Cindy POV
We have our guns ready and bags gathered. "Ready to go?", I ask. "Yeah, ready",Jack replies. The two of us head to the ladder on the staircase and climb down. "Different route this time?", I ask. "Yeah. More the west side of town this time", he replies. Those stores might definitely have stock. They were the type of stores that were always stocked. And Jack is probably thinking of looking for chemicals he can use for a cure. I know there's quite a few drug stores in that direction. So he'll try his luck there.
Jack POV
When we get to the shops I'm also going to check out the drug stores. You never know if I might find something I can use for a cure. Anything that might possibly be useful. We are getting quite close to the shops. "Hey Jack?", Cindy says getting my attention. "Yeah?", I say. "Are you worried about your parents?", she asks. Funny she should ask. I haven't really mentioned my parents to her. To anyone really. Anytime she used to ask about my parents I tried avoiding the question. But now that we're alone I think it would be hard to avoid. "Not really", I reply. "How could you not be worried?", she asked. "Well, they died before I went to university...",I reply. "They died? Why didn't you ever say something?", she asks. "Its not really something I like talking about", I say. "Oh...", she says. "Let's just get inside and start gathering some edible things", I suggest. "Okay", Cindy says. We walk inside the first closest store. Once inside we look for anything edible that we can salvage. There is a reason I don't like speaking about my parents. I... saw them die. They died one month part form each other. That's why I don't like talking about them. It is not fun thinking back to that time. They were wonderful parents who gave me everything I ever needed. Most of all they loved me to bits. Losing them was like losing a part of my soul. My mother died first. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 4 months before she died. According to the doctors it is a difficult cancer to have noticed early. There weren't any visible symptoms except that she didn't have much of a appetite and that she was losing weight.
We don't think it was too odd. Sometimes things like that happen with age. So we weren't concerned about it. Once we noticed my mother becoming weaker we knew something might be wrong. And when we went to a doctor we got the terrible news. He said since my mother's condition was highly developed she did not have much time. They took her into the hospital only to take care of her for the time she had left. She never liked being in a hospital. Like her I don't like hospitals either. It is not a very happy place. Me and my father visited her everyday after we brought her to stay at the hospital. We tried making the most of the time we had with her. No getting sad, we just tried to entertain her and tried to make her feel as happy as we could. Tried acting like everything was still normal. Like my mother wasn't in a hospital bed but at home on the couch watching her favourite series, House. Like she wasn't looking weaker by each visit but instead going for a jog with me like we used to. She still had her lovely smile despite her condition. It was so admirable, she could still be happy for all of us even if she was in pain. When we visited me and dad brought mom some her favourite treats and drinks. Mom thought we were spoiling her too much. But we had not spoiled her enough in her life. I didn't want my mom to die but clearly it was inevitable. On my mom's last day some other family members came to say goodbye. After everyone left it was just me and dad. Her last words to me were, "Always stay the beautiful hearted man you are Jack". My dad and I were quite emotional in her last moments. We didn't dare let her see cry. But when her machines line went flat, when her eyes closed. I broke down and so did my dad despite him being emotionally stronger than me. Hugging each other we cried as much as we felt necessary. It was not a good day for us, for me.
Me and dad were not doing okay at home the first week. Everything felt different. The house felt empty without her humor. Without her smile and hobbies. It felt odd not to mention out of the ordinary to not have had her with us. We tried coping with very little to none success. My dad was taking it much harder than I was tho. They were married for 26 years. Of course you'd be extremely emotional after their partner died. It wasn't easy seeing my dad like that. Then just a month after her death that my dad had a heart attack. His first and last heart attack. In that month I had lost both my parents.
They both had good jobs so they saved enough money for me to go study. I wasn't too sure about what I wanted to study. But then I knew I wanted to use my knowledge of science and discover new things. Maybe even a cure for cancer. Cindy is turning and I need to find a cure. I don't want to lose her like I did my parents. Losing another important person in my life could be the end of me.