In a lowered voice he asked, “Getting an early start, aren’t you?”
Quinn seemed to think about it and replied. “Sir, if I could give you some advice, things are going to get really bad. We came from Disneyland yesterday and nothing’s moving. Planes fell out of the sky and burned whole neighborhoods with no one trying to put out the fires. We saw two policemen who had been shot and just left where they fell. It’s going to be even worse today. People are going to get scared and scared people do stupid things. No one is coming to help. I don’t think anyone can come to help. You need to get out of here. There’s no food here and when those drunken guys realize that there are no cops around, it could get ugly. You should check with the lady that runs this place and see if she has anything with wheels like a stroller, wagon, or even a grocery cart and fill it with as much water as you can and then the four of you should head to the closest town.”
The man puffed on his smoke and then dropped it and ground it out with his shoe before replying.
“I think you nailed it, son. I didn’t sleep much last night thinking about it. I appreciate you warning me and I’m going to wake up the girls and get moving. Good luck to you, kids. I hope you make it to wherever you are headed.” With that, he nodded at the group and went back into his room.
As they biked out onto the road Josh started singing. “On the road again. Just can’t wait to get on the road again…” That was met by a chorus of “Shut ups.”
For the first ten minutes, it was very slow going. Everyone was feeling the effects in their legs from the day before but it got a little easier as their muscles warmed and loosened up. As they biked down the road, Alex brought up her idea about stopping to buy food.
“If we stop at the first small town or service station we come to, we might still be able to buy more food. Yesterday, most people would have been waiting for help to come and still be fairly calm. As time goes by, people are going to start to panic and make a run to stock up on supplies. If we stop early enough we might get in before the panic.”
“I think you’re right, Alex,” Cooper said and the others agreed. “Let’s watch for a small town with a grocery. Service stations will have been overrun yesterday and most only have small amounts of grocery items. They mainly stock junk food. A small-town food store would be better.”
As their muscles warmed up, they started making better time. There were lots of dead cars on the road but some had been able to pull off before crashing, leaving space for the bikers to get through. They passed by a few service stations with fast food restaurants and gas stations, but they kept going. Not many people were out and about but it was still fairly early in the morning. About eight o’clock they started seeing road signs for a town ahead, advertising privately owned diners and small businesses. They biked past the exits and stopped about a mile past on a service road.
Quinn opened the conversation with his ideas. “I don’t think we should all go into the town. Two of us should stay here with the bike trailers and three should go in. One person needs to stay outside the store to guard the bikes and two should go in and get what they can. Dara, I think you should stay here with me. It’s hard to say how nervous the people in town are and with your hair, they might judge you a wild child.”
Dara was annoyed at that but understood that there are a lot of small-minded people in the world, and her punkish hair color might make them wary. “Fine, but if it’s going to be a problem, then Alex can get me a hair dye kit and we can do camping beauty salon when we stop tonight,” she said in a huff.
“Hey, I like your hair the way it is!” Josh defended her with a smile.
“Thanks, Josh, but Quinn’s right. Getting home is going to be hard enough without us having to worry about small-town rednecks getting bent out of shape over blue-streaked hair,” Dara conceded.
“Sorry, Dara, and thanks for understanding. We’ll stay here and try to repack the trailers to make room for anything you guys get. Empty out your backpacks and saddlebags so you can fill them up in the store. Try for dried food and easy to make stuff and get some drugstore things if they have any. Try to go fast and be very polite, it might make a difference. Josh, keep the jokes to a minimum. These people may be trigger-happy and we need to be in and out as fast as we can. So make like a good little farm boy and say “yes, ma’am” and “no, sir” to everyone you see,” Quinn warned.
“Hey, I can be respectable when I want to be!” Josh protested.
Everyone laughed and started to empty out their packs. Alex was both nervous and excited to be heading into a town. Other than the sporting goods store they had shopped at yesterday and a couple of people at the hotel, they had been avoiding contact with other people as much as possible. She hoped that they could get what they needed without any trouble. They helped Quinn and Dara move their bikes and trailers further off the road so they wouldn’t be seen and then the three of them headed back towards the town.
Cooper and Josh both had guns tucked away where they couldn’t be seen and Alex had her can of mace. Entering the town, they were surprised to hear the sound of a truck engine. They followed the sound until they came to the main business section of the town where an old pickup truck was dropping off men up and down the street. The men all had hunting rifles or shotguns and were setting up to guard each of the businesses on the street. The men all watched as the kids biked past but they didn’t confront them.
They biked into the parking lot of a fair-sized grocery store that also had a sign for a pharmacy inside. There was a small line up at the main doors and six armed men blocked the way. Two of the guards were wearing sheriff uniforms and were talking to each person in line before letting them pass. The kids parked their bikes off to the side in a bike rack and Josh stayed with them as Alex and Cooper got into line.
There was a commotion at the front of the line and Alex heard a man shouting at the guard. “I’m good for it and you know it!” She couldn’t hear what the guard said to the man but he stormed away from the store.
Alex and Cooper exchanged worried looks. Alex was afraid that the guards were only letting locals in, and that they would be turned away. When they finally got to the front of the line the guard looked them up and down and said, “I don’t believe I’ve seen you kids before.”
“No, sir, we biked in. We would like to buy some food for our family please.” Cooper told the guard with a respectful tone. Alex gave the guard a small hopeful smile.
It seemed like forever that the guard considered them when he finally nodded. “Cash only.”
Alex was quick to agree. “Yes, sir, we have money.”
“Let’s see it. Everybody has to show that they have cash or they don’t get in.”
Alex pulled out the five hundred dollars she had in her pocket and Cooper did the same. They had split the money between them before coming into town.
“Whoa, that’s a lot of cash for two teenagers to be carrying around. You two haven’t been looting, have you?” the guard asked with suspicion.
The look of shock on Alex’s face must have convinced him it wasn’t true because when Cooper told him their parents had given the money to them, he waved them into the store.
They wasted no time rushing through the main doors. Each grabbed a cart and headed to opposite sides of the store. Alex hit the breakfast food aisle first and zoomed in on the pancake mix. A five-pound bag of just-add-water mix went into the cart as well as instant oatmeal. She had taken pancake mix camping before and knew it was easy to make different versions by adding ham and cheese or dried fruit to it. A big bag of powdered milk went in as well. In the next aisle, she grabbed as many instant soup mixes as she could, cans of tuna and ham. She continued grabbing dry goods like ramen noodles and bags of rice. Dried fruit like raisins and cranberries and apricots and a tub of peanut butter completed her cart. Alex headed over to the pharmacy area and grabbed painkillers and cold remedies as well as antibiotic lotion and sunscreen. The hair and cosmetic aisle was next and she picked
out a dark, chestnut brown hair dye kit for Dara. It was as close to her natural color as Alex could remember. A couple of hair brushes, some shampoo, soap, and deodorant went in as well. She paused at that point and tried to think of anything else they might need and how much room they would have to carry it. With a groan, Alex remembered something her and Dara would definitely need in the coming days. She stopped her cart in front of the feminine hygiene section and grabbed two big boxes of tampons. They could take them out of the box and pack them around other items to make them fit. Another section caught her eye and made her think about the future. Without giving it much more thought, Alex grabbed three boxes of condoms and stuffed them under some of the other groceries. As she was leaving the pharmacy section, she had to pass through the baby supplies and she grabbed two bags of baby wipes. Heading to the front of the store, she was going down the paper goods aisle and she stopped to consider things again. A box of aluminum foil, a box of large and small Ziploc freezer bags and disposable containers, and a mini bottle of dish soap and scrub pad topped her cart. A hanging display of small bags filled with plastic zip ties would come in handy and she grabbed a couple bags of those as well.
When she got to the cash registers, Cooper had already paid for his load and was over at the customer service counter. Alex quickly loaded her goods on to the non-functioning conveyor belt and noticed canvas shopping bags hanging on the end in a display. She snagged a bunch and went to the man who was writing down prices on a paper pad to add up. When Alex realized how long that would take she interrupted him.
“Can I just make you an offer? This is probably around two hundred dollars’ worth of stuff. How about I just give you three hundred to be on the safe side?” she offered.
The man looked at Alex with surprise and said, “Are you sure? That’s a lot of money to just be giving away.”
With a sweet smile, Alex told him, “I know but I really want to get back to my mom. She’s not feeling well and I don’t want to leave her alone for too long. I’d rather just pay extra so I can get home,” Alex lied.
“Well okay, but you come back and see me in a few days. I’ll remember this and get you what you need then. You’re a good girl to worry after your mom like that. I won’t forget.”
He gave her a nice smile and helped her pack up the canvas bags with groceries. Alex handed over the money, gave him a cheery wave and went to meet Cooper at the exit doors. She felt bad about lying to people but figured it was okay if it made things smoother on the road home. The exit doors were further down the building than the entrance doors and Alex was shocked to see a huge line-up waiting to get in. Josh had moved the bikes to the far side of the parking lot away from the crowd and he was looking concerned. He was visibly relieved to see Alex and Cooper heading his way with carts of food
“Let’s get this done fast and get out of here. I’ve already been approached twice about selling the bikes, and they weren’t real happy to be told no,” he said. After taking in the two carts, Josh started shaking his head. “I don’t think we can take all this, guys.”
Alex jumped in. “It’s okay. A lot of this stuff can be taken out of the boxes and squished together.”
They packed as much as they could into the three backpacks and stuffed the saddlebags on the bikes close to bursting. They still had six bags of supplies that wouldn’t fit and Josh started to go through them to see what would be discarded. Opening one of Cooper’s bags he held up two cartons of cigarettes with a questioning look.
“Last time I checked, none of us smoke, so are you planning to take up the habit, dude?” he asked Cooper.
With a laugh, Cooper answered. “No way, man. Those are prime barter goods. People will be going crazy for them in the days ahead. We can trade them easily for stuff we need.”
“That’s good thinking but I don’t know how we are going to take any more stuff. And what about these Alex - something you want to tell us? Who’s the lucky guy?” he asked while holding up the condom boxes.
Alex felt her face go bright red in embarrassment. “Same thing, barter, and who knows maybe one of us might need them in the future. The far future,” she stammered. “Anyway, I know how to take this stuff. Put all the rest into the canvas bags. I got some plastic zip ties. We can attach the extra bags to our backpacks until we get back to the trailers.”
“Yeah, okay, that will work, but we are seriously overloaded and off balance. It’s going to be slow going till we get back to the others,” Josh warned.
Alex and Josh got on their bikes and Cooper fastened the canvas bags to their packs with the zip ties. Alex realized right away how awkward it felt and tried to rebalance the bags. “This is going to be a rough ride,” she sighed to herself.
Cooper had a soft-sided insulated bag that was stuffed full and Alex wondered what was in it. He slung it over his neck so it rested on his chest. Alex laughed at how they looked, covered in packs and hanging bags but it quickly stopped being funny as they wobbled out of the parking lot and made their way out of town.
It took all of Alex’s concentration to keep her bike upright and they were going very slowly. They had made it almost out of the business area when Alex rode past a mother pushing a stroller. She had biked ten feet past the stroller when what she heard penetrated her concentration.
“But Mommy, I’m hungry,” wailed the child in the stroller.
“I know, baby, but I don’t have any money and the bank machine isn’t working. I’ll find something at home to make,” the mom tried to placate the child.
Alex came to a stop and quickly threw her feet out so her bike didn’t tip over. She yelled at the boys to wait for her. They stopped and gave her concerned looks.
“It’s okay, just give me a minute,” she told them as she tried to balance her load and dig into her cargo pant pocket. The woman pushing the stroller was just coming even with her as she got the last of her money out of her pocket.
Alex turned to the woman. “Excuse me, ma’am, I couldn’t help but overhear you. I just came from the grocery store myself and we got all we’ll need. This is all the money I have left. Please take it and get back there,” she said while pushing the money into the startled woman’s hand. “The line is crazy long so if you were turned away at the door, see if they will let you bypass it because you already waited. Buy as much dried food as you can and then ration it. It might be a while before there’s any more brought in,” she told the stunned woman.
“I can’t take this. You don’t even know me!” the woman protested, trying to hand the money back.
“You can take it, and you will! You have a hungry child to feed and that’s the most important thing. You need to go back as fast as you can. Good luck!” Alex said as she got her bike going again.
She heard the woman yell after her, “Thank you, miss, you’re an angel!”
Alex kept going and couldn’t help but think of all the children that would be going hungry soon. She had tears rolling down her face by the time they made it the edge of town. Neither of the boys said anything to her but Josh gave her a sympathetic smile.
It took a lot longer to get back to Dara and Quinn than it had to get into town but they finally made it, staggered off their bikes and dropped their packs in exhaustion. Quinn and Dara went straight to the bags and started loading the trailers with the heavier goods and distributing the rest more evenly between backpacks and the bike saddle bags.
As they worked Dara noticed Alex’s tear-stained face and asked, “You okay, Alex? Did something happen?”
Alex scrubbed at her face with her hands, “No, it went really well. It just keeps hitting me how bad this is going to get for a lot of people,” she sighed.
Cooper leaned toward her and tucked a curl behind her ear. “What you did for that family was really kind, Alex. Yes, a lot of really bad things are going to happen to a lot of people in the next while but there will also be a lot of people who will come together and help each other too. You are a perfect example of that. Don’t giv
e up hope; we’ll make it through this,” he said, looking intensely into her eyes.
Alex could only nod and offer him a small smile of thanks. Something about Cooper kept her off balance and she didn’t understand her feelings for him. She got up and brushed herself off; grabbing a water bottle and taking a long drink to cover her confusion. Quinn and Dara had repacked everything and Quinn gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze.
“You guys did great! This is way more than we thought you would get. Good idea with the zip ties. We can haul a lot more with these bags strapped to the trailers. If you guys have your breath back, let’s head a couple more miles from town and find a better spot to stop and make some breakfast. I don’t know about the rest of you - but I’m starving!”
Alex glanced at her watch and wasn’t surprised to see that it was almost ten o’clock. The dried fruit and half a power bar she had eaten almost four hours ago was a distant memory and as a reminder, her stomach gave a loud growl. They all mounted up and got back onto the main highway. It was an easier ride for her without the weight of the extra food and Quinn and Josh didn’t seem to be bothered by the extra cargo on the trailers.
With everyone looking forward to a hot breakfast, the group only biked for twenty minutes before pulling off on a side road and looking for an area to set up a temporary camp. Five minutes off of the highway they wheeled into an overgrown siding. Everyone got to work unloading camp stoves and fuel, plates and the camping cook set. When everything was set up, they started to discuss what to make when Cooper took center stage. He had still been carrying the insulated cooler bag around his neck and when he opened it, they were all delighted.
“I know we were supposed to get non-perishables and dry food but I couldn’t resist. I figure it’s going to be a while before we have fresh food again and they had this stuff in with the frozen food so it’s still good,” he explained as he started pulling things out of the cooler.
STRANDED: Box Set: Books 1-6 Page 7
