"Yeah." Dana frowned pensively.
"You still want to do this?"
"It's not like he's going to be there anyway," she opened the car door. "His car's still in the drive." She walked over to it and peered through the window.
"How are we getting in?" Jason asked, his voice distorting as he yawned.
"I'm sure there's a key somewhere." She overturned the white rocks that lined the flower bed, dirtying the perfect lawn with soil. Jason finished taking a long, languid stretch before he spoke. "People only leave their keys under rocks in the movies. Why would anyone leave a key where anyone could find it?"
"I'm not breaking my ex's window. What if he's actually here? He'll think I'm stalking him or something."
"No one is here," he stated bluntly.
"Ha." Dana held up a key triumphantly and got up from her knees to unlock the door. She turned the key and pushed the door open a crack to take a peek inside. "Hello?" She crept in like a teenager sneaking back to their bedroom after a night out partying.
Just as the per the last house, there wasn't a soul, just memories of a home, little things that indicated someone lived there. Shoes laying haphazardly in the hallway as if someone had kicked them off after a hard day at work but hadn't got around to moving them out of the way. A stray crumb on the floor. A dog-eared book waiting for the next page to be read.
Dana took a framed picture off of the shelf and sat on the couch. The end of her lips turned, and her face reddened. Olivia went to see if she was okay, but Michael stopped her. "Maybe give her a minute," he whispered.
Luke stood by the doorway like a vampire waiting to be invited in. Only allowed to enter the threshold when invited. He shuffled his feet every now and then, like he didn't know what to do with them and had his hands firmly planted in his pockets.
"Why don't we go on a shopping spree? We could come back here. Oh my god, we should have a barbecue. Have a few bears. We passed that massive superstore on the way here." Olivia's voice got higher and faster. That manic glee she would get when she was excited. "Me and Michael can go. Bring back treats for everyone. Luke, you want to come?"
"Yea please." He jumped at the opportunity to have something to do. A distraction.
There was a line of photographs propped up in the hallway. A good-looking guy and girl in each other's arms in a field. "For god's sake." Olivia mumbled under her breath. The whole thing looked fake. Unbelievably perfect.
***
The parking lot was full of cars. At a glance, you could pretend everything was normal. The main thing that screamed that something was not right was the silence. No cars being loaded up with groceries, no screaming children, no car engines, no hum of electricity, no one fighting over a parking space, no honking horns. The inside of the store was even more unusual. No florescent lighting. What was once white and bright was dark and empty, like a stone cathedral. Their footsteps slapped against the polished flooring, the sound rebounding off the cavernous walls and ceiling.
"Go wild guys." Olivia's voice echoed around the store, repeating back to her. "If it can fit in the car, grab it, and if it can't fit in the car, we will just steal another car." She was in one of those moods. Manic. An energy bounced around inside her, desperate to be released. It only occurred to her, in that moment, that she had forgotten to take her meds. Her mum would always panic if she forgot to take her meds, even if it was just a couple of hours late. It was as if she thought she would burst into flames, or drop down dead or something.
All three of them split up and Olivia headed straight for the potato chips. The main addiction of her life. She loaded up her cart and moved on to the confectionery aisle. After helping herself to the plethora of candy bars, she moved onto the third most important aisle and grabbed five bottles of the premium vodka. Michael was looking over a 21-year-old scotch. The sound of the glass bottle hitting the metal cart rang out and made Olivia flinch. Every noise was exacerbated. Maybe she was just being hypersensitive. She definitely felt on edge, like something wasn't right. She moved to the central aisle, walked along it, and peered down each aisle. The familiar hum of the freezers going, air conditioning and other modern conventions was painfully absent and her usually mild tinnitus was amplified tenfold, ringing in her ears. It had not been that long since the power had been out, so Olivia decided that some defrosted freezer meat probably wouldn't kill them.
She wheeled her cart back into the central aisle and looked for Michael. It sounded like the boys were at the other end of the store. They were laughing about something. What was that? A breath against her neck, but cold. It's the draught, you idiot. Get a grip. There was a tapping. She listened. It was coming from the opposite direction to where Luke and Michael were. Or was that just a trick, like the Doppler effect? not that she was entirely sure what that meant. Another sound. Sharp and distinct. Like a leather sole against the hard polished floor. "Hello?" Maybe there was another survivor. She shuffled slowly back the way she came, not taking her feet off the floor. She didn't want to mask the noise. Luke and Michael were still messing around, their sounds drifting across the store. "SHUT UP!" She hadn't meant for it to come out quite that loudly, but it did the trick. A whisper. She spun around. That was a noise. Definitely a noise. What the fuck was that? More footsteps, faster, but getting further away. Something planted down on her shoulder. "Fuck." She spun around again and Michael was there.
"What's up with you?" Michael had a pile of clothes in his arms with the tags still on.
"Someone is here."
"Really, where?"
"They ran off."
"Which direction?"
"I don't know."
"Well, where did you last see them?"
"I didn't see them."
"So how do you know?"
"I heard them."
"Maybe that was just us."
"Maybe, it's just it sounded like it was coming from the other direction. And you were across the other side of the store. I heard footsteps. And a whisper."
"A whisper. Are you sure you're not just freaked out? It's pretty creepy in here, and the acoustics are just weird."
"Maybe." She was already starting to doubt herself, when it had seemed so real a moment ago.
"You should grab some clothes, they actually have some good stuff. I needed some new clothes pretty bad. I have like, a million t-shirts here, and jeans, jeans that don't have so many rips it looks like I'm making a fashion statement."
"I should probably grab some fruit before we leave. Don't want to die of scurvy."
"I wouldn't. Some of it is pretty moldy. The bananas and apples are still edible though."
"Thanks for the advice." She grabbed some tinned peaches before calling Luke. He came to them, shoving wads of cash into his pockets.
"That won't do you much good now."
"Well, you never know."
As they left through the front doors, she took one last glance back. If someone was there and didn't want to be found, who was she to stop them.
R&R
There was no answer as Michael knocked on the door and Olivia unloaded bags of groceries from the trunk of the car onto the porch.
"Dana?" He banged again. "We have loads of food. I don't want to have to climb through the window with all this stuff." As he went to knock again, a shadow rippled in the folds in the curtains and Dana finally opened the door whilst keeping her head down and sniffing.
Ignoring her puffy red eyes, Michael picked up a grocery bag in each hand. "I've got chips, dip, chocolate, candy, alcohol, meat. What more could you want? Sadly, the tubs of ice-cream were melted, but what are you gonna do?"
The ends of Dana's lips turned up into the beginnings of a smile, her face straining as if it was paining her, and she turned and walked back to the couch.
"Here, get this down you." Olivia slammed a bottle of wine on the table for dramatic effect. She had picked the most expensive one that she could find, to see if it was that much different from a $5 bottle. Dana went to the
kitchen and came back with 4 wine glasses.
"You should have got champagne." Dana said in a tone that Olivia couldn't decipher.
"Oh, don't worry. There are 5 magnums of it in the car."
Dana flashed a genuine smile this time. Olivia picked up the framed picture Dana had left on the table. "There's something about this girls face that really bothers me. You know what I mean?"
"I don't really want to talk about it."
"Okay. I'll shut up. Now can we have a barbecue. I come from a land or rain and misery and I want to make the most of this place."
***
The garden was a lot bigger than the size of the house would have suggested. A large patio set with a glass table furnished the wooden decking, and a path wound down the lawn with large white rocks lining each side. Palm trees lined the back fence providing plenty of privacy, not that they needed it now. The gas grill was huge and even had a rotisserie skewer, which Olivia gazed at in awe. "You'd think they'd have a pool. I'm sweating my figurative bollocks off."
"Sorry to disappoint." Dana sat at the table making short work of her glass of wine and unscrewed the next bottle. "I think I'll go for a red this time."
"I can't stand red, but then I'm the kind of idiot that goes to Argentina and drinks rose." Olivia pulled out a chair and stretched across the table, taking in the sun. It felt like she was making up for years of vitamin-D deficiency. After spending all of her adult life in a pokey one bedroom studio, she had always wanted a garden. Somewhere she could feel grass and see sky.
Luke and Michael had got the barbecue going in no time and sniffed the meat before committing it to the scolding bars of the grill.
"We are such a bunch of gender stereotypes right now." Olivia declared as she watched the boys barbecue while she and Dana played computer games.
"Sorry I'm being such a downer." Dana looked more comfortable now with a glass of wine and leaned back in her chair.
"Seriously. Don't worry about it. You're with a group of people that all tried to kill themselves. Probably the least judgemental group of people you could meet, well, being a 'downer' wise."
"I don't know. You just don't seem that depressed. You or Michael. You're always laughing and joking."
"Don't let that fool you. Besides, I'm in my element. It's the drudgery of life that does it for me."
"But that's something you can change."
"Well, kind off. It's impossible to keep up that kind of momentum forever. Like seriously. What's the point. We're all just flimsy, walking bags of flesh. Constantly slaves to our stupid needs. Have you ever thought about what a hassle eating is, or going to the toilet."
"What?"
"I go to the toilet say, 6 times a day. That's 42 times a week. That's over 2000 times a year. Don't get me started on work. I'd spend way more time at work making money for someone else than I would enjoying myself, or with loved ones. I mean, what a crock. Then to top it off we all get horrible debilitating illnesses. Even if you did manage to find the love of your life, one of you will die first, leaving the other heart broken and alone. I mean, what's the point."
"Wow, that's bleak."
"You get a customer service job, if you don't want to top yourself within a couple of weeks then I tip my hat to you."
"Have you ever been in love?"
"Yes. Twice."
"And that didn't make you think twice about attempting?"
"Of course it did. All I did was think about it, for years. It was just, never enough to make living worth it."
"That's so sad."
"So come on then, what is it that made you have enough?" The wine was starting to have an effect. That tingly feeling going up her arms and legs. The relaxation taking over. Her muscles relaxing one by one.
"I just couldn't deal with not being able to be a mother, and him leaving me because of it. The fact that I was just disposable. Was I just a womb to him or what?"
"That sucks."
"Then him and what's her face get pregnant straight away. It's like my life has no meaning. What else is there that comes close?"
"Oh come on. Anyone can get pregnant. 15-year-olds can get pregnant. What about creating something? What about becoming a doctor? What about adoption? There are loads of things more fulfilling than having your own screaming snot machine. Why does everyone think their DNA is so special anyway?"
"Do you know how expensive adoption is? How many hoops you have to jump through? How long it takes? Worrying if the mother will change their mind at the last minute."
"Uh, no, I guess not."
"I'm going to help the guys." Dana got up and walked over to the grill.
Olivia sighed, wondering why she was the enemy now. She was just trying to present her with some other options. Her minimal verbal filter got even less so when alcohol was involved, and she told herself to try to behave for the rest of the evening. No rocking any boats. She leaned forward and topped up her wine. The sound of wine glugging from the bottle into the glass was one of the finest sounds in the world. The air was warm and still. Not a cloud in the sky. The sun was lowering and she could tell sunset would be arriving soon.
"Food's ready." Luke announced. They all milled around the barbecue, piling up plates with meat, except for Dana.
"How come you're not eating?" Michael asked.
"I'm a vegetarian."
"Shit, why didn't you tell us?"
"I kinda had other things on my mind. It's fine. I'll just have some chips or something."
They all took their plates and placed them down on the table Dana disappeared inside while they were eating. Olivia, subdued by her scolding earlier, just sat and listened.
"So what's your story?" said Michael, before taking a bite of some sausage.
"Nothing exciting. I'm just some guy. You know, that guy with nothing going on."
"Tell me about it. I was living in the woods in some abandoned cabin, unemployed and addicted to opiates. It can't be that bad?"
"Okay, that is rough. I just don't see the point in anything." Luke became more open with every sip of drink. "I'm stuck with this face. I'm never going to have anyone. I know it sounds lame, but I know how the world works."
"What are you talking about?" Michael leaned in.
"I'm not some deluded jackass thinking he's going to meet the one. It's just not on the cards for me."
"Sorry, but that sounds crazy to me. There's someone for every one."
"Well that's naïve."
"There is many somebodies for everybody. The world is a rich tapestry, so they say."
"That's easy for you to say."
Michael laughed. "Although that is flattering, it is bullshit."
"Some people just aren't attractive. Every one will tell them they are. Lie to them and say they will find someone and live happily ever after. People are so scared of saying the truth, but I'm no idiot."
"So you jumped off a bridge because you think you're ugly. That's kind of insane."
"You know what. I'm done sharing." Luke slid his chair out, got up and headed back to the house.
"Wow. Everyone is so sensitive today." Olivia shuffled up closer and took the last sip of wine from her glass before re-filling. You want? It's good. I mean not $60 a bottle good but it's pretty good."
"Go on then."
"Do you mind?" Olivia slid a cigarette out the fresh new packet.
"Uh, only if I can't have one." The sky turned from bright blue, to orange tinged with purple and then to black. The stars started to emerge slowly, and Olivia and Michael crooked their heads up to get a better view.
"Fuck." A moth nearly collided with her head. "I swear it is dive bombing me. It can smell my fear. Can moths smell?" Olivia liked the idea of outside rather than the reality.
"Let's go in." Michael got up, stretched his arms behind his head and let out a yawn.
"You don't need to tell me twice." She collected the bottles from the table and followed him inside.
It was almost pitch black when the
y got inside. Michael tried to flip the switch, forgetting that the power was now down. Olivia wondered what to do. She didn't relish the thought of just sitting in the dark. She was no-where near tired.
"I know." Olivia grabbed her lighter from her jean pocket and lit the large cylindrical candle she had seen earlier on the mantle-piece. Now the living room was illuminated somewhat, she could see smaller candles were dotted around. They reminded her of an old school friend who took to selling overpriced candles through a multi-level marketing company. Her friend would always pester her to buy them, and Olivia would always give in. As she was only one of two customers her friend had, her bedroom ended up littered with candles, and smelled like a sickly sweet cupcake. She never got the obsession with scented candles, but had to admit they added a bit of ambiance when they were all lit.
"Bingo." She found a set of cards mixed in with the clutter and took them out of their pack. "rummy?"
"Go on then."
Olivia shuffled the deck and then dealt them seven cards each. Once she had finished, she looked at her hand. No pairs, no straights, nothing. Just her luck. As she looked up, the shadows from the flames danced around Michaels face, giving him a very serious look. "You have a good poker face there."
"Thanks. So who goes first? I haven't played this in a while."
"You can."
He put down a card, picked up from the deck and looked at his new card. "Rummy."
"You have got to be kidding me?" She glanced over at his hand. "Seriously? I have nothing. Look. Absolutely nothing." She burst into laughter. That special kind of belly laugh that won't stop, even when you try to desperately and you're so busy laughing that you can't get enough oxygen into your lungs.
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