Vin sighed as he rinsed the last pan in
the sink and stacked it in the drainer with the others. Both Buck and JD had
come down with a nasty bug and many chores in the CDC had been left undone for
the better part of a week, if not before that. Neither one of the room mates was
known for their domestic abilities, hence the nickname for the apartment.
That Saturday morning the other five
members of ATF Team 7 had descended on the apartment, moved the two sickies out
to the deck, covered in quilts, for some fresh air and began to dig the
apartment out.
Vin had been delegated the kitchen,
Chris had taken Buck's room, Nathan JD's room and Josiah the living room and
trash hauling. The bathrooms would be done by whoever finished first. After many
futile attempts to get Ezra into the "menial labor" needed, they had sent him to
do a couple loads of laundry in the basement facilities, then out for extra
cleaning supplies and to restock the CDC's pantry and refrigerator.
Vin had used up two tankfuls of hot
water doing dishes, spending the reheating time drying dishes, sweeping and
mopping the floor and cleaning off counters, appliances and the table. But he
was finally done, every last dish and pan. Or so he thought.
Vin released the last sink full of
water and wiped the counter around the sink with a towel before turning to grab
a beer from the fridge. The sight that met his eyes caused him to groan and
slump to the floor, beer forgotten.
Sitting on his recently clean...and
empty...table were stacks of bowls, cups, glasses and plates. While the water
had been running on the last batch of dishes, the other three members of the
cleaning crew had quietly stacked the table with the dishes unearthed in the
rooms they were cleaning.
He stared at the table for a time, then
at his prune-like hands. Slowly gaining his feet, he began rinsing the new stash
and filling the other side of the sink in hot soapy water. Josiah passed the
kitchen door as Vin started washing and overheard the sharpshooter muttering
"I'm gettin' the sons a bitches a dishwasher fer Christmas!"
The End
