0800 Hours [slash]

0800 Hours: Recording #014

Click.

"0800 hours, three days since the generator went down. I've got no idea what's happened. Dad was always the one who dealt with the electrical shit, really. I'm kind of useless when it comes to physics, to be honest. I'm surprised my eavesdropping parasite isn't able to figure out what's up though, considering he wanted to be an engineer and all."

"Ok first of all, I wanted to do naval architecture, which is a world away from a triple E degree. Second, you've a cheek to call me a parasite when you've been leeching off of the Co-Operative's last stock for months. If anything, I'd be an epiparasite, as I'm feeding off of you, another parasite. It's mutual parasitism. Hyperparasitism."

"You're a fucking nerd, that's what you are."

"Imbibe my spermatozoa."

A wheeze of laughter explodes in the air, spores of amusement flitting around the two.

"Did you just tell me to scientifically suck your dick?"

"... Technically, I told you to drink my semen but the sentiment was the same, yeah."

"Oh, so you basically called me a cum guzzler. Thanks."

"Any time."

The faintest tint of a smile colours the response. A brief pause follows, before someone sucks in a nervous, dry breath.

"What are we gonna do about the generator, Cye? We can't boil the water or anything without power."

"I know."

"I mean, I've got some bottled water left, but not enough to last any more than about a hundred and eight days, especially between the two of us."

A soft rain weakly taps against glass, masking the silence that has descended upon them.

"... You plan to share?"

"Wha'? What are you even talking about? Share what?"

"Your bottled water. With, uh... With me."

...

"Why would you even need to ask that, you complete and utter numpty?! Obviously I'd share my water with you! Jesus!"

The downpour intensities. The splashing does not stifle the sudden surprised inhalation.

"... Oh."

"You're an idiot. And annoying. And a big fucking nerd. But like, I wouldn't let you, y'know, die, or anything... I mean, I like to think that we're, I don't know, friends or something..."

Awkwardness seeps in like an ocean wave, washing away the anger imprinted on the sand and leaving a smooth silence in its wake. A single cough protrudes from the stillness.

"... Ah. Sor-"

"Don't you even dare make this moment any more gay than it already is, you dickhead. Back to the issue at hand - the generator's broke. And we can't fix it. And we'll eventually run out of water. What's our game plan? Because I don't know about you, but I'd quite like to, y'know, survive or something. Surviving seems like a very attractive option right now."

"I was on my way to Beith."

"Uh... you what?"

Someone clumsily clears their throat.

"When I arrived at your house -"

"Broke in to my house."

"- I was only planning to stay for a few days and recuperate for a bit. I was heading to Beith before I got, em, sidetracked."

"Sidetracked?"

"Shut up, Cam."

"Ok, so what exactly is Beith anyway? Why would you want to go there?"

A low whistle pierces the conversation.

"Apparently, it was pretty infamous as a smuggler's town in the eighteenth century."

"Right..."

"And it allegedly still lives up to it's reputation today."

"I'm not following."

One speaker draws in a deep, exasperated sigh.

"There's a Sanctuary in Beith. The entire town was pretty much converted into a safe haven. And historically, Beith has always been a smuggler's town. Supposedly they're still rather good at smuggling things in and out. For example, people branded with a biohazard tag..."

The sentence peters away suggestively.

"Oh..."

"Mmhm."

"Where is this Beith place?"

"About twenty miles off Glasgow."

"Fuck! That's what, two hundred odd miles? And you were planning to walk it? Alone?"

"It'd only take about ten days tops."

"You are absolutely fucking mental."

"You got a better idea?"

"... No."

"Tch."

Ebullient rain wanes to a gentle pitter-patter, light yet insistent.

"So that's the plan then? Head to Beith? Hope they take us in? Try not to get fucking Infected in the ten days that we'll be alone and unprotected in the wilderness of the highlands?"

"Pretty much."

"... Oh, what the hell? We'll die if we stay here anyway. Count me in."

Click.