As the days went by, everything began to feel repetitive and tired, not to mention dreadful. The air felt thick as smoke from nearby burning houses polluted it-- the fires set by the military to contain the disease and entertain the small minded.
One of the only things that kept a smile on my face was the fact that, even with things as bad as they seem, I get to wake up next to the person I'd missed so much.
We'd been through a lot; fights, tears, scares, but he's the one person I wouldn't think twice about risking my life for.. and I know he feels the same, because he's proven it.
As I walked through the neighborhood to meet Nick, the hot California sun beating down, I stumbled back as I nearly bumped into Madison.
"Hey," She stopped me, "Do you know why Nick doesn't want his pill?" She asked, holding the prescription drug between her fingers.
I furrowed my eyebrows, "He didn't want it?"
She shook her head, "He said he just forgot to take it this morning." She explained as she held the pill out to me, "Maybe see if you can get him to take it."
"I'll uh- I'll talk to him." I said as I slid it into my front pocket, almost lost in thought as to why an addict would refuse a drug that he was so worried about not having enough of just days earlier.
***
"Hey." Nick smiled from the pool as he noticed me walking into the abandoned backyard of a stranger.
"Hey yourself." I said back, walking closer to the pool edge as he swam to meet me.
"You coming in?" He asked, looking up at me as he cocked his head.
I knelt down, sitting back on my feet as I tried to answer my own question, "Why didn't you take the Oxy?"
He chuckled, leaning back as he held onto the ledge, "I thought the whole point of all of this was so I eventually wouldn't need Oxys, or Hydros, or-"
"Nick, it is, but me and you both know that sobering up doesn't happen this fast-- it can't, not with you at least."
"Listen," Nick said as he grabbed my hands, "I'm ok-- I feel fine."
I looked down at our hands, knowing from experience that something was up, "If you're somehow using again-"
"Han.." he began, talking over me.
"Or finding some other way to get high, I'd rather you just tell me now."
Nick sighed, his eyes scanning the area around us before he looked back up at me, "There are some sick people around here-- people who aren't gonna make it, who- who aren't gonna get anything from the medicine they're being given and I-"
"Nick.." I sighed, feeling defeated.
"It can help me, Hannah." He squeezed my hands, "You saw it-- I barely have enough Oxy left so if something happens, we need to save what we can-"
"Something is already happening!" I stopped him as I stood up, frustrated that he was slipping into the same junky reasoning he always did, "The world is dying and if you end up having a bad come down because of this.. you're as good as dead here, Nick."
***
"Alright folks, listen!" A soldier began, standing in the back of a large military truck as I headed towards the crowd surrounding it, "You are in one of twelve safe zones south of the San Gabriels, okay? So you guys are the lucky ones-- you guys get to stay in your homes and ride this thing out, alright? So relax, count your blessings, be nice.. so I don't have to shoot you."
I scoffed at his last remark even though it sent a chill up my spine-- the intimidation tactic being less of a joke and more of a direct threat to those that dared any of the military men.
I might be a bit biased being that I've never had a good relationship with the authorities, mainly because of Nick, but these soldiers weren't our saviors.
"Hannah, hey." I heard my named being called from behind me before I turned around, seeing Chris waving me over.
"What's up?" I asked as a reached him, a camcorder grasped in his hand before he guided me inside the house.
"I was sitting up on the roof again, and I think I saw something this time-- outside of the fence."
"Something.. like what?" I asked before he flipped the screen to the camera open, holding it in front of me.
"Out there-- in that house." He pointed towards the screen as a light flickered in the distance, "Like someone is trying to signal us, like they need help or something, right?"
I focused more on the video as he played it over again, before sighing, "It could just be the sun reflecting off of a wind chime with some metal on it or.. literally anything an old person would hang outside their house."
"But what if it's not? What if someone is in danger?"
"In danger of what?" Madison asked as she walked into the living room.
"You have to see this-" Chris began as he rushed over to her, before she switched the subject.
"Han, did you talk to Nick?" She asked.
"Yeah," I sighed, "But he told me the same thing he told you, he doesn't need it."
"And you believe him?"
I shrugged, "There isn't really any other answer."
"Yeah.. I guess." She breathed out before Chris began explaining to her the same thing he brought up to me, giving me an opportunity to slip away from this conversation as I headed upstairs.
I didn't make it a habit of lying to Madison, in fact, the only time I ever did was to protect Nick. I knew if she had any idea of what he was actually doing, she'd be on him until he disappeared again, and in a time like this, him trying to leave is the last thing we needed.
And it's not that I wasn't worried about him feeding into his addiction on his own, because I was, but Nick knows drugs and he knows his body-- he's smart as hell, so if this is what he has to do for now to be ok, then there's nothing I can do about it.. but that doesn't mean I have to be apart of it.
_____
A bit more of a look into the relationships Hannah has with people.