WILLA, стр. 38
Tanner caught me before I could do any more damage to my body by hitting the concrete floor—the basement wasn’t a finished one. He tended my wound and force-fed me meds that he’d found in the house. He’d also scouted the surrounding homes once most of the horde had passed through the area for more meds.
To my utter horror, Tanner had even changed my clothes and washed me when I’d pissed myself and the pile of blankets on which I slept. Thank God, in the few days I was out, I hadn’t had to shit. Tanner promised he wore gloves and masks and that the room was dark when he had to clean me, so he didn’t see that much or touch anything he didn’t have to.
I was grateful for that but embarrassed when I realized Tanner had put an adult diaper on me, though. I’m sure that made clean up simpler, and it made sense to do so, and it was something I would have to keep in mind for the future, but wearing one was no less humiliating.
The one thing Tanner hadn’t been able to get me to do while I was fighting off the infection was to eat. He said I even spit out baby food. That explained why I was starving when I finally came to and why I felt so weak. He told me that the owners of the house had some electrolyte and glucose tablets that he put under my tongue. One helped prevent my blood sugar from dropping, and the other kept me hydrated, though I hadn’t refused water that often.
Once the hordes of zombies passed, Tanner carried me from the house. He took me to the store he’d been hiding out in for the past few weeks. The stock room of the grocery was where I’d finally woken.
I’m sure I’d opened my eyes many times in the days since I’d fallen ill and talked some if I’d been asking for my mom. I even remembered some of it when I regained consciousness.
“Where am I?” I asked, not fully opening my eyes to see my surroundings.
The smell of the stock room and the feel of the hard ground under me told me that I wasn’t outside, which was where I was when I had my last coherent thought.
“You’re safe,” the boy that I’d learn was Tanner said, coming to sit beside me.
“My head hurts,” I said, reaching up to cup my forehead.
“I would imagine so. You haven’t had much to eat or drink for a few days. You’ve been running a high fever as well. When you can, you should sip some water and maybe take a few bites of bread.”
“Bread? There hasn’t been bread in a long time.”
“True. I found some rolls in the freezer. This place had a backup generator that only recently stopped working. Someone was probably staying here before I found it. There isn’t a great deal of frozen or cold food left, but there’s some.”
Tanner was talking too much and too fast for my foggy head to take in everything he said, so I merely responded with, “I have to pee,” before trying to get up.
“We have a facility for that. The bathroom isn’t the cleanest thing on the planet, but it’ll do. Here, I’ll help you stand,” Tanner said, all but lifting me to my feet.
He led me to the bathroom and left me to do my business on my own.
Water didn’t flow through the pipes anymore, but on a shelf, Tanner had a few jugs of what looked like clean water. I used some to wash my face in the hopes that the cold water would wake me. The washing helped, but I still felt a bit groggy when I stepped out of the restroom.
Tanner was dutifully waiting for me outside the door to help walk me back to my pallet on the floor.
I didn’t lie down to the boy’s noticeable relief.
“Do you think you could eat something as simple as chicken noodle soup?” he asked, holding up an unopen can.
I nodded.
“It’ll be cold. I hope you don’t mind. I don’t have a way of heating food in here. I have a grill outback, but it’s dark, and I don’t like being outside at night.”
“Cold is fine,” I said before taking a sip of the bottle of water he handed me.
Tanner opened the can and poured its contents into a clean bowl then gave it to me along with a few pills.
“What are those?” I asked, eyeing his hand with caution.
“An antibiotic and steroid. I can give you a pain pill, as well, if you think you need it.”
I shook my head and took the pills. I knew nothing about medicine, so I had to trust that the boy was giving me something safe. He appeared to have taken care of me for the last few days, so I didn’t think he would wait until that moment to hurt me.
“How long have I been unconscious?” I asked as I ate.
“Three days, I think,” Tanner said.
“You didn’t find me here,” I said, looking around the darkened room.
“No. I was hiding from zombies in a basement. You were attempting to do the same, except that you were sick. You nearly fell down the steps. I caught you, took care of your wound, and brought you back here with me once it was safe.”
“You could have left me to die,” I said, handing him my empty bowl. “I wasn’t your responsibility.”
“No, I couldn’t, and yes, you are. We are all each other’s responsibility no matter what some of those assholes out there think. Just because it’s the end of the world doesn’t mean we can let go of our humanity.”
Tanner didn’t offer to open more food for me. I was still hungry,