Once the 24 hours were up, Hobie came to open the bathroom door to let Mirin out. He had slept in that day, and it seemed she did as well. He woke up around 11 in the morning, it took him a few seconds to confirm the actual time from the analog clock on the fireplace. He only had to occupy himself for a few hours before Mirin's quarantine was over. In that time, He decided to reheat a portion of the leftover deer meat in the oven for them to eat when she came out. However, as he sat and waited at the island, he thought to himself, 'How the fuck is the oven working?' He turned to look at the stove with the most screwed up face. Then he hit the side of his head once it dawned on him that the stove is electric. The sound of pecking at the laundry room door grabs his attention. He rinses off a few defrosted berries from the fridge and goes to feed Tasty a mixture of the scavenged nuts and plants. Mirin had also told him that the hen could eat insects, but he didn't find any in her bag when he cleaned it out and he wasn't about to go looking for them. Tasty immediately bolts out the door and runs laps around the kitchen island. Hobie shakes his head with a smirk and follows after her.
"Come on, now." He chuckles, lightly shaking the small bowl as he tries to entice her to come back to the room. Hobie slowly back tracks into the room, shaking the bowl so Tasty follows him. "That's it." He sets the bowl down for her once she's back in the room. She devours her food with happy cooing sounds, signaling that he can leave now. He made sure she had some water and left to find a stinky gift hidden for him around the corner of the island. He just kissed his teeth and cleaned up after her, "That's why your eggs are mid!" Tasty sounds off a quick but feisty cluck in return from behind the door, almost as if she heard him and was cussing him out. He couldn't help but laugh at that.
When Hobie opened the bathroom door, Mirin was still asleep on the floor. Curled up and looked a mess. Her face was contorted with discomfort and sweat as she slept and her usual poofy hair had shrunk and curled at the ends from being drenched. He sighed, picked her up and brought her over to her couch. She had stirred as he tried to carry her, making it a bit harder to not drop her. 'Lord, either she's dense as all hell, or I need to work out more.' He thought to himself as he finally took a breath after laying her down. He breathes out a hefty breath, stretching out his back when his eyes catch a glimpse of her robe. It was the only thing covering her, and at the moment, it wasn't doing a very good job.
He took a moment to rake his eyes over her small form, taking in the outline of her curves and how her robe barely wrapped around her thighs. Mirin turns in her sleep to a more comfortable position, curling on her side towards him. He cleared his throat and promptly proceeded to cover her up. Finding a blanket in a wicker basket beside the couch, he flung it over her and propped her head up with a throw pillow.
Mirin wakes up to the smell of venison, a plate had been set in front of her on the coffee table. She looks around confused until she finds Hobie sitting adjacent from her on the other end of the L shaped couch. He nods his head at her as he eats. "Mornin' Panda, how ya feelin, hm?" Mirin just squints at him and opens her mouth to say something back but is pulled into a spinning headache. She grabs her head and lays back, "Ugh, You… You put me here?" She asks groggily. "'Course I did, I'm not an asshole." He quips. She attempts to roll her eyes, but it makes her headache worse.
"What time is it?" Hobie looks over at the clock and stares at it for a few seconds to calculate the time. "How long was I out?" "Oi, gimme a second, yeah? I'm trying to read the damn thing. Uh…1… big momma-" Mirin rises up on her elbows at his mumbling, "What?" "2:46pm?" Hobie looks back over to Mirin to see her struggling to see the clock. She reads the time with ease and then squints back at him. "Dude, you got it right but why did it take you so long to read? Were you not taught in school?" Hobie scoffs at that, "Obviously, yea. But it's hard to read just off the bat like that, don't you have to count at all?" "Count? Not really." Mirin laughs, laying back on her side. "Big momma? What's that about-" "It's how I was taught! Are you havin' a laugh at me?" Hobie smirked, setting his plate down on the couch. "Big momma, big minutes. You get me?"
They both laugh, causing Mirin to cough and curl back up. "Man, what?" she laughs between groans. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, you should eat. You haven't eaten for a whole day." He pointed at her plate and resumed eating his. Mirin looks at it but shakes her head. "I'm not hungry-" "That's mad, eat. Gotta feed the fever and that." Mirin just holds her stomach and turns, head still spinning slightly.
Hobie sighs as he eats but then has a bright idea. "Want something else to eat, then?" He beamed. Hobie then got up, scarfed his food down and went over to scrap her venison onto his plate. "Something else? This is all we have- Hey! *cough* Don't eat mine!" She reached out a hand to protest but he was already eating her portion. "If you're not going to eat it, I will. Besides, I've got something that might be easier on your stomach." She just looks up at him with a confused scowl as he eats her food in front of her. "Which is?" She relents. "Hold tight and fix your face."
Quickly he nods and strides back into the kitchen with both their plates. Mirin sucks her teeth but has no choice but to lie there until he comes back. "Pardon? That's a lot of sass for someone who can't fight back." Hobie teased from the kitchen once he heard her very audible attitude. 'Ooh, just wait until I'm better, gonna kick his skinny ass.' Mirin thought.
Moments later, Hobie returns with a new plate. Mirin had fallen back into a light sleep, so he had to nudge her awake. "Oi, look what I've got for you." he said softly and sat beside her on the couch. She groans as she tries to sit up, her eyes falling on the plate on his lap. "Eggs? Tasty laid an egg so soon?!" she beamed. He just nods and hands her the warm plate and a spoon. Slowly Mirin eats them, a smile on her face and snot in her nose. She sniffles and has a bit of trouble swallowing. "Good?" He asks, a warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest watching her eat, happy he could help. Mirin nods, finishing her plate soon enough. She then looks up at him, "Did you really eat all the venison?" "Hungry, huh? No, I left you a little." He chuckles and grabs the other plate from the coffee table. He had eaten about ¾ of her plate and was planning on eating the rest too, but it was just enough for her.
"Thank you… for everything." Mirin says, attempting to lean over and place her plate on the coffee table. He almost instinctively reaches out and helps, "You needed help, and I wanted to help. It was no sweat. Now, we're even. You saved me, I saved you." He leaned over and pulled her into a hug. At first, she tried to pull away. But it was warm. She gave in and hugged him back briefly, tapping his back with both hands kind of awkwardly. The hug only lasted for a few seconds, but she couldn't deny it was nice not to be so stubborn and tough for a moment. She sat awkwardly for a short while when he let go but felt a small smile creep across her lips.
She let out a sigh of relief, it sounded very congested, but it was calming, nonetheless. Her hands then feel around in her hair, "Wish I had my bonnet…my hair's a mess." She chuckled lightly, shaking her head. "It's fine." Hobie lied, trying to keep her laughing. She just gives him a playful look that says, 'Don't lie to me.' She reaches up and takes out the hair ties holding her curly fro back into two very disheveled buns. A few leaves fell out as she shook her hair. It comically stays up in a ridiculous fashion that Hobie couldn't hold back from chuckling from. "Something funny?" She asks, holding back a laugh herself. "Nah, you just look like side-show Bob from the Simpsons, is all." She raises her hand up weakly to hit him but they both laugh simultaneously at that. "Ugh, I know, I know, it's bad."
"It's not all bad, here." Hobie chuckles, reaching over to fluff her hair out, tugging and moving her hair around until it was as round as it could be after being drenched and tangled. "See, proper fro again, somewhat." Weakly, she feels around her now fluffed out curls. She then drops her arms and shrugs. "If you say so. But when I feel a little bit better, I'm getting my bonnet. You could use one too, if you want for all that hair."
Hobie tilts his head slightly, "I don't think I've ever really worn one." She then returns the look, "You've never worn one, with all that hair you've got? Really?" He just shrugs. "No? Hmm… maybe a durag before the wicks? But I can just go get them if you're offering."
Mirin thought about it, her room was always locked and letting him go to fetch her bonnet would be nice, but it made her uneasy. She sighs, "My keys are in my pants back in the tub. It's the small gold key, and the bonnets will be on the top shelf of my closet. Right in the front… Don't steal anything!" Hobie rolls his eyes and gets up to find her keys, "Come off it, I'm trying to help you." He playfully pushed her back down as he passed by, to which she couldn't fight back and stayed down. "Bitch!-" "Right back at ya, lil' bit."
Hobie rummaged three pockets of her still damp cargo pants before he found her keys. He looked them over, finding slight amusement with the largest key that had a picture of a Pinscher puppy on one side and 'I My Pinscher' written on the other. On his way, he laid her clothes on the drying rack in the laundry room, pet Ms. Tasty, and made his way past the couch and up the stairs.
Mirin's room was neat, but lived in. Bed made, organized books on her headboard and desk. A single book on said desk grabbed his attention, and he impulsively went to open it up. But 3 pages in, he realized it was more of a planner and not a diary like he thought. With a disappointed face and a loss of interest, he places the book back and continues on his little side quest.
He rolls her double closet doors open expecting it to be neat in there as well. Organized chaos was what sprung out at him. But just as she instructed, there was a fat black bonnet holding a bunch of stuff within it. He pulls it down and examines a few bonnets before choosing 2 of them and heading back downstairs.
"Did you lock my door back?" Mirin asks as soon as she hears him coming down the stairs. He calls back, "No? You're gonna want to go back to bed, are you not? I'll lock it back for ya then." He could practically feel her glare on him as he came back to her side. With a slick smile, He slipped one of the bonnets on her head, gently tucking all her hair in. "Smartass," Mirin finally snides, but she couldn't stay annoyed with him. "Did you grab-" "NO!" Hobie interrupts, then she finishes her thought with an annoyed look, "-Grab a bonnet for yourself…?" "Oh-... yea..." He then slides the biggest bonnet she had over his wicks.
When Mirin felt up to climbing the stairs, Hobie helped her up to her room despite her initial protest that she 'Didn't need his help'. She fought her fever for a few days. During Christmas week, she felt up to venturing out again. The first thing she did was take a much-needed shower. Starting to feel like herself again, her ears pick up a low melody. She focuses in and hears a song she hasn't heard in a good minute, B2K's 'Bump Bump Bump'. She was taken aback, 'I know damn well this boy isn't using my power for that…' She gets dressed, and quietly makes her way downstairs.
On her way down, she just watches with a half-smile on her face. Hobie was swaying side to side smoothly to Frankie Beverly's 'Before I let go'. She leans against the wall before the last step turns into the living room and crosses her arms as Hobie sings along with her long-forgotten iPod touch. She thought he charged his phone. He was really getting into it, how cute.
"Boy, what you know about that?" Mirin laughs, approaching him once he notices her. But he doesn't stop dancing; instead, he hip bumps her on beat. "What do you know about that?" He continues to dance peacefully, even rolling his hips and gesturing for her to join him. Mirin watches him for a beat before joining in, finding this silly but nice. The song eventually dies down and 'Thriller' queues up next. "A bit on the nose, innit?" Hobie jokes, turning the iPod down a tad. "Did you really decide to charge that old thing?" Mirin asked nicely, trying not to sound annoyed. Hobie crosses his arms with a sly smirk, "Now why would I go and do that for? It had a little juice left and made this place a bit livelier, didn't it?" Mirin just raised her eyebrows, but smiled, nonetheless. 'Fair enough,' she thought to herself.
"You know, you didn't have an accent when you were singing." Hobie playfully scoffs as Mirin leaned against the fireplace. "I'd hope not, the whole point of singing along to a song is to mimic the singer, is it not?" Mirin just rolled her eyes. "Okay, keep your secrets then. It's just a coincidence that other British singers just so happened to not sing with their accent either, huh?" She chuckled, watching Hobie plop down on her couch with a shrug, "Just how it is." She takes a seat as well with a content sigh. As 'Thriller' dies down, Hobie lazily leans his head back on the couch and over to Mirin. "We still goin' to that Glen town or what?" With a smirk, Mirin meets his eyes and nods. "Pack your shit, let's go."
Short delay, but they were back on track. Dressed, packed, and on the road in Mirin's Jeep. It was old, but it'd get them where they needed to go and back. Snow had been falling heavily all day, coating the road and making the view up ahead a bit challenging to see. It was still daylight, but it wouldn't be for long. They had maybe three hours to get what they could and drive back before dark. Glensfield was only a few miles away from the cabin, so it wouldn't take them long to reach their destination. Hobie immediately reached for the radio as soon as they took off, "oo-" to which Mirin slapped his hand away. Hobie sucked his teeth, "Rude!-" "Too bad." Mirin quickly retorted, completely focused on the road ahead. Hobie leans on his elbow against the passenger window and breathes on the glass, watching it fog up for a few seconds. "A little tune wouldn't kill you, how long is this trip anyway?" Mirin looks over at him quietly pouting for a brief moment. "Maybe 45 minutes? Not too sure, I haven't driven over there in a while."
She was revving up another question to keep the convo going but is cut off when she has to suddenly swerve the car. "Shit…" And Hobie had just gotten comfortable with the moving car lulling him to sleep. Just as he started to flutter his eyes closed, he was jerked into the door as Mirin turned. "WOAH! The fuck was that then?" Hobie shouts, grabbing the dash in front of him and the assist bar above as he looks around. Mirin answers calmly, "I had to avoid Roger-" "Who?- huh?" He spotted a moose as he spoke in the side-view mirror. "Uh, Mirin?" "Hm?-" "He's CHASING!" "I see him." She says calmly. "Uh! Speed up, perhaps?" Hobie smiles at her, but his heart is beating out of his chest. "It's fine, hold on." She gradually increased her speed.
The moose chases their car down, trotting closer and closer. He even nudges the back of the car with his antlers, earning a small shriek from Hobie. "Holy HELL, Look at the size of em'!" The moose pursues them all the way until they reach a bridge that goes over a riverbank and leads into the city. The moose just stops abruptly, stomps its foot and casually turns back the way it came
Hobie lets out a heavy breath that he didn't realize he was holding and finally eases back in his seat. "The fuck was that, Mirin?!" He breathed out as she drove at a normal speed again. "That was just Roger, are you alright?" She keeps driving as if nothing happened. Hobie's eye twitches, "MARINA!" he shouts, and she steps on the brakes, turning to look at him. "What. The fuck. Was that?!" He enunciates with his chest heaving up and down as he tries to calm down. "That was a very large moose named Roger. He's usually harmless but with everything going on he's easily agitated." Mirin tries to explain to calm his nerves down. "Why did he just stop like that? The fucken thing." "Don't worry, he doesn't like crossing that bridge into the city.
"A little warning would have been nice! That damn thing was downright demonic." Hobie places a hand over his chest and tries to regain his cool. "I didn't think we'd run into him. But we're fine now, it's fine." 'This woman is insane…' Hobie thinks to himself.
The trip there went smoothly enough, despite a bit of turbulence from a disgruntled moose. Within the spare hours of daylight they had left, they scavenged what they could. Stores in strip malls, buildings, and houses. Both of their backpacks were essentially empty for them to loot, only carrying their weapons of choice, extra bullets, and first-aid if needed. They managed to scavenge a worthwhile haul without the disturbance of other people and occasional undead fiends. Coming across needed toiletries, a few batteries, and even some snacks. Within a small grocery store, Mirin quickly stuffed her pack with what she saw fit. Hobie followed suit, and as he did, he saw them. CHIPS!
He dramatically slides across one of the conveyor belts and tumbles behind the counter. Mirin only sees him falling off the side of the counter. She quickly runs over, "Hey! You good?" She whisper shouts as she looks over the counter, gun out; only to find him crouched on the floor DEVOURING an off-brand bag of party mixed chips. He was going to town, wasting no time in vacuuming them into his mouth. "Really dude?-" "Yes!" He answered back immediately. Mirin just rolls her eyes. "Me chips, did ya find a bo-ole o' wo-a back there, too?" She teases, trying to mimic his accent in the funniest way possible, going back to loading her bag. "Pipe down, yeah? I sound nothin' like that." He scolds, but pouts inwardly when he shakes the bag over his mouth for only crumbs to fall out.
With maybe less than an hour of daylight left, they see a rundown Walmart coming up. Hobie gives Mirin a look and she returns it briefly, eyebrows raised, a smirk on their lips. Mirin then shakes her head quickly with a soft laugh, "We don't have enough time. The sun will set before we get back to the cabin." They drive past it. Hobie raises his eyebrows to entice her. She makes the mistake of looking at him again. Mirin sighs, "20 minutes, that's it." and backtracks to park in the lot. Hobie just chuckles to himself, no one ever actually stays for only that long.
They scavenge what they can, there wasn't much but they did find some medicine and clothes. The inside was dark but had some windows in the front of the store. Using the batteries they found, Hobie was able to power a flashlight while Mirin used the one on her portable radio. Up the dead escalator they went to the second floor. The lack of light up there was drastically different from downstairs. No windows, and eerily quiet. Just as they did for the other buildings; they panned the open floor plan and scanned for any threats. Stealthily, with their guns at the ready, Hobie would follow Mirin's lead.
In their securement of the second floor, they find the store's abandoned toy section. For some reason, the aisles reeked of urine. There wasn't much of course, but there were a few toys and Hobie bolts to see what they still had. Mirin follows, shaking her head playfully as she shines her light in the direction he ran." We don't have time for games, man. It smells like piss! Hurry it up." She said sternly but couldn't hide a small smile. He calls back, "It always smells like piss, it's the kid section. You'll thank me later when we're not bored up in that cabin all day." Hobie wanders ahead and rounds the aisle shelf.
"Oh shit, would ya look at that?"
Mirin catches up to him momentarily and sees what he found. "You called me over here to show me a toy car?" she chuckled, watching him try to bend his long legs to fit inside the child sized car. He had set his flashlight on the shelf. "Not just any car! I always wanted one of these beauties as a kid. Vroom vroom~" He laughed. "I asked my dad, but he just kept on hitting' me with 'Maybe if you're good next Christmas.' or just a straight 'No'. We were in an apartment, I guess. In hindsight, I get it, but still." Him saying that made Mirin remember something. "Oh yeah, Christmas is coming up in a few days. Maybe you can finally get it, and we can leave this pissy section." She joked, moving to the next aisle to see if she wanted anything in the toy section. She was able to find a card game and a very used etch-a-sketch.
Pretty soon, 20 minutes passed, and they were just enjoying their time in the toy section. Losing track of time in the barely lit aisles. But everyone knows that you aren't supposed to enjoy the apocalypse. They had their little fun, now it was time for a small reality check.
A blood curdling scream brings them both back on their feet, alert and clutching their guns back-to-back. They are thrown into fight or flight when they hear a scratchy voice yell out from the darkness, "Y'ALL READY FOR THIS?"
As they both look at each other, the Space Jam theme starts blasting on the loudspeaker.
Mirin didn't stick around to find out what that meant, she immediately took off. Hobie held onto his backpack and gun and booked it after her. When one person runs, you don't ask questions to find out why. They take off towards the escalator. The voice followed behind them screaming "WOAH!" "WOOOAAHH!" They weaved past aisles and sections of clothes and shit. The voice just got closer with heavy, slapping footsteps and sounded utterly insane. They didn't look back, only looking to the side to make sure the other was keeping up. "SHIT! It's gonna eat our ass, Mirin!" Hobie shouts, making Mirin almost trip over some scattered trash on the floor. "WHAT?!" she shouts back, trying to stifle a laugh. "Boy! Shut up and get to the escalator! Jesus!" He laughs as she shakes her head, angrily pointing towards their only escape route. That was hilarious but this is serious, got damn it!
They dash around a corner and jump onto the escalator banister, sliding all the way down to the first floor. "WOAH!" "WOOOAAHH!" They are chased throughout the first floor and out the door. The sun was setting as they hurriedly got into the car and locked the doors. They finally looked to see who was chasing them and just saw a tall, NAKED, portly white man just standing at the entrance of the Walmart. Bald except for his beard and visibly erect, breathing heavily as he watched them. He was just standing there, menacingly! Mirin had seen enough; disgusted, she started the car, and they took off. It seems he just wanted them out of his house, but it may have cost him to do so. The man had to rush back inside as the song playing aloud on the speaker was attracting other unwanted guests.
Still catching their breath, Hobie starts to laugh, "Today is just something else, hm? The hell was he even goin' on about? Ready for what?" Mirin bursts out laughing along with him, the orange rays of the setting sun beaming in her eyes as she drives, "For the 'Woah woah' I guess." She pulls down a mirror to shield the rays from her view. Hobie shakes his head, "Uh uh, I don't know nothin' about that."
The drive home is filled with hysterical laughter. They even run into Roger again as the sun finally dips down behind the mountains. He didn't chase them this time though, just made Mirin have to swerve around him again. He had rammed a zombie out of their way, a nice gesture? Or perhaps he just enjoyed fucking with people since he didn't get to see them as often anymore. "Fucken' Roger, rotten bugger." Hobie said as he stuck his head out the window to flip the moose off. Mirin leans over to pull him back inside by his belt. "Aye! You want him to chase us back home too?"
When they got back and unpacked their spoils, they went on to their own separate devices. In his room, Hobie enjoyed whatever power the iPod had left as he entertained himself with the 3D brain teaser puzzle he found. That would definitely hold his attention as he tried to figure out each level. As he played, he could hear Mirin talking in her room? And a voice talking back?
He eventually went over and knocked, and Mirin creaked her door open but went back to talking. He peeked his head in, being nosy. She was talking to her radio.
?: "What? You always manage to run into the craziest people, I swear. You're alright though, right?"
Mirin: "Yeah, I'm good. Sorry I haven't checked in in a while, but you know you can check in with me too, right?" She looks over at Hobie and waves him over. With a tilt of his head, he obliges.
?: "Yeah yeah, but we agreed this would only be for emergencies. Not check-ins."
Mirin: "I actually have an extended guest, say hi." She waves Hobie over again, and he dips down.
Hobie: "Sup big man?" He then looks over to Mirin, "How are you connecting that?"
?: "Big man?" he repeats a bit taken aback. "Hello to you too? Look, Marina, just stay safe alright? And only use this for emergencies… Nice hearing from you though. Please keep that radio charged."
The radio makes a loud scratchy noise as it cuts out. Hobie was still looking at mirin, waiting for his answer. "The radio is solar powered, and the antenna here makes it so I can reach out."
"And who was that that's got you all smiley, huh? You sounded so cute talking to him." Hobie teased. "That was my neighbor, Miguel." "Aaaaah, so he's the Mexican bloke in your photo album, yeah? Okay~" Mirin just waved him off, shaking her head at whatever he was insinuating. "Yeah? What of it?" She joked, mimicking his accent. "Oi, so it's like that then, is it?" He just gives her a knowing face, enjoying her being the one a bit flustered and off guard for once. He wiggles his eyebrows with a smirk.
"Cut it out, man. Or you're not getting any dinner tonight.' She scoffed, playfully nudging him to the side.