The Long Road Home

Chapter Seventeen

Page frowned looking over the superstore plaza. Everything here was quiet other than the natural sounds. Even the smell was not that bad. She left Kidd hidden safe in an empty store before she walked the plaza. All of the stores had been closed during the outbreak other than the superstore. Page checked everything and found no sign of the screamers at all.

Inside the superstore, she walked the empty aisles checking every corner that could be used as a hiding spot. The back loading dock had a massive puddle of screamer goop, and one of the loading bay doors was open. The pile of goop looked old however and had a thick layer of dust covering it. She closed the door wincing at the noise it made. Page made her way out and back to the store where Kidd was. He let her in and she locked the door behind her.

'Stay down.' She warned. 'I made more noise than I meant to closing the back doors. We may have guest.' He nodded, and the two waited. There was no sign of any movement for over an hour.

'That is odd.' She said confused. 'Come on, but stay close to me at all times okay?' He nodded, and they left the store. The two walked slowly to the super store. Once inside Page locked the door behind them. Page walked the store a second time to make sure it was still empty.

'Eww, what is that?' Kid gagged stepping back from the goo.

'Screamer goo.' She told him. 'They leave it everywhere they hide out in the day time.'

'But what is it?' He peered at the brownish gray goop.

'I had the unfortunate opportunity to be in one of their hiding places in the daytime.' She sighed looking disgusted at the pile. 'Goo is the polite way of saying screamer shit.' He flinched then giggled. Page smiled. 'Come on; let's get what we came for.'

They want back into the store and went right to the camping section. Page was disappointed with the limited supplies they offered. She went behind the cash out and found the yellow pages.

'Excellent.' She said excited. 'There is a Mountain Outfitters a few blocks from here. They have an expansive archery section and the best camping section in the state.'

'We should stop at a police station too.' Kid suggested. 'If the doors are locked, they have a tool that can open any door. I saw it on a field trip.' Page was a little surprised. The boy never spoke of his past before he met her. She then realized what he said and grinned.

'Kidd, you're a genius.' She praised. 'That will save us a lot of trouble on the road.' He blushed but grinned. Page pulled out her map of the city and looked back to the phone book. She found the nearest police station. 'Hmm, it's deep in the city Kidd, I can't take you, but I don't want to leave you here.'

'I can ride in the cart.' He said. 'I promise not to move or talk.'

'That's the thing though.' She told him frowning. 'You won't be able to speak at all. If you move even a little, the screamers will see it.'

'I promise I will be still Page.' He swore. Page looked back to the map. It was too big of a risk. She could not do that to the boy.

'Why don't we go to the store first?' She suggested. 'Maybe the door won't even be locked.' He frowned up to her.

'But what if they are?' He asked. 'Then we got to break a window and the screamers will hear us.' His eyes lit up as and she knew he had an idea. 'I can stay in the cart. If you think it's too dangerous, you can hide me like when you checked the store. Then you won't be that far from me and you can get the thing from the police station.' Page sighed and looked back at the map.

She knew what Kidd was talking about. She had seen the auto lock pick in a catalog once. It was a cheap version that she knew did not work. The one the police had however was heavy duty and was designed to open any lock at all. This would save her from having to break windows to get into places. There were a few places on the way to the station that she could stash Kidd.