Claustrophobic | Skephalo

Truth or Dare

sorry if updates are a bit slower this week, i have college application deadlines approaching and i gotta work on those!

to make up for it, each chapter will be longer

anyways, thank you for 7k reads! <3

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Darryl

"Truth!" Darryl exclaims, sinking into the couch with delight. It was a new day, and he had finally agreed to play one of Zak's games. It was truth or dare, which Darryl wasn't too fond of, but he figured there was nothing else to do. The sky was cloudy and both boys agreed that it looked like it was going to rain, so they decided that today would be their "resting day," and that they would get back to hunting for food and water tomorrow.

Darryl didn't mind the rest. He enjoys spending time with Zak, and to him, it just felt good to have a normal conversation with someone about topics other than the broken world.

Rocco was probably the most uncomfortable about the rainstorm heading for Zak's house. He liked to roam outside often, as Darryl discovered, so being cooped up was seemingly making Rocco tense. At the moment, though, Rocco was asleep underneath Zak's dangling-off-the-couch feet contently.

"Oh, come on!" Zak throws his arms up in frustration. "You can't pick truth every time!"

"Yes I can! Now, ask me something."

"Fine... What's your last name?"

"That's such a stupid question, Zak! Ask me something more meaningful, so we can actually get to know each other while playing this game," Darryl responds.

"Okay, uh... Oh, I got one. You're claustrophobic, yeah?"

"Um... Yeah? Is that the question?"

"No, I wanted to ask, how did your whole fear start? Was it random, or did something happen during the apocalypse to make small spaces just seem gross?"

"Okay, wow. For starters, gross isn't the word I would use. Yeah, though, something did happen to start the whole phobia." Darryl hesitates. "When I was younger, I was in a plane crash."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. It wasn't horrible, no one was hurt too badly, but I don't know... The feeling of being locked inside the plane while it was falling just... I remember wanting to jump, rather than crash land. After that day whenever I was in a confined space for too long I would often have panic attacks. I grew out of it a little, but sometimes it just hits me."

"I get it, sort of. So you don't like planes either, then?"

"No way!" Darryl chuckles. "Anyways, it's your turn now. Truth or dare?"

"Hmm... Truth."

"Okay. Since we're on the topic of fears, what's your biggest?"

"Definitely being the last person alive."

"You answered quickly."

"I think about it a lot, that's why. Sure, the zombies scare me, but I don't think I could ever  go back to being alone. That was the worst part of my life." Zak explains.

"Well, then it's a good thing I'm not going anywhere." Darryl gives Zak a reassuring smile.

"I know. Hey, Darryl?"

"What?"

"Thanks for sticking with me for the past week or so. I know you chose to, but it means a lot, especially since your whole life seemed to be figured out before."