The Road Home by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 63

After organizing the groceries, they set out again and using the map found their way to Pinehurst Plaza. They guessed that in the summer, the walk was far shorter but with the snow as deep as it was, even with the roads clear, Lewiston Avenue seemed to go in forever. Finally, the girls saw it on the right near the highway. It wasn’t nearly as big as they had imagined but they didn’t need much – winter coats, boots, gloves, hats, and batteries if they could find them. Again, the doors opened easily, and walking in they noticed the plaza’s stock had been left untouched. “It doesn’t look like anyone needed anything,” Maya said.

Aurora scanned the plaza but with a different reaction.

“Yeah,” she said. “But don’t you think it’s a little creepy? I mean, even the convenience store was fully stocked. It’s like, everyone in the town is dead. I mean, everyone.”

Maya agreed while displaying a fearful shiver. “Alright,” Maya said. “We need to get started. You know what we need, right?”

Aurora nodded, having committed the list to memory but if she saw something she could not do without, she would take that as well. After all, without the presence of authority, she believed that she wasn’t actually stealing. It was simply a means of survival.

Removing their blankets and shoes, the girls donned the new coats and boats while still in the plaza. The smell of new items, regardless of what they were was nothing short of intoxicating, and putting on their gloves and hats, packed their old clothes in large plastic bags and set out for the door. However, something shiny caught Maya’s eye, and being drawn to it decided to pack it as well along with several accessories. Aurora was none the wiser for it but would have something to say regarding its use later on.

Leaving the plaza, they turned back to look at the doors trying to think if there was anything they may have forgotten or failed to add to the list. It only took moments but when they were satisfied that they got what they went for they turned back and began the walk to the RV. Again, they looked for any footprints left in the snow. Their concern was they might be followed or there may be someone ahead waiting for them to pass – waiting to pounce. With keen eyes, they finally arrived at the campground and stepping into the RV tried to shake off the cold but the inside was only slightly warmer than the frigid air outside. Pulling in her coat, Aurora was first to complain.

“Fuck, it’s cold,” she began. “How do we warm the inside of this place? Too bad we couldn’t find a heater in that store.”

Maya was busy unpacking the bag from the plaza, looking for the item she had taken on her way out. “Consider yourself lucky,” she replied. “If it were summer, we’d be broiling in here.” Aurora stopped to consider Maya’s response, especially the word ‘summer’.

“What do you mean, ‘summer’?” she asked. Maya stopped with a look of concern and sitting down motioned for Aurora to sit next to her. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about this for a while,” she began.

Knowing how often Aurora talked about going to Colorado, she thought the following conversation might be difficult.

“What if we didn’t go to Colorado?” she asked. “Yeah, this is a small town but it’s big enough that we could probably do pretty well here. What do you think?”

As much as Aurora wanted to go to Colorado, she did see the point in staying. Their only short-term goal now was finding the town’s grocery store. They would also need to find a way of keeping perishables refrigerated but for the time being, they would dig a hole in the snow and pile up walls for a DIY refrigerator. Temporarily, it was a brilliant plan. However, summer was certain to offer a different set of challenges that would have to be planned for ahead of time.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Aurora replied. “Everything is here, including those beautiful mountains.”

Maya looked at her with a caring smile and for the first time proclaimed her love for her. “I love you, you know that?” she said. Aurora had never heard her say these words before and with her face suddenly flushing, she threw her arms around Maya as they kissed passionately. Theirs was a bond that could never be broken, not even by the eventual conclusion of time itself. But there were things they needed doing and better now than later.

Briefly sharing each other’s warmth, Maya whispered in her ear what many would refer to as anything but romantic.

“We need to find the grocery store,” she said. “And we need to go now.”

Aurora held her for a few moments more, then released her grip and picked up the map. Sitting down, she scanned it section by section. “God damn it,” she said. “Why does the print on these things have to be so fucking small?” Despite the difficulty in reading the map, Aurora soon found what she was looking for, and pointing a finger on it announced the name of the establishment.

“Barney’s Harvest Food,” she said. Maya, looking over her shoulder, tried unsuccessfully to find the store.

“I don’t see it,” she said. “Where is this place?” Having found it by the beam of a flashlight, Aurora moved it closer to the map. “Right there,” she said. “See it?”

Looking closely, Maya finally saw the small group of three words printed next to a single building.

“Oh, yeah,” she said. “Right there?” Studying the surrounding area, Maya noticed something familiar.

“Hey,” she began. “Did you see this? That store is right at the intersection of Lewiston Ave. We walked down there to go to the plaza, remember? Shit, this place will be easy to find.” Initially, Aurora seemed lost with the print of the map being so small then, it occurred to them, they had walked past it on their way to the plaza. Her eyes opened as she leaned away from the map in surprise.

“You mean to tell me we walked right past this fucking place?” she said. “God damn it!” Alexander Pope once wrote: ‘To err is human. To forgive is divine’. Overlooking this small detail sent Aurora into a brief fit of anger and seemed to take personal responsibility for her mistake – one that, in her mind, cost them a chance to obtain food. Maya, however, was not nearly so overreactive and tried to console over what was nothing more than a simple mistake. “Aurora,” she said. “Listen, anyone could have missed that. Hell, I didn’t even see it. Give yourself a break. You can’t always do everything perfectly.”

“You don’t understand,” she replied. “Before all this happened, I was studying Artificial Intelligence. I wrote tons of code and if any of it was off, and I couldn’t fix it, the whole project was scraped. It had to be perfect. Don’t you get it?”

Maya had never seen this side of her before, but it was clear that Aurora was a perfectionist – perhaps more so than she should be. Knowing this trait can sometimes be self-destructive, Maya would have to be vigilant, pulling her back to the errors inherent in the real world, but gently. Given her emotional reaction, she felt Aurora would eventually have to learn to forgive herself for her own mistakes.

“Aurora,” she said. “You know, I do understand. I’ve lost mock trials where I thought I had an airtight case, and I was pissed. So, I hear you, but the world isn’t perfect. Let it go. Now, we need to go to this grocery store. Are you going to be okay? Because I need you to be focused.” Aurora nodded as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Okay,” she replied. “I’m good.”

With these last words, they set back out to the grocery store. It wasn’t the walk that would consume their time, but how long they would be in the store.

Trudging through the snow of the campground once more, they got to the road and began another walk through Pinehurst. The cold was not so biting this time, as it was unable to penetrate the layers of insulation provided by the heavy coats the girls had recently acquired. Fighting the cold that remained against their bodies, they walked quickly and soon faced the double doors of Pinehurst’s only grocery store. This time there was a problem. The places they had previously pillaged were not sealed with magnetic locks and were easy to enter. However, the double doors they stood in front of were not only on sliding trading tracks but magnetically locked. Approaching closer, Maya took her gloves off, and trying to pry her fingers between the doors, was discouraged at not being able to do so. This would require a more forceful means of attack, but this time, given the anger Maya believed Aurora was still experiencing, she left it to her to gain entrance by whatever means she chose. “Really?” Aurora asked. “Because I really want to fucking break something right about now.” Maya offered to help look for a suitable object, but digging through the snow, Aurora was first to find a rock she thought heavy enough to do what she now felt most passionate about. It was, however, frozen to the ground, but with a few firm kicks, Aurora managed to knock it loose.

Sliding her hand back into her glove, Aurora stepped back in front of the store’s double doors and, getting a feel for the right grip, prepared herself for the necessary act of destruction.

With her right hand, Aurora brought the rock back to her ear while aiming an extended left arm at the double doors. Twisting her shoulders back, she took on the appearance of a baseball pitcher and executing a single swing launched the rock shattering the plate glass of the bottom mounted in the right-hand door. Maya had seen her do this once before back in Cle Elum, but this time she was especially impressed by her form as well as the power she put behind her throw. “Fuck, yeah!” she said.

Deeply bending at the knees, Aurora drew a fist and repeatedly pulled it back to her waist. “Yes, yes, yes,” she exclaimed. “I fucking love it smashing shit. What else can I fuck up?” Maya, seeing this odd behavior coming from someone she had always known as a quiet, thoughtful individual, broke out laughing. “What?” Aurora asked. “Don’t I get to have a good time once in a while? God damn, I never realized how good it felt to just fuck something up – just for the hell of it.”

Maya continued as her laughter fell into exhausted giggling.

“Alright,” she said. “You had your fun. We’ve got things to do now, so let’s go.”

Taking a deep breath, Aurora exhaled the stress she had imposed on herself and, ducking her head, entered the grocery through the gaping hole she had so joyfully created. Maya, having calmed significantly, was next. Both had entered without so much as a scrape.