Georgia could tell that Lola was struggling not to laugh, but the kids were unable to be quite so diplomatic and they began to giggle. The sound was infectious and soon Georgia found herself joining them, laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, laughing until tears began streaming down her cheeks.
Turning to Lola, desperately trying to regain her equilibrium, she said, ‘I think you are right, because this sure is not working.’
They unloaded the van, the dogs slipping into the shade beneath the vehicle as Georgia set Rebecca and Deedee to keep a watch out for anyone approaching. So far, they had not seen a soul. Even so, she felt they were in a very vulnerable position. She did not like being out in the open like this.
She hurriedly helped Lola on with her pack, tightening straps as necessary, checking that it fit properly. ‘So, how does that feel?’
‘Not bad at all.’ Lola replied, mind you, it’s still empty, not certain how I will manage with it full.’
‘I’ll try not to load you down too much, but believe me, it gets easier,’ Georgia said as Lola shrugged the pack off and leaned it against the van.
They hastily emptied all the other bags, and while Jamie gathered the food together, Georgia and Lola sorted through the rest, repacking so that everyone was carrying their own clothing. Lola insisted on trying on all her new clothes, which frustrated Georgia beyond, because she just wanted to pack up and get moving. It did not matter if the clothes were too big; she for one, was not going to take them back and exchange them.
While Lola tugged on jeans and pulled on t-shirts in the confines of the van, Georgia hastily stuffed the blankets, tent canopy, and sleeping bags into Lola’s pack.
‘Why don’t we just take the shopping trolley?’ Jamie asked, as Georgia began sorting through the food. ‘It might be easier than carrying it all.’ She was stuffing the packets of noodles into the children’s bags as he spoke.
Georgia considered this for a moment. ‘That’s not a bad idea Jamie, only thing is, the wheels are quite small, it would be limiting, as we would have to stick to sidewalks and roads.’
‘Yeah,’ he agreed, ‘and I guess people could see that we had food.’
Georgia nodded. ‘Yes, and under the circumstances that would not be good.’
The sliding door of the van banged open, startling her, Lola stepped out, doing a quick turn as she said, ‘see, everything fits just fine.’
‘That’s great,’ Georgia said,’ hopefully there is still enough room in your pack.’ She spoke a little distractedly, concentrating now on her own backpack, filling the outside pockets with the medical supplies and the other small items that they might need in a hurry. Then she remembered the glasses for Rebecca, still tucked in the back pocket of her jeans. Thankfully still intact!
‘Hey Rebecca, I found you a pair of glasses, come see if they fit.’
‘Oh wow,’ Rebecca said, as she came over to her, ‘I didn’t think you had managed to find a pair, so I didn’t like to ask.’
‘Well I did, and here they are.’
Rebecca tried them on. They were a little too big, but Georgia carefully bent the metal earpieces inwards and made them a more secure.
‘How’s that?’ she asked, Rebecca beamed. ‘Perfect, I can see again, and I like these ones much better; the frames are so much prettier.’
Georgia had to agree with that, Rebecca’s mum had been all about functionality and practicality. Apparently appearance was not part of the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism.
Georgia and Lola finished the last of the packing. As before, the heavier food items and the extra water went into the shopping caddy. Georgia hung the pots onto her backpack, and then unpacked the Genesis and all the various pieces from its cardboard container. She decided to place the smaller parts in Jamie’s bag and fastened the Genesis, and the quiver of arrows to one of the straps.
The other bow, and the arrows, the ones she had taken from the Johnson’s house she bundled together and attached to Lola’s pack, along with the axe. She felt pleased with that, now she would only have to worry about carrying her own pack, the shotgun and Ant.
She lured Millie and Badger from beneath the vehicle with the promise of food. Then giving them both a couple of dog biscuits she put on their harnesses. Badgers was black and Millie’s dark blue with little white hearts. It took a little adjusting, but overall they fitted well, and the pockets took several small bags of dog biscuits. Badger immediately decided to see if she could help herself, sticking her nose into one of the bags on Millie’s harness. ‘Guess that is why they have zips,’ Georgia thought as she hastily zipped them all closed.
Finally, everything was organized. She had managed to keep the weight down on the children’s bags, Lola’s pack seemed more than manageable but her own bag, was a little heavier than it had been before.
They loaded all the gear onto the front seats and then taking the cans of food and the can opener they clambered into the back of the van. It was a messy meal, eaten out of the open cans. Georgia passed round the juicy pineapple rings, syrup dripping everywhere, wonder if this is the last time we ever get to eat pineapple?, while Lola, borrowing Jamie’s knife, shared out fat slices of the canned meat, the dogs all getting an ample share as well.
Eventually they could eat no more. Jamie drained the last of the orange juice and then Georgia gathered up all the trash and took it over to a nearby trashcan, but even as she did that, she wondered why she bothered. It was not as though the trash was going to be collected any time soon.
She suddenly remembered something Lola had said earlier that day. That she had had to leave her car here. Back with the others, she asked her about it. ‘Did you want to get anything out of your car, you did say it was parked here somewhere didn’t you?’
Lola looked uncomfortable, then she shook her head, ‘No it’s okay, it’s parked on the other side anyway, and really, there is nothing in it that I need.’
Which Georgia found odd to say the least, if the situation, had been reversed, she would have gone to check out her own car. Still it was Lola’s business and if she did not want to, well then she did not want to. Even so, it was odd.
‘Well if you are sure,’ Georgia said finally. It occurred to her then that she knew absolutely nothing about this young woman. She had taken her into their group on face value, and as Lola bent over her pack, Georgia studied her closely. Should she be concerned? She did not look as though she had anything to hide; she clearly was not a drug addict or anything like that. Maybe, it was simply that the woman did not want to dredge up the feelings that would come with seeing her car; thoughts of a life changed forever.
Before they began walking again, Georgia filled the dog’s water bowl allowing them all a long drink. Then they loaded up their gear and began on their journey once more. Now that they each had their own bags to carry they agreed to take turns pulling the caddy, half an hour each. They retraced their steps reaching the railway tracks and again following them out of town.
The atmosphere had changed, Georgia could not quite explain how it had changed, but it seemed more tense, the air charged, as though something were brewing, she found herself anticipating trouble, as though rioting was about to break out. The dogs seem to feel the change as well, Millie growling frequently at nothing in particular and at one point, even Ant had suddenly given a warning bark.
They had nearly reached the outskirts of town when over a high fence, less than fifty feet away, they heard gunfire, followed by screams and angry voices, and then more gunfire and the sound of breaking glass. Then it was as though a war had broken out, and the air was rent by the terrible sounds of a full on gun battle.
Instinctively they began to quicken their pace, and then they began to run, a cumbersome gait, the bags slowing them down, the caddy pulled by Jamie, threatening to tip over every few steps. Finally, she grabbed one end of it and Lola snatched up the other, then they left the railway line and ran along the line of saplings that grew on the farther side, away from t
he direction of the gunfire. Ant flattened herself in the bottom of the bag, silent now. Millie and Badger trotted alongside, their ears tight back against their heads.
From time to time, one or another of the children would glance over their shoulders. It seemed to Georgia that as hard as they were running, they were only moving at a snail pace, the combined sound of their heavy breathing, and the crunching of their shoes on the gravel as they ran interspersed by more shots. Then they were out in amongst the fields again, the sounds of battle fading behind them.
They paused to rest for a few moments, Georgia’s lungs felt as though they were on fire, her shoulders pure white agony where the straps had rubbed into her healing flesh as the pack had bounced up and down. She bent over, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. The children were sitting on the grassy verge, breathing heavily, their faces flushed from the heat and their exertions. Georgia tried to give them a reassuring smile, but had the feeling she failed completely. Lola was leaning against a tree her palms pressed against the thick trunk.
‘How are you doing?’ Georgia asked between ragged gasps.
Lola just nodded, her face was scarlet, her body slick with sweat. ‘I’m okay,’ she breathed.
After a few minutes Rebecca asked, ‘what do you think that was about?’
‘No idea,’ Georgia admitted, ‘but I think we got out of Belmont just in time and I think the further away from towns we get the better.’
‘Totally agree with you on that one,’ Lola said.
They set off, still following the direction of the railway tracks.
‘Well we are a lot more prepared now than we were this morning,’ Lola commented, as at around three-thirty, they passed the ramshackle barn where they had sheltered the previous night.
‘That’s for sure,’ Georgia said, ‘and at least you have some clothes now. And yet as she spoke she felt a twinge of guilt. They continued walking in silence and with each step, Georgia felt more and more upset with herself. Why hadn’t she thought to leave an I.O.U.? No matter which way she looked at it, it was wrong.
‘What was wrong?’ Lola asked suddenly.
Startled, Georgia looked up. ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘didn’t realize I was thinking out loud.’
‘So, what was wrong?’ Lola insisted. ‘You can tell me, the kids are too busy chatting amongst themselves to hear, if it is something like…,’
‘It’s nothing really.’
‘I don’t think it is nothing, you’re looking madder than a bar with a burr up its butt right now, and I think that perhaps you need to talk about it. Something is sure bothering you.’
‘Well, if you must know, I am feeling really awful about taking the stuff from Wal-Mart without leaving a note or anything.’
Lola laughed. ‘Is that all?’
‘Isn’t that enough? Georgia exclaimed. ‘I stole all of it. Up ‘till now, I have paid for everything, and in the library I left an I.O.U. but today I just went in there and helped myself.’
‘Yeah, that’s one way of looking at it. I look at it a little differently.’
‘How can you? Do you think that because law and order has gone, we can just take stuff, how is that right? Just like that, we undo thousands of years of civilization and just start…,’
‘No, that’s not what I am saying. I have been thinking about that too. So, you have a home right, and I have a really cool apartment, and well I am not there, and nor are you and under the circumstances, I would have no problem with someone going in there and helping themselves. Especially if it means they will survive another day. And, if for arguments sake, someone took my favorite top, the one with the real purty beading on it, and it makes someone feel like life is worth living, isn’t that what is important?’
‘I guess…,’ Georgia began, but Lola kept on talking; it had been a rhetorical question.
‘It’s like musical chairs, when the music stops, you sit down and…,’
Georgia interrupted her, ‘yes, but there is always one chair short, someone always misses out.’
‘Yeah okay, but just for my arguments sake, there are more chairs than people and when the music stops, who cares which chair you sit down in, as long as you have a chair.’
Georgia was beginning to see the point that Lola was making.
Lola went on, ‘so you take food from Wal-Mart, and you take some clothing, but where are your clothes, the stuff you left behind, who is wearing it now?’
‘No one,’ Georgia laughed; there was a cynical edge to her voice. ‘Our house blew up, literally.’
‘Oh,’ Lola sounded shocked. ‘So fate got your house, but really, in the long run it will come out evenly, someone is more than likely wearing my designer label, beaded top and here I am the new owner of someone’s blue dress and in this case I got the worst end of the deal!’
‘Actually, I think the dress looked lovely on you.’ Georgia said, and it had, the pale blue was a color that really suited her.
Lola smiled. ‘You should have seen my beaded top!’ She went on, ‘Anyhow, no matter which way we look at it, we aren’t thieves or looters, or criminals. We are just trying to survive. So what we are doing is hossing, and as far as I am concerned hossing isn’t a crime.’
‘Hossing?’ Georgia asked puzzled. ‘I don’t know that word, is it a southern expression?’
Lola laughed. ‘No it’s a word the kids and I made up while you were in Wal-Mart. Hoss is short for ‘helping our sweet selves’ and that is what you were doing. You were in there hossing!’
Georgia laughed, she suddenly felt much better. ‘I like it!’
‘Glad to hear it, because you can walk all the way back to Wal-Mart to return your share of the food if you like, and I will be more than happy to wait here for you, but the rest of it,’ she gave a little wave, encompassing their little group, ‘has been legitimately hossed and is staying right where it is.’
‘Perish the thought,’ Georgia exclaimed, ‘there is no way in hell that I am going to walk back to Belton.’
Deedee turned to stare at them. ‘Walk back to Belton? Again?’ There was a look of absolute horror on her face.
This brought Rebecca and Jamie to a complete stand still, ‘what do you mean?’ They asked together.
‘It’s okay, Lola and I were just talking about things, nothing specific, and no we are not walking back to Belton.’
‘Well thank goodness,’ Deedee exclaimed, rolling her eyes dramatically, ‘because, if we keep on having to go back to Belton, we are never going to get to Bethel.’ And with those words of wisdom, Deedee turned and began walking again, Rebecca and Jamie following closely behind.
Georgia and Lola exchanged bemused looks, and Lola whispered, ‘guess we have just been told.’
‘Guess so,’ Georgia agreed as she shrugged her pack into a more comfortable position and they continued on their way.
They continued on in silence for about a mile, then Lola suddenly asked Georgia if she knew what the date was.
‘It’s the 16th of July,’ Georgia replied immediately. ‘I have been marking the date in my diary every night.’
‘Is that all, is it really only six days since this all started, it feels like months.’
‘I know what you mean, so much has happened in such a short time, I am struggling to believe that only a week ago, everything was still normal, Nathan was…’ Georgia broke off, her throat suddenly feeling tight. Nathan was still part of her life then. She took a deep breath.
‘Do you want to talk about it,’ Lola asked. Georgia knew that Lola was not referring to the power failure; she was asking if she wanted to talk about Nathan. Suddenly she wanted to pour her heart out to this woman. All the pent up emotions, fears and even her foolish suspicions that Nathan had not thought enough of her or even his own children to come back to them, using the situation as an opportunity to stay by the side of another woman. But even as she thought all this, she knew she was being irrational. Even if he had fallen out of love with her, he would have
come back for his children.
Georgia shook her head. ‘Not really, right now the feelings are too raw.’
Lola nodded. ‘Yeah, I’ve got your back on that one.’ Then she asked, ‘you’re keeping a journal?’
‘No, not really, just have one of those any year diaries, only been using it to mark off the days. I’ve been scared of losing track.’
They were both silent for a moment, then Lola said in a low voice, ‘how are the kids taking it? I haven’t heard them ask after their parents at all.’
‘They asked about them a lot in the first few days, but not so much now. I have been kind of avoiding the subject.’
‘How come?’ Lola asked, walking a little closer to her now, their heads nearly touching.
Georgia looked at the children, walking a little way ahead, they were talking amongst themselves, so there was no chance of being overheard. ‘Chicken, I guess, Jamie and Rebecca’s mum, well there is very little chance she is still around, as she was more than likely on a plane at the time.'
‘That’s terrible,’ Lola said.
‘It is, the kids were close with her, and she was a great mum in her own way. Deedee’s dad, Brent is married to my sister in law, and none of us know where Deedee’s real mum lives. She could be anywhere.’ Georgia sighed deeply, then added, ‘it is hard to talk about them, I just don’t know what to say to the kids, because I don’t know myself what has happened to any of them.’
Lola nodded. ‘That’s the worst of all of this, the not knowing.’
Georgia agreed. The not knowing was really unsettling and not knowing what the future had in store for them was even more disturbing. She stared ahead, looking across the flat land that stretched ever onwards towards the horizon.
Soon they would have to start thinking about where they would camp. Tonight, and tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow.
‘One step at a time,’ she thought. Who knew what their tomorrows would bring. She gave a deep sigh. One thing was for sure, she was determined that no matter what, they were not going to end up being part of the national death toll statistics. Somehow they all had to survive the journey that lay before them.
Survivors of the Sun Page 21