Chapter Five: Just Slumming Around:

“Why did you stay here?” Nancy asked.

“I don’t know,” I said.

“Did you miss the evacuation orders or something?”

“Yeah.”

“How?”

I turned to her with a flat look on my face. “I overslept.” I noticed Nancy wrinkling her nose with a strange look on her face.

“How?!” she asked. I shrugged.

“My mates said that I sleep like a corpse,” I said. She didn’t look like she believed me. I rolled my eyes.

“What were you doing here?” I asked. Nancy sighed and shook her head.

“We were looking for supplies,” she said. Now, it was my turn to look confused.

“All the way out here?” I asked. Nancy shrugged with her hand on her belly.

“It was David’s stupid idea,” she said. “I tried to talk him out of it but he insisted.” She frowned as she shook her head.

“He managed to get us a day pass to get us into the city,” she added. I walked up to her as if she was growing a second head out of her neck.

“Day pass?” I asked.

“Oh yeah. You’re not in the colony,” Nancy said. “We live all the way out there. In order to get out of the bubble, you would need a day pass. We were supposed to be back before sundown. Now…” She looked out the window.

“Yeah…” she said. Her attention turned back to me.

“Though I am curious about something,” she said.

“What?” I asked.

“How were you able to survive out here by yourself? You’re not sick or anything, are you?” Nancy asked. I wrinkled my nose as I shook my head.

“No,” I said. “Why would I be?”

“Just checking,” she said. Little Ava ran over to her. Nancy turned as she started tugging on the sleeve of her pink shirt.

“What is it, honey?” she asked. That child looked up at her with big eyes.

“Are you hungry?” Nancy asked. Ava nodded once.

“Okay, dear,” her mum said. Nancy tried to get up but kept falling back into her seat. She tried two more times before I had to step in.

“Here,” I said. I held out my hand. She held onto the arm of the couch as I pulled her up.

“Cheers,” she said.

“I think I have some cheese and crackers in the cabinet,” I said, pointing over to the kitchen.

“That will work,” Nancy said, nodding. She walked past me to the kitchen. However, she froze in the doorway and looked over her shoulder.

“Oh and you don’t need to worry, Mick,” she said. “We won’t be staying too long. We’re only staying for the night. We will leave in the morning.” I narrowed my eyes.

“Okay… why are you telling me this?” I asked.

“So that you don’t get any ideas or your hopes up,” she said. “We will need some help to get back outside of the city. Could you be a guide for us?” What the hell? Why the hell is she telling me all of this? And where did she get this idea of me getting any ideas or my hopes up? It sounds like she’s the one getting ideas. I folded my arms across my chest.

“And why would I do that?” I asked. Nancy turned around to me.

“Because you are the only person here,” she said. “And I already have a partner.” I stood there like an idiot as she walked into the kitchen. Oh…