Human (Discontinued)

Chapter 6

"Please...get off of me..." I begged, wishing I could get a grip on Randy's alarmingly shiny skin, and also praying that I wouldn't have to touch him more than I needed to.
He eventually released me and I collapsed onto the ground, taking big gulps of dusty air that made my throat feel like I'd swallowed sawdust; anything was better than the smell of a guy who hadn't showered in about three weeks. I was going to have to go home and burn my clothes.
"I'm sorry Cal...I'm sorry. I just...with how things went last time, I was so afraid you...y'know...slit the wrist for good." He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. I glared up at him from where I'd collapsed onto the floor, holding my throat.
"Sorry, but I didn't come here for me. I came because of her." I said, jerking my chin in Meredith's direction.
Randy followed my gaze and sucked in his breath, staring at her like he'd just seen a ghost.
Just like her dad, I thought, getting to my feet and brushing down my jeans.
"No way...No freaking way...Meredith..I...what...?" He mumbled, taking a step back and putting his hands up to his temples, "This can't be happening...how...?"
He looked at me in complete confusion.
"Mind if we talk to you?" Meri asked casually.
"Uh...yeah, sure..." He shook his head slightly, dazed, before turning and making his way into his trailer.
"I think you broke him." I commented, as we followed him in. I felt her fist hitting my back as I ducked through the doorway.
I took a deep breath and regretted it almost immediately, afraid that my eyes were about to water. The inside of his trailer was filthy; there was a cracked sofa in one corner, A table with an infinite amount of plates and bowls, and a dirty rug on the floor. Dust flew into the air when we walked in, and I could hear flies buzzing.
"This is where you live..?" Meredith asked, putting a hand up to her mouth.
"Yup, you like it?" Randy asked, leaning against the table.
"Honestly, I think I preferred being on the ground outside." I said, taking shallow breaths so I wouldn't get too much of the foul stench up my nose. I was close to retching, it smelled like something died in here...twice.
"Ouch. Hurtful Cal," Randy put one hand up to his heart in mock pain, "I take pride in my home you know." He sighed and turned to Meri warily, "So...how are you...still alive?"
"It's a long story, but I was alive the whole time, my wristwatch just stopped. And I don't know why; That's what you need to help us figure out." Meredith explained, pulling her hoodie sleeve down over her wrist.
Randy scratched the back of his head again, and glanced around his trailer.
"Sorry...Meredith...But you can ask Cal, we've been trying to figure out those things for the past two years. I'm not really sure how much help I could be-"
"You have to know something!" She burst out, "Anything! Cal's got nothing, I want to know why it stopped, not how to get rid of it!" She threw me an odd look as she said it. I raised an eyebrow at her in reply, bored.
I knew she wanted to know why it stopped, but I still stood by what I'd said before: Randy was no help. I didn't know where we could go, but anywhere else would probably be a bigger help than here. He'd been helping me take these things apart for years, figuring out the mechanics, what connected where. He was as clueless as I was as to how it could predict your death, and also how one could stop randomly.
"Sorry, I really am, the most I could do is look it up online, if I'm being honest with you..." he trailed off at her dejected look. It took everything I had not to say "I told you so", or smirk, for that matter.
Her shoulder slumped and her hands closed into fists.
"You're sure..?" She whispered, staring down at the grubby rug on the floor.
"Yeah...sorry Meredith."
"Ok...I'm sorry we wasted your time...we'll go...please don't mention it to anyone that we were here..."
"You don't have to lea-"
"Sorry Randy, we really do." I interrupted, lightly taking Meredith's arm and pulling her outside after me. The dusty air was a welcomed relief from the choking hazard inside; both of tried to take deep breaths in and out as quietly as possible.
"You won't tell anyone we were here, right?" I asked, half-turning to look at Randy over my shoulder. He was looking at Meredith, who was standing a little way away with her arms wrapped around herself. He looked like he wanted to say more, but wasn't entirely sure what.
"Yeah...no worries..." he sighed, "You sure you'll both be ok?"
"We'll be fine."
And with that I walked over to Meredith and linked my arm with hers, leading her back out of the dump. I waited till we were a good distance away, just to be certain we weren't in earshot anymore.
"You idiot." I said, dropping her arm and putting my hands into my pockets, "I told you we should've just looked it up."
"I'm sorry...I just thought..."
"That a guy in a junkyard would be able to help?"
She knuckled her eyes and slowed.
"I said I was sorry...what do we do now..?"
"Exactly what he said: We look it up. And I don't mean we google "People who died but actually lived because their watches stopped for the lols", We could find out if this has happened before, maybe if it has then those people have some explanation for it."
She stared at me as we turned out of the junkyard gate, before hitting my arm.
"Why didn't you say that sooner?!" She exclaimed angrily.
"You were ignoring me, and I did say google it." I replied, calmly.
"You didn't explain it!"
"I'm explaining it now aren't I?"
She sighed and muttered, what sounded like, a lot of curse words under her breath.
"Fine...let's google it."