by Lee West
“Uncomfortable, but practical given the situation,” said Brett.
“I agree. As much as I’d love to stretch out on a king-sized bed, I have to defer to Nancy. We need to be hidden in case we have company,” said Marvin.
“Why don’t we grab some pillows and blankets from home goods? It won’t be as nice as a bed, but at least we’ll have some comfort,” said Meg.
“That sounds like a plan. I’ll help get the blankets,” said Mike.
Joe followed the others to the corner of the floor containing the office. Like most department stores, the office was tucked away from view when walking through the store. The office served as a customer-service point, where people purchased gift cards and processed returns. It was also where the store’s safe was situated.
While in high school Joe worked one summer as a salesclerk in the men’s shop of another local department store. It was the worst job he had ever had because of the customers. Some were nice and chatty with him, but others were demanding, entitled and downright mean if they didn’t get their way. He found there to be a direct correlation between the meanness and wealth. From his experience, the richer they were, the meaner they got. He could hardly wait to finish his summer and get back to school.
“Here it is. Let me see if the door is open. If not, we’ll have to rethink this plan,” said Nancy.
The office had a large open window with a counter for people to walk up to. A door displaying an “Employees Only” sign closed off the entrance to the back area of the office. Nancy walked over to the door and tried to open it.
“It’s locked,” she said.
“Here, let me get it.” Joe hopped over the chest-high counter and jumped down on the opposite side. “I’ll check the safe and see if we can get inside.”
The door to the massive walk-in safe was in the corner of the office. As he approached, he could clearly see that the door to the safe was ajar. Someone had already opened it. Or they’d left it open. Either way, it was odd.
“It’s open. Let me let you guys inside,” he said.
He opened the exterior door and let them inside the space behind the counter. Then they proceeded into the safe. The large safe would accommodate them all with relative comfort for the night.
“Wow! Someone cleaned out the safe. It’s entirely empty,” said Joe. “Department stores always have tons of cash, bank checks and cashier checks in the safe. At the end of every day, each register’s overage gets brought to the safe. The next day, it’s counted and then picked up by Brinks. However, there’s always a base amount in the safe for making change and stocking the registers. Someone cleaned out all of the cash before leaving.”
“Lot of good that money is doing them now,” said Nancy.
“Seriously,” said Brett, shaking his head.
Joe tossed his bag in the far corner, claiming the space for himself and Meg. He had strong reservations about sleeping in such close quarters with the rest of this crew. Frank looked like the sort of guy who could wake the dead with his snoring. Marvin and Brett were likely close contenders in a snore-off. He hoped the corner spot would give them a little distance and privacy. The night would be interesting at the very least.
— 8 —
Brett needed time away from the group, so he suggested that he and Nancy go to the café and see if they could grab some food. He liked everyone well enough, but after spending days with them, he had started to reach his limit. Nancy’s quick agreement to join him suggested she most likely felt the same way.
“How are you holding up?” he asked her.
“Mostly fine, but I’m feeling pretty weary. I was terrified that we would get caught today. I think the repeated adrenaline rushes, not to mention all of the running, finally wore me out.”
“I feel it too. We had so many close calls. I’m not sure how much more I can take of that sort of roller-coaster ride,” said Brett.
She stopped and turned to him, wrapping him in a tight hug. “We’ll get through this. You’ll see. By this time tomorrow, we’ll be sleeping in our nice bed with Rudy fighting for space between us.”
“I almost forgot about Rudy and your mom.”
“Me too. I hope they’re okay. Rudy is a tough little dog, but this has been a lot.”
“I’m sort of hoping your mom was swept up in everything. I’m not sure I have the wherewithal to deal with her or anyone else right now. Is that really mean to say?”
“Not the worst thing, given the circumstances. I don’t think either of us have the wherewithal to deal with her, even under the best of circumstances,” she said with a wink. “That said, I hope she’s puttering around the house, trying to figure out how to turn the TV back on.”
The store’s café stocked mostly coffee shop snack items, which suited him fine. The last thing they needed was a days-old tuna sandwich in the office safe area. The collective odor of their group after sweating for several hours on the streets would be bad enough.
“Let’s grab these waters and muffins,” said Nancy.
“Here’s a bag. Load us up with the peanut butter cookies too.”
After collecting what they could from the café, Brett and Nancy returned to the office and unloaded their bounty.
“You feel like watching the sunset?” he said.
“Always.”
They made their way to the western corner of the store. Settling in between racks of clothing, they held each other and watched as the sun lazily drifted behind the mountains as though nothing had changed.
***
Mike had a difficult time getting to sleep. The night slipped away as he turned from side to side in a futile attempt to force it—a tactic that never worked. Comfort wasn’t the issue. They had managed to drag enough mattress covers, pillows and blankets to the safe to ensure maximum comfort. Instead, thoughts of Sharon and the kids kept him from resting. He couldn’t imagine what had happened to them and all of the other citizens. They’d just vanished, replaced by an outsized military presence. For all he knew, they could have been killed or taken so far away that he would never see them again. Depression and anxiety were the new norm, as he struggled to stay focused on staying safe so he could eventually find them.
The other problem was the snoring symphony created by Marvin, Frank and Brett. The unsynchronized noises reverberated off the walls of the small enclosed room, rendering it useless for sleeping. Despite the staccato noise, his ears perked up. Something had made a sound outside the safe. He sat up and tried to concentrate. A lull in the collective snoring almost allowed him to confirm that he’d heard something.
“What’s up, Mike?” whispered Joe, who must have heard the same thing.
“I’m not sure, but I think I hear something out there.”
“Me too,” said Joe, rising from the floor.
He carefully walked over the legs and arms of the others as he approached the door, where Mike lay.
“Can you tell what it is?” whispered Joe, crouching down next to him.
“I’m not even entirely sure I heard anything. I think I did, but it’s hard to tell with all of this going on,” said Mike, exasperated.
“No kidding. Those guys are loud. Time to wake them up.”
Mike grabbed Joe’s arm before he could wake anyone. “Maybe it’s nothing, and everyone needs the rest. We should investigate first.”
“You’re right. Here’s what we do. I’m going to slide out of the safe and into the office area, where I can listen without the snoring. You hold tight.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Joe pushed the safe’s five-inch-thick metal door open and low crawled into the office. Once through, he pushed the door mostly closed, leaving it open just a few inches. Mike could barely make out Joe’s figure in the darkness.
“Joe?” Meg said in the darkness of the safe.
“Meg, shh. Joe’s outside the safe looking around. I think I heard something. I’m not really sure, but he’s checking it out,” said Mike.
�
�What did you hear?” said Meg.
“What’s going on?” asked Nancy groggily.
“Mike heard something and Joe is investigating,” said Meg with a strain to her voice.
“Crap. Brett, wake up. You need to stop all that noise. We’re in danger of being found,” she said, nudging Brett awake.
“Found? What’s happening?” he said, a little too loudly.
“Shhh! We don’t know yet. Joe is investigating. Kick Marvin. He’s snoring like an old sawmill,” she said.
Outside the safe, Joe moved along the ground to the exterior office door. They had propped it open to make it easier to come and go through the self-locking security system. Mike waited as Joe rounded the corner and peeked out of the office toward the sales floor.
“What’s he doing?” asked Meg in a loud whisper.
“I don’t know yet. I can’t really see too much. Just hang tight. He’ll let us know if he sees or hears anything.”
— 9 —
Joe lay on the ground, face planted to the worn commercial carpeting. He willed his eyes to see in the near pitch darkness, to no avail. The moon’s light was the only illumination over the city, rendering the vast windows of the sales floor nearly useless. At first he didn’t hear anything. As he was about to turn back toward the safe, a faint sound cast doubt on his assessment. It almost sounded like banging, but he couldn’t be sure. They were on the fourth floor of the department store. The distance from the street indicated that the noise wasn’t from someone on the outside trying to get in. The sound had to be coming from within the building.
As the seconds ticked past, the sound grew more intense. The intermittent thumping was replaced by a solid stream of heavy clanging. It took him several moments to recognize the sound: loud footfalls on the metal escalator stairs. There were people in the building, moving at a rapid pace toward the fourth floor. He quickly reversed directions and crawled back to the others.
“There are people in the building. I can’t tell who, but it sounds like a number of them!” he said excitedly.
“What should we do? Maybe they found us!” said Meg fearfully.
“We need to stay put. There’s no reason to believe they found us. They can’t see us through the safe and have no reason to come back here,” said Nancy.
“Joe, get back inside!” said Meg in a loud whisper.
The footfalls and voices intensified as the seconds passed. He guessed that a large group of soldiers had entered Ulters, conducting another relentless search for holdouts. Joe had almost reached the safe’s door when he heard the men reach the top of the escalator. Frozen in place, he had no idea what to do. If they jumped over the counter, they would find him. He knew opening the door to the safe and crawling inside was not a possibility. Then he realized the outer door was still propped open. If the men saw the door in that position, they would most likely investigate.
He quickly moved toward the door. Once there, he risked detection by standing and pulling the chair used as a wedge to prop the door open. He could see beams of light everywhere on the fourth floor. Although he couldn’t get an accurate head count of the men, he knew from the multiple beams of flashlights that there were at least a dozen. Joe slid the chair out of the way, guiding the door shut with his hands so it wouldn’t slam closed.
“Look at this! It’s the office! I always wanted to get inside one of those walk-in safes! Come on!” said one of the men excitedly.
Joe dove to the ground moments before a beam of light flashed over his head and across the back wall of the office.
“No, man. You’re just messing around again. We need to clear this area so we can go back and get some chow. I’m beat,” said another man.
Before the first soldier could protest, a radio went off. Joe couldn’t pick up what the person on the other end was saying, but one of the soldiers responded, “Affirmative. On our way!” and then said to the others, “Let’s get out of here! They found a nest and need help busting it! Let’s move! They’re four blocks from here!”
The men scrambled down the escalators and out of the building, leaving just as quickly as they had arrived. Once everything had returned to silence, Joe wiggled his way back to the safe. He pulled the door open and climbed inside, shutting it behind him.
“Oh my god! Joe!” said Meg, getting up.
He stood to meet her as she crossed the room to him. They held each other silently.
“You’re trembling,” she said.
“I’m still scared out of my mind,” said Joe, squeezing her tighter.
“I thought you were going to get caught out there!” she said tearfully.
He took a deep breath and exhaled. “That was way closer than I’d like to ever get again.”
They stood for another minute before returning to their spot in the far corner of the room.
“I think we were a little lazy by not setting up a guard schedule. I thought about it but just assumed we would be safe in here,” said Frank.
“After tonight, I don’t think we’re safe anywhere,” said Brett.
“I like your idea of having someone keep a lookout. Did they say they found a nest?” said Nancy.
“I thought I heard that too. A group of regular citizens is now referred to as a ‘nest’? What is becoming of us?” said Marvin.
“It’s clear what it’s becoming. The federal government has taken over. We need to get home, fast,” said Nancy.
“You think we’ll be safe there?” asked Joe.
“What do you mean?” asked Brett.
“They’re closing off the city for a reason. What’s happening outside the city? Maybe there are more troops or bases? I don’t know. I’m just worried about it and think we can’t assume there will be safety at your house. I’d like to believe we should be fine, but I don’t know,” said Joe.
“I agree. We have no idea what we’ll find out there, but we need to try. We can’t just keep playing hide-and-seek with them. Eventually, they’ll win,” said Nancy.
“I agree. I’d like to get out of the city and into a place where we can at least see them coming. Being stuck in these buildings is no way to live. I just don’t think we can maintain this,” said Frank.
“And I need to find my family. I certainly can’t find them hiding out in the city,” said Mike.
Joe held Meg, absorbing everything the others said. He knew running around the city would eventually end in their capture, but he wasn’t sure hiding with Brett and Nancy was the ultimate solution. He kissed Meg’s head and pulled her closer to him. Keeping her safe was his only mission. Right now, staying with the group made sense, at least for a little longer.
Finally he said, “I agree. You guys are right. We can’t keep running. Maybe being out of the city will be better. We might also be able to figure out what’s happening.”
“Besides, if we can help in any way to find Mike’s family, we will,” added Meg.
The rest of the group voiced their support for Mike.
“That means a lot to me,” said Mike, his voice trembling.
“I’ll take the first watch. I can’t go back to sleep knowing those goons could return. We need eyes on the street so we at least have some forewarning,” said Frank.
“Don’t worry about it, man. You rest. I’m already too amped up to sleep. I’ll do it. Grab a couple of hours of rest then come and relieve me,” said Joe.
“You sure? You just stuck your neck out for us. I feel like you’re the guy who needs the rest.”
“Totally sure.”
“Where are you planning to be?”
“We should watch the front doors and the alleyway entrances. The front is visible through the windows on the sales floor. The back—”
“The café has a view toward the back of the building. It’s not great, but we should be able to see lights coming through the darkness. Besides the moon, the troops are the only source of light out there. If they’re coming, we’ll see them,” said Brett.
“Got it,” said
Joe, getting up.
“I’m coming too,” said Meg.
“No. You need to rest.”
“I won’t be separated from you again. I go where you go.”
“Sounds like you have a watch-standing buddy.” Frank laughed.
The two grabbed flashlights and made their way outside the safe, where Joe carefully replaced the chair propping open the exterior door.
— 10 —
Meg held Joe’s hand as they walked through the dark department store. The place really gave her the creeps. At night the mannequins seemed to glow. Their pale plastic skin seemed to be the only thing catching the faint moonlight. The sooner they got out of the store, the better. After this experience, she wasn’t sure she could ever walk into Ulters again. Not that she ever expected the store to reopen.
“Let’s check the front windows and then go back to the café to look into the alley. Take a baseline of activity for comparison each time we take a look,” said Joe.
His hand still trembled slightly. The experience with the soldiers had rattled him more than he’d let on.
They walked to the vast floor-to-ceiling windows and Joe said, “Holy shit, there’s a lot of them. From up here you can really see what we’re up against.”
Lights from large military-style vehicles crisscrossed the city, while patrol boats zipped around the shoreline and harbor.
“I didn’t realize there were so many soldiers. This looks like a huge military presence. When we walked through the city today, I couldn’t get a sense of the magnitude of their operation. This is really something.”
“What’s happening over there?” said Joe, pointing down the street.
“I can’t tell. Let’s move down a little. Maybe we can see more from farther down.”
They quickly walked to the bank of windows in the adjacent department. From there, they could see that the soldiers had set up a large light apparatus. The lights were pointed at a large apartment complex, illuminating its exterior. Heavily armed soldiers ran into and out of the building at a fever pitch. After watching the raid for a few minutes, an oversized canvas-covered truck pulled onto the sidewalk.
