Memories

I woke up to the sound of the heavy rain from outside our shelter, the skies were dark and thunderstorms rolled in just as expected from the weather forecast.

Luckily we got something out of our scavenging trip yesterday and we have enough supplies to wait until the storm dies out.

"Mornin' Zain"

Joseph was sitting on a stool near our campfire while holding a bowl of soup that he prepared for us, I got up from my bed and rubbed my eyes to fix my vision.

I looked over to him while he raised a brow expecting me to say something.

"What time is it?"

"11 AM sharp" He replied

I walked over to our campfire and bought a stool to sit together with him, he offered me his bowl if I wanted to eat and I gladly accepted it.

He hovered his hand over the fire making sure he doesn't catch a cold from the heavy weather.

Weather forecast from the broadcast says that the storm will have 4 or 5 days before it dies down, making it completely impossible for poorly prepared survivors to go out and search for stuff.

And what makes it worse is if we ever get exposed by rain, we have a risk of transmitting the virus.

At least we were fully prepared and the expedition was all worth it in the end, at least we got some form of entertainment and food supply that'll last us for a week.

Our only concern are any possible attacks from the infected.

Joseph broke the silence as he glanced over to me while I was eating my soup "You need more soup there?"

I noticed my bowl was almost empty.

"Sure, yeah"

He grabbed the pot from the fire and laid it on the ground, grabbing my spoon he filled up my bowl again with the hot meal.

He placed the pot back in the fire and yawned, he's probably bored.

"I'm bored"

Called it.

"Well we do have the magazines we got yesterday so?" I hinted Joseph to go get them if he has nothing else to do.

He got the hint and went to fetch it for a while, leaving me alone to stare at the fire while holding a hot bowl of soup.

I gazed at the fire, and my thoughts just wandered as I recall a lot of stuff from back then.

The first time the infection started.

The day I lost my best friend.

The moment where I had to part ways with Mr. Avery and Hank.

The time I almost got killed by a Shrieker.

And that time I got grazed in the shoulder being shot by Joseph when I first met him.

All such traumatic and deadly experiences, but I still couldn't figure out how I survived, many people call me a naturally powerful person, both mentally and physically.

But it all begins in such moments where you face your worst fears.

That doesn't mean I really don't care anymore but...

The world is different now, and we now play by a new set of rules, one where the old laws don't apply anymore.

It's about the strongest that will survive.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I immediately looked over to see Joseph returning with a stack of magazines at hand.

His expression changed a bit as he reminisces about the old life he had, seeing pictures in the book made it nostalgic, memories of the old luxury we all had rushed back and we just smiled over it.

"Man I miss these things, we have a lot of shit to cover now that we have this, huh?"

He grabbed the first magazine from the pile and looked at the cover, it wasn't exactly a magazine but more of a catalogue for items, mostly kitchenware and hardware.

I sat close next to him as we saw the cover of the catalogue filled with discounted sales of kitchen items like knives and cups.

I pointed at one of the products in the cover to what seemed to be a mixer

"Man I remember that mixer so much, damn thing was a gift to me and it broke on the second week I used it" I let out a chuckle as I remembered one time as well where it almost exploded on me.

Let's just say the person that gifted me that thing did me some favors to compensate for that incident.

Joseph flipped the page and skipped over the boring items and got to a page where we saw a bundle of mugs.

"If your mixer was broken in 2 weeks then let me tell you the time I accidentally broke 4 cups in a mall once"

I leaned forward eager to listen to his story, I put aside my bowl for a bit as we began our streak of never ending reminiscing of the old days.

"Dude I need to hear that, did the mall kick you out or something?"

"Hell nah, I was only banned from entering the department store haha!"

______

We spent hours and hours telling stories to each other in the fire and not only did the other groups in the shelter left us alone, but they didn't want to ruin our fun.

It's best we have time for ourselves after all.

"And then this crackhead approached me from this dark alleyway right? He had a crowbar and was ready to throw hands man!"

Joseph leaned back on the wall, his hand gestures made it even more entertaining as he was trying to reenact the entire scene using his arms.

"I'll guess, you DID throw hands with him right?" I tried to predict what happens next.

"He chased me all the way to the streets man, guy was there in the early morning chasing me with a crowbar and literally no one was outside at the time"

I just simply giggled at the insane stories we both told each other these past hours or so and it just keeps getting better.

"Wait so wheres the part where you threw a hissy fit and decide to punch him?" I asked.

"Yeah well... a crackhead is different from a normal guy, he's got a grip made of steel for fuck sake"

"After he chased me all the way out the streets he made a commotion and just started destroying property left and right, and that's where the police came in"

And to be honest, I was slightly disappointed that he never fought the guy.

"You fucking told me you punched the guy before you started the story" I crossed my arms leaning back in the wall.

Joseph scratched his head for a moment before telling me "Well uhh, I might have exaggerated the story or maybe that was a different guy"

We both laughed it off and just kept talking right after.

________

Its 7:54 PM and the heavy rain reduced to a light drizzle, we covered all the windows in thick fabric to prevent light being seen from the outside and the other people in our group goes in and out by shift to guard our house.

Joseph is one of them in shift right now.

I don't really have the energy to talk to anyone right now so it's best I just turn in early.

And just for a secret, I noticed an adult magazine that was stuck in the pile Joseph bought earlier, I hid it for now but I might give it to him in the future who knows?

It was fun recalling some fun events from way back, but I never really get to hear the worst of what he's been through, sure he may have told me of crackheads chasing him or people calling him a pissed off gorilla.

But that's not the thing I wanted to hear, or at least what I didn't want to at the time.

I guess I'll just wait then.

End log