Suspension

Chapter 7

The pharmacy was as bright as it ever was. As I walked behind the counter to get some antibiotics, I felt around in my pocket for a slip of paper. I found it, read it and put it back in my pocket. I emptied rows and rows of the antibiotic bottles into my bag next to the pads and started looking around.

After a moment, I finally found what I was looking for, and dropped ten packets into my bag. At that exact second, Reece popped his head around the door to check on me.

"You ok?" He asked me. He frowned when he realised that I wasn't in the section labelled 'Antibiotics'. I stood up and shook dust off my butt.

"The others still aren't here yet?" I asked. He shook his head in confusion. We had no working phones and we had no idea where they were. I zipped up my bag and heaved it onto my back.

"I really hope that they're alright."

I followed Reece out of the shop, past the Freezie customers and through the automatic doors. Our car was parked out front in the prime position that most people used to fight over to get into the pharmacy and get out without having to walk a long way. Lucky for us, at about 8:15 AM there were no other moving cars on the road.

I closed the car door as I hopped into the passenger seat. Carolyn's head popped up next to me from the back seat.

"You got everything we needed?" I asked her. She was in charge of grabbing heaps and heaps of deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste and any other necessities. She perused the bag and then nodded.

"When will the others be here?" Carolyn demanded. I shook my head as I leaned it back against the headrest. Reece jumped into the driver's seat and paused to look at me before starting up the car.

"Reece, we are going to go to Carolyn's house first and wait for the others there. I know that my house is closer but I don't want to go back there," I turned to Carolyn again, "Carolyn, you have to be prepared for the worst. You know what's out there and your parents will most likely by Freezies and/or could be Shadow food."

Carolyn's bottom lip quivered and I sighed.

"I'm sorry, Carolyn.... But I just need you to consider that before you go ahead and hope that they're alive. That goes for Alex and the others too. You know what is out there and hopefully they're fine but they were supposed to meet us here and they aren't here and what does that look like to you?"

This was turning out harsher than I planned for it to be. Reece quietly manoeuvred the car down the road.

"So which street is the Riley house on?" Reece asked. I was surprised that he knew Carolyn and Alex's last name was Riley. "Hey, I pay attention sometimes!"

"72 Valerie Place," I whispered.

"And away we go..." Reece muttered.

The rest of the car trip was silent.

*

The hedges that were a replacement for the white picket fence that used to run along the edge of the Riley property were two metres tall. There was a gap large enough for two people to fit through covered by a garden door which was in turn covered by ivy.

That led us through to a garden of trees of different species which were strewn through with bright fairy lights. It was like a personal forest and I had always loved coming here.

On one side of the garden, there was a swinging chair and a hammock. On the other side there was a little waterfall which fell into a pond full of goldfish. There was a timer attached to the back so it turned on and off at certain times during the day.