Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
Stripping off my crusty clothes, I waited until the water was warm enough and ignored the almost furious pounding in my chest as I eyed the spray. Carefully, so, so carefully, I made sure not to let it stream over my face. Just my chest and below at first.
My heart was beating so fast.
I cupped water with my trembling hands and scrubbed at my neck. I washed my face by wetting my palms and scrubbing my cheeks and forehead, trying not to hyperventilate. Trying to appreciate having hot fucking water and a safe place for the first time in what felt like a fucking month.
It might have been for all I knew.
A lot quicker than I would have imagined, considering I’d been dreaming about being clean, I soaped up the rest of my body twice then washed my torn, filthy clothes under the spray with the soap too. So much black, brown, and gray swirled around my feet that I washed them again. I was basically panting by the time I got out. The urge to sit down on the floor was strong, but I had a feeling that if I did, I wasn’t getting back up anytime soon.
The towels were musky, and my hair was tangled to shit, but I brushed it out with my fingers as I got my breathing under control. Only then did I finally look at myself in the mirror. I had to lean forward to make sure I wasn’t imagining it.
My face was a little sunburnt, and there were a few scratches on my temples and cheeks—on my arms and legs too, I’d felt and noticed while I’d been soaping up—but my skin looked nicer than it ever had. I actually didn’t look half bad. There weren’t even bags under my eyes.
That was… weird.
I thought about that as I used a tube of toothpaste that was expired, then borrowed a cracked deodorant I found under the sink. With the towel wrapped under my armpits and my wet clothes in my arms, I opened the door and stood there. We were past me being shy about shit now. Earlier today I’d peed with him standing three feet away from me while he pretended not to see and hear me.
There was nothing but silence in the cabin though.
Stiff as hell, I headed straight for the dresser. I opened the first few drawers and found a pair of flannel pajama pants and a dark brown flannel that looked baggy enough to hide most of my boobs. With my back to the rest of the room, I tugged the pants on under the towel and then buttoned the shirt up.
Eyeing the couch, I had to fight the urge to plop onto it and fall asleep. I was running on fumes, and I needed to focus. Needed to dig up the rest of my energy.
It didn’t take me long to drape my wet clothes over different places to dry, and with a grumbling stomach and a headache that was going to need more painkillers soon, I found cans of beans, a couple cans of Spam, and pancake mix that only required water. The mix was expired but only by a couple months. But it could have been a couple years and I would have eaten it. Alex would have done the same. I’d caught him licking the lid for the pears last night.
After gulping down a couple more painkillers, I found a pot. I boiled water and poured it into a pitcher to cool. Then I found some salt and oil and cooked the meat in it before adding the beans. In an old skillet, I made as many pancakes as I could without finishing the box.
I had no clue where Alexander was, but I wasn’t about to panic over that shit.
If he’d finally decided to leave me, I couldn’t hold it against him. I was too tired to worry about it that much.
I sat down on the tiny couch and ate beans with a slice of Spam, surprised by how good it was. Then I finished off a pancake, adding a little bit of honey I’d found in a glass jar because I remembered reading somewhere that honey lasted forever. And at this point, if something was going to kill me, as long as it tasted good, there were worst ways to go. I’d already gotten lucky to not be crapping my brains out from drinking creek water.
There was a radio that looked to be from the eighties sitting on the side table, and I reached over and fiddled with the knobs, getting a pop before staticky voices filled the air. “…they’re monsters. The government needs to do something about them before it’s too late. I don’t care what anybody says about those three. They aren’t human. Why would they watch out for us? We need to put them down before they put us down!” the angry voice shouted.