The Time

Chapter ten

It was around lunchtime and we'd been walking for miles in the bubbling heat. Everyone was tired so I figured maybe now was a good time to make a pit stop.
Although it was slightly out of our way, I figured the ASDA at Hollingbury was a good a place as any. But nothing could have prepared me what we found in the car park...

"A car?" Destiny stated, holding Lion, unable to keep the shock and surprise from his voice. "A working car?"
"Not just a working car," I grinned from the driver's seat. "A working '57 Chevrolet 150!"
It was beautiful with its sleek black finish and leather seats.
"We'll grab lunch, clean up Lion and head up to London where we can kick Velvet's ass in style." I informed Destiny, getting up and walking to the giant shop.

Sitting by the automatic doors was Wayne Milton. She was a fraction taller than me with long dark blonde hair and big blue eyes. She wore black trainers along with dark skinny jeans, an old baggy top, a light grey jumper with the cuffs rolled, a black vintage leather jacket, giant gold hoop earrings, black eyeliner and a variety of bracelets.

"Ace!" She cried, jumping up from where she'd been playing cards on the floor.
"Wayne." I smiled at my old friend before being pulled into yet another hug.
God dammit.
"You alright?" She asked, releasing me.
"Yeah, only a couple broken bones. Lion isn't so good though." I admitted, picking at the bandage around my hand.
Wayne then noticed Destiny holding my poor little husky and questioned with a frown "And who's that?'
"Ask him yourself." I replied simply.
"What's your name, kid?"
"Destiny." He told her nervously.
"Cool name." She nodded. "Well Destiny, Ace, come in. We've got enough food to feed a fat kid."

Following on, Wayne pulled open the apparently no longer automatic doors and stepped through into the shop itself, closing and locking the door behind her once we were all in.
They'd rearranged the shop since the days when everything was all fine and dandy and it was obvious that people were living here.
The clothes section had in fact been turned into a giant tent, clothing sewn together to make blankets for the walls and ceiling and... Well... Blankets!
The rest of the shop was made up of aisles filled with food, weapons and other resources the people living and working here had managed to scrounge up. It was a convenience store for the end of the world.

"Toilets are through there." Wayne Milton pointed to the right. "Go clean up and there'll be food ready for you when you're out. 5 minute max shower time."
"You saying we smell?" I smiled.
"Yes." She answered bluntly.

The male and female toilets had been joined and a couple of showers and a bath had been added.
"I'll sort out Lion, you shower." I told Destiny and he nodded, walking over to it, a fresh towel hung over the door.
Before entering the shower cubicle though, he paused for a second and said "Thank you."

It took time and a few bandages (and a lot of swearing for my hand) to get Lion looking alive again but, when I was done, she curled up in the now clean and clothed Destiny's lap like a cat.
Stepping into the shower cubicle myself, I carefully pulled off all my clothes and threw them over the door, each hitting the floor (or my friend) with an increasingly loud thud. I then turned to the dials and pondered how the fuck they worked; naked and afraid.
It turned out to be the simple left = pressure, right = temperature, middle = on/off. There was also three huge bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash, each with little Sharpie notes of 'Only use the size of a coin or we'll sell you to Stitch' scrawled on the side.
When I turned it on however, it seemed the only temperatures were Antarctica, or hell.

"Hey Ace?" Destiny questioned suddenly, mid-way through my icy shower singing of Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time.
"Yeah?" I scowled.
"What are Wayne and everyone like? Like... Are they okay? As people?"
"In truth, they all hate each other. But they're all any of them have got so they... Tolerate one another." I replied honestly. "But they can throw a hellofa good party."
"How do you know them anyway?"
"I was part of their 'Squad', back before I was a spy." I shrugged.
"You were a spy!" He almost gasped, making me smile like an idiot (though he couldn't see it). "So why did you leave them?"
"Same reason Stitch did; to find my own way in the world."
"By becoming a spy." He finished for me in awe. "So stitch was part of the Squad as well?"
"Uh huh, you never really leave though." Pause. "There is no escape..."

***

Returning to Wayne and my old friends, Destiny went from being a chatty Cathy in the toilets to being a bit of a potato on the conversation front. I guess he was shy. Or nervous. Or just socially constipated.

After introductions (with Jeremy, Charlie, Tom, Ken, Chuck and Brenda), lunch and spiked drinks though, I found him to be quite the party animal. I, on the other hand however, found myself throwing up and waking late the next day, though I don't remember how, on top of one of the aisles covered in strange eyeliner and sharpie drawings and glitter, wearing a superhero dressing gown and a cereal box crown with a post-it note stuck to my head reading 'Gone out. Back at 4pm. Lock up if you leave. Destiny is on till 13. Your fingers aren't broken any more (you died).
- Wayne Milton xx'

Ayyy, lads...