Piece By Piece ~ Snippet 3

Elise

We push through the rotating doors to enter the building, thankfully unlocked. We gather in the foyer, taking in our surroundings for a moment. The store extends to both sides, and vertically as well by non operational escalators. Windows let some light filter in, but the store doesn't seem to have power itself. Even so, it looks like it should be chock full of supplies. 

"Oh my gosh, it's so clean in here!" Lana notes excitedly. 

"Untouched," Danger mumbles thoughtfully. 

"I wonder why," I muse. The dilapidation outside and the apparent explosion make me think of a post-apocalyptic scenario, but if so, why are we the first to loot the store? 

"Alright, new stuff!" Viren just seems to be excited in general. 

Thankfully, Danger gives our group direction. "We should head to whatever camping section there is first. We should be able to find flashlights and other essentials there." Whatever we do or don't remember about our pasts, Danger's clearly left him better equipped to handle crises than the rest of us. 

We follow his lead down the unmoving elevator to the bottom floor of the store. Signs guide us to the camping section. "This place is huge." Aiden remarks once we're surrounded by products normally reserved for camping. At the moment, it's our best resource. 

Viren starts to grab things immediately, and seemingly at random, from the nearest shelf. 

"Hey," Danger grabs ahold of them by their collar. "Think first, take second. We need to carry this stuff with us, remember." Pouting, Viren sets down their recently acquired loot. 

Lana pulls out her notebook and pencil. "We should make a list of what we need, so that we don't end up forgetting anything." We all agree, and come up with a list to cover the essentials without overloading ourselves. 

"Should we split up?" I ask. "We can cover more ground that way."

"We should stay in pairs at least." Aiden suggests. "We may not have found anyone besides us yet, but I think if we do, we shouldn't be alone." 

Savannah loops her arm around Danger's. "Well I pick you as my partner!"

He sighs. "Why, Savannah?" 

She points a finger at him. "You tried to run off on us once. I'm your partner so that I can keep an eye on you."

He rolls his eyes. "I'm not going anywhere. It's clear you guys need me." 

"Great!" she says. "I'm not going anywhere either. See, we make perfect partners." Danger shakes his head. 

Lana pinches the sleeve of my hoodie between two tiny fingers. "Elise, will you be my partner?" 

"Sure." I nod my assent. 

"I guess that leaves us." Viren leans on Aidan, sighing dramatically. "The two youngest, misfits, left to fend for ourselves." 

"Here, misfit." Danger rips off a piece of the list, to Lana's dismay, and shoves it in Viren's face. 

Savannah snags the list and tears off a portion before passing the remaining third to me. I relinquish our list to Lana, who clearly wants it. "Alright. Happy hunting, everyone!" Savannah tells us before splitting off with Danger begrudgingly in tow. 

As we go off in search of our own items I let Lana lead. She seems to enjoy the order of the store and navigating by way of the signs. Lana tracks down each of the items we need while I light our way with one of the flashlights we each picked up from the entrance to this section. Lana manages to find a cart that we use to carry our newly acquired goods with us. 

"Hey, Elise," Lana starts, so I turn to look at her. There's enough residual light from the flashlight for me to see her face without needing to direct it at her. "Do you think this is like stealing?" 

I shrug. "I'm not sure." I take a look around. "I mean, who would be stealing from? There's no one here." 

Lana bites her lip. "You're right. At least that means we should end up with ample supplies." She crosses another item off our list as she loads handheld radios and batteries into our cart. There were only six on the shelf. That's enough for each of us to have one, but it would be helpful to have a spare. 

"Only one thing left on the list," I note, peering over her shoulder. 

"I know." Lana taps the pencil against her lip thoughtfully. "That's the only thing I haven't been able to locate yet 'water purification.' I'm wondering if maybe there's a section in here geared more towards extreme survival." 

"Hmm. You might be right about that." I nod slowly. "If there is, maybe Danger's already found it. He seems to have a particular inclination for this sort of thing." 

Lana nods. "You're right. We should meet back up with the others." 

We start to head back towards the center of the camping section. "Even if they haven't seen anything yet, we could hand out the radios so that we can communicate a little better."

"Yeah," Lana exhales. "We didn't exactly set up a meeting point so we're just hoping to happen upon them." 

Suddenly we hear an excited yell. "Well, I don't know anyone else here who would be causing that ruckus."  I exhale. 

Lana shakes her head. "Even if this whole store was full of people, I don't think anyone could sound like Viren anyway." We move in the direction of the sound, with the knowledge that we'll find at least two of our companions there. 

When we trace the cacophony to its owner, we realize very quickly that we've shifted into the hunting section. Danger holds a box high in the air, aided by his height, and Viren stands below reaching up  and jumping in vain. "Danger, come on; I found them!"

"Not a chance, kid," Danger replies, not budging an inch. "Look at how you're acting right now. You really expect me to trust you with a gun?" 

"It's the apocalypse, everyone should have a gun," Viren argues, hands on hips. "We don't have any idea what we could run into." 

"Apocalypse or not, you're not mature enough for a gun," Danger tells them. "Having a gun in the wrong hands can be more dangerous than not having a gun at all. Besides, there aren't enough guns for everyone, in any case."

"How should we decide who gets one then?" Savannah asks. "There are only three, right?"

Danger nods, seeming to mull it over. "I suppose the easiest way would be age."

"That's not fair," Viren complains. "You're the oldest." 

Danger shrugs, and sets the box on the counter. "Does anyone have a problem with me having a gun?" Everyone shakes their heads aside from Viren. "Okay." Danger takes one of the guns and tucks it into the waistband of his jeans behind his back. "So then, the next of us by age would be Savannah. Does anybody have a problem with Savannah having a gun?" I consider her fiery personality for a moment, but I'm convinced she would never harm one of her own, temper or no. Again, everyone shakes their heads. 

Viren chimes in with arms crossed, "I have less problem with her having a gun than you." Their eyes are narrowed at Danger. Danger sticks his tongue out in reply. "Oh, that's so mature," Viren mutters.

Danger hands Savannah a gun with a holster that clips around her waist. She puts it on and the gun settles on her hip. "Lana, you're the next oldest," Savannah says. 

"Oh no." Lana takes a step back with a hand raised. "I don't want a gun. I don't think I could handle one." She clasps her hands behind her back and looks down. 

Savannah shrugs. "Elise?" 

"Me?" My eyes widen as I realize I'm suddenly the next in line. I quickly tuck my hands into the pocket of my hoodie. "No. No, I don't think I'm suited for guns." I bite the inside of my cheek.

"You guys are both backing out?" Viren asks. "Aiden, you should back out too." 

Danger's eyes widen and quickly he holds out the remaining gun to the nearby Aiden. "Here, take this." 

"Oh, Okay." Aiden accepts the offered weapon, seeming a bit confused about he ended up with it. Viren pouts watching Aiden fasten his holster onto his leg. "There are a couple of other serious weapons," Aiden adds. He pulls out two machetes and two bows with arrows. 

Viren's eyes light up and they quickly snag the closest machete. "Don't tell me I can't have this one either, Danger." 

Danger raises his hands. "I won't argue. Girls, what do you want?" His gaze shifts to Lana and I. Lana looks like she might protest, so Danger cuts her off. "Everyone should have a weapon, aside from the knives we've picked up." 

Lana swallows. "Well, the machete seems a little brutish for me, so I'll have to take a bow." She steps forward to select the smaller of the two bows. I don't try to debate, and simply take the larger bow. 

"Haha! The machete is mine!" Savannah takes a long step to grab the remaining machete before Danger's outstretched hand can reach it. "And don't complain," she points the sheathed blade at Danger's chest. "You already have that humongous knife behind your back." 

"Maybe we shouldn't have trusted you with the weapons after all," Danger mumbles.

"Well, try to take them from me now." Savannah smirks in challenge. 

Danger shakes his head. "Do we have everything?" 

"We didn't find anything to purify water," Lana admits. 

"That's alright, I did," Danger replies. "Anything else?" When it's clear that everyone else found their items, Danger decides the next direction for our group. "Let's head upstairs. We need some different clothes." 

We haul our loot upstairs for Danger to sort through and organize with Lana's help. In the immaculately kept clothing section, we spread out. Danger stays with our newly acquired supplies to start going through them. Viren and Aiden each split off on their own, and I attempt to do the same. 

"Where are you going?" Savannah loops an arm through mine. 

"Uh, to get some clothes," I respond simply. 

"Why don't we go together?" Lana asks from my other side. "That will be more fun." 

A longer time than it would have taken me alone, we emerge from the women's clothing section with far too many clothes. "Go on, try them on." Savannah and Lana wait expectantly outside the fitting rooms. 

"Hey," Danger draws our attention from a spot nearby on a bench. "Keep in mind that we all need to end up with practical attire, ladies." His eyes hone in on Lana. "And I mean my version of practical."

I take the distraction to disappear into the fitting room. I rifle through the bundle of clothes in my arms to find the clothing I dislike the least. I end up with a pair of jeans and a  t-shirt. I turn from the reflection in the mirror watching me undress. I change into the new clothes as quickly as I can. The jeans feel to tight as I fight to pull them up over my thighs, and the shirt sticks to me, even when I try to pull it loose. "Hey guys, I told you these clothes would be too tight." 

"No way," Lana replies. "I'm positive I got the right size." 

"Come out and show us. We'll be your extra eyes," Savannah tries to reassure me. 

"Okay..." I take a deep breath before unlocking the door and stepping out. 

"Oh my gosh, you're beautiful," Lana gushes. "I wish I had curves like that." 

"So do I," Savannah murmurs. "You look amazing, Elise. Those clothes are perfect for you." If you don't trust us, see for yourself." She points to a mirror. My eyes follow the path laid out by her finger, but they find something else in that path. Danger and Aiden are both staring wide eyed. I quickly cross my arms over my chest, trying to cover as much of me as possible. They look away and Aiden's cheeks color. 

Although, we all stare wide eyed at the next transformation when Viren steps out of the adjacent fitting room, wearing a huge fluffy pink dress. "Well guys, what do you think?"

- Hello everyone, and thank you for reading about this week's antics with our adventurous group. Tune in next week for the next snippet of Piece By Piece.