when waking up clay is still asleep. the sunlight shines on his face and all his freckles are visible. i smile and go downstairs to see nick cooking eggs in the kitchen.
"so you and clay get to sleep together but i have to sleep all on my own, without cuddles. it seems unfair to me." he notices.
"what?" i say confused still trying to wake up.
"are you and clay dating?" nick teased.
"what? no. why would you think that?" i asked as i sat down on the couch.
"is it strange that i seem more invested in your relationship than you are?" nick asks handing me a plate with an omelette.
"thanks." i start. "you know, alyssa used to ask me that all the time."
"changing the subject, i see." nick says sitting next to me.
"i hope she's ok." i share before i start eating my food.
"did i get any breakfast?" i hear clay ask from the stairs.
"on the kitchen counter." nick answers with his mouth still full of food.
"we're leaving in five." clay says after finishing his food.
i quickly go say bye to patches and check the perimeter before walking to the car. on the way to find a good place nick shows me the basic stuff like how to reload the ammo.
when we arrive clay ties a rope with an apple tied to it to a tree. he guides my arms higher and tells me exactly what to do. i pull the trigger and it hits the apple.
"i did it!" i exclaim.
"you did!" clay says back. he replaces the apple with a new one and pushes it so it's moving. "now try this."
he guides my arms higher once again and tells me to just focus on the apples' movement.
i shoot, i miss. i shoot again, i miss.
"dude! it's not that hard." nick says chewing on the other apple.
"don't listen to him, you're doing great for your first time." clay said. "just focus."
i hit it.
"you did it!" clay exclaims.
"guys!" nick yells. i look in his direction and see a few dead people walking towards us.
"let me try!" i say pointing my gun at one of them.
i miss.
"try again." clay whispers. "just relax. it's okay, i'm here."
i miss again.
"just breathe." clay says as nick takes one of them out with a knife. "i believe in you."
i kill it. i watch it's body fall to the ground. without saying anything i pull out my sword walking toward the last one. i swing my sword and look as it's head falls off.
"did you guys see that?" i exclaim.
"yes!" clay yells pulling me into a hug. i hear nick scoff.
when arriving home i immediately go upstairs and write in my diary. after writing about my progress i go downstairs to see clay cooking.
"what are you cooking?" i ask sitting at the counter.
"i found some canned chicken noodle soup. i hope that's alright." he says.
"it's fine with me." i smile.
after dinner nick goes upstairs to shower. "i wanna practice some more with my sword." i start. "what about going out tomorrow?"
"sure. where?" clay immediately agrees.
"you know, maybe we could check our friends' houses." i offer.
"angela." clay mumbled.
"i believe that they're still out there. maybe they left a note or something i- can we just check?" i pleaded.
clay sighed and handed me my bowl with soup. "be careful. it's hot."
"please." i whispered.
"okay. but if it gets too dangerous we go back." clay warned.
"yes. of course." i replied.
"promise me."
"i promise. if it gets too dangerous we'll go home." i repeated and started taking little sips of my soup.
after taking a shower i put on my pajamas and take a book out of my bag. i read for about 10 minutes until i feel a big huff of wind come through my window. i get up and close it and try to focus on reading. it's just too cold. i sigh and get up.
i knock on clay's door. he opens it and tiredly looks at me.
"hi i'm sorry it was very cold in my room." i state walking into the room.
"it's okay. i couldn't sleep anyway." clay sighs.
as we settle into bed i realize it feels way warmer in his room.
when waking up i see clay is still asleep. i look out the window and see the sun is still coming up, its too early. i snuggle up against him and lay my head on his chest. clay groans and opens his eyes.
"goodmorning." he smiles.
"goodmorning." i look up at him. "i'm sorry for disturbing you last night, and the day before and the day before that."
"i could get used to waking up next to you, actually." he laughs. "you wanted to go to our friends' houses today right?"
"do you mind if we stay like this for a little longer?" i ask.
"okay." he laughs and throws his arm around me. "let's just cuddle forever."
"that feels nice." i say feeling my eyes close again.
i wake up and see the sun is up. i don't know for how long. "oh my god! clay how long have we been asleep?" i ask.
"a few hours, i think it's about 5pm by now."
"why didn't you wake me up? we were supposed to go out today." i argue.
"you were exhausted," clay starts. "you don't get enough sleep."
i sigh loudly.
"don't worry, we have tomorrow. we can just rest today." clay offers.
it feels wrong staying home when i could be out there looking for my friends but having a rest day sounds so very good right now.
"i really miss them but you're right." i admit.
"i know." clay smirks.
"i'm gonna go check on nick." i say getting up.
"rest day my ass" clay mutters.
"nick!" i yell when i see him crouching down next to the crops.
"i figured out how to plant the seeds correctly!" he yells back excitedly and i notice the book we scavenged on the ground next to him.
"that's great!" i hear clay shout from behind.
it is great.
