Survivors of the Sun

by Kingslie, Mia

  She continued with her search and within a few moments, she had an armful of bottles, dressings and blister packs, which she carried out to her trolley and tipped into the top basket. Then pushing the trolley at high speed she raced round the darkened aisles, one wheel squeaking. So typical, that the one constant would be getting the trolley with the dud wheel.

  In places, the shelves were bare, with no sign of what desirable commodity had been taken. Upon one long shelf sat a single, torn disposable diaper. In other aisles, the shelves were practically untouched. The aisle where the alcohol had been, was empty, save for a single smashed bottle of Grey Goose Vodka.

  She made her way round the store, filling the trolley with food, dried foods mainly, dried apricots, dried bananas and packets of dried peas, small bags of rice and pasta, and dozens of instant noodle soups.

  She knew they would not be able to carry all this, certainly not the canned goods, the canned meat, salmon and pineapple, but they would definitely feast today. Her list grew longer, stock cubes, another can opener, calamine lotion, a knapsack so Lola could help carry some of this stuff, more water containers...,

  She reached the hunting section. Additional ammunition would be good, maybe even a rifle for Lola. That thought did not last. The area was virtually stripped bare, and the display cases holding the rifles had been smashed. Broken glass was scattered everywhere.

  In disbelief, she pulled open cabinet drawers (empty), and then, standing on tiptoes, felt around the high shelves, but there was not one single box of ammo.

  Great! Somewhere out there was a group of people, tanked to the eyeballs, armed with disposable nappies and guns. She giggled to herself at the ridiculous image it conjured up, startling herself with the sound of her laughter. Was she getting hysterical?

  Her eye caught sight of something hanging high up on the wall, as part of a display, it was a boxed hunting bow. It seemed smaller than normal and the color was a bright green. She studied it carefully, was it just a display model, or a real one? Had to be real, didn’t they always use real stuff in their displays?

  That would be a great thing to have, but she had been nearly twenty minutes already inside the store, Lola would be getting frantic by now, she had told her she would be in and out. Maybe she should take what she had already and leave.

  No, she decided. She was going to get that bow. They had the shotgun, but ammo was limited, and if they were going to be reduced to hunting for food, they would run out very quickly. Another bow would come in handy.

  There had to be a ladder somewhere. Wait, yes, two aisles down, there was a moveable ladder on wheels.

  She left her trolley, and ran deftly round the microwaves ‘on special’ display – ‘only sixty-nine dollars’. Wow, really! Last year she and Nathan had bought one on special for eighty-nine dollars, then she headed down into the aisle.

  She was racing back with the ladder, weaving back and forth, cursing as she tried to navigate it past a stack of printers, and failed. How did the staff always make it seem as though they were easy to move?

  Printers and reams of paper crashed to the ground, the deafening sound reverberating round and round. Panic surged through her. That was way too loud. She stood, breathing heavily from her exertions. Then she froze. She had heard something, someone. It was just a slight sound, like the creak from a leather shoe that had not been broken in yet. But it was enough to send her heart thudding in her ears, her skin crawling with fear. Had she imagined it?

  She heard the sound again, much closer now and this time there was no doubt about it. Oh Christ, someone was just on the other side of the shelving. She dropped to the ground, looking frantically around for something to arm herself with, and then remembered she had the shotgun.

  ‘Is anyone there?’ She called out, trying to sound confident and relieved that there was no waver in her voice. There was no reply.

  She heard the noise again, this time it was more distinct, and this time it sounded like someone shifting weight from one foot to another. Then she heard the breathing, so close, that she could almost feel it brushing against her skin. The hair stood up on the nape of her neck. Why didn’t they answer her?

  She was about to call out again, to ask again if someone was there when she stopped herself. How stupid was that? Of course there was someone there, someone who had crept up on her and obviously someone who saw her as vulnerable.

  Her heart thudding, sweat beading across her forehead, she tried to think clearly. She had to change the balance of power, stop being apprehensive and make that unseen person be afraid. She needed to become the aggressor.

  Wiping the sweat from her face with her upper arm, she called over the aisle, ‘I have a loaded shotgun, you need to show yourself now, or I will blast you right through the shelving.’ As soon as she had spoken, she shifted a little further down the aisle, realizing that the sound of her voice could pinpoint her position.

  ‘I wouldn’t do that if I was you,’ a male voice replied in a reasonable tone, ‘if you do, you will probably kill yourself as well, with all the ricocheting shrapnel from the shredded cans.’

  Georgia started, she had not thought of that. ‘Well, show yourself then,’ she yelled, ‘or we will both die, right now I could care less either way, and make sure your hands are where I can see them.’ She was bluffing and she hoped that it did not show in her voice. Her hands were sweating so badly she was struggling to keep a firm grip on the butt of the gun.

  ‘How do I know you won’t shoot me anyway?’ The voice asked.

  Georgia frowned. ‘Why would I do that?’

  ‘How in tarnation would I know, you are the one threatening to kill me, all I was doing, was trying to find black peppercorns.’

  ‘How was I to know that?’ Georgia exclaimed, and then determined to get back in control of the conversation, she added, a little more brusquely, ‘and anyway, you could have answered me the first time?’

  ‘Geez woman, I was trying not to scare you, hoping you would think you were alone, next thing you are threatening to shoot me.’

  ‘Oh,’ was all Georgia could say. By now, it was becoming apparent to her that the voice coming from the other side of the shelving was not a threat to her.

  Suddenly the man spoke again, ‘okay, I am coming round, I’m trusting that you are not completely crazy.’

  Nervously she waited, hearing his footsteps rounding the corner. Slowly she stood up, still holding the shotgun, but pointing it towards the ground. A young black man stepped out in front of her. His hands held up in the air. She took in his affable appearance. Noting that he had a rifle slung over his shoulder. He noticed her glance, ‘Shopping in Wal-Mart is not as safe as it used to be.’

  She felt color rush to her face, ‘I am sorry,’ she said.

  ‘So, do you think I might be allowed to put my hands down?’

  ‘Yes of course.’

  He lowered his hands, grinning at her obvious embarrassment and Georgia found herself returning the smile, feeling herself beginning to relax.

  ‘You alone?’ he asked.

  ‘No, I am not,’ she said firmly, instantly on guard again.

  ‘Oh, so the kids in the vehicle out in the parking lot, are they yours then?’

  ‘I…,’ she fell silent. So much for Lola making sure they all kept out of sight.

  ‘They are fine,’ he continued, ‘my wife is out there, probably talking with them by now. If there is a problem, she will warn me. It’s kind of a routine now with us now.’

  ‘Oh,’ was all Georgia could manage.

  ‘It’s alright,’ he said, stepping back from her, ‘don’t mean to make you nervous. I will just stand back here if you like. I noticed you when I first arrived and like I said, I was trying to keep quiet, so as not to spook you.’

  Georgia still said nothing. She was still stuck on what she was going to say to Lola when she finally got out of here.

  ‘I am on my own,’ the man continued. ‘In the store that is, just coming in
to get some more food, see there’s my trolley.’ He motioned behind him. It was stacked high. ‘We live just round the back of here, across the way.’ He tilted his head, indicating the direction.

  ‘That’s handy,’ Georgia said.

  The man nodded. ‘It sure is. Can I help you with anything? I guess you are after the Genesis, the hunting bow. I saw you looking up at it.’ Did he want the weapon for himself?

  ‘No, I don’t want it,’ he reassured her, obviously seeing the question on her face. ‘I have my rifle, I only have one pair of hands, so only need one weapon, but it was a tossup, between this,’ he slapped the butt of his weapon as he spoke, ‘and the Genesis. ’ His voice was warm and friendly.

  When again she said nothing, he stepped towards her. ‘Here, let me help you.’ and before she could react, he was wheeling the ladder towards the back wall.

  She finally began to feel calmer, more trusting. ‘Do you think it is a real one?’ she asked, as he unclipped it from the wall.

  He began backing down the steps. ‘It sure is. Be handy, that’s for certain. Best thing about it, is that it does not make a sound, and it is real easy to use, even your kids will be able to use this baby.’

  She thanked him as he handed it to her. She turned over the large box and found that it was not just the bow; it came complete with arrows, a quiver, and various bits and pieces that she had never heard of before; nocks, vanes and points. She stacked the box onto her nearly full trolley. She would work it all out later.

  ‘Is there anything else I can help you with?’

  ‘Thank you, but no, I have just about everything I need now.’ She turned to go and then stopped.

  ‘Oh, by the way, I was at the chemist, and there are cartons and cartons of iodide tablets in there, I took a couple of packets myself.’

  ‘Yep,’ he said, ‘saw those already, I took two cartons a couple of days ago, my wife and I put them out in the street with a sign. They are all gone now.’

  ‘Aren’t you worried?’ She asked, ‘about …,’

  ‘Yes I am,’ he interrupted her, ‘but I believe that what will be will be.’

  She nodded. ‘Yes, I guess that is true,’ then added, ‘but this won’t always be here.’ As she spoke, she spied the coffee section just a little way down and began to walk towards it, pushing her trolley ahead. The man began walking with her.

  ‘No, it won’t, but nothing ever stays the same, something else will come about, or the power will come back on.’

  ‘Do you think so? Have you heard anything?’ she was suddenly very hopeful, ‘I mean about the nuclear power stations?’

  ‘Probably not much more than you have, but Jeremiah, that’s my wife’s cousin, he used to work over at that Wolf place, he says that he is pretty sure that it is going to blow, probably already has. It has backup generators for emergencies, but he does not think it had anything in place for power outages on this scale. There is always some sort of petition being put before the senate to make them fail safe, but it gets rejected every year.’

  Georgia stopped again, stretching up to take down two large cans of milk powder. ‘Didn’t know that,’ she murmured, weighing the cans in her hand, and regretfully putting one back.

  ‘I don’t fully know about it, just what Jeremiah says.’

  ‘I haven’t heard or felt anything like a nuclear explosion,’ Georgia said as the man now began pushing the trolley for her.

  ‘We probably wouldn’t, not from this distance. Do you need sugar?’

  She nodded and together they made their way over to the sugar. Georgia made her selection, then stood holding the sugar bags. ‘Do you think we could already have radiation poisoning?’

  ‘Nah, think we are too far away here, but if you are really concerned, or if you think you might have gotten too close you might want to dose up the kids. Just make sure you read the instructions really well. That is not stuff to mess with. It won’t protect you from everything, just stops you getting thyroid cancer, and there really isn’t much point taking it if you are over forty, really only effective for kids.’

  ‘Wow, you seem to know a bit about it,’ Georgia exclaimed.

  ‘Yeah, comes from having a Jeremiah in the family.’ They both laughed at this.

  ‘I have to go,’ Georgia said, then after a moment’s hesitation she held out her hand. ‘It’s been nice meeting you.’ She was a little surprised when he took it in both of his, folding his hands around hers so she felt the warmth from them.

  ‘And nice to meet you.’

  ‘Be safe,’ she said as she turned, afraid tears might reveal themselves, and firmly gripped the handle of the trolley.

  ‘You too,’ he said, ‘God go with you.’

  ‘And you,’ Georgia called over her shoulder, as she began wheeling the trolley, wheel squeaking, between the displays and down the aisle. Well that was unexpected and a little weird.

  Behind her, she could hear him whistling something she couldn’t quite place, she had the oddest feeling he was picking up the printers and the reams of paper and putting the display back to rights. Maybe he had worked here.

  She kept adding to her cart. Two more blankets, some large trash bags, could be handy if it rains, an armful of black t-shirts, and several pairs of jeans that she thought would fit Lola.

  Then rounding the corner nearly on two wheels, she had taken a quick detour through ‘Lingerie’, throwing handfuls of bras, panties and socks into the top basket before heading to the pet section.

  It had been well and truly ransacked and there wasn’t a lot left, a couple of flea collars, some eye drops, and two small dog harnesses. The harnesses were so cute, but it was not actually the cuteness, which attracted her attention, it was the saddlebags that were attached to them. Maybe it was a novelty idea, but the stitching looked solid. Badger and Millie could carry some of their own food. She took everything.

  Georgia carefully examined the surrounding shelves to see if there was any dog food left, and had nearly given up hope when she spied a twenty pound bag of Dog Chow, at the bottom of an overladen abandoned shopping trolley.

  Now she had everything.

  She wheeled the trolley towards the exit. They would never be able to carry all this.

  Jamie came running down towards her as she began unloading the groceries through the opening in the plywood barrier.

  ‘Is everything okay,’ Georgia exclaimed.

  ‘Oh yeah, but Lola was having a pink tizzy. She was convinced you were dead, but I knew you would be okay. She started breathing funny, but Rebecca did that trick that Dad did with grandma when she did that weird breathing, you know, with the bag.’

  ‘Lola was hyperventilating?’

  ‘Yeah, real bad, she even went a funny color. She’s okay now though,’ then added without even stopping to take a breath, ‘wow, you sure got a lot of stuff.’

  ‘Yes, go grab a shopping cart.’

  Jamie was back almost immediately. Together they loaded everything up, and with Jamie, leading the way they headed across the carpark.

  ‘We broke into a minivan just over there.’

  As they neared the van Jamie had pointed out, the kids and the dogs tumbled out, happy to see her, and very excited about the trolley load. They had never been overjoyed to see a full shopping trolley before. There was always a first time for everything!

  Lola just about leapt upon her, wrapping her tightly in her arms and holding her close. ‘Oh thank goodness you are alright, I saw a man go in there, and then when you didn’t come out for so long I was thinking…, you are alright aren’t you?’

  ‘I am fine,’ Georgia reassured her, ‘he said his wife was out here, did you see her?’

  ‘No, we didn’t see anyone else, just the guy.’

  Wonder if he just made that up to make me feel more at ease, or perhaps she is a little less trusting than…

  ‘Oh my goodness, look at all this water,’ Deedee exclaimed, digging round in the trolley.

  ‘Did you g
et any coke?’ Jamie asked

  ‘No, it would just makes us thirstier, so I got water, oh, and some orange juice, it’s near the bottom,’ Georgia started moving some of the stuff aside to find it.

  ‘Are these for me?’ Lola asked, holding up a pair of the jeans.

  Georgia nodded. ‘And lots of other things, how about we get this stuff into the van, eat something and then sort out how best to pack and carry it.’

  Chapter Twenty two

  The van was warm, unbearably so, despite having the side door and all the windows open in an attempt to create a cross draft.

  Georgia looked around in dismay at the cramped confines of the van, it had been a mistake to load everything in here. Repacking was going to be a headache. The van, on any normal occasion would have had ample room, but now with the five of them, three dogs, the contents of the shopping trolley, and all their gear, it was a nightmare.

  ‘This is worse than a Chinese puzzle,’ Georgia said, after struggling hopelessly to rearrange items just so they would all have room to sit down.

  Lola, who had stepped out of the van to ease the situation, leaned in the doorway. ‘Perhaps we should take it all out again, and sort it out that way.’

  Georgia cursed under her breath, as she struggled to recover the can opener, which had slid off the top of one of the piles. ‘Sorry Lola, not swearing at you, just trying to retrieve something here.’ Her fingertips touched the smooth surface of the opener, feeling it slide further away. Why does everything have to be so difficult? She knelt down between dogs, and kid’s legs, stretching out to reach it.

  ‘It’s okay, didn’t think you were,’ Lola replied.

  ‘Got it,’ Georgia exclaimed triumphantly, sitting back on her haunches, her elbow sending the precarious stack of dried food scattering across the floor and under seats. Millie and Badger thought it was all in aid of some wonderful new game and leapt from seat to seat, creating even more chaos.