Stranded Box Set

by Theresa Shaver

  Mrs. Moore took the pad of ideas from Mrs. Hardsky and when she had everyone’s attention she began.

  “All right, students, we’re trying to decide where we should go to find long-term shelter. As we discussed, it must be securable and we need to stock it with as many supplies as we can. We also need to be aware of fire safety with so much of the city burning and potentially spreading. Here are some of your ideas. First on the list is a golf course clubhouse. This is a good idea as far as fire safety goes. It’d be surrounded by manicured lawn with no other buildings near it so fire wouldn’t be much of a concern. There’d be a fence around the golf course but it would be a simple chain-link fence and it would cover a huge area so it would be hard to guard the whole thing. Another issue is that most clubhouses I have seen have huge windows for the view and again that would make it hard to secure. We’d also have to go far and haul back supplies. I don’t think that this would work out too well. Does everyone agree?”

  After everyone nodded and a few commented on it not being a viable place, she moved on to the next place on the list.

  “Next we have a museum. Again, this is a good idea as most museums are on a bit of land and may have a fence. We’d have to search for one and hope it isn’t too far from here. A museum, like a clubhouse, might have too many large windows. Unless anyone knows of a particular one, I believe it would not be a good option due to the uncertainty and time it would take to search for the right building that would work for us. Does anyone have a museum they know is close by that would fit our group?”

  Once again there were negative shakes of heads and with a nod, Mrs. Moore moved on.

  “The next two options are very good and very bad. We have a police station and an armed forces base. The good points of both of these are that there’d be authority figures at both and they would be armed for protection. In the case of the armed forces base, it would be heavily secured and most likely have many supplies. The bad points of these two locations are that they will both be magnets to the desperate people looking for help. If we were to go to either one of these places, we might be caught up in either a mob or a battle. It’s also possible that they have gone into lock down and won’t help anyone until things settle down which could be many days. This would be a huge risk. I suggest we think on it for a moment while we consider the last suggestion on the list.”

  Mrs. Moore looked over the discouraged faces in the room and took a deep breath before naming the last location. She knew that there wouldn’t be a lot in favour of it but she felt it was the best option to them.

  “Go underground into the sewers.”

  The immediate reactions were negative and many students made faces and shook their heads no. After a moment, Mrs. Moore continued.

  “I know that that doesn’t sound very pleasant but I want you to listen to the reasons that this would be a good idea. This is a huge city and there are miles of tunnels.” At the word tunnels, Mrs. Moore stopped speaking and frowned. There was something nagging at the back of her mind. Something she should remember. She shook her head and went on detailing her rationale.

  “We wouldn’t actually be in the waste part of the sewers or at least not for long. There are probably many miles of maintenance tunnels that run under the city. We could find a control room or storage rooms down there that we could take over. We’d be able to travel under the city to different locations and go up to search for supplies. This means we wouldn’t have to walk the street and could avoid the gangs, gunfire, fire and desperate people. We also may be able to travel underground to the city’s edge and make our way to a rural area. There are risks involved in this as well. Other’s may have the same idea and go underground for safety. I don’t think that’s such a big concern though. It’d be better if we could find a like-minded group to join. There’d be more security in a larger group with more people to stand guard and to forage for supplies. The other problem with this idea is the lack of light. It may be possible that the pulse didn’t affect all things underground but the main power to the city has been destroyed so most likely it’ll be dark. We’d have to search for working flashlights or lanterns as well as make some sort of torch. So, with all of that said, I believe going down into the tunnels is our best chance of survival.” Again, something whispered at the back of the teacher’s mind.

  Mrs. Moore stood back and let the students discuss the options before them and tried to remember what it was about tunnels that was bothering her. All around her the teens argued the different ideas and it finally came to a head when one of the girls stood up and shrieked, “I don’t want to do this! I want to go back. I want to go back to this morning and just start the day again!”

  Mrs. Moore smiled sadly at her student. “I know. I’m sorry, Cindy, but we can’t go back…” The teacher’s eyes narrowed and her head tilted to the side in consideration.

  Cindy saw her teacher staring at her and reddened in embarrassment. She quickly sat down and mumbled an apology for her outburst.

  Mrs. Moore’s eyes focused back on Cindy. “Wait, don’t apologise. I think you’re right.”

  Everyone looked at Mrs. Moore in confusion. She was silent as she thought through the idea. The security guard she and April had spoken to before they left the park came to mind. He’d told them that he was going to lock the park down and clear the tunnels. She remembered reading about there being staff tunnels under the park so that deliveries could be made out of sight to all the stores and restaurants in the park. They also allowed the costumed characters to travel to their designated theme areas. A slow smile spread across her face. She beamed at her students and explained.

  “We’re going to go back! Underneath Disneyland are tunnels, staff tunnels. And most importantly, storage rooms filled with food and water meant for the stores and restaurants in the park. Just think of how many tourists visit the park every day – I think I read it averages somewhere between forty and fifty thousand. That’s a lot of food and water! We could get even more supplies from the stores, like clothing and other necessities. They’ll have some sort of medical facility where we can find first aid supplies and maybe cots to sleep on. I believe that there’s also a special hotel room somewhere on the grounds where we can obtain more beds. This would be perfect for our survival. We can gather everything we need for a long-term stay and then lock all the doors to the tunnels. We’d be perfectly safe until the situation calms down in the city. Thank you, Cindy, you very well may have saved all of our lives!”

  Every eye in the room was focused on Mrs. Moore and slowly hope crept into their expressions. She gave them a few moments to discuss the idea before calling them to attention again.

  “Does everyone agree that going back to the park is the best idea?”

  There were many that called out, “Yes,” and a lot of head nodding. The only person who abstained was Mrs. Davis but her eyes still had the dull look of shock. With the vote to go back agreed on, Mrs. Moore gave out further instructions.

  “Now’s the time for us to hurry. We have a clear plan and we must now implement it. I want you all to go to your rooms and get your belongings. You may need to leave some of them behind in order to pack up the food and water in the minibars. Take all the supplies you can, including the toiletries. If you have room to spare, pack a pillow. There’s also a housekeeping cart in the hallway so we should empty it as well. Keep in mind that we’ll be able to replace clothing but we may not be able to find bedding in the park. Only one suitcase per person as we’ll need to travel by foot back to the park. We may need to move quickly so make sure your suitcases have wheels to pull them along. It’s now mid afternoon and we have a lot to do before dark so go now and pack quickly. We’ll meet back here in fifteen minutes.”

  Everyone jumped to their feet and filed out except for the two students who had been staying in the room. With a destination finalized they were all anxious to get going.

  Chapter Six

  April led her mother down the hallway to their room. She was
still thrown by her mom’s current condition. She couldn’t ever remember a time that her mother hadn’t been in complete control and dictating her actions every step of the way. She settled her on one of the chairs and quickly pulled out their two suitcases. They both had wheels so it shouldn’t be too hard to pull them along once they got out of the hotel. The hardest part would be getting them down ten flights of stairs. She went through her clothing and started to sort out what she’d leave behind. She was ruthless as she pared it down to two outfits and a jacket. She was more concerned with having a pillow and blanket than many outfits. Once she was done with her suitcase she turned to her mother.

  “What do you want to leave behind? I think bedding is more important than clothing. Don’t you?”

  Her mother lifted her head and met her eyes. Her expression was flat and her tone bland when she replied, “It doesn’t matter. We won’t be going anywhere.”

  April stared in shock at her mother before sputtering out, “What are you talking about? Didn’t you hear anything we talked about in the other room? Mrs. Moore said…”

  Mrs. Davis cut her off with a snarl before she could say anything further.

  “That woman is ridiculous and a menace! She’ll have us all dead by sunset! No, we’ll not be going anywhere. We’ll stay here until either the authorities or your father comes to get us.”

  April was speechless. Her mother had gone insane and lost herself in shock. That could be the only reason she was blindly ignoring the reality of the situation around them. She didn’t know what to say so she just turned away and started to clear out the minibar and dump its contents onto the bed to be packed into her suitcase. As she worked away and ignored her mother, the woman’s face got redder and redder until she jolted out of her chair and clamped on to her arm.

  “Did you not hear me? Stop what you’re doing at once!” she hissed.

  Wiping her mother’s spit from her face, April wrenched her arm away and faced her mother.

  “Mom, I don’t know what’s wrong with you but here are the facts. There are no more authorities. No one is coming to get us. Dad is not coming to get us. We may never see him again!”

  Out of nowhere her mother’s hand flashed out and slapped April across the face. Tears immediately filled her eyes. Not so much from the pain but from the years of frustration she’d felt by her mother controlling and micromanaging every moment of her life for as long as she could remember. The slap was more than just a betrayal. It pushed her from being a seventeen-year-old child into an adult, an adult that would no longer be controlled.

  When she raised her head and pushed her hair back from her eyes, they were cold and clear. Mrs. Davis was still ranting and missed the signs of change in her daughter.

  “We’ll shut and lock that door and stay here. The others can go wherever they want to but we’ll stay here and wait! I won’t have my daughter traipsing around out on those chaos-filled streets!”

  With her rant done, she focused on her daughter’s face and the coldness she found there made her take a step back. April’s eyes were like lasers of contempt. She felt like she was standing back and seeing her mother for the first time. She knew her mother loved her but it was not the main drive of their relationship. Control was. Her mother wanted to control her and that need was so bad that she was willing to jeopardize April’s safety just to maintain that control.

  She continued to stare at her mother with such cold contempt that the woman took another step back and stumbled into her chair.

  She weakly flapped her arms and said in a whining tone, “I just want to protect you!” before breaking off eye contact.

  April knew that there was no point in trying to argue with her so she took a step back and grabbed her suitcase off the bed. She glanced at the food and drinks on the bed and decided to just leave them.

  “Goodbye, Mother,” were her final words as she headed to the door. When the door was open and she was leaving the room, her mother said her own final words in an emotionless tone.

  “If you leave, you’ll no longer be my daughter.”

  The only response April gave her was to shut the door firmly behind her and move down the hallway to join the rest of her classmates.

  Everyone was gathered at the end of the hall and Mrs. Moore was counting heads as they moved past her. When April walked by, the teacher looked down the hall and saw it was empty.

  “April, is your mother almost ready?” she called out to the girl.

  She stopped and turned back. It was with a blank face and with no emotion that she replied, “My mother won’t be joining us. She’s decided that she’ll stay here and wait for rescue.” She paused and looked down at the floor. “She won’t change her mind so we should just go.”

  Without waiting for a response from her teacher she turned and continued down the hall to the stairwell.

  Mrs. Moore watched the stiff back of her student walk away before turning and glancing back at the door to the room she’d shared with her mother. Shaking her head at the stupidity of people she took a deep breath and ushered the rest of her students out into the stairwell and down to the lobby.

  Going down ten flights of stairs was somewhat easier than going up but still a challenge with everyone carrying suitcases. It’d go much smoother once they were on flat ground and they could wheel the cases behind them. When they made it to the main floor and entered the lobby of the hotel it was plain to see that none of the guests had listened to Mrs. Moore’s advice earlier. If anything, there were even more people here now. The teacher scanned the crowd and noted that no one was yelling or crying. They all had bags of some sort and the adults were calmly speaking to each other. She counted around twenty children and at least forty adults in the lobby.

  When the last student came out of the stairwell and the door slammed shut all conversation stopped and all eyes turned her way. It almost looked normal, like the hotel guests were just waiting to be picked up by the airport shuttles or checked into their rooms. When everyone continued to stare at her, Mrs. Moore was shocked to realize that all these people were waiting for her. She looked through the crowd but there didn’t seem to be a leader amongst them. Finally, a man stepped out of the crowd and walked towards her. He had a sleeping toddler in his arms.

  “Ma’am, we heard what you said earlier and we all agree with your advice. The problem is that we can’t come up with a safe place to go and we’re hoping you would have an idea. We’re all from out of state and we all have small children with us. We thought you and your group would join us and we could go somewhere together.”

  Mrs. Moore looked at the crowd of parents all staring at her with desperation. She took a breath and straightened her spine. If she could handle years of wrangling teenagers, she could handle this group easily. There was safety in numbers and a group this size wouldn’t be an easy target once they were on the streets. Most importantly, if Disneyland could feed forty thousand people a day then there’d be more than enough to feed this group and her students. She knew that there’d be many challenges in the days and weeks to come and it was a relief to her that she’d have some more adults to help out.

  Mrs. Moore lifted her voice and addressed the hopeful crowd. “We know where to go. It’s completely fenced with a gate. There’s underground shelter that can be secured and there’s plenty of food and water to last us for weeks, maybe months. I believe we’ll be safe there! We’d be happy to join with you all and work together to survive this tragedy together!”

  The man rubbed the sleeping toddler’s back and asked, “Where are we going?”

  Mrs. Moore looked around the group one more time before announcing, “We’re going back. We’re going to Disneyland!”

  Chapter Seven

  With many more competent adults helping, getting organised and moving went swiftly. Once she’d explained all the benefits and reasons for returning to the park, they devised a plan. It was agreed that all the younger children and parents with toddlers and babies were to stay
in the middle of the group. Most of the fathers and adults who didn’t need to care for the little ones stayed on the outside of the group in case they ran into trouble. They moved out of the hotel’s parking lot and headed back in the direction they had come from a few hours previously. The street had a low smoky haze hovering over it from all the out of control fires raging through the city. The streets they travelled on were mainly deserted. After so many hours since the pulse, most people had made their way to homes and the looters and troublemakers had found better locations to steal goods and cause trouble. There were still bodies leaning against cars or slumped over steering wheels but the group saw no one moving as they got closer to their destination.

  Mrs. Moore kept her eyes open for the two missing boys who’d run away on the way to the hotel but she didn’t hold much hope of them returning. She noticed April looking over her shoulder a few times back in the direction of the hotel. Every time she’d turn around her shoulders would stoop a little lower. Mrs. Moore cursed the girl’s mother for being such a fool and vowed she would see April to safety. The closer they came to the park, the more anxious Mrs. Moore was. If the security guard had locked the gates, it would mean that they would have to find a way to climb over the fence and break down doors. It was probably doable but it would make things so much easier if the guard was there and willing to help them. She tried to remember what his name tag said but kept coming up blank. It didn’t matter if he was there or not. Disneyland would shelter this group no matter what they had to do.

  As they entered the parking lot of the park, April moved forward to walk beside her teacher. Mrs. Moore reached out and took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.