by Oliver, Carl
“Wait” the voice was soft and gentle. A woman’s voice. Maybe even a pretty woman’s voice. Chris kept his hands up and turned slowly back toward the sleeping bag aisle.
From behind a stack of green sleeping bags, a woman stepped out. She had blonde hair, hanging down to her shoulders. Her eyes were bright green, and she wore a black jogging suit that looked somehow familiar to Chris. She had brand new tennis shoes on, and Chris figured out where he had seen the jogging suit. It was on a mannequin, back in the women’s clothing section. She had just stolen all of these clothes.
“Hi.” The woman said , no longer shouting. The gentleness was still there though, and so was the rifle. Chris had forgotten about it, but it still pointed directly at him, the hidden shooter still behind a rack of hanging of sleeping bags. “My name is Jessica.”
There was a stunned silence before Chris responded. “Umm..Hello. My name is Chris. May I put my hands down now?”
“No!” The gruff shout came from the shooter, who didn’t bother masking the voice this time, and Chris was able to tell that it was a woman, too.
“Okay. Well you just let me know when it’s okay.” Chris was trying to remain as calm and collected as he could, but the truth is that his entire body ached from dehydration and exhaustion.
“How did you find us?” The woman behind the gun asked. “How long have you been following us?” Chris thought about how to answer, and decided that honesty would be the best policy in the long run.
“Just kinda stumbled upon you. Stopped here to get some supplies, saw your car out front idling. Figured that there must be someone still alive around here somewhere.” Chris intentionally left out the implied pronouns of his statements, wanting to see their reaction to this information before offering up the part about him not being alone.
“You from around here?” the sleeping bag gun toter asked.
“Yeah, I live over on the west side, south of the interstate.” Chris didn’t see any reason to withhold that information. “You ladies from around here too?”
“I am.” Jessica quickly stated, as if getting it out before her friend with the rifle could tell her not to. “I live just a few miles down the road.” The woman behind the rifle was silent. Chris figured now was as good a time as any to try to calm things down.
“Good to meet a neighbor.” Chris took a deep breath and said a short prayer before going on. Dear Jesus, I don’t much want to get shot today, too. Amen. “I’d like to put my hands down now. I’m unarmed, and you’re free to frisk me first, if you like.” Chris noticed just a glint of a smile on Jessica’s face before she hid it.
What a smile.
So he continued, dropping his bomb of a secret. “To me, it makes sense to join up in a group. It’d be a easier to survive with more eyes looking out for us. I’d already be dead if it weren’t for my friends.” Chris knew that if anything was going to get him shot, it would be that piece of information. He waited for the question he knew was coming, however it didn’t come in the form he was actually expecting.
“Friends? Your friends survived too?” He was expecting her to ask where his friends were. To get defensive about there being other survivors, possibly sneaking up on them. This question implied that they were surprised his friends survived
Because their friends had not.
“Yeah. There’s four of us. By the way, do either of you have any idea what happened? I mean, why is everyone...” Chris trailed off, not finishing his question. Jessica was looking back at her friend, the shooter hiding among the sleeping bags. Chris could tell they needed to chat about his offer.
“How about this, I walk quietly outside. The two of you can talk about if you’d like to join us or not, and then come meet us. We’re staying at the Mayfair Road professional building, for now at least. If you’re interested, you come meet us. If not, no big deal.” Chris began turning and walking toward the front of the store. He was sixty-five percent sure that they would come and meet up. He was about twenty-five percent sure he was about to get shot in the back, and the final ten percent he left open, just in case he turned into a zombie, or this was all a crazy dream.
When he was about twenty feet from the front doors, he let his arms fall to his side. His head was still pounding, fiercely. Maybe some ibuprofin would be a good idea. Or a popsicle, those always made him feel better.
****
Chris began making his way back toward the grocery side of the store, where the Stratus was parked outside. He found his friends, sitting between two checkout aisles, gorging themselves on candy and gatorade.
“Hey, did you find anyone?” Scott asked through a mouthful of Cracker Jack.
“Yeah, two women. They might be joining us, might not. We’ll see.”
“What’d they look like?” Justin asked, and Tyler felt himself cringe a little bit. Of all the questions to possibly ask, that was one of the worst he could think of. He felt himself chuckle a little at Chris’s reply.
“Armed.”
“They’re packing?” Tyler asked. He had hoped they would make their way over to the sporting goods section to get a few guns too.
“Yeah. I don’t think they’re following me right now, but they might be.” Scott glanced over Chris’s shoulder as he spoke. “I told them where we’re staying, so hopefully they’ll catch up.”
Tyler really didn’t like the idea of armed individuals who knew where they were staying, unless they could get some guns too.
“Could I get one of those Gatorades?” Tyler noticed for the first time the white powder covering Chris’s left side. He didn’t think it was worth asking about, all things considered.
“Well, might as well make sure we’ve got enough food and water, just in case we get stuck there for a while.” Justin said nonchalantly, and Tyler cringed a little bit, thinking about being trapped in the office that he had just spent an entire day of drinking to convince himself he would never enter again.
“Where’d your bat go?” Scott asked of Chris as the group of friends got back to their feet.
“I set it down so I wouldn’t get shot.” Chris responded. “Let’s get packed up and on the road then. I want to be back and settled before it gets dark out.
The four friends made short work of the shopping trip. Their first goal was to get a change of clothes. They each picked out clean, comfortable clothes from the racks, before focusing their attention on frozen and refrigerated foods, as these would spoil first. They had three shopping carts full in under ten minutes. Chris led Tyler over to the sporting goods section while Justin and Scott filled the car. The logic behind this was that two guys would be significantly less frightening than four, if they happened to bump into the girls again.
This turned out to be a non-issue, as there was no sign of the girls as the duo arrived in the sporting goods area. They quickly filled a cart with lightweight sleeping bags, a camping grill and fuel, as well as a small assortment of hunting firearms.
Ten minutes later, they found Justin and Scott waiting in the car. The trunk had been packed full, and with the items that Chris and Tyler and brought out, the car was soon packed tight, and driving away.
The parking lot off of Mayfair Road was completely empty when they pulled in. Tyler pulled around to the side of the gray building and pulled into the seventh stall of the second row of parking spaces, his parking place for the last two years of his life. He shifted into park and was about to turn off the engine when he glanced over to see Justin glaring at him in disbelief from the passenger seat.
“What?” Tyler asked defensively, “What did I do?” Tyler looked into the back seat and saw the same confused expressions on the faces of Scott and Chris as well. The four friends sat in silence for a moment until Chris finally spoke up.
“This is your old parking spot, isn’t it?” Tyler nodded in response. “And you’ve parked in this exact same shitty spot for the past however long. I bet you can even tell me the make and model of the cars that park next to you.”
/> Tyler replied in a mumbled voice. “On my side is a blue Honda Accord, I’m pretty sure one of the secretaries owns it. And on your side...” Chris spoke up suddenly to cut Tyler off
“I’m sure this spot treated you great over the last few years, buddy. But we’ve got a car full of stuff that we need to take upstairs. Any chance you could park a little bit closer?”
Tyler put the car back into reverse and backed up across the parking lot to the front doors of the building. After turning off the engine, Tyler popped the trunk and the four friends climbed back out of the car.
“Do you think the girls are going to show up?” Justin asked, a note of hope in his voice.
“If I was a girl, I sure as fuck wouldn’t.” Scott stated, walking up toward the building’s front door.
“Why not?”
“Because if I were a girl, the last thing I would want to worry about in addition to the apocalypse is a hormonal group of guys drooling over me.” Scott reached and pulled on the heavy door handle. It didn’t budge.
“Oh fuck.” Tyler mumbled quietly, leaning against the side of the car.
“What?” Justin asked as Chris began pulling on the front doors of the building.
“They took my keys yesterday. I can’t get in.”
Chris shrugged nonchalantly at this news and stepped away from the car. He bent down to a small potted plant, about the size of a basketball, that stood next to the entrance.
Picking up the pot between his hands, Chris heaved back and threw the potted plant into the glass door. The pot crashed through the door and exploded into a pool of dirt in the entryway.
“We needed to get in.” He said matter of factly as his three friends looked at him in surprise.
“How secure is this building if you can break into it in two seconds with a houseplant?” Justin scoffed. Tyler was pretty sure that Justin was still worrying about the woman in his closet.
“To be fair, it’s more of a patio plant than a houseplant. I mean. That might have looked easy, but it was at least 30 pounds of plant-y-ness going through the window.” Chris said, “Besides, it’s not the front doors that are going to hold them off. The stairway doors have no windows, right?”
Scott turned to look as Chris pointed through the shattered front door and at a solid looking steel door off to one side of the lobby. “Oh.” Was all he could muster before turning back to the car.
The four friends spent the hour unloading the car and moving all the supplies upstairs. In addition to as much perishable meat as they thought their kidneys could handle over the next week, they also had packed fresh fruits and vegetables, and a completely random assortment of food that they each had been craving, due to the hangovers.
Popcorn, saltine crackers, condensed soup and cases of gatorade. They also divided up the weapons, each carrying a small pistol. The larger caliber weapons were posted at the doors leading to each stairwell, so they would be ready in an emergency.
As they were beginning to settle into their temporary home, a gray Honda Civic drove up and parked on the edge of the Mayfair Road parking lot. Justin was the first to catch sight of it, as he was conveniently waiting by the windows that faced the parking lot.
“They’re here!” Justin sounded like a little kid at Christmas.
Within two minutes, all four friends were down outside the front door, waiting. The Honda still sat at the edge of the parking lot, it’s engine humming softly. The fact that Tyler could clearly hear this, reminded him once again of just how quiet the world had become.
It was one of those quiets that was uncomfortable and unfamiliar. The longer you sat in it, the more unnerving it became. Tyler only had to wait for a few seconds before the silence was broken by Justin.
“It’s the same car. Do you want to go say ‘hi’, Chris?”
“Just give them a second, I’m sure they’re sizing us up and deciding if they think it’s safe to stay or not.” Justin had a look of confusion on his face. Instead of saying anything more, he threw his arm up and began waving wildly. It vaguely reminded Tyler of when he went to Disneyland with his family when he was younger. His little sister waved at the Disney characters in the same way.
Childish.
The gesture, as awkward and childish as it was, seemed to be just what was needed in the situation. Two women emerged from the Honda, both armed with very large guns. Both girls were shorter, one blonde and one brunette. Beyond that, Tyler was unable to tell anything else from this distance. They stood next to their car, talking quietly while looking over at the group of four men. Justin decided to try his luck again.
“Hello!” His voice sounded high pitched, a little annoying, but the furthest thing from threatening that Tyler could imagine.
“Hey.” The shorter of the two women, the blonde called back.
“Her name’s Jessica.” Chris mumbled, “I’m not sure about the other one, though.”
Tyler waited for someone to make a move. When nobody did, he thought he would take matters into his own hands, in a manner of speaking.
“Somebody want to try going up to talk to them?” As he expected, Tyler’s suggestion had Justin moving forward almost instantly. They were armed, but they were women, Justin’s favorite thing in the world.
Justin and Chris crossed the parking lot at a comfortable pace, making sure to keep their hands in full view, just in case either of these women had an itchy trigger finger.
“Hi, Jessica. Nice to see you again.” Chris said, trying to sound as casual as he could, given the circumstances. “This is Justin, one of the friends I mentioned earlier.”
“Hi,” Jessica gave Justin a nod. “This is Amy.” Amy did not give a nod. Her cold blue eyes studied Justin and Chris as if they were prey. Chris thought he should try to break the tension.
“Nice to meet the rest of you, instead of just the rifle.” Jessica smiled at the comment, but Amy gave no sign that she had even heard it. Chris got the feeling that she was actually looking through him. There was an awkward, few second pause before Amy finally spoke.
“This is your safe house?” She studied the building behind them with the same cold stare that she had been studying them with. “It’s got a lot of glass.”
“Outside, yeah. But the stairwell doors are solid enough. Steel fire doors.” Justin offered, trying out a smile to see how she might react. She didn’t seem to see his smile.
“What floor were you guys staying on?” Chris thought the question was a little odd, but he thought he knew where this was going.
“The fifth. Or at least that’s our plan right now. Tyler, the shorter one,” Chris gestured behind him. “He works, er...used to work at the advertising firm that was on that floor.” Amy suddenly began moving, past Chris and Justin and toward the building. She spoke as she passed them.
“We’ll take the second floor then, just in case we get cornered and have to jump out.”
Jessica looked sheepishly at Justin and Chris before following in Amy’s wake. Justin called out to their backs.
“We were going to grill some food, you two are welcome to join us, if you want.”
Without another word, Amy gestured what Chris assumed was a positive message. She stuck her right arm into the air and held her thumb up.
Over the next few hours, everyone got settled into their new space in their own way. Justin began marinating the fattest steaks that any of them had ever seen. Scott and Chris began securing the heavy stairwell doors on the first floor, while Tyler explored his old office, collecting furniture they could use as makeshift beds.
Down on the second floor, Jessica and Amy toured each of the offices that were available. They settled on a small dental clinic, because it had the heaviest looking doors.
Everyone settled in for the afternoon. The plan was to meet up in the evening for dinner and to get to know each other better.
****
Tyler had been in the office when it was virtually empty in the past, when he had worked late on projects, but
today it had a different feel to it.
Nobody is ever going to use these cubicles again.
The experience was unnerving. Tyler went back to his old cubicle and found it bare. He had left the gray fabric walls covered in a few of the charts and contact lists he had used regularly. The gray fabric was darker where these charts had been, the sun had faded the uncovered areas.
As the sun was beginning to set outside, Tyler reflected that 30 hours ago, he was packing up things at his desk, in shock and frustration. He was mad that he had been fired, but he was also mad that he had spent two years working here in the first place.
Tyler remembered his first big success at this job. He had landed a sizable account, creating a three month ad campaign for a regional fast food chain. Tyler could still remember how everyone congratulated him, gave him pats on the back and smiles in the hallway. He remembered telling his parents about it, and how his mom said that he must be very proud of himself. Most of all, Tyler remembered that he didn’t feel proud. He didn’t feel anything about this job, other than frustration at having to come in every morning.
Tyler reflected on all of this as he sat in his lumpy old desk chair, staring at the nearly empty desk. He flipped open his old laptop, really the only item that was still in the cubicle. He couldn’t even find a pen.
Did they throw out pens when someone was fired? Or were they just put back into the general supply area? It seemed like bad luck to have a failure’s pen.
Pressing the power button on his laptop, Tyler thought he would see if it could still get the internet. Maybe if this was just a local phenomena, someone would be posting news about it. After a few minutes of trying, Tyler gave up, constantly getting an error message whenever he keyed in the web address to any news website.
Tyler shut the lid of the laptop and rose. Without even thinking about it, he found his feet following the same path as the last time he stood up from this chair. He found himself walking toward Charlie’s office.