Another Reality

I get to the table where most of my friends are already sitting talking, so I approach "Hey Al! Sit down, the food just got ready." Says Luci. Then I sit in an empty chair next to her and start eating. Soup and some breads. Shit! I hate soup! But I start eating anyway, because I'm starving.

I hear steps approaching and I see Janis and Alicia arriving at the table. Alicia has her hair wet with the same pants and has only changed her blouse by a slightly wider blouse "Hey girls! Come eat! It's delicious!". Luci says again taking me out of my trance. I turn my attention to my food and see Janis sitting in front of me and Alicia a little more to the side. Janis looks at me and gives me a smile, which I reciprocate. Weird. I look a little to the side and see Alicia already eating "You can stay here as long as you want, you are all welcome here". I hear Grace talking.

"Thank you for your generous hospitality, we couldn't be more grateful." Answers June.

"But of course... I wasn't going to let you walk around alone, I would never forgive myself if something happened to you guys knowing that I could have helped." Smiles Grace.

"Thank you... you're very kind...". Laura speaks.

"How did you get this gun?". I'm interrupting the conversation.

"Al...". Luci says looking at me with a face of disapproval.

"What? I'm just curious... aren't you? How does a woman alone in this neighborhood have a gun?" I insist.

Grace turns her attention to me, as well as everyone around "It's okay... she's curious, isn't she?". Grace says with a smile on her face. I nod with my head agreeing and I wait for her to continue "Well, I already had this weapon before this all started, but I never had to use it before until now... it was my father's. He gave it to me when I turned twenty. He said that this would be my new best friend, that whenever I needed it, it would be there for me... turns out he was right." She ends with a more serious tone.

"Okay, then... I think we've already clarified that. Thank you for your answer Grace... I hope I didn't offend you with this question... but you have to understand that I was a little apprehensive about entering a house with a woman holding a gun." I say honestly.

"It’s all right, Al... I understand. I hope you're calmer now. As I said, I don't intend to do anything with you... quite the contrary." She smiles again.

"Yeah... and honestly... I'm glad you had this gun because if you didn’t we wouldn't know what would have happened". I reciprocate the smile.

"Right timing... I hope you liked the soup. I don't have much but... I hope it pleased you guys". Grace speaks.

"It's a delight Grace... thank you very much". Say Janis.

"That's all we needed." June says.

I just agree with my head and I smile a little hoping to look honest enough, I see Alicia looking at me holding her laugh, because she knows I don’t like soup because we've already got into several fights before about how I think soup is not considered dinner and it's very disgusting. And she disagreed, of course. I hold a smile too and start eating again before I see Janis looking at me again. What does this woman want?! I look down and eat again, listening to talk and laughter.

"That's what I managed to get at the last minute... it's not very comfortable but..." Grace starts but is soon interrupted by June.

"You're already doing a lot for us... it's all great, don't worry."

I see some blankets thrown on the floor of the room and some pillows.

"Well... feel free, whatever you need call me, I'll be in my room." She says leaving, I follow her.

"Hey Grace wait a minute." I hold her by the arm. She turns around.

"Yes? Any questions?".

"No... I just wanted to apologize. I know I'm a little hard to put up with, I was just worried about our safety... I didn't want to have touched on a difficult subject... I'm not very good at it... what I'm trying to say is...". She puts her hand on my arm and smiles.

"Don't worry, Al! I understand... I would have done the same if I was you. There's nothing to apologize for."

"Really? Thank you, Grace. I know I haven't spoken before but... I really thank you for what you've done and continue to do for us." I speak honestly.

"It’s nothing... and if you continue here I'll see what I do for you to eat other than soup!" She says laughing.

"What?... Do you...? How did you know?". I ask with a shocker face.

"Hahaha, come on Al! I saw it in your face as soon as I put that plate in front of you... but don't worry... I have several options." She smiles once again and goes towards her room.

"Thank you!... again." I smile.

So I go back to the room and see that some are already laying there. I see June and John close to each other. Laura, Tom, Janis, Dwight and Strand in a corner. Morgan and Daniel decided to be on watch tonight just as a precaution. Luci and Alicia on the other side, when I see a small space near Alicia I decide to go there. I lie on one of the blankets and turn towards her. She's already looking at me with a worried face "Are you hungry? I can go get something for you... I don't think Grace would mind."

"What?... No! Don't worry, I'm not hungry... by the way I talked to Grace and she told me she would prepare something else for me... ssshhhhh". I put my index finger in my mouth and ask for a secret. She laughs.

"Wow! Look at you! Already receiving vip treatment?! You work fast Al!" She hits my arm playing.

"Not fast enough...". Wait! Did I just say that out loud?! Oh my God!

"What do you mean?... I don't understand..." She changes her expression.

"Nothing!... I didn't mean anything... it's just something in my head." I answer quickly.

"All right then... I think I'll try to sleep now... I'll see you tomorrow. Good night." She says turning with her belly up.

"All right... good night, Alicia." I do the same.

After a few minutes in silence when I think everyone is sleeping, I hear as if it was a whisper "Do you think we'll be fine?". Alicia.

I look sideways towards her and see that she is in the same position as before.

"What?... why do you say that?". I ask.

"I know there... after the things I saw, it's kind of hard to believe that we'll be fine...". Before she continues, I turn aside and make a move that I wasn't even waiting myself. I hold her hand. And that makes her look at me.

"Hey... you don't have to torture yourself with this, we've been fine so far... and we'll continue like this. I'm sure." I mean looking into her eyes. Those eyes.

"How can you be sure Al? We could have died in that pharmacy if it hadn't been for a miracle called Grace... I don't know if we can...".

"Ssshhhh... you're right. There's no way to know what's going to happen to us from now on... all we have left is to live in the moment. We don't know how long this will last... we only have the present... and we should enjoy it as long as we can." I end up smiling.

She is thoughtful for a few seconds and replies "You’re right... we should enjoy the present... since when did you get so wise?". She asks smiling.

"Hey! I've always been wise! I just didn't want to demonstrate before...". I laugh with her.

And we stayed like this for a few more minutes until she says again "How can you be so sure of that?".

"Well... I’m not... but I haven't lost my hopes yet... and by the way, we now have Grace and her super gun!" I speak a little louder and laughing.

"Ssshhh... Al! They're all sleeping." She laughs low.

"Sorry...". I whisper.

"You have no filter, huh Al!". She hits my arm again.

"Hey! At least you laughed! You should be thanking me!" I whisper.

She laughs a little more "You're right... thank you for that." She winks at me and turns on her stomach again "I’ll see you tomorrow... good night". Wait a minute! She just winked at me! That's exactly what happened! Or am I just imagining things! I recompose myself and turn around "Good night".