A Day with Lawrence

## Summary

This is a chapter about going over a day in the life of Lawrence Hardgrove.

Lawrence stands in a room watching Dale through a glass wall. Lawrence watches as an IV pumps fluid into Dale and a machine checks his vitals then delivers a tray on his lap. Dale eats from the tray slowlwy. Lawrence sighs and then leaves the hospital. He enters the parking lot and then climbs into an old and vintage car. It takes a second to start up, then eventually begins to drive.

He drives down an empty and unpopulated street with no cars, then takes a turn down a large and winding boulevard, then reaches an old pharmacy. The paint on it has been mostly peeled off and destroyed. Lawrence walks inside the Pharamacy, opening a pair of sliding doors like a regular door, showing that they've been broken down and they don't work anymore. The lights in the pharmacy work however, as well as a few other things.

Lawrence walks up to the front desk in the back past a series of shelves that would usually be filled with food and other pharmaceutical items are now filled with things such as Water Bottles, Water Filters, and a dozen other objects that would be needed in the case of say an apocalypse like barbed wire, wooden planks, nails, hammers, coolers, canned foods. Lawrence greets a worker at the front desk. And asks for medicine.

"Any Ibuprofen left in storage left?"

"No. But we've got Codeine. Name?"

"That'll do, then. My name's Lawrence."

"Last name?"

"Marty, I've come here every week for the past three months. You know my last name." Lawrence says blankly. Marty laughs slightly then bends over to look under the desk, then places a bottle of medicine pills onto the front desk. Marty stands up normally again then looks over a clipboard and responds.

"Rations are running low, Lawrence. This'll have to be your last bottle of painkillers for the month." Marty continues. Lawrence nods.

"Heh, you're quite lucky Lawrence. You got the special treatment because you're what, an old man?" Marty starts.

"I've got more access to the most painkillers because I'm in my twilight years, so yes, you could say I've got special treatment because.." Lawrence starts, then looks down for a second. "Because i'm an old man in a world where men die young." Lawrence finalizes then walks out of the pharmacy.

He gets in his car and then drives back to his house at the end of a cul-de-sac on the coast of a lake in the pocket neighborhood of Sacramento. Lawrence parks his car in his driveway then walks into his house. He wipes his shoes on a welcoming mat in front of his door. He doesn't take his coat off however and walks into his kitchen.

Lawrence opens the door to his fridge and takes out ham and some cheese. He places the two plastic bags of it on his counter then leans over. Lawrence opens a drawer below the counter and takes out a loaf of bread, then places it on his counter as well. He makes a a large sandwhich with some various sauces on it. Lawrence picks up the sand which then walks over to his kitchen table where he picks up an old cassete tape and headphones and places them in his trenchcoat pocket.

Lawrence opens a back door in his kitchen then walks over to the river lake. He slowly sits down and swings both of his legs over a seawall for the lake and takes the casette and headphones out of his pocket. He places the sandwhich on the grass and then uses two hands to put the headphones on his head and then starts the casette, then places the casette still connected to the headphones into his pocket. Lawrence picks up the sandwhich and begins to eat it as he listens to the headphones. The audio on the casette tape starts. Lawrence takes a bite out of his sandwhich and swallows a few of the painkillers.

The audio on the casette tape is:

* A younger Lawrence reading his wedding vows, followed by a woman saying "I do."
* A sound of a baby cooing and the same woman, now being his wife singing a lullaby.
* The woman singing the lullaby on repeat begins to play over and over.

Lawrence doesn't make a facial expression, only eating his sandwhich slowly. He begins to start crying, but doesn't make a face, only sighing and eating his meal. He looks at a golden wedding ring on his finger for a a second and fidgets with it.

XXX

Lawrence opens the door to Valentine's office and walks into it. Valentine is sitting at her desk, an IV and a few other various cords plugged into her arm, which as well are plugged into a machine that's beeping over and over. After a few seconds it stops beeping and a number flashes on the screen. Valentine stares deeply at it, then turns to Lawrence.

"The Rot is at 56% in me. Yesterday it was at 53% it's getting worse. I... I don't know what to do." She stutters. Lawrence walks behind her desk to face Valentine.

"It's gonna get better, we're gonna get that Aaron kid to keep giving you blood transfusions. And you're gonna get better, alright?" He says warmly. Lawrence hugs Valentine, towering over her and a faint weeping can be heard.

"I don't want to become like Mom." Valentine weeps.

"I know Valentine. I'm not gonna let that happen, alright? I'm gonna stay with you the whole time." He says warmly as Valentine continues to cry.

"Thanks, dad." She cries. Lawrence continues to hug Valentine and she wraps her arms around him while now sobbing.

End of chapter.