AN: Here is the second chapter. I hope I did some justice lmao. Comments and criticisms are welcome as always! :)
He doesn't know how to respond to that and so he drops the subject. They share silence for a few moments. Cleo stands up but Murphy remains rooted in his place.
"Do you know how to get out of here?" He asks. He doesn't feel the need to be closed off. He needs answers. He didn't care about keeping up with appearances. She doesn't know about his class A jerk personality anyway.
"Only through the doors." She points out. "They're sealed so that only certain controls can open them up." Cleo tries to think if anyone had left out an emergency exit plan or route but her memories don't give her any ideas.
"Do you have the controls then?" Murphy tries to hide the desperation in his voice but his freedom mattered more than his pride right now.
"I..." She pauses. "Need a shower." When she thinks about it, her nose wrinkles in disgust. 97 years in the same clothes, it's gross. And frankly, Cleo didn't need to be reminded twice.
Murphy couldn't help but chuckle. She had said something so out of the loop and it just catches him off guard.
"I'm serious, though." She smiles lightly. He might be no Jules but Murphy manages to set her at ease. "Once I do that, we come up with a plan." She tries to assure him, and herself. Hopefully she sounds convincing enough.
"Sounds good." He nods. If he caught her uncertainty, he didn't comment. She doesn't say anything else. He is left with his thoughts. Instead of dwelling on them, he goes to the kitchen for food.
Cleo scrubs her skin raw. As if it'll wash off every ounce of guilt in her system. The guilt of being the only one left. Peri had died in space. Chris had killed himself. She'd seen the clip once. She couldn't bear a replay. And Becca, she's dead too. Everyone she'd known is dead. Especially Jules. Goddamned Jules. And her family. All of them, dead.
Scrubbing provides a good distraction though. She lathers soap on herself then proceeds to dump a dollop of shampoo onto her hand before massaging her scalp.
She steps into the shower once more to rinse off. The stuff they put here were relatively untouched, despite Murphy's 2 months of residency so she knew where certain things were. She wraps the towel on her body after she finishes drying herself off.
Heading to the bedroom, she looks for the closet. And laughs. The closet is not completely untouched. Murphy must've took some stuff. She searches for her clothes and finds them at the back behind Chris' old clothes. A pang of sadness hits her.
"Hey, I left you half the oatmeal—"' Murphy stops himself. He hadn't bothered knocking thinking she'd been finished dressing up. But she isn't. The only thing covering her is the thin towel. Her hair dripping slightly as she peruses through the closet.
Cleo turns to him. "Thanks. I'll get dressed and meet you in the kitchen." She says nonchalantly.
Murphy doesn't think twice and leaves the room. He didn't need to deal with any sort of awkwardness. Besides, she is over a hundred years old. The thought alone disturbs him. He sits idly in the kitchen thinking if she'd come up with a plan. He chides himself again as she comes out of the room. She's clad in all black from her shirt down to her boots. Her hair wasn't as choppy as before, but rather curly.
She's silent as she sits across him and takes the bowl. She doesn't complain as she quickly swallows the oats spoon by spoon. He doesn't comment. He doesn't take much time eating the oats either.
"This is bland." She comments before she takes the last spoonful and swallows. She needs to get out of here. And get real food.
"It is. But hey, we're still alive. You, 97 years after and that goes without eating." He says off-handedly.
She laughs. "Well now that I'm fed and clean, I'm thinking I can try to see what technology is available here." Cleo tries to recall if they'd installed a system here. There had been one. By the repair area.
"I don't think there's any left, aside from the TV. There are tech hunters around and they probably stole it already." Murphy says. Cleo makes a face. A mix between a pout and some sadness.
"There should be a computer somewhere." She's trying to convince herself more than she's convincing Murphy.
"We'll look for one then." He pauses. "Don't get your hopes up too much. I don't really want to see another breakdown." He adds. He figures if he didn't stress her out too much, she'd come up with something. But it isn't just because of that. He really didn't want to see another crying session because he knows he isn't a comforting type.
They search the whole bunker. Even the hatch. But all that they had managed to find were Cleo's other things.
"You wear glasses?" He picks it up from the table where the screens were. He rests his weight on the table.
"Thank you!" She smiles widely at him, her brown eyes twinkling. His breath catches. He keeps his mask on, though. He tries to convince himself the smile had been toward the glasses and not him. He shakes the feeling off. "And yes, I wear them. Looking at screens all day strains the eyes." She says as she takes the spectacles from his hand. She puts them on and sighs in relief. At least something is right.
She looks through all the boxes but all she finds are food items nearly 100 years past their expiration date.
"Is that food?" He queries as she carries the box toward the table.
She nods. "But we can't eat them." Murphy looks disappointed. She mulls for a bit. "I'll try some and see if they're any good."
"What if it kills you?" He questions. She'd been awake for a day and if she dies because of getting poisoned, he will have to live with her corpse. The thought makes him cringe. It wouldn't be pleasant. Rotting dead bodies weren't exactly good company.
"It's either that or we starve." She points out. She had a good point, really but he didn't particularly enjoy thinking his only chance of escaping would slip away because she'd died. He doesn't say anything, letting her decide instead. He'd never been good at making decisions anyway.
"Okay, we leave it at the table. If we come short, I'll have no choice but to see if we can make use of this." She looks at him with familiarity but he doesn't reciprocate this look. Cleo reminds herself he isn't who she thought he was.
"You okay?" Murphy couldn't really help but question the look she's giving him. It'd been somewhat warm and kind. He isn't used to it. And he doesn't want to be.
"Yeah. Of course." She straightens her posture and adjusts her shirt. A habit she'd developed long ago.
"Let's get back up." Murphy's gruff voice brings her back from her spaced out state.
She nods, mumbles a "Sorry," and adjusts her glasses. Murphy hears this and nods in return. He climbs up the stairs with Cleo behind him.
"Hey," he looks at her direction when they get back to the living room area. "we'll get out of here one way or another." When he'd said that, it fills Cleo with newfound hope. At the very least, she isn't in this fight alone.
"We will." She confirms, looking away when his gaze meets hers.
AN: Did I do this right?! Please tell me lmao.