Life and Time

With a single pull, the generator kicked to life and with it the small kitchen. Overhead, the ceiling fan sputtered on and began slowly spinning, the fan blades warped from decay. Max covered his mouth and nose with his shirt to avoid the dust that now fell from the long resting fan.

"Let there be life!" He said brightly.
"Light," said David, "The word you're looking for is light."

David was crouched in front of a suitcase laying on the floor. Clothes were stacked neatly in piles next to him. Tiny dresses here, tiny skirts there. He had finished sorting the clothes and moved onto the essentials. Toothpaste, shoe laces, hunting knife. A pile for useful. A pile for useless.

"You're just upset that you lost the bet," Max said with a smirk.
"A bet I never shook on." David had finished the suitcase and stood up, "Now quit fucking around and help me look."

Max approached a bookshelf laden with VHS tapes.

"Movie night?" He asked.

David suddenly stopped, "Anything good?" He moved onto a duffel bag next to the suitcase, picked it up and dropped it on the kitchen table with a sharp thud. More dust in the air.

"I've got Fraggle Rock, Flintsones and what looks to be the entirety of The Land Before Time series. Oh boy," Max replied, adding abruptly, "Oh cool, MASH."
"Suicide is painless," David said grimly, looking through the archway into the den. He opened the bag and raised his eyebrows. "Looks like Grizzly was all ready to go."

Inside the bag rested two 9mm pistols, a small pump shotgun and a revolver along with several cases of ammo and MREs. David picked up the revolver and checked if it was loaded. Five bullets in the cylinder.

Max had found a tape that peeked his interest. He plucked it from the shelf and walked through the archway. David zipped the duffel bag and placed it in the useful pile.

"Seriously though, fully stocked kitchen, unlocked tool shed, enough ammo to wipe out a small village," David followed Max into the den, "Mr. Adams has done us a pretty big favor."

"And how very thankful we are," Max said, bowing to Grizzly Adams, "Could have saved us some booze though."

Grizzly Adams was the name Max had given to the desiccated corpse sitting on the middle of the couch. In his left hand was an empty bottle of Jack Daniel's, in his right, a .22 pistol. The corpse was bearded, strands of white fur clung to the congealed blood that had poured from his nose after the fatal shot. His arms were outstretched on either side of his body, palms outward. Christ-like.

"I mean it David, you owe me a fucking drink when we get back," Max said angrily as he opened the entertainment center doors, the TV glowing with static.
"Fine," David said calmly, "With the luck we've had lately I feel like I owe you."
"Luck of the Irish," Max replied, "Let's hope the VHS works too."

He pushed the tape into the machine, fiddled with a couple buttons, then stood back to watch the tapes contents. The screen warped and came into focus. It clicked to life and the video began abruptly.

The video showed a man wearing only his underwear and crude mouse ears crawling on all fours through a concrete room filled with mousetraps. As he passed over them, they snapped shut and flew into the air landing on other traps resulting in a cacophony of motion. Four men, fully clothed, stood over the mouse as they howled with laughter. The mouse continued to flinch and squirm. One man picked up a mousetrap and threw it at the mouse, it clamped onto his penis. More laughter.

"I remember that episode," David said, "That guy wound up suing."
"I guess everybody won." Max said coldly as he flopped onto the couch to the left of Grizzly. "What the fuck are you doing watching Jackass, Grizzly? You don't seem the type."
"To each their own," David replied as he sat carefully next to Grizzly. He watched Max. The laughter continued.

Max ripped the bottle from Grizzly's hand and hurled it at the TV, smashing it. David watched him calmly.

"Fucking animals," Max growled after a moment of silence. Tears welled in his eyes. "And fuck you Grizzly, you piece of shit."
"Easy Max," David said sternly.
Max looked back at him angrily, calmed suddenly and said, "I'm fine."
"No you're not," said David.

Max was quiet for awhile, fighting something. He could feel David's gaze boring into his head, dropped his head into his hands, shutting out the world. He began to cry. David sighed, stood up, stepped past Grizzly and sat on the coffee table adjacent to Max.

"You're broken," he said, after a moment. Max remained silent. David continued, "You had something, and you lost it. People don't just walk away from something like that."

Max raised his head and glared at David. He opened his mouth to speak but David cut him off.

"For once in your life, shut the fuck up and listen." And Max was silent, shocked by the sudden outburst. "We all loved Jenny, and we all miss her. You think you miss her more than us, but you're wrong. She was my sister, Max. And I guess I'll be the one to break it to you kid, you could follow her." David was silent for a moment. He coughed, then continued, "That has always been on the table."

David stood and said, "But we both know what choice you made. It's time to shit or get off the pot Max."

Max smiled and wiped his eyes. He focused his gaze on something past David. He said blankly, "I chose life."