Chapter Sixteen
I knocked this time.
“Olivia? I need a favor.” I leaned on the door, resting my head on it and closing my eyes as I waited for her response. I sighed and played with my necklace, the pendant a lavender crystal coming out of a gold painted bullet casing. I had changed into clothes that were actually mine for the first time in a while, and they fit a little looser than I remembered. I guess literally living on biscuits for two years does that to you. I had stared at myself in the mirror before leaving Lea to sleep in peace. My arms and legs had become more toned, my collar bones slightly stuck out at this point and my cheekbones became more prominent. My hair had returned to its forever-curly state, and at that point I didn’t even care. It was manageable, and I’m pretty sure no one really cares too much about hair in the apocalypse. My bangs curled and always turned out messy yet manageable, thanks to some old curling mousse I found. I liked how they looked. I changed into one of my old slouchy white shirts, a pair of jean shorts, and strapped my brown gun holster to my side. My once black and white converse were now dirty with mud. The white had dulled, and the black cloth now closely resembled a dark green color. I remembered always taking such good care of my shoes, and now I barely even cared.
“Olivia?” I stood up straight again, pushing my hair out of my face and running my hand through my hair.
“One second!” She called out. I heard a resounding thud. “Fuck, oh my god that hurt,” I heard her yell.
“You okay?” I said, my hand on the doorknob, “you need some help?”
“Nah, I’m okay.” She sighed before opening the door and welcoming me inside. She sat on her bed and motioned for me to join her, moving the still-messy comforters out of the way. “What’s up?”
“Can you do me a favor?” I asked, sitting carefully down on the bed.
“What kinda favor?” She flipped her hair and “organized” her nightstand.
“I need you to go with Lea and I to go get medicine for Landon. He got cut and if he doesn’t get medicine or some sort of disinfectant for it, he’ll actually be in trouble.”
“Yeah, of course. I have to get out of this shithole anyways. It’s so depressing in here,” she smiled at me, crossing her legs. “Want me to help you find more people for this search party thing?”
“No, it’s fine. We leave tomorrow, at dawn.” I stood up, running a hand through my hair. “Thanks. I’ve just got two more people to recruit and I’ll be good.”
I wanted to give Milo more time, but I didn’t know if we had any. I gave him that day. He didn’t come down for dinner that night, and I didn’t see him leave his room at all. I walked by it on my way up to my room. I didn’t even see any light leaking from underneath. The only way you could tell there was someone inside was by listening closely and hearing stifled crying or music.
I decided to let Lea continue to snooze in my room for the rest of the night. When I had come in to kick her out, she was still sound asleep, tangled in a sea of white comforters and hidden beneath a blue blanket, the only visible signs of Lea being her dirty blonde curly hair and a part of her arm and face. I took refuge in the infirmary, letting the nurse know that I would probably be leaving to the city for the medicine in the morning.
“Okay,” Larenita sighed, taking off a pair of gloves before handing me a small piece of paper, “we’re running out of this stuff, too. Make your boyfriend’s medicine your priority, but if you guys have enough time, it’d be awesome if you helped us out here.”
“I’ll do my best,” I murmured sleepily, sitting down in the chair that was next to Landon’s bed.
“He’s hanging in there, but I can’t really do much without that medicine. If I don’t get it soon, the wound could get infected and things would get really messy. I’ll be over in the office for the night if you need me,” Larenita exhaled before retiring to her bedroom in the corner of the infirmary, closing the door behind her softly.
I looked over at him, wishing for his health. I prayed to whoever was watching, if there even was someone anymore. I knew he liked to believe there was, so for his sake, I tried to believe. I intertwined my fingers with his and fell asleep to the sound of his labored breathing and the beeping monitors.
“Milo?” I stood in front of his room, lightly knocking on his door. It creaked open slowly, and I heard him groan lightly from inside.
“Come in, Hannah.” He mumbled. I opened the door fully to see Bella laying at the foot of his bed as he lay there, buried in comforters and pillows.
“You doing okay?” I sat down next to Bella and she lay her head on my lap, sighing and drooping her ears.
“Not really.” He kept his face buried in the pillows and comforters, muffled bits and pieces of words escaping the clutches of his eggplant colored comforters. I placed my hand on Bella’s head, gently ruffling her ears.
“She’s been my rock,” Milo sighed as he sat up, opening his eyes and running a hand through his hair. Bella whimpered and licked my hand, then turned over on her back so I could rub her stomach.
“Man’s best friend,” I giggled. Bella had always been my favorite.
“Yeah, definitely.” Milo managed a smile as he pet Bella. “Is there something you need?”
“Actually, I was going to ask you for a favor. If you’re up to it, of course.”
“What is it?” He cautioned, putting on a shirt.
“Look, Landon got hurt bad last time we were out. That cut on his back? Larenita gives it a day or two until it gets infected, especially since she doesn’t even have any medicine for it.” I sighed, running my fingers through my hair and slouching over. “I have to go out and try to find it out there. If there’s any of it left, he needs it.”
“And you want me to go with you...”he sighed.
I nodded. “I also want you to bring Paul.” I put my head in my hands, preparing myself for the negative response. Bella put her head on my legs, looking up at me. She was getting old. I could see it in her eyes.
“I’ll go. I’ll try and drag Paul, too.”
My head snapped up. “Really?”
“Yeah,” He looked at me, “You’d do the same for me, right?”
