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Jack sat at the edge of the treehouse, his eyes taut as his gaze flew over the bristling trees. Crickets howled at one another – it's a reminder that not everything from this so-called world is gone. Jack let out a sigh as he grabbed his can of flat Coke from the ledge, taking a sip. It was warm. Warm soda is gross, but you gotta make do. Upon that feeling of grossness, Jack thought about other things that were gross;
Zombies.
Monsters.
Those stupid vines.
Stupid foster families.
Stupid wants and needs.
..Tomatoes.
What was he doing man? This wasn't worth it. This wasn't worth it at all. He feels like he's going in circles, ironically having every edge to knock him in the gut. He hated this. He always considered just.. running away. Seeing where the road takes him; anywhere except this place. The new job of being a monster hunter was exhausting, and furthermore, not everyone was getting along well in the treehouse. Jack figured as much.
His eyes laid on the Robinsons house. Those wretched Robinsons. Didn't even bother to look for Jack as soon as he escaped from the house. It just went to show that this wasn't the home; this was just another project continuation of "How long can this family keep Jack before they get sick of him and send him back to foster care?". It was a long, agonizing game.
Now? Well.. It didn't feel like much of a home either, but at least he had people to stay with, but he shouldn't get his hopes up. Sooner or later they'll part ways with him too, and he'll be alone again, just like he was before. Just like how he was meant to be.
Jack's eyes followed down to the big monster-like dog in the yard; Rover. His ears twitched as he felt the presence of someone else, which was Jack of course. Duh. His eyes fluttered open as Jack "accidentally" kicked his can over onto the grass — what? He needed something to do.
Rover raced over to the tin can, gnawing and chomping on it like it was last night's dinner. Jack pondered over a thought, he didn't do much pondering, but it seemed like this night was perfect for such pondering.
"Rover? You ever feel like that even though you're so used to being alone, you still have that strange, gut feeling for someone to like.. put a hand on your shoulder?" Jack asks, looking up to the stars. The moon illuminating a tender light that shone over Wakefield — or what was left of it.
"Ruurr.." Rover grunted, in which he goes back to eating his can.
"Bah, of course you wouldn't. You're a monster; you've been alone, plus you don't have opposable thumbs." Jack says as he takes another can of Coke, at least you get used to the taste. Jack looked kind of insane talking to a monster dog, but I mean.. wouldn't you also go insane in the apocalypse when you're like.. thirteen years old? Think anyone would.
Honestly, in Jack's case.. this apocalypse was just another thing he needed to escape from, something he needed to move forward and get past, and that was gonna take a long long while. Whether he was going to have friends or not to go along with, he was going. That was his goal. He learnt that from foster care — 'don't get too attached if you know it's not gonna last' — negative I know, but.. only Jack would understand.
"I just.. wanna fix this, or at least get outta here as soon as possible. I know I can't stay. There's always going to be monsters around every corner that'll try to kill me. Kill us. I.. I feel like trouble is all I bring to the table. Especially with what happened with Blarg, it was definitely my fault, even if they don't want to admit it. If I'm just going to put all of them in danger, then I won't stay. That's all.."
"But you don't need to leave."
A voice. A voice other than his own is heard behind him. Jack's head spins around (not literally) and there he sees.. June. June Del Toro. The girl he and his friends quote-on-quote saved from Parker Middle school – which was close to falling apart by the way — so was she. She was completely a wreck, not the same girl I remembered walking around and literally advertising herself as school spirit; nowadays it seems like she needs spirit herself.
She seemed to be quite acquainted with Jack. He didn't have a clue why. He wasn't that interesting, yet she seemed to want to talk to him the most, and boy was she a chatter. Although, at the moment of everything, Jack wouldn't mind having some white noise in the background for this familiar eerie night — like other nights.
Speaking of, June placed herself right next to Jack, grabbing a can of flat Coke and downing it within two gulps (he had no idea how she did that, where are her gag reflexes??). Her eyes stared over to Jack's, they both shared a sentiment, something deeper; however Jack's eyes were dull, almost unmoving, whilst June's still seemed to have a sparkle. Common misconception he's sure.
"What're you doing out here?" Jack finally cleared the air. It was so filled with tension that he felt like he was going to choke.
"Couldn't sleep." June muttered, scratched at the sleeves of her sweater. Jack had a peculiar thought about what might be under there, even though it could be nothing. Her frantic need of hiding them would say otherwise, but maybe she just didn't want to get bit by zombies. Smart.
"Figured." Jack replied as he threw out his empty can to Rover, who went chasing after it once more.
"..You seem down. You wanna go out for a drive? Maybe up your zombie streak?" June suggested. Before the whole Blarg thing, Jack would always go out — Walking Dead Style — and wipe out any zombies that were in near reach of him. It was a good use of his broken bat, but it did get gross.
"Nah.. not really up for getting my clothes dirty." Jack responded with a shrug. He could tell June was trying to cheer her up, for what reason? He didn't know, but it felt like it was tiring.
June hummed. She looked towards the same direction Jack did. She looked upwards. To the tiny specks of light that decorated throughout the entirety of Wakefield. It would've looked pretty if not for the constant terror. June turned her attention back to Jack, an almost somber look in her eyes.
"You don't need to leave. We need you here as much as you need us." June started off.
"Who said I needed you?" Jack spat back. June's hand froze, she felt her eyebrows furrow as the air went silent again. Why did Jack always have to be so defensive?
"Sorry– I-I didn't mean it like.. it…old habits." Jack says, looking back down to the grass, a hint of shame beneath his cold demeanor. He really needed to start telling the difference between sincerity and malice.
"I get it. Independence and all that jazz." June says, straining a smile. She always tried to see the positives in Jack, even if he didn't see it himself.
The air was silent once again. It was tense. Unnerving. Jack disliked it. He honestly wished he could go back to bed. He occasionally drummed his fingers against the wooden flooring of the balcony. He felt like he was holding his breath in his gut as more words came from him.
"Do you remember what I said at the school? When we first encountered Blarg together?" Jack says. This brought June's attention. She pondered those words, the words that made her — June Del Toro — today.
"Yeah. Don't think I can forget if I tried.." June replied, downing another can of Coke.
"Would you believe me if I said that.. I didn't really believe in that myself, that I don't really have the encouraging hope that I said you could." Jack says. He could anticipate the disappointed glare that came from her eyes.
"..Yeah. I would." June replies. Jack cocks an eyebrow at her. He didn't expect that.
"Then.. why'd you take it? Advice ain't that meaningful from a hypocrite y'know?" Jack says, kicking his feet as they swung over the ledge.
"You're not a hypocrite!" June says, acting like Jack just said something outlandish. Jack eyes her, now acting she was out of her mind. June contemplates her answer..
"Okay.. well, even if you were, so what? It's the end of the freakin' world! We're all gonna be quite hypocritical at times. That doesn't mean your advice wasn't any less meaningful." June says, trying to scoot closer to Jack.
They were now between shoulders' length. June felt sort of nervous, she'd never been this close to Jack (or any boy ever), so this was a bit new to her. She felt the urge to hold his hand, to console him, anything.. but he was already having quite a struggle with that.
Jack shifted, sighing. "Well, if I certainly stay here any longer, it's just going to bring more trouble to everyone. Even you. As much as I'm not fond of you, I don't want you to end up in some monster's gut because of my carelessness." Jack says, reaching to scratch behind his back. Where Blarg had especially hit him. Well at least he's dead now.
"Jack. Blarg wasn't your fault–"
"Would you please stop saying that?! It was! You were about to have a full blown heart attack June, and it was all because I couldn't clean up my mess and had to provoke a monster! Why can't you just see that!?" Jack says, his voice raising an octave. He couldn't believe he was having this conversation; with June no less. He could've at least tried to forget about it in the morning if it were anyone else.. he wished it was anyone else right now.
"..Because there's more Jack. There's always more than meets the eye, and I want us to work." June says, trying to get closer to Jack. It was like the two of them were blocked between an invisible glass wall.
"..We're not going to work. We can't work. There's too much in the apocalypse for us to ever work, whether in this lifetime or the next..I can't fathom a single reason why you would even try this hard–." Jack says, his tone almost icy.
"Because I know you're not gonna be here for long Jack! And I hate it! I hate.. I hate that I can't change it. I hate that I can't change your stupid mind!" June shrieked. Jack could see the tears welling in her eyes. She wiped them away, she refused to let them spill.
"You've given me such heartfelt, meaningful words that.. actually makes my life worthwhile. You gave my life a chance, and now I'm just supposed to sit here and watch you leave?? No way! Not gonna happen." June says, her voice a lot more determined than earlier.
What was up with her man?
Jack sighs, sitting back down on the ledge. June sits beside him. The moon is slowly going to the West, that means it must be after 3 or something..
"We can't pretend this is going to go smoothly. It’s…stupid to pretend that this will work.." Jack says. He looks over at June. Her eyes are still stained with a bit of tears, but she tries to smile, and leans on Jack's shoulder.
"Well, can we pretend.. just for a little bit longer?"
Jack doesn't move. Not after that. He knows what she wants. He knows what he wants. It clashes. But he has a feeling that in the long run, they're going to have the same fate anyway.
Quite tragic isn't it?
"Sure. I can do that for tonight." Jack says, as his arm wraps around June, and for the first time in a while, he manages a smile.
He can enjoy this whilst it lasts, even if it's not long..
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