Page 55 of The Outsider
We kept going till dusk before making camp. John wrapped me in a blanket and made me sit by the fire while he cooked dinner. Meanwhile, Kimmy examined my throat, listened to my cough, and took my temperature with the thermometer in her medical kit.
“You have a fever,” she informed me as she put her supplies away. “But it’s low-grade. It’ll probably go away on its own, but I’ll keep an eye on it.”
Asha had been watching me like a hawk ever since earlier, and she finally spoke.
“You think she has the flu?”
Kimmy shrugged. “I don’t know. To be safe, though, maybe we should take a day off tomorrow and let Claire rest.”
I shook my head vehemently. “I don’t want to lose a whole day because of a stupid cold.I—”
Unfortunately, my argument was cut off by a coughing fit, which didn’t help my case. John dropped next to me, rubbing my back, worry etched into his features.
“We’ll see how you feel tomorrow, alright?” he said, clearly trying to pacify me. “For tonight, let’s just take it easy.”
After dinner, I found myself dozing off against John’s shoulder by the fire. He kissed the top of my head and murmured something I didn’t understand before gently lowering me onto the blanket we were sitting on, letting me lie down. He rearranged the blanket I’d been wrapped in so that it covered me, and I fell asleep.
Eventually, the sound of raised voices, sharp and angry, cut through my slumber, yet I was too sleepy to open my eyes.
“And what are you doing about it?” Asha was saying. “Hmm? She’s wasting away, and now she’s sick, on top of everything else.”
“You think I don’t know that?” John shot back. “You think Ilikeseeing her sick and starving?”
“Stop deflecting. You’re supposed to be taking care of her. You think I don’t know how things work out here,Wastelander?”
The word was spit out with such malice that I flinched. It wasn’t a cute nickname when Asha said it; it was closer to a slur.
“You justhappenedto come across a helpless woman in need,” Asha continued. “One who literally couldn’t survive without you. And then your dick justhappenedto fall into her. What a coincidence!”
“Fuck you,” John said, his tone low and dangerous.
Asha laughed harshly. “You think I blame you for taking advantage of the situation? It’s what all your kind do. She gives you her body to use and abuse, and you take care of her in exchange. But you can’t even do that.”
I slowly opened my eyes and saw Asha’s hardened expression.
“That’s why you’re a special kind of trash, Wastelander,” she said. “You don’t even take care of your things.”
There was a brief pause.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” John said with disgust.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I stirred, coughing, anger coiling in my gut. John automatically reached for me, putting an arm around me and helping me sit up.
“Easy,” he murmured, instantly gentle. “You’re not well. Let’s get you to bed.”
“After what she just said?” I choked out. “No.”
I turned to Asha, who bit her lip, looking like she’d been caught out.
“Apologize or leave,” I said, my voice hoarse but definitive.
“What?” she asked, her eyebrows shooting up. “Claire, I was just—”
“You heard me.”
There was a tense pause before Kimmy appeared at the fireside. My only guess was that she’d left for a bathroom break.
“What’s going on?” she asked, looking back and forth between Asha and John and me.
