It's been nine months since the power went out. Bass knows because he keeps a notebook with each day ticked off inside his duffel bag. That is also how he knows that Charlie's sixth birthday is next week.
"What are we going to do?" He wonders aloud.
Miles is preoccupied, as he usually is these days, with digging in his bag for something. Bass watches his face light up when he finally digs out his gun oil. He tips the bottle back and forth, frowning at how light it is.
"Almost out," he mutters to himself.
Bass frowns too, the small amount they have left between them won't last much longer. What are they supposed to do when it runs out? The answer comes quickly and somewhat unwanted into his mind.
Go without.
It's been their silent motto for the past few months now.
You have a headache? Deal with it. The Asprins are for emergencies only.
You need to go to the bathroom? Find yourself a leaf, because the toilet paper has been gone since they left North Carolina.
You're hungry? Too bad. Making sure Charlie has enough to eat is the main priority.
Tired? We can sleep when we get to Chicago.
The blackout, that's what they've heard other people calling it, has completely destroyed what they once knew to be home. The cities aren't safe anymore. The number of dead bodies piling up has gotten even bigger, it's nearly impossible to go anywhere without finding at least a few. Poor Charlie has even gotten accustomed to seeing them. She doesn't even ask what happened to them anymore.
Bass looks over to their tent, double checking that Charlie's small silhouette is still visible inside. It is, and judging by the steady rise and fall of her chest, she's fast asleep. He looks back to Miles who now has his gun in pieces in front of him.
"What do you think we should do?" Bass asks again.
"'Bout what?" Miles doesn't even bother looking at him, his brow creased in concentration as he works his task.
"Charlie's birthday is next week."
Miles' hands freeze and he looks up at him in surprise. "It is?"
"Yeah, November 5th. She'll be six."
"Damn." Miles shakes his head, looking over at the tent where his niece is sleeping. "Has it really been that long?"
Bass doesn't answer. This is a conversation they have quite often, almost everyday really. What happened to the power? Where is the government? When will someone start doing something?
"We need to find her some new shoes," Miles finally says. "Her pink ones are getting to small and she's already outgrown those little slipper things she's got, she just won't let me take them out of her bag." Bass merely nods, Miles and Charlie had had that argument again just this morning.
"She'll need a new jacket too... and a coat," Bass adds. "It'll be winter soon, we should start looking now so we have it when she needs it."
Miles nods as he puts his gun back together. "It wasn't supposed to be this way."
"I know, Miles."
"She should be in school, learning how to read and... and do math and science stuff."
"I know." And it's all Bass can say because Miles is right, nothing is the way it's supposed to be anymore.
XxX
Charlie's upcoming birthday hangs over both of their heads as the days pass, though they doubt that she has any idea it's that time of year. They're glad for her ignorance because if she doesn't know, then she can't miss anything.
They habitually avoid cities on a daily basis for fear of catching diseases or running into one of the many gangs that have taken over. They try so hard to stay away from them that when Miles does steer them in the direction of tall buildings, Charlie notices immediately.
"Where are we going?" She asks, pointing up at the buildings as if she thought they might not have noticed them.
"To see if we can find you some new shoes," Miles tells her. She lights up at the idea and immediately starts to babble about her favorite kinds of shoes. Both boys just tune her out, though Bass nods his head at appropriate intervals and Miles grunts on occasion.
They don't bother with the big name box stores because they know from experience that those have already been cleaned out, though they have had some luck with small grocery stores in the past so they're hoping to find a clothing store that hasn't been picked over too much already. Steering clear of main roads, they make their way through the city without meeting any other people. More than likely, they all either died or left already. A large department store looms ahead of them and Miles leads them to it, stopping just before he opens the shattered glass door.
"OK, Charlie, we're going to go in here, but you have to remember the rules."
"Don't touch anything that looks yucky, stay away from other people, and stay where you can see me." She rattles them off like a pro, having had them drilled into her brain over the last nine months. Miles smiles and ruffles her hair.
"Alright, Bug, let's see if we can find you some shoes."
It's dark in the store because there aren't any windows, so they light some makeshift torches and start poking around. Racks that were once filled with clothes are empty, some of them knocked to the floor. A racoon jumps from behind a trash can as they pass by, making all of them jump and making Bass drop his torch.
"You got scared," Charlie giggles. He can see Miles smirking in the torchlight.
"So did you," he says back, but it only makes her laugh louder.
As they get further into the store, they find more and more racks of clothes that haven't been completely stripped clean. Maybe people were too afraid to go so far into the dark store, or maybe they just left town before they'd really looked. They find the escalator, unmoving of course, and climb it slowly.
"I wish we could ride it for real," Charlie says sadly, and neither of the boys know what to say to that. Broken escalators are just another thing to add to the list of things that they wish they could fix for her.
The kids clothes are at the top of the escalators, stairs really, and while there are quite a few empty racks and shelves, there are still some things there for them to choose from. The boys start working their way around the large room, checking for anything practical to take with them. Charlie spots a shirt with Hello Kitty on the front and immediately latches onto it like a lifeline. It's about two sizes too small for her, but Miles let's her hang onto because it makes her smile. Between the two of them they find three shirts, a sweater, and even a pair of jeans that had been knocked behind a mannequin. The jeans are little long on her, but they can roll them up until she grows into them. They hunt around some more with the hopes of finding her a winter coat, but come out with no luck.
The shoe department is back downstairs, past the picked over jewelry counters, and in the darkest corner of the store. Shoe boxes are torn apart and scattered everywhere and single shoes lie lonely on the ground. They move towards a knocked over stack of pink boxes and Charlie bends down to pick one up.
"Look Uncle Miles, light up shoes!" She smiles excitedly and Miles is actually grateful when she opens the box and finds it empty. At least he won't have to see the disappointment on her face when the shoes don't actually light up.
"Sorry, Bug. We'll have to find you something else."
She nods sadly but tosses the box back to the ground with an air of carelessness that no six year old should ever have to fake. Miles pats her head affectionately and they move on. They search around for a few minutes, but still come up empty.
"Don't they have like... a stockroom or something? You know, where they keep the extra stuff." Bass suggests half heartedly. Miles shrugs back at him.
"There was a door back by the check-out counter," Charlie tells them.
"How do you know?" Miles asks skeptically.
She rolls her eyes at him, making Bass chuckle. "Because I saw it, duh." Miles can't help but laugh too, and it feels good, it's been a while since they all had a good reason to laugh.
"Come on." He steers her back toward the counter with a smile, Bass following along behind with a big smile of his own. Sure enough, there's a door behind the counter. Miles pushes it open without a second thought, having not seen another person since they entered the town, which turns out to be a mistake.
Bright light temporarily blinds all three of them as the door swings open. Bass grabs hold of the back of Miles' jacket with one hand and reaches for Charlie with the other but can't find her. He can hear other people moving around inside the room and blinks rapidly to try and bring his eyes back into focus.
"Where's Charlie?" He asks close to Miles' ear.
"I'm right here," her scared voice sounds from somewhere to his left and he feels a tiny hand grab hold of his pant leg.
"OK, let's get out of here," Miles says. But just as Bass starts to back out of the room, dragging Miles and Charlie with him, the sound of the door slamming shut behind him stops them.
"I don't think so." A man, who Bass can basically see now, is standing way too close for comfort. "I think you should stay right here."
"Listen buddy, we don't want any trouble, so just let us leave and you'll never see us again." Miles holds his hands up, palms out, in a gesture of good faith but the man merely laughs.
"Let you leave with my stuff? I don't think so." Bass doesn't like the crazed gleam in this guy's eyes, so he let's go of Miles' jacket and puts his hand on his gun instead, ready to protect them if necessary.
"Fine," Miles says, and he starts pulling Charlie's new clothes from his bag. "Take it, but we're leaving." The man looks down at the tiny jeans and t-shirts that they had collected and then peers around Bass' back at Charlie.
"Well lookie here, we have a lady in out midst." He smiles a big creepy smile and steps closer, making Bass back up, pinning Charlie against the wall behind him with her cheek pressed against his lower back. Miles steps just in front of Bass, covering her from the man's view.
"We're leaving." Miles says, and there's a low warning to his voice that makes the whole room feel cold.
"Oh, but I don't think you are." And suddenly there are five more of them, all watching them with varying degrees of amusement.
"I think it's time we had some fun, eh boys?" The leader presses forward and Bass doesn't wait another second, he pulls his gun and points it straight at him.
"Don't move, or I will shoot." Every single one of them freezes. "Miles, get her stuff." He obeys instantly, shoving Charlie's new clothes back into his bag before reaching for his niece.
"Time to go, Charlie. Come on." Miles holds his hand out to her but Bass can feel her grip tighten on the back of his jacket. She's scared, she has every right to be, and doesn't want to move.
"It's gonna be OK, Charlie. Just go with Miles." Bass steps away from the wall a little, giving Miles and Charlie enough room to walk behind him and get to the door. His eyes never leave the men standing in the room and he waits until Miles calls for him to follow to back up towards the door as well. His back hits something hard and he feels Miles grab his shoulder to steer him the right way. Once in the doorway, Bass stares them all down with the scariest face he can muster.
"If I see any of you ever again... well, let's just hope I don't see you again." He waves his gun in a 'or you'll wind up dead' kind of way and slams the door shut.
"Let's get the hell out of here," he whispers to Miles, though it wasn't necessary. Miles already has Charlie in his arms, her own wrapped around his neck and her face full of fear as they start to run. Bass keeps his gun out, looking behind him every few feet to make sure that they aren't being followed. It isn't until they make it out into the daylight and run two blocks that they let themselves stop to take a breath.
Miles lowers Charlie to the ground and kneels down in front of her, cupping her small face in his large hands. "You OK, Charlie? Look at me, Bug, are you OK?" She nods shakily and wipes her face with her jacket sleeve. Miles pulls her into a tight hug, kissing the top of her head and murmuring, "you're OK, we're all OK." Though he sounds more like he's trying to convince himself rather than her. Bass pats Miles on the back and runs his fingers through Charlie's hair soothingly, trying to reassure himself that they really are all OK.
There may be no power and they may not have gotten Charlie new shoes, but they are safe, and that at least is something.
A/N OK, there will definitely be at least one more because I want to see the boys rescue Jeremy with little Charlie there. :-D I might also do one where they meet Strausser. Though I am a little confused about him because I have this idea in my head that he was in a mental institution when the blackout happened and that he escaped afterwards... Is that from the show or did I read that in someone else's fic somewhere? (or possibly made it up, I have no clue) It's been a long time since I actually watched the show so I have no idea.