I entered his house, and it felt as thou I had entered a time capsule, the walls were clean and polished, a signature smell of disinfectants, and the sheer lack of dirt and dust brought me straight back to a time where cleanliness and order were expected not just a pleasant surprise. It was then that I stepped onto his mat my step was followed by a loud sloshing sound. I glanced down and observed that my boots were covered in mud and now so was the mat. A tinge of shame entered me, and I quietly took my boots off.
"Ey kiddo, the shower still works, and I've got a change of clothes for you. Can't have you making a huge mess in my house, now can I?"
He led me over to a bathroom and I quickly walked in and locked the door behind me. I turned and leaned against the door. Tired I relaxed myself and slowly slid down to the floor.
What the hell was I doing? I had just met this guy and I'm trusting him enough to not only enter his home but take a shower as well? The world had ended I couldn't trust anyone, he could at any second kill me. My thoughts were interrupted by shivers, the mud was cold, and my clothes being soaked didn't make it any easier. Okay, I'll take a shower but as soon as I have a chance I'll run away.
I quickly took a shower, unsurprisingly the water was cold however this was nicer than the frozen baths using recycled water I had to deal with back in the bunker I finished and looked around the bathroom for something to wear when I noticed that underneath the bathroom door, he had slid a fresh pair of clothes, I quickly slid into them and surprisingly they fit like a glove.
I mentally psyched myself up, reminding myself that you can't trust anyone out here and left the bathroom, only to see Mark blaring some old song over the vinyl player he had in the back of the room, horribly singing along, while wearing a horrible Teddy Bear apron. The sheer stupidity of what was in front of me made me begin laughing my ass off. He walked over with a spoon which he was using as a mic. He implored me to join in as he belted out the lyrics off-tone and off-beat, and soon I found myself doing the same. Thus, for the first time since the apocalypse I was singing to some random 90s song with a man I had met 5hrs ago.
After a couple of minutes, the song finally came to an end and Mark gestured for me to sit down at the table, he walked over a pan in his hand and said in a slightly excited tone "so kid it looks like you have been living off rations."
"And so, what if I was?"
"Well then you will definitely enjoy this" lifting his spatula he placed on my plate 2 fresh fish stuffed with fresh spinach, and I couldn't stop myself from drooling, where did he get fresh food? The flavor of the fish was evident just by looking at it, a fine spice sprinkled over a well-cooked piece of fresh fish, how long had it been since I have eaten something like this? "Kid, don't just look at it, your free to dig in."
"It's not like I want this or anything, I'm only eating cause it's the polite thing to do" he chuckled as I dug in. As I ate, my eyes wandered over to his plate which only had1 small fish. This had confused me a bit but to be honest, I don't care, the food was good, and I needed to get out of here. I finished the food and Mark proceeded to begin to clean everything up.
As he cleaned, he began to speak, "Hey kid its only noon so you have the rest of the day to yourself. I've got some errands to run I'll be back in two hours."
As he cleaned, I couldn't help but stare at his hands. They were cut up, filled with scars and marks, his skin was hard and refined. If I hadn't known better, I would believe those hands belonged to an elderly person with the amount of wear they showed. I noticed that I was staring pretty intently at his hands and felt embarrassed, I quickly looked at a random thing in the room.
"alright" he put the last dish down "I will be right back, wait for me and I'll make a good dinner for the both of us. Hey, it may even be better than what you just had" And with that he grabbed his bag and left.