The Host ¤ The Next Chapter

The Host ¤ The Next Chapter: 14

The Host ¤ The Next Chapter: 14

"Okay May, here's your list." Jesse mumbled under his breath, handing over the list of items I would need to pick up.

After an extensive trip through the desert in a pickup truck with Tomas, we'd arrived at a Store. It was basically a giant building with anything and everything inside it. The others who had come with us had ridden in separate vehicles. They ranged from vans to cars. 

Jesse and Tomas were just two of the humans that had come on the raid. Jamie had been able to come because his sister Melanie had agreed to come too. Souls included Calsafer, Sarah, and myself. There were plenty others, but I didn't get their names.

I accept the list and thanked Jesse.

"No problem." he muttered and moved onto the next person.

I looked down at my list and read the items off of it.

Foods:

Milk

Orange juice

Eggs

Margarine

Cottage Cheese

Yogurt

Clothing:

Anything teen sized for girls.

Appearal:

Shampoo

Conditioner

Body Wash

I folded the list up and shoved it in my pocket. I'd changed from the outfit I wore yesterday to a pair of blue jeans and a red blouse. On top my head was a white coxswain's cap and I wore my hair down. Whitney had helped me with my outfit. This morning, she had let me choose at the beginning. Then she had decided that it was better she picked out my outfit. She had told me I had next to no fashion sense. I blamed it on Jenny's memories.

Each of the Souls approached the building at a different time. I was fifth to enter.

The inside of Store was a simple layout---dozens of aisles with shelves up to the cieling. Friendly helpers dotted the floor, ready to assist if you needed anything from one of the higher shelves. I made my way down the front path that ran the entire width of the floor searching for the cleanly labeled 'Frozen Goods'. All the food items I needed would be located in this section. The other Souls in the party split off and went to the different asiles. Each of us had a separate sector to cover.

On my way, I picked up a basket to carry the items much easier once I got them. The Frozen Goods aisle was located on the West side of the store, far from the front doors. I walked briskly to my destination and immediately began gathering the things I needed.

I didn't realize how heavy milk and orange juice was until I picked them up for myself. Jenny's memories had told me they were hefty, but I hadn't believed them until I tried to tug one off the shelf with one hand. I gave up and set down the basket, using both my hands the second time to lift and set it down in the carrying device. I did the same for orange juice, and the rest of the time I carried the basket with both arms, hugged to my chest.

Thankfully, the rest of the food items weren't very heavy. However, I had to be careful about the eggs. They were very breakable according to the label on the top of the carton.

I walked towards the clothing section next. It was located in the middle of Store. The shelves here were divided into cubbyholes where piles of the same type of shirt sat in. The cubbies were organized by age, size, and gender, so all I had to do was locate the teenage section.

Once I found it, I grabbed one of every type of T-shirt in the medium sized section. I took about thirty different designs and styles. I set the neatly folded clothing on the top of the smaller items in the center of the basket.

Now all I had to do was find appearal. I returned to the main path and searched for the 'Appearal' sign. It was on the right side of the building, so it took me time to walk there. 

In the aisle, there was only one type of shapoo. Human brand names had been eliminated. The labels had prevented their society from a higher evolution level, so they had had to go. The conditioner and body wash was the same way.

When all of the list items were in the basket, I started the direction of the checkout. Then I stopped when I remembered Doc's comment about the boy. I turned to face the Medicine aisle. The antibiotics that his patient needed were locked up behind the counter. None of the other Souls had ever been able to get to it because they had never trained as Healers.

I started walking that way.

A lovely clerk greeted me when I got to the counter. She wore a plain white outfit over her yellow-ish tanned skin. Her black hair was chopped in a boy's haircut that suited her.

"Hello, is there something I can help you with?" She asked, blinking her doe-like eyes at me.

I smiled sweetly before speaking. This surprised myself. I had never betrayed my own kind, but Jenny had done it dozen of times in her memories.

"Do you have any Cure or Sick Leaver? My brother's too sick to pick up his medication." I asked politely.

The behind the counter healer's lips twinged and she barely was able to hold her smile. "How do you know about those medications?" She inquired, tilting her head to the side innocently.

"I'm a Healer myself." I answered her honestly.

"Oh, well, why didn't you pick them up while you were at your clinic?" She asked kindly.

"I forgot." I told her, shaking my head and shoulders in a nervous way. "I meant to, but it slipped my mind. I only just remembered while I was shopping."

The Healer's suspicion completely disappeared from her face. "Of course." she breathed. "We have Cure and Sick Leaver. I'll go get them for you."

She turned and went to the locked case behind her, searching for the appropriate medications. While I watched her, I felt guilt start to bubble up in my chest. As a Soul, I knew lying was wrong, but helping the boy was good. Would both actions cancel out or would this stay on my chest? I hoped the first guess was true.

The behind the counter healer turned back around with two silver spray bottles in her hand. She set them on the counter for me and I picked them up. Muttering a quick thanks, I turned to leave the building. I was beginning to get anxious of staying too long in here.

I brushed passed the aisles labeled appliances and cookware. Two aisles on my right after, I turned left to go out a checkout point. It was simply a path between two half-walls that you walked through. Items in your cart were scanned by the monitors. It wasn't like barcodes. This was to keep a count on how much food and clothing the people were consuming, so the factories knew how much they needed to replace.

The door greeters nodded their heads and wished me a good day on my way out. I did the same to them and hurried out the front door.

Around the corner where Tomas had parked, the pack of humans sat around in their vehicles. Tomas was especially happy when I sat down in the passenger seat of his truck.

"You gave me a scare for a moment." He muttered almost breathlessly.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you were the last one to come out." Tomas informed me.

I blinked. I hadn't realized I had taken so much time. "I'm sorry." I replied.

"It's nothing." Tomas shook his head. "I'm just glad you're safe."

I nodded my head and stared forward as he started up the truck. He backed out of the parking space and headed towards the parking lot's exit. The other humans did the same with their vehicles at different times.