Miranda(on hold)

Chapter Five

Soon enough, Miranda found herself alone again. Percy came too, but the feeling she had was lonely and empty. She had left to find food for dinner. Ariana had insisted that Josh stay with her in case she needed 'Emergency Medical Help'. Miranda didn't know why she couldn't help her if she needed 'Emergency Medical Help', but she knew that Ariana was just using an excuse to stay with Josh. And when Ariana had her excuses, there was no way she'd admit that you were right.

She was now heading towards a massive pile of rubble where the supermarket stood before. She took a shopping cart that had strayed into the parking lot with her. She rolled it behind her. Percy stayed in the parking lot sniffing some old to-go bags from fast food restaurants. Miranda walked towards the rubble and left the cart out by an abandoned car. 

She stepped into the site, and started lifting pieces of wall, roof, and shelving that had food underneath. She gathered a package of granola bars,oranges, some packs of gum, a candy bar, and a cake from the in-store bakery. Her arms were now full, so she made her way back to the cart and placed the food inside. 

She walked back to the site and picked out more food. Macaroni and cheese in a box, bread, soup, more water bottles then she could count, and more granola bars. 

"What else?" Miranda looked at Percy. He seemed to look at her as though she was forgetting something. "Ah! Dog food!" She turned back around and stepped over a fallen cash register that had money spilling out of it. Her reflex was to gather it all. She stopped herself mid-reach realizing that they didn't have to pay for things anymore. Since they were the only survivors, they would be the ones controlling things. Now there was no price. You didn't need a job or anything. 

Miranda's focus suddenly turned to Percy again. He was barking. 

"Percy! What could you possibly be barking at?" Miranda called out to him. A squirrel was running across the street with a walnut. "Percy! Leave the squirrel alone, darn it!" He chased after it. Miranda's heart dropped in a sense that Percy just ran away, but she knew he would be back. He always comes back. 

She turned back around to look for dog food. Walking over to a sign that read 'Aisle 6 Pet Toys, Pet food, Cat litter' That would be it. She lifted the sign. Underneath was a huge amount of cat food and dog food. She dragged three huge bags of dog food from the rubble to the shopping cart. Realizing that Bootsie would need food too, she grabbed five bags of cat food, since they were smaller. 

Miranda wheeled  the cart out of the parking lot.

"Percy! Come back!" she called. She waited. He didn't come. She started walking back to Josh's basement thinking maybe he ran all the way back. He was smart after all, he always knew where to go.  

In Josh's Basement

"What the heck is taking Miranda so long? I'm starving!" Ariana cried out almost like she was about to die of hunger.

"I'm sure she'll be back soon." Josh reassured her. "Do you think she's alright?" 

"Yeah she'll be fine. I mean, what can hurt her? We're the only people alive. There's nothing to worry about unless there's a zombie invasion." Ariana rolled her eyes. 

"Yeah. Would you mind if I left to check on her though? I would really like to make sure." He looked at Ariana with a polite smile. Ariana looked down to pick at her nails.

"Why would you? I already told you she's fine! I don't see why in the world she would need you to come help her. I mean, she's only getting food for tonight! That's it!" Ariana looked back up. Josh was already gone. 

"Josh! Josh! I am not kidding get your butt back here right now!" Ariana yelled at the top of her lungs.

Josh ran down the street frantically looking for Miranda. He cared about her way more then both Ariana and Miranda thought. 

"Miranda? Are you there?" He was alarmed. Looking around the corner, he spotted her. She was walking down the middle of the road looking down a street.

"Percy!" he heard her calling out. Josh walked over to her while she was still peering down the street. Three feet away from her, she turned her head back. She jumped. 

"Josh!" she put her hand on her heart. "You scared the crud out of me! Why aren't you with Ariana? I..I thought she needed you or something."

"Yeah, but I was worried. I wanted to come see if you were okay." He smiled at her. 

"Aww, that's so sweet. But really, I am. Percy might not be though. He ran after a squirrel over at the store, and I haven't seen him since." Her eyes filled with worry. He heard fear in her voice. Tears rolled down her face. He pulled her towards him. She rested her head on his shoulder while she cried. He nudged her chin up to look at his face.

"I'm sure he's alright. He might have even come back to my basement. Who knows? Nothing can really harm him right now. We'll get him  back. I promise." His smile made her warm inside. She even smiled herself. Not a fake 'sure he will be' smile, but a genuine smile.