Chapter 4: O Green World
Bring me back to fallen town, where someone is still alive.
"Florida, do you think it's safe to swim in here?" Little Rock asked.
Tallahassee looked over at the pond, rubbing his stubble in thought. The water looked safe enough and there were only mere frogs swimming around in it. He looked back at Little Rock, who was waiting for an answer. He gave her a quirk of a smile and nodded.
"I suppose it is." He said.
"See, I asked Wichita too and she said the same thing. Only Ohio said it's probably not." Little Rock said and it looked like she was pouting.
"That spit-fuck is jumpy about everythin', kid." Tallahassee said, shaking his head.
"Are you guys talking about me?"
They both turned around to see Columbus looking at them. Little Rock giggled and looked back at the pond. She gave it a thought and then nodded to herself.
"I wanna go swimming." She declared.
"In that? Who knows what's in it!" Columbus said.
"How about only water, spit-fuck?" Tallahassee said sarcastically.
"Yeah, besides I haven't gone swimming in a long time! I'm going inside to find some underclothes I can use." Little Rock said and ran back inside the house.
Columbus looked over at the pond, making a face. Tallahassee lightly smirked and gave him a little shove. Columbus nearly lost his balance and he backed away at the pond and glared at Tallahassee. The hick merely chuckled to himself, amused. Tallahassee looked over at the pond and looked back at Columbus, smirking.
"Think I'll go swimming too." He said.
Columbus made a face and shook his head. "Fine, go swim in the water that frogs piss and take shits in."
Tallahassee laughed, shaking his head. He removed his hat and took off his jacket. He removed his shirt, slipping his boots off. Columbus watched, blushing lightly. When Tallahassee went to remove his pants, Columbus looked away, feeling his face go hot. When he heard the sound of the water splashing, he turned back to see Tallahassee popping his head out of the water and floating.
"I don't know what got yer panties in a twist, spit-fuck, but the water is damn fine!" Tallahassee said, smirking.
"Sure, sure. Whatever. I'll just stay here and play life-guard." Columbus said, sitting on the grass.
Tallahassee laughed and dived back in the water. Columbus sighed, looking up at the sky. He heard Little Rock coming back out, Wichita following her. Little Rock called out for Tallahassee and jumped into the water herself. Wichita sat next to Columbus, watching the two swim.
"That looks like fun, but I don't really feel like swimming in my underwear." Wichita said.
"Fun, maybe. But it's gross too." Columbus said.
"You're such a stick-in-the-mud." Wichita said, giggling.
Columbus turned to Wichita, lightly smiling. She smiled back and went back to watch Tallahassee and Little Rock swim. Columbus did also, watching as Little Rock splashed Tallahassee, laughing as Tallahassee did it back to her. He felt like, hey we are a family. This is what families do. He smiled to himself, feeling peaceful.
Little Rock was now playing Marco Polo with Tallahassee (more like she forced him to play) and was trying to contain her giggles as Tallahassee had his eyes closed and grunting out, "Marco."
"Polo!" She squeaked, swimming away.
She stopped swimming though, when she felt something touching her foot. She yelped, swimming back. Tallahassee opened his eyes, looking at Little Rock. "What's wrong?"
"Something gross touched my foot!" Little Rock said, swimming towards Tallahassee.
Tallahassee held Little Rock, looking over where she was before. Something seemed to float to the surface, first looking like a forgotten piece of wood. Tallahassee looked closer though, and saw that it wasn't a forgotten piece of wood, but a floating deceased hand, all moldy and had maggots on it.
"Oh, gross! That touched me!" Little Rock said, making gagging noises.
"Might be more body parts 'round here." Tallahassee said, looking around the pond.
"I'm getting out. I don't wanna swim anymore." Little Rock said and swam back to shore.
She climbed out of the pond, running up to Wichita. Wichita also looked grossed out, calming her younger sister down. Columbus looked over at the sisters, holding back an "I-told-you-so." to Little Rock.
"Come on, let's get you inside. You need a shower." Wichita said affectionately, taking Little Rock's hand and going back inside the house.
Columbus watched the two walk away and looked back at the pond. He blushed suddenly, seeing Tallahassee getting out of the pond, water dripping everywhere off him. Tallahassee rubbed his face, shaking the water out of his ears. He saw Columbus staring at him and he lifted a brow.
"What?" He demanded.
Columbus blushed a little more and looked away. "N-Nothing!"
Tallahassee gave Columbus a questioning look, gathering his clothes. Columbus continued looking away, feeling his face grow more red. Tallahassee walked past him, going back into the house. He turned back around, looking at Columbus.
"Ya stayin' out here?" He asked.
"N-No. No, I'm coming. I'll be right there." Columbus said nervously.
Tallahassee stared at him for a bit and shook his head, going back inside the house. Columbus listened for the door to shut and when he did, he rubbed his face. The image of Tallahassee all wet and shirtless, only down to his wet boxers was now in Columbus's mind. He could feel his face grow more red and he tried to shake the image out of his head.
He groaned and got up. He glared at the pond and picked up a rock, throwing it in it. He went to go back in the house, unaware of the sound of distant thunder coming from the sky.
Later in the day, the sky grew dark, and the sound of thunder coming close. The gang was eating another bowl of chicken noodle soup, discussing who should take first watch. Little Rock claimed she wanted to sleep and didn't want to sleep alone, still a bit freaked out about what happened in the pond. The boys said they didn't mind if they took first watch and the sisters thanked them.
So, as night fallen, the girls head up the stairs, bidding them good-night. Tallahassee and Columbus stayed in the living room with their guns, the fireplace lit because Tallahassee wanted to feel more homely. They could hear the sound of thunder coming close, and Columbus was doing his best not to whimper at each sound of it.
The sound of rain was suddenly heard, followed by another crack of thunder. Columbus sighed, leaning his head back on the couch. As long as he kept his cool, Tallahassee won't know about his fear of thunderstorms. Another sound of loud thunder was heard and Columbus flinched.
"Ya think the rain is gonna overflow the pond?" Tallahassee asked suddenly.
Columbus looked over at Tallahassee and shook his head. "N-No, I don't think so."
Tallahassee looked over at Columbus and saw how frightened he looked. He frowned and when another sound of thunder was heard, he saw Columbus flinched.
"Ya scared of a little rain?" He asked, smirking.
"N-No. Just thunder, that's all." Columbus answered back, nervously chewing on one of the hoodie strings now.
"Sure, sure." Tallahassee said, rolling his eyes. Another sound of thunder was heard and Columbus held back a whimper. Tallahassee looked over at Columbus and decided to try something to distract him from the stupid-ass thunderstorm.
"So, how you and Wichita been hangin'?" He asked.
Columbus looked over at Tallahassee, a bit shocked at the question. He shrugged, still chewing on that hoodie string. "We're okay, I guess. We're just friends, you know?"
"What, no more needs to fuck her?" Tallahassee asked, smirking.
Columbus blushed and frowned at Tallahassee. He awkwardly cleared his throat, looking at the fireplace."N-No. Like I said, we're just friends."
"Did ya even fuck her?" Tallahassee asked.
"Tallahassee! No, I didn't, okay?!" Columbus said, blushing red at him.
"So, yer still a virgin, spit-fuck?" Tallahassee asked, chuckling.
Columbus blushed brighter and looked away. Tallahassee chuckled to himself. He can be an asshole at times, but he knew this was distracting Ohio from the storm. Columbus was really chewing on that hoodie string, feeling embarrassed.
"Poor little spit-fuck," Tallahassee said, "Got his first kiss in Zombieland but not a lay."
"Wichita was not my first kiss." Columbus mumbled, glaring as he was still looking away.
"Oh? Then who was, spit-fuck?" Tallahassee asked, chuckling.
Columbus's expression changed from embarrassment to sudden discomfort. He shifted in his seat, chewing on the hoodie string. "I rather not say." He said.
"Then how do I know if yer tellin' me the truth?" Tallahassee questioned.
Columbus sighed, "Okay, okay fine. I'll tell you. But don't tell Wichita and Little Rock this, please? It's kinda of an embarrassing story."
"Fine, whatever. Tell me, spit-fuck." Tallahassee said.
"Alright. It was back when I was ten. I used to have this aunt that used to visit me and take me out to the park because she didn't like how my parents always tried to keep me locked up inside. Anyway, one day we're at the park and this blond-haired, blue-eyed boy came up to me, asking me if I wanted to play with him. I think he was two years older then me or something. So, anyway, we were playing and stuff, and then we were playing hide-and-seek with a bunch of other boys. We were hiding in the bushes together and it was a pretty good hiding place. So, we're hiding and whatever, and the older boy suddenly asked me if I ever kissed a girl. I was ten, so my answer was no because girls have cooties. So he asked me if he could kiss me. I asked him why and he told me because boys don't have cooties. That sounded logical enough for me so I told him he could kiss me. A-And he did."
"So, ya mean to tell me yer first kiss was with another boy 'cause ya thought girls have cooties?" Tallahassee asked.
Columbus blushed red. "I was ten, okay?! It was bad enough my first kiss was with another boy, I know! He made it worse when he started using his tongue and I backed away because "I felt weird" when he did."
Tallahassee held back a laugh as Columbus looked away, blushing. The sound of the rain was hitting the windows and Columbus got up. He put his gun down, still blushing.
"I'm getting a glass of water." He mumbled and went to the kitchen.
Tallahassee chuckled, looking back at the fireplace. He could imagined little Columbus lip-locking that other boy while hiding in the bushes and he chuckled again. That other boy had guts to try to shove his tongue down Columbus's throat. He could imagine little Columbus backing away, his face flushed and saying "I feel weird..."
Tallahassee's smile faded as he thought about that again. Little Columbus flushing as he told the other boy he felt "weird". That image was suddenly replaced with older Columbus, the Columbus he knows now, doing the same thing, but to him.
"Tallahassee, I feel weird..."
Tallahassee felt himself blush a little at that image. He shook his head, wondering why he imagined that. Columbus's face all red as he tugged on his jeans, saying he felt weird "down there"... Tallahassee shook his head again, rubbing his stubble. What the hell is wrong with him? Stupid Ohio and his stupid "my first kiss" story.
"Um, Tallahassee?"
Tallahassee turned to see Columbus back. He glared at him, his face still a little red. "What?" he snarled.
"I think there's something wrong with the pipes." Columbus said.
"What ya mean?" Tallahassee asked.
Columbus held up a glass of brown water, with a few leaves and possibly other stuff too. Tallahassee groaned, glaring. Columbus went back to the kitchen to dump the water out and came back into the living room.
"It might have been the rain." Columbus said.
"It might, but I ain't stayin' here to fix no goddamn pipes. We're leavin' in the morning. It's borin' as fuck here anyway." Tallahassee grumbled.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Columbus said quietly.
Tallahassee grunted, glaring at the fireplace. Columbus sat back down, looking at Tallahassee. He lightly blushed, clearing his throat quietly.
"S-So, you're not going to tell the girls that story, right?" He asked quietly.
Tallahassee frowned, that image of Columbus in his head again. He looked over at Columbus, who was chewing on his hoodie string. Tallahassee sighed and he shook his head.
"Nah, I ain't tellin'." He said.
Only because that story made him feel "weird" too now.
Author's Notes: Um, yeah. I totally believe that's how Columbus got his real first kiss. TRU FAX. I promise things will heat up soon. ;D But anyway. I would never swim in a pond because with my luck, a dead body part might float around me too. :x
R/R please!
