Under Pressure

This was something that he’d never hear the end of and a small part of him was regretting having scared JC the way he did but another part of him didn’t really care. There were much worse things to be scared of but he understood where JC was coming from. “Alright alright, I’m sorry. But next time read my mind and know it wasn’t serious,” he added jokingly, offering a smile hoping it would appease the man. “I’ll try to keep my knives to myself.”

It had been a while since Harrison had arrived at the outpost and despite the time and all of the people he had met there, many of them were hardly what he’d consider decent conversations but JC had been one of the few exceptions since he had arrived. “Don’t like that small but very important lack of privacy, huh? Neither do I but if it’s really that big of an issue for you I’m sure there’s something that can be done about getting you a door,” he suggested. “I don’t know why some people here prefer that though. It’s a little weird that there are so many people willing to be open like that as if the world wasn’t full of unexpected crazy shit these days. Things are going alright though, I can’t complain — too much anyway. My biggest issue lately has been the lack of bagels and cream cheese in the mornings.”

JC wasn’t the sort to hold grudges, especially against people he enjoyed the company of, a list that Harrison had somehow found his way onto. The two males were practically polar opposites when it came to opinions of the apocalypse, how to deal with it, and ideas of the future. Yet somehow, they got along well, and whenever they worked together on a project, they worked well. So this event likely wouldn’t be brought up much. He might occasionally jest about it, but generally speaking, it’d be dropped after this. “Oh right! Of course! How could I have forgotten to read your mind first! Curse my bad memory! If only I had remembered my psychic abilities!” JC shouted dramatically, shaking his fists in the air before laughing loudly.

It was nice to have someone so different yet so similar at the same time to talk to, and bounce ideas off of. He had made a friend in another individual, Connor, who he believed could possibly be the key to this whole thing. He believed that if the right plan was put in place, Connor could save this whole thing, and he needed to make a mental note to bring up his plan to Harrison. His eyes on the project was important to JC. “It’s not even so much a privacy issue as much as it is an invasion issue. Like, if infected get in here, and they make it up there, they can stumble right into my room. -- Or, God forbid, we get some psychopath that just wants to kill us? They can just get me easily. I’m a sitting duck without a door, and I do not like it.” He corrected, sighing after. “Yeah, I’m just waiting for the shit to show up in the bazaar so I can buy it and get to work.” He admitted with a light chuckle. “Are you saying that you’re still used to bagels and cream cheese in the mornings? I’d imagine that’d be like.... An issue you would’ve dealt with years ago.”

JC wasn’t the exploratory type, he mostly stayed to the same three places, and kept the friends he made at them. So the bazaar wasn’t an area he had frequented, or, if he was being honest, ever been to. So when he arrived, his first instinct was to look around and see what the place had to offer. This was... Halted, however, when he was looking into a small alley near the area designated as the bazaar, and he noticed a woman rummaging through the crates at the end. “Hey uh... I don’t think people are supposed to just... Go through those.”

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“ Should I be concerned by how much you may have or not potentially read? I’m surprised it didn’t manage to bore you into burning it.” Charlie teased, able to keep the mood light despite the circumstance. After all, unlike some, she didn’t have nearly as much to hide or at least, from what she recalled from the pages of her diary. “It’s partially my own fault too for leaving it lying about. How many of my juicy details did you dive into?” Charlie couldn’t help but tease, though laughed at his quick defensiveness. “ That’s good to know, you didn’t share it with anyone though, did you?”  

“I um... I don’t think so?” JC asked, scratching his head as he thought about how much he had really read. He didn’t feel like he had been bored reading it. Sure, he was reading a life he hadn’t lived, but with the way things were, it was nice to read the life of someone before all of this. It let him sort of disappear from the hellscape they were living in, and remind himself of a simpler time. “Um... Juicy details? I mean... The guy you had a crush on before all this started...  They seemed like a real piece of work...” He answered, unsure of if that even counted. Crushes weren’t exactly juicy details when they were more than likely dead. “No no, I don’t really have anyone to tell.”

“Very hippy, but I understand where you’re coming from. If we all hope for a better society, and work for it, there’s hopefully a chance we can come back from this.” The woman admired his optimism, if there were more people like him in Fortuna, then maybe they’d succeed in not just surviving but rebuilding a new society. “Probably not,” Isabelle teased slightly, finally lifting her gaze from the floor to look back up at him, her cheeks fading slightly but still remaining a little pink. “Just as long as you’re actually okay, but make sure those scratches aren’t too deep, you don’t want them getting infected, but moving on,” Clearing her throat, she decided to move on from the conversation, before she probably put her foot in it.

“Oh, I didn’t know that. I’ll definitely keep it in mind if showers become more than a luxury again,” Crossing her arms over her chest, she shrugged slightly, gaze dropping back to the floor as her cheeks flushes again as he spoke. “I guess. I just wish I had more handy skills, like fixing things, or actually being able to defend myself some.. but thanks.”

“Dammit. I knew it was hippy...” JC muttered as if he was upset before a teasing smile grew on his lips to show her that he was, in fact, just teasing. “There isn’t hopefully a chance, Izzy. It’s gonna happen. The world can’t stay like this forever. Humans are resilient, we’ve lived through things other species would’ve crumbled under immediately. These fungus aren’t the end of us, they’re just a soft reset on humanity. Things were rough before this started, and all this is... Is a bumpy start towards the next era of humanity.” He attempted to convince, although he wasn’t entirely sure which of them he was trying to persuade. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of myself. I promise.” JC assured lightheartedly, allowing her to move on.

“Yeah, most people didn’t I don’t think. I only knew it because my parents were crazy about that stuff. All doomsday prep, making it so I used as little electricity and water as possible because it was “a luxury we won’t always have.” I guess they were kinda right, huh?” He then shrugged, pushing the thought away. He didn’t like thinking about how right his parents were, and how stupid he was for pushing them away. Approaching the woman, he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a kind smile. “You can learn survival skills whenever you want. Smarts though? Those are things that can be taught. You’re better off than you think, Izzy.”

“Hmm,” she said, “We’ll see. Depends on how good your stories are.” Mindlessly listening to him chatter on was one thing. Exchanging life experiences was another. Corinne jumped down from the crates, and backed up a few steps. She studied the wall of trash. She had seen the show he was talking about once or twice. They had that wall that went straight up like the obstacle in front of her, but theirs was smooth. This one had hand holds. Beat that wall, she chanted to herself.

She crouched down, bouncing a bit as she prepared to run. Once more she reminded herself that if the crates could manage the weight of a full grown man, surely they could hold her. She just needed to move quickly enough to distribute her weight was all. She could do that. Probably. Cory wrung her hands together. Her knuckles popped as she stretched her fingers.

“Maybe you should scoot back a little? In case it falls. Don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Oh c’mon, well that’s not very fair, now is it?” JC shot lightheartedly, folding his arms across his chest and scowling at her. Stepping out of the way to give her more space to move. “I wanted to go on that show at one point in my life. I had been training for it, but never actually got to go for it before all this happened. The season coming up would’ve been the season I auditioned. Guess it still paid off though, huh?” He explained before laughing softly, finding a sort of dark humor in the fact that he was able to climb the crates first try. At least it proved to him that he could do the wall. -- Or at least almost. The crates looked to be about one crate shy of the same height. 

Shaking his head, he backed up more, raising his eyebrows at her. “Gave me a nickname, want to know my life story, now you’re saying you don’t want me to get hurt. Jeez, where’s the priest, maybe we should just get married now, huh?” He teased, a cocky smirk on his lips for a moment. “Besides, I’m not the one gonna be directly under them if they fall. You should be more worried about yourself right now.”

“Exactly, what’s the point in fighting to survive if you’re not even living?” Iz shrugged her shoulders slightly, the smile still present on her face. At least someone else around here seemed to share her views. As the conversation took a more… interesting turn, Iz let out a nervous giggle. “No it’s okay, I mean, people have needs right?” That didn’t come out right, and Iz just wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole at this point. “There’s uh, no need to apologise. I shouldn’t have pried, sorry,” her voice was practically a squeak it was so high.

“I’m not a huge fan of it either, I miss having daily showers,” She sighed before laughing, “That is fairly weird. But at least you’re somewhat handy. I used to be a lawyer. Not a lot of use when you’re trying to survive the apocolypse.”

“I just think it’s better to try our best and hope for the best outcome. Put some good out into the world and you’ll get good in return. I know it’s like.... Kinda hippy, but I kinda believe in karma, and I think to a certain level, it like... Includes how we view the world y’know?” He reasoned, although he knew that to some people he’d sound a little nuts. JC just had a lot of hope, and he felt like that hope would pay back eventually... It had to. “No no... I get it... I mean... Who knows. I could’ve been attacked... I probably shouldn’t wear tank tops right now...” He assured, throwing his hand dismissively, hoping that the topic would change and they could move on from the awkwardness of the encounter.

“Well, daily showers actually weren’t healthy. Supposedly you were only supposed to take one every two or three days, because daily would like... Strip your body of the good bacteria or... Something... I dunno. My parents told me about it.” He shrugged, leaving out the fact that that piece of information saved a lot more water than he’d like to admit. “Hey, lawyers are smart. Good at puzzles too. This whole thing is one giant puzzle, so I mean... You’re definitely useful... Don’t sell yourself short, Izzy...”

“That’s what I keep telling myself.” Since the pandemic, that’d pretty much been Izzy’s motto. Stay positive. Drilling it into her head over and over again with each new obstacle she’d had to face. It probably wasn’t healthy – burying all of her issues and trying to think positively but she wasn’t going to start worrying about that now. Iz was pulled from her train of thought as the other grew awkward at her concerned questioning. “Good scratches? What on earth - OH.” Eyes widening comically and her cheeks flushed crimson, the blonde instantly looked at the ground, avoiding all eye contact as she bit down on her lip, unsure whether to laugh or be utterly mortified. 

“Washing your hands is definitely a good rule, but so is not abandoning people,” She agreed with a nod before jumping up and down slightly, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Well it’s true. I mean... What are we all working towards if there’s no end in sight? If there’s no hope for the future? Like... What’s the point in surviving, right?” He reasoned, smiling softly as he ran a hand through his hair. He knew it wasn’t easy to keep up hope in a world where everything seemed so grim, and all signs of a better future were all but gone, but he had to. He really couldn’t see a point in trying to survive, if he was hopeless. As she caught on, his cheeks flushed and from beyond the conversation, it must’ve looked so bizarre, two individuals panicking and avoiding eye contact while their cheeks were red. “Yeah... I uh.... Sorry...” JC chuckled nervously.

“I just don’t like being dirty, which is like... Nearly impossible now.” He admitted with a genuine laugh. “I just try to wash them as much as possible. I just like... Always hated being dirty. -- Which is weird considering I was a construction worker before all of this.”

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“Start from birth. You can tell me in installments. A little more each time we go running,” she said. Cory was teasing. Sort of. There was something she missed about being able to listen to the radio - mindless chattering talk shows mixed with repetitious top forty hits - while in the car or doing chores. Being outside the wall had quickly cured any habit of humming to herself while working. Long periods of silence were the norm as boring as that could be sometimes.

The crated creaked dangerously as she placed her foot on the first board. The movement knocked down another small shower of dust from the top. Her second foot hesitantly joined the first. So far everything was holding, but the creaking made her uneasy. Cory also couldn’t help but think of all the times she and her best traveling companion had been forced to seek out alternative routes as opposed to going anywhere up high. As she moved slowly up the side of the crates, she tried to distract herself with more talking.

“Think of it as your own personal podcast with exactly one listener.”

“Really? You want to know my whole life since birth? Wouldn’t that kinda be really boring for you?” JC asked, genuinely surprised that someone actually gave a shit. He figured that most people didn’t want to get close to others, considering any of them could die at any given moment, and what made two people closer than sharing their whole life stories? He personally didn’t mind, because he had faith that those in the community could survive. 

Watching as she climbed, his eyes widened and he quickly approached, his hands out to catch her. “Whoa whoa whoa! Stop climbing, hop on down.” He suggested. “Climbing up like that, you’re gonna topple over the crates and get yourself hurt really bad.” JC explained, grimacing as he backed up so she could drop down. “Slow and steady does not win the race here.” He added with a laugh. “Did you ever watch American Ninja Warrior before this? Because how I did that is basically the same way, they scale that giant ass wall.” The male offered as example, unsure of how else to explain it. “So you’ve kinda gotta.... Run up the wall, y’know?” JC’s hand lifted into an upwards motion to aid his explanation.

“Alright. Yeah, sure. -- But only on one condition. -- After I tell you each stage of my life, you have to tell me yours.”

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