Survival

Chapter 11 Freezer Bonding

Nearly 24 hours had passed since he had taken a swing at the man in the store, time he had spent snacking, resting and playing a few card games that he had taught himself over the years. Looking up from solitaire, he found a familiar weirdo dressed in a hockey helmet and pads waddling over to him with an overeager smile.  Gunnar raised an eyebrow and leaned toward his bat. 

"Are you high or something?" Gunnar asked.

The man only laughed in response and approached with a more exaggerated hop. Gunnar didn't want to admit that he found this a little entertaining since the man spent more time being goofy than actually making moves that were threatening. Gunnar's bat hand returned to his cards.

"I know you don't trust me, kid, and I'm fine with that. I've come prepared this time," the man said with a bigger grin. Gunnar didn't smile back. "There's a whole freezer section in the back loaded with things that might still be good since it's been sealed pretty tight, but I need some help getting the door open. Once it's open, we have to eat what's in there pretty quick. Hope you have an appetite."

Pausing from his game a moment, he studied the mystery goalie for a moment. "Do you think anything in there is still good?"

"It's self-contained, so I'd say our odds are pretty good."

Gunnar left the cards on the ground as the hockey-fan abandoned his costume. They walked over to the freezer to see what could be done. The man had tried using physical force to get it open, but Gunnar took one look and shook his head.

"You can't force this door open."

"Sure we can."

Gunnar left without a word and went searching through the back area until he found a bunch of different tools he recognized from helping the Shadows with some jobs. The locking mechanism on the freezer had been compromised by the disaster. The rest of the walk-in freezer area looked to be untouched. When he returned, he worked at the hinges of the door so he could remove them. From there, they could wedge the door open.

"So were you a car thief or something?" the man asked as he watched Gunnar working.

"I stole food and a bit of cash, only when we needed it. I'm like that guy who steals the bread for his starving family, ya know." Gunnar wasn't sure why those words had left his mouth, but having something to do with his hands relaxed him.

"Yeah, I get it. You do what you need to so you can get by. I used to be an entertainer, did lots of birthday parties, charity events. I was a bit of a jack of all trades myself."

"Don't ya need tools to be in trades?"

"My tool was working with people, helping them dig into that part of themselves they didn't realize was there and embrace it," the entertainer said, his voice growing more excited with each word.

"Ya did that at birthday parties?"

"Well, I had a few different acts, sometimes a clown, puppetry, impersonations. Do you want to hear my Matt Damon impression?"

Gunnar blinked at the man, before returning to the second hinge without a word.

"Maybe later," the man answered for him. "How is the freezer coming along?"

"It's almost there," Gunnar said as he freed the last bolt. He dug his fingers into the side to see if it would move. It only shifted slightly before another set of levers were in the way. "Going to be a while longer."

Once the door was freed, the impersonator helped him slide it open enough to get through. They left a chair in the opening to keep it propped open and walked through the freezer taking stock of the meat, produce and frozen foods inside. The temperature was still pretty cool inside, not frozen, but enough to convince them that it might be alright to eat some of their finds. The smell of the meat, however, was nasty and any thoughts of sinking their teeth into a nice steak were lost.

Grabbing a couple handfuls of boxed goods, Gunnar made his way back out of the freezer. The entertainer followed him back to the cookware aisle where they grabbed frying pans, a wooden spoon, plates and utensils. They brought it back over to the propane stove and began to heat up a meal.      

"So what has you on the defensive all the time?"

Gunnar shrugged, digging into his pan-fried pizza pop and chicken fingers, too artificial to rot. "Who says I'm defensive?"

"You swung at me with a skateboard. I wouldn't call that a welcoming gesture."

Gunnar frowned and focused on his food instead. He could sense the man was still watching him, a skill he developed pretty well as a kid.

"I'm just making conversation, no one's going to force you to answer," the entertainer said.

 If Gunnar had to guess his age, he would say that he was around 35 years old. He took more time to look at the man's pale face and a head that was balding a bit. He seemed like an alright guy, although Gunnar had never spent much time around men this age.

"You're not one of those kid perverts, are you?" Gunnar asked, just to be on the safe side. That birthday party job seemed iffy.

"No, I have two ex-wives that will tell you that I'm quite attracted to women who are closer to my own age."

"You didn't like being married though?" Gunnar never really knew what marriage was all about. It was something he only really saw in movies and on TV or when Rob's parents yelled at each other.

The entertainer laughed. "I liked it plenty, my ex-wives, on the other hand, weren't as convinced. Apparently, I'm lazy, arrogant, pigheaded, insensitive and all this other garbage. How about you, any women left in your life? "

Gunnar sighed as his thoughts travelled to Mischa. "No."

"You don't sigh like that for nothing. What's her name?"

"There's no one."

"Suit yourself. But I'm warning you, I can talk your ear off about almost anything, so you'd be better off talking."

Gunnar just laughed as the entertainer started up again with a story about a trip to Cuba with wife number one. He didn't tune out the whole story. Some parts of it, like the cigar smoking monkey, were interesting.