Isolated. {Lams}

Chapter Thirty Three

John Pov
The bus came to a stop, and the bus driver announced,
"Welcome to Arizona!"

The people in the bus cheered a bit, clapping. I nudged Alex, who was sleeping on my lap.

He yawned, sitting up.
"Are we there?"
He asked, wiping his eyes.

"Mhm." I hummed, standing up.
He stood up and we filed out of the bus.

"Okay. So we should get shitty jobs at like..Jimmy Johns or some shit and slowly get an apartment and become financially stable." Alex said.

I watched the bus drive away.
I nodded.

We should find somewhere to stay tonight." I said, leaning on the wall of some restaurant.

"Do you still have any bread?"
He asked.

"Yeah. It's real stale though."
I told him.

He sat down and buried his head in his hands. I sat next to him, watching people walk by.

"I'm so hungry."
He muttered, running his hand through his hair.

"We could..go beg for something from that store," I said, pointing to the small corner shop.

He chuckled sadly.
"We've been reduced to begging from corner shops, huh?" He said.

I shrugged.
"We gotta do something or we'll starve."

He gave a short nod, standing up.
We crossed the street, going into the shop.

There was no one inside except for a person at the counter.

"Hello! How may I help you?" He asked.

"..C-can we get something for free?"
I asked, faking a stutter.

Alex coughed a few times, rolling up his sleeves so his bandages were visible.

"I..don't think I'm allowed to do that." The man said.

"Please, my boyfriend hasn't eaten in days..W-we only just got to Arizona and we're already on the streets," I said, pushing Alex forward a bit.

Alex fake coughed again.
The man looked back behind him.

"Please," Alex choked, wiping his nose. "Fine, Fine. Come here." He said, motioning for us to come over.

He gave us a pack of crackers and water.

"Now don't say I didn't give you nothin'. Water is a lot in Arizona.
Ask a fish.
In the desert."
He said.

I smiled gratefully.
"Thank you sir." Alex said.
We left.

"Why do old people talk?" Alex asked, eating a cracker.

"To prove they're still alive." I replied, taking a sip of my water.

We sat down at a bus bench, eating crackers and drinking water.

"I think we did pretty well in there." Alex said.

"Yeah. Nice fake coughing," I noted. "Nice fake stutter." He said.

I glanced at his bandages.
They were drenched in new blood.

"Jesus.." I groaned, trying not to gag. "We have to get your arm stitched."
I said.

"And new bandages." He added.

"I cant even look at your arm- can you like..roll down your sleeve or something?" I asked.

He groaned, pulling down his sleeves. "Do you want to sleep on the bench tonight?" I asked.

"Yeah. Sure, but tomorrow we are getting jobs. Or at least trying to. I ain't living on the street for the rest of my damn life." He said.

"Fair enough."
I muttered, drinking my water.

A guy walked by and put five dollars down. "Heyyy!" Alex exclaimed.

"We could buy food with this or somethin'!" He told me.

"No, we should get bandages and sewing supplies so we don't have to keep getting fucked over because of your wrist." I said.

"We can just beg for food." I told him.

He groaned.
"I'm fine."

"Yeah. Right. Two days ago you were losing the light in your eyes on a hotel bed because your cut opened."
I told him.

"I was fine."
He hissed.

"You were not! You were on the verge of crying!" I exclaimed.

That shut him up.
He looked away, drinking his water.

"So don't fucking tell me you were fine." I said, finishing our conversation.

He sighed, scanning the small amount of people walking by.

This is so much different from New York. There's a lot more people there.

"Imma go to sleep." Alex told me, taking off his Jacket and using it as a pillow.

I didn't know what else to do, so I followed pursuit of Alex and slowly fell asleep.