# 50

The next day was a bit rougher than the one preceding it as far as my knee was concerned but it was a day with out lives safe just the same. The morning was looking up though compared to the day before. Leeya was asleep on my somewhat healed chest and the couch had awarded me a comfortable bad. I could hear a rustling behind the couch we were perched at and figured Rusty and Fred were doing something in the kitchen behind the lobby. I tried to look around the couch without moving Leeya and was being unsuccessful so gave up the attempt. The noise was like pans moving around or maybe it was dishes. Sitting there I still felt like I was in a different world, a lot had happen in the past few weeks and it was time for me to take a mental list and sort through it all on the couch. I had met people who died in front of me, watched the world dissolve in the span of a coffee, fall in with a girl who wouldn't give me a second look on a good day, been shot ...three times in a week and managed to do all of this while avoiding  zombie like things that wanted to kill me. All in all it was a busy few weeks but for the most part I wasn't cracking up yet. I was also thinking of my mother and my brother and then thinking of all of my other relatives spread out across the region and country.

"You want some breakfast ?" Rusty shouted out from the other room. "You bet guy." I replied and started to twist to get up and replace my back with Leeya's front as she slept. I got up to one leg and tried to put my weight down on the other and had more pain than I was ready to deal with. I made peace with hopping on the one good leg and my arm was starting to give me the high sign as well. I was so concerned with this balancing act I didn't realize I was basically naked. Fred took a peek to see what the noise was and yelled "This isn't one of those Hotel's cover up will you". I looked down and smiled and grabbed some boxers. It was a real act of cirque De soleil , getting them on without falling over but I got it done. I staggered over to the bathroom in the back of the front desk and tried to take a bloodless piss. After which i went to the sink and washed my hands and then tried to wash what was left of my face. God damn I looked like a bucket of monkey crap, won't be needing a costume this Halloween I thought. My face was something of a bad nightmare and I started to feel bad for anyone who had to deal with looking at me, wished I hadn't seen the mirror at all.

I hopped over to the kitchen and sat at the chair near the counter. Rusty looked over and asked me how I wanted my artificial eggs. As he put it "do you want them scrambled or scrambled?" I bet he thought that was funny, OK I laughed a bit. Eggs were nice and when you haven't had them in forever you can't tell they are fake. I asked Rusty how I looked and he smiled and responded with something that rhymes with Bit. I had to laugh and Fred did too. Rusty said he was surprised how fast Lee had taken a shine to me but after seeing how much I had taken to keep her safe he was no longer surprised. He called me a hero for what I had done and patted me on the back. I was confused and told him I was no hero, just a guy doing what he had to as it came at him. " A regular John McClane" he said with a smirk referring to the Die Hard movies. In a way I guess that was more accurate than a hero, only this was real. For all we knew Bruce Willis was a zombie right now.

Leeya woke up finally and came in to lean over and give me a kiss and a hug. Rusty handed her a plate of his finest scrambled and she ate it as fast as I did. The day was looking to be a lazy one and I for one was looking forward to it. One by one everyone shuffled into the kitchen and started eating Rusty's famous eggs. I made a hop out of the kitchen and headed to our room ,Leeya was right behind me trying to help me. We got to the room and she asked me why I left the group and came back to the room. I just looked at her "Look at me, I know I wouldn't want to be eating eggs with this face in the room. Hell my leg is still soaked with blood." She smiled and said she would eat eggs off my face. There's a thought for ya huh? She was being loving and loyal and gross all at once. I could see her saying it but for the other people in the group I wasn't dinner fodder.

I lay down on the bed and had a big sigh of relief. Leeya came on to the top of me and started a purring noise and the whispered how she was going to change the dressing on my knee and arm and then show me a different way to groan. I was all for it and didn't bother moving, however as she changed the bandage on my knee it started to become obvious to me my leg from my knee down was either asleep of sawed off because I couldn't feel it at all. I would have said something but, why kill the mood. After changing my wraps she put the do not disturb sign on the door and gave me a real run for my money at twister, without the game present. After she told me she had never been happier and I lay there on the bed thinking "Woman it only took the end of civilization to make her happy". It was funny to me to think this way, I knew what she meant I had not been this happy in forever too but was too stone faced to give it away.

The afternoon came and Leeya was taking a shower and doing her hair and whatever else it is that takes an eternity in the bathroom. I had the feeling that if I didn't hit the men's room soon I was going to have a problem. I got up and got some bowers on and then tried my damnedest to put a pair of sweat pants on. I grabbed a shirt and believe me it was the easiest part of the whole deal and threw it on as I hopped out of the room and into the hallway. I headed to the lobby and into the bathroom again but this time I fell right over and onto the floor behind the front desk. I put too much weight on my leg and it failed me badly, I still couldn't feel it. I dragged myself up using the edge of the desk and finally got into the bathroom. Ahh blood free urine, it is a good day i thought. I cleaned up quick and came out to Brent who was facing me and we were all alone.

"Me and Bob had been friends since grade school. I know he had a thing for Lee , he had for a while. But I don't think he tried to kill you. Bob was not the guy to do that." I sat into the chair at the front desk and looked at Brent and then pulled my leg up onto the desk and said "You didn't know your pal as well as you think you did because he ran like a girl from those "things" and after me and Leeya took care of them he shot me. You can try and turn it around all you want but I never got a round off on him, truth is Leeya took Bob out after he blew me across the hall with Fred's shotgun." Brent looked at me with what seemed like anger and then said " That's just you and Leeya's story but I think things went down differently." I looked at him and said "What you think is what you can't get your head around your buddy being as wacky as he was. But if you think I will sit here and take your crap when so far you have done nothing but watch things go down your wrong. You want to take a shot at me Brent, then take your shot I haven't flinched yet and don't aim to start." He kind of grimaced and walked away. Leeya came around the corner a short while later and asked why I left and I told her it was the bathroom and nothing more.

Fish came over to me and wanted to talk, in private. i told Leeya I would be in the room in a few minutes and she headed that way. Fish leaned in and told me Brent was putting in motion with everyone the beginning of a full on eviction of me for thinking I killed Bob maliciously. I was smirking and Fish warned me, the things he was saying and how he was saying them were making the others think I was crazy. My face was making it an easy sell. I underestimated the jock apparently he was a good debater too, specially when he had no one debating with him. I told Fish I wasnt concerned , me and Leeya knew what went down and if Brent was going to try and remove us he better have something more than his words. That was when Rusty came over and leaned to me and said "Brent is a nut man, me and the others have been humoring him, I think hes losing it." I couldn't figure out why Bob freaked out and now it was seeming Brent was as well.

Clunk the barrell of a shotgun was up against the back of my head. Brent was on the other end and he was shaking as he reared down on me. " I thought today was going to be a lazy day.." I said. Brent yelled for me to shut up and told everyone to get in front of me so he could see them. They all moved over and the Brent told me to admit what I had done to Bob. I heard a click and Leeya was behind Brent with her gun aimed to his head. "I blew his head off for shooting my baby" she said and then added " And if you don't put that gun down you can ask him yourself in a minute." God I dig her I thought.