by Doug Ward
We sat for a while; us on the tar-and-chipped surface while Thaddeus reclined in the chair. The four of us were exhausted mentally and physically from our escape. Our boss looked the worst, visibly still suffering the effects of his alcoholic binge.
Our mood was one of defeat. We were now trapped on the roof with no realistic route of escape in the foreseeable future. With the countryside, if not the world, in chaos from the outbreak, we had only our wits and luck to depend upon.
As I looked at the three others, I thought maybe I should use the same tactics I had before. We needed to get organized.
"Does anybody have any food?" I asked without sounding too hopeful.
No one spoke, but all heads swung side-to-side affirming what I already suspected.
"Water?"
I got the same response.
I had them all empty their pockets to look for something useful. A penknife, some loose change, and wallets were all the effort produced. Of course, Ned and I still had the cubicle supports we had used as weapons, but there was nothing of use other than that.
Everyone except Ted searched the rooftop. Thaddeus, being uncooperative, remained in the folding lounge. An old plastic tarp and a windblown grocery bag were our only finds. The tarp was a temporary patch on the roof. Its edges were tarred to seal it but we removed it and made a temporary shelter, somewhat like a tent. Our cubicle supports and one wall formed the posts. Even though it wasn't hot, the roof gave off waves of heat. We would have gotten sunburned if not for the blue plastic canopy made from the tarp.
As we were searching the roof, I asked Amber why there was a chair up here. She giggled and said Ted liked to come up here and sunbathe. He used to chain the door so no one would find out. Although I was slightly perturbed that he was maintaining his tan on company time, I was happy for the chain and padlock, which probably wouldn't have been here if he hadn't neglected his job by sun worshipping.
We turned off all unnecessary functions on our smartphones, not wanting to waste any remaining battery. Then, we shut them off completely. Even though the phones were mostly useless, it was still our only means of communicating with the outside world. We had to make them last as long as possible.
We saw a helicopter in the distance. Everyone, except Ted, jumped to their feet and raced to the edge, screaming while jumping and waving our hands in the air. But it was too far away to notice us.
Ned walked out into a large open spot on the roof and began dragging his heel around. He was writing something in the gravel. HELP! WE ARE ALIVE!
There was nothing else we could do. We were all hungry and extremely thirsty. As it began getting dark, Amber leapt to her feet. "The dew!" she said triumphantly. "We can catch it in the tarp."
As fast as we could, the four of us, Ned forcing Ted to help, set the tarp out to collect rainwater. Using the bag torn into strips, we tied the blue plastic to the wall in a corner. We used my cubicle support to anchor the free corner and had a big square to catch any dew or even rain.
We decided on setting a watch order. On the outside chance someone would come by, I wanted someone awake and alert. Once again, Ted refused to take a turn. Ned began to protest, but with a shake of my head, he let it go. I didn't want to take a chance on him. Even though he was sober at this point, he still looked bad. The lack of water and dehydrating effect of alcohol was really taking its toll on him.
We all settled in except Amber, who had volunteered for the first watch. Exhausted, I had slept little during the first night. Lying on my back, I looked up at the canopy and licked my dry lips, anticipating a little water in the morning.
Chapter 11
Henry
