out than ever. He told me when he laid the baby down on the bed that there was nothing he could do for it but to keep waiting.

I left to go do some more chores around town for money in a horrible mood. But I still continued to work hard. I tried not to think about the baby, it made me angry, but when I wasn't thinking about the baby I was thinking about that idiot Remington who asked me to have sex with him last night. And that made me angry too. I've had my fair share of men sexually harass me, catcalling, groping me, trying to pay me to have sex with them. Growing up I knew it was something I had to prepare myself for as a woman but now there's no laws protecting anyone and sex trafficking is at an all time high I'm terrified for my life. I'm always scared. Sure Remington was drunk and didn't argue when I made it very clear that I wasn't interested it still made me uncomfortable and upset. I barely know this man and that's what he thinks of me, just someone he wants to fuck. I hate that feeling, like my body is all that I am.

As I sat there working my ass off, cleaning houses, harvesting crops, I realized how little Remington does to help out. Sure Elias can't do anything because he's injured but while we were with the Twins he helped out, Warren and Corban are trying to save an infants life and Cleveland and Reece are out here with me getting money for everyone and what's Remington doing? Still no where to be found probably still drunk in the woods. He has done nothing to help us out and if anything has held us back.

I deserved a break from working all day, maybe I could knock some sense into that sad excuse of a man. I'm sick and tired of doing work when he wasn't doing shit. After finishing up chopping up fire wood for a married couple who may have slightly underpaid me but were nice people I made my way back further into the woods where I ran into Remington last night. It was about three in the afternoon and the sun was beating down on me, I was sweaty, tried, and angry. Sure enough Remington was in the same spot he was last night in that shitty spot in the woods. He was lying face down on the grass this time he wasn't wearing a shirt nor pants. Just his boxers. I stood there for a second wondering how someone could actually be this much of a mess and make it through twelve years of an apocalypse— actually I'm more confused about how Remington made it in a world run by capitalism. Wouldn't surprise me if he lived in his mothers basement til the bombs hit or if he was just homeless.

"Remington." I said as I stared down at him angrily, "Dude." I stuck my foot out and moved him around a bit until I watched him groggily pulled his head up off the grass.

I watched as Remington rubbed his eyes and blinked as he stared up at me trying to figure out what's going on.

"Are you seriously just waking up now?" I asked angrily.

"Yeah... what time is it?" He mumbled as he squinted and put his hand on his head.

"It's like three in the afternoon man! Do you know how much fucking work everyone's been doing while you've just sat on your ass? You know that baby is fucking fighting for his life, everyone else is either taking care of him or working to make money to help him and your just sitting out here doing jack shit!"

Remington just sat there, I'm pretty sure he wasn't listening to half the things I said.

"Remington are you even fucking listening or are you that just self-centered?"

"I'm trying to not throw up in front of you that's what." He grumbled as he set his head back down in the grass.

"Oh I'm sorry are you hungover?" I asked in a mocking tone.

"Yes. Very."

"Oh I'm sorry that your such an idiot with no impulse control and you did that to yourself. Get the hell up and be a fucking man and make some money to help out God dammit."

"I literally steal ninety percent of the shit I need, see Blake before we ran into you and the other two the four of us just used each other for safety, sure we combined our money but most of the time it was our duty to take care of ourselves, carrying our own weight."

"Yeah and that's exactly what your not doing!"

"Okay then have I asked for anything? No. Have I needed help for anything no. I'm pulling my own weight."

"Okay well this isn't about pulling your own weight anymore this is about a dying fucking baby. Which by the way would've never been given a life threatening injury of it wasn't for us in the first place. Do you not care? It's a fucking helpless goddamn baby!"

"You don't need to scream."

"I'm not screaming. I'm trying to tell you how selfish your being because your small ass brain can't comprehend it."

"Please leave me alone Blake." Remington groaned as he turned away from me and put his hands on his ears.

"No. No I'm not going to leave you alone because I'm every other situation you didn't care as much as us but you were still there. And now there's an orphaned injured baby that needs us and you now wanna distance yourself. What the hell is wrong with you? Are you really that selfish you draw the line when we need to help a baby?"

"I'M NOT SELFISH!" Remington snapped as he turned around to glare at me, "If your just going to sit here and yell at me save your breath and leave me the hell alone! I know I'm a shitty person already. I know I'm a fuck up. I know that. Go away and go make money to help that fucking baby so you can try to convince yourself your a good person."

"It's a fucking dying baby Remington. Fucking help."

"I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" I asked aggressively.

"I just can't! Okay. I can't help it." He said defensively.

"You can literally do what I'm doing and do work to get money for the baby! You don't even have to look at him! Why is this such an issue for you? You worked when we were with the twins? Why are you shutting down now?"

"Please go away. I'm serious I'm done getting yelled at." Remington demanded.

"If you don't wanna get yelled at be a decent fucking human." I sneered.