Just Surviving.

@greyhatgabe

“You got a light?”

Faust slumped down next to Gabe, body listless and heavy. His expression was blank as he held out a cigarette in the other man’s direction.

“Found it lying around,” he murmured, “Figured it could help with the nerves.”

He wasn’t his usual self- he felt empty, and his words were lifeless, and his mind was in a completely different place. It had been hours since Perry’s death, and he still hadn’t processed it.

Faust winced and swallowed hard, closing his eyes. He still saw red when he closed his eyes. 

There’d been so much blood.

     Gabriel had been sitting in the back corner of the bunker in an attempt to keep as far away as possible from the others. He was scared, and if he wasn’t careful, he was going to have a full-on freak-out. He sat with his eyes closed, taking deep, calming breaths but it felt like his heart rate was only getting faster. Gabe’s eyes snapped open, head-turning towards the familiar voice beside him.

      “Yeah, but only if you’re sharing.” He joked, a breathy, almost disheartened laugh leaving his lips. “You were with uh, Perry, hey?” Gabriel asked, a sympathetic look on his face as he pulled a purple bic lighter from the pocket of his jacket. “We don’t have to talk about it, but I am here for you.” He added, placing his hand on Faust’s shoulder. 

@greyhatgabe

The past week had been a nightmare, a whirlwind of frenzied activity as the entire sanctuary banded together to fix the wall. Protecting their home from the outside world was no small feat; a harsh reality that they’d all been forced to face within a very short amount of time.

Faust was bone tired.

As he headed to inventory, it was partly to see what was needed, and partly (mostly) to give himself a breather. He just needed to get away from it all for five minutes, really. He’d be no use to anybody if he became overwhelmed.

The storage facility was blissfully quiet when he arrived. Faust loosed a sigh, slumping against the door after he’d closed it behind him.

“Hey,” he greeted Gabe eventually, after giving his brain a moment to just catch up, “I’m here to see what we’re short on before I go out on another run.”

He knew his exhaustion was apparent; the dark circles under his eyes were pronounced, his clothes were a mess, his hair was unbrushed. He was past the point of caring.

He caught himself just as his eyes started to slide shut. He gave Gabe a weary smile and shot finger guns in his direction.

“Before you ask, I am totally okay.”

     It had been a normal day of inventory for Gabriel. Since their defenses had been breached, things had been busier than ever. Between the runners bringing in new supplies and repairing the wall taking up a lot of their resources, there was much more for him to do, it was a welcome distraction from the sinister reality of their situation.

    He heard the door open, a low creek coming from the hinges. Gabe figured it would be someone else coming to drop something off, but he was surprised to see the other slumped against the door after having just come in.

    “Oh, hey. Uh… I’m not a doctor or anything, but I really don’t think you should be going anywhere.” He replied, giving Faust a look up and down. The other looked tired, the bags under his eyes and the way they slid shut so involuntarily, Gabriel shot him a concerned glance. “No offense, but uhm, you kinda look like shit, not that anyone around here looks that great anyway. You should probably go rest up if you’re planning on coming back from your next run.” Gabe explained, his tone was more concerned than anything.

    Gabe went back into the storeroom, walking over to where he kept his things and grabbed his cantine full of water before returning to Faust. “Here, drink up.” He murmured, handing the water to the other who was still sat on the floor.

   INSTEAD OF LEANING beside him, Aspen stands in front of Gabe, just close enough to keep one of the earbuds from falling out of either of their ears. There is something infinitely special about being able to share a moment like this with someone, with a stranger –two people who have been through some unknown amount of hell, lived to talk about it, and for a brief moment, letting themselves act like they haven’t. 

   She takes the bottle back and moves for another drink, but pauses with it an inch away from her lips when he speaks. She considers the question a moment, then grins before taking a long, steady pull. She makes a sound that cannot be mistaken for anything other than disgust, shakes her head, and wipes a lost drip of the stuff from the corner of her mouth with her thumb. 

         “Fuck peer pressure, dude. I’m getting as lit as this bottle           will take me, and you’re welcome to come along as far as           you want. I’m obviously sharing.”

     Her positioning in front of him caught Gabe off guard, another blush coming to his cheeks as he realized her closeness, looking in the other direction in an attempt to avoid eye contact. He dug around in his pocket, fishing out another cigarette for no reason other than as a means of distraction. He placed the thing between his lips before lighting it, a soft laugh leaving his lips as she spoke. “Well, I’ll drink to that,” Gabriel replied with a chuckle, taking the bottle from her hand and taking yet another mouthful of the horrible alcohol into his mouth and swallowing hard.

    “Not that I really mind, but I think moving somewhere that isn’t freezing might be a nice idea.” He suggested, passing the bottle back to her and taking a long drag of his cigarette, passing the lit cancer stick over to her as well, figuring that he ought to share since she was as well. Gabriel pulled the hood of his jacket over his toque, hoping the extra layer might help him to stay a little bit warmer. Despite being a Canadian, he had never been one to enjoy winter or the cold. To him, the cold was just a better excuse to stay inside.

Autumn was pleased when the door opened more and he seemed willing to let her in. She hurried in, happy to be out of the freezing cold wind and into the building. “We mostly need some pencils, and in particular, I’m hoping to find a calculator, ruler, or graphing paper.” She grimaced a bit at the request. These were things that weren’t easy to find any more, but she wanted to give the older students a bit of a challenge without making it too difficult. 

“I am a teacher! I uh, teach math now.” The words were still bizarre to speak, and she found herself feeling a bit out of place to say it. “I’m sorry I interrupted your work. I hadn’t found any in the classrooms or from any of the runners so I figured I would just come here to see. And making graph paper isn’t particularly easy.” She shifted on her feet, looking at the facility with curiosity before returning her attention to him as he went through boxes.

Gabe nodded at her request, digging through the box even more, he found a couple of stray pencils as well as a calculator. He turned around, placing the supplies on a table before going back to his rummaging. “What were you doing before everything went to shit?” He asked, peeking over his shoulder at her. Gabriel had an odd quirk of never looking people in the eyes, it was a bad habit that he had picked up as part of being an anxious person.

    “You’re not interrupting anything, I’m just moving things around and counting stuff so this is a bit of a welcome distraction.” He replied with a dismissive wave of his hand as he walked across the room, pulling a stack of construction paper off and putting it on the table with the other things he had gathered for Autumn.

    “I uh, don’t really think we have much else in the way of school supplies.” Gabe murmured, plopping a ruler down on the table with the rest of the materials, moving them into an empty cardboard box so that it would be easier to take everything back to the classroom. “I’m uh, I’m Gabe by the way.” He added, turning to her and sticking his hand out for her to shake, his eyes glued to the floor.

     He signed out the items he took from storage before stuffing them into his pockets and heading down towards the gate, his pistol lodged safely in the waistband of his jeans. As he approached the wall his body tensed, seeing the damage was way worse than hearing about it. He cast a sideways glance at the hole, an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Uh, hey? I have some nails and stuff for anyone who needs them, I also have uh, hands... for helping and stuff.” Gabe called out, hoping that he would be answered by someone.