by E S Richards
“This is it,” Marcus announced as he veered left down a much smaller road, houses immediately appearing along the side of it after only a couple hundred yards. “Where should I stop?”
“Just pull over there,” Mia pointed to a small store, the all-purpose shop for the collection of houses. There were a few other streets that angled off ahead of them, but based on their location, they all knew there wouldn’t be much more to the town. That was the marvelous thing about driving across America: for miles and miles there was nothing, then all of a sudden, the world erupted into a huge city. The smaller towns or villages that dotted the highways in between were nothing much and while they deliberately tried to avoid the larger cities, Mia and the boys knew they were left with slim pickings but few other options.
“Masks on, remember,” Mia reminded everyone, pulling her filtration mask over her face so it was ready to affix before she stepped outside. “Let’s check this store out first, see what cans and stuff we can get.”
“You reckon this place is empty?”
“I’m not sure,” Mia replied as Jadon’s question stopped her from opening the car door. “I’m sure we’ll find out sooner or later, though.”
With that said, Mia checked the guys all had masks on their faces and then made her exit. She forced herself to resist taking a large gulp of air when she stepped outside, something she was used to doing since her childhood. Mia had always liked that first breath of fresh air after being in a car for a long period of time. It had become a habit of hers, a way of truly absorbing the area she’d traveled to.
Now Mia knew that if she did such a thing, she would put her lungs in even more danger than they likely already were. For a brief moment, her mind journeyed back to thoughts of Michael and Angelica in their little village, or Patrick, Allie, and the others they left behind in Tanner. She wondered how they were doing; whether they were surviving like she was or whether the eruption had managed to take even more from them.
Three thuds snapped Mia’s attention back to where she was as Jadon, Jesse, and Marcus all slammed their doors closed behind them, exiting the Jeep. Together the four of them started to stride over to the store, a single purpose in their heads and little thought for the consequences. The security gate was pulled down three quarters of the way to the ground, leaving just enough room for Marcus and Jadon to reach down to the base of it and heave. With their combined strength, it didn’t take much to hike the metal gate up, revealing the glass storefront and the locked door that blocked their path.
Peering through the dirty glass, Mia could see that a lot of items had been removed from the shelves, but plenty remained. There were resources in there that they needed and since the place seemed deserted, they weren’t going to let a locked door stop them.
“Watch out,” Jadon said, holding a loose brick from a low nearby wall in his hand. “I got this.”
Mia, Jesse, and Marcus all stepped out of the way in unison, allowing Jadon to walk forward and slam the brick through the glass door, right above the handle. The shattering of glass echoed throughout the area, loudly puncturing the air and making everyone wince. With the environment around them so barren, every tiny sound seemed to reverberate louder than before. No birds chirped in the sky or rustled in the trees, no cars sped by on the highway and no casual chatter or conversation floated on the air. The place was silent, save for the four intruders breaking into the local store.
Jadon reached through the hole he’d made in the glass and fiddled around with the lock for a couple of seconds before it clicked in his hand and the door swung open. “Ladies first,” he said with a smile as he stepped back and held the door open for Mia, earning an eye roll from Jesse and a smirk from Marcus.
“Thanks,” Mia said as she walked inside, doing her best to ignore Jesse’s reaction. She had to remind herself that this was how men their age acted when they were around each other. She wasn’t reading into it; as far as Mia saw Jadon, he was just a polite young man and she was grateful that he was there just as much as she was for the other two.
“Why do you think there’s still so much stuff here?” Marcus asked as he closed the door behind them, stopping the toxic air from seeping into the store too much. They all kept their masks on just in case, but felt better with the door closed behind them. “There have clearly been people in here,” he continued, picking up a can of vegetable soup and tossing it up in the air so he could catch it again like a ball. “Why didn’t they take everything?”
“Maybe they couldn’t,” Jadon replied with a shrug. “Can’t fit everything in a car, can you? People probably just took what they needed and then left. I reckon whoever owned this place cleared out the best bits and then locked up and fled.”
“That makes sense,” Mia agreed, noticing that the cash register was empty though not broken into, and while the place had been half emptied out, nothing was destroyed or damaged. “Take what you can and then try and protect the rest for if you can ever return. It’s logical.”
“Works out for us as well,” Jesse smiled. “If only the guy had left the door open.”
Faint laughter rolled through the store at Jesse’s comment, Mia shaking her head slightly at his choice of words. “Can’t have it all,” she smiled. “Let’s just fill up our bags and get back in the car. Take everything that might be useful.”
“Medicine?” Marcus asked, picking up a few bottles of painkillers and holding them up for the others to see.
“Hmm, not the non-brand stuff if there’s anything better,” Mia replied. “If there’s anything with the official medical symbols on the box that would be good though. Antiseptic. Antibiotics. That sort of thing might come in use one day.”
“Got it,” Marcus smiled, putting the painkillers back and searching the shelves in front of him for anything more useful. The other three got to work too, sifting through the food to find anything they could still use that was dry and easy to cook or eat. Mia walked to the back to browse the toiletries as well, generously spraying herself with deodorant as she walked past them. Anything she could do to make herself feel more refreshed was welcome during the long car journey, adding a few car air fresheners to her haul as well when she passed by them.
The four of them were so focused on gathering supplies that by the time they noticed the two men standing in the doorway, both with pistols pointed in their direction, it was far too late.
“Stop where you are,” one of the men hissed. “Put the bags down.”
Mia froze, the packet of wet wipes slipping out of her hand and landing on the ground with a thud. She faced the two men and slowly raised her hands above her head, Jadon, Jesse, and Marcus doing the same. Clearly, they had been wrong. This place wasn’t uninhabited and it looked like they had made a grave mistake by coming there.
“Take it easy,” Mia spoke slowly. “We don’t want any trouble.”
The two men looked at each other and smirked. “It’s a little late for that, darling, don’t you think?”
Chapter 7
“The Authority actually sort of helped us out here, when you think about it,” Chase mused to his sister as they crept through the streets of Houston. “Like now, I know we need proper trussing for the roof as well as tarp. Not sure I would’ve thought of that if they hadn’t just made us do a practice run in the pit.”
Riley shrugged, making a non-committal sound under her breath in response. “I’ll be sure to thank them if we ever see one of those guys again. I’d rather not though, to be honest.”
Chase laughed. “Yeah, fair enough. Still, you have to admit it’s a bit ironic.”
“I guess. Let’s save the applause for after we’ve gotten home and fixed the house though. We still need to figure out how to get there.”
“I told you what Blake said to me, didn’t I?” Chase asked, keeping his voice low as he spoke, but wanting to make sure Riley got the message as well. “And Vic too. They’ve both said they’ll help us get back home.”
“Yeah,” Riley nod
ded, “you did. Although I still have no idea who this Vic guy is. And to be honest, I’m not sure how comfortable I feel relying on other people to get us back.”
“I think we can trust them,” Chase explained. “They weren’t a part of this from the start, which makes me think they’re in it for the right reasons. I honestly think they just want to help, and we’re not really in a position to be turning help down Riley.”
“True, I guess,” Riley agreed, not exactly eager to get into the conversation in their current predicament. Her focus was on finding the supplies they needed and getting back home as quickly as possible. She didn’t care how they got there, she just wanted to be back in her grandma’s arms and know that her family was okay again. “I suppose we’ll figure it out when we get back there. There isn’t long for anyone to make up their mind.”
“You’re right,” Chase nodded. “We’re going to get out of here as soon as possible, Riley, I promise you that. We’ll be home before you know it.”
Riley looked up at her brother and shook her head softly, sorrow filling her eyes. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Chase. We don’t know what might happen next.”
“Hey,” Chase argued, “I don’t want you to think like that. We’ve got to believe that we’ll make it home.”
“And I do,” Riley replied. “I’m just not kidding myself that it’ll definitely be soon. I know we’ll get back, but after everything that’s happened, I also know it might take a bit longer than we’d like.”
Riley looked at her brother frankly, letting him realize slowly how serious she was about what she’d just said and how much she had thought everything through. She was grateful to Blake, Vic, Jackson, and the others for freeing them from the pit—she had no idea how they would’ve gotten out without them. That didn’t mean she was willing to trust them wholeheartedly, not just yet. She hadn’t really spoken to any of them at length aside from Blake when she and Chase apprehended him, and Riley knew very well that the man could’ve just said what he knew they wanted to hear at that time. She wasn’t willing to rely completely on anyone but herself and her brother, and if that meant they had to take matters into their own hands and escape again, then that was something she was prepared to do.
Keeping her head low as they stole through the streets of Houston, Riley wished she still had her Re-Breather. The air sort of felt thick in front of her face, like instead of just walking through it like she normally would, she had to push through. She knew that didn’t really make sense, but the density of the cloud around her made it feel like there was a resistant force acting on her body.
It was dark and gloomy as well. It was easy to discern Chase walking beside her, but if Riley looked back over her shoulder, she struggled to even glimpse Hazel and Joel’s faces, their friends bringing up the rear. Their silhouettes were visible and clear, the expressions on their faces were almost impossible to make out. It made Riley realize how easily someone from the Authority could be hiding just out of sight, watching their group pass by without being noticed. Despite how much they tried to be quiet and discreet, they were still seven children bumbling through a city without any real discretion.
“Yo, Chase?” Rylan called out from behind Riley and her brother. “How much farther is it, man?”
Chase paused and consulted the map he held in his hand, glancing around to see if he could see a street name anywhere. His sense of direction was normally excellent, but with the haze from the cloud even he was starting to struggle. For someone who didn’t really know Houston that well either, Chase was worried he would end up getting the group lost and meaning they couldn’t find a way home.
“It’s just around the corner,” Mike replied instead, Rylan’s brother having his own version of the map and more knowledge of the city than Chase did. “P. J. Wilson Construction—we should be approaching from the loading bay.”
“Thanks,” Chase smiled at his friend, grateful for Mike’s support. He believed himself to be extremely lucky to have found friends like he had in the pit. It wasn’t exactly a place where relationships were meant to be formed—despite the Authority’s repopulation reason for setting it all up—yet he had found friendships that he was sure would outlast the disaster around them. Chase hoped that they could find a way to stay in touch even after he and Riley left the city. He was worried about Leo and what his future would hold, and he wanted to stay connected to everyone else as well.
“Down here,” Mike prompted the group a few minutes later, turning right down a street that was clearly just designed for delivery vehicles. A couple of the large trucks were backed up against loading bays, their group quickly realizing that all of them belonged to the P. J. Wilson Construction Company.
“Aw, sweet,” Joel grinned. “This one is still open.”
The bay that Joel walked toward still had the loading doors wide open, an operation clearly in process when disaster struck the city all those days ago and thousands of people abandoned their work to flee. The truck was also open, with a ramp set up between it and the loading bay to make the process easier. It couldn’t have been left in a better position for their group, a large tool box even stacked up just inside the truck.
“Jackpot,” Chase whooped, high-fiving Mike and Leo. “Do you think we’ll be able to get the truck started as well?”
“Worth a shot,” Leo replied. “I know a thing or two about cars—I can have a look at it if you want while you all find the rest of the gear?”
“Yeah, awesome,” Chase smiled, feeling like everything was settling into place all of a sudden. “Need any help?”
“Nah, it’s cool,” Leo shook his head. “I got this. Go and get the stuff and I’ll see about this.”
“Thanks, man,” Chase nodded at his friend, grateful once again for the support he was being offered. He was worried about Leo, but the teenager seemed to be dealing with whatever he’d seen at his house okay. Chase just wished he would feel comfortable enough to share what he’d found so they could offer him advice and support, knowing he had to wait until Leo was ready to do that himself. Pushing his friend for the truth would only make him less enthusiastic to give it up.
“Okay,” Chase clapped his hands together as everyone stood on the loading bay, preparing to file into the warehouse where all the equipment was kept. “Everyone know what they’re looking for?”
The group nodded. “We got this,” Joel grinned. “Your grandparents will have the swankiest farmhouse in all of Texas by the end of all this.”
Chase laughed, really wishing that Joel’s words could be true. Looking back over his shoulder and giving Leo a smile, Chase filed into the warehouse with everyone else. The place was massive, reaching out ahead of them as far as the eye could see, with shelves packed all the way up to the ceiling. It reminded Chase of a flat-pack furniture store, everything laid out and ready to construct but nothing quite yet the finished article. That was perfect though. It was exactly how he needed things: raw tools set out for the taking and then just the small matter of constructing half a wall and roof when they finally got back to his grandparents’.
“Bit different from the last place, huh?” Chase laughed with his sister as they walked down one of the aisles together, Chase recalling the hardware store they had first visited together.
“Yeah,” Riley nodded. “That place was a wreck. How come you think nothing’s been taken from here?”
“Big city mentality,” Chase shrugged. “There are a lot more places here where people could’ve gone to in their state of panic. This place was probably forgotten about.”
“Yeah, good point,” Riley agreed. “That hardware store was basically the only thing out there. Makes sense that everyone from the suburbs flocked there.”
“Yeah, we were just a little bit slow.”
“Try a lot slow,” Riley laughed. “I’m not sure I would’ve wanted to be there when everyone else was, though. As much damage as this volcano has caused, most of the worst things we’ve faced have been because
of other people.”
“One group of people in particular,” Chase pointed out, the Authority on both his and his sister’s minds. “I wish we’d never come to the city.”
“I know,” Riley replied, her mood suddenly dropping and her tone of voice reflecting that. “Do you think Grandma and Pop will be okay?”
“Honestly?” Chase looked at his sister for a second, considering whether he should tell her what she wanted to hear—that their grandparents would be fine—or the truth, which was that he was intensely worried about them. After a brief second of thought, he knew he had to be honest with his sister. They’d been through a lot together and she deserved not to be treated like a little kid anymore. If she’d proved anything since leaving the farmhouse, it was that she wasn’t a child anymore.
“I don’t know,” Chase answered. “I hope so, but especially after what happened with Pop wandering out to the old milking station in the storm, I’m just not sure. I think he’s losing his mind, Riley. He’s pushing ninety these days.”
Riley looked up at her brother. She had wanted to be treated like an adult, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about Chase telling her he thought their grandfather was going to die soon. Because that was what he was insinuating, or at least that’s how Riley heard it. “You don’t think he’ll make it?”
“I’m not saying that,” Chase backtracked, seeing the look of horror on his sister’s face. “Pop is strong, Riley. He’s the strongest man I know. If he can battle through this then you and I both know how hard he’ll try. I don’t doubt that they’ll both be doing everything they can to survive and flourish while we’re not around. All I’m saying is that I think we need to prepare for things to potentially be a little different when we get back.”
