They Called It The Apocalpse

Chapter 31

Jason emerged onto the street outside of the town hall to find no signs of Tate or Thalia, unknown people milled about around him as he clutched Cassie's bag to his chest and ploughed forwards, following the directions the woman had given him to his new house. He got lost only once after taking a wrong turn but eventually found his way back on track and discovered the correct row of houses. As he passed one, there was an old man in the garden, grey messy hair and sharp green eyes, he wore a straw hat but it sloped sideways on his head and he chewed on a piece of grass as he watched Jason come up the lane. "You alright there son? You lost?" He asked when he noticed Jason's head flicking between house numbers. "Actually i am." Jason replied, coming over to lean over the fence and speak to him as the man hobbled up his garden. "I'm looking for 206." He explained, holding up the keys he'd been given to demonstrate to the man. The old guy smiled and pointed to the house next door, "That theres 206, neighbour." He smiled and Jason nodded, trotting up to the gate and lifting the latch to get in. "So you new here?" The old guy asked as he watched Jason reach his front door and fumble with the key.
"Yeah, i came in last night." Jason explained as the key finally fit.
"Oh, the survivors." The old man chimed as if thinking out loud, "well, I'll be damned that you survived out there. Anyway son, I'll let you get some rest, let me or my wife Mabel know if you need anything. The names Hank, by the way." Jason turned and nodded in appreciation, just wanting to get inside the house and find a place to rest after all the chaos. "I'm Jason, it was nice to meet you." With that he turned and disappeared inside.

It was dark at first until Jason discovered the working light switch, the lightbulbs hummed to life then flicked on, illuminating the basic room. Downstairs there was a tatty red sofa with some sort of fancy gold pattern trailing across the back, it faced the open front window so he could look out and there was an old tv stand under that window that now held books and a vase. Behind the sofa was a basic kitchen with a small fridge and freezer and a breakfast bar, as Jason would call it, where he could sit on a stool to eat his dinner. There was another door that looked tom lead under the stairs and when he opened it he found a broom cupboard with cleaning supplies. He dumped Cassie's satchel and his own rucksack onto the kitchen counter then pried his boots from his aching feet. He carried them across to the door, placing them just off to the side as the cool floor tile soothed his aching soles. His next job was to explore the upstairs of his habitation, he climbed them slowly and carefully so as to not fall or damage himself anymore and entered the first room with a door. It happened to be a small bedroom with a double bed in the centre and a dainty nightstand that held a lamp, Jason tried the lamp first, flicking it on and being surprised at the dull yellow light it kicked out. He dove onto the bed next and sighed at the comfort it gave him. He got to his feet again quickly, in fear that he'd drop off to sleep before seeing the entire house. The next door led into a bathroom that was simple but elegant, there was a corner shower, a toilet and a washbasin with a small cupboard in the corner where Jason resolved to store his clothes. That was the whole of the upstairs aside from a storage cupboard filled with towels at the end of the hallway. It was small but good enough for him as he dug himself out a towel and stripped his dirty clothes into a pile on the floor. Cautiously he climbed into the shower and lavished the water as it fell around him. After a good soak he left his dirty clothes on the floor and crawled into bed, abandoning the towel to the floor and sleeping naked in the soft sheets.

He awoke a couple hours later to darkness. His first instinct was to sit up and look around and he discovered the curtains to his room were still 0pen, outside the stars twinkled brightly and clouds collected over the moon. He reached out beside him to wake Cassie only to have his hand fall onto the empty bed and an empty feeling sunk into his stomach. Cassie would've loved it, the view of the stars from her bed. He got to his feet and a chilly blast of air made him shiver, he drew the blanket up off the bed with him and exited the room into the hall. He took the stairs carefully again then found his way over to his backpack and rummaged inside. He couldn't find any fresh clothes and he realised at the last minute that the reason for this was that he didn't have any, so forgetting the time he dragged himself into the garden and left the gate, walking out onto the sidewalk like a mad man. He found his way down another garden and through a gate then knocked on the door, bunching his blanket tighter round himself. A light flicked on inside and slowly the door was unlocked, "Sorry to bother you but may i borrow some clothes?" He'd spoken before he'd even seen the elderly woman staring at him in confusion. Her hair was bunched up in roller and she wore a pale blue night gown that matched her fluffy slippers. "Hank!" She called at the top of her voice and soon enough he was at the door too, pulling his nightshirt closer around him to block out the nighttime cold. "Christ son, what are you doing on my doorstep at three in the morning. Couldn't it possibly wait until the morning?"
"Three in the morning...." Jason repeated, finally remembering the night sky above him and looking up.
"Hank, he says he wants to borrow some clothes." Mabel explained, placing a tender hand on her husbands shoulder. Hank sighed then stared at Jason. "Poor kid, probably came here without a possession in the world. You hang on there while i go fish you something out." Jason did as he was told, watching as Hank disappeared and Mabel smiled at him sympathetically. A few minutes later he returned with a hand full of clothes. "I ain't sure what'll fit you cause I'm rather a bit larger than you but I've fished you out what I've got to spare. I ain't bothered about getting them back so don't bother yourself with that." Mabel examined Jason's thin complexion and frowned.
"You hang on there a minute son." She pushed past Hank as he handed the pile of clothes to Jason then returned a few seconds after with a pot of something in her hands. "Take our left over meat pie, Hank and I probably won't eat it anyway but you look like you could do with it." Jason nodded as she placed it on top of his pile. "Thank you." He muttered then shuffled back down the yard and disappeared into his own home. Mabel and Hank shared a sympathetic look then disappeared inside too.

After trying on Hank's clothes, Jason discovered that they did indeed not fit at all but he sat at the breakfast bar with the large blue checked shirt tucked into the baggy beige shorts that were held up with a thick brown belt. On his feet he wore Hank's socks which didn't fit too bad but went up past his ankle and stopped in the middle of his shin. He dug into the pie with a fork he'd found in the cutlery drawer and munched on it silently as crickets chirped outside of his window.

The next morning, as soon as the sun had come up Jason left the house and embarked on a mission to secure the things he didn't have. He trampled down the sidewalk to the Main Street and waited outside of a clothing shop for someone to appear and open it up. A woman turned up aground an hour and a half later and let him in as she set up. "I need to buy some clothes but i don't have any money yet...." Jason started and the woman frowned at him in confusion. "Sir, you don't pay here, you use credits." She gestured to his wristband and he offered it to her to scan. "Looks like you've got enough credits to buy yourself a whole new wardrobe." She smiled and he nodded, spinning to take in the vast variety of the shop, "So I can get any of this?" He asked and she nodded, unleashing him to pick out his favourite clothes in the store.

Jason emerged half an hour later with a whole bag full of clothes, he had a simple pair of black leather shoes balanced on top of the pile and he marched proudly down the street to his next destination. He entered the grocery store first, picking out the vegetables that looked the nicest to him until he had a whole rainbow of colourful veg in his hand, he'd collected a couple of ears of corn in the process due to his familiarity with them and had selected a punnet of ripe cherries that he looked forwards to the most. The grocer took the items and scanned them through the system, bagging them for him and sliding them across the counter for him to take. He scanned his wristband and the grocer nodded to signal that his payment had been taken. Jason emerged from the store feeling like he was living in the future. He crossed into the butchers and purchased some steak and chicken then made his way home, spotting a laundrette as he passed back onto his street. Hank's wife was in the front yard this time, plucking some weeds from the dirt and grunting with the effort as Jason passed. "Oh, hello Mabel." Jason said as he passed and she smiled wearily and waved. "I can come back and help with that if you like, just let me drop off my shopping." She stood up and held her back, stretching out the stiffness as she did. "Oh no need son, I'm plenty fine." She smiled kindly and Jason felt warmed inside, like people were really making an effort to make him feel welcome. "Well, I'm gonna come over and help anyway, its the least i can do for the help you gave me last night and maybe you can teach me the recipe for that pie while I'm over." Mabel chuckled and nodded, dusting her hands off then taking a step back as Jason disappeared inside. "Sure thing kiddo." She mumbled as Jason reappeared in the baggy clothes of her husband.