“As a matter of fact, we do. We actually live on the same street.”
Shelley got a good look at John as he addressed her. John looked like he was in his mid thirties. He had that ‘solid’ look, like he could have been a professional athlete or something.
Guess a career in the armed forces will do that for you.
John was a handsome man with a square jaw and a short brown hair sprinkled with hints of grey. Shelley definitely felt attracted to his rugged good looks, and almost missed what he was saying as they arrived at the gym entrance. “We’ve known each other for a few years now – especially our wives.”
Craig nodded and smiled at this. John continued. “We actually spent the last four days in the same house. Right after the hospitals got shut down. Figured it would be safer to hole up together.”
“Sure! My fine selection of whiskeys had nothing to do with it!” Craig piped up. Both men smiled. It was nice to pretend things were normal – even if it was just for a moment.
The team arrived at the gym and stared at all the stuff. There was a lot. Way more than they could inventory in a few minutes.
“All right. Let’s just get a sense of what, and how much, we’ve got here. We’ll come back tomorrow and sort it all out. Sound like a plan?” Craig suggested. The group agreed.
At first, the group just walked around the pallets, trying to figure out what they were looking at. That’s when Joe spotted something. He walked up to a pallet and took a closer look at one of the boxes.
“This is medical stuff!” He turned to Shelley.
“Shelley, you’re a nurse, right? Do you want to take a look at this stuff with me?” Shelley nodded and walked over.
Craig also came over with the clipboard.
“Here.” He stated as he pulled a page from the manifest. “This page is titled ‘Medicine and Medical Equipment’.
Joe smiled at Shelley. “Let’s sort through this stuff and organize it along one of the walls of the gym. I see some fancy looking equipment already!” Shelley smiled in agreement, and they got started.
Ern and John split up and were looking at other pallets. John got to his second pallet when he made a discovery.
“Guys, this pallet has got some weapons and ammunition on it.” Everybody stopped what they were doing and looked at him.
He looked a few more seconds, noting some of the names on the boxes, and gave a low whistle.
“Some good stuff here...”
“Maybe we need to think about putting that stuff somewhere... uh, safe? Out of reach.” Craig suggested. John nodded in agreement.
Craig worked his way around the other pallets over the next few minutes as the rest of the team were checking out all the goodies. The clipboard seemed to suit him well, as he was furiously flipping through pages and checking off items.
Shelley studied Craig while she was checking through the medical materials. He wouldn’t be classified as a great looking man, but then again you would call him ugly either.
There was something about the tall man though. He seemed to carry himself with a bearing that attracted others. His facial features were full of expression and his mannerisms invited friendly behaviour. He also seemed very intelligent, and a bit of a natural leader, considering what had occurred earlier that evening.
Shelley felt that Craig’s most striking feature was his smile. It was infectious. It was one of those smiles that reached the eyes as well as the mouth. Genuine.
He was smiling now.
“Hey guys, I think I hit the jackpot.” With a triumphant motion Craig raised something for all of to see. It was a case of beer.
Joe piped up. “Find me some bourbon in that pallet and we got ourselves a party!” They all chuckled.
The group continued to inventory things for another half hour or so, stopping when Christine Collins walked in and issued a five-minute warning for supper.
Shelley and her group walked back to the cafeteria shortly after, their moods bolstered by their findings. The smell of food reached them as soon as they got to the entrance of the cafeteria. They hastened their steps, realizing just how hungry they were.
The ladies had cooked up chicken breasts and vegetables, and got the deep fryer going so the group had some fries and onion rings as well. There was even desert – there were a couple of flavors of ice cream available. Craig produced the case of beer he had found earlier, and everybody that wanted some beer got some. It struck Shelley as funny that most of their group actually didn’t drink beer. The next half hour was nearly silent as everybody sated their hunger.
Shelley wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe it was the new people, or the perceived safety of the school. Maybe everybody was terribly hungry, or maybe it was just the rush of adrenaline that everybody had experienced through that day – but that simple meal tasted like it was the best food they had had in a long time. Several people commented on how good the food tasted, and the mood of the group seemed buoyed. Most of the group members even smiled at some point during that meal.
Claire was one exception. She just picked at her food. The grandmotherly Nancy sat with her and tried to engage her and encourage her to eat. Bill sat at that table too but looked awkward and pretty much just kept himself occupied with his own meal.
The other exception was track suit girl. She sat by herself and ate her meal in silence.
Wonder what her problem is?
Shelley has seated herself at the same table as the Van Gilze family. She noted that while everybody else was finishing up their meals, Craig was drawing a map of the school on some sheets of paper. Curious, she looked on.
He started with the basement level. First, he drew a rough layout of the basement.
Then, Craig started
