As the Light Dies (12 page)

MORRISONS SUPERMARKET: INVERNESS

Collin Right stood up and stretched backwards with his hands on his hips to arch his back.

He was physically exhausted. H
e’
d been hard at work in the supermarket since half six in the morning. H
e’
d come in early in preparation for the expected rush of people stocking up before the ash was set to hit. H
e’
d been stacking and re stacking shelves all day. The supermarket was going through so much produce that the stores in the back of the shop were nearly bare.

H
e’
d worked his way up to the end of the fizzy drinks and bottled water aisle trying to keep up with the customers, which was nearly impossible.

For now he stood at the end of the aisle facing the line of tills. The tills opposite him were un- manned, not enough staff had made it in to work the
m
an
d
keep the shelves stacked at the same time, so the shelves had looked bare all day and the queues had been long, but right now it was reasonably quiet, there were no customers anywhere near him which made a change, leaving a pallet of bottled water in an aisle further down, nearer the working tills had paid off.

He took the opportunity to take a minute for himself, he thought deserved it.

He looked passed the tills, through the floor to ceiling glass that ran along the length of the shop front and out at the snow, if tha
t’
s what it still was.

Collin did
n’
t think it even looked like snow anymore. It was
n’
t white anymore, not really.

It was turning grey, getting dirty as it fell through the air mixing with all the ash up in the sky.

It was mesmerising to watch. Virgin white snow getting dirty as it fell, settling dark grey and dirty, covering everything in sight in what looked like a deep layer of dust.

At first when the ash started to settle, people had left clean white footprints behind them in the dark grey blanket. But now as Collin looked out there were no white footprints, there were no white patches left anywhere. As people hurried along wrapped up from head to toe they left a churned up dirty mess behind them, the ash had worked its way all the way through to the concrete now.

He listened to the people queuing a few aisles down talking about the news the
y’
d heard or things the
y’
d seen on their way to the supermarket. It was a jumble of words and broken sentences blurted out between there wheezy coughs, but it kind of made sense.

“
Saw three cars off the road...
.“
I saw five....road...
.“
Passed one person....road, trying....hitch a lift....absolutely filthy....not a chance....no mask on...
.“
Was a group of people arguing at the petrol station...
.“
I saw that...
.“
Then a fight broke out...
.“
Yes it was quite a bad one...
.”
Oh dear!...
.”
Just drove off!...
.“
Volcano still erupting!...
.“
Has
n’
t eased...
.“
God knows what w
e’
ve got coming to us! None of it matched up completely but he knew what it all meant, it told him enough for him to know things were
n’
t getting any better.

Suddenly from right behind him
,
“Busy aren’t we?”

Collin nearly jumped out of his skin. He stood up straight and spun around fast and faced Mad Maggie.

There was no mistaking her gravelly voice and her patronising tone. Sh
e’
d crept up behind him.

She stared at him with her beady little eyes and her sneaky little grin plastered across her puffy face.

She eyed the aisle up and down without saying anything. Collin was so glad h
e’
d tidied up behind himself; at least she could
n’
t grill him for being untidy.

Mad Maggie was one of the shop floor managers, a short stout woman with greasy black hair that she always pulled back so tight that it left a white mark around her hairline that stood out a mile against her blotchy red face. She did
n’
t suffer fools gladly and Collin was certain she had it in for him. She looked at the bottles stacked neatly along the edge of the shelf and down at the flattened cardboard boxes piled up neatly and snorted, then she looked at his stock pallet and saw it was empty. Her lips puckered and she frowned
.“
How long have you just been standing there gawking out the window
?”
she said.

“
Uh,
I’
ve only just finished stacking the aisle Maggie.
I’
ve just put the last bottle on the shelf
.”
He nudged a bottle of spring water with his foot
.“
My back was killing me from being bent
.
”

”Oh, Really,”
she said rolling her eyes
.“
Soon as you empty a pallet you get right back in the stores for another, no hanging around, no stretching, no yoga, get back in those stores and get another pallet and start stacking
.
”

Collin nodded, quickly spun around and grabbed the handle of the pallet truck and started pulling
.
“Not so fast,”
said Maggie.

Colli
n’
s heart sank.

“
I came to tell you that Thom needs you to go and help clear some snow out the back for a delivery due in
.”
She glanced at her watch
.“
Go for your lunch when yo
u’
ve done here, then go and see him
.
”
“
Ok, uh, thanks
,”
said Collin but before h
e’
d finished sh
e’
d gone. Probably to creep up on someone else he thought as he threw the flattened cardboard boxes h
e’
d emptied on the pallet and hurried down the aisles towards the stores. As he approached the double swing doors he was overtaken by a pink flash!

Collin straightened up fast and brushed himself down quickly.

“
H
i’
ya
,”
said Leann pushing through the doors in front of him. Collin felt his cheeks flare hot.

“
Hello, uh, I mean hi
,”
he said as Leann hooked one door open and stood holding the other for him. He hurried through not wanting to look sluggish, especially with nothing apart from flattened cardboard on the pallet.

He liked Leann, she was different, and not just because she actually spoke to him. He liked how her hair never stayed the same colour for long, how she stood out from the crowd and did
n’
t just blend in, she did
n’
t want to blend in, did
n’
t want to be normal.

“
Heard the Mad one giving you a hard time back there
,”
she said
.“
Does
n’
t she know yo
u’
ve been in since half six
!
She’s a cunt eh?”

“
Uh, yea
,”
is all Collin could manage in return.

“
Heard yo
u’
re going out to clear all that ash shit for a new load coming in. Rather you than me
.”
Collin pulled his pallet through the doors desperately trying not to catch the sides, when all you had on the pallet truck was cardboard without anything to weigh it down, if you caught the edges against the wall or the door posts it all came tumbling down in an instant.

“You keep going,”
said Leann running a hand through her almost luminous pink hair
.“I’
ll unhook the door for ya
.
”

“
Uh yea ok, thank you, uh I mean thanks
,”
said Collin trying to make eye contact and only just managing a glance
.“
No probs
,”
she said
,“
be careful out there eh and
I’
ll catch you later
.
”

“
Uh yea ok
,”
said Collin partly gobsmacked that sh
e’
d actually told him to be careful, like she actually cared, then sh
e’
d said sh
e’
d catch him later like she meant t
o
actuall
y
catch up with him for a chat. He glanced over his shoulder when he was far enough away that she would
n’
t see his red cheeks, sh
e’
d closed the doors and was already headed off towards the freezer. Collin took a deep breath as he made his way down the store realising h
e’
d broken in to a sweat and he had to wipe his forehead with his sleeve, he checked Leann was
n’
t watching first though. Then a second later Thom appeared around the corner ahead of him, he was walking towards him.

Thom was ok really but could start to flap if the pressure started to build which could be often managing the stores. Collin always seemed to find himself nearby when he did and usually ended up getting flak for something, even if he had
n’
t done it.

“
Hi Collin
,”
said Thom
.“
Has Maggie seen you yet
?
”

“
Yea, just a few minutes ago
.
”

“
Good, good. W
e’
ve got a load due in any minute, well, it was due in three hours ago but i
t’
s been held up with the weather, bad traffic and that. Anyway the driver called and he should
n’
t be much longer so if you can get down on the ramp just now and clear some snow to make things easier tha
t’
d be great, oh and if the load gets here while yo
u’
re still out there scrape all the snow and ice back from around the wheels and then spread some grit round e
m’
ok, make it easier for the guy getting back out again
.
”

“
Ok
,”
said Collin not looking forwards to the task, he thought he was gonna get his lunch break first, but obviously not.

Thom called back to Collin as he trotted off down the store
.“
The jacket and gloves are in the office ok.
I’
ll try and get out to help you if I can ok, but
I’
m pretty busy
.”
Then he turned and carried on bobbing his bald head up and down as he went leaving Collin on his own.

He won’t be out to help
,
thought Collin as he made his way to the office.

The office was a tiny almost home made little cube, fashioned out of rock wall and spindly timbers butted up against the cold brick wall at the far end. It was just wide enough for the desk inside and just about as long. Collin saw the fluorescent jacket and trousers and set about putting them on. They did
n’
t fit that well, the jacket was three sizes too big for Colli
n’
s skinny frame and the trousers were too wid
e
an
d
too short.

He pulled on one of the poor fitting paper dust masks that all staff had to wear if they went outside, then he pulled on the slightly damp gloves, cringing as he pulled them on to his hands.

My hands are gonna freeze wearing these
,
he thought and then opening the door to the loading ramps he ground his teeth as the icy wind raced straight at him.

Holding on to the steel banister he went down the slippery steps wishing with every step that he had
n’
t agreed to the overtime today.

At the bottom he uncovered the sacks of grit salt nestled under the steps and grabbed the old bashed up shovel
.
This is shit
,
he thought and he looked up and watched the lightning for a few seconds, it looked amazing, criss-crossing the black sky.