Hope On The Rocks/Issue 5

This is Issue 5 of Hope On The Rocks, entitled "Crush".

This issue is Lia-centric.

105, Crush
I were never the “popular” girl in the class. In fact, most of my class hated me. Their reason were, I liked shooting, and by that they concluded I was a psychopat. They don’t laugh anymore. Well... They’re probably dead, but that’s not my point.

“How does it look on power, Tex?” Chad asks, as he takes a duffelbag over his shoulder. After the men had cleared out the rooms, we all get to have a bed for ourselves. I will be sharing apartment with my parents, sleeping on the couch, but it’s better than nothing. Especially in these days.

“There’s still power.” Texas says. For a few days now, he has been trying to fix his old shortwawe radio.

One of our biggest worries is that the power will go down. If that happens, we will not have acces to light, TV, radio, and so on.

“C’mon, Lia.” My dad says and pats me on the shoulder. He and my mom, head to the staircase and begin to walk up to our new apartment.

I take my bag over my shoulder and begins to walk after them. I meet Miles on my way. He gives me a silent smile. I can’t see it, but I’m pretty sure I blush. Miles takes a plasticbag, and then heads upstairs again.

“You like him?” I hear the arabic man, Al, asking. I stop, and turn around.

“What?” I say, softly, acting like i didn’t hear him.

Al takes a sip of his drink. He is sitting at one of the tables, drinking. Yesterday he was told about the end of the world, after being cut off for three days. He nods, signaling I should take a seat.

I look over my shoulder, and only see Texas working on the radio. I drop my bag on the floor, and walk over to Al, sitting down across him.

You could describe Ailim as tall, dark and scrawny. He has black hair, and a short black beard. His face looks sad, probably because he is drunk. He is wearing a blue shirt and a pair of jeans. In his hand, a yellow drink is placed.

“You like him?” Al repeats.

I open my mouth as to answer, but instead just look Al in the eyes. I see they’re brown and sad.

“Thought so.” Al says and takes a sip of the drink. On the table, I see a bottle with an orange-brown fluid. The label says ‘GlenDronach’. “My girlfriend died two days before all this.”

I look down, as if I’m ashamed. It feels awkward, though, so I look up again. “I’m sorry.”

Al smiles. “Yea, me too.”

“It’s working!” I hear Texas yell, followed by static. A small ‘poof’ is heard, and Texas cries out: “Dammit!”

Al continues: “We buried her four days ago. The day of the outbreak, apparently.” He takes another sip, this time a larger one. “I drank myself shitfaced. Apparently, i slept for three days.” He made a dry laugh, and then looked at me. “What i’m trying to say is... don’t get in love with him. It wont last forever.”

Later that day, I am sitting at the bar alone. It’s 3 am or something. Everyone else are sleeping. I might only be 17 years old, but right now I just feel like drinking. After talking to Al, it really feels like the end of the world. Before that talk, I had a hope. Now there’s none.

“What are you doing up at this time, young lady?” A dark voice says. I turn my head and see Chad. He approaches and sits down next to me.

He takes a whiskey glass and looks at me, asking for the bottle of whiskey without any words. I give it to him, the same bottle Al was drinking of early.

“I...” I stutter, feeling the alchohol. I feel dizzy. “I talked to Al earlier.”

“Yea?” Chad says and pours some of the orange-brown whiskey in his glass. “What did he say?”

“It’s... it’s silly.” I say and smile.

“No, come on.” Chad says. I haven’t seen him this friendly since we met.

“I kinda... have a crush on Miles...” I begin.

“Oh, really, i hadn’t noticed.” Chad says, with a smile.

I smile. “Al told me not to waste my time with stuff like love... He said it wouldn’t last.”

Chad nods, takes a sip of his drink and looks at me. “If you really like him, you should waste your time with it. Who knows when we’re gonna die?”

I look at Chad with a smile. We talk for a short while, before going to bed. Today, I go to bed with mixed feelings. I feel like Al was right in something, but so was Chad. I guess i’ll let time decide what to do.