Out of Time

Chapter 7

"Mackenzie, are you alright? There is no one there," he looked behind him then cautiously back at me.

I squinted my eyes while looking back at the street, not only was it not my mom but Owen was right. There was no one there. What the hell?

"Alright, well, I don't really know what to say," my voice trailed off.  I was thoroughly embarrassed that I had just freaked out like that. 

"Right, so let's try and think of a plan."

"A plan definitely sounds like -- a plan?" It came out more like a question because it was a ridiculous thing to say. A plan sounds like a plan? No shit! 

"Clearly I will be the brains behind this operation," he said it with a smile but it was a clear jab at my lack of intellect in this moment. 

I couldn't even find it in me to be mad at the comment, it was true. Too much had happened for me to remain rational or even moderately intelligent.

Owen started again, "The guy on the radio was going on and on about different ways to stay safe. Then the lady on the next station was saying the same stuff. I don't know if they were reading from a script or if it's really the best plan of action."

"I heard it on my way here, too. Prepackaged food, bottled water only, stay inside with doors and windows locked." 

Except here we stood, out in the open air, middle of Nowheres Ville. 

"Key points being inside with locked doors and windows. So a house, obviously. We can lock the front door, board up the windows. Simple." He made a move towards his car like it was a definite.

"I agree with that, except," another awkward pause, but this one was necessary, "what if we tried something like a Walmart or a Costco?" The conversation from the car ride to the cabin was still fresh in my mind. It ran over and over on a loop while I drove here to meet Owen. 

"Definitely could see that working," his eyes met mine and he almost looked proud.

"I'm just thinking because it has food, water, bathrooms, new clothes. Everything we need. Plus, there are hardly any windows so that will save us the task of boarding them up."

"We just have to figure out how close to the closest one we are and make sure we can get there without running into any trouble."

We both looked down at our phones simultaneously. I knew there was at least one Walmart about twenty minutes from my house.  The downside of knowing that was lacking the knowledge of where I currently was.

Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to start back at my house. I could map it from our current location, get myself reoriented with my surroundings.  Plus, I could pick up some pictures of my family to soothe the ache of them being gone. 

"There's one just about an hour from where we are now. Close to Reedsville," he flipped his phone over to show me the map.

"That's the one I was thinking about. My dad and I," my voice broke at the thought of my dad, "um, yeah I'm familiar with that one." 

Maybe going to the house now wouldn't be such a good idea. I couldn't even handle bringing him up in a conversation, never mind seeing his face in pictures.

"Mack, I'm going to be honest. I don't think I can handle going back to my house just yet. Their bodies are probably still warm," he shuddered as he said this, "but if we try your house, we can stock up on a few things before we head to the store. In case we run into any trouble on the way, I want to be prepared."

"I think you lost me. Why do we need to stock up on anything if we are going to a store that has everything we need?" My mind was a little fuzzy after thinking of daddy.