Unfortunate

Chapter 8: Blake

After about five minutes of sitting on the ground and staring blankly at the others, I got up and went to explore the mansion Maggy and Jack once called home. I took the bag of food from Lisa and carried the box with me. The corridors were dark, but I didn't have a hard time seeing in the dim lighting. I found my way to the kitchen and put down the bag and box. I looked around in the cupboards for anything useful. I didn't dare open the fridge, knowing that everything in there would be rotten by now. I mean, it had been a month since the elderly couple had been back at their house.

I opened the drawer closest to the sink and found a bunch of knives and forks. In the next drawer, there were a bunch of spoons and cooking utensils. I found a pair of scissors and used them to open the box fully. It had been taped shut but the one side had been damaged, seeing how Lisa spotted the cans. I cut along the tape with the scissors, opening it up to look inside.

Inside the box was a bunch of newspapers. On top were two silver cans. Wrapped inside one of the newspapers was a framed photograph of what appeared to be a combined family. I brought it over to the window above the sink that was letting in some moonlight to look at the photo. They looked to be at some sort of beach in the middle of the day, all smiling and happy. They were all probably dead now, considering the one man standing next to a young girl looked like the infected guy from the vehicle.  I kinda felt bad, so I put the photo down on the counter and continued to look around inside the box.

I pulled out a box of granola bars. That was a good sign. At least they had put food more in here. I continued until I pulled out a little music box. Inside the music box was a beautiful gold bracelet with a quote on it. I held it out against the window so I could read it. Take what life gives you it read. I put the music box down and shoved the bracelet into my pocket. Maybe Lisa or Bev would like it.

I had failed to notice before that under the little music box was a bag of marshmallows. If only I could say thank you, I thought, to the people who packed this box. I threw them inside my backpack and looked back inside the box. Nothing else was in the box so I put the box down on the ground and grabbed the bag so I could sort out what we had.

The first thing I touch is wet. I gagged and pulled my hand away from the bag. I look inside holding my nose. Soggy brown lettuce. Yuck.

I grabbed tongs from one of the drawers and threw out the lettuce into the garbage that smelled even worse. When I found the tongs, I also found a working flashlight. I took stock of what else was in the bag, then counted it up to distribute it. Four cans of cream corn, a chocolate bar that I would probably take for myself, some gummy bears, three cans of vegetable soup and another box of six granola bars. I would give the vegetable soup to Jack, Maggy and Cindy, then the cream corn to Lisa, Bev and I. Then everyone would get two granola bars, and I would give Bev the gummy bears. It's not a lot, but it's a lot more than we had before. We would need to restock in about a couple days, but it's a big start to something we didn't have before and needed. I would search the rest of the kitchen in the morning. There had to be some other food here somewhere. I put all the food back into the bag and walked back to the living room where Bev and Lisa were.

I went back to the main entrance and everyone was gone, the house silent. They probably found rooms with a bed to sleep on for once. The house was dark now, so I turned on the flashlight. I continued through the house on the main floor, but all the rooms were empty. I walked up the stairs, carrying the bag in my left hand, the flashlight in my right.

I got up the stairs and found Jack and Maggy peacefully asleep in the first room to the left. I continued to the next where I found Beverly snuggling her teddy bear in a small greyish blue room. I walked in and opened her bag which sat on the dresser. I looked around the room quickly with the flashlight, seeing a little mermaid poster on the wall and some older dolls sitting on a shelf on the wall. I put the cream corn and one of the granola bars inside.