by Max Lockwood
One of the other boys stepped up, looking at them closely. "Actually, you seem to have a lot of supplies on you."
That got all their attention, and Clara felt Cooper go still beside her. She could have told them it was mostly clothes and personal effects, but somehow, she didn’t think they'd care.
The boy stepped up, grinning, and Clara didn’t think she was imagining the malicious edge to it with the dying light.
"Why don’t we leave the shop alone and take everything from you instead?" he suggested.
The other boys behind him didn’t seem to find anything wrong with that plan, nodding as they glanced amongst each other. They were easy targets after all, weighed down and seemingly unarmed.
Clara wanted to curse herself for being so stubborn. They couldn’t exactly run, and she didn’t think she and Cooper could fight them all off without losing what they had and getting hurt. Cooper did curse beside her, his voice low and vehement. He put a hand on her shoulder to pull her back, but she knew turning their backs to these boys would be a bad idea.
They were advancing slowly, probably having fun intimidating a couple of grown-ups. Clara knew the boys were toying with them, and it made her so mad she could have just tossed the weight on her back at them if it had the chance of injuring at least one of them.
But then, she remembered. When she'd been trying to help people after the accident and the area cleared, and the old woman that had stopped to talk to them, she’d handed them a gun, and Clara had handed it over to Cooper.
She didn’t know if it was loaded, had no way of knowing, but it was the one thing they could use to protect themselves. Even empty, as long as those boys saw it, they'd likely go running. She glanced over at Cooper, who had changed from his previous clothes, but was still wearing a hoodie. He'd worn the one from yesterday when they left her place, even though it had been warm outside. She had to believe he'd carried it. If he was worried about the streets being unsafe, he wouldn’t have left it at her house, or his flat.
Clara reached into Cooper's hoodie, ignoring him when he flinched. She felt a wash of satisfaction as her hand came into contact with cold, hard metal, and she snatched it up, being careful not to touch the trigger and shoot Cooper by accident. She brought the firearm up, holding it with both hands as she eased a finger onto the trigger, but didn’t press down, and aimed it at the boys.
Everyone came to a standstill, the group of boys looking at the gun pointed at them in something like fear. She almost let herself grin, a fierce, not very nice thing that wanted to cross her face so badly. It wasn’t like her, though, and she managed to hold it back. She didn’t actually plan on shooting anyone, but they didn’t need to know that. Just having them afraid, after what they'd tried to do to her and Cooper, was good enough.
"I suggest you boys don’t get too close."
Cooper's hand, still on her shoulder, tightened its grip. It hurt a bit, and she just barely stopped herself from wincing. The boy in front of the others slowly raised his hands up, trying to take a step back only to step into the guy right behind him and go still.
"Whoa, lady. We weren’t actually going to do anything," he blustered, and they all took a few collective steps back.
He was just lying to save his hide, though. She knew, if she and Cooper had been defenseless, they would have walked away from the situation with nothing on hand and a few bruises to boot. She didn’t want to think what would have happened if one of them had been alone, or if Cooper had decided to stay and she met them alone on her way back. It brought a shiver to her back before she shoved the thought away. Just in case the light trembling traveled to her hand, she slid her finger off of the trigger, worried about the gun going off by accident. She didn’t want that to be how she learned its sensitivity to touch.
She took a quiet breath to help her calm down, and motioned with the gun for them to move.
"I suggest you boys go home, right now, or I will shoot you."
Her voice brooked no argument. Terrified, the boys turned to run, a few of them stumbling before picking themselves up and following the ones in the lead. She wondered if they even knew where they were going. There was no guarantee they would actually go home, but that wasn’t her problem. She didn’t plan on running after them, so she could only hope she'd scared them enough to do as she'd told them to.
When they went out of sight, Clara released the breath she was holding on a sigh, letting her hands drop down slowly so the gun was pointed at the ground. Her heart beat came down to normal levels as she let her body relax.
It was almost worse than the crash had been, probably because the threat was at the hands of her fellow human beings, not a falling metal contraption. Considering it was only day two, she imagined the situation was going to get worse, which meant no more leaving home so close to dark, especially when they intended to go far. Also, if she ever used her parents' bikes, she was going to have to be careful not to lose them, because they were the only forms of long distance transportation they had left.
If the owner was in that store, she hoped he got himself out with a few supplies and went back home, at least until day light if he needed to get more stuff. If someone else decided to rob the place before the night was over, she didn’t think there would be anyone else to stop it, or that anyone would bother to.
Clara turned back to Cooper to see him staring down at her, shocked at her behavior. His hand was still on her shoulder, and when she moved, he seemed to tighten his hand instinctively. She winced, transferring the gun to one hand and reaching up to tap his hand so he could pull it back.
He did so quickly, and winced as he watched her rub at where he'd clutched.
"Sorry."
She sighed, holding the gun out for him gingerly. "It's okay."
He stared at the gun in her hand, and then shifted his eyes to her.
She sighed again, heavier. "Cooper, I know. But I couldn’t leave it, and I couldn’t let them make off with your stuff. Do you really think they would have stopped to see what was food and what wasn’t? They would have taken everything, and probably hurt us. It was necessary."
His shoulders slumped, and she hadn't realized he'd been that tensed. But he seemed okay with her justification, and he took the gun from her and hid it back inside his hoodie.
"I get it, I do, but that doesn’t mean we can go around waving this thing at people. Neither of us have ever used a gun—unless there's something you're not telling me." He arched an eyebrow at her, and she shook her head. He nodded. "We need to know how to use it. They were kids, and they were more scared than anything, so we got lucky. But it won't always work if you don’t back up a threat with action."
She shivered just thinking about it, actually firing a gun with the intent to hurt someone, or kill them. But she knew he was right. Those boys were just having fun now, but pretty soon, they or someone else would get desperate enough they won't even be thinking about the consequences. When people got desperate, it took a lot more than the threat of death to get them to behave, and she feared for the future of her family. Stores would go first, but eventually, some people were going to start breaking into houses, whether or not they had people inside, and more people were going to get hurt.
Right now, though, that wasn’t her priority. They were going to have to take things as they came, because thinking ahead to the bleak future, she felt like giving up when they'd barely started. She grabbed Cooper's sleeve and tugged him along as she went ahead.
"Come on. We still have a ways to go. No harm was done to anyone today."
Cooper didn’t refute her claim, following her lead as they walked back, and she wondered if he was thinking of what she was; what would she have done, if those boys hadn't stopped advancing on them? If they'd just pushed, until she had no choice but to do something, fire at them or let those boys hurt the two of them. Clara wasn’t sure she wouldn’t have just dropped the gun, and that scared and worried her.
She shuddered before pushing the thought
away as they continued on home.
Chapter Thirteen
A knock on the door the next morning woke Clara up.
She didn’t know how long the knocking had been going on, rubbing at her eyes as the sound registered in her mind. She opened her eyes to see Cooper lying in front of her, facing her. She pushed off the covers and got out of bed, then pulled them back over him. She'd fallen asleep with clothes on so she just pulled on a jacket and ran her fingers through her hair, then left the room to go answer the door.
It was lighter in the hall than her room, where she still had the curtains closed. There was no alarm to get her up in the mornings, and after the exhaustion she'd felt yesterday, she could have slept more. Besides, she didn’t need to go to work. She did wonder what time it was and who was on her doorstep, though.
"I'm coming!" she shouted when another round of knocking started, even harder, more impatient than before.
She rubbed her face, wishing she could go see what her face looked like first, but the person behind her door sounded like they would break it down if she didn’t get there quicker, so they must have been knocking for a while.
When she opened the door, she was greeted by a police officer. She felt her heart seize up for a second, before realizing there couldn’t be anything wrong. Even if the boys from the other night had reported her, highly unlikely, she didn’t know them and there was no reason why they would know where she lived.
She put on a wan smile, folding her arms across her chest and snuggling in her jacket. The sun was out, but it was still a bit cold.
"Hello, officer. Can I do something for you?"
"No, ma'am. We're making rounds all over the neighborhood, though I understand it’s a little early. Do you live alone?"
She narrowed her eyes, the past couple of days making her a little suspicious.
"Uh, no. I live with my sister and grandmother, and a friend of mine is staying over. I think they're all asleep."
He gave a sharp nod. "I just wanted to inform you of a new curfew being enforced."
That threw her. "Curfew," she repeated, unsure.
"Yes, ma'am."
"But why?"
"Well, it seems some shops were broken into during the night, and we don’t want any more chaos continuing. It's for the sake of public safety. Be sure to be indoors at dark."
It made sense. The boys last night wouldn’t have been the only ones with the idea. She and Cooper were lucky to make it back without coming by any more trouble.
"Pass the message on to your family and your friend, please. We don’t want any more chaos continuing. We're also looking for volunteers to help with patrols, running errands and communicating with neighboring towns while we try to get a handle on the situation at hand. If you or anyone in your household is interested, you can sign up at the police station."
That perked her up a little. She said goodbye to the officer and watched him go to her neighbor's place, then got back inside and closed the door.
Any other time, she would never have entertained the idea. If she hadn't been at that crash site as a near victim, or even just a spectator, then seeing what went on yesterday, she would have let it all go and hole herself at home. She was getting the time away from work she'd been asking for, even though the circumstances were less than ideal. But she had no idea when, if at all, she could go back.
She wasn’t used to just doing nothing. Even when she didn’t like it, Clara never just gave up and laid down. She couldn’t do much to help before, but this… it would be a true help to society, at least the one they were currently stuck in. Besides, if she could be out there helping, it would make her feel better than just staying at home, babysitting her family and waiting for something to happen.
Sound on the stairs behind her brought her out of her mind, and she turned to see Cooper had woken up. Well, it made sense, her grandmother and sister usually got up around midmorning and it was too cold out to be later than eight.
"Good morning."
He peered at her curiously as he stopped at the bottom step. "Morning." Then he frowned. "Did something happen?"
Cooper was too perceptive for his own good, though more for hers in this case. After his reaction last night, she was almost certain what his reaction would be. She couldn’t lie to him, though. As soon as she invited him to stay over, it became both of them going forward and working together. Besides, what was she going to tell him when she kept leaving every day? Neither of them had reason to go out anymore.
"A cop came by. They're going around, knocking on doors. They're enforcing a new curfew, for after dark."
He hummed. "I guess that makes sense. After last night I can't believe other places didn’t get hit. We were lucky enough to get back in one piece."
"That's what I thought," she murmured.
He was still standing there, clearly guessing there was more to say. She took a breath, weighed the pros and cons of telling him now, or waiting for her grandmother so he would have to behave himself. But then she sighed and leaned back against the door.
"They're also taking volunteers to help patrol the area at night. Also to run errands, and help communicating with neighboring towns, though there aren’t any details on the other two."
They stood staring at each other for a moment, before Cooper scowled at her. She sighed again, knowing what was about to come out of his mouth.
"It's dangerous, Clara."
"Don’t you think I know that? They wouldn’t be asking for volunteers if they didn’t really need it, though. I'm doing it anyway."
He cursed under his breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Clara, why? Why do you want to sign up for something like that?"
She wanted to ask why he wouldn’t, but she knew he wasn’t into violence. Not that she was, but it made sense he would rather avoid it. As for everything else, if he really wasn’t up to it, she couldn’t make him join. If she really insisted, it would take some time, but she was confident she could get him to do it. Not that she would, if he didn’t want to do it at all.
"I want to help in any way I can."
"What about your family? Who'll help them?"
She winced. "They'll be staying at home. If the patrols work the way the police hope they do, then they won't be in any danger."
"I'm thinking more about what happens to them if something happens to you out there. You realize the current situation means no hospitals, right?"
Clara glared back at him. She hadn't forgotten about that. She knew if she got harmed, there might be a trained medic to look at her, but there was only so much they would do for her depending on how hurt she got. But it wasn’t like she was going into this to get herself injured.
"I just have to be careful." She saw him about to argue and held up a hand for him to wait. "The situation is going to get bad if it doesn't get monitored."
"I get that, but why do you have to be a part of it?" he argued.
She gave him a pleading look, silently asking him to understand her. "Remember, Cooper, that if we can keep the town living normally, we may be able to return to normality when the power is sorted out. I know it will never be anything like it was before, but it could be a lot worse if we just sit and wait for it."
'Sit and wait' wasn’t exactly in her vocabulary, anyway. She didn’t need his permission. They were friends, and she was offering him shelter, but she wouldn’t let anyone but herself run her life or make choices for her. This was her choice, and he would have to accept it.
He didn’t answer right away, because he didn’t have an answer for logic. He knew, in part, she was right. Whether or not there was a chance for everything getting back to normal, it wouldn’t exactly be possible if everything was destroyed when the chance came by.
"Besides, I'm hoping I can count on you to look after my family for me in case something does happen."
"No!"
She startled, jumping back and bumping into the door at the uncharacteristic shout, her eyes wide. Cooper took a couple
of steps closer before he stopped and fisted his hands at his sides. There was a fierce look on his face, in his eyes, that Clara didn’t think she'd ever seen before. It wasn’t enough to scare her, he was acting strange but he was still her best friend, though it did make her wary.
"Cooper?"
He made a noise in his throat that sounded half growl. "Clara, you can't. Please. Or have you already forgotten the trouble we ran into last night?"
"I remember I handled the situation just fine," she pointed out. "Not in the best of ways, I'll admit, and I hated being in that situation at all. But I'll be okay."
"You don’t know that, though," he argued, taking another, more controlled step forward. "I told you before, didn’t I? When people get desperate, being armed doesn’t mean as much as you'd hope it to. Especially not when it will be you against several other people if you end up meeting more groups like last night."
They had another staring contest, but Clara refused to back down. She could do with her life whatever she wanted, and she wasn’t doing this with the intention to go out there and die. His worry wasn’t needless, but she thought it was more than necessary. If she could help people out doing what she wanted to do, then no one was going to stop her, not even him.
Cooper's gaze broke away first, sighing as his body relaxed from its imposing stance, shoulders slumping as he looked away.
"I'm signing up whether you do or not, Cooper," she clarified.
He just nodded and turned away, heading for the kitchen as he waved a hand back at her. "Sure, Clara. I'll look after your grandmother and sister for you while you're out."
She'd known he would do it anyway, but it meant so much more to hear him say it out loud. She did feel regretful about making him feel bad, it hadn't been her intent. Instead of going to talk to him, she let him have some time to cool off so she could take a quick shower and change. They were lucky the water was still working, but she wondered for how long. She'd have to find out how the water system worked somehow. Not to mention the gas lines, she wasn’t sure either could go on indefinitely, but was so very thankful they still worked at all.
