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“Whoa, that’s a lot of cash for two teenagers to be carrying around. You two haven’t been looting have you?” the guard asked with suspicion.

The look of shock on Alex’s face must have convinced him it wasn’t true because when Cooper told him their parents had given the money to them he waved them into the store.

They wasted no time and rushed through the main doors. Each grabbed a cart and headed to opposite sides of the store. Alex hit the breakfast food aisle first and zoomed in on the pancake mix. A five pound, just add water, bag of mix went into the cart as well as instant oatmeal. She had taken the pancake mix camping before and knew it was easy to make different versions by adding ham and cheese or dried fruit to it. A big bag of powdered milk mix went in as well. In the next aisle she grabbed as many instant soup mixes as she could, cans of tuna and ham. She continued grabbing dry goods like ramen noodles and bags of rice. Dried fruit like raisons and cranberries and apricots and a tub of peanut butter completed her cart. Alex headed over to the pharmacy area and grabbed pain killers and cold remedies as well as antibiotic lotion and sun screen. The hair and cosmetic isle was next and she picked out a dark chestnut brown hair dye kit for Dara. It was as close to her natural color as Alex could remember. A couple hair brushes, some shampoo, soap and deodorant went in as well. She paused at that point and tried to think of anything else they might need and how much room they would have to carry it. With a groan Alex remembered something her and Dara would definitely need in the coming days. She stopped her cart in front of the feminine hygiene section and grabbed two big boxes of tampons. They could take them out of the box and pack them around other items to make them fit. Another section caught her eye and made her think about the future. Without giving it much more thought Alex grabbed three boxes of condoms and stuffed them under some of the other groceries. As she was leaving the pharmacy section she had to pass through the baby supplies and she grabbed two bags of baby wipes. Heading to the front of the store she was going down the paper goods isle and she stopped to consider things again. A box of aluminum foil, a box of large and small Ziploc freezer bags and disposable containers, and a mini bottle of dish soap and scrub pad topped her cart. A hanging display of small bags filled with plastic zip ties would come in handy and she grabbed a couple bags of them as well.

When she got to the cash registers, Cooper had already paid for his load and was over at the customer service counter. Alex quickly loaded her goods on to the non-functioning conveyor belt and noticed canvas shopping bags hanging on the end in a display. She snagged a bunch and went to the man who was writing down prices on a paper pad to add up. When Alex realized how long that would take she interrupted him.

“Can I just make you an offer? This is probably around two hundred dollars’ worth of stuff. How about I just give you three hundred to be on the safe side?” she offered.

The man looked at Alex with surprise and said, “Are you sure? That’s a lot of money to just be giving away.”

With a sweet smile Alex told him, “I know but I really want to get back to my Mom. She’s not feeling well and I don’t want to leave her alone for too long. I’d rather just pay extra so I can get home.” Alex lied.

“Well ok, but you come back and see me in a few days and I’ll remember this and get you what you need then. You’re a good girl to worry after your Mom like that. I won’t forget.”

He gave her a nice smile and helped her pack up the canvas bags with groceries. Alex handed over the money, gave him a cheery wave and went to meet Cooper at the exit doors. She felt bad about lying to people but figured it was ok if it made things smoother on the road home. The exit doors were further down the building than the entrance doors and Alex was shocked to see a huge line up waiting to get in. Josh had moved the bikes to the far side of the parking lot away from the crowd and he was looking concerned. He was visibly relieved to see Alex and Cooper heading his way with carts of food

“Let’s get this done fast and get out of here. I’ve already been approached twice about selling the bikes, and they weren’t real happy to be told no.” he said. After taking in the two carts he started shaking his head. “I don’t think we can take all this guys.”

Alex jumped in, “It’s ok. A lot of this stuff can be taken out of the boxes and squished together.” She told him.

They packed as much as they could into the three back backs and stuffed the saddle bags on the bikes close to bursting. They still had six bags of supplies that wouldn’t fit and Josh started to go through them to see what would be discarded. Opening one of Cooper’s bags he held up two cartons of cigarettes with a questioning look. “Last time I checked, none of us smoke, so are you planning to take up the habit dude?” he asked Cooper.

With a laugh Cooper answered, “No way man. Those are prime barter goods. People will be going crazy for them in the days ahead. We can trade them easily for stuff we need.”

“That’s good thinking but I don’t know how we are going to take any more stuff. And what about these Alex, something you want to tell us? Who’s the lucky guy?” he asked while holding up the condom boxes.

Alex felt her face go bright red in embarrassment. “Same thing, barter, and who knows maybe one of us might need them in the future. The far future.” she stammered. “Anyways, I know how to take this stuff. Put all the rest into the canvas bags. I got some plastic zip ties we can attach the extra bags to our back packs until we get back to the trailers.”

“Yeah, ok that will work, but we are seriously over loaded and off balance. It’s going to be slow going till we get back to the others.” Josh warned.

Alex and Josh got on their bikes and Cooper fastened the canvas bags to their packs with the zip ties. Alex realized right away how awkward it felt and tried to rebalance the bags. “This is going to be a rough ride.” she sighed to herself.

Cooper had a soft sided insulated bag that was stuffed full and Alex wondered what was in it. He slung it over his neck so it rested on his chest.  Alex laughed at how they looked, covered in packs and hanging bags but it quickly stopped being funny as they wobbled out of the parking lot and made their way out of town.

It took all of Alex’s concentration to keep her bike upright and they were going very slowly. They had made it almost out of the business area when Alex rode past a mother pushing a stroller. She had biked ten feet past the stroller when what she heard penetrated her concentration.

“But Mommy, I’m hungry.” wailed the child in the stroller.

“I know Baby, but I don’t have any money and the bank machine isn’t working. I’ll find something at home to make.” the mom tried to placate the child.

Alex came to a stop and quickly threw her feet out so her bike didn’t tip over. She yelled at the boys to wait for her and they stopped and gave her concerned looks.

“It’s ok, just give me a minute.” she told them as she tried to balance her load and dug into her cargo pant pocket. The woman pushing the stroller was just coming even with her as she got the last of her money out of her pocket.

Alex turned to the woman, “Excuse me Ma’am, I couldn’t help but overhear you. I just came from the grocery store myself and we got all we’ll need. This is all the money I have left. Please take it and get back there.” she said while pushing the money into her hand. “The line is crazy long so if you were turned away at the door, see if they will let you bypass it cause you already waited. Buy as much dried food as you can and then ration it. It might be awhile before there’s any more brought in.” she told the stunned woman.

“I can’t take this. You don’t even know me!” the woman protested, trying to hand the money back.

“You can take it, and you will! You have a hungry child to feed and that’s the most important thing. You need to go back as fast as you can. Good luck!” Alex said as she got her bike going again.

She heard the woman yell after her, “Thank you Miss, you’re an angel!”

Alex kept going and couldn’t help but think of all the children that would be going hungry soon. She had tears rolling down her face by the time they made it the edge of town. Neither of the boys said anything to her but Josh gave her a sympathetic smile.

It took a lot longer to get back to Dara and Quinn than it had leaving them but they finally made it and staggered off their bikes and dropped their packs in exhaustion. Quinn and Dara went straight to the bags and started loading the trailers with the heavier goods and distributing the rest more evenly between back packs and the bike saddle bags. As they worked Dara noticed Alex’s tear stained face and asked, “You ok Alex? Did something happen?”

Alex scrubbed at her face with her hands, “No it went really well. It just keeps hitting me how bad this is going to get for a lot of people.” she sighed.

Cooper leaned toward her and tucked a curl behind her ear, “What you did for that family was really kind Alex. Yes, a lot of really bad things are going to happen to a lot of people in the next while but there will also be a lot of people who will come together and help each other too. You are a perfect example of that. Don’t give up hope; we’ll make it through this.” he said, looking intensely into her eyes.

Alex could only nod and offer him a small smile of thanks. Something about Cooper kept her off balance and she didn’t understand her feelings for him. She got up and brushed herself off; grabbing a water bottle and taking a long drink to cover her confusion. Quinn and Dara had repacked everything and Quinn gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

“You guys did great! This is way more than we thought you would get. Good idea with the zip ties. We can haul a lot more with these bags strapped to the trailers. If you guys have your breath back, let’s head a couple more miles from town and find a better spot to stop and make some breakfast. I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m starving.” Quinn suggested.

Alex glanced at her watch and wasn’t surprised to see that it was almost ten o’clock. The dried fruit and half a power bar she had eaten almost four hours ago was a distant memory and as a reminder her stomach gave a loud growl. They all mounted up and got back onto the main highway. It was an easier ride for her without the extra food weight and Quinn and Josh didn’t seem to be bothered by the extra cargo on the trailers.

With everyone looking forward to a hot breakfast the group only biked for twenty minutes before pulling off on a side road and looking for an area to set up a camp. Five minutes off of the highway they wheeled off to an overgrown siding. Everyone got to work unloading camp stoves and fuel, plates and the camping cook set. When everything was set up they started to discuss what to make when Cooper took center stage. He had still been carrying the insulated cooler bag around his neck and when he opened it they were all delighted.

“I know we were supposed to get non-perishables and dry food but I couldn’t resist. I figure it’s going to be awhile before we have fresh food again and they had this stuff in with the frozen food so it’s still good.” he explained as he started pulling things out of the cooler.

The first thing out was a loaf of bread then a bunch of bananas. A box of frozen burgers was next, then a carton of eggs and a package of frozen breakfast sausage. Everyone was oohing and awing after each item.  “So eggs and sausages for breakfast or brunch now, I guess and then burgers for later. They’re still half frozen so they’ll be thawed in time for supper. I did get some dry goods but I also grabbed a bag of apples and a small bag of potatoes to make things more appetizing.” he finished with a flourish.

Everyone was excited about a real breakfast and no one complained a bit about Cooper straying from the list. Alex put a pot of water on the one stove to boil, adding five of the precious eggs to hard boil them for a later snack. She cut the sausages into small pieces and started to fry them up. Once they were nicely browned she cracked the rest of the eggs into the pan and scrambled them up with the sausage. Josh dug out the jar of peanut butter and once the pan of eggs and sausage came off the stove, started to toast part of the loaf of bread. Once everyone had a plate of food they settled on the tarp that Quinn had spread out. There was no talking as they consumed the first real meal that they had had in over twenty four hours.

Cooper and Dara cleaned up the dishes and cookware while Alex and Josh repacked the gear into the trailers.

Quinn was looking at the map with a frown on his face. “Well it was sooo worth it, but so far today we’ve only made about twenty miles. What do you guys say to going hard until about seven tonight with just a quick stop for a snack? If we push it we could make it another sixty or seventy miles.” That was met by a chorus of groans but after a full breakfast, they were all agreeable.

Chapter 8

Six hours later and Alex didn’t even have the energy to moan. She didn’t know what was worse, the boredom of mile after mile of scrub landscape or the total exhaustion she was feeling. Hot and sweaty, her face felt like it would crack if she tried to smile, it was so dry from the sun and wind. She tried to console herself with the thought of the great muscle tone she would have, but it didn’t feel that way at the moment.

A couple of hours after they had started this leg of the journey they had come upon an interesting sight. For a good five miles, every car they passed had its doors and the trunk standing open. It made navigating the wrecks more difficult but did change the dynamic of the ride for a half hour. Alex hoped that whoever had searched all the cars found what they needed. They had also started seeing more people walking alone or in small groups. They had no issues with the other travellers, just envious stares. Quinn had pulled them over when one family had waved them down.

Three children and their parents, looking dusty and tired, were travelling in the opposite direction and the father had waved them down with a shout for news. As the group explained what they had seen on the way to this point, Cooper handed out granola bars and a couple apples to the children. Those were devoured in minutes and the mother couldn’t stop thanking him. They seemed like a nice family and after a quick group conference they agreed to give them a gallon jug of water and a few packages of freeze dried camping meals. Dara pulled out the sunscreen and asked the mother if she wanted to coat the children up with the lotion.  As they pulled away, it seemed like such a small thing they had done, helping the family but it made biking past all the destruction a little easier.