3. Milk
"I'm not touching that," Kat
said.
"Well, I'm not touching it," Josh declared. "It looks like Biocon's junior-high science fair project."
They looked at each other, then stepped back from the fridge and called, "Berto -!" at the same time.
Berto came into the kitchen with justifiable caution. "What?" he asked, then caught sight of the gallon of milk sitting in the fridge - exactly where it had been sitting for the two months they'd been out on the road. He caught a whiff of it, too, and coughed. "Um - who forgot to throw out the milk?"
"It doesn't matter who forgot," Josh said, hurriedly enough to make it obvious that he had. "But someone needs to throw it out now."
The milk had curdled into oozy, yellowish clumps and grown a nice skin of fuzzy mold that Kat could see through the plastic. It was scary. It was scarier than any six bad guys they'd ever faced, no question. And it smelled pretty bad, too.
Berto raised his hands and backed out of the room. "Oh, no. I'm an engineer, not a biologist. You guys are the heroes - you do it."
Kat looked at Josh and Josh looked at Kat. Neither one said anything for a long moment.
"Okay, fine," Josh finally said, caving first just like Kat knew he would. He grabbed the handle of the plastic milk jug, then untwisted the cap and gagged. "Ugh! This reeks more than -"
"- your socks?" Kat finished drily. She went in search of said laundry, which she needed to start if they had a hope of getting clean clothes by next year. But she kept one eye on the kitchen to make sure the job got done.
Josh poured the milk down the drain of the kitchen sink, clumps and all. Then he rinsed out the plastic jug, stomped it flat, and tossed it into the recycling bin. Then he took the bin outside, where they wouldn't have to smell it all week until trash pickup.
Josh came back in, dusting off his hands and grumbling. "You totally owe me one."
"Okay." Kat went over and kissed his cheek, sweet and soft, and hid her grin at the way his breath hitched. "And now... we're even."