Anyone? (10 page)

Abandoned structures and the emptiness of my surroundings
fell away, replaced only by the thumping of my heart, the sound of Cole’s
breathing, and the rickety whirl of the wheels as they turned. I should have
been terrified, but somehow the act of closing my eyes had the reverse effect,
though I never released my grip on the cart.

I wasn’t that dumb.

I had no idea where we were headed or what dangers lay
before us, but for a brief moment, it didn’t matter. For two
very
long
months, my life had consisted of wondering, worrying, and crying lots and lots
of tears.

Now, with my eyes closed I could imagine people strolling
along the sidewalk, crossing at the corner to visit the post office or to sit
outside the ice cream parlor, enjoying a root beer freeze or crème soda. Cars
obeyed the traffic lights, joggers enjoyed a mid-morning run, and kids played
in the schoolyard—shooting hoops, playing foursquare or swinging from the
monkey bars. Birds sang from tree branches overhead, a dog barked in the
distance, a car horn honked, the school bell rang... with my eyes closed,
nothing seemed wrong. I wasn’t alone. Everything was normal.

And my family wasn’t missing.

I didn’t notice the slowing of the cart until it almost came
to a complete standstill; I had been
weirdly
consumed by the moment. Cole
stepped in front of me, his shadow falling over me, blocking the sun. I opened
my eyes and the reality of my situation came into view—all too clearly. Closing
my eyes, however briefly, wouldn’t change anything.

Cole smiled and leaned against the cart, his face only a few
inches from mine. “You enjoyed it, didn’t you?”

Admitting my experience would give him power I wasn’t sure I
wanted him to have, but the smile on my face made denial impossible.

“Okay, no more dilly-dallying. It’s time to get real now.”
He waved a hand over his face, his happy-go-lucky expression changing to a
sterner one. His effort to be more serious caused me to grin in spite of myself,
and I wondered how long he could keep that up.

“We need water and supplies. Also, as much toilet paper and
gum as we can handle.” Cole pushed the empty cart to me. “Never underestimate
the need for toilet paper and gum. Both, very handy. So pack up fast, kid. We
need to hit the road, put our feet to the pavement, and soldier on.” He gave me
a salute, refusing to lower his arm or change his soldier-stance until I
mimicked a salute—though I executed mine with exaggerated flare and I’d bent
all my fingers except one.

Yep. His seriousness hadn’t lasted long.

I grabbed the cart and steered it away from him. He might be
aggravating and totally immature, but he was right; we did need to hurry.
Arguing or pointing out the fact that
he
had wasted most of our morning
wouldn’t change anything, so I kept my mouth shut and my opinion to myself.

I packed everything I could—toilet paper and gum too—using my
Tetris-like skills to jam the cart as tightly and efficiently as possible.
Heavier items on the bottom, lighter things on top. Amazing how much could fit
in such a small space.

If Callie had any inkling Cole and I had left her earlier,
she either didn’t care or had adjusted quickly. Like Cole had said, he’d set
her up really nicely. A whole aisle was devoted to her with its array of pet
toys. Not sure why he thought a rawhide bone would be appropriate, but he’d
given her one. She had several dog beds to choose from, a litter box she’d
taken full advantage of, and a bowl of wet cat food as well as a bowl of dry.
In fact, he’d put together several leashes, giving her more area to roam, and
she’d made her way to a middle shelf, pushed over items to make room for her
fluffy body, and now slept peacefully on some dishtowels.

I hated to wake her and take her away from her kitty
paradise, but it had to be done. Rite-Aid wasn’t my stopping point even if Callie
had made it hers.

I added her things to the cart, tied her leash to the handle,
and then perched her on top. She protested by swiping a claw in my direction,
but I jumped out of her way before she was able to land a nasty blow on my arm.

She soon settled down as she realized that attacking me
meant she’d have to let go of her grip on my duffle bag. She held on for dear
life, as I had done earlier with Cole.

“You ready to blow this Popsicle stand?”

“Yeah, I think so. How about you?” I spun around to see Cole
had packed his cart in the most impressive way. It would have put mine to shame
had he actually filled it with essentials like water and food, but his selections
included things I couldn’t fathom ever needing—not in a time like this anyhow.
What was he planning on doing with a George Forman grill or a waffle iron? The
guy was nuts. Again, I kept my mouth shut. I needed to charge my phone and
starting an argument with him would only delay us further.

“Totally good to go.” He pointed a finger at me and cocked
it like a gun.
Why do people do that?
Having someone cock an imaginary
gun in your direction, even with a wink, was still a bit disturbing.
You
pretended to shoot me. How is that funny?

“What do you think we should do first?” I ignored the fact he
had fake murdered me.

He shrugged and smiled. “Since we’re trying to find your
dad, I think that puts you in charge. I’m only along for the ride, after all.”

O-kay.
“Well, then I think the first thing we should
do is charge my phone. Once I know where my dad is, we can head that way.” I
dug into my duffle bag and held up the keys to the car back at the apartment
building. “There’s a car several miles back—”

He held up his hand. “Too far.”

“But I have keys. Most of the cars around—”

“Really? I know I haven’t checked every car in the area,
have you?”

I released my breath. “No, but—”

“I’d think you’d want to take a moment and look around, just
in case, but”—he held up both hands and bowed a little at the waist— “this is
your mission after all. Do what you think is best.”

“Fine!” I shoved the keys back in my bag. They would be plan
B if all else failed. “I don’t want to waste all day looking, so we’ll look for
half an hour and that’s it.”

He nodded. “But are you sure?”

“Damn it, Cole! I’m not sure about anything! All right?”
Argh!
He was so frustrating. “You tell me to be in charge and then you question
everything I do!”

“That’s because leaders should be challenged every now and
again. That’s how
great
leaders are born.”

“Well, knock it off!”

“Aye, aye, captain.”

I groaned under my breath, grabbed my cart, and pushed past
him. And we’d only just begun.
Fantastic.

The broken glass made it difficult to maneuver my heavy load
out the door, but I shoved and forced the wheels over the shards, twisting and
turning the cart, until I made it outside. The day before had been bright and sunny—a
perfect spring day—but now the overcast sky looked as though rain could start
falling at any given point. The last thing we needed.

Cole stopped his cart next to mine. “Do you know how to
hotwire a car?” He glanced at me as he slipped on a pair of sunglasses, the UV
tag still stuck to one of the upper lenses.

I shook my head. “Don’t you? You have that cool tool bag of
yours. Couldn’t you use it to get a car started?”

“Just because I know how to pick a lock doesn’t mean I’m
mechanically inclined. I’m the son of a locksmith, not a criminal. I was kind
of hoping you might be though.”

“Excuse me?”

“Hmmm.” He ignored me and looked up one
side of the street and down the other. “I guess it’s time for us to do a little
Easter egg hunting. You take that side of the road and I’ll hunt over here? If
it pleases your majesty, of course.”

I rolled my eyes but nodded.
Why not?

“And to make it fun, because face it, this is kind of
boring, how about the first one to find an open car with a set of keys is the
winner and doesn’t have to cook dinner or do dishes tonight?”

Everything was always a game with him. He had to be the most
immature adult I had ever met. “Fine.”

He lowered his glasses to the tip of his nose. “May the odds
be ever in your favor.”

His impression, though spot on, ruined my favorite book, but
it did cause me to grin—just a little. I quickly removed the smile from my face.
It would only encourage his insane behavior.

I gave him a head start as I parked Callie and the cart in
the shade and gave her a quick pat. “Stay here,” I said, though she didn’t
appear to care one way or the other. Cats, so cute and yet, so indifferent.

I cast a quick glance at Cole—he had his back to me, looking
inside the open window of a truck left in the middle of the road. He was an
awful lot like a cat.

Okay, that was weird.

Cars had been left everywhere—some in parking lots, others on
the road, and others at the street light as if people had been there one minute
and vanished the next. But why weren’t there any keys? That part baffled me. Had
people left their cars in the middle of the street, but taken their keys with
them? As I peered inside vehicle after vehicle, I realized that, strange as it
seemed, that’s what people had done.

Perhaps they thought all of this was temporary and they’d be
coming back soon.

I sighed. Being one of only two people left in the world,
made the whole situation rather frustrating. I promised if the situation was
ever reversed,
and
if I ever owned a car, I’d leave my keys behind in
case someone needed them. I wouldn’t be a selfish prick.

A car horn blared in the distance, and Cole waved at me.
With one hand on the horn—so irritating—he used the other to cup his mouth. “Bingo!”

A smile spread across my face. I didn’t care if I had to
make dinner and clean up afterwards—Cole had found a suitable car, and now I
could hear the rest of Dad’s message and find out where he’d gone.

I could hear his voice. I could hear
all
their voices
again.

The idea of listening to Dad, my friends, my grandmother,
and yes, even my brother, created an emotional bubble in my throat. I swallowed
it and ran toward Cole. I actually ran— something I never did unless there was
some sort of edible reward at the end. But this was different.

I needed this.

“Does it work? Really?” I approached the old-looking station
wagon with cautious optimism, though I had already let my emotions get ahead of
me. If it didn’t run or if Cole was only messing with me, I’d be devastated.
Really
devastated.

He didn’t answer me, but reached inside and turned the key.
The station wagon sputtered and kicked out a grey puff of smoke, probably from
months of disuse, but eventually it roared to life.

I threw my arms around Cole in a moment of sheer excitement.
“It works! It really works!” The hug lasted only a couple of seconds before I
came to my senses and pushed past him to look at the gas gauge. A quarter of a
tank. That would do.

“Turn it off, turn it off,” I demanded. “We can’t waste the
gas.” But as he reached in to turn the key, I slapped his hand. “Never mind.
Don’t. It might not start again. Leave it. Just leave it.”

He backed away. “Wow, you’re a whirlwind of craziness aren’t
you?”

“I’m excited, and yeah, maybe it does make me a little
crazy, but this is huge!” I squeezed his arm. The crazy man had called
me
crazy, but who cared? “It’s the difference between knowing what I’m supposed to
do and not knowing anything and being alone forever.”

“Alone, huh?” He motioned to himself and widened his eyes.
“Hello?”

“You know what I mean.” I glanced at my cart a block down
the road. “I’ll go grab my stuff while you wait here. Then you can go grab your
things. “

“How about you stay put, and
I’ll
go grab both our
carts. It’ll be quicker.” He started off, then turned to me. “Not that I’m
trying to step on your leadership toes, or anything.”

I waved him on.

I got the feeling no one could lead Cole.

Cole sat in the driver’s side and I sat in the passenger’s
seat. Callie roamed the interior of the car, climbing on the backs of the seats
and hopping up on her back feet to peer out a side window.

“So far so good.” He glanced at the battery icon on my
phone. “It’s at eighteen percent. You want to give it a listen now?”

I shook my head. I really wanted to listen, but I also
wanted the battery to be fully charged; I had plans to listen to the messages
over and over and over...

“So you heard the message from your dad the other day,
right?”

Why was he giving me that strange look?

“Yeah, three days ago.” Had it really been three days?
Somehow, it felt so much longer.

Cole reached across me and opened the glove compartment. “Good.
It means we’re not too far behind him.” He seemed too nonchalant. As if he was
purposely tiptoeing around something. He removed several tape cassettes and
held them up, smiling. “You don’t even know what these are, do you?”

I didn’t answer, though I knew exactly what they were. My
mind whirled.
“We’re not too far behind them.”
But the message was only
days old, not months.

I slumped in my seat and turned my face to the window as
this realization settled over me like a suffocating plastic bag. Dad could be
anywhere by now. He hadn’t come for me in all this time, so why would he still
be there now?

“You okay?”

“No.” I bit my lower lip. “I heard my dad’s message three
days ago, but it’s older than that.”

He breathed out, like he was glad I’d figured out the bad
news for myself. “Okay, so how old?”