Wednesday, January 4, 2012

# 47

The morning got me to awaken to my breath being visible. the heater had finally quit over night and if it wasn't for a pile of blankets we may have frozen. It was having trouble keeping up I thought but now it had become obvious it was broken and limping along. Last time I pay this ind of money for an RV and have it break in the first week, I'd be a little upset if I was the guy who bought this tank. Leeya was already up and out, probably getting breakfast or something and I got up with a bit of pain but not like the day before. I was stiff for sure and slow in my movements as I tested my limitations and headed to the bathroom. A nice bathroom indeed with a tub shower that was triangle shaped and could fit two. Nice for a camper I thought, shoot the hotel room isn't this nice. I took a bit of time and peed a bit of blood but figuring what I had been through I wasn't questioning it yet. If I still had blood in a day or two then I better have a hole dug. I shook and headed to the sink and started washing my hands and looked up in the mirror. Oh lordy I was at least grateful the bandage covered most of my face. I cleaned up as best I could and tried to brush my teeth, but my cheek wasn't allowing much space on the inside which I think led to the outside in some spots.

I got dressed as quick as my movements allowed me and found the shirt going over my head and arms to be the hardest. At least I thought it was the hardest part of dressing until I unknowingly tugged it down over my chest and remembered the chest wasn't good either. Stars and unicorns as Zolak would say, that's what I saw. I got some shoes on and headed to the windows to check the perimeter and make sure it was all good. Grabbing my jacket I SLOWLY and I mean SLOWLY put it on and then headed for the door. I know the guys were scared but after a day and a half they can't still think I'm bitten can they? I opened the door and the cool crisp air hit me. The sun on my face was nice but the wind was going right through me. I took a step away from the RV and heard a noise to my right. Looking over I could see Rusty under the flip out trying to fix something. I staggered over and gave a hey to him and he climbed out from under the overhang.

"Hey Rusty what the heck you doing under there man"? I asked him. He looked skittish and said without much eye contact " Trying to fix the heater for you guys but the thing is all high tech I dunno what I am looking at under here." I asked if I could give a look and he held his arm out for me to try. I climbed under the overhang and could see the heater and it was quite the unit for sure. Electronic and I would have guessed gas of some sort but nope electric. I followed the wiring and it led to a box that faced away from me. I looked at the diagram and it was a fuse it said. I reached up and the button I felt on top of it was out , I clicked it in and the heater started. "All set man, unless it keeps tripping off." Rusty looked at me finally eye to eye and said "shoot you know a few things don't ya, I been under there over an hour not knowing what I was looking at". " Yeah I know a few thing's" I said. I told him maybe the unit was breaking in or something and we just overloaded it and he ran inside to turn it to about 60 degrees. he came out saying it was set to 80, Leeya must not have known you cant have 80 when its 12 out the heater would blow up. Oh well we would see if it can keep it comfortable now.

Rusty put his arm under my left one and gave me a hand walking in and asking how I felt and small talking. He was an OK guy and I had read him that way from the get go. He helped me inside and got me a seat by the pool on a chaise lounge type thing. "I'll get Lee for ya man be right back" he said and I thanked him for the help. The place was much quieter and I almost suspected that something was afoot the way it seemed I was the only one around. Leeya came over and she was looking much better than the past few days. Amazing what some down time can do for you, she had a glow and was smiling a goofy smile like a love sick puppy. I asked her where everyone was and she said around but her answer was kind of underhanded so I asked again. She said that Deb, Linda, and Brent as well as Jenn were on a trip to scavenge and Fish might have gone too. "So you me Rusty and the old folks are all that's here"? I asked. She nodded yes. WTF are these people seriously going out there in a large group, I thought back to the RV and yes the bus wasn't in the lot. Oh crap Fish knows about the group of people why is he being that stupid.

Leeya talked with me alone for a bit and she assured me Fish wasn't taking chances and most of the heavy artillery was in the bus with him. My stomach began to flutter, that would mean we were the sitting ducks , not them. Leeya went to get me food because I was weak and the blood loss was getting the better of me. While she was gone I heard a hello from above me. Fred and Unice in the perch above as usual. I yelled hey back but didn't move much , the soreness was limiting. Eventually Leeya returned and we had some food and drink it was nice to be able to relax with her and not in the cold RV.

Fred finally came down and joined us and started right away with the business at hand. "The heat in here isn't going to last much longer. I have every floor but this one shut off and the water up there as well but the boiler is running low on oil." I thought a bit and then asked what size the tank was in the basement. He said it was a thousand and huge but at about a sixteenth and maybe had three to four days left in it tops. I asked why oil in such a big place and he told me it had three differnt ways of heat it used gas which was off now, it had oil which he was switched to and it had electric which was impossible since the generator was operating basic things like the fan on the heater now and the limited lights and refridgeration we had working. I told him to give me some time to work up a strategy and then I would let him know. He smiled and left us to the company of ourselves.

Rusty came over and jumped cannonball style into the pool soaking our legs and I had a good laugh. He brought out some beers and was just easy going good company. Me ,Leeya, and Rusty had a great afternoon of just shooting the breeze and having some suds and laughs. Times like these made us forget about the real world and just smile a bit, this Hotel was infectious for it and made me worry it was too easy to forget while here at the pool. I had some anxiety for the others as I hoped they would come at any minute. Inside I kept thinking that the group of scavenging freaks we had run across were going to overcome the group and another part of me thought they would take them back here. I feared they could get them to talk about this place if they got them, but that was crazy they wouldn't get them , Fish had his stuff together didnt he?

The day came and went just as easy as the time by the pool. Funny how all the fretting and worrying doesn't change anything as the clock keeps ticking away. I wasted the entire day with my head in the clouds thinking of heating oil and a bus full of people and groups of pirate like people. Rusty and Leeya had no worries that they showed and my head was starting toward sthe end of the day to throb with activity. I showed no signs of my issues and kept to a smile here and there and a nod. Leeya could tell I was different and my pee was telling me at each bathroom break that I was healing. My face and neck were still bandaged but needed changing and Rusty wanted to sit in on the event for the view I suppose. Fred even leaned over the rail to take a peek. The reaction from Rusty had it not been my face would have been priceless but for my own sake it made me wonder what was happening. He asked what the others feared and wanted to know if I was sure it was not a bite of any kind on my face and neck. Leeya looked at hime with evil eyes when he asked and answered for me. She kissed my wounds and dressed them and Rusty comically added "now that is love". I had to smirk even though Leeya wasn't smirking.

The night fell and we left the same note and unlocked RV for the crew and locked up the perimeter. They had done a great job making the first floor basically impenetrable and we all went to bed with warmth and full stomachs that were butterfly filled for our friends. I hoped they were just running late and as I fell asleep with Leeya I dreamt about oil trucks and heat.

1 comment:

  1. Guess this is what constitutes a normal day, post-Zombie infestation! Good enough, I guess.

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