It took about twenty minutes for everyone to get going again. Dom noticed the car with the dead man in it was still there and kicked himself for not getting it out of the way. When they passed the spot of the wreck Tori leaned over Marie's lap to see why there was a car still stuck in the middle of the road, noticing the body sticking half way out of it. Matthew nodded his head for Dom to pull over and the two of them got out once more, intending to move the car off the road.
"How did this happen?" Marie asked after rolling down her window.
"Little altercation over a scratched bumper and some money. Like I said, things have changed." Dom raised his eyebrows and turned around to head for the car. Matthew pushed from the back while Dom pushed from the side and steered, moving the car safely off of the road. The two men stood there and looked at each other, not entirely sure what to do. Matthew decided to open the driver's door and the back door as well, moving the man from his sitting position in the front to lying down over the back seat. Dom helped get him into position and shut the door, and they both stood silently for a moment in the wake of the loss of human life.
"We might be able to make it into Gary, Indiana before dark, even with the setback" said Dom, getting back into the driver's seat. "We'll look for a store and see if we can stock up on some items and camp in the parking lot."
"I'm sure there's a super center right off the highway" said Diana.
"There's always a super center right off the highway" said Matthew, chuckling as he put his seat belt on.
Once again the group fell into the monotony of driving. Tori sat in the middle in the back so she had easy access to her iPod that was plugged into the stereo, flicking through it lazily to find something they could all enjoy. She saw Diana staring out the window out of the corner of her eye and it reminded her of the day they met in the record store, so she put on The Six Parts Seven's last album, the one Diana had purchased. The first few chords played and Matthew clapped his hands in excitement while Marie shook her head with a smile.
"Hey Diana, this is the CD you bought in the store when we met" said Tori. "I'm guessing you didn't get a chance to open it with everything that's been going on."
"Oh cool, I'll get to find out what's so good about these guys to make them your favorite."
The next few hours was spent mostly in silence with The Six Parts Seven's discography playing from the beginning on Tori's iPod. No one really felt the need to talk as the music coursed through them, the calming instrumentals putting stressed minds at ease. Each one of them had some personal things to work out in their heads and these long stretches of driving were the perfect time. Matthew and Dom struggled with the realization that they didn't have anyone left except the three ladies in the car with them, and once they were gone it would be just them. Marie was dealing with the guilt of not knowing where her parents were, and not really caring. Diana wondered where they would end up and if all of them would survive the horrors of the new world, and what they would do if they lost one of the group. Tori figured her parents would be OK with her dad being a cop, but she was mostly worried about her sister Trina. She hadn't been heard from and no one knew where she was, and Tori wondered if she had gotten hurt in the initial riots. The possibility was a lot higher than it was just a few days ago and Tori had to convince herself to put it out of her mind so she wouldn't go crazy with worry.
By the time Dom hit the exit for Gary and took it, Tori was asleep against Diana's shoulder, Marie was asleep against her door and Matthew was air drumming to the track on the stereo. He took his navigator assignment pretty seriously, meaning he was always alert and didn't take naps or anything when he could. Dom pulled into an Art's, a local chain of superstores that carried everything from food to automobile parts. Some cars were strewn across the parking lot but it was mostly empty, and dark. The lights were off outside as well as inside, a bad omen for the next part of their night.
"Do you think we should wait until morning?" Matthew asked.
"I think so. Might as well not waste the flashlight batteries if we can help it" said Dom.
The front of the store had two entrances that stuck out, leaving a connecting piece in the middle that set back a little ways. Dom parked the car at an angle right up next to the left side entrance, leaving a space for them to set up their tents that would be guarded from wind on all sides. He put the car in park and got out, the sound of his door stirring Tori awake in the back.
"We here?"
"Sure are," said Dom, "come on out and help set up."
Tori shook Diana gently and her eyes popped open, scanning the area around her. Tori made a soft shh'ing sound, reminding her that she was safe with her friends. Diana rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stretched her arms forward, cracking her knuckles and yawning.
"Time to get out, huh?"
"Yep. Come on Marie, let's go." Tori reached over and shook Marie's leg until she opened her eyes as well.
When everyone was outside Dom unpacked the trunk and set everything next to the car, spreading out it so people could grab what was theirs. They were on pavement so they couldn't stake the tents down but being in the corner blocked from wind solved that problem. Tori helped Matthew set up the girl's tent while Dom set up the guy's tent and the others looked into the store from outside. Diana stood on her tiptoes and covered her eyes on the sides, looking in through the windows to see if she could spot what the situation on the side was like.
"Looks empty in there" she said.
"Empty as in items or people?" asked Dom.
"People. You can tell it's been looted but there's some stuff around from what I can see. Lots of produce still left on the stands, you'll be happy about that Tor."
"I would kill for a fresh melon right now" said Tori.
"When it gets light out we'll head in." Dom got their mobile command center set up again, kicking out the legs of the table and setting the laptop and map on top of it. "It'll still be kind of dark but we won't have to use our lights as much in the front."
"Hey Dom, there's some outlets over here" said Matthew. "I'm gonna head in and look for an extension cord and some surge protectors real quick. Marie, you wanna come?"
Marie perked her head up from her bag. "Sure, sounds like an adventure."
The two of them each grabbed a flashlight from the survival bag and headed in the front door. It had to be pried open since the automatic sensors weren't working but it was easier than Matthew imagined. They walked inside slowly, flicking their lights on in the face of almost total darkness. After passing through the cart area they noticed the row of cash registers had been completely torn apart. Change littered the floor from one side of the store to the other and the drawers themselves were scattered around as well. Plastic bags lay in stacks on the floor, some strewn about in different areas. The aisles between registers seemed mostly intact but their bounty lay dislodged on the floor. They began moving into the store slowly, scanning all of the area in front of them with their flashlights before they moved.
Marie broke off to the left when she found a stand with produce bags still standing. She took two bags off and filled them with apples, bananas and a melon for Tori. Matthew followed up with a bag of oranges and a bag each of green and purple grapes. After they secured the fruit they moved back to the right side of the store, crossing over in the main aisle between the registers and the clothing racks. The electronics section was in the back right corner and that's where they needed to be. Matthew led the way past the pharmacy section, making a mental note to look for general things like aspirin and cough medicine when they came in the next morning. This part of the store wasn't as trashed as the rest but you could tell it had been picked through pretty carefully. Once they reached the back Matthew scanned the signs and found what he was looking for. A fifty foot heavy duty extension cord would be more than enough for what they needed at the moment. Unfortunately, there was only one surge protector left and it only had four plugs, and Matthew wasn't even sure if it still worked from the shape it was in.
He grabbed the two cords and wrapped them around his arm, turning to look for the camping aisle to see if he could snag a couple air mattresses for them to sleep on when he heard a high pitched scream rip through the air somewhere in front of him. Matthew dropped everything he was holding and bolted around the corner, looking frantically for Marie, hoping she hadn't gotten hurt. Two aisles up his light flashed across two faces before finding Marie's, her eyes open wide in shock. Two kids had gripped onto her legs and were trying to pull her to the ground while a third looked on from the side.
"Get-off-me!" Marie screamed, trying to shake the kids from her legs without falling over.
Matthew ran up pulled each kid off one at a time, pushing them away towards the older one that watched from a few paces back. The boy pulled the two smaller kids behind him and stepped up, holding a small pocket knife in his right hand.
"Easy now kid" said Matthew, putting his hands up. "We don't want to hurt you or take anything from you, OK? We just need an extension cord so we can charge some things. What's your name?"
The boy stood stone-faced with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Well, my name is Matthew, and this is Marie. We're passing through the area and stopped here to grab some supplies. What are you doing here? Where are your parents?"
The boy didn't speak and and the two other kids behind him watched with wide eyes. He looked down patted each kid on the head softly, roughing up their hair a bit. Matthew kept his eye on the knife in the boy's hand but tried to not make it obvious.
"Alright Marie, looks like they're not too friendly," said Matthew quietly, "let's get our stuff and go."
Matthew started walking away, putting his arm around Marie to bring her up to speed. Before they could round the corner the boy stepped forward, finally speaking up.
"My dad's been gone for a long time, and I don't know where our mom is" he said. It sounded like he hadn't used his voice much lately.
Matthew stopped and turned on the spot. "How long ago did she leave?"
"A day or two. She brought me and my brothers here, saying she needed to pick up some things before we got out of town. We were waiting up front by one of the registers and she told me to grab a candy bar for each of us and she'd be right back. We searched the aisles for something we liked-I got a kit-kat and Jake got a payday and Brad got M&Ms-and by the time we were done she hadn't come back."
Marie knew what was coming next but it didn't soften the blow in her gut. She turned towards Matthew and leaned into him, pressing her face into his shoulder.
"We waited there for what seemed like forever. Finally it started to get dark and people were rushing in and out even faster than before so I grabbed my brothers and we headed back here where there was less people. I got worried that if we left that spot my mom wouldn't find us, but I wanted to keep my brothers safe. When it got real dark and we didn't hear voices no more I just figured she forgot about us and left, so I stayed back here with my brothers. Now I have to make sure they're OK."
"What's your name?" Matthew asked again, rubbing Marie's back gently as she dripped silent tears into the sleeve of his shirt.
"Jonny."
"Well Jonny, are you guys staying fed and hydrated at least?"
"Sure. People took a lot of the food and stuff at first but there's some left for us. We grabbed a few cases of bottled water and there's a drinking fountain in the back."
"Why don't you have any lights?"
"We do, we turned them off when we heard you guys prying the door open."
Jonny stepped around Brad and turned the two camping oil lamps back on. They hung from the aisle racks with wire coat hangers. The end of the aisle had been turned into a little living spot for the three boys. A few small chairs had been wrangled and an air mattress had been blown up with some pillows and blankets tossed on top. Matthew nodded his head, impressed with the setup the kids had made for themselves. They even had a stereo plugged in with the antenna set up on top so they could get radio reception, although Matthew assumed it was for music and not to listen to the news broadcasts about the conflict.
"You guys are doing pretty well huh?" Marie asked, wiping tears from her eyes.
"Jonny does a good job" said Jake, diving onto the air mattress over and over again.
"I try to make sure they eat and stuff, but I don't really know what all there is to it. I mean I watched my mom do stuff around the house but actually being the one to do it is weird."
"How old are you?"
"Twelve. I'll be thirteen in two months."
"That's good. You look like you're pretty strong, you eat your vegetables and stuff?"
"Yeah. Mom always said it was important to eat my greens if I want to play football like my older brother Taylor."
"Four boys, huh? Your mom must have had fun with that" said Marie.
"Oh yeah. She got really mad sometimes when we would wrestle around in house and make a lot of noise, or if we got really into playing outside and came in all covered in dirt and mud. My brother told me to say 'Don't worry mom, boys will be boys' and when I did she turned red. Taylor thought it was funny but I think she was really mad."
"Marie, can I talk to you for a sec?" Matthew asked.
The two of them walked back a ways, crossing over a couple aisles so they could talk in private.
"We need to go. The others are going to be wondering where we are and we need to get this stuff out there so we can plug the laptop and GPS in."
Marie looked back towards the kids and then towards the door. "We can't leave these kids here, Matty. They've already been abandoned twice, and they won't be able to survive by themselves for very long once this store is emptied."
"I know, trust me I do, but there's nothing we can do. It's the same as it was with the girls in the car. We don't have room for them. I don't like it as much as anyone, but Dom was right. It's not like we would just take care of them for a couple weeks until everything goes back to normal. The world isn't going to go back to normal. If we took these kids it would be for years, possibly for life. None of us are equipped to take on that task, we're barely able to take care of ourselves."
"We can't leave them here Matty. We can't."
Marie started crying again and wrapped her arms around her stomach. Matthew reached forward a consoling hand but Marie shrugged away, keeping her eyes on the ground. Matthew took a deep breath and let it out slowly, chewing on the side of his lip while he tried to figure out something to say. He knew deep down there was nothing that would really make Marie feel any better about leaving these kids behind since her father left her so many years ago and she had to deal with her broken statue of a mother, but he figured he would at least try to give her some sort of peace of mind.
"Look Marie, these kids are going to have a lot of hard times ahead of them. So are we. So is everyone. The best way to learn is by doing, and Jonny seems to have a pretty good grip on what's happening. He's been able to set up a little living area for them with a bed and lights and everything. They have some food water for a while, and when it runs out they'll venture out into the city to find another store or go to a house close by. I wish we could take them under our wing and care for them the way they should be cared for, but the reality is we're not their parents, and we're not in a comfortable enough position to be taking care of kids. I know Jonny isn't either, and it's not right, it's not fair, but the world isn't fair. It never was."
Marie wiped her tears again and walked away without saying anything. Matthew closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, upset that the words didn't go across like he'd wanted them to. He walked around the corner the way Marie had went, back towards the kids. She crouched in front of Jake while he told her a story and Brad played with some action figures on the bed. Jonny was doing a quick inspection of the food they had on the shelves near them and wrote something down on a piece of paper.
"The kids really like ravioli and canned peaches, so when we run low on something I write it down so I can be sure I don't forget anything when I head to the other side of the store to pick stuff up."
Matthew noticed two carts on the other side of the bed. One was full of trash while the other was empty, probably used to transport food and other materials. The look on the little kids' faces as they played and told stories was making Matthew antsy. He didn't want to leave them anymore than Marie did, but the world was harsh and their reality was inescapable.
"OK guys, we need to go. Marie and I have some friends with us that are waiting for us to get back with the cords so we can charge our toys and stuff."
"Are you gonna come back?" Jonny asked.
Matthew winced at the horrible physical pain in his chest. "I don't think so, buddy. We need to keep moving so we can find some other friends of ours. It's like a big giant game of hide and seek."
"I love hide and seek. Maybe when you find the rest of your friends you can come back here and start a new game with us. We play here in the store sometimes, but only during the day when there's more light cause the kids get scared of the dark sometimes."
Marie couldn't control her tears anymore and she stood there openly sobbing. Jonny looked past Matthew and cocked his head to the side, almost like a curious dog.
"Why's she crying?"
"She, uh," Matthew turned around and looked at Marie then back to Jonny, "she's just upset that we can't play our game just yet. She wants to play real bad but we can't until we find the rest of our friends."
Jonny walked around Matthew to Marie and hugged her, leaning his head against her stomach.
"It's OK, we'll be here when you get back. Just come back here and say the word and we can play for as long as you want."
Matthew wiped a couple of his own tears away and cleared his throat, turning to head back towards the door. He moved a couple aisles over and picked up the fruit and cords he'd gathered before then went back for Marie.
"It was nice to meet you guys, I hope we'll see you again someday." Matthew high-fived Jonny and nodded to the other boys.
"Sure sure. Good luck finding your friends."
Marie turned around quickly and started walking back towards the door with her light pointed straight ahead. She bent down and picked up the fruit she'd dropped as well and kept going without missing a beat.
"Marie, come on. We can't afford to be mad at each other."
"Well what can we afford then, huh?" She stopped in the middle of the aisle and turned to Matthew, her eyes red and burning from crying. "We can't afford to bring anyone with us and we can't afford to argue with each other, we can barely afford to keep ourselves going. What's the point then? What are we working towards? Are we just supposed to scrape by like this, every single day until we die?"
"I don't know. I can't imagine what's going to happen in the future. I sure as hell never planned for something like this to happen, who's to say something miraculous won't happen in the next couple of weeks to turn this all around?"
"No one plans for anything like this to happen. Those kids didn't plan to be abandoned by their parents, and they didn't plan to have to fend for themselves in a looted supermarket either. They didn't plan on scraping by all alone while people take from around them but leave leave them there. As human beings we're defined by what we do when the going gets tough, not by what we have when the going is easy."
Marie turned and took off once more and Matthew padded after her, trying to slow her down but she was intent on getting out of the store as quickly as possible. It had gotten completely dark outside in the time they were in the store and maneuvering was difficult since Marie was so sporadic with her light. Matthew turned his on and tried to hold it straight as he carried the materials, catching up to her a bit as they made their way out the door and back into the fresh night air.
"What took you guys so long?" Dom asked, eating a can of hickory-smoked beans.
Marie dumped the things in her arms on the table and walked past Dom without a word, bumping into Tori as she ran for the girls' tent and got in. Tori looked to Matthew curiously at the same time as Dom, both waiting for an explanation.
"We found some kids in there. The oldest is twelve and the two younger ones are probably seven and eight. Marie really took a liking to them and wanted to bring them with us but I told her it was like the other girls," Matthew thumbed his hand at Dom as he spoke, "how you were saying we don't have room for other people."
"I know it's hard but you did the right thing" said Dom, clapping his brother on the shoulder.
"Yeah. I tried to explain it to Marie in a way that would make it easier for her but she just got mad at me. I really hope she sees that we aren't doing this stuff because we like it and she comes to terms with that, I don't want her to be mad at me."
Tori walked forward and brought Matthew into a hug, squeezing him hard to allow him to squeeze back and let out some tension. He kissed her on the cheek as they pulled apart and she smiled.
"I'll talk to her and see if I can help a bit" said Tori.
"Thanks Tor, I don't know what I'd do without you."
The rest of that night was full of tension and silence. Everyone knew that there were a few kids in the store that needed their help and they couldn't do anything about it. These little kids, two of them barely old enough to be in school and the oldest not even in high school, were having to fend for themselves in the same way that they were. Of course, they had a pretty good starting spot with the supermarket, but it would eventually run out of stock and the boys would be forced to move somewhere else. Did they know how to get anywhere in town? Was Jonny good enough to get them to a new safe place undetected? These questions went through everyone's mind at at least one point through the night, and the resulting stress made it hard for anyone to maintain conversation.
Marie went straight to the girls' tent and crashed. She lay in her sleeping bag thinking about the boys and what they would do when their group was gone. She hoped that Jonny was smart and capable enough to get them everything they needed but she remembered he was only twelve, and the thought just made her heart hurt even more. He was only two months away from thirteen, the big one-three. He'd be a teenager, independent and capable. He'd be able to babysit his brothers in a normal situation, so if she thought of this as a big vacation type thing she could just say he was babysitting and it made her feel a little better.
Dom took the car to the other end of the parking lot to see if the pumps still had any gas left in them. After checking all six pumps he managed to get about half a tank, putting them up to three quarters of a tank. Tori's car was pretty good on gas, since this was the first time they'd gotten any since they left Chicago. He pulled the car back around and parked it in the same spot it was before and got out, making sure the electronics were plugged in and covered before he crawled into his tent and fell asleep.
The next morning came quickly as all mornings usually did in their new lives. Tori was the first up, having gone to bed first after Marie. Marie spend a lot of the night crying so Tori knew she was going to have a rough day when she woke up. She made a note to look for headache medicine when they went inside, hoping the pharmacy area hadn't been too cleaned out. When Tori got out of the tent she was up for maybe five minutes before Matthew made his way out, stretching and yawning as he stumbled to his feet. He looked down at himself and smelled his shirt, wincing as he slid it over his head. Tori popped the trunk with the remote on her keys so he could grab some new clothes and change, tying the dirty clothes tightly in a plastic bag. As he finished changing Dom emerged next, noticing Matthew's new clothes and looking down at his own. He made to change as well while Matthew and Tori threw some stuff together for breakfast.
"We should get in there as soon as possible and load up, we don't know if anyone is going to be coming this way anytime soon. I want to get some stuff and get gone." Dom slid his new shirt of his head and tossed a couple empty bags on the table.
"Alright, I'll wake up the other two, you guys get the flashlights set up" said Tori.
Diana was already awake when Tori entered the tent, leaning up on her elbow and smiling. She looked over at Marie and ran her free hand across her back, patting her on the hip gently as she spoke.
"Marie, time to head inside and load up."
"I can't go back in there."
Diana was kind of surprised at how clear and awake she sounded, her face mimicking the surprise on Tori's. They both stared down at Marie as she lay unmoving, head covered by her sleeping bag. Tori knew she would be sensitive to the whole thing for a while so when she said she didn't want to go back inside Tori decided to accept that, pulling Diana out of the tent and zipping it shut. When the two girls appeared without Marie Matthew looked upset and worried, his eyes flicking over to the girls' tent every few seconds. He was afraid that the whole thing had changed Marie's view of him, same thing Dom was afraid of. Having to be a hard ass in these situations was never fun, but sometimes it had to be done to keep everything on course.
Tori felt like the pain emanating from Marie was piercing right into her chest, almost like she could touch it. When she looked towards the tent her heartbeat sped up a bit and slammed inside her chest, and she could almost taste the tears on her tongue. It was an experience like she'd never had before. She backed away from the tent and made eye contact with Matthew, once again feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt and loss. The abundance of strong feelings coming from both sides almost sent her into a panic mode but she closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing, eventually calming down enough to come back to the present. Dom eyed her carefully but Tori smiled and walked back up to the table, trying to abolish any sense of suspicion.
The four of them grabbed flashlights and bags and headed inside, each splitting up to different areas to load up. Tori got produce and other farm stuff, Matthew got canned goods, Diana got snack foods and Dom went to check the pharmacy area for first aid and other medicine. They each checked their areas as closely as they could for a good hour, stuffing their bags as much as they could with what was left over. Matthew's gaze kept wandering to the other side of the store where he knew the boys were, even though their light was off. He wondered if Jonny knew it was them, or if he was scared all over again thinking that some new people were here and might hurt them if they were found. He finished filling his bag and made for the door, intent on getting out of the store and back on the road as quickly as possible.
Tori finished up at about the same time as Diana and they both exited together, setting their stuff on the table next to Matthew's. They waited for another twenty minutes before Dom came out with his bag.
"I found a lot of good stuff in the pharmacy, we got lucky."
"So did we. I guess this place didn't really get hit that hard in the beginning." Tori popped a grape in her mouth as she sorted through her bounty.
"There's enough canned food at least to last a few weeks, more if we ration" said Matthew. "That bag weighs like fifty pounds."
Marie came out of the tent and everyone sort of froze; she looked around and smiled weakly, stumbling a little until she found her footing. Matthew walked over to the table and sorted through the medicine, grabbing a couple Aleve and a bottle of water for Marie to help her get rid of her headache. She took the pills and drained almost the whole bottle of water, laughing as she set it down on the table. Tori watched her as she went from bag to bag on the table, looking through what everyone got. She stopped at Matthew's bag of canned goods, picking up a few to see to the bottom. She replaced the cans and stopped moving for a second, chewing on her thumbnail. Tears formed in her eyes again and Tori almost walked around the table to hug her but she moved towards Matthew, curling up into his chest . He wrapped his arms around her and looked at the others, confused.
"I know what you did."
Matthew realized why she was crying and smiled down at her, smoothing her hair down her back. "I'm not a bad guy, I promise. Just sometimes we have to make bad decisions."
"I know. I'm sorry for yelling at you, but I don't feel any better about it."
"Neither do I" said Matthew, looking through the windows from the parking lot. "Neither do I."
They all got to work rolling up sleeping bags and taking down the tents so they could pack up the car again. Dom put all his stuff away quickly and loaded the food so he could have some more time to look at the map while the rest of the group finished up, plotting their stops along the highway.
"Our next stop will be in Omaha, and then Sioux Falls, but after that we don't have anywhere to really stop until we get to Washington. We're gonna have to load up hard on those stops if we can and ration. We're going to want a good amount of food in case we run out of gas and have to hike."
All three girls froze in their spots at the word hike.
"Seriously? I almost forgot that's even possible. You better hope we don't run out of gas, I suck at carrying things and my feet get tired really fast." Marie shook her head to clear her thoughts from blisters and dehydration.
"That food will be heavy, too. All those cans really add up." Diana drove this time while Tori sat in front, and Marie sat in the middle in the back with Matthew behind her and Dom behind Diana. "What's up with all those beans anyway, Matthew? You couldn't have gotten some spaghetti and meatballs or ravioli?"
"They didn't have any. I checked."
"Really? They had ten thousand cans of beans but literally no ravioli? Not even any macaroni and beef?"
"Nope, not a single can."
Marie smiled but kept her eyes straight through the windshield and Matthew bit his thumb to keep from laughing. As Diana pulled out of the parking lot they both looked back at the store, their smiles fading slightly at the memory of the bright-faced little boys stowed away in the electronics section. The glowing green eyes of Jonny and the shaggy, sandy blonde hair his brothers had that he liked to ruffle up. Marie reached over and took Matthew's hand and squeezed it, looking for some comfort but sending some of her own to him. She hoped that maybe one day they would run into the boys again, if the world ever stopped being crazy or if they just happened to come back this way and find them in the exact same spot. Jonny did say they would be there, and weirder things have happened. The store disappeared behind them and everyone buckled down for another day of driving, holding their tongues from complaining for the simple fact that they were relieved they weren't walking. At least, not yet.
