Hide For Me

Seven

I grab some clothing from my bag, that isn't covered with stains and then walk up to the bathrooms, to freshen myself up. As I walk past the figure on the couch, the points at the bathroom, "There's a clean towel in there for you, Phil put one in there when he heard there was a new member. It should have your name on the tag." I nod and mumble a quick "thanks," before continuing to the bathroom.

I walk in and lock the door behind me. The only real problems this bathroom had was: no light, apart from the window and a few candles, a crackled mirror, a cracked sink basin and cracked tiles. There's a light blue towel sitting on the side of the bath, I pick it up and inspect it, finding my name written on the tag. I remove my clothing and place them next to the towel. The rusted taps were hard to twist at first but then quickly gave in to my efforts. The water felt nice against my bruised skin. It had been a while since I've felt warm, clean water, splash against my bearskin. The soap smelt refreshing and the shampoo smelt of green apples. I flow my fingers through my hair, finally feeling it dust and dirt free. Finally, I could relax.

I emerge from the bathroom, all freshened up and clean. I look down the hall and see Ant sitting on the couch, talking to the same figure who was there earlier. He had brown curly hair, sunglasses, a grey t-shirt, black pants and a multi-coloured cape, predominantly blue, purple and pink. "Oh, George! Your just in time! Dinner is almost ready," Ant stood up and smiled, "Let's go get you a seat."

I followed Ant into the dining room, it was a small room the surprisingly fit a large wooden table. Ant sat down, "You can sit here. Next to me and Caroline." I sit down in my assigned seat, the chair creaking under my weight. There were three other people at the table; Zak, the man from the couch and another new person that I haven't met. He was tall, had black and white hair, a white shirt and black pants. Him and the figure from the couch were in engaging in conversation. I sit down and look down at my hands, twiddling my thumbs. The room is filled with the sweet aroma of roast meats and vegetables. "Ever had venison before George?" Darryl asked me, I never realised how soft his voice was. "I've only had it once before, at a fancy restaurant when I was little,"
"Oh... well I'll just say that it's a lot leaner then something like beef and pork," he smiled and placed a plate in the middle of the table. It was the back leg of the deer, although it had been cut in a way to make it look like any other roast. There was roast pumpkin and potatoes, steamed green beans, carrots and corn. It felt so strange to be sewing a large meal like this after only eating scraps every other day.

After a few minutes, the table was set with plates, cutlery and cups and everyone was sitting down. Clay had his mask on the table, next to his plate, and I couldn't help but stare. I was mesmerised by his emerald green eyes and his dirty blond hair looked soft. He looked as if he hadn't been affected by the apocalypse at all. Clay then stood up, making me snap back into reality, and got everyone's attention by tapping his glass with his fork. "Attention, I would like to make a few toasts. "First of all, for George. Our newest member to the Somnium clan!" George smiled as everyone turned towards him and studied their newest member, "A toast to Caroline, Darryl and Zak, to helping him come here,"
"It should be just me! The couple were to busy being sad about their lover's quarrel earlier today!" Half of the members started laughing as Darryl covered his face with his hoodie and Zak's face burned up. "And finally, to Niki and Darryl, for this delicious meal!" He sat back down and people began serving themselves food.

I waited until everyone else had served themselves before I finally got my food. The meat melted in my mouth and the potatoes were crispy with the other veggies being perfectly seasoned. I savoured every last bite. "You're enjoying it, I see!" Caroline chuckled and I nod, "My compliments to the chef!" I say between mouth fulls. "Yes, Darryl and Niki are good cooks, although we don't have this all the time. Only on special occasions and people take turns cooking. Most of the time we all have our own things to do, Darryl scouts different areas, looking walkers and people, whilst Niki patrols the city, looking through buildings we have not yet looked through." She took another bite of her food, "Speaking of which, Clay should give you your role and partner tonight." I knew that if I wanted to stay then I had to do my part in helping the group. I just hoped that I was going to be with someone I already knew.