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It was a pretty cold morning, for Texas at least, the town was quiet, and the sun was hardly up yet, but someone didn't wait for the sun.. Liu had work to do.
He'd had the same routine for years now, ever since being attacked by Jeff, and…. The incident in the hospital, both events making it hard for him to look in mirrors for very different reasons, he'd been living this way since they cut the power in his home, and he lost water.
He was out extra early because he thought he may have heard rain last night, and would need extra time while most of the town was asleep so he could gather, he had buckets all over the place, at least a few must've had something he could filter, and if not, he had grown a sense of apathy towards getting ill anyways, especially if it was to survive a little longer.
He trudged around town in silence, pulling his scarf over his face so the chill wouldn't irritate his stitches any more than they already were. Managing to collect a little water in peace, hauling it back with him, only having one more stop on his way home, and that was the dumpster behind the bakery… He learned very quickly that they always had a few loaves of white bread in there he could swipe, it's all he'd been eating since the final meal with his family the night he was attacked.
Liu grunted a little as he pulled himself into the dumpster, he felt weaker every time he did this.. Digging around for a few minutes to find the least squished bread, and preferably without any mold, it was fine if it was a bit stale.. Climbing back out with his selection, grabbing his water, and just trying to get home before any townsfolk saw him lurking around again, they all asked too many questions. ..
He eventually arrived home, leaving the water at the door to be handled later, and making his way inside… "Hey guys, I'm home," he called, taking his shoes off, "got some more bread, saw we were low, might have to stock up soon because Winters is coming up.." He explained as he entered the living room.
Two rotting figures were on the couch, his parents, they were long dead, but… Almost concerningly maintained after all these years, at least - whatever Jeff left behind to maintain of them anyways. Liu's 'father' being preserved proof of that statement with the entire jaw too mutilated to fix, so it was hastily covered by a scarf Liu found. The corpses were part of the reason the entire house wreaked of decay.
Liu took a long stare at them, nodding his head almost as if they managed to respond to his statement, "I know mother, I just want to prevent going out every day when it gets real cold out, and water will be harder to come by if things freeze.." He hums, flinching as if the comment had him get scolded.
He sighed a little, mumbling his apologies as he slunk to the kitchen to put the bread away, he glanced down at the counter…. That knife was on the counter again. He'd put it away more times than he could count, but there it was laying on the counter again, rusted, and overgrown in it's filth. Almost like it's sole purpose was to remind Liu why he was living this way. Whose fault this all was. He huffed a little, grabbing it by the handle, and trying to find somewhere to get rid of it this time, "what if mother, and father saw you? Wretched thing. They'd be horribly upset. " He muttered to the blade, kicking it under the fridge.
He finished putting the bread away, staring at his little cupboard, and getting out 3 slices… One he managed to wolf down, and the other 2 slices went to the living room corpses before he headed upstairs.
The house was a biohazard after so many years, most of the rooms had to be closed off as best as Liu could manage, especially rooms from the night Jeff left… Like Jeff's room, his parents room, the downstairs bathroom, and… Liu's own room. Which was still drenched in his blood from the attack, and the holes in the sheets from the blade, and the impression of Liu's body sunk into the bed waiting what felt like forever for help to arrive. It was all still there, untouched.
He always shivered walking past his own room, he'd found a new place to sleep in the house thankfully, the upstairs bathroom, he managed to find some older blankets, and pillows to gather in the tub.. It was cold, but it was one of few rooms where nothing significant happened, so it did just fine for him.
He wasn't here to rest though, the day was young, he was looking under the sink for something to filter the water, and another, slightly cleaner bucket to put it all into. Hauling it downstairs…
He had a lot of time to think throughout the process, knelt down in his kitchen trying to make this a bit safer to drink, this kind of work always irritated the stitches on his hands, but it cleaned them at the same time, maybe not thoroughly, he'd never be able to shake the filth on his skin, but his hands felt less gritty.
He grimaced a little when a few particular stitches started to sting, the ones that were forced to move around the most, he sat back for a moment to breathe, 'it's fine Liu, could you imagine if Jeff saw you acting like a pussy? He'd never let you live it down.' He considered mentally, taking one more breath before getting the last of the water done… Hiding it under the sink, and.. Taking a moment to lay on the kitchen floor, he knew if he stood too fast he'd wind up in the backrooms so he carefully staggered back to his feet. ..
Apparently it wasn't slow enough however, his head went fuzzy as his legs slowly lost feeling, his vision waving out as he found himself back on the ground. He was tired of fighting to get up. Liu was tired.