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She listened to things shuffling around the room, as Saff most likely returned everything to its rightful place in the bunker.
After a few minutes, Saff called to her. “You wanna take a shower?”
Maddie groaned. “Not really, but I feel disgusting. So yeah, I guess.”
Saff chuckled, and Maddie smiled as the sound floated into her ears.
“I’ll go get it ready.”
She listened to Saff’s light footsteps walking away, and waited patiently, perched on the edge of her cot.
Then, a few minutes later, the footsteps returned.
“Ready?”
“Yeah,” Maddie answered, standing from the cot. She stepped forward, moving the cane in front of her as she shuffled towards Saff’s voice.
“Its back here,” Saff called out, and Maddie could hear her walking further away, into an area of the bunker she hadn’t been in before. She followed, navigating with her cane. It felt colder in this part of the bunker, and Maddie wondered if there was some type of opening back there for ventilation.
“There’s a small ledge a few inches off the ground lining the shower. There’s no door, but it has a shower curtain, so just pull that closed when you’re ready.”
The way Saff so seamlessly snapped into doctor mode helped ease the slight anxiety she felt, knowing she was about to be naked in a place she wasn’t really familiar with.
“Okay,” she replied, wrapping both of her hands tightly around the handle of her cane.
“Do you want me to take your hand and show you where things are?”
Maddie’s anxiety lowered another notch. “Yeah,” she said, smiling. “Thanks.”
She released one hand and held it out in front of her. Saff took her wrist, pulling it forward and down until her hand touched something soft.
“I found some towels and put one right here. It’s sitting on top of a container right outside the shower.” She moved Maddie’s hand off until it touched the hard surface of the container. Then she moved her hand to the right and her fingers grazed cold tiles. “Shower is here,” she said. “Can you step forward? I’ll show you where the soap and the knobs are.”
Maddie took a careful step, then Saff moved her hand onto what felt like a plastic cord and then a nozzle.
“You can unhook it from here and move it wherever you need.” She moved her hand onto the back of the nozzle until her fingers grazed something that felt like a handle. “You have to squeeze this for the water to come out. It’ll work for maybe thirty seconds or a minute, but then you have to pump here.” She moved her hand to the right until it landed on something circular. “You have to pump this.” Saff placed her hand on top of hers, pushing it down on top of the pump. “Do it a few times and the pressure will build up again and you can use the water again.”
Maddie nodded, memorizing the placement of each mechanism.
“Warning you now though,” Saff muttered, “the water comes from the creek, so its gonna be freezing. You probably won’t want to be in here very long.”
“Worse than the river we crossed?”
“The same.”
Maddie frowned. “Better than nothing, I guess.”
“Last thing,” Saff said, moving her hand downward until it rested on something smooth and wax-like. “Soaps right here. I couldn’t find shampoo or anything like that. Just the soap.”
Maddie nodded. “Got it.”
Saff cleared her throat, releasing her wrist. “Need anything else?”
“Um,” Maddie thought for a moment as some of her anxiety returned. She hated that she felt vulnerable, but she wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity for a shower. “No. No, I think I’m good. Thanks though.”
Light footsteps shuffled away.
“I’m gonna be out in the main area. Yell if you need something.”
