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The wicker basket was slightly worn in places, but held up nicely for having survived a zombie apocalypse. The blue and white plaid blanket less so, but since they were probably going to end up sitting on it, it didn’t exactly matter that much. Lining the folded blanket along the bottom of the basket to serve as a cushion, Claire carefully loaded in all the snack foods she had picked out for her date night with Alex.
They had come up with the idea a few months after they first started seeing each other, that every Saturday they would try and make time for each other. Sure, sometimes Claire would have to go on a mission, or Alex would be overtaken by research, but they tried to make it work. And tonight it was Claire’s turn to pick. So she was going with the classic picnic under the stars by the river.
Fancy food wasn’t exactly in abundance after the end of the world, but she was sure she grabbed a pretty decent selection. A can of that fancy smoked salmon that Alex loved, a jar of fresh garlic and herb cream cheese from one of Carlos’ many goats, non-stale crackers, a jar of honey from the beehives, diced apples, carrots, and cucumber, and finally two bottles of homemade root beer, as well as a platter and some cutlery for serving.
Waving goodnight to her brother who was chilling on the couch with a new magazine that Barry had scavenged up a few days earlier, Claire grabbed the basket and the already lit lantern, before heading out the door for the next house over. Living next door to her girlfriend did happen to make things so much easier.
No matter what Jill might have claimed, Claire did not skip up the stairs to knock on Alex’s front door. “Alex, it’s Claire! Are you ready to go?” They had set the time for roughly two hours after dinner, but without electricity, they had to rely on old fashion clocks to tell the time which made getting things down to the minute rather difficult. Of course, Alex still managed to get her elegant hands on the most gorgeous grandfather clock Claire had ever seen.
It only took a few moments to get a reply, her girlfriend’s voice calling out from inside the building. “In a minute, dearheart. I’ll meet you outside the garage.” The mention of the garage immediately had Claire perking up in concern, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. Thanks to Alex’s illness, the other woman had good and bad days. On the better days, Alex could make do with a cane and plenty of rest while walking. On the poorer days, she relied on her wheelchair to get around, unable to support herself while standing.
Claire had already taken the possibility of the wheelchair into account, and planned everything to ensure that Alex wouldn’t have any trouble getting there, but she still worried about how her girlfriend was feeling. Maybe they should stay inside for the night instead.They could have the picnic over Alex’s dinner table instead.
The grinding of the garage door rolling up dragged Claire from her thoughts, turning to step back down the stairs to meet Alex as she wheeled herself outside. “Hi. You look lovely.” Blonde hair freshly combed back from her face, lips a bloody shade of red from the homemade lipsticks Alex made for herself, and a soft blue blouse to match her eyes.
Alex’s answering smile made her feel like she had swallowed sparklers, an admiring look in her eyes as she looked over Claire’s purple dress and red leather jacket, before dropping down to the basket held in one of Claire’s hands. “As do you. Might I ask what is in the basket?”
Claire couldn’t help the mischievous grin that tugged over her face as she bent down slightly to give Alex a quick kiss, careful not to smudge the other woman’s lipstick before she pulled back. “You’re going to have to wait and find out. Come on, it’s not far.” If they had to, they could pack up and go home early, but for now Claire would continue on as normal until Alex says otherwise.
Ignoring Alex’s playful raised eyebrow at being denied, Claire adjusted the lantern so they could see where they were going and started walking down the road. It really wasn’t far, only a few minutes down the street from where Alex’s house sat on the corner. Waving to Neil who was currently manning the security booth by the gate, Claire turned onto the paved path leading along the riverside to one of the picnic tables dotting the goat mowed grass.
Smiling over her shoulder at the other woman as Alex rolled her wheelchair up to the end of the picnic table to settle in and watch, Claire placed the lantern on the table to begin unpacking. The platter went down first, followed by the two bottles of root beer, one in front of Alex and one in front of Claire. Then out came the food. The diced apples, cucumbers, and carrots, each in their own little containers. The jars of honey and goat cheese, still sealed and labelled. The box of crackers, and finally the canned salmon.
Alex’s voice was soft and painfully fond as one elegant hand reached out to pick up the can of salmon, cradling it between her palms. “ Oh , you remembered.”
“How could I forget?” Just over a month ago, Chris, Barry and Jill had come back from a scavenging haul from a grocery store. Like they did every time, they laid everything down on the tables near the dining area and let everyone pick out what they needed and wanted, before the remainder was put away for later. Among the rows of tinned food was two cans of smoked sockeye salmon.
Claire had never seen Alex move so fast in her life, she was sure the other woman was about to run over Brad just to get to the fish. Alex had hoarded those cans like they were made of precious gold, carefully selecting how she was going to eat them and savouring every bite. Claire had to consider herself lucky that Alex even considered offering her a taste. So when her brother next geared up for another supply run, she had asked Chris to keep an eye out for the red and gold can of fish.
Alex’s answering smile was bright enough it could have powered the entire settlement for a week. Any other words died a quick death as Alex got to work cracking everything open, selecting a cracker to smear a coating of the cream cheese on before laying it with slices of cucumber and a thin cut of the salmon. Her eyes closed in visible delight as she savoured the bite, bringing a soft smile to Claire’s own face.
Leaving Alex to her salmon, Claire started picking out her own snacks, dipping the apples in the cream cheese before drizzling it in honey. Honey automatically made everything better, and she felt like she needed it after the past few days she’s been having. The thought bobbed to the surface like a rather unwelcome duck, one she ruthlessly tried to strangle before Alex took notice.
“Claire. Is something wrong?”
Alas, that didn’t seem to be on the menu today. Thought duck: 1, Claire: 0.
Popping the cap on her root beer and taking a sip to give herself a moment to think, Claire considered if she actually wanted to answer the question or just brush it off. But the ‘what ifs’ had kept her up for long enough.“Do you remember that woman from a few days ago? From that settlement on the other side of Hillfort?”
Claire hadn’t been close enough to catch the name of any of the traders who had stopped by a few days ago, nor to catch exactly where they had been from. She had only been close enough to pick up on how one of the women had been acting around Alex when she had come down to see if some of the scrap they had was useful for any of the scientists.
A confused little scrunch between Alex’s eyebrows appeared as she seemed to think back on it.“Yes? What about her?”
“Well, I noticed that she was flirting with you and it got me thinking.” At first she had thought it was jealousy, watching the other woman flirt. The woman looked like she was in her late 30s, dressed down in flannel with tattoos wrapped around both arms and muscles like she wrestled bulls for a living. But laying in bed, late into the night long after Chris had gone to bed, it was then that Claire had pinned down exactly what it was that she had been feeling. Insecurity.
Rolling the bottle between her palms to give her hands something to do, Claire felt the words pour out of her like a flood. “I know that you care about me, I’m not doubting that or anything. But I just can’t stop wondering if you’re only with me because you don’t really have any other women to choose from. Hana, Rita, and Kathy are married, Jill and Rebecca are dating each other, and Batya is your brother’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of his son. It’s kinda only me or nothing.”
“You’re beautiful, intelligent, talented, have a doctorate, and I like motorcycles and didn’t even finish community college. And I’m so much younger than you, and this must seem so immature.” The worst thing was that Claire could hear her voice breaking as she stared down at the table, angrily wiping at her eyes. She felt just like a messy teenager again, who was she kidding. She only just gained the ability to legally drink booze, for god’s sake. Alex could do so much better.
“Are you accusing me of settling?” The incredulity in Alex’s voice made Claire flinch slightly, unable to lift her eyes from the table to meet Alex’s gaze and see the look on her face.
“I have never settled for anything less than what I deserve in my entire life. Yes, you are younger than me, but that just means you have so much more time to explore and grow. You are clever, passionate, thoughtful, and brave, and do not need a fancy piece of paper on a wall to prove so. And your engineering skills have brought a grown man to tears of joy.”
Gentle hands cupped Claire’s face, lifting her eyes to meet the other woman’s, and the softest she had ever seen Alex look. “Yes, there isn’t exactly a plethora of single women living here, but our settlement isn’t the only one left. I could have looked elsewhere if I wanted, I'm sure Hillfort would have been delighted to take me.”
Claire couldn’t help the full body cringe at the idea of dating anyone from Hillfort, shooting a disgusted look at Alex. The other settlement had spent the past year hounding them for one of their scientists, claiming that a settlement of less than forty people didn’t need three scientists, and a medic in training. They would probably be over the moon at the idea of Alex wanting to date a woman from there, and she wouldn’t put it past them to even set up a pageant for Alex to choose from.
Clearly pleased at having distracted Claire from her tears, Alex continued, still cupping her face. “I could have chosen to remain single. I do not need to be in a relationship just to be happy. But instead I chose to pursue you because I enjoy being with you, dearheart. Do you understand?”
Throat feeling too thick to speak, Claire settled on simply nodding. Deciding that was good enough, Alex slowly pulled back before lowering her hands to pull a handkerchief out of her pocket. “Now, dry your eyes before I wake up in a rickety little rowboat floating downstream towards a dam infested by zombies.”
Letting out a watery little laugh, Claire accepted the handkerchief and began cleaning up her face. “Chris isn’t that bad.” Alex’s disbelieving hum had her laughing again, wiping at her eyes one last time before setting the handkerchief down.
Alex didn’t say anything, just choosing to nudge the pot of honey closer to her. Maybe this wasn’t over and they might need to talk this over again, but for now things were okay. So Claire could eat her honey and enjoy the rest of her date with her girlfriend in peace.