Kings of the World: Last Coors Banquet Series Part 3 | Lawrusso

Kings of the World Chapter 2 / 15

It was 10 weeks since the world ended and they still hadn't found any food, apart from a few bags of groceries they found in the trunk of an abandoned car on Hayvenhurst.

Daniel knew eventually they were going to have to find store or market, but the idea of going somewhere more populated, where there would be zombies, filled him with dread. If anything happened to him Eli would be left alone, and he didn't think the kid would last long without him.

They went out, driving to random places, too scared to go in any houses or stores.

"Look at that," Eli said, as he pointed at the doors on Ventura that had been marked with a cross in red spray paint. "What do you think that means?"

"I don't know," Daniel said, feeling a shudder run down his spine. "I don't think I want to find out either."

There was a Whole Food market on Saugus avenue, bordered on three sides by empty roads. There were piles of dead plants and rotten watermelons by the entrance, but the double doors were wide open, and they sat in the car peering through them, wondering if anything was inside.

"We need food," Daniel said. "I'll have to take the chance."

"I'll come with you," Eli said, but Daniel pushed him back into his seat.

"No, stay there," he said. "I'm just going to look through the doors. If anything comes into the parking lot, hit the horn."

"OK," Eli said with a nod.

Daniel opened the car door, then closed it behind him and crept up to the store. He couldn't see anything walking in the aisles, so he stepped inside.

The smell hit him immediately. Piles of rotten fruit and veg were heaped in racks. Black overripe bananas and puddles of tomatoes that had almost turned to liquid and seeped across the floor. The air was thick with small flies, and Daniel lifted his shirt over his nose to try to block the smell.

The smell was getting too much, and Daniel felt himself start to retch, so he grabbed the nearest things he could see that hadn't turned to mush inside their packaging and ran out into the fresh air.

"What did you get?" Eli asked, when Daniel got in car.

"We'll need a gas mask before we can go back in there," Daniel said, as he handed Eli some bags of dried Kale.

It was 11 weeks since the world had ended, and they took a ride to where Encino Hills drive met Mulholland Drive. It was supposed to be a trip to get some fresh air and clear their heads, but as they got out of the car Daniel realised the usually spectacular view across the valley was actually a view of how completely and utterly fucked they were.

The air was filled with the smog of dozens of fires, as buildings burnt and the world fell apart. There was no cars moving along freeways, no planes coming in to land at LAX. There was nothing but devastation and rot.

They didn't speak on the way back home. Daniel was afraid he'd blurt out how the world was over, how they were done, how they had no chance of staying alive when everything was gone.

There was a black bag at the side of the road on Encino Hills Drive. They stopped to look in it and Daniel hoped it was food.

It was guns. Lots of guns.

"Have you every fired one before?" Eli asked as Daniel picked the bag up and put it carefully in the trunk of the car.