Day Nine
Well, I got my wish.
It wasn’t quite how I envisioned my first meeting with another living being to go; I’d thought smiles and handshakes, a baseball bat to the face, or even being shot. In all those scenarios, I hadn’t quite pictured myself leaping to my feet and screaming like a big bloody girl! I certainly hadn’t thought I’d be the one to go on the attack, but I did. I’d made sure to keep the crowbar close at hand, and I snatched it up and threw it at our night-time visitor.
A rat.
A big as a fucking cat rat.
Jesus Christ but I didn’t know they got that big in England. When I woke, the fucker was right in front of my face, sniffing. I could feel it’s not so little fucking whiskers on my cheek! It hadn’t seemed the least bit afraid of me even after I leapt away; surely two years of freedom without man can’t have erased from its mind – from its bloody survival instincts – the centuries we’ve spent exterminating the little (or frigging HUGE) bastards, could it?
The crowbar didn’t even nearly hit it, but the noise and movement finally made it scarper. I can’t begin to describe how badly I ache from yesterday’s exertions. I ache in places I didn’t even know I had – I think even my bloody split-ends ache! I’m pretty sure it was still late evening after that rude awakening, but there was no way in hell I was going back to sleep there. Kissing a rat is NOT on my bloody bucket list!
As I’ve said before, there’s little difference between night and day now, and as the rain had finally settled to a drizzle, I gathered my things and set out. The world seemed a different place; not just because the snow had all but gone, but because I was looking at it through new eyes. If the rats had survived – if I had survived – then there had to be other life out there somewhere. I know I’ve said that before, but now I actually believe it. Still, I couldn’t help but think of that James Herbert book – the one with the giant killer rats – and I couldn’t stop seeing movement in the shadows. I just wanted to get out of the town and into the countryside.
There would be less food out there for the rats, at least.
Travel had been so much easier without having to fight the snow and the trolley; it almost seemed a gentle stroll after yesterday. I still struggled – trying to hold a torch while wearing thick cumbersome gloves and fighting with that ridiculous wheeled contraption from hell - but I made it to the outskirts of town. Though I felt like I could go on for another couple of hours, the decision to make camp in that relatively small retail park I mentioned a few days ago was more or less made for me.
The outdoorsman store actually seems to be pretty much intact – little if any looting done here. I’m like a kid at Christmas trying to choose between favourite toys... there are so many things that would make life a lot more comfortable, and yet I know I have to be reasonable. A £500 camp cooker would be real nice, but it’s just too damn heavy and there’s no way I’ll be able to lug that around everywhere.
Being reasonable sucks.
I’m not going to be able to make this a short shopping trip, so I’ll stay the night and take more time to pick only whats necessary and choose what I can afford to leave behind. I’ve never been good at making decisions; I used to spend hours upon hours trying to decide what I wanted for bloody tea.
Ha, at least that decision has been narrowed down a lot in the last two years.
Everything I want, everything I think could be useful, I’ve piled up to sort later. I can’t take everything; there just isn’t enough room, and yet there is so much there that I really need. This trolley isn’t going to work, I need to find something else, something that can carry everything necessary for survival. Maybe if I can find some fully sealed petrol canisters, I could get a car working… but then what about the petrol that’s already in the tanks? How would I go about getting that out?
Maybe if I found a new car from a garage?
What about batteries?
Ugh but there’s so much I don’t know about cars. I miss the internet and its endless supply of seemingly useless knowledge!
A horse?
People managed before the damn cars were even invented, so I must be able to come up with something. Where will I find a horse? Even if there are any alive, they’re bound to be running wild after so long without people. At least I actually know how to ride a horse, unlike driving a bloody car. If I could just find one, maybe I could rig together some sort of cart for carrying all this shit. Still, until I can come up with something, that’s not going to make tonight’s decisions any easier.
In the end, I sorted through everything I’d brought from the bunker, discarding anything that wasn’t important – including my few beloved books. Though I thought I’d done that before I left, it takes only a day or so of walking through snow to really appreciate the difference between necessity and desire. I added a smaller gas cooker, including several tanks of propane to fuel it. I ummed and ahhed over the array of tents and settled on an inflatable one that seemed large enough to breathe in but would also pack away into a small bag.
I bet I’ll never get the bastard back in it, though!
Honestly, some of those tents look like they’re straight out of the Harry Potter books and I have to admit, I didn’t go for the most basic of the lot. Hey, I like new toys as much as anybody!
I’ve got a rucksack that boasts many features I don’t understand, but it is large and sturdy and not too heavy. After some adjustment, it fit well and barely bounces on my back when I move. Into this, I’ll store any necessities that I might need during the day, like that day’s rations of food etc., to save from having to hunt through the trolley every time.
I found some more water sterilisers – and after seeing the colour of the rain, I grabbed as many of these as I could find. There are aisles and aisles of clothing, walking boots, jackets, hunting and fishing gear, horse riding equipment, everything I could possibly imagine.
I’ve definitely hit the jackpot with this place.
The best discovery, though, has to be the food. There are dozens and dozens of packets of Adventure Foods, and they claim to have a four year(!) shelf life. Just add water, it says, and eat out of the pouch. They’re quite light and slim, not much bigger than a packet of crisps, so I should be able to stack them in the trolley without taking up too much space. Not knowing where I’m going next or when I might find more food, I’m taking the lot.
There’s no way I can carry multiple sets of clothes and shoes, and I expect that those will be the easiest to find when I get near to any other towns or cities. I have, however, changed out of my horribly wet filthy clothes and outfitted myself with a brand spanking new – albeit dusty - set. I dithered over whether to change for better fitting boots and decided I might as well – the ones George got for me have already started to leave me a few blisters.
When I tired, I made a small campfire in the middle of the store and set up a pot over it – it kinda looked like a small cauldron really – and poured a tin of beans in to warm. As much as I wanted to try the new stuff, it made more sense to use up the heavier foods first. While waiting for that, I decided to get a little creative with the shoulder of my new thick coat, the torch, and that wonderful invention of sellotape. I don’t know if it will last long, or even if it will stay put when I start moving, but it’ll free my hands. I need to find one of those mining helmets they always have in films and games, one of those would be right useful around about now.
I have to say, between sorting that, setting up the fire and boiling some beans, I’m feeling quite accomplished, like a character from one of my stories.
Yeah, I know. I’m an idiot.
It might be petty, but Jess couldn’t have done half of this.
I’m feeling a lot more optimistic now and I’ve even managed to go a few hours without looking for – without even thinking about – the giant killer rats.
Shit. Thanks Rachael.