Just Survive

Chapter Nine

- Alex Mirren -

"One hour!" I call out, eyeing Ash as she scurries away, fleeting into one of the shops right at the end of the row. I worry about that girl, so adventurous and risk-seeking. Her intelligence never miscarries her, at least not yet. I know Ash is conscientious, I trust her wholly but that doesn't ease the concern that perhaps one day her risks will get her killed. That will be the worst day of our lives, of the many lives who have put their trust in her to save them because she's never failed to do so (and that includes me).

I sigh in defeat, turning to enter a store - a dollar shop to be definitive. I don't get my hopes up high to find anything good other than batteries and pens. I search the chain of shelves anywhere, careful as to not knock off the items stocked up to the point where they were inches from falling off. It's clear, no one had attempted to clear this shop before me. I should've guessed it wasn't popular because I had only thrown about three things into my bag before moving on.

I walk straight past the technology store, knowing full-well that I won't have a clue what I'm looking at if I went inside. I could barely use the projector at the University. Instead, I head into the book store a few paces down the row, my mindset on finding school books for Jamie. I pick up some interesting reads for the rest of us too, it helps pass the time for the few people who don't have certain apocalypse-skills. The others, of course, read as well but that's more for actual entertainment after going on a run or keeping watch.

Back to the school books - I've taken the responsibility of teaching Jamie when Craig and Eloise don't have the time. As a former teacher and Jamie's godfather, it's the natural choice for his education. I've known Craig and Eloise for years now, way before the apocalypse and I remember Jamie when he firstborn. We were already like family, now we're even closer. I'm glad I have old friends in this new world and I'm glad to have new friends too.

I rely on them all as much as they rely on me. I never chose to be a leader, I just chose to take things into my own hands a few times and it stuck. I suppose at the time when things were so rough and they looked so bad, people needed someone who would take charge and make the necessary decisions to keep moving on. I don't like considering myself a leader because I know if my idea of right was wrong to everyone else, it wouldn't happen, I'm not blinded by power. I listen to and appreciate everything everyone says because it's important. People are so important, we must make decisions as a whole, all of us together but when there's a struggle to make one in time, I'm chosen to make the quick call. I can do that at the very least for my people.

I check the ticking hands of my watch every so often, timing the minutes until we had to be back at our meeting point. With ten minutes left until it reaches an hour and four shops later, I head back, my backpack heavy alongside a full plastic carrier bag that I stole from the counter in the dollar shop. I suppose I should've tipped a dollar to the skeleton clutching onto the old swivel chair at the checkout - they were so helpful after all.

As the last seconds of the hour tick on by, Charlie comes rolling over, two bags hanging in the crease of his elbows as he fiddles with a gadget he must have found. He, without looking up once, stops beside me and mutters 'hi'. I return the greeting while awaiting the others. I stick my hands in my jean's pockets, chewing my lip.

Not too long later Craig shows up, a decent amount of food and water filling his backpack. He gloats to us, unzipping his bag and listing off all of the items he collected. I can't focus though as Ash and her supplies are still nowhere in sight.

With fifteen minutes passing after Craig strode back, we all start to worry. Ash is good with her timing, she seldom turns up more than five minutes late, no matter how far away she is. Something is wrong. The dread rises from my gut and up into my mouth. A bead of sweat drips from my eyebrow and I sense my heart rate increasing by the millisecond.