Cartilage Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Track recommendations:
Tim:- ‘Love Is Noise’- The Verve
Fiona:- ‘Valentine’s Day’- Linkin Park
Jess:- ‘She’s So Strange’- Travis
Connor:- ‘Disaster Button’- Snow Patrol

Tim:
We’d been staying here for 3 nights before I could move about unaided and I had my first full meal. Corned beef and sauerkraut might’ve seemed awful before this all happened, but right now it was gourmet. Also, I hadn’t eaten much for 3 days and I was ready to eat anything.  Fiona had been right about the safety of this place, the only Cart encounter was a lost Cart who stumbled up the stairs to the second floor and was promptly beheaded by Liam who was standing guard. And most importantly, Holly had managed to have a few conversations with the mystery girl, she’d told Holly that her name was Jess and that she’d been rescued by another lone survivor who left her here and never came back.
“Well I’m stuffed!” Billie groaned, pushing his plate forward and leaning back in his chair. “Great nosh Cassie!” She smiled and went to clear the dishes.
I stood up to help, “No you sit down, you already made dinner and I haven’t done anything for the group in days.”
Cassie tried to grab the plates back from me, “No honestly I don’t mind...”
“Cassie. Stop, okay? Go have a chat with Fiona or something.” I pulled the plates from her hand and limped through to the kitchen. I signalled to Billie to follow. “So, Billie. I hear that you and Cassie are something of a thing.”
Billie smirked, “A thing? Yeah, it’s a kind of thing. At first it was just like a spur of the moment thing, but she’s just so... and we’re both just so... ah, well, you know the feeling.” Billie said as he began heating a pan of water on the hob.
“What do you mean by that?” I put the plates down on the counter.
“Well, you and Fiona. Don’t think we all don’t notice those looks you give each other.” I started to feel light headed again and I ambled over to a stool in the corner. Billie helped steady me.
“See what the mention of her does to you.” He giggled, “Why you two haven’t gotten it together I’ll never know.”
Of course I’d thought about it, but in this world there’d always been more important things going on. I began thinking back to the first night we were together, just the two of us in the old college hall. I woke up earlier than Fiona and started making breakfast; it was then that I noticed how beautiful she was. Sadly the moment was ruined when she woke up and thought that I was staring at her in her bra. I hadn’t noticed that she was topless... honestly!
“Well, I’d like to... but there’s too much going on. Maybe when we get into the country.”
Billie noticed the water was boiling and mixed it in with some cold water in the sink. I got up to help him but he pushed me back onto the stool. “No boss, I’m fine, and you’re obviously still not.”
“No, it was just talking about Fiona and carrying those plates. At least let me dry.”

Fiona:
Liam, Connor and I had found a map in a local shop when we were out on patrol earlier. Things were quiet around here and we only had one little skirmish with two Carts. Jess’ name had caught on quick and now everyone was using it, much to my displeasure.
I spread it out on the table and handed a black marker to Connor, he was going to be our navigator.
“Right Connor, where are we?”
Connor pointed to a small area of the map, “Here, right between these two main roads, about half a mile away from the shop.” He marked the area with a black square. “This is our best route out of the city.” He traced a route with his finger and tapped the end of the trail, “If we can get to here then we should be able to find somewhere in the countryside to go.”
“How long would it ta-... Oh Tim!” I turned as Tim leant on the table beside me.
“Not started without me I hope.” He said.
“We thought you were sleeping.”
“I was, fortunately Jess woke me up. I don’t want to miss any of this. If I’m not a leader then what am I?”
I was angry at Jess for waking Tim; she knew that Tim still needed his rest. Still, he was our leader and I guess I should’ve woken him.
Connor turned the map, “Here is where we are. As I was saying when you came in, this is the quickest route out of the city. However-“
“Ahem!” Everyone turned to see Jess stood leaning against  the doorway. “Am I allowed to be involved in this? It is my house you’re using.”
I tutted, “It’s not your house. It’s a house. You were brought here by someone else, and you’re in no position to be making demands.”
“Excuse me Miss Prissy, but I don’t think it’s up to you.” She looked right past me at Tim, “Well Tim? Can I stay?”
I turned to look at Tim, hoping that he’d tell her to push off, but I knew that he’d let her stay. “This isn’t some secret war meeting, anyone here is free to come and go as they please.”
Jess hopped over to Tim’s other side and leaned in a little too close to Tim for my liking. Though Tim didn’t bat an eyelid and nodded at Connor to carry on.
“As I was saying,” He gave Jess an angry look, at least I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t stand her. “This way is the quickest, but it does pass a school, which as we learned from our scouting trips at the shop, are often filled with Carts.”
Tim nodded, “Is there a way around it? Or another way out of the city?”
“Well, there is another way around that’ll still let us get out of the city before sunset. But it does mean going back past the shop.”
Jess jabbed a pointed nail at the map, tearing a small hole, “But can’t we just take these two roads? They lead into the city for a bit but then they curve round here and would take us to the motorway.”
I felt an opportunity to get one up on Jess, “The middle of the city is full of Carts. There’s no way we could get through without major confrontation. Besides, when me and Tim left the city years ago, there were too many broken down cars to move anywhere. It’d slow us down and lead to more confrontations.”
Jess looked unimpressed, “I thought this wasn’t a war meeting? And besides, it’s up to Tim which way we go.” She looked at Tim and linked her arm around his.
Tim raised an eyebrow and moved around the table to beside Connor. “Well, I think we should have a vote between Connor’s two routes.” Jess crossed her arms angrily, “I’m sorry Jess, but as Fiona mentioned. We’ve been through the city centre before, and I’m definitely in no hurry to do it again.”
I smirked and winked at Tim, he tried to hold back his own smile as Jess stormed out the room, audibly shouting insults about me.
Tim stood up straight as Connor folded up the map, “We’ll hold the vote tonight after dinner. Hopefully Jess’ll be too full to complain.” Tim walked up to me as we left the room and put his arm around my shoulders. “Maybe in future, try not to anger the girl with very sharp and painful nails.”

Jess:

That stuck up little cow! How dare she speak to me like that! I should make them leave tonight! But that would risk the others’ safety, and it’s just her I hate. I don’t know what Tim sees in her, obviously no enough to ask her out... so does that mean he only likes her as a friend?! Maybe I’m still in with a chance! But I won’t be able to do anything looking like this. I need new clothes and get rid of these nails, I knew they were a stupid thing to have.
“Hey Rick!”
“It’s Eric actually.” He didn’t even turn around, did they all hate me?
“Yeah, sorry, I’m still getting used to names. Um... are you going out on patrol later?”
He looked at his watch, “Yeah, in about half an hour. Why?”
I looked down at my toes to hide my blushing, “I was wondering if I could come with you. ‘Cos these clothes are all tatty and it wouldn’t be practical to have just the one outfit. And there’s a clothes shop two streets away. And I-”
“Sure if you want. But you’ve got to have our backs if we’ve got yours. I don’t look out for traitors.” He looked at me with such fire, that bitch must’ve been spreading hate about me.
“Thanks, should I wait here?”
“No, go get Connor and tell him we’re setting out early.”
“Right.” I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as I went upstairs and entered the top floor bedroom, “Hi Connor. Ri-..Erik says we’re going on patrol now.”
“We? Why are you coming with us?”
“I wanted to help out.” I tried my best cute girl smile, but he still looked at me with disgust.
“I seriously doubt that.”
“Well, I wanted to get some clothes too...but it’s for when we’re out in the country. I thought we all needed a spare pair for when they get dirty or damaged.”
For a moment his angry facade faded, but it soon came back. “Hmm, good idea. So you thought of this as a group thing. That we all should have a spare pair?”
“Well, not fully. But because I wanted another pair I realised we all needed some spares.” I realised I wouldn’t win any more support by lying and maybe he’d at least respect me for telling the truth.
“In that case, this isn’t a routine scout mission. We should get everyone’s sizes and bring someone else to help us carry them.” He started smirking, I knew what his next words would be. “I’ll go get Fiona, she’s good at guessing sizes.” He left the room without looking at me.
Well, I hope there’s something that’ll impress Tim. If there is I’m beating Miss Prissy to it!

Fiona:

“Spare clothes? I suppose only a few of us do have a change of clothes. Maybe it is a good idea. I’ll run it by Tim, see if he wants to tag along.”
“I’m going to fetch some bags from the bedrooms so I’ll speak to Tim while I’m there. You should go down and tell Wolverine not to go screaming if there’s any Carts.”
“Wolverine? Oh, Jess.” I giggled, Connor always did make me laugh. It’s a shame he was such a loner, otherwise I think he’d fit in well with the group.
Still, despite all of her flaws Jess has thought of something good for the group. Plus I could do with some new clothes. Something a bit low-cut and maybe some new jeans that shows off my bum. That’s if there’s anything there. Well, can’t keep them waiting.
Jess:

Luckily the trip to the shop was uneventful, I can’t stand the sight or smell of those Carts. But the shop was top of the range and still fully stocked. Connor managed to pick the lock of the store room so we had more choice. I ran to one side of the room to find the best clothes before Fiona did.
After 10 minutes of frantic searching I finally found the perfect outfit to impress Tim. A cute little purple t-shirt with ‘The Killers’ in bold, white letters and denim shorts that showed off my figure nicely. They were bound to get me noticed by Tim, if not the other lads.

Fiona:

Trust her to go running off to find her own clothes first. Selfish cow, so much for thinking she cared about the group. I decided to get Tim and Cassie’s clothes before getting my own. For Tim I got 2 white v-neck t-shirts and a pair of black jeans as he wanted and for Cassie 2 white tank tops, a grey cardigan and a short skirt as a special treat for Billie. Erik and Connor were getting the clothes for Liam and Holly.
I managed to slip away and try on some outfits that might get Tim to notice me more. First I tried a short skirt and a low cut top, but I thought it was too revealing and I settled for a blue tank top that was a little lower cut than normal without being revealing and another pair of jeans that were slightly too tight but showed off my hips and legs. On my way back out I stopped and looked at myself in the mirror. I couldn’t believe how much I’d changed in two years. I looked much older than I was and the scar running by my left eye was faintly visible through my tan. But I wasn’t obsessed with how I looked and carried on out the shop.
“Where’s Jess?” I asked Erik.
“Dunno, probably trying to grab as many clothes as possible.”
Connor put his bag down, “I’ll get her.”

Connor:

I stepped into the store, “Jess! Come on! We’re leaving!”
Silence, that can’t be right. “Jess?!”
I stepped further into the room cautiously raising my cricket bat above my head. Then I heard it, a sound I can never forget.
The piercing scream of a girl in pain.