Free The Last Tribe by Brad Manuel

called to her.
    Greg looked like a little old man. 
Matching light blue plaid adorned his body.  The clothes were flannel and warm,
but they were slightly too big for him, particularly in his current
malnourished form. 
    Rebecca bounced around the corner
and clapped her hands.  “There.  You are starting to look healthier already.  I
can wash these clothes tomorrow if you want to keep them.  I think they should
just go in the trash, but it’s up to you.”  She picked up the folded wet outfit
Greg wore just minutes earlier and placed them on the bottom step of a
staircase.  “I don’t know if you will be able to keep it down, but I’m making
you some ramen.  I know it’s salty, but it’s calories, it’s fast, and it’s
warm.”  She opened a cupboard next to the fireplace.  Greg saw rows of soup,
pasta, and ramen.  He saw canned vegetables, fruits, soda, and bottled water. 
    Rebecca grabbed a package of chicken
ramen noodles, placed it into the now boiling water, and stirred the noodles
with a metal fork. 
    “One more thing.”  She jumped up
and ran through a swinging door.  She returned with an egg, and a cold soda she
offered to Greg.
    “An egg?  Where did she get an
egg?  How old is that egg?”  Greg’s mind asked questions while his mouth remained
silent.  He opened the bottle of soda and began to drink.  Despite his attempts
to find water during the trek, he was always on the edge of dehydration.  The
clear, sugary liquid felt fantastic against his dry throat.
    Rebecca cracked the egg into the
ramen, stirring the noodles rapidly to scramble the concoction.  She used her
mitt to pull the pot off the rack, and poured the mixture into a large plastic
bowl.
    “Eat what you can.  I mean, when
it’s cool enough to eat.”  She placed the bowl of steaming food next to Greg. 
The metal fork she used to stir rested across the top.
    “I know you’re dead tired, but I’ve
been so lonely.  Do you mind if I just talk to you?  You don’t have to
respond.  I just want to talk to another person.”  Rebecca looked at him eagerly.
    “You have someone to talk to now.” 
He said quietly.  “We each just made a new best friend.”  Greg reached passed
the food and wrapped his arms around the young girl.
    They stayed by the fire for a few
minutes, hugging.  Rebecca let go.  “One of my house rules, trash goes outside
in the containers.  No trash in the house.”
    Just like that, with the listing of
a house rules, the tender moment was over. 
    Greg did as he was told, walking
out to the trash can in his newly acquired outfit to throw away the egg shell
and ramen wrapper.  It was cold, and sleet drizzled down on him.  He was happy
to be in a house with a fire, and not trudging towards Hanover, or curled up on
the floor of a random house, hungry and cold.  He came back onto the porch and
noticed firewood stacked on half of the covered porch, conveniently placed next
to the door.  Rebecca was a smart girl. 
    Greg grabbed an arm full of wood to
load into the basket by the fire. 
    “There is another sofa in the other
room.  We can pull it into here.  Do you think you can help?  I know you’re
tired.  You can call it a night if you need to rest.”  Rebecca hoped for his
help, but would manage without him if necessary.
    “Sure.  I have one more burst of
energy left, especially after the egg ramen.”  Greg replied.  He ate all of the
food.  His stomach ached from overeating.  Six months ago he could eat an
entire pizza by himself.  Today his stomach was so small a bowl of soup made
him feel full. 
    He followed her into the other room,
and helped her move the piece of furniture.
    When the sofa was in place, Rebecca
ran upstairs and came back down with a blanket.  “You can take a bath
tomorrow.  We still have water pressure.  I heat water on the fire and fill
half from the tub faucet.  It’s where I wash clothes too.  Anyway, you smell
really bad.”  She