Black Sun by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 18

Route 87 seemed to go on forever as the Albany skyline grew slowly closer. The day was growing late, and Abigail was still struggling to avoid the sight of death. However, Ryan knew that if they were going to get to Albany before dark, they had to step up their pace. Finally, he turned to her and gently prompted her into finding enough courage to face what now seemed to disturbed her most.

“Abby,” he began. “We have to move faster. I don’t want us being out here in the dark. I know you don’t like any of this, but we have to walk faster.”

Having been reduced to trembling and sobbing, Abigail nodded while tightening her grip on Ryan’s shirt. Now, Ryan made the difficult decision to force her away and confront her with the sight of death. Naturally, she struggled, trying to pull herself back to the safety of Ryan’s warm body, to use it once again, as a shield from the grim reality of what would repeatedly present itself. “I can’t!” she screamed. “Please, don’t make me do this!” Ryan was running out of patience and taking her by the shoulders, pushed her away and turning her towards the highway, spoke to her rather firmly.

“Abby, listen to me,” he began.

He pointed down the highway towards Albany. “That’s where we need to go, and it’s getting late. Now, there’s no way around this, and we’re going to see a lot more of it. So, you need to find some strength. Get angry if you have to, but we need to get moving, got it?”

He hated himself for speaking to her so bluntly, yet it seemed to raise a few hackles of resentment, enough to send Abigail marching down the pavement with an angry expression. She refused to speak to him for the next hour.

Soon, they saw a few shopping centers on the left and, stopping at the edge of the highway, quietly debated on stopping at one. “So, Abby,” Ryan began. “What do you think? Should we stop at one of these places?”

Remembering their previous conversation, Abigail offered her own forceful input.

“I thought you wanted to get to Albany so bad. Now you want to stop here? What the fuck do you really want to do?” Ryan understood the source of her anger. In fact, in her shoes, he would have just as angry. But like any well-conceived plan, the anticipation of change must be accounted for, and a change in plan had become necessary.

“Abby,” he said. “I’m sorry about all that back there, but I have the feeling that we’re not going to get to Albany before dark. So, I think we should stop at one of these malls for the night. And we can probably get more food and water while we’re here, okay?” Abigail's anger had greatly subsided, but her face had taken on a sad, guilty expression. Without prolonging their previous conversation, she began to realize that it was she who had slowed them down and now, they risked being exposed as night rapidly closed in on them. Ryan put his hand out and asked her to join him in his exploration of the nearest shopping mall. But suddenly, she pulled back, struck with a different idea. “You know,” she began. “There’s a bigger mall just down the road. If you want food, water, and a warm place, we’ll probably find it there.”

Her anger had been replaced by calm, rational thinking, and the place she was pointing out was the Colonie Center. It was the largest of several malls in the nearby area and would have much more to offer in the way of food and water. They could easily explore it for at least a couple of days; maybe find some camping equipment, knowing they would eventually have to leave Albany.

Leaving the side of the highway, they walked down to Wolf Road and in only a short distance arrived at the shopping center. The shadows of late afternoon were growing long as night began to creep across the frozen cityscape of Albany. And with the encroaching darkness came the cold. Ryan and Abigail knew that what they already had would not last long, and they would have to break into the mall in their continued search for food and water. However, once night arrived, they would be forced to stay, knowing that traveling in the dark was never a good idea, at least, for now.

Approaching the shopping center, Ryan and Abigail circled around until reaching the main doors – two heavy panes of tempered glass, fixed in steel frames. Ordinarily, they could not be opened after hours due to a set of magnetic locks, but whatever knocked out the power also seemed to demagnetize the locks, leaving the doors to open easily. However, with such easy access came the odd suspicion that they may not be alone, that others may be present and looking for similar means of survival. Ryan and Abigail would have to be on their guard, with keen senses and quiet steps, being sure to establish as much of a silent presence as possible.

Grabbing the door’s cold steel handle, Ryan pulled it open. Expecting its hinges to squeal loudly, he was surprised that the only sound was the soft hiss of a pneumatic piston, fixed on an arm near the top. Both were relieved that the absence of noise would render their entry anonymous and add to the illusion of a solitary visit. He stepped aside, allowing Abigail to go in first. “Ladies first,” he whispered.

With an expression of irritability, Abigail stood fast, refusing to take another step.

“That’s not funny,” she replied.

A slight grin came to his face.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was just kidding.” She crossed her arms as a scowl remained on her face, prompting Ryan into the uncomfortable feeling of regret and in an awkward moment of silence, he stepped through the doorway, holding it open behind him.

Abigail followed close behind as they walked into the darkening mall. As the power had been out for, at least, two days, a warm heaviness had grown thick in the air. But, the air was not the only thing that had become heavy. Ryan had been carrying the bag of weapons and ammunition over his shoulder for miles, and its strap had dug firmly into his skin, enough to force him to set everything on the floor.

“I need to put this stuff down for a while,” he said. Lowering the bag to the floor, he reached up and began rubbing the ache out of his shoulder. By this time, Abigail had recovered from her moment of irritation and, bringing her hands up, began messaging Ryan’s cramped shoulder. Its relaxing effect set in almost immediately as Ryan slowly turned and twisted his neck, working out the kinks and pops.

“Is that better?” Abigail whispered.

Ryan let out a long, relaxed breath as he felt the tension leave his body.

“Yeah,” he replied.

In a hurry to keep moving, Ryan lifted the green bag up, but threw the strap over the other shoulder. Eventually, that would take a beating as well, however, they did not have far to go until reaching Albany as their long walk was nearly over. But in the mall, they would have a chance to rest, eat and hydrate themselves.

The oncoming night made it difficult for them to find their way through, but after allowing their eyes to adjust, both took notice of the large signs over each store. Now, they knew where to go for what they needed, and the first place they looked for was a CVS. Having visited other locations, Ryan knew exactly where to find bottled water. Thankfully the aisles were wide enough to navigate in the dark and staying close to the side, Ryan slowly felt his way down while Abigail, again, grasped his hand, terrified of what she thought might leap out of the darkness.

After more than a few minutes, Ryan’s hand met the glassy surface of the refrigerator case, but without power, its once cool exterior had been replaced by warmth. They lined most of the back corner, and Ryan and Abigail would be forced to spend a nerve-wracking length of time exploring each case, feeling for the familiar shape of bottles containing the substance necessary to prolong their lives. But with both of them searching, their pursuit of water was soon successful, however, they soon realized that with as much as they had discovered, they had nothing to carry it in. “Shit,” Ryan said.

Abigail froze in place with the assumption of another impending crisis.

“What is it?” she asked.

“There isn’t enough room in the bag for it, and we don’t have anything else to carry it in,” he replied. Abigail let out a sigh of frustration and suggested they go to the front for shopping bags.

“Yeah,” Ryan began. “That’ll work for now. Maybe we can find a store where we can get a backpack to carry it all in.” So far, Abigail had not experienced the burden of carrying supplies and was beginning to feel a bit useless. “Maybe I should have one, too,” she said. Ryan turned to her with a surprised expression. Up to this point, he had insisted on being the one to carry the weight and didn’t want her to become fatigued. Now, he understood that Abigail needed to feel some degree of purpose, rather than see herself as cargo. “Okay,” he replied. “But I want you to take it easy, okay?” Abigail smiled slightly, knowing that he was trying to gentlemanly and was concerned for her safety.

Before emptying the case of bottled water, they cautiously made their way toward the front of the store, where the cash register stood in the corner, quiet and solitary. It didn’t take long for them to find the upright stack of plastic bags hanging at the end of the price scanner. Grabbing the entire collection, they moved quickly back to the corner and triple bagged as much water as they could carry.

“C’mon,” Ryan began. “Let’s find a place to get some backpacks.” He knew what stores would carry them and hoped that, in spite of the mall’s modest size, there would be one available. But not being fully aware of how heavy water was to carry, their search would be slow and somewhat painful, forcing them to stop several times to work the aches out of their muscles.

Finally, after lengthy exploration, they found an Eastern Mountain Sports. Ryan knew that looters would soon arrive and would make quick work of every store they encountered in order to get what they wanted, even if it was through violence. Knowing this, Ryan would have to think on his feet and be watchful of anyplace where they could hide. In a mall this size, a storeroom would be perfect, but only if they could find a door quickly enough to escape.

Pushing his fingertips between the sliding doors, Ryan found that they opened easily and walking into the darkness, they were suddenly struck by a wave of humidity. Having been closed up without power, the lack of air conditioning left the store smelling stale, but Ryan and Abigail needed to push on and managed to successfully ignore the odor of dead air. Now, they found themselves searching the walls, thinking that any large items would be hung around the edge of the store. Certainly, backpacks were large enough to be displayed in this manner, and in fact, that was where they found them. Ryan was quick to choose which size they needed and decided on the largest they could find. Abigail took this opportunity to remind Ryan that she should carry one as well, and she would not settle for anything smaller than the size Ryan had decided for himself. She was determined to be as much of an asset as possible, no matter how difficult things got. If they were to survive, both would have a lot to learn and a great deal of work ahead of them. However, backpacks were not enough and Ryan realized they would need a lot more in order to survive, regardless of where they went and here, supplies were abundant. But as the darkness crept in, so too did the cold and in anticipation of this, Ryan suggested they grab a couple of sleeping bags and take refuge in the storeroom. Abigail's only argument was that she might prefer a soft place to sleep.

“Maybe there’s a mattress store here somewhere,” she began. “There would be a storeroom there, too.” Ryan agreed that a soft place to sleep would be preferable, but felt it was more important to stay put. After all, they were already surrounded by everything they required, and it made no sense to go elsewhere, only to return later. He also wanted to keep a low profile in the event that looters arrived, and any unnecessary movement might make them easier to see.