Shattered (Complete!)

Chapter 6

"What?" I blinked, trying to hear her again.

Was she even serious?

"I said I'm calling from a safe place." She repeated. "We've got everything here."

"Where?" I asked, eager to know about the destination.

"I need to know your position right now." She said dourly.

"Okay, I'm in this abandoned store of an abandoned town named Peter Wood." I replied.

"Peter Wood, eh?" She paused. "You're not so far from us. We're at the countryside."

"Countryside?"

I thought of our decision to go to Sam's grandmother's cottage.

"Yup. We've put hoardings right off the Harrison Road."

Oh no. It's not the cottage we're thinking to go at, is it?

My heart sank. If she's in it, there are others with her.

"You'll find us easily." She said. "I'm thankful to the telecommunication services. A working phone right in the middle of an apocalypse." She giggled.

"Yes. I was surprised as well." I replied.

"Okay, Rachel, I gotta hang up. Hoping to see you in a few days."

"Alright."

She had already hung up.

I placed the receiver back in it's place and turned to go back to sleep.

"Who was that?" Yorik inquired as soon as I sat beside him.

"You're awake?" I stared at him with wide eyes.

He was staring at me, with a smile at the corner of his lips.

"Yes. I woke up when I heard you talking." He whispered.

I told him about Theo and her part of information.

"Right off the Harrison Road?" Yorik sounded worried.

"Yes, I'm worried about that as well." I bit my lip. "What if it's the same place where we're planning to go?" 

"If it is, then we won't have any other option. If there are others present, I mean, like us, then we can stay with them. It's always better to form a group and stay when the world is in complete chaos." He said mildly. 

"Maybe that's a good idea. She said they have everything there." I replied.

"Okay, so off the Harrison Road is our destination." He yawned and drifted off to sleep. 

I woke up the next morning, by the sound of plastic wrappers. 

"Morning, sleepyhead." Sam tried to open a wrapper of Mars Bar, sitting beside me. 

I got up slowly, staring around me. 

Yorik was nowhere to be seen. Alicia was gulping down a whole carton of milk at a side and Sam had been eating Mars Bars since god knows when in the morning. 

"There are plenty of these." Sam pointed at the empty Mars Bar wrappers. "I just saw a stack of these in that chocolate rack." 

"Where's Yo?" I inquired, looking worried.

"He's right behind the counter. We've discovered a tiny washroom there. The door was covered with boxes of band-aids and toffees."

"And there's running water in it?" I suddenly felt relieved. 

"Yes, there is." Alicia said this time, finishing her milk and tossing the carton on one of the store corners. "We had shower this morning while you were sleeping."

"Great." 

Right at that moment, a door opened behind the counter where the phone was, and Yorik stood there, wearing a new pair of jeans and a green T shirt. 

"Oh, you're up." He came to me and kissed me on my cheek lightly. "I thought you would sleep all day." 

"And from where did you get new clothes?" I asked.

"Right there." He pointed at a shelf on the side of the sunglasses which I didn't see earlier. 

"I think you will find a few for yourself." He smiled and went on to have a Mars Bar. 

I walked towards the shelf and scanned through all the clothing items on it. There was a good looking pair of floral jeans and a red Avenged Sevenfold T shirt which I took. 

I went in the washroom and shut the door behind. 

It was a tiny one with a small sink at a side and an urinal on the other. It was clean enough to take a shower. The tiny glass window was open. I peeped through it and saw the store backyard which was full of thick bushes. 

I took off my worn out jeans and dirt covered tank top and placed them on the floor. Slowly, I peeled my underwear off and put them along with my clothes. I placed my sneakers under the pile of clothes to not make them wet. 

I stepped into the shower, toes flinching as they touched the chilled ceramic floor and drew the curtain. I turned the dial, old and metallic, releasing thousands of lukewarm drops, darkening my hair and trickled down my back. 

A shower after a long time felt so soothing. I closed my eyes and took the pleasure in fully. My mind swirled, and it felt like I was standing under an everlasting waterfall.

Knock. Knock. 

I heard knocks two times on the washroom door. 

"Who's there?" I asked, turning the faucet off. 

"What's taking you so long, Rech? We'll have to move as soon as possible." I herd Yorik say. 

"Okay, I'll be right there." I replied and put on the new clothes which fit me perfectly. 

"You ready?" Sam looked at me wide eyed, as I came out of the washroom. 

My hair was still dripping water. 

"Look, what I found." Alicia sat on top of the counter, engrossed in reading a huge chart. 

"What's that?" Yorik went to her at once. 

"A map." She said in glee. 

"Give me that." Yorik insisted and she handed it to him. 

After another hour's study of the map, Yorik finally, folded it and kept it in his jeans pocket. 

"What did you see?" Sam asked, curious to know. 

"There's a road, a shortcut actually, that connects directly to Harrison Road." He answered, frowning. "We won't have to walk much. According to the map, there's a few diners and gas stations there. So we can camp in at night."

"And where is the road?" Alicia inquired. 

"Right on the next turn." 

"Okay, then." Sam said. "Once we reach Harrison Road, I'll guide you guys to the cottage." 

Crap! I didn't mention anything about Theo to neither Sam nor Alicia. They didn't hear anything either when the conversation was going on. 

I decided to keep it to myself and Yorik. We never knew what was waiting for us.

"Guys, stuff in your backpacks with as many canned food as you can." Alicia declared. "Because, we're leaving."

Okay, so I decided to post another chapter as I was unable to control myself from writing. I've a break for a few days before my last two papers. Had a bit of time today. Hope you're enjoying the story. Vote & Comment. Your suggestions will be much appreciated.