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Chapter 6: The Lovers

May became June.

Every other day, Rex and I would go to the place where Gunnar was squatting. We’d swim a few laps in the pool, and we’d splash around, and both of us would take a shower. We were grateful for the hot water and the electricity, provided for us by the generator.

And we were grateful that summer had arrived. There’d been days in February, and throughout most of March, when it had been a struggle to stay warm.

We were grateful for Gunnar, as well, and we enjoyed his company. The Pit Bull was always there during the day. We would always make small talk, of course, and joke around, as we either splashed in the pool or sat close to it. Ario, the Wolf who’d been a college student when the world fell, was usually there.

Julia, however, remained a mystery. During the first two weeks of June, I believe she only appeared three or four times. She always swam with us, and she always joined in the small talk and the joking around. But she also deflected away questions about her life before the fall. She would not give away any personal details or information.

And that was how the four - sometimes five - of us spent the early days of June. No one had jobs to go to anymore, of course, or school, or anything like that. Instead, we spent our days leisurely, with conversation and food, with enjoyable and pleasant company.

When Rex and I had met, in February, we’d developed an immediate and close friendship. And now, as June came around, I felt like we were forging new friendships with Ario and Gunnar - and, I suppose, with Julia, as well. Even though she wasn’t around very often, and she remained inscrutable.

We always had food and beer, those days. Gunnar knew of several places nearby which had seemingly endless supplies.

The world had become an uncertain and dangerous place, but it’s easy to avoid thinking of that, isn’t it, when you have friends, and food, and summer has arrived (banishing all thoughts of the icy depths of winter).

Somewhere around the middle of June, there was a day when Gunnar and I sat with our feet in the pool. Both of us were drinking beer. I looked at the water and I watched Rex swim by. The Great Dane was practicing some of the techniques Julia had taught him. I watched as his tall, lean body briefly dipped below the surface of the water. He emerged, somewhat gracefully, a moment later, further down.

I finished my beer and I told Gunnar I was done swimming, for the day.

“I’m going to take a shower,” I said.

Gunnar burped, as a way of replying, and he opened a fresh can.

I took my time in the shower, but I didn’t linger.

When I was nearly done, Gunnar knocked on the door, briefly, and then he came in to the bathroom.

“Just need to take a piss,” he said.

He finished urinating at the same exact moment I turned off the water. He flushed, and burped again. I opened the shower curtain, and Gunnar tossed me the clean towel I’d brought in with me.

“So . . .” Gunnar said, as I ran the towel over my body. “I’m gonna ask you something - you and Rex both.”

He leaned, casually, against the sink. The stocky Pit Bull was dressed only in the pair of underwear he’d been swimming in. His fur was still damp, and the large white patch on his chest stood out, prominently.

“Would you maybe be interested in staying here? Like, full time?” he asked. “I know this place isn’t that big - the apartment was set up as a studio, and there’s only that one bed. But we can figure something out. Plus, we have the pool - we have that whole, big room with the pool in it. You two can sleep in there, if you want, we’ll find some beds or something. We can figure it out.”

He looked at me, a look of - hope? - in his eyes. Was he hoping we would say yes?

“Oh, wow,” I said. “That’s really generous. Are you sure you want to give up your privacy?”

“Shit, you two are here almost every day - and that’s a good thing, don’t get me wrong. Honestly, I really like hanging out with you. And with Ario - and he’s here almost every day, too. To be honest, I don’t really want privacy, or - what’s a good way to put it - I don’t want to live alone. But - I don’t want to live with just anybody. You know? The three of you are cool, you, Rex, Ario. I know it’d be cool to hang out with you all the time.”

“I do feel like we’ve all gotten to know each other pretty well,” I agreed.

“Just so you know, it doesn’t bother me that you’re gay. You know I don’t care about that stuff.” Then he continued, with a look of amusement, “It also doesn’t bother me that you’re human.”

“You can tell I’m human?” I asked, as a joke, a look of mock surprise on my face.

“Hah! Yeah, I don’t know what gave you away. Maybe the lack of fur?”

“Hah.” It was my turn to laugh.

I wrapped my towel around my waist, and we started walking through the studio apartment, towards the room with the pool.

“You know,” Gunnar said, “I don’t think I ever met any humans from the North, until I met you.”

“Well, you might have,” I replied. “I left when I was sixteen - I told you about that - though I guess I could say ran instead of left. Well, a lot of humans who do that don’t admit they came from the North. They’ll lie, and tell you they came from, well, anywhere else. Which makes sense.”

“Yeah. Considering . . .” Gunnar paused, and looked at me.

“Considering,” I finished his sentence. “How some folks up North are. A lot of them aren’t cool with anthros. I don’t mind talking about it.”

Rex had pulled himself from the water, and he was reaching for both a towel and a beer.

Gunnar asked him the same question he had just asked me.

“That sounds cool,” Rex said. “That might work out.” He turned his head, and looked at me, trying to read my reaction.

At that moment, the “secret knock” played on the front door, rapped out in a quick staccato beat. Either Ario or Julia was outside. Gunnar went to see which one it was.

“What do you think?” Rex asked me.

“Well, we’re here almost every day, anyway.”

“Yeah. It’s funny,” Rex said, “I’m having this weird mixed reaction.”

Gunnar, now wearing a large, baggy t-shirt, came back into the pool room, followed by Ario.

“By the way,” Gunnar said, to Rex and myself. “I asked Ario yesterday. He said maybe.”

“Yeah,” Ario confirmed, waving a hello at us. “I’m squatting in an apartment that belonged to one of my professors. It’s a small one-bedroom. Thing is, she slept in the living room. Her bedroom is full of books. Awesome books, too. When I’m not here, I’m there, reading.” He looked around. “So, I don’t know. I might move in here, eventually.”

“Shit, bring the books with you,” Gunnar said.

“There are a lot of books.”

“So?” Gunnar replied, smiling. “Hey, Ario brought food, and he’s gonna cook. Anyone else hungry?” He looked at me, then Rex. We both nodded.

Ario and Gunnar went to the kitchen, and Rex and I said we’d be there in a moment.

I took off my towel, and I started getting dressed.

“So . . .” I said, to Rex. “Mixed reaction?”

Rex had been towelling his fur dry. He slipped off the underwear he’d been swimming in, then he, too, started getting dressed.

“I like Gunnar - and Ario,” he said, as a reply. “I think they’re both cool, and I think we could live with them. Yeah?” I nodded my agreement. “Because we’ve been hanging out with them for a couple of weeks, now. We know them.”

“I feel like we’ve all gotten to know each other pretty well,” I said. “That’s what I told Gunnar, when he asked me.”

“Yeah. The other thing is, we can make this space work. Right now, we - you and I - we’re sleeping on the floor. Which is cool, it doesn’t bother me - and it’s a whole lot better than trying to get a mattress or whatever up all those stairs. But this place is on the ground floor. We’d have an easier time getting beds or mattresses in here. And there are two rooms - sure, one’s got the pool in it, but, I think the four of us (four, if Ario moves in) can make it work. I think we can set it up pretty nice.”

“Right. I agree.”

“Of course, it’s not all about being comfortable. The city’s gotten pretty dangerous.” Rex waved a hand towards the front door. “Is this place safe? Where we’re staying now - it’s a giant building with lots of offices, which means lots of places to hide. If anything bad happened, or if some bad folks got in. Plus, we have roof access, which helps in case we need to leave fast.”

“Is that why you’re having a mixed reaction?”

“One reason. It’s also - is it weird that I’m reluctant to give up what we have right now?” Rex asked. Looking at him, I could read his conflicting emotions in his eyes, and in his expression.

“It’s not weird. I feel the same way.”

Rex and I had been squatting in a small office with one window. There was no generator, and thus no power. And no hot water. We slept on the floor, and we collected rainwater. Plus, as I’ve mentioned, there had been days in February and March when we had struggled to stay warm.

So, it might be - we both knew - foolish to turn down Gunnar’s offer.

And yet, our space was just that - our space. It belonged only to the two of us. Yes, we’d nearly frozen, during the winter, but we’d gotten through it together. Yes, we had a place with no power and no hot water, but we made it work - together, we’d figured out a system.

And, besides . . .

The bombings in January had, of course, reminded me of what I’d gone through in the army. Most likely, some of my PTSD had come back for a visit. Well, Rex helped me get through it. Our friendship, formed so quickly and easily, had helped. Turning that small office into our shelter also helped. It gave us a sanctuary from the chaos in the city.

It was only later on that I began to realize I wasn’t the only one who needed a place to hide away from the chaos of the fallen world. Rex, apparently, had also gone through something traumatic, just before we met. He hadn’t yet talked about it. But I could tell, from our many conversations, that something had happened.

We’d been happy, squatting in that office, to rely only on each other. We hadn’t let any other folks in, and we hadn’t formed any connections with anyone else. We had a place that was just for the two of us, and that felt like it was more than enough.

But now we were forging friendships with Ario and Gunnar. Now, things were, apparently, changing. For the better, it seemed.

“We don’t have to give it up,” I pointed out. “We have a key. We can try to make sure no one else gets in there. And if staying here doesn’t work out, we’ll just go back. Right?”

“Right, that’s true.”

“If things don’t work out here, and we lose the office, we’ll just find something else. There are how many apartments and offices in this city?”

“Billions and billions, it seems like,” Rex said, with an amused smile.

“Let’s think about it, yeah?” I suggested. “And we’ll talk about it, tonight.”

“Sounds good.”

We went into the other room, to the kitchen. Ario and Gunnar were setting out bowls, plates, and more beer. Ario had found cheese, from somewhere, and a loaf of bread. My mouth watered at the sight. There was also a large can of soup.

“There are folks in my building who started making bread,” Ario explained. “They found yeast, flour, and stuff, in someone’s apartment. Of course, they have to walk ten minutes, to a place with a generator, carrying all that stuff, just to make the bread . . . But they think it’s worth the risk.”

“Fresh bread?” I asked. “Yeah, I’d risk a lot for that.”

“Did you two make a decision?” Ario asked, referring to Gunnar’s invitation to move in.

“Not yet,” Rex answered.

“I was just saying,” Gunnar jumped in, “I don’t know if I should give Julia the same invitation. You know? I think she’s cool, kinda, but I don’t know her like I know you three. Plus, all three of you are maybes - not yeses or nos.”

And the secret knock was tapped out again.

“That must be Julia,” Gunnar said. He laughed. “I mention her name and she shows up! Spooky, yeah?”

I happened to be looking at Rex, when Julia entered the apartment. The Great Dane’s face lit up, and a bright smile came and went. Julia, meanwhile, had the hood of her jacket up, as usual. The city had turned blazing hot, now that June had arrived, and still Julia wore a jacket with a hood. So, I could not read her expression.

However, I did - of course - notice that she said hi to Rex first. As usual.

“Hey,” she said to him, simply, as she lowered the hood.

Then she turned and waved, briefly, at Ario and myself, as a greeting.

We ate, and we made small talk. No one mentioned, to Julia, that Gunnar had invited Ario, Rex, and myself to share the apartment with him.

After, Gunnar took a nap on one of the lounge chairs by the pool. Ario curled up, not far away, with a book. We had all gotten so comfortable - with each other, and with the space.

Rex and I might as well move in, I thought to myself. It’s almost like we already live here.

Earlier, I had told Rex we should think about it - but it seemed like a no-brainer. Gunnar’s place had power, and it had a pool - and it had Gunnar, who’d become a friend. And Ario might move in, as well. Together, the four of us could potentially build something great.

So far, Rex and I had avoided talking about the ‘big question’ - was the world going to come back, or would things stay like this forever? I certainly hadn’t put much thought into it, but, I did have a feeling that Rex and I could handle it if things stayed the same, because our friendship was so strong. Well, what if the two of us became the four of us? Yes, we could make sure this place was comfortable for all four of us, but, more than that - if our friendship was strong enough, couldn’t we find a way (together) to survive, if the world stayed the same (or got worse)? Again, it seemed like an easy decision to make.

And yet, I was reluctant to give up what I already had - just like Rex was.

That was emotion talking, of course, not rational thought. Not that emotions should be discounted. When making a choice, you have to listen to both your heart and your mind.

I looked around, and noticed that Rex and Julia were still in the kitchen area. She was drinking wine, and he held a bottle of Coke in his hands (again, I reminded myself to ask Gunnar where he kept finding stuff).

Their conversation looked so private, so intimate, that I turned away.

Facing the pool, I knelt down, and ran a hand through the warm, chlorinated water.

I thought about how my reluctance - and Rex’s - might make sense. The world had changed so much, it might make sense if someone ran from further change (even if they thought it might be a change for the better).

Then again . . . if things were already changing . . .

Why fight it?

I glanced back, briefly, at Rex and Julia.

Then Ario, suddenly, was standing there. He startled me from my thoughts, which was a good thing, because I was getting too wrapped up in them. He held a deck of cards in one hand, and two beers in the other.

“Poker?” he asked, simply. “While Gunnar’s napping - so he can’t kick both our butts, and win every hand.”

“Most definitely yes,” I replied.

We sat down, at the edge of the pool, and Ario shuffled the cards.