CAN'T IMAGINE

CHAPTER 2 - "HOW ABOUT EGGS?"

After the generator shed, Camila didn't expect much inside the building. It looked like there hadn't been anyone there for sometime, judging by the rusty lock and the overgrown foliage. They walked up to the back door, expecting to see another lock, but oddly enough, there was nothing. She thought perhaps the lock on the generator was more for safety purposes. For children perhaps? Shawn pulled the back door open and they found themselves in a storage area. The floor to ceiling shelving was crammed with canned food and tin canisters marked with labels indicating what was inside: flour, rice, sugar, salt. Well, they wouldn't starve, she thought. Silently they walked through the room and opened the door that lead into the house proper, finding themselves in a huge kitchen. It was unexpectedly state of the art but a thin layer of dust lay over the marble counters and stainless steel wrapped island. The stove was a large older style electric range, and there was a refrigerator which was empty and propped open.

"Whoever lived here was intending to come back," Shawn mumbled, looking around.

"They obviously had a lot of guests, this is a big kitchen for just a family or whatever," Camila observed.

Shawn nodded. "The cabins outside, they are for their guests I think."

From the kitchen they moved into the large dining room and then the living areas. The furniture was covered with heavy plastic and dust sheets, but it all appeared to be resort style, and of good quality, and not that old either. From there they found themselves in the entrance and on the other side of that were passages leading to the bedrooms and bathrooms. Every room was filled with cloth and plastic covered furniture. A small room turned out to be a linen cupboard of sorts, only all the linen had been stacked into trunks. They walked out the front door, onto a beautiful deck bereft of any furniture at all. Before them was an empty swimming pool.

"There's nobody here." It was just a fact, he didn't need to say it, but now it was out there and they let it sink in.

"They must have some way of contacting the outside world. And we have power and food."

"I don't know how much fuel there is, there didn't look like there was much in the shed. I don't know how long we'll have power for," Shawn muttered, rubbing his forehead. She was worried, he really needed medical attention. "We will need to clean those solar panels in the morning and get that working."

"Well let's see what we can find," she said, turning and walking inside. She heard him follow and they looked around, finding an office off the kitchen, probably belonging to staff. A radio sat on the desk and she let our her breath in relief. Shawn sat down and began flicking switches and turning dials but no lights came on, nothing happened. After a while he sat back.

"It doesn't work," he said in a flat voice. "It's broken."

"We can try to fix it...."

"Right now, I just want to make up one of those beds and sleep," he muttered.

"Well, there must be a first aid kit somewhere. Let's see if we can find something for that headache."

***

Shawn lay on the bed, his arms behind his head. This room had two king single beds and since Camila had insisted on being in the same room, both because she didn't want to be alone and because she wanted to keep an eye on him due to the head injury, this was the one they chose to sleep in. It seemed whatever their relationship was, it didn't involve sharing a king sized bed. In the dim light from the window he could see a small lump beneath the sheet. A sudden pain shot through his head.

She was crying, he could see her shoulders shaking beneath the sheet.

"Honey...." he put his hand on her arm and gently turned her over to face him. She still wore her make-up from the evening and now black streaks marred her pretty face as she sniffed back the tears. "It's OK, we'll work it out."