“Looking forward to seeing you try.” Ren gave him a bright smile, only half convinced he’d actually be able to pull it off. But hey, it beat the monotony of resort life, the worry about Mason, and watching the zombies outside the hotel steadily try to get further and further in.
Was it safe to answer that question, or just let him think it whatever he wanted? She didn’t even have a name, not that she needed that to trust him, but it was just another point. “Family,” she answered after a couple moments of hesitation. “A cousin. He had a shop in the city.” There were still enough people from Haven that she didn’t think he’d be able to narrow it down to Mason that quickly. “Natural curiosity, and they’re not around to protest it.” She shrugged, laughing a little. “Might be bloody morbid, but it’s interesting to me to see what people kept around.” And if there were useful things even better.
“Probably a good trick these days.” He could probably defend himself pretty good too, so he was naturally ahead of Renata in that respect. “Too many people are stuck in their ways at the hotel.” There were fights about it, ones that she mostly steered clear of.
Renata huffed a little under her breath, amused. “What if I like awkward?” She shifted to push her frames up her nose a little, silently cursing her less than stellar eyes for the millionth time. Wasn’t even that her eyesight was that bad, but it wasn’t good enough to get rid of the glasses completely. “You’re so generous.” The dry tone in her voice was hard to miss. “And obviously the first person to notice that.” It had edged quickly to sarcasm. “But at least I can fit into a cupboard if a stiff shows up without notice.” Not having a lot of body mass held it’s advantages.
“A little of both,” she admitted with a half-smile. “We’re living off veggies and canned goods at the hotel.” She couldn’t smother her amused laugh at the mental image of some woman playing keeper to a bunch of lost boys. “Reckon it makes her feel like she’s doing something to contribute.” But maybe not. It was only Renata’s perspective on it. “Must be nice to have a little community to go back to.”
She shook her head at the eyeliner question. “No, not a single cosmetic worth lifting.”
And she wrinkled her nose at the mention of a barter system for medical care. That was one thing she didn’t have to worry about, their medics seemed more than happy to patch people up no charge. But Haven was obviously a little different. “It’s not enough that she doesn’t have to find her own supplies?” She supposed having some medical care was better than nothing though. “You aren’t going to steal anything from my bag while I’m not looking, are you?” She was mostly teasing.
Looking up, Ren shook her head. “I had a nice beach hut, but we were attacked. I have a jungle facing room now.” Which was okay because she didn’t have to share it, but she still would have preferred to stay in her hut. “I haven’t actually gone near the swimming pool either.” What was the point, most people weren’t going to mill around there these days.