Beautiful Remains

Salt, dried mango, crackers and canned food filled our backpacks, but Andrea and I were still snooping around the apartment. Next door, she was looking through some medical cabinets, but I was goofing off.

Someone’s living room had caught my eye and now it was testing my heartstrings. Just looking around evoked a lost sense of nostalgia. Family portraits, that lined the walls, reminded me of a happier life, before The Walking Dead became a reality. Dusty toys scattered on the wool rug told me just how hastily the family had evacuated. Worst of all, the notice above the TV that stated all in the family had been “cleaned.” It just made it all feel so deathly real, yet I knew it was reality.

I wonder if Sam’s still out there…

I rubbed my eyes and dismissed it. Sam and I had been divorced for a while before the apocalypse, yet I couldn’t help but wonder.

Was she still alive?

THUD

I jumped. Soundlessly, I dashed in the direction it had come from. I was expecting the worst, so it was only natural that I had to suppress a sigh of relief when I found Andrea with her left arm trapped beneath a bookcase. The medical cabinets were bare and the room was empty otherwise.

“Um…. What happened here?” I questioned.

Andrea shuffled uncomfortably from her place on the floor, her left side almost immobilized.

That’s when I noticed the problem. I couldn’t place it, but something was clearly wrong. She should be completely able to pull herself out from under the furniture by pushing herself up. Despite that, she was still floored, even though the embarrassment was clear on her face.

“I thought I saw a packaged gauze, still clean, under the book case so I got down to to reach it….”

My chest twisted a bit. This doesn’t feel right, she should be able to push herself up with her free hand.

“Are you…”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“We’re back!” I called with a smile.

Andrea shook her head, but her lips still quivered upwards as we waltzed into the base. Andy ran up to us with an even bigger grin than Andrea and me combined.

“Something good happen?” Andrea mused with a knowing glance.

“Juliet is awake again and talking normally!” he beamed.

I think heaven just opened up and the light shined on the little curtained “room” that Juliet was inside of.

“We’ll be there in a minute. Let us put this loot away.” I reasoned, but it was hard to hide my eagerness.

Pulling the knapsack off my back, I began stuffing random things on shelves. I was so distracted, wanting to see Juliet, that I didn’t notice Andrea put a halting hand on my shoulder.

“You go on.” Andrea whispered so Andy wouldn’t hear.

This girl is something else, I thought with a chuckle.

“Thanks,” I said, jogging away.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As Jinx skipped off to see Juliet, I couldn’t help one more nervous laugh. Pulling the cans from the cloth bags, I placed each article away on its designated shelf.

Honestly, I pondered to myself, I don’t know how I feel about him knowing…

-Flashback-

“Are you… hurt?” He asked, crouching down to my level.

The bookcase wasn’t hurting my arm, but my free arm was aching from trying to push the furniture off me. Why did the shelves have to fall on my good arm?

“No, but… Could you…,” I could feel my voice catching in my throat,”Could you help me?”

“You can’t get out?”

There it is...

The last bit of my pride shattered and I lost all the strength to keep eye contact with him. My misery must have been obvious, because Jinx began moving the shelves.

“No…” I started,”my right arm… It’s useless…”

“Useless?”

“The only thing it’s good for is pulling a trigger; because of a muscle injury, I can barely lift 15 pounds.”

I felt like I had been exposed like I had given a knife to an enemy. Pure agony, I felt pure agony at knowing that someone besides myself and Dylan knew I was vulnerable.

The bookcase was gone, I was free and standing on my own two feet, but at the same time, I was standing on thin ice.

“...You know, pulling a trigger was enough to save me and my friends and bring us to safety.”

I smiled, happily and this time, I let it show.

Perhaps I have found a friend.

-Flashback-

I sighed, glancing back at the crowd that had formed around the curtain room behind me. No one saw me focus on Jinx and then glance unsurely at my right arm. It might be good for pulling a trigger, but that alone had destroyed and saved enough.
How I lost my good arm was a story for another day, but for now, I think I can trust Jinx, even if only Jinx.

Notes

Aw, Ray-baby can't use her right arm very well, but Jinx doesn't seem to mind. c: