Читать книгу The Last Chapter - S. C. Loader - Страница 10

Chapter 5

Under a prematurely darkened sky, Five Star drew into the rear car park of the camping shop, one of the three shops they had planned to visit the following day. Although the car park was small, it was sited at the eastern end of the west to east orientated building, thus providing some shelter from the impending storm which Adam assumed would come from the prevailing weather side, the west. It was also at this end of the building where he had gained entry to equip himself only four days earlier.

Adam let Kat out to explore his new surroundings and remarked to Evelyn who was checking the eggs, 'The wind has picked up and it's cooling down quite fast. Where did you learn to predict the weather so well?'

'Just something I learned from my grandfather.'

'And why are you giving all the eggs a bath?'

'I'm checking to see which ones are fresh. If they are, then they lay on their side at the bottom of the glass. If they stay at the bottom, but stand up then they're older and need to be used first and if they float to the top, then they are the ones we place very gingerly in the bio recycling bin and hope it's emptied before they break.'

'And how are they?'

'So far there are four bad ones, seven we should use soon and…' she waited for the last egg to settle, 'nine fresh eggs.'

'If you know how to make omelettes because I've no idea, then we can use up the not so fresh ones in one go.'

'I'm not sure how they will turn out, we haven't any cheese so they will have to be plain and we don't have any butter either so I'll have to use olive oil in the pan.'

Placing an arm around her shoulders Adam gave her a light hug, 'They'll be perfect, now give me the bad ones and I'll go and have a smashing time with them.'

'Don't break them! Just lay them in the grass and the birds will eat them for breakfast.'

Adam bowed theatrically, 'Your every wish is my command oh beautiful princess.'

Evelyn giggled and curtsied in return, 'Thank you kindly, my good man.'

Adam habitually checked his watch as he put it back on after doing the washing up, it was only eight o'clock, but outside it was as dark as midnight. The omelettes were as he had predicted, perfect and the weather was turning into, as Evelyn had predicted, a thunderstorm. Although blind to the approaching weather the thunder could clearly be heard in the far distance.

A short while later Adam took a walk around outside to see if he could coax Kat back in before the storm arrived and most importantly, to do what little boys did up against walls, Evelyn refused to venture out into the dark to do what little girls should do. Kat was still terrorising the local wildlife when the first raindrops began to fall and by the time Adam and Evelyn had settled down at the table to write their shopping lists, it had turned into a steady roof drumming downpour.

Later Adam spread out the map across the table wondering how he could modify his search plans, he now felt that most survivors would have vacated the built-up areas in favour of the countryside and those few that remained if there were any, would soon follow as every built-up area would shortly begin to smell extremely unpleasant.

'What's that number for?' enquired Evelyn.

'That's my calculation for the number of plague survivors.'

'Sixty-five to seventy! That's all in this whole area?'

'Sorry Evie, but that calculation is for the whole country.' Then he explained how he had arrived at the number, once he had finished Evelyn had visibly paled.

'There's some good news though, that number has now doubled because there are now two survivors from this area, you and me. So that makes one hundred and thirty survivors in total, plus or minus a few.'

'Do you think the man feeding the birds was a survivor?'

'If he was, then that number increases to approximately two hundred people.'

'But how are we going to find them if there are so few and so spread out?'

'People come together like we have. All we have to do is either find these little groups or let them know where we are.'

'How?'

'That's a question I don't have an answer for.'

'Fireworks!' cried Evelyn, 'we can use fireworks as a signal to other people and at night time they can be seen for kilometres in every direction. There's even a year-round firework shop in Stockrow where we can get some, although I don't know where it is exactly.'

Adam nodded in agreement and kissed her forehead, 'I do and you're a genius.'

'Adam? Are you awake?' asked the soft accented voice that gently shook his shoulder.

Opening a groggy eye he could just make out in the intermittent amber flashes of the rooftop lamps and the bright white flashes of lightning Evelyn kneeling next to his bed.

'I am now, what's wrong?'

An earth-shaking crash of thunder drowned out her first attempt to answer.

'I need to go to the toilet.'

'Then go.'

'But it's dark outside!'

'Then take a torch!'

'And it's raining.'

'There's an umbrella by the door, take that.'

'But it's windy too.'

'That doesn't matter; you'll only be out there a minute or so.' Contentedly he closed his eye and ignoring another earth shaking clap of thunder waited for the comforting realm of dreams to overtake him.

'Adam, it's not that I need to do.'

'Oh!' the eye opened lazily to appraise the urgency of the situation, Evelyn was fidgeting so he reluctantly surrendered the deep desire for sleep. As he flicked the bedside light on he remembered seeing some toilets in the staff section of the camping shop, 'Okay, go and put your shorts and shoes on while I get dressed.'

'Shoes? But they'll get wet!'

'Better that than having your feet full of glass.'

Still, half asleep Adam opened the side entry door only to have the howling wind instantly rip it out of his hands and send it slamming back against Five Star's bodywork. The golfing umbrella only kept the head-on torrential rain at bay for half their journey to the shop door before the wind tore it out of Adam's two-handed grip and it vanished into the darkness. One short sprint and a deafening clap of thunder later they were stood inside a hallway, soaking wet, hair dripping and shoes squelching with every step.

Adam led Evelyn down the hall until it opened into a large office and immediately to their left the toilets, pushing open the door to the ladies Adam shone a torch around just to make sure it was safe.

'There you go, I'll wait out here for you.'

She looked panic-stricken, 'Please… can you wait inside for me.'

'You have a torch and there's nothing to be afraid of in there.'

He surrendered to her pleading eyes, 'Okay, I'll wait inside.'

While he idled away the few minutes he thought it would take Evelyn he caught sight of his own reflection in the mirror, although cleaner than when he had seen himself in the car window, his clothes sense had yet to improve. His T-shirt was on inside out and back to front and caught in the zipped flies of his shorts, a result of dressing while half asleep. With dexterity, he managed to slip out of the dripping wet T-shirt and after a lot of under-the-breath cursing managed to free his flies. Evelyn joined him as he wrung out the T-shirt over the sink.

'The toilet flushed, I didn't expect that.' She said wringing the bottom half of her T-shirt out.

'There was still some water in the cistern, but now that's been used its flushing days are over.'

Evelyn stepped up to him on tiptoes and kissed his cheek, 'Thank you for coming with me, you're my hero.'

'Well hero or not, it's not going to happen again,' he stated categorically, then before she could question him he dropped a kiss on her forehead and added, 'I think it's time I put Five Star's own facilities back online, don't you?'

Their dash back to Five Star left them even wetter and shivering with cold. Luckily the towels they had used earlier were still conveniently to hand. Adam took his after dropping his deck shoes by the door, then bid Evelyn a good night's sleep. As he passed the galley he stripped naked and dropped his rain-sodden clothes into the sink, calling back over his shoulder, 'Dump everything in there, we'll deal with it in the morning.'

Adam woke to find he was sharing his pillow with Evelyn, the smile rose from her mouth to her eyes, 'Good morning,' she said in her appealingly soft voice.

'Good morning to you, have you been watching me?'

'Yes, but only for a while.'

'Why?'

'I was wondering why my hero was sleeping at the dining table, dressed only in a duvet and making more noise than a combine harvester?'

'You're the reason I'm here,' a half-hearted attempt to lift his head followed, but he gave up when he found the willpower wanting. 'About an hour after we went to bed last night I heard you cry out, as I wasn't sure whether you were dreaming or had been woken by a nightmare I came to check. After the second time it happened, I thought it was easier to sleep here just in case.'

'Just in case of what?'

'Just in case you woke up and needed…' he shrugged his shoulders, 'I don't know, a hand to hold maybe or a reassuring cuddle, someone to talk to or just the security of knowing I was there, whatever it was you might have needed to help you get back to sleep.'

From her respective end of their shared pillow, Evelyn studied him for some time before eventually planting a kiss on his cheek, 'Thank you for watching over me, what can I make my hero for breakfast?'

'Well as it's going to be a long tough day I suppose we had better have something solid inside us, how about tea, a boiled egg and some of those finish-them-off-yourself bread rolls with marmalade?'

Evelyn smiled and nodded her agreement.

'Then I shall get out of your way and go and get dressed, see you shortly.' At the bedroom door, he turned back with a puzzled expression to ask, 'Was I really snoring?'

Having dressed Adam leant idly against the bedroom door frame and posed yet another question, 'Why are you still wearing a duvet, isn't that taking the snugly just-out-of-bed look a little too far?'

Evelyn pointed to the bucket at her feet, 'Those were my only clothes and the towel from last night is too damp to wear.'

'Christ I forgot that sorry. Okay let's swap, I'll finish off the breakfast and you can go and get dressed. In the overhead cupboard above my pillows are some thick winter shirts and in my bedside cabinet some thick socks, I'm afraid I don't have any more elasticated shorts so hopefully, the shirt will be long enough to cover your blushes.'

Evelyn returned as he finished laying the table, 'Tada!' she said posing in a classic catwalk stance with her hands on her hips, 'What do you think?'

Adam passed an appreciative eye over her, both the brown checked shirt and the brown socks that bunched at her ankles matched her colouring perfectly, 'Very nice, it's a look that really suits you.'

Towards the end of breakfast, Adam noticed Evelyn's contemplative stare accompanied by a slight frown, 'What's troubling you, Evie?'

'What's the “snugly just-out-of-bed look”?'

'It's that soft dreamy air a woman has about her just after she gets out of bed, one deserving of a cuddle, but I'm pretty sure you didn't need me to tell you that, did you?'

'But when a woman gets out of bed she's a complete mess.'

'Perhaps when viewed from your perspective, but from mine, some elements of that “mess” can be very attractive.'

'Like what?'

'Sleep ruffled hair, for instance, soft make-up free skin, her own delicately warm scent, a hint of sleepiness in her eyes, gentler more gracious movements, the slight air of vulnerability and, and, and…'

Evelyn sat in deep thought then asked, 'Do I have that snugly just-out-of-bed look?'

'Christ Evie! That's not a question to pose to someone you've known for as little as…' a quick glance at his watch revealed it was a few minutes past six, 'eighteen hours.'

'Why? Would the answer be different if I asked you tomorrow?'

'No…' and before he could continue Evelyn asked, 'So I don't have that snugly look then?'

'I didn't say that, Evie, what I'm saying is this is a very intimate question, one that you shouldn't be asking someone you've known only a short while because it has, whether you appreciate it or not, a sexual connotation.'

'Oh! Okay if you say it has.'

'I do and given our respective ages, I don't think it's very seemly that we're discussing something so intimate. So, I would prefer it in future if we stuck to safer ground and avoid deliberating over anything of a sexual nature.'

Evelyn studied him for a few seconds then moved closer so she could lean against his shoulder, 'So we don't talk about it?'

'No Evie, we don't.'

'Not at all?'

'No.'

'What if I don't know I'm talking about it?'

Adam lifted her chin so he could look directly into her eyes, 'You're fifteen years old and were taking the pill, so you're not as innocent as you would have me believe. So… we don't talk about it, agreed?'

'Okay, not a word.'

He kissed her forehead, 'Good, now that's settled we can clear away the breakfast things and go shopping.'

Evelyn gave a weak smile, 'Okay.'

Returning to tidy away the second load of breakfast things Adam noticed that the usually helpful Evelyn was still sat where he had left her, apparently engrossed in staring at the two thumbs wrestling one another in her lap.

He sat down beside her and put an arm around her shoulders, 'Is this about what we were just discussing?'

'Sort of.'

'What does “sort of” mean?'

'I don't really know anything about sex, honest I don't. I only took the pill because of Paul.'

'Who's Paul?'

'He was my one and only boyfriend. He said that unless I let him have sex with me he wouldn't go out with me anymore.'

'Did you talk to anyone about this?'

She looked horrified at the thought, 'No way! That's far too private.'

'Not even with your friends?'

'I only had two and they're both… well you know…'

'Virgins?'

A short nod confirmed it, 'But all the other girls in my class had had sex so I thought it was no big deal.'

'So what happened?'

'I let him… well you know… even though we shouldn't have done because I wasn't on the pill long enough.'

'And?'

Evelyn looked up momentarily, tears already welling in her eyes, 'I thought it would be really loving and romantic like you see in all those films, but it was nothing like that. It hurt… he made lots of horrible grunting noises and got all sweaty and smelly… and afterwards I was all yukky. Then the next day at school he told me he didn't want to go out with me anymore and told everyone else that having sex with me was like humping a bag of lard.'

'Young Paul sounds like a complete arsehole and I'm really sorry you were treated so appallingly, it's just a shame you didn't talk to someone beforehand, it may have saved you from being just another notch on his bedpost.'

'Who should I have talked to? My friends were the same age as me and no more experienced than I was and it would have been way too embarrassing to talk to Grandma about having sex with a boy.'

'Surely there must have been an adult somewhere you could have confided in?'

'There wasn't. You can't talk about these things to just anyone, can you? I need to know them a bit, like them and trust them before I could do that, but there was no one like you I could have talked to.'

'You trust me?'

'Of course, I do, you're really, really nice.'

'Evelyn, you scarcely know me, how on earth do you know you can trust me? I could be some weirdo just waiting for the right moment to pounce. You cannot trust anyone you've only known for a short while, especially a man. Being sexually naive at fifteen years of age is excusable, some would even say preferable, but your naivety when it comes to trusting men is incredibly dangerous.'

'But Grandma said we show our trust in people or we wouldn't be trusted by them in return.'

'That would have been true when your grandmother was young, but her values are now seventy years or more out of date. In her day a gentleman would have found your naivety charming, but those times are long gone. Even before the plague most perverts, rouges or scammers dressed themselves up as gentlemen to fool the naive and take advantage of them. Post plague men will not even pretend to be gentlemen and if you continue to demonstrate the same level of naivety it will eventually lead you into a horrific situation where, if you're very lucky, you will die quickly.'

'And if I'm not lucky?'

Adam thought about the answer for some moments, 'Pray that you never find out, Evie, men without restraints on their behaviour are worse than animals.'

'But you don't have any restrains and you're really nice.'

'I may be nice, but does that mean you can really trust me, Evie? Is what you see the real me or just a façade… I'm sorry, Evie, but in this new world you must learn to keep everyone at arm's-length and only trust them once they've shown they're worthy of it, even me, it's too dangerous for you otherwise.'

As Adam made to stand Evelyn pulled on his arm and wrapped hers tightly around it, 'I understand and I'll be really careful with strangers, but you are nice and I like you lots and I trust you, I trust you with my life,' turning to face him she added, 'and I know… I just know you'll never hurt me.'

Adam kissed her forehead, 'Thank you, that's one heck of an affirmation, I pray I never do anything to disappoint you.'

Evelyn smiled brightly, 'You won't! I know it.'

'That's really humid out there and once the sun burns off those remaining clouds from last night's storm then it's going to be unbearable,' after returning the bucket to where it belonged Adam added, 'and I've thrown all our wet clothes and shoes away, we'll replace them shortly. Have you seen Kat yet?'

'He came in while you were hanging up the makeshift washing line for our towels; he's curled in the passenger's footwell now.'

'Good, I'd kinda miss him if he weren't around. When you're ready come and join me, I'm going to use the opportunity while we're here to exchange the gas canister we've been using for a new one, then we can go shopping!'

Inside the shop Adam pointed to the far side, 'All the women’s clothing and footwear are over there, put everything you want to take on the checkout desk at the front. I'll join you once I've picked up a few things from this side.'

'You're not coming with me?'

Adam tucked a couple of stray hairs back behind her ear, 'I'll only be a couple of minutes, I know what I need and where to find them, but if you want, I suppose I could serenade you from my side of the shop, what would you like… Elvis… Elton?'

'Well if you're going to threaten me, I suppose a couple of minutes aren't so long.'

'Your loss, I do a very good Elvis I'll have you know. Anyway, do you have the list we wrote and the torch?'

She showed him both.

'Good, now go and have fun and don't forget, this company is a very generous donator to the plague survivors welfare fund.'

Evelyn giggled and skipped off to the other side of the shop.

Adam acquired all the items on his shopping list within a few minutes, some more T-shirts, a replacement pair of deck shoes and a rucksack full of odds and ends. Then he headed for the checkout desk where for the next hour he unpacked and de-labelled individual items and repacked them into fold-out crates. Finally, Evelyn heaved three pairs of boots up onto the counter, the pair she had borrowed from Adam and two new pairs then claimed in a satisfied tone, 'There, that's everything on the list.'

'I see you picked up cargo trousers and not jeans.'

'Of course! They're warmer in cold weather and cooler when it’s hot, they dry really quickly and with so many pockets are far more practical. They're light and don't restrict your movement like jeans do, you should try them.'

Adam did and although he was not entirely convinced that they suited him, took three pairs of the “Wow! You look really young in those” cargo trousers.

Adam studied Evelyn's new winter collection of seven crates that had been added to those already stacked down the side of the bed, 'We've only room for another three crates up there Evie and although the wardrobe's practically empty, it's small, so please keep that in mind in the women's discount shop.'

'It's not so small,' she said examining the inside of the wardrobe, 'I don't need much anyway, just some underwear and a few summer clothes.' Then she removed Adam's jeans and replaced them with his spare cargo trousers before he had the chance to object.

En route to the woman's shop, they stopped at a petrol station to check if it had been visited by survivors, disappointingly it had not.

Outside the women's shop, the washing line was rehung for the towels and armed with a crowbar they went shopping again.

'What's that for?' asked Evelyn.

'That's my key.'

'That's a very big key,' she said grinning. He winked, 'Big locks need big keys.'

Adam used his key on one of the shops smaller plate glass windows, unfortunately, the intruder alarm still had enough life in its battery to deafen them for the first few minutes of their shopping trip.

Adam sat on the floor outside the changing cubicle Evelyn was using unpacking and de-labelling. Once again she emerged from the cubicle and asked, 'What did you think?'

Adam passed an eye over the pleated skirt she was seeking his opinion of, 'It's nice, but isn't it a tad short?'

'If it covered my ankles it wouldn't be a summer skirt would it?'

'True enough, but it's barely long enough to cover your modesty.'

'It's modern! Who wants to cover up when it's hot? Nobody!'

'So short is “in”, like cargo trousers. Long is out, like jeans.'

'Of course, it is, everybody knows that. Which colour do you like, this one,' and she gave a little catwalk twirl, 'or one of these three?'

'I like them all actually.'

'Great! So do I,' and she handed over the three from the cubicle stool and slipped out of the one she was wearing and handed that over as well. As she drew the curtains across she asked, 'How many knickers were in that pack?'

Adam found them and reported back, 'Three including the pair you’re wearing, is that enough?'

'No, can you get me two more packs?'

'Sure, no problem.'

Evelyn joined him as he returned from his errand, 'Sorry Evie, but there were no more in your size, neither white nor coloured so I got these for you instead.' And he handed over the substitutes.

She blushed, 'These are all lacy and…,' her blush deepened, 'sexy. They're not really meant for someone my age.'

Adam looked them over again, 'Sorry, I just thought they looked really pretty, I didn't know they came with an age restriction. I'll put them back and look for something else.'

Evelyn held them possessively to her chest, 'No that's okay, no one apart from you will know that I'm wearing them, will they?'

The display showed 11:36 22 Aug. 27° as Adam swung Five Star into the large supermarket car park and after parking up well away from the glass fire door he had forced open on his previous visit, eyed up the small mountain of clothing on the dining table.

'Right let's get all your clothes put away then we can enjoy a… how can I put this? A less salubrious shopping experience.'

As the large pile of newly donated clothing slowly dwindled Adam noticed that Evelyn was unusually quiet and wore a worried expression, 'What's wrong Evie, are you nervous about going into the supermarket after what I said?'

'No, it's not that.'

'Then what?'

'I still don't have any bras, the women's shop didn't have any in my size. I looked through everything, even those I really didn't like, but all they had were women's sizes. Can we go to H&M, they're not far away?'

'Evie, the dead are rotting and not only do they stink, but they're also breeding grounds for all sorts of horrifying diseases which means we have to avoid built-up areas unless it's absolutely necessary and I'm sorry, but I'm not going to risk our lives by going into the city just for a couple of bras'

Her eyes remained at her feet, 'But I don't have any, none at all.'

'I know the lingerie department was rather small in the women's shop, but surely there must have been something? Even from where I was sat I could see one display stand that offered everything from small to terrifying, are you a special size or something?'

'Sort of.'

'What size is “sort of”?'

'Thirty A.' Then with unnoticed shyness added, 'a small thirty A.'

Adam thought back to the previous night's involuntary wet T-shirt competition and before he had properly thought the question though asked, 'In that case, do you really need to wear a bra?'

Luckily for Adam, her drop-dead-this-instant death stare had yet to be perfected, but it was enough for him to understand the depth of his stupidity. Stepping forward he tried to take her into his arms, but she shrugged him off.

'You're no different to all the others!' she shrieked angrily, 'everyone's always making fun of me because I don't have big breasts like all the other girls, everyone!'

A second attempt at a consoling cuddle was also shrugged off, 'Go away!' she shouted through the tears that now wetted her face, 'I hate you!'

Adam grabbed her shoulders and spun her round to face him, Evelyn immediately fought to free herself, 'Stop acting like some petulant little child! You're a young woman, now behave like one.' She made yet another effort to free herself, 'STOP IT!' he yelled and to his surprise she did.

'Look me in the eye, Evelyn,' but she shook her head, 'NOW!' he commanded and slowly two teary eyes came into view.

Cupping her face in his hands he began using his thumbs to smooth away the tears that still escaped her eyes, 'No matter what anybody has told you, breasts, whether large or small, do not make a woman.'

'But boys…men…don't find us attractive with little breasts, they laugh at us.'

'No they don't, perhaps an odd immature clod of earth in your school may have done, but…'

She interrupted, 'Even the girls laughed at me and you did as well.'

'I didn't, I just…'

'I bet you like big breasts don't you? All men do!'

'May I answer without interruption?'

'Sorry.'

'First of all, when it comes to sexual attraction, not all men have a woman's bust size at the top of their list, some may say “oh look, big tits! Great!” and tick a little invisible box, but not all of us. If I was forced to choose a preference I'd go for small and firm rather than big and wobbly, but to be honest I'm not really fussed how they come.'

'What interests you then?'

'Legs, like at least half of all men.'

'Why?'

A reminiscence caused him to smile broadly, but a heavy blush replaced it when he noticed Evelyn studying him intently, 'Let's just say they are at top of my list for many reasons.' After giving a little embarrassed cough he steered the subject back onto safer ground, 'Anyway, we have digressed. I'm truly sorry about what I said about you not needing to wear a bra, it was rash and unsympathetic. I promise I'll try to find somewhere in Stockrow where you can get some, the city is far too dangerous now, but it might be a little safer there.'

Wrapping her arms around him she pulled herself tightly up against his chest, 'But if it's not safe, then we shouldn't go there, I'd rather be without bras than be without you.'