Fury Rising (13 page)

They made it as far as Coquitlam before the children became too restless to continue. The van quickly became a podium where everyone began complaining at once.

“I want juice.”

“Candy!”

“Yes, candy. And bananas. I want bananas.”

Michael wasn’t used to kids. He’d never spent that much time with them before. His only sister was only a year younger than him and he’d never babysat or anything that involved being around toddlers. Clementine had Heath, but he’d been older. Every time he glanced over in her direction, he could swear her mouth grew smaller as she chewed on her bottom lip. She may be better with the little ones than him, but even her patience was beginning to grow thin.

The louder the back area became, the twitchier Michael grew.

“We need to stop,” Janey said for the fifth time. “Andrew needs to go to the bathroom and the water is gone.”

“Baffroom.” Andrew agreed.

“You promised us food. And juice.”

“I want bananas!”

But that was easier said than done. They’d gotten off the highway and were heading down one of the main roads now, but most of the shops weren’t of the food variety. Michael didn’t know Coquitlam at all. He’d only been here once or twice while out scavenging. Most of the suburb had been looted a long time ago. The only things remaining in the shops weren’t items that would fill their stomachs.

“Isn’t there a mall close by?” Clementine suddenly said. “Up ahead. That big one. We didn’t go in, remember? Aries thought it was too open. Too vulnerable.”

Her exact words had been along the lines of who knew what might be lurking in all those stores. Places that large had too many hiding spots. They’d come across Baggers hiding in department stores before. They liked lurking there and waiting until desperate people wandered along. What was the name of it? Michael tried to remember. Aries had told him, but Michael was bad with names.

“Looheed,” Janey said. “Yes. Let’s stop there.”

Lougheed Mall. That was it.

“Candy store.” One of the smaller girls apparently was quite familiar with the place. “And toys. I want to see the toys.” She jumped up and nearly slammed into the wall before Janey yelled at her to sit back down.

“It might not be safe,” Michael said.

“I don’t care at this particular moment.” Clementine rubbed her temples. “Let’s just go. Otherwise I make no promises about what I might do. I think I need Tylenol. Or something stronger. Remind me to never have kids.”

Michael grinned. They pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later. Aside from several abandoned vehicles, the area was eerily empty. Not a Bagger in sight. Michael drove right up to a set of glass doors. They’d been smashed in a long time ago. From his position, he could see right into the mall. A long empty corridor of darkened stores waited for them. If they wanted to find food, they’d have to venture in by foot.

“I can go alone,” Michael offered.

“No,” Clementine said. “I think we should stick together. We don’t know the area.” She turned to Janey. “Can you help keep them quiet. Will they listen to you? It’s important that we don’t make noise. We don’t want anyone knowing we’re here. There could be Baggers inside.”

“They’ll listen,” Janey promised.

Michael stretched after he climbed out of the van. Clementine went around to the back let the little ones out. They climbed out solemnly except for Andrew, who jumped up and down from one leg to the other. Grabbing their baseball bats and flashlights, she handed one of each over to Michael. They needed to be prepared.

“Come on, kiddo,” Michael said. “Let’s go take a walk over by those bushes. They look like they need watering.”

Once the pee break was over, they headed into the mall. Without electricity, the place took on a sinister tone. The once cheery area was littered with items stolen from the shops. Most of the store gates had already been opened. Clothing racks had been turned over, random items thrown through glass displays. Open wrappers, condiment packages and napkins littered the floor and it looked like someone had attempted to set fire to the Tim Hortons. All the tables had been piled up in a corner and the chairs tossed behind the counters. As they approached the Wal-Mart, the smell of rotted food became overpowering. Michael was used to the odor. They came across it often. Without electricity, half the food immediately turned bad within weeks of the earthquakes. All that processed food, once a simple meal, now useless and inedible. Michael used to do that all the time. Pop pizza in the oven or frozen chicken wings tossed into the microwave. He used to live off that stuff. Bagel bites. Fried jalapeño cheese sticks. Eggo waffles. Food of the gods. These days it was mostly canned food, although things had improved since they’d started growing the garden. He hadn’t realized how deprived he’d been of simple things like carrots or cucumbers until Joy made a gigantic salad a few weeks ago.

Who would have thought that it would take the end of the world to get Michael eating healthier?

Thankfully Wal-Mart wasn’t that far from the front doors. They stood in front of the checkout section while Janey explained to the kids that they needed to go in. None of them wanted to. Michael couldn’t blame them. Someone had driven a car right through the customer service counter. From beyond that, they could see dozens of darkened rows that had been savagely ransacked.

“Come on,” Clementine finally said, her voice unnaturally cheerful and awkward. “The sooner we go, the sooner we get out.”

“Agreed.” Michael said and he took the first step, shining his flashlight towards the shattered display of olive oil. He didn’t look back, but the shuffle of feet suggested that the children were sticking close.

Fruit and vegetables rotted away in bins, covered in green fuzzy mold that appeared to be taking over the store. Flies buzzed about lazily. Michael slipped on the bloated carcass of what might have once been an orange. He heard a noise to his left and when he directed his flashlight towards it, a large rat scattered. Trying not to visibly shudder, he turned and quickly moved away from the destroyed produce. More scratching sounds followed him. Looking up, he discovered that several birds had apparently made homes in the rafters above them. The wildlife was taking back the land.

He kept his baseball bat ready. In the next section over, they found juice boxes that hadn’t been claimed by looters. Janey poked straws through the containers and handed them out to the kids. Preoccupied with their drinks, they seemed to instantly settle down. Clementine picked up an overturned cart and began to fill it with whatever she could find.

“We’re lucky,” she whispered. “There’s still stuff here. I’m not surprised. I wouldn’t have ventured in here if we didn’t have to. I’ll bet most people would stay away. They’d stick to places that have easier escape routes.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Michael said. “We’re way too exposed here. I don’t like it. And if we have to get out, it’s going to take a long time to reach the van.”

“Then let’s get what we need and get out. But don’t be stingy either. There’s a lot of stuff we can use. We’ve got lots of time. Aries isn’t expecting us back for hours. I hope Raj is having good luck too. It would be great to have a big celebration tonight. A welcome home party.”

They moved over to the junk food aisle and grabbed a bunch of chips and chocolate. They took more than they needed, mostly because Michael hoped they’d be able to take it back to camp. They had the van. If they could load it up, they could drive it almost all the way back to the others.

“Barbecue chips. Joy’s been begging for these.” Clementine tossed several in the cart. “It’s going to be just like Christmas.”

“Remember to leave room for the kids,” Michael said. “I’d hate to have to choose between them and the Doritos.”

It didn’t take long to fill the shopping cart. They’d come across a bonanza in the canned food department. Lots of soup and beef ravioli for the little ones. They grabbed a second cart and began to fill it with spaghetti and large bottles of tomato sauce. This was the most food they’d found in months. Michael began to wonder if the rest of the mall was still filled with useful items. He tried to remember what other stores had been displayed on the signs outside. They could use some camping goods too. Batteries. Cooking utensils. No matter how many things they managed to scavenge, there was always a demand for more. Especially since the group had grown. How much easier it had been when their numbers were under a dozen. He glanced down at the kids. They’d need more clothing than the adults. Wasn’t it true that they practically outgrew everything in very short time periods?

Michael was studying the canned fruits when Janey reached up and tugged on his arm.

“Andrew needs to go to the bathroom again,” she said.

“Again?”

“He drank two juice boxes.” Her voice was less demanding and bossy now. Almost apologetic. Now that Michael had proven to her that he was good on his word, she must have made the decision to fully trust him.

“Okay, fine,” Michael looked down the aisle. There had to be a bathroom here someplace. He could always just lead the boy over to the once frozen meat display and let him go to town. It’s not like the smell could get any worse.

“I’ll be right back,” he said to her. This time Andrew reached out and gripped Michael’s hand tightly. Andrew’s fingers were sticky with grape juice and slightly clammy. Hand sanitizer. Now that was something he’d have to remind Clementine to grab on the way out.

They ended up in the deli section when Michael simply led the kid behind the glass display.

“Here?” Andrew looked skeptical.

“You really want to go in the back room?” Michael pointed at the doors where the blackness almost appeared to seep out through the small square windows. When he’d seen the bathroom sign, he’d known there was no way they’d be going there. It creeped Michael out. Imagine how the three-year-old would deal?

Just as Andrew finished up his business, Michael heard the noise.

At first he thought he imagined it. The building wasn’t exactly quiet, not with the rats and birds infesting the rafters. But this was something different. It came from further away. The distinct scrape of metal against metal. Definitely not the sort of thing he’d expect to hear from an animal.

              If Andrew heard it, the little boy didn’t let on. No, he was too busy trying to wipe his hands with a pile of discarded plastic wrap.

              Where were Clementine and the others? Michael held his breath until he heard the squeak of the shopping cart to his right. Knowing she was safe didn’t help. The hair on his arms began to rise and his stomach began to flip flop. That strange sensation that something bad was about to happen. It made him remember the time back in the house many months ago. Evans. Billy. The mother with the sick boy. All those people he’d sworn to protect. Even now, he could still remember the look of betrayal on Evans face when Michael ran off to save himself.

              He’d let them die. He’d ran like a coward and left them all behind. It didn’t matter how many times Michael reminded himself that he couldn’t have done anything to help. They’d been outnumbered and tricked. Hell, he would have died too if he’d stayed.

              But that sinking feeling in his stomach had returned. The exact same sensation he’d gotten that one night, just before he fully understood the danger. The trap Michael had willingly walked his group into.

Metal scraping against metal. There it was again. Further away. Echoing through the store. He could feel a soft vibration forming at the bottom of his feet. Something was coming and it was big. Grabbing Andrew’s hand, Michael tugged him, yanking the poor boy nearly off his feet. They weren’t in the junk food aisle. Where were they? Michael couldn’t move fast enough with Andrew lagging behind him. He reached down and scooped the kid into his arms, trying to keep his face as calm. Although he still didn’t know why, the last thing he needed was the kid bursting into tears. Michael found them two rows over. They’d filled up the last of the second cart. Clementine smiled at him. She obviously hadn’t heard the noise or felt the vibrations. She didn’t look alarmed at all until she saw Michael’s face. The expression on her face froze.

“Come on,” he said, amazed at how normal his voice sounded. Good. He needed to keep them all calm. Relaxed. “Time to go. Right now.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” Clementine tried to clutch the shopping cart, but Michael grabbed her hand.

“Leave it.”

Thankfully she didn’t question him. She didn’t argue. Instead, she abandoned the cart and helped Janey round up the others. Michael noticed that Janey had her knife out again. The girl wasn’t taking any chances.

They moved carefully towards the checkout stands with Michael leading the way. Clementine brought up the rear to make sure no one strayed off. The children were wary, but not overly concerned. How lucky to be so young and completely trusting. How could they do it? A few hours ago they’d been too terrified to come out of the SUV. Now they were following Michael with a blind faith he was positive he didn’t deserve.

But the calm organized walk quickly changed the moment they reached the end of the aisle and the screaming began. From outside the store, glass shattered. Footsteps echoed down the hallways.

It took Michael a moment to put together all the sounds and fully understand what they were dealing with. A large group of people was heading their way. Just how many he couldn’t tell. But from the amount of noise they were making, it appeared to be almost an army.

“Boogeymen,” Casey whispered.

And that’s when Andrew began to cry.

Aries

              She sat with the Bagger in the basement for the better part of the afternoon. Eventually Olive stopped responding to any of Aries’ questions, so they waited in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Aries thought a lot about Eve and from the pained look in Olive’s eyes, it was obvious the woman was thinking about her dead daughter.

A world of the dead. Even the Baggers couldn’t escape all the pain they’d caused. At least not when she was around. Unfortunately, Aries couldn’t blame her guilt on anything except herself.