Survivors of the Sun

by Kingslie, Mia

  ‘You too, Ruby,’ she snapped, just as Rebecca wandered off round the corner and out of sight. Oh my God, keeping control of these two is harder than herding cats in a thunderstorm.

  Lola was waiting where she had left her, she had that look on her face that people get, the one where they are left waiting in the car while someone dashes into the supermarket for just one item. Which of course, never is just one item. Jamie and Deedee, clearly unperturbed, were sitting on a bench at one of the wooden picnic tables, leaning with their backs against the worn wood.

  ‘Got the keys,’ Georgia said. She fumbled in Ant’s bag, grabbing a handful. ‘Here, try these.’

  Lola turned over the tags, checking the numbers. ‘Okay, got it,’ she exclaimed after trying several keys. She pushed the door open and they stepped inside, Georgia going in last, ensuring that Rebecca and Ruby would not wander off again.

  ‘Wow, these rooms are nice,’ Lola exclaimed, sitting on one of the beds, and bouncing up and down. ‘Beds are amazing,’

  ‘They sure are,’ Georgia agreed. Clearly the Bostons thought so too, all three of them had leapt on the other bed, and were making themselves comfortable. She glanced quickly round the room. ‘So, I think we should take the blankets…,’ she began, and then stopped. The two double beds both beds had luxurious comforters covering them. ‘Those are no good,’ she sighed. ‘They are way too big to carry.’

  ‘Check the wardrobe,’ Lola said calmly, ‘usually they put spare blankets in there, along with an iron and an ironing board, but I don’t reckon we will be needing those.’

  ‘Oh dear,’ Ruby’s voice came from the tiny kitchenette. ‘There doesn’t seem to be any water. Shall I call reception?’

  ‘Don’t worry, I’ve already done it,’ Lola called back, and then winked at Georgia. ‘My grandma had Alzheimer’s,’ she said, ‘and we found it was just best to go with the flow.’

  Georgia opened the cupboards. Lola was right, there was a light blue blanket neatly folded on the shelf, next to a spare pillow. Perfect!

  ‘I’ll just check if there is any soap,’ Lola said, heading into the bathroom. ‘Oh wow, they have really nice bathrobes for…,’ the rest of the sentence was cut off by a shriek, ‘oh Heavens to Betsy, my nose!’

  Georgia rushed in after her. Lola was standing there, peering closely in the mirror, examining her face. ‘It’s not that bad, you can hardly see the scar!’ she soothed, then gasped, as she caught sight of her own reflection. She almost didn’t recognize the wild woman looking back at her.

  The last time she had looked in a mirror, she realized was at Douglas’s house. Now, the stranger looking back at her was covered in dust, her skin, sunburnt and freckled. She leaned forward, taking a closer look, noticing how lean and toned her body had become, not bad at all. But her hair was…? She didn’t really have words to describe it. Though, ‘dragged through a hedge backwards’, and ‘birds nest’ came to mind.

  Lola laughed at her expression. ‘Yeah, we look like we have been rode hard and put out wet!’ Georgia had no idea quite what Lola meant by this, but she was sure she was right and laughed with her.

  They rummaged through the other rooms, and only managed to find one more blanket, which was disappointing, but the discovery that all the rooms had little baskets with sachets of tea, coffee, creamer and sugar, totally made up for the lack of blankets. She was tempted to stop, light a fire and boil up some water then and there, but common sense prevailed.

  They had to get to Warsaw. She did however, take the time out to replace their towels. Weeks of washing them in rivers and other less salubrious sources of water, had left them tattered and stained. It also meant that she and Lola no longer had to share, Lola at long last had a towel of her own.

  They dropped the keys back at reception, ‘Where you can’t bear to leave’, and Georgia left an I.O.U. listing the items they had taken. At this rate,’ she thought, ‘I will need to get a second job when everything gets back to normal, just to pay for the things we have borrowed.’

  She hunted in the drawers beneath the counter looking for a suitable place to leave it, and just as she was about to tuck it in a receipt book, she saw an open packet of cigarettes and a lighter tucked at the back of the drawer. She half expected it to be empty, but was pleasantly surprised to find that it was more than half full. She added ‘half full packet of cigarettes and lighter’ to her I.O.U., tucked it carefully away and shut the drawer.

  They stayed just long enough to add their own messages to the wall, and then they headed out the back. As, according to the map in the foyer, this way would cut a little distance off their journey.

  They made their way past rows of kayaks, and canoes for hire (only $45.00 a day), and a tennis court. Jamie, who had been walking a little ahead of them called back excitedly,

  ‘Hey there’s a little shop over here!’

  It was more of a kiosk than a shop, and most of the shelves were empty, but not completely. On one wall, there was a rack of souvenirs; keychains sporting catfish, tiny pewter deer, rulers with photos of the surrounding area, and dishcloths decorated with yet more catfish.

  At the back of the tiny shop was a shelf filled with pink plastic souvenir sewing kits, band aids and tubes of ointment, promising relief from insect bites and sunburn.

  ‘Oh,’ Lola suddenly shrieked, making Georgia jump, as with wild excitement in her voice, she exclaimed, ‘sanitary pads! Yes, thank you! Thank you.’ Then she had the grace to blush as Jamie glanced over at what she was holding.

  ‘These are…, umm…,’ she held one up as she spoke, then hastily put it out of sight. She looked over at Georgia to help her out.

  Jamie rolled his eyes. ‘I know what they are,’ he said.

  ‘You do?’ thought Georgia. Didn’t know Nathan had already had that talk.

  ‘Oh,’ Lola said, now clutching several boxes tightly to her breast, as though terrified someone would rush in and tear them away from her.

  ‘Though why girls need special toilet paper, I don’t know,’ he said, more to himself than anyone in particular, as he turned back to examine a box he had pulled out from behind the counter.

  Georgia spluttered, desperately trying to keep from laughing and Lola shot her a hard look, then the corners of her mouth began to twitch.

  At first, it appeared that there was nothing edible in the kiosk, but up on a shelf, pushed back right against the wall, behind a carton of plastic grocery bags, Georgia found a box of Mars bars. Obviously long since forgotten, judging by the covering of dust and fading label.

  Georgia passed a bar to each of them. The rest they would take with them. She had no doubt that they would melt during their travels but as they were individually wrapped, they could liquefy for all she cared. Ruby immediately put hers in her handbag, but the rest of them had no intention of saving theirs for later.

  Quite the find of the century, Georgia decided as she took her first bite, the sweet, half-forgotten taste, making her mouth water, as she closed her eyes in delight.

  ‘I had forgotten how good these were,’ Lola murmured, a look of total bliss on her face. ‘Better than se….’ she cut the word off abruptly, looking over at Georgia, with a grin, a tiny smear of chocolate on her chin.

  Deedee held her bar up in the air, out of reach of the poor dogs, explaining that chocolate was bad for them, and then ignoring their pleading looks, proceeded to eat every last delicious morsel, before carefully licking the last of the crumbs from the wrapper.

  They packed up their new found riches, removing the ‘special toilet paper’ from their boxes and stuffing them into the side flap of the shopping caddy. It amazed Georgia that it was still in one piece. It had been designed to be trundled to and from a supermarket, not dragged half way across the state.

  As they once more headed out, Georgia lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply, feeling the nicotine rush. She no longer felt guilty about smoking, once this packet was empty, chances were that her smoking days would be over for good. Then
she recalled the last time she had smoked, over a month ago, she realized. So much had happened since then.

  Chapter Thirty Seven

  They had been walking for about half an hour, when a thick bank of grey clouds began rolling up across the horizon, promising relief from the unrelenting heat. As Georgia took a sip from her water bottle she wondered, if this time, rain would be coming their way. She estimated that it was only about four miles to Warsaw, so they still had at least two hours walk, which could become three, if it rained. Their sodden clothes and packs would make everything just a bit heavier, and if the ground became muddy, well that would definitely slow them down. But even if it did rain, she asked herself, would it really matter? It was still relatively early and no doubt they would find somewhere to dry off and change into clean clothes.

  Their brief stop at the Resort had left Georgia feeling buoyant and she decided a little rain was not going to dampen her mood. After all now they had two more blankets, six near new towels, eighteen chocolate bars, to be kept as emergency rations, an extra lighter, and half a pack of cigarettes. And as no one else smokes, sigh…. All that, and they hadn’t even reached Warsaw yet. Warsaw with all its promise and potential for trade.

  It was becoming more and more overcast, the heavy clouds casting a gloomy grey shadow across the landscape. As they made their way down the seemingly never ending road, the wind was picking up in rushes and gusts. Sudden bursts flattening the grass and rustling the branches overhead. Millie and Badger left off sniffing out interesting creatures in the undergrowth and began pacing next to her.

  ‘It’s kind of creepy here,’ Lola said suddenly, keeping her voice low.

  Georgia, who up till that moment had been feeling quite differently, gave an involuntary shudder. Lola was right, it was kind of creepy.

  ‘Yes, it is a little, not sure why though, maybe it’s that sound the wind is making, it is a little eerie.’

  ‘No, it’s not just that, it’s more to do with that Harold character, and I keep thinking about the way the owners of the hotel seemed to have disappeared. The staff going, makes sense, I reckon that, once they realized the water and power were not coming back on, they would have gone back home to their families. Now that money has no value, there really isn’t much point in holding down a job. But the owners, Jerry and what was her name?’

  Georgia had to think for a minute, ‘oh, wait…, yes, Janine.’

  ‘Right, Jerry and Janine, why would they leave? Makes no sense, and if they did leave, surely they would have told Harold, seeing as they were such great friends, or at least left a message.’

  ‘I tend to agree with you on that, I also thought it odd that Harold and his group helped themselves to all their food, as if they knew they weren’t coming back. Doesn’t seem….’ Georgia stopped speaking as Lola suddenly turned around, staring back the way they had come.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked.

  Lola shrugged her shoulders. ‘I keep having the feeling we are being watched.’

  Georgia felt her skin prickle at Lola’s words. ‘What? Do you think that someone is following us?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Lola said, ‘maybe Harold is. You said he was pretty insistent we stay the night at that place, and…,’

  ‘Well, he wasn’t that insistent, he just said I looked like I needed to rest.’

  ‘Yeah, but even so, I reckon it was a strange thing to say, maybe I am just psyching myself up, but maybe I’m not.’

  ‘Okay,’ Georgia said, trying her best to stay calm. ‘Let’s say, just for arguments sake, that he did kill Jerry and his wife, why should he even care if we suspect him. It’s not like anyone is going to do anything about it. There’s no more law. So there would be no point in him following us.’

  ‘There is one reason,’ Lola’s tone was enigmatic.

  Georgia was at a loss. ‘What’s that? He knows we don’t have any food, and it can’t be for the dogs, there was no love lost there, Ant made a very determined effort to rip his hand off.’

  ‘Seriously Georgia, for someone who is usually so smart, you sure can be dumber than a bag full of hammers.’ In her frustration at Georgia’s obvious lack of comprehension, her voice had gone up a notch or two.

  Jamie glanced back over his shoulder at the two of them, frowning. ‘Is everything okay?’

  Georgia gave him a reassuring smile. ‘Sure, Jamie, everything is fine, we are just working something out.’ At her words, he shrugged his shoulders, then leaned over to Deedee who was walking next to him. Whatever he said to her must have been amusing, because Deedee peered back at them and then giggled.

  ‘Well I still don’t see what you are getting at,’ Georgia whispered to Lola, desperately trying to keep the hair out of her eyes with one hand, while keeping hold of Ant, and the shotgun with the other. The wind was really picking up now, catching at their clothes and hair.

  ‘Well us, of course,’ she said, exasperation just below the surface, as she followed the curves of her body with her hands, in an exaggerated way.

  ‘Oh!’ she exclaimed, understanding striking her with all the force of a flowerpot falling from a second story window. ‘Yes, I guess, she began, then hesitated and changed her mind, ‘No, I really doubt that, after all he’s got a bevy of women back there, as well as his wife.’

  “Did you see any of them?’ Lola asked. ‘Did you see anyone else at all? Cause as sure as the good Lord made apples, none of us did, and we could oversee the whole area from where we were standing.’

  ‘Well, why didn’t he try something then and there?’

  Lola shrugged her shoulders, ‘who knows maybe he is totally wacko, maybe he likes the thrill of the hunt, maybe…’

  Georgia did not let her finish, she gave a dry little laugh. ‘Lola, really? Firstly, if he is on his own, that’s his bad luck, because there are six of us, plus the dogs, and if the Apaches didn’t kill him, then Ruby would probably just confuse him into leaving. And secondly, you saw how we looked, in the mirror, earlier today, hardly worth following!’

  Lola glared at her for a moment, and then unexpectedly, she burst out laughing. ‘You are right, we really do…,’

  Just at that moment, without any warning, the air above them was rent by a jagged fork of lightning, instantly followed by a clap of thunder so loud that Lola’s words were silenced beneath its force. As one, they all screamed and Badger tried to leap into Georgia’s arms, nearly knocking her over.

  ‘Jumpin’ Jehozephat,’ Lola gasped, ‘that was close, way too close.’ Then the heavens opened up, releasing a torrential downpour. ‘Under the trees,’ Lola shouted, her voice nearly drowned out by the noise of the deluge.

  Water streamed down Georgia’s face, down her neck, almost instantly soaking her to the skin. ‘No, that’s the most dangerous place to be in a thunderstorm. Can’t do that.’ She wiped water out of her eyes, squinting against wind and rain.

  ‘Well we can’t stay here,’ Lola shrieked.

  ‘Over there,’ Deedee cried, ‘looks like a shed or something, we can shelter there.’

  Another thunderclap sounded overhead, and they began running, splashing through the water, Badger and Millie, ears folded back, racing with them.

  They ran up the wide wooden steps leading to a short verandah, as the dogs disappeared through a gap in the boards beneath the structure. Ruby, was still some distance behind them, holding her handbag over her head, as a poor substitute of an umbrella. They stood dripping, as Ruby reached the steps, her soaking hair plastered to her head.

  ‘Do you think it will rain,’ she quipped, coming to stand with them under the eaves. Okay, so she was joking wasn’t she?

  The front door hung partially open, revealing what appeared to be some kind of workshop, with sawdust on the floor, and worn wooden shelves scattered with a few hand tools that looked like they had been smeared with engine grease.

  ‘Come on, don’t just stand there,’ Lola exclaimed, and before Georgia could say anything, she had pushed past,
followed closely by Deedee and Jamie. A couple of metal fuel cans stood just inside the door and in their haste to get indoors, one of them was sent flying, making a terrible racket as it crashed into, as yet unseen objects.

  Suddenly furious, Georgia followed them in. Was Lola crazy? They never rushed into an unknown place without checking it out first. Then a gust of wind, shook the walls and slammed the door shut, leaving Ruby and Rebecca outside.

  Now the only light came from a tiny louvered window on the other side of the shed. In the dimness she could make out more work benches along the far wall and what seemed to be a large heap of rags piled up in one corner.

  ‘Thank goodness, we got out of that rain,’ Lola said, shaking water out of her hair.

  ‘Well, luckily the place is uninhabited,’ Georgia snapped, brushing a fly off her face. All of a sudden as she spoke, she became aware of the most terrible stench, ‘what the hell is that God awful smell?’

  ‘Ew,’ Deedee said, holding her nose, don’t know but it smells worse than rotten fish.

  ‘You’re not kidding, it smells bad enough to gag a maggot,’ Lola gasped.

  ‘It’s got to be worse than a three days dead, pukeko,’ Georgia exclaimed, holding her hand across her face cupping her mouth and nose.

  ‘I don’t reckon I know what a pukeko is, but...,’ Lola did not finish her sentence, instead, she bent over abruptly, spewing violently.

  The hot acrid smell of vomit struck Georgia, and that, mingling with that unbelievably disgusting odor was enough to make her stomach rise. In the half dark, she scrabbled at the door, feeling for the handle. Behind her, she heard Deedee retching, Jamie gagging.

  She flung open the door, and the others rushed out, standing on the steps, ignoring the slashing rain, pale, and gasping for fresh air. Rebecca and Ruby stood where they had left them, staring at them open mouthed.