by Eric Vall
We only saw one building on our trek down the road, and it was a park commission building that looked like it had needed a coat of paint long before the world had gone to shit. Otherwise, the walk was peaceful and calm. I think the smell and feel of the forest around everyone lulled them into silence as we went along.
Soon enough, though, we broke through the trees and we were in the city.
“We just have to go through this area of town,” Paige said. “Then we’ll reach I-87.”
“Great,” I said.
“Oh my God,” Tara gushed. “There’s a strip mall over there. Can we stop, please, please? They have a Nordstroms.”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “We should try to make progress today.”
“It’s what,” Tara said. “Thirty miles to the oil refinery?”
“About that,” Paige agreed.
“We could do that in our sleep,” the platinum blonde pleaded. “We can just look around for a minute, then we can keep going.”
“It is already noon,” Bailey said with a small shrug. “We won’t make it there tonight.”
“We might make it there before dark if we started with a full day, though,” Anna said.
“You all want to stop at the mall?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I am pretty low on pants,” Bailey said, and she bit her lip.
“It looks like everywhere has been pretty trashed by the Candians who came through,” I said with a gesture around. “There’s no guarantee you’ll find anything.”
“We know,” Tara said. “But there’s a bunch of stores around here. We’re bound to find something useful.”
“Alright,” I said after I thought for a moment. “We’ll take the rest of the day to look through the shops in town. Then we’ll head out first thing in the morning.”
“What are we going to do with the stuff we find?” Bailey asked.
“Who cares,” Tara said, and she threw her arms around me. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“You’re welcome,” I chuckled. “And Bailey, we’ll take them back to the boat for tonight and camp out on the beach. Then we’ll leave from there first thing in the morning.”
“Sounds good to me,” Anna said.
“Me, too,” Tara said, and she started to run toward the Nordstroms.
“Tara,” I called. “You have to clear it first!”
“I know,” the platinum blonde called back as she held up her pistol, but she didn’t break stride.
“We should go after her,” Paige said.
“Yeah,” I agreed, and we both took off toward the large building.
We cleared the Nordstroms easily. It had already been broken into, but there were still plenty of clothes on the racks. Mostly the winter coats were missing, and winter boots, but not much else. That was the good thing about scavenging now, even if people had been there, a lot of times they could only take what they could carry, so there was typically something left for the next guy.
Tara gushed as she looked through the clothes and threw them all into a basket. After just a few moments, her cart was already piled high.
“Remember to get practical things,” I announced. “If you need new hiking boots, or some pants, then now’s the time.”
We all had grabbed a basket, and I looked through the clothes as well and found a few pairs of pants, some shirts, and a new pair of boots.
After I was done, I waited for the other girls at the entrance of the store, and it didn’t take long before everyone but Tara arrived.
“Are we ready to go?” Paige asked.
“Tara isn’t,” Anna laughed.
“Tara!” I called. “We’re moving on!”
“Give me just one sec!” the platinum blonde called back from somewhere in the store.
“Alright,” I told the other girls. “Let’s get some water while we have a minute.”
We drank some water and ate a small snack by the time Tara came back with a basket piled high with clothes and shoes.
“Really?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Really,” Tara said with a deadly serious stare.
“Okay,” Anna chuckled. “But nobody’s helping you push that thing back to the boat.”
“Fine by me,” the platinum blonde said with a grin.
“Since this store is pretty close to the road we need to go back on, why don’t we leave these carts here for now,” I suggested. “We can bring everything else back here and take it all back up the road. Plus, we may be able to drive back to the boat from the refinery with one of their trucks.”
The girls all nodded, and we headed out the door, but Tara looked longingly at her pile of clothes, so I chuckled and grabbed her elbow to lead her out.
The next store we hit was a pet supply store down the road. We didn’t find much, but Paige did find some Fish Mox, which she said is the same as amoxicillin, so it could be used to treat infections. Apparently it was a pretty common method among people who didn’t have healthcare or couldn’t afford to pay for antibiotics.
“Hey, Tara,” Anna said. “There’s a resort up there, wanna take a look?”
“Oh my God,” the platinum blonde squealed. “Yes, let’s go!”
“That was nice of you,” I told Anna as I dropped back and let Tara and the others lead the way.
“It was her idea to let you sleep in this morning,” the redhead said with a shrug. “And she always cooks for us. I know we bicker, but I still love her.”
“I’ll be sure to tell her that,” I said.
“Don’t you dare,” Anna said with a glare.
I chuckled and sealed my lips with a make believe key.
We cleared the resort easily. It seemed this town was a dead zone. Everything had obviously been picked through by the Canadians who had come down, and it was a disaster, but there weren’t any signs of life that we saw.
Inside the resort we looked through the rooms and found a few clean pillows, but not much else. The mini bars had been cleaned out, and so had the vending machines in the hallway. All the small bags of coffee were missing from the rooms, too, along with most of the linens and even the drapes.
“Hey, guys!” Bailey called from down the hallway.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“I’m down the hall past the stairwell!” the blonde called back.
The girls and I met down there, and Bailey popped her head out of an almost hidden door.
“In here,” she said with a smile, and she opened the door wide.
“What the fuck,” Anna said as we took in the sight.
“Right,” Bailey chuckled. “This must have been where they restocked the mini bars from.”
The small room was stocked with bags and boxes of mini bottled water, peanuts, cashews, M&Ms, other assorted candies, and tiny bottles of liquor.
“How did nobody find this before?” Paige asked as she looked around.
“Well, we all walked right past this door when we came up the stairs,” Bailey said. “I bet nobody saw it. It’s meant to be kind of hidden so it doesn’t make the resort look shabby.”
“Great find,” I told the blonde.
“Now we just have to figure out how to transport all this,” Paige chuckled.
“How about we have a snack first,” I suggested. We had been out for a couple hours already, and I figured the girls deserved a little treat before we kept going.
“Dibs on some M&Ms,” Paige said, and she snatched a bag off the shelf.
“Cashews!” Bailey called as she laid claim to her bag.
Anna grabbed a chocolate protein bar, and Tara snagged a Milky Way, while I grabbed a Coke and some peanuts.
“What are you doing?” Paige asked as she watched me with wide eyes.
“Coke and peanuts,” I said. “You’ve never done this?”
“Has anybody ever done that?” Anna asked.
“I think it’s a southern thing,” I said. “But my mom used to do it when I was a kid. It’s delicious.
”
“You just put peanuts in your Coke?” Paige asked.
“Basically,” I chuckled.
“That’s so strange,” the brunette said, and her head cocked to the side as she looked at me. “Can I try?”
“Sure,” I said and I passed her the bottle.
The brunette took a hesitant sip, then her eyes grew wide and she smiled big.
“That’s delicious,” she said.
“I told you,” I laughed.
“Let me try,” Anna said, and she grabbed the bottle and took a sip. “Hm, it is good.”
“I want some,” Tara said, and she snatched the bottle from Anna.
“Well?” I asked after the platinum blonde had taken a sip.
“It’s good,” she said. “Part of me thought they were lying, but it really is good. Bailey? You gotta try this.”
“Okay,” the blonde said, and she took a sip, and a childlike smile spread across her face. “That’s so good!”
“Um,” Paige said. “Is it cool if we have double snacks? Because now I really just want some of that.”
“Of course,” I laughed and passed out a pack of peanuts and a small bottle of Coke to each of the girls.
We drank our Cokes and ate our peanuts quietly, and I sat back and watched as each of the girls experimented with their newfound treat. Paige poured peanuts into her mouth, then topped them with Coke and chewed them all together. Bailey poured a few into her Coke at a time and tried to get them with each drink. Anna poured a few in and drank the soda while she ate the peanuts, and Tara ate one single peanut with one small sip of cola.
Most often they introduced me to new things when it came to things beyond survival, but now and then I had the opportunity to show them something new, and it was always a treat.
After we finished our Coke and peanuts, we found a couple of maid carts and piled them with boxes from the small room so we could take them back to Nordstroms.
“It’s going to be a bitch getting all this stuff back to the boat,” Paige said as we walked the carts down to the strip mall.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “We need to find a large wagon or something.”
“Has anybody seen a hardware store?” Anna asked.
“I think there’s one further up,” Bailey said. “I definitely saw a fishing store.”
“We’ll go there as well,” I said.
“Typically there’s a hardware store nearby if there’s a fishing store,” Paige said.
“A hardware store should have some wagons,” I said. “How about Anna and I head there and Paige, you, Tara, and Bailey can run to the fishing store?”
“Alright,” the brunette agreed.
“On it,” Anna said.
We dropped off the maid carts with our shopping carts at Nordstrom, then we headed back up the street. The fishing store was first, so we dropped off Paige, Tara, and Bailey there, then headed further down until we found a large hardware store set at the back of a huge parking lot.
“Looks like this should have a good bit of stuff,” Anna said as we made our way to the store.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But it’s definitely been ransacked already.”
“What gave it away?” Anna chuckled. “Was it that every single window has been broken? Because that’s what tipped me off.”
“No,” I laughed. “I think it was the murder of crows on the roof.”
“What?” the redhead asked, and she looked up and saw the birds. “Oh, shit.”
“They won’t harm us,” I said. “They’re just up there looking for food.”
“Aren’t crows pretty smart?” Anna asked as she watched the creatures.
“They are,” I said. “I think I read somewhere that they remember human faces.”
“Yeah,” the redhead agreed. “And they collect shiny stuff, too.”
“Right,” I chuckled.
We made our way to the front doors, pulled out our pistols, and cleared the building.
The feed they had in stock had obviously gone bad, and it smelled of rot and mildew. The tools had been gone through, and most of them were gone, like the hammers, knives, and anything you could use to hurt someone or defend yourself with. It looked like most other things hadn’t been messed with, though the store itself was a disheveled mess. There were papers littered on the floor, along with glass, ammo casings, blood, and plenty of empty wrappers from the snack shelf that had once been by the register.
“Hey,” Anna called. “Over here.”
I made my way to the back of the store where the redhead stood and saw that she had found the wagons.
“Nice job,” I said with a clap on her shoulder.
“What are these things even used for?” she asked.
“Gardening,” I said. “Or moving crates and things.”
“Weird,” the redhead said. “I don’t think I ever saw one of these before.”
“You were probably never looking for one,” I laughed.
“True,” she said.
“I think we should grab one for each of us,” I said. “But first let’s go through the store and see if there’s anything useful.”
“On it,” the redhead agreed.
We fanned out and went through the isles. I found some paracord rope, a couple of bungee cords, and a few lighters. When I met back up with Anna, she had found a small first aid kit hidden at the back of a shelf, a couple of road flares, and enough insulated backpacks for all of us.
“Where did you find these?” I asked as I inspected the bag. “That’s pretty cool.”
“They come with a thermos, too,” the redhead said. “They were back with clothes. I bet nobody grabbed them because they just look like regular backpacks.”
“You’re probably right,” I said. “I saw an area where backpacks should have been a lot closer to the front of the store. Everyone must have grabbed those instead.”
“Well, sucks to be them,” Anna said with a grin.
“Good to be us,” I chuckled. “Let’s get back to the other girls.”
“If we can get past the crows,” the redhead joked.
“We can only enter,” I said. “We can never leave.”
“Oh, ha, ha,” Anna laughed.
We made our way back toward the fishing store, but we ran into the other girls in the road.
“Looks like you got a good haul,” I said as I looked at their full arms.
“Definitely,” Paige agreed, and she looked behind us to the wagons. “Looks like you all two did alright.”
“We didn’t get much,” I said. “But Anna found us some great backpacks.”
“Backpacks?” Tara asked.
“What makes them great?” Bailey asked with a smile.
“They’re insulated,” Anna said. “And they come with a thermos.”
“That is pretty cool,” Paige agreed. “We could keep soup warm for the road.”
“Or coffee,” Anna said.
“Right,” the brunette said.
“But most importantly we got the wagons,” I said. “One for each of us.”
“I say we go back to Nordstroms real quick,” Anna said. “We can load up the wagons and see how much space we have left.”
“Good idea,” I told the redhead.
We headed back down to Nordstroms and loaded up the wagons. Between what we had found at Nordstroms, the resort, and the hardware store, we had two-and-a-half wagons already full.
“So we still have half the wagons to fill,” Paige said as she looked at our handiwork.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Let’s head out one more time and see what we can find.”
“I saw a sign for a hospital up the way,” Bailey said.
“That’s great,” I said. “We’ll check it out. It’s probably been picked through, but we’ll see what we can find.”
“If there’s a hospital nearby then that means there’s probably a pharmacy close by, too,” Paige pointed out.
“Right,” I agreed. “So keep an eye out for that while w
e go. We’ll head toward the hospital, and if anybody sees somewhere else they want to go then let the group know.”
“Sounds good,” Anna said, and she grabbed one of the empty carts.
We headed back down the road toward the fishing store and where Bailey had seen the sign for the hospital. We passed a few restaurants as we went, but eventually we saw the sign Bailey had referred to, which said the hospital was a half mile ahead, so we continued on the main road.
I made sure to scan the area frequently for any signs of people, but I hadn’t seen or heard anything all day. There were bodies on the ground every so often, and the town had definitely been ransacked, but it seemed strange that we had yet to run into a single person. I couldn’t complain, I’d prefer to not put myself or the girls in danger, but it still seemed odd. The place was like a ghost town, and I wondered if most of the north was like that since the Canadians had come through.
“This place is so empty and quiet,” Tara said while we walked.
“I was thinking the same thing,” I said. “It’s odd that we haven’t seen anybody all day.”
“It does look like the Canadians did some severe damage,” Anna said.
“Right,” I agreed. “But it would be strange if there was nobody left in the town at all.”
“There could have been nobody left to begin with,” Paige said with a shrug. “A lot of people went to those guard camps.”
“Yes,” I said. “But still, stay vigilant. I don’t trust how quiet this place is.”
“You don’t trust anything,” Tara laughed.
“I trust you girls,” I said with a grin.
“Awwww,” the platinum blonde giggled. “You’re so cheesy.”
“Extra cheesy,” I joked.
“Double awww,” Anna chuckled.
“You’re not even close to being a dad, yet you have some serious dad jokes going on,” Bailey said.
“I don’t know,” Tara said with a sly smile. “Kimmy seems like she wouldn’t mind if he was her baby daddy.”
“That’s true,” Paige laughed.
