"I think I'm still in shock about this whole situation," Holly said as they made a path through the hallway, cluttered with boxes and racks from different stores. "I just can't believe how fast things have gone to shit. It's like thousands of years of civilization never even existed. People should be better than this, shouldn't they?"
"People never cease to amaze me. Usually, of course, I'd like to think of it in more of a positive light, but something tells me that's a luxury we can no longer afford. What we really need to do, once we're stocked up on supplies, that is, is to find a more permanent shelter and get a better understanding of the situation before we go off looking for Becky."
"I agree, but it's going to be difficult with all these people."
"People? Are you talking about the ones milling around here, giving us the evil eye, or the ones back on the lifeboat? While most of the folks around here are creeping me out, I don't think they're much of a threat. Something tells me they're keeping an eye on us as much as we are on them. And as for those people back at the lifeboat, they're on their own. We did what we had to do to get back here, but for now, our best course of action is to focus on Becky. Those people are going to have to fend for themselves now."
"That seems kind of harsh, don't you think? This was a cruise ship we were on, and most of the people on board were retired gray-hairs. Something tells me that half those people are going to be in a panic just because they don't have access to their medication. There's likely a whole group of them that are diabetic. Based on the looks of this place, they won't be getting their prescriptions refilled anytime soon. They're going to need some help. We're fortunate that we can do what we can, but we can't just desert everyone else."
Garrett turned to face Holly, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. They both smiled at each other. This was looking like it was going to be one of those serious conversations. The kind that could lead to a massive argument if somebody didn't choose their words correctly. Hence the smiling, albeit an uncomfortable smile.
Garrett started first. "We can't possibly travel with that many people. Have you counted them all?"
Holly tilted her head slightly. "No," she said, almost as if asking why she would bother to count everyone.
"I have. There are 107 people that came off that lifeboat, including the short man with the gun that took off as soon as we beached. That's a huge target. A lot of people to worry about."
"A lot of people to help as well, people to pitch in. People to look out for one another."
"Yes, in theory, I suppose that's true. But like you said before, there are a lot of people there who are going to need far more then we're able to give. We can't save them all."
"Save them? You think they're going to need saving? Those people just need a little bit of help, and then I'm sure they can take care of themselves. They did before, I'm sure."
"A little bit of help? I think we're all going to need some major saving. I think that what we're seeing right here, right now in this desolate ruin of a shopping mall is the very tip of a very scary iceberg. An iceberg that's about to come crashing into our ship of life."
"I'm all done with being on ships for now. I've had more than enough in the last few days."
"Nobody's happier to hear you say that than me. Trust me." Holly suppressed the tiniest of smiles. "But I was talking figuratively about our ship of life. Our world as we knew it. That's all a distant memory, and those who can't let go of it and plan for the future are gonna get crushed under the weight of that iceberg."
"Being a little melodramatic there, don't you think? This has to be just a temporary situation. I'm sure the government, FEMA as well as all the other first responder and rescue services will have things in hand shortly. Tourist destinations probably weren't their first point of concern."
"As much as I hope you're right, I can't put that much faith in the government. Especially if this thing is as widespread as I think it is. Think about it. We were at sea, on a cruise ship and totally separated from everything going on back here in the country. As far away as we were, we were still hurt by this power outage. As soon as we get back to shore, the very first city that we set foot in, we find out that it's experiencing the same problem, but even worse."
"Worse? Are you kidding me? We were surrounded by ocean. At least these people here had their feet on solid ground when it hit. How could their situation have actually been worse than ours?"
"It was worse because at least when we were on that cruise ship we had somewhere else we wanted to be. Somewhere that we wanted to get to, that we thought was better. We had hope. And now that we're here we know the situation is much worse. Given the look of things around here, I have a feeling these people are way more panicked than we were on that tiny lifeboat, bobbing around like a cork. The people who were already here with their feet on solid ground knew the gravity of the situation. I have a bad feeling this power outage has affected the whole country. That's why there's been so much destruction and panic here. These people knew they had nowhere else to go. There was no other safer ground they could get to and be rescued. Right now, they're all digging in and protecting what they have. Whatever little that is. We need to start doing the same."
"That's pretty scary. It can't be that bad. There are millions of people in this country whose job it is to protect us from situations exactly like this. At least some of them must be doing the right thing."
"Maybe. I pray that you're right. That's all I did last night when I couldn't sleep. I was hoping that today would reveal some sign of hope that there were people working to make things better, but I haven't seen a sign of it yet. Have you?"
Holly looked down at her feet and shook her head ever so slightly. "I haven't lost hope yet, Holly. I want to believe that at least a fraction of those millions of people whose job it is to help others are doing what they can and that they just haven't made it to Atlantic City yet. I'm hoping that they found people worse off than us, who really need the help, and they're focusing all their attention on them. Hell, I really, really hope that some of them are with Becky and making sure she's safe, sheltered and fed. I do, with all of my heart."
Holly looked back up at Garrett and smiled just a little while brushing back a tear. "But if I'm wrong and I don't do everything in my power in spite of how rough things are here then I'll never be able to forgive myself. When we left this country and set foot on that cruise ship less than a week ago, our home was one of the most beautiful, blessed places on the face of the earth. Now, I have a really bad feeling that for a lot of people it's become a living hell. My sole purpose right now is to make sure that it's not a living hell for those that I love."
Chapter 5 ~ Run
Along the way during their little shopping excursion, Holly and Garrett had managed to upgrade from the cumbersome suitcase that Holly had to a regular-sized backpack. It wasn't an overly large one, so they couldn't get a lot into it. It was much easier to maneuver through the stores of the shopping mall, up and down the stairs and the escalators. They were still hoping to find another one along the way, but for now Garrett was stuck using the wheeled suitcase. They'd been at this for a few hours now, and there wasn't a whole lot of room left in their bags. Pretty soon they had to start thinking about heading back.
"I've been thinking," Garrett said, with a tone that Holly knew meant he was about to ask for something. "Maybe heading back towards the lifeboat wouldn't be the smartest move at this point." It didn't take long for Garrett to get to the point of what he was really asking. "The sooner we start thinking about a plan to get to Becky, the better. If I know that girl, she's not one to sit idle for very long, and she'll be on the move sooner rather than later."
Holly didn't say anything, so Garrett decided uneasily that it was better to just keep on talking. "I know you may think it's better to stick with the larger group, but I really don't see how that could be manageable. Everybody's going to want to go in different directions, with different agendas and priorities in mind. If we hea
d back to the group now, we're just going to create a huge debate about who should go, where they should go and who should go with who. I'm sure that others have already come to the same conclusion and will be heading out on their own soon, if they haven't already. We should do the same."
Holly didn't answer, as her attention seemed to be diverted elsewhere. They'd moved up to the second level of the mall, and even though most of the stores up here seemed to be nothing but high-fashion clothing, Holly had convinced Garrett to keep looking. The more practical items had been found on the lower levels. The upper levels hadn't been ransacked nearly as much, and they ran into fewer people up here.
"We should head back downstairs now," Garrett suggested.
"I suppose," Holly agreed, slightly reluctantly. "Things up here appear just a little more normal, which makes a change from the disaster downstairs. The change of pace was nice."
"Yes, it does seem almost normal."
"I suppose scavengers and looters don't see much need to bother with haute couture fashion. Let's go."
They had to walk the entire length of the upper level to make it back to where the escalators were. They didn't pass a single other person on the way, although there were sections of the mall open to lower levels and they could see people moving about down below.
"There seem to be quite a few more people down there than there were earlier," Garrett said. "Another good reason not to stay here any longer than we have to. I'm starting to think that being out in public isn't a good thing."
"I'm starting to recognize some of these people," Holly said, glancing at the people down below. "Although I'm not sure if I recognize them from the boat, or from traipsing around this place."
Garrett stopped to look down below at the people Holly was referring to. "I don't recognize any of them. Are you sure they look familiar?"
"I'm not a hundred percent sure; there have been so many new faces in the past few days between the cruise and this crazy adventure. Could just be that I'm imagining things. Maybe hoping for a little familiarity in a strange place." She shrugged it off.
As they got to the top of the escalator, Garrett pushed the long pull handle of the suitcase to collapse so he could carry it down the escalator. The handle went halfway down, then stuck. He pulled it back up and tried pushing again. This time it didn't even budge at all.
"Cheap foreign shit," he complained as he banged the handle again to get it to move down. It went halfway again, then jammed. "Geez." He tried kicking the suitcase and then jamming the handle down with both hands. It still jammed.
"Here, let me try." Holly got between Garrett and the suitcase and pulled the handle back up. She jiggled the handle a little bit, then pushed it down till it jammed again in the middle. She jiggled it a little bit more, then lightly pushed the handle till it fully collapsed into the suitcase. "There you go, big man. Sometimes you just have to relax a little and not be such a brute about things."
"Yeah, right. Some things just aren't in my nature. It's been my experience that a bigger hammer is usually the best solution."
"Or maybe just a proper-sized backpack like mine."
"That would be better, but it's not like there are a lot of camping supply stores here in Atlantic City. We may have to deal with what we have for now until we get out of town and find something better."
Garrett stepped first with the clumsy suitcase onto the escalator as Holly followed. That way, if he lost control of the suitcase and went tumbling down the stairs, it wouldn't take both of them out.
"I kind of like these escalators better when the power isn't working," Garrett said. "Moving escalators always freak me out. Something in me thinks they're going to speed up or slow down just as I'm about to step foot on them, and send me tumbling down bruised and battered."
As they were three-quarters down the escalator, another group of three men stepped onto what would've been the up escalator if the power was actually moving them up. As they passed one another going in opposite directions, the men moved closer to their side of the stairs, which brought them within arm's reach of Holly and Garrett. Holly and Garrett both instinctively moved further to their side of the stairs, keeping themselves just out of reach. It was more an awkward situation than a menacing one. Garrett nodded nonchalantly to the men as they passed, as you would to any stranger in the street where you happen to make incidental eye contact. The men never nodded back, nor did they say anything. Holly eyed them but avoided any direct eye contact. As Holly and Garrett stepped off at the lower level, Holly glanced momentarily over her shoulder and saw all three men watching them intently.
"Those three I definitely recognize," Holly said quietly once they were out of earshot. "Did you?" Garrett shook his head no.
"But I certainly didn't like the looks they were giving us. I'd say most definitely that our little shopping excursion is done. We should make our way back to the others. At least for now, there may be safety in numbers."
<<<>>>
They were now convinced that they were being followed. Holly and Garrett turned quickly down the narrow hallway. They moved quicker now that they were temporarily out of sight. Running in a crowd would only draw attention. There were several doorways along the way, but none of them had signs on them, and Garrett, who was leading the way, picked up the pace. Holly's backpack was easier to move down the hallway, but it was also weighing her down. Garrett kept looking around behind him to make sure she was close.
"Are you sure this is the way?" Holly asked.
"Pretty sure," Garrett responded.
"I didn't see a sign leading to an exit this way. What makes you think this is the way out and not just the way towards the staff lounge or the washrooms?"
"There was a sign. I saw a sign lying on the ground amongst all the other rubble."
"You saw a sign lying on the ground and assumed it was just for this hallway."
"Hallways and shopping malls always have signs, especially in tourist areas. Tourists are forever getting lost. I didn't see a sign above this hallway, so I figured the one lying in the dirt had to be the right one."
They were both tiring, but Garrett picked up the pace a little more. Holly pushed herself to keep up as her backpack bounced around. Most backpacks aren't built for running and this one was no exception. There was no strap on the bottom to pull it tight and keep it from bobbing up and down. Right now, the only thing that kept it from flopping around out of control was the weight of it. The weight, however, was tiring Holly out quickly.
Holly glanced behind her shoulder one more time. They were coming. "I sure hope you're right, Garrett, because there's now a whole crew of them chasing us. Either that, or everyone got the same idea you had that somehow this is the hallway to get out based on some sign lying in the dirt."
The five men now pursuing them picked up the pace and sprinted down the hall at a quicker pace than the two of them could manage. The men didn't carry packs but were intent on stealing what Holly and Garrett had collected in their bags. The lead man yelled to Holly and Garrett, but the hallway echoed and garbled his words. Neither Holly nor Garrett had any intention of responding to whatever their pursuers said.
"That's not a dead end, is it?" Holly asked, trying to look past Garrett through the darkness up ahead. Garrett didn't answer for a few more strides, waiting until he could see better. The hallway had been getting darker the further they ran, but as they came closer to the possible dead end, Garrett thought he made something out.
"It's lighter down here. There's got to be light coming from somewhere. There'll be a way out, just keep going. Are you OK?"
Holly's mind flipped through possible answers. He wanted to know if she was OK? What the hell would ever possess the man to ask if she was OK in a situation which was clearly the furthest thing from OK any human on the planet could envision themselves in? What exactly was it that she saw in this man and why the hell was it she was following him down this corridor? OK? No, she wasn't OK, but she also knew that's not what he wa
nted to hear. That's not what Garrett ever wanted to hear. He always wants to know that things were going just great, that everything was OK and that he was making the right decisions. Is that how they got to this situation? No, that couldn't be all Garrett. Everyone knew that it took two to make a relationship and that it took two to have a fight and that it took two to ... She didn't know what, she didn't know how to describe this situation. It was completely unimaginable. Ever since they'd been together, she'd been enthralled by his desire to lead them down different paths. Some new adventure or crazy idea that he had that they needed to experience. And she'd gone along with it. For years she was more than happy to lead the life of a dutiful wife and mother of their child.
But how in the hell could this situation ever be considered OK? Running through some desolate shopping mall, in a city gone to shit, after barely surviving a sinking cruise ship and pursued by five angry men down a narrow hallway into a dark oblivion. What a horrible way for this all to end. This was far from OK; it was the furthest from OK she'd ever been in her life.
Holly glanced frantically over her shoulder one more time, trying not to trip over her own two feet with the bobbing pack. The men were still coming. She was hoping that all they wanted was the pack on her back and the suitcase that Garrett pulled. She hoped that that's where they'd stop. The world had certainly changed and not for the better. Who knew what these men wanted? Bodily harm, or worse. Where did civilization go and what steps would people sink to when there was no one to keep things in check? When there was no one to tell them what they should and shouldn't do and no one to enforce those rules. That seemed to be the world they were living in. This wasn't OK. Not by any stretch of the imagination. She watched Garrett's back from behind and wondered why she let herself end up here. This whole cruise and vacation was supposed to be about her leading. It was supposed to be about her deciding what direction they went and where the relationship would take them. Something new and a change for their relationship. A change in a better direction. Or at least a different direction from the one they had been following for so long. This direction, however, down a darkened hall, was not what she signed up for. Not even close.
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