Jared was convinced the wealthy were either dead or in the same predicament he faced. The thought of a billionaire scavenging the aisles of Target caused a small smile to crease Jared’s face.
“What?” Stephani asked with a mischievous grin of her own.
Jared shook his head. “Nothing, just so weird—all of this is so weird.” The smile waned as he got to his feet. “Let’s get this over with,” Jared announced tiredly.
Jared and Stephani reached the front of the store without trouble. Jared was about to ensure no one was lurking inside, when he realized standing out front might be worse than walking straight in and getting out of plain view. Once they were inside, Stephani took point, knowing the inside layout of the store better than Jared would have. Women were like that; they could walk into a shopping mall or large store and navigate it like a seasoned mariner on the high seas.
Stephani nearly ran to the middle of the store, where she began stuffing socks into her pack. Once she was finished, she sat and was about to pull on a pair of socks when Jared intervened.
“Here, wash ’em before you ruin a brand-new pair of socks,” he said with a grin, holding out a shirt he’d pulled off a rack along with one of his water bottles.
Stephani hesitated, but only for a second before taking the items and scrubbing weeks’ worth of grime from her feet. When she finished, she sat for thirty seconds and pulled a pair of white athletic socks over her semi-clean feet, stretched her legs out, wiggled her toes, then leaped to her feet, moving to the shoes section. Stephani found a pair of workout sneakers she quickly pulled on.
“Grab another pair,” Jared said in a hushed tone.
Stephani stared at him in the low light before grabbing another pair and stuffing them into her pack. Jared placed a hand on her arm, stopping her. He pulled out a small D ring and clipped it to the outside of her pack, then secured the extra pair of shoes to the D ring by their laces.
“This will leave you more room inside the pack.”
Stephani pulled out a list she’d made before leaving Solar Green. She’d written down Claire’s shoe size and now went about finding them. When she was finished, Stephani had three pairs of shoes hanging from her pack. Next, she grabbed several pairs of pants along with a dozen tops. Jared was relieved to see the woman was shopping for clothing that was more practical than fashionable as he watched her grabbing T-shirts, sweat tops and a couple of hoodies.
Stephani’s pack was full as she guided Jared into the bra and panty section. He turned, deciding to keep a lookout while she did her female base-layer shopping. Stephani grabbed panties and bras, then shoved them into Jared’s chest so he could drop them into his still-empty pack. She didn’t know why, but she enjoyed his unease when handling her undergarments. She didn’t enjoy it in a malicious manner, but more just found his boyish discomfort amusing and maybe a little endearing.
When Jared hefted his backpack onto his shoulders, Stephani gave him a shrug indicating she was finished. Jared turned and moved off toward a sign indicating toiletries. He was relieved to find these shelves fairly untouched, and set about filling his pack with soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes and other items the group sorely needed. Jared stopped at the cologne section, then grabbed a small bottle of Old Spice cologne called Red Swagger. He stuffed the smallish bottle in his cargo pocket and chuckled to himself. He planned on giving it to John as a joke.
While he was toothpaste shopping, Stephani moved to a nearby aisle and returned with her arms full of feminine hygiene products. They were in boxes, which Jared and Stephani opened, removed the contents, then tossed the bulky cardboard packaging. Both Jared and Stephani stuffed the items into Jared’s pack, using the outside pockets as well as the main body of the pack. When Stephani was satisfied with the haul, Jared went back to foraging.
Once he’d gathered as many items as he could think the group needed, without overdoing it, Jared moved back toward the front doors of the store. Jared had nearly reached the front of the store when Stephani tugged on his shirtsleeve, bringing Jared to a halt.
“Shouldn’t we check the food section?” she whispered urgently.
“Sure,” Jared whispered back, adjusting his course away from the front of the store and off to the right side, where he could see signs indicating dairy and meats.
When they arrived in the section for food, they found what Jared figured they would find—nothing. The shelves were stripped clean like the bleached bones of a dead animal in the desert. They walked all six aisles and found not one single edible morsel anywhere. The fact that he was in the store looking for toothpaste and socks gave Jared a sense of accomplishment. The people who stripped these shelves were almost certainly dead, while he was alive and doing rather well considering what he had to work with.
Jared’s analytical mind projected the future as a much safer place than the present time. Once the human population stabilized, the only people left would be those who were not foraging and killing for food, but rather those who were thriving and providing for themselves. They would be the people he and John would seek to form relationships with for trading and security purposes. Now, however, Jared must tread carefully with the foragers and killers still alive and preying on the weak.
After their
