entirely with rust. Money, lay scattered across the doorway, my instincts still drew me toward the cash, even though I knew it was worthless I felt such a need to gather as much as possible. I guess it was still embedded in our nature, after so many years we still lust for the small green notes. Sky cleared her throat, with the intention of snapping me out of my trace.
She walked in front of me, her every being unintentionally taunting my manhood. From time to time I would have to redirect my eyes from her ass as her hips swayed left to right and her long auburn hair tumbled bouncing off her back, sweat run down the blades of her shoulders and shimmered in the light. I could walk behind her for days and just relish in the erotic images that imprinted my mind. Sky was no fool she knew what I was doing, she must have been used to guys staring, constantly chasing after her back in the old world. I personally would never have the courage to approach her back then, I got lucky with a girl as pretty as Layla, but Sky was harder she would not have been as easily actuated with my courage as Layla was.
These days it was not as if there were any guys to chase after her, other than us. I often wondered if she suppressed her urges as I did, it was a constant battle trying to hold back from making inappropriate advances at Sky. I wondered how she felt towards me though. Surly she sometimes must have looked across the room, and thought about how it would be having me come and keep her warm under her blankets, to feel my skin on hers. To feel the warmth of a man’s touch, I mean after all I was the only one who was around her age and could not picture her having romantic feelings towards Sharif or Smith.
“So where exactly are you from?” I tried making the faintest bit of small talk, in an attempt to keep my mind from wondering too far into the abyss, out here crazy was an easy thing to stumble upon and in no time your mind could get utterly lost in the thin line between reality and disillusion.”I’m from the east coast.”She was direct; to the point as if she was hoping I got the message and left her alone .It was only then that I realised the large gap between the two of us, we hardly spoke in the bunker, and to be honest I knew absolutely nothing about this quiet, yet so dangerous women. However I pushed on with the conversation, trying to bridge the gap between the two of us, not only that but I needed a sort of retreat from the eerie scenery which surrounded us.
“What about family, what happened to them?”She turned to me and moved up close. I stumbled back in shock of her sudden response to my question.
”Listen, I know it seems like a good idea to make little chit chat, try settle your nerves, try ask the pretty vulnerable girl about her past, But there’s no time for your shit, stay focused and keep your emotions in check, or ill leave your ass here to become a reaper snack pack, you got that!”Like a scolded school boy I nodded, recomposed myself and continued walking in silence. I knew she was right, and her intensity was for a reason, she had been in reaper territory before and knew the dangers of being so exposed.
The Supermarket was in site, the top of the store; all three floors were painted a bright green colour which was near to impossible to miss. Large glass panes ran around the entire ground level of the supermarket. Most the windows had been smashed by the rocks, and the few that were left had been painted dark grey from the years of accumulating dust. Outside the door which sat in the middle of the row of large windows was the old slop sided SS mart Sign hanging on for dear life, there were shopping carts and wrecked cars scattered throughout the abandoned lot. The paving had cracks going on for miles.
Slowly we approached the doors which were now just frames as their shattered glass lie everywhere, nothing, not a sound, the silence brought relief to my ears. Such a contrast to the usual bustling of the busy supermarket I was familiar with. As we entered the door we were met by row upon row, isle upon isle of clothing, food, equipment, everything was there; it was like an apocalypse jackpot, a guide to survive the end of the world. I stood in awe of the bounty we had stumbled upon and even though the air was thick from the smell of rotting food and decaying corpse, it still felt like the closest thing to paradise I had felt in a while.
Sky pulled out a little piece of crinkled up paper and began deliberating her orders” Listen Cairo, here is a list of all the items I need you to gather, make sure you burrow through all the shit lying around until you find every single item on the list!” be quick and be quiet, and don’t come back until you have found everything ON....THE...LIST!.”Am I getting through to you or do you need me to repeat myself?”
I shook my head like a little school boy, scolded by his teacher. “What about you Sky, where you headed?”She turned to face me; her response was simple, she had a strange excited look on her face, “Guns!”
Sky was heading straight to the hunting and fishing department of the store. She had her own list of items to collect, from hunting rifles to fishing rods she was doubtful she could find what she was looking for and if she did who’s to say any of the items would still be intact?, However she could barely control her overflowing excitement in hopes of finding even one gun which had not been wrecked or scavenged. She was truly in her element around guns and couldn’t get to the hunting section any faster. As I watched her disappear down the aisle I slowly unravelled the crinkled up piece of paper, So many items so little time.
Grabbing a lopsided trolley I made my way down the ominous silence which was soon broken by the sound of the trolley wheel, to think even in the damn apocalypse nothing was more irritating than the sound of a squeaky SS Mart shopping cart.
As I walked past shelf upon shelf I thought to myself how the hell am I going to find all this stuff in such bad lighting? Even with the sun shining bright in the sky, the shop was still as dark as night, if it wasn’t for my flash light Id be as lost as a mole in the daylight. But I figured the most practical way to get all this shopping done, was to separate all the items into groups and gather them together until I had found every last one, or heaven forbid; Sky would rein hell on me.
”Hmm let’s see, food should be the first priority.” I knew most the food we’d be eating would be in the tinned section, thank goodness for preservatives, without them we would have starved ages ago!’’ Shelves lay broken, tins scattered through the aisle; I was in the right place! A large rock from the fall, sat in the middle of the aisle, great! Now I’d have to climb this behemoth. As I dropped on the other side of the large rock I knew it would take some creative shopping to gather all these items. I got down low and started searching the floor for the goods Sky had written on the list. Everything was specific, except for the food that is, all Sky had written was canned food, I panicked, what if I brought the wrong food? If I messed up it would be the whole group that suffered. I started grabbing cans, looking for the items which were furthest from there expiry dates. I had to trust in myself and make the decision of what to take, there was no time to procrastinate, and every second we waited was another second we put our lives in jeopardy. So I began grabbing what I could and tossed each item over the large rock into the trolley. Tinned soups, peas, sweat corn, noodles, soya mini hot dogs, pilchards, beans, corned beef and lastly a tin of spaghetti O’s. I could not overdo it had to ration what I took back, we would be the only ones carrying all the goods back so I had to make sure I was realistic in how much we could carry.
Wiping my sweaty forehead, and thinking to myself, “Who knew shopping could be so challenging?”
After loading up on food it was onto the next isle, Hygiene products and most importantly soap. I stored up on as many bars as possible; no one wanted to stay in the bunker with Smith after he hadn’t washed for a few days, “talk about ripe!”I also loaded up on toothpaste, body spray, body lotion, powder, antidandruff 2 in 1 Shampoo and Conditioner, both male and female razors, shaving cream and most importantly for our female companions as many different tampons I could get my hands on, poor little Shahkierah was spotting for the first time, and I could only imagine how awkward and uncomfortable she felt in our current living conditions. This time Shy was precise with what she wa
nted, I had to make sure I got every single thing she wrote, down, “If only she told me what size and type of tampons she wanted, as I stared at one of the pink boxes it was complete gibberish to me.
Lastly was the medicine isle, and once again she was exact in what she wanted me to gather. She began with Gauze, definitely something we’d need; both gauze and bandages. Secondly Allergy medication, she wrote this in bold print, Sky and Smith were both prone to severe allergic attacks, mostly caused by all the dust in the sewer, they constantly battled and at night I would hear Smith swallowing countless times as phlegm dripped from his sinus cavity into his throat. The next item to me was honestly the most important in an environment where bacteria thrived, antibacterial creams would be a necessity, a small cut could soon become infected and end your life. The rest were fairly easy to find, flu medication for those cold winter nights, Kiddies vitamins for the girls and lastly laxatives for Smith, some nights it would sound like a pig being slaughtered outside when he went to relieve himself, the poor man’s stomach still hadn’t adapted to our precarious diet.
Eventually I was done, after an hour of gathering all our essentials I had scavenged everything Sky had written down. I started making my way back to the entrance of the store, where I would meet Sky before heading back to the sewer. But I thought to myself, “Wait, when will I be coming back here?” “When Will I get the opportunity I have now, I had to take it with both hands and make sure I did what’s best for the group.” So I headed over to the kids section as fast as I could, how could I go home without getting gifts for everybody? The more time we kept occupied and out one another’s hair the better our relationships would cope. I had Sky’s stern voice running through my head, she would definitely not be too impressed but I had to do this. Clearly she felt different, “Just essentials!”
First and foremost was the girls, as I searched through all the broken toys I looked for something in relatively good enough playing condition, Then I spotted her, she was standing ever so proud, with the long blonde hair, and the cutest sparkly evening gown, still in her box tightly sealed. I grabbed the Barbie doll in such haste you could swear it was black Friday and I was a narcotic soccer mom trying to get her baby the last doll on the shelf! This would be great for Zara, but Shahkierah was more into academic material, opposed to your plastic play things. The little girl loved to stimulate her mind so I knew I was definitely in the wrong section if I wanted to find something she would like. Or was I, under all the broken doll heads, red fire trucks and soccer balls I saw a box, with a game I knew she’d love. I kicked away the other toys and lifted the scrabble box from the floor. This was awesome, not only would she enjoy it, but it would give everyone a bit of relief and more importantly a good helping of mental exercise. Next were gifts for Smith and Sharif, the presents I had in mind were on opposite sides of the store so now I’d really have to hustle if I wanted to make it back on time, or Sky would have my head.
What would be more fitting than a brand new machete for Smith, I diced over to the gardening section and found a bunch of then, I grabbed the large steel blade and threw it in the shopping cart with the rest of the stuff” for Sharif, I chose a book, he had told me about the author many times and how he used to sit on Saturdays with a jug of ice tea and read his novels back to back. So I searched the large book section of the store until I found the criminal law section and eventually there it was Joe Williamson, Lost lawyer “fictional advocate series, the latest edition.’’
Now all I had to do was get a gift for Sky, she too had read all the literature in the bunker, so I thought a book would be a good gift for her as well. I searched high and low, but there was nothing I presumed she would like which was still in well enough reading condition. Then in the corner of my eye I saw the most gorgeous bracelet glimmering from underneath a heap of rubble and books. I knew I had to get it for her; even though she was so tough on the outside, she was still a woman on the inside, and appreciates the finer things in life, such as beautiful jewellery.
Slowly I swept the dust with the palm of my hand and tossed away the books which concluded it. As I pulled the bracelet what followed startled me. An arm with no body attached. I dropped it in shock. Standing there just staring I knew I’d have to man up and unclip it, so I held my breath, Why I have no idea, there was not even the faintest of smell. So I grabbed the arm which looked as if it had been gnawed clean off just under the elbow, and unclipped the beautiful bracelet. In excitement I punched the air like a young kid then realised,” O shit I’m late’’.
Thankfully I had not kept Sky waiting; she too was on her way to the exit as we met in the middle of the store. Sky had her own separate trolley; however hers wasn’t filled with canned food and toiletries. No she was pushing around a small arsenal, like an overly excited kid she began explaining her little wagon of destruction. She pulled each gun out and handed it to me for a feel. I had no clue how to handle most of them but tried to not make a complete fool of myself. ”twelve gauge pump action, this baby can stop a reaper dead in his tracks, separate its head from its body if you want to. 9mm berretta, special with scope, for those modern day hunters who are too lazy to use a cross bow or rifle, I got two of these babies, lastly but by far definitely not least we have here an Ultimate .308 long range hunting rifle, cameo pattern baby, Woop Woop!.”
Wow this girl clearly knew what she was talking about. By far this was the most emotion I had seen Sky show since we had met, she was smiling from ear to ear and I could see a sparkle in her eyes.”So that’s a shotgun, two hand guns and a huge hunting rifle, not forgetting the boxes and boxes of ammo as well I’d say she done pretty well, considering this place must have been looted a hundred times already.”
Chapter 10
Sky and I pushed our shopping carts side by side; through the clutter which lay scattered at our feet and around the large meteors blocking the centres of the aisle. We had fallen into our previous routine and again not a word was said by either of us. But then silence was interrupted by groans from the corner of the vegetable isle. From the darkness came the faint sounds of what sounded like an animal caught in a trap. I looked Sky in the eyes, confused and unsure of what to do next. The groan became higher, more pitched and I had to find out what it was. I walked towards the turned down cabbage shelf and before I knew Sky was right behind me with a shotgun drawn waiting for any sign of danger. As I slowly crept up to the dark corner I made out a pair of eyes. I reached out to the poor animal in need. But it did not move; it simply sat there whining.
I softened my voice and begged it to come out, I tried whistling softly as well and then suddenly the animal reacted and moved a few inches which put it in direct sight with the light. Was it, No it could never be, I had to be seeing things! But then I saw it again, there was no mistaking that was no animal, that was a human child. But how did a child survive all this time out here all alone? ”
Hey there little one, come out, its okay we won’t hurt you.” Once again I put on a soothing tone hoping to lure the young one out of the dark rank corner. The child just lay there cloaked away in the abyss of darkness. I crouched down and slowly approached her, trying to be as subtle as possible. The child crept towards me on her hands and knees, as she entered the light I made out blonde little locks, pale skin and....Then it struck me no normal child could survive here alone. My emotions had once again gotten the better of me and carelessly allowed me to slip up.
”REAPER!” I screamed and scurried then turned to run, but before I could get far enough she had pounced onto by back and was rearing to bite down on my neck. I screamed and shuffled moving franticly each time to set her off balance, so that she would need to readjust before biting down, I screamed for Sky who in turn kept shouting that I stand still. I did not listen until I tripped, landing hard to the floor with the little reaper still on top of me, fighting all my natural instincts I did exactly what Sky said. Without hesitation Sky cocked back the pump action and before I could try and fight back anymore
a single shot had brain matter splattered across the room and all over me.
I tossed the lifeless corps of the young girl off my back and jumped up and slowly backed away, wiping blood and tissue from my shoulders. To think this was once someone’s daughter or grandchild. I tried holding back the tears which swelled in my eyes. Clearly Sky wasn’t as effected as I was.”Let’s keep moving”. The harsh tone in her voice showed anger towards the girl rather than sorrow. She had been in the same scenario way too many times to allow any types of emotion to blur her judgment. Sky knew it was either kill or be killed. An important lesson I would have to learn, and quickly.
Northern Exposure
Luken Du Pont
Copyright 2014 by Luken Du Pont
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