The Sands of Borrowed Time (26 page)

“So weird, do you need to wear hazard gear and respirator masks to dispose of dead bodies?” Hayley asked.

“It’s the odour,” Demelza said, “the smell of decomposing bodies; remember, coming into the city, that rancid stench?”  Kyla and Hayley nodded but didn’t look too convinced.  “What else could it be?”  Demelza added, raising her hands in protest.  Hayley looked through the scope again, surveying the many body bags, a neat dozen in all, their black vinyl zipped down the middle of their upper side, lying there motionless on the paving stones.

“Difficult to say,” Hayley said, watching them lift the bags, one guy either side, before tossing them into the back of the truck, “but they sure do look like bodies, the way they sag in the middle when they are lifted.”

“Jesus, of all the shit holes we could’ve stopped at, we stopped here,” Demelza said.

“Looks like they’re leaving anyhow, whatever went on here is finished,” Kyla added as the three of them watched them load the remaining body bags into the back of the truck.  The guys took off their respirators and jumped into the cab of the truck, before it sped off, disappearing between the buildings.

“A city of surprises,” Kyla said, to ease the tension.

“Of nasty surprises,” Demelza added, almost frantic.

“Let’s take a look at those shops we passed earlier,” Hayley suggested.  “There can’t be any more surprises surely?”

“I’m not so sure,” Demelza said quickly, “there seems to be a lot going on here today.”

“There certainly
was
, Demelza,” Kyla said, “but it’s finished.  They timed it all to be completed ahead of the storm.”

“Done, finished?” Demelza exclaimed.  “It’s what they’ve done and finished that bothers me!”

“Yes, done, whatever that may have been,” Kyla said with a soft smile, hoping to ease Demelza’s fears.

“And now they’re gone, its’ time for us girls to go shopping!” Hayley said. 

“The storm will give us cover,” Kyla added.  “I can barely see the other side of the road as it is!  Come, let’s go!”

Kyla hunched her head down, away from the swirling dust and whistled as they crossed the street.  Hayley could barely hear her through the ferocious wind and Demelza had pulled her hoody down right over her face.  The sand had thickened in the air around them, blasting them from the south.  Kyla beckoned them to hurry, her eyes barely open as she squinted to see them.  Once across the road, Kyla hurried them to the closest shop she could find. 

“Come on my little fucker!” she shouted as she repeatedly kicked at the glass in the door.  Hayley joined in, the cracks in the glass getting more numerous with each onslaught, with each grunt, but it was the latch that gave way first, the door suddenly opening before them.  They lumbered through, finally out of the grip of the storm, shaking the sand out of their hair and rubbing it from their clothes.

“Bloody weather!” Hayley exclaimed.  I remember when we had proper summers.

“Me too, when you had a choice to go to the beach or not,” Kyla added, rubbing the sand from her red, watery eyes before focusing through the window at the fine layers of sand swirling up the pavement.

“Like your choice in clothes, Kyla,” Demelza said, looking around at the gear hanging on the rails.  “We will be spoilt for choice.”

“Strange how it's harder to decide what to pick when you don’t have to pay for anything,” Hayley said as she roamed the stalls, trying one garment after another for size against her body.

“Wealth increases your choice,” Kyla winked.

“But we're just poor beggar girls.” Hayley smiled.

“It's a shame because here is an opportunity where we could take as much as we desire, only to be hindered by what we can carry,” Demelza sighed.

“So true,” Hayley agreed as she threw off her sweat-stained blouse.  She held it up in the air, looking at Kyla through a tear. 

Kyla laughed, “May I suggest a denim shirt?” holding one out in front of her.  Hayley threw her blouse over her head and ran over to Kyla, swiping the shirt from her hands before quickly putting it on.  She walked over to the mirror.

“Not bad, not bad at all!” she exclaimed, looking herself up and down in the mirror.  “A bit tight around the boobs, but they will settle in eventually,” she continued as she lifted her breasts.  Demelza came back wearing a pair of shades, taking them from her face and smiling before putting them back on. 

“How cool do you look!” Kyla exclaimed, patting Demelza lightly on the cheeks. 

“I fear we may need goggles, though,” Hayley interrupted, pointing out through the window. “Nevertheless, you're definitely a sight worthy of a poster girl.”

“And for you, Kyla,” Demelza said, revealing a hat from behind her back.

“Thank you,” Kyla said shyly, putting it on, pushing it down over her head.

“You need to look more like a gangster girl, though, to fit in around here,” Hayley said, tilting the hat until it looked lopsided.  “There, look, no one will fuck with you now," Hayley said, motioning Kyla to turn and look in the mirror.

“Will certainly keep that darned sand out of my hair,” she replied, “even if I’m not quite up to gangster standard.”

“I guess no one will care what they look like anymore,” Demelza said.  “I imagine there is a lot of weird fashion occurring out there as people grab what they can.”

Kyla shrugged, “Men in skirts, perhaps.”

“Gross, with their hairy legs proud for the world to see,” Demelza added.

They all giggled awhile as they continued to look around the store, trying on more clothes.

“Time to move on girls,” Kyla finally said.

“Where to?” Hayley asked.  Kyla put her finger to her lips and puckered her cheeks as she pondered the question.  There was a sudden loud lash of sand against the window, the skies getting darker by the moment.  Kyla walked over to it, peering out, trying to see what other shops there were.

“It's gone so dark,” Demelza said, looking anxious, “it's like the middle of the bastard night.”

“Sign of things to come, perhaps.  Let's hope it doesn’t get any worse,” Hayley said, looking out of the window, up through the dark orange clouds.

“What was that?” Demelza shrieked under her breathe, scurrying for cover behind a clothes rail.

“Shit!”  Hayley said as she quickly followed her.  Kyla could barely move from fear as she watched the dark figure casually walk past the window, barely a few feet in front of her, walking slowly but surely against the wind, holding down the hood on his coat to shield his face from the raging storm.  She stood there shaking until the man walked out of sight, pulling his coat tighter around himself as he disappeared into the darkness.  She took a deep breath, gasping for air before turning around, “Hello?  Where are you guys?  Did you see what just walked past the window?”  Hayley raised her head above the clothes rail, meeting Kyla’s anxious eyes and nodded. 

Demelza opened up a gap between the clothes and peeked through, “Has he gone?”

Kyla turned and looked back out of the window, “For now, but I’m not so sure when he’ll be coming back.”

Hayley stood up, “This city is fucking brimming with life.  Wherever we go, there is some dodgy cunt or fuckers lurking in the shadows!”

Demelza waved her hands, “Get back from the window; there could be others.”

“I’m sure there are, much more than we anticipated,” Kyla replied as she walked back to Hayley and Demelza.

“We have been lucky so far, let's not get too complacent,” Hayley said.

“Especially with your boobs poking out like that,” Demelza said, looking down at Hayley's plumped up assets.

“Sure, I can wear something looser, something more appropriate for the conditions,” Hayley replied with a nervous smirk as she tried to loosen up her shirt.  “I’m famished; shall we look for a grocery store?” she suggested.  Kyla and Demelza nodded. 

“Come, let’s look further down the street, I’m sure I saw a supermarket as we drove in,” Kyla said as she walked towards the broken door.”  Demelza hesitated, then Hayley gave her a gentle push.  “We’ll be fine, no knows we're here, and if we’re smart, no one is going to,” Kyla said as she stepped over the broken glass.  All three carefully looked up and down the street before stepping out into the storm.  There was nothing, apart from darkness and the howling wind, blasting sand against the buildings. 

“Charming!” Hayley shouted.  “It’s getting worse for sure, I can barely see six feet in front of me!”

“Good, then no one can see us!” Demelza shouted back.  All three walked slowly down the sidewalk holding on to each other as they struggled against the wind.  Lashings of sand stung their faces, and the warm, suffocating air felt heavy on their lungs.  There was a bakery store, but as they wiped the sand away from the window, and peered inside, they saw that the shelves were empty. 

“Remember the taste of fresh bread,” Hayley said as they sheltered in the alcove by the door. 

“Yes, the smell as it baked would make your stomach ache for it,” Kyla added. 

“It's warmth, and the butter melting in your mouth,” Demelza added dreamily as she peered out into the sandy mist. 

The darkness lifted momentarily as a hole appeared in the clouds, the Sun glimpsing through breaks in the clouds. 

“Look across the street,” Demelza suddenly said as she noticed the supermarket across the street.  All three looked up and down the street before hurrying across, seeing that the door had already been knocked down.  They walked inside, seeing a tip before them.  The shelves had been pulled over and strewn across the floor.  There was some food, but only the remains, leftovers from pillaging.

“It fucking stinks,” Demelza said as she looked at the devastation before her, the food looking like dried up puke. 
Maybe it is puke!
she thought as she felt her stomach turn.

“Looks like the place has been ransacked,” Hayley said with disappointment evident in her voice. 

Kyla gave her a reassuring rub on her shoulder, “You know, there must be a storage area, round the back or something.”

“There may be,” Demelza said as she pointed towards the back of the supermarket, where there were some hanging plastic drapes.  They stepped around and over the broken shelves, looking intently through the scratched plastic drapes, looking for signs of food. 

There must have been a struggle here,
Demelza thought as she looked at the mess,
desperation perhaps,
as they all continued up the corridor.  They pushed the drapes aside and walked through, looking at the warehouse before them, the tall stacked shelves mostly empty.  They all split up as they eagerly looked for signs of food. 

There has to be something;
Hayley thought,
something that everyone has missed, hidden at the top perhaps,
as she looked upwards at the towering shelves above her.  There was the grunt of an engine coming to life, the smell of diesel quickly filling the warehouse. 

“Hayley?” Demelza spoke worriedly, scared to speak too loud.  “Is that you?”  There was no answer as the sound of the engine got louder, a flashing orange light circulating through the shelves.  “Kyla?” she said a little louder.  She suddenly gasped as a forklift truck swiftly turned into sight towards her, exhaling with relief when she saw Kyla at the wheel and Hayley sitting across its fork, high above her.  Kyla slowed the forklift to a stop, beckoning Demelza to squeeze in the cabin next to her.

“This should do the trick,” Kyla said with a self-satisfied grin. “There are some crates left right at the top, right over there.”  She swung the forklift around and drove it back around the corner from where she came.  Demelza could see them almost immediately, stacked right at the top of the shelves at the end of the corridor.  There were layers of tins covered in polyethene, separated by cardboard sheets on top of wooden crates.  Kyla lowered the forklift as they neared the crates, Hayley jumping off.

“Take her back up, see what she can find,” Hayley said, waving her arms up.

Kyla whistled cheerfully as she manoeuvred the forklift up and lifted off the top crate, lowering it back down to the ground.  Hayley and Demelza began to whistle also, their faces beaming with joy as they saw the crate was full of corned beef tins.  The crate hit the ground with a thump, and they gathered around it, eagerly ripping off the polyethene covering.  Demelza took off the little key from one can and began unwinding the metal strip off.  There was a clang as the metal strip broke. 

“Shit, why does that always happen?” Demelza asked, looking annoyed.  She tried another, with the same result, throwing the can at the shelves.  Kyla and Hayley burst out laughing,

“Steady on girl, waste not, want not.”

“Watch and learn,” Kyla said as she took out a large knife from her jacket pocket.  She held a can in her hand and pierced the tip of the knife through the metal, slicing her way around the can until the top fell off, revealing the meat inside.  They all ate hastily, saying nothing, getting through several cans between them until Kyla finally said, “So, not a bad little town, so far.”               Hayley nodded in agreement, “Sure has been fun, so far.”

“Where next?” Demelza asked.

“Well, I would usually suggest cocktails after such a delightful meal,” Kyla replied, “but I fear the circumstances won’t permit such pleasures.”