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Chapter 10: Adaptation

The crash was loud and forceful. I braced myself for the attack of the masked men. When they didn't come, I peered over the desk. They were all gone. I wondered what the crash was, then I spotted a squirrel sitting atop a broken cash register. Wow. "The men must have given up..." Inferred Benjamin. "Uh huh." I get up slowly and shoo the squirrel away. It runs into a back room. How gross. I remind myself not to go in there, for fear of stepping in its dung. Besides, if there's one, there has to be more. The window seemed to be holding up fine, it was just smudged and scratched. I grab a chip bag from a rack next to me, and open it. "Seriously. You're eating chips?" Asks Ben. "That's literally all we've eaten for days!" "What can I say? It's my weakness!" I respond, munching happily. He grabs a granola bar. 

We then decide that it's best to barricade the door with something more stable. We take a shelf full of candy bars and carefully replace the chairs with it, making sure it won't budge. It was stubborn and hard to move, but worth it for safety. We checked the rest of the windows to make sure they were locked, and found some glue that we could use to seal a couple of cracks. We proceeded then to clear off a spot to rest in a back room, other than the one with the squirrel den. Using some of the chairs that were next to the door we create two bed frames, and we take at least 6 bags of cotton balls from a first aid rack to use as a mattress and pillows. It wasn't the best, but it would work. 

I'm surprised how much is in this store. It's kind of like a small Walgreens mixed with a 7/11. The only issue we had, was that this place was just as obvious, and at night, it is harder to see the masked men. We decide to use our back room/bedroom as a hide out shelter at night, and make it a rule that we never leave the room when it gets dark. It would be hard getting used to living in such a confined space, with such a danger all around us, but we have to get used to it. When the sun sets, we shut and lock the door, and block it with a desk we found in the corner. It would take a lot of artillery to get to us, I think. I'm just surprised no one has been here yet. 

"Do you think they'll assume we left?" I ask Ben. "No idea, I hope so though." I climb onto my makeshift bed and he sits down next to me. "Promise me you won't leave." He says. "That's all I ask, Margaret." "I won't, I promise. I would do anything that you ask to repay you for what you did for me. I wouldn't have lived without you." "I couldn't live without you" He responds, and we kiss again, this time, it was less of a choice, and more of an instinct. We fit together perfectly. 

He hugs me tightly for a while after that, as I snuggle against his chest. Then we part and he lays down on his "bed" "Goodnight Mar..." He yawns. "Goodnight Ben." I respond. For a while after that I try to sleep, but sleep doesn't come. I was too worried about Ben, and everybody else that was still alive. I hoped they were okay. I knew my mother could fend for herself in the house, but there was still room for doubt, and in the back of my mind, I wanted to go back to her. I wonder if she is worried about me, then I realize that of course she is. Ugh, I should have left a note! I knew I couldn't go back now, so I tried to push the idea out of my mind. I was also worried for Diane, and was wondering where she was now. Things like this just kept running through my head, no matter how much I longed to rest. Let's just say, I didn't sleep at all that night.