Jack inched the boat towards the large sign for gas at the end of the middle dock. They drove up to two teenagers in resort uniforms who were lounging in collapsible patio chairs, water bottles drenched in condensation in their hands. The first one held her hand over her eyes, shading her view from the sun and peering at them. She had a perky blond ponytail, white shorts, and an upside down name tag that read ‘Sara.’
The other teenager was missing a name tag and looked just out of puberty, with slender legs and knobbly knees. His expression was full of boredom, and he kept looking down at his phone even after Jack had jumped out to fasten the boat to one of the dock anchors.
The girl got to her feet and looked at them with her hands on her hips. “One fill-up only, nothing extra. Fuel is subject to a thirty percent upcharge. Resort rules. Not my rules. No complaining, you hear?”
A tank would be enough to go across the lake a few times, but it wouldn’t be anywhere close to what they’d need to make it all the way to Hope’s End. “You two are still working? What’s been happening here?”
“Just because the world is going to shit doesn’t mean we don’t need to work for a living.” She ran a discerning eye over their speedboat. “At least for some people. And nothing’s been happening, other than a bunch of stranded tourists going stir-crazy. They’re starting to get rowdy, complaining to the staff. Like we can do anything. We’re not the ones blowing up cars and planes.”
“No violence?” Jack questioned.
The other teenager looked up from his phone. “Why, are you coming from violence?” There was a glint in his eyes that Logan didn’t like.
Jack looked away.
The girl snorted. “Don’t mind Matt. He’s convinced the world has turned into a video game, talking about levels and weird shit. By the way,” she said, looking at Logan. “I love the outfit.”
Logan glanced down at his orange kitten-patterned swim trunks. To be honest, he’d forgotten about them after everything. But he supposed swim trunks and a tailored dress shirt weren’t exactly normal.
“Thanks,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
The other kid went back to scrolling through his phone, apparently deeming them uninteresting.
Based on their blasé response, it sounded as if nothing had attacked the resort yet. The kid may know something from scrolling through social media, but there was nothing like the reality of being attacked by a monster on steroids.
Logan used [Idiot’s Inspect] on the two kids.
[Sara Tarner: Level 0]
[Matt Almaton: Level 0]
Just as he suspected. He didn’t like how unprepared and defenceless they both were. “About the gas… is there any way around that rule? I was hoping to pick up enough fuel to get to Hope’s End.”
“Everybody and their dog needs fuel, Mr. Swim Trunks. If we let everyone take what they wanted, there wouldn’t be any left.”
Jack lowered his voice. “Let’s just get the fuel and food and get out of here.”
“You can’t get food here,” said the other teenager without looking up from his phone.
“Food is limited to guests only,” clarified the girl. “The resort is worried about running out.”
“What about Martin’s Convenience?” asked Logan.
She raised her eyebrow. “You’re a local, then?” Martin’s Convenience was out of the way, on the edge of the resort. Tourists tended to stick to the touristy-shops with their marked-up prices, but Martin ran his own store, independent from the resort owners.
“Martin’s Convenience was around back when I was your age.” Logan glanced at Jack who was staring at the resort with a far-away look. “Jack, can you pay the lady?”
The girl smirked at her companion. “I’m a lady, Matt.” She raised her voice. “Do you have cash?”
Jack paused with this hand on his wallet. “Only some. Are the machines down?”
“Sara,” the other teenager warned.
The girl shot him an annoyed glance. “Fine. No, the resort still insists that credit is fine.” She mumbled to herself, “A bit short-sighted, if you ask me.”
The girl had a point. If the power went, no one would be buying anything electronically. They might not be as defenceless as they seemed.
Logan let Jack fill up the tank and then addressed both kids, trying to come across as concerned and yet non-judgmental. Kids could sniff out judgement from a mile away. “You asked us if we came from violence.” Logan paused, letting the other teenager look up from his phone. “We did. We lost someone, and not through exploding cars or planes…” Logan looked at Jack and softened his voice in apology. “Although we lost someone that way too. You both need to find weapons, something that you can use to defend yourself. When shit starts here, it’s going to be bad.”
The girl seemed to sober. “Other people?”
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“No. Although that might come too. The animals aren’t normal. This System—the one that’s sent you messages? It’s done something to the wildlife. I’ve been attacked three times and I barely escaped with my life.”
The girl gave him a skeptical look.
“Believe me, don’t believe me, that’s entirely up to you. But I’m not crazy, and I’m not saying this to scare you. Find a weapon, find something to defend yourself with. You don’t want to end up facing whatever comes bare-handed.”
Logan jumped back into the boat and lifted the shopping cart onto the dock and then grabbed his baseball bat. The other teenager fully abandoned his phone and gave an appreciative whistle. “Cool weapon. Did you make it yourself?”
Logan grimaced in response.
“Should I…?” Jack asked, gesturing to his hidden shotgun.
Logan nodded.
When Jack jumped back onto the dock with the shotgun swung over one shoulder, the girl took a step back, her expression wary. The other teenager looked even more interested.
“If you’re staying here, will you watch our boat for us?” Logan asked.
“That’s not our job,” said the girl.
Logan nudged Jack. “Give her some cash.”
Jack scowled. “I’m not your piggybank,” he said, but he still handed her a twenty-dollar bill before reaching into the boat to grab the pink backpack. The butterflies sparkled in the sun. The male teenager scrunched his nose and looked as if he was re-assessing his first impression.
“That’ll give you an hour,” she said, tucking the cash into her pocket and seeming to brush off her wariness. “We’re not responsible for what happens if you go past the time limit.”
“That’s fair. Come on, Jack.”
The dock was hot against his bare feet. After all his preparation, he couldn’t believe that he’d forgotten shoes. Logan was surprised the girl hadn’t gawked at his missing toe. She’d probably been too distracted by the swim trunks. “We need to find a way to get more gas.”
“Why the insistence on fuel?” Jack asked.
“Lara might need me. Without a car, driving the boat to Hope’s End is the easiest way to reach her.”
“We could always steal it.”
Jack had said that with a straight face, not a hint in his voice that he was joking. “Are you serious?”
“It’s just two teenagers. What are they going to do?”
“I’m not doing that.”
Jack sighed. “Because your morals won’t let you? Come on, man. It’s a new world. It sounds like the tourists here are worried about their missing cars rather than survival. If we have an advantage of knowledge over them, it was hard earned.” Jack’s last words were hollow.
“We’ll find another way.” The girl had reminded him of his niece. He wasn’t going to scare them by stealing from them. What, was Jack going to point his shotgun at them? Lara would never forgive him.
A few of the tourists were milling in a picnic area and gave them incredulous looks as Logan continued guiding the shopping cart over the path that wound around the front of the resort. A paved path soon turned to dirt, narrowed and became filled with boulders and pebbles. It was hell on his feet. The lake was on one side and a steep cliff was on the other, both sides overrun with weeds and tall grass. It was a ten-minute walk to reach Martin’s Convenience and every rustle of the brush and splashing water had Logan hyper-alert.
“Why do you think nothing has attacked here yet?” said Jack. “Those tourists looked worried, but not worried like they should be.”
Logan shrugged and then gave a row of mushrooms growing up the cliff a second glance. They were odd—some kind of mishmash between an oyster mushroom and a bright red spotted mushroom—something you’d expect to see while on an acid trip. “Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe it comes in stages? Or the integration took time to transform certain areas?”
Something rustled underneath a bush and Jack pointed his shotgun at it with a hard look. When nothing jumped out at them, they continued on the path. “Or maybe it was just waiting until we arrived.”
****
Logan hadn’t been to the convenience store in over ten years, but it might as well have been the same store. The same beat-up sign, the same rusted door. A bell jingled as they opened the door, the hum of ice-cream freezers and a rattling air-conditioner greeting them. The store was the size of a small gas station, aisles crammed so tight that you had to inch through each row. He wasn’t expecting much since it was essentially a junk food store, but still, the shelves were surprisingly sparse.
The one thing that was different was Martin himself—he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a young girl with spiky, purple hair and light brown skin peered at them over the counter, her eyes narrowed on their weapons. “The cameras still work, just so you know. No stealing.”
Logan raised his hands. Shit, they should have left them outside, but he hadn’t wanted to take the chance that someone would make off with them. In this new world, their weapons were the difference between life and death. “We weren’t intending to. Where’s Martin? Is he still running the place?”
“That’s what the sign says, doesn’t it?” She straightened. “What business do you have with him?”
Logan sighed. He’d have to get used to people being wary and unfriendly. He supposed it was hard to trust when the world was falling apart. “No business. I remember him from when I was a kid. We’re just doing some shopping….”
Logan blinked at the sign in front of a stack of chips.
Family size bag of chips - $49.99. Buy 2 for $94.99!
“Is this price right?”
Jack peered at the sign and scoffed. “That’s robbery. This ‘Martin’ sure is taking advantage of the situation.”
The girl crossed her arms. “And when do you think we’ll get a resupply? You’re lucky it isn’t more.” Then she pointed to a cardboard sign above the till. It was handwritten in black ink and looked torn off the flap of a cardboard box: CASH ONLY. “There’s an ATM in the corner that still works if you don’t have enough.”
Logan lowered his voice. “Can you afford these prices?”
In response, Jack dropped three bags into the shopping cart. “I hope they have something healthier.” Unfortunately, the best they could find were packets of instant soup. There was candy, jerky, more candy, and a heck of a lot of ice cream.
Logan wandered around the aisles until he came across a small display leaning against one counter. It still had the original prices. Jackpot. Tomato seeds, squash, beets, and raspberries. He doubted many people would be thinking long term, but packets of vegetable seeds would come in handy more than this junk food. Logan took them all. That one discovery might pay for their whole trip.
Jack seemed excited when he found a small package of toilet paper and didn’t even complain about the $76.99 price tag.
All told, the bill came to over $2000. Even though it wasn’t his money, Logan winced on Jack’s behalf.
“Pleasure doing business with you,” said the girl as they wheeled the cart out of the door.
“I’ll bet,” Logan said dryly.
“Let’s get out of here,” said Jack. “I don’t like the look of this fog.”
Logan glanced up from their shopping haul. “What fog….”
What the hell. The sky had been blue with not a cloud in sight when they entered the store, but now a layer of mist covered the whole area. It was hard to see the path in front of them even with his increased perception, and he kept stepping on sharp rocks and pushing the shopping cart into uneven ground.
They followed the path—at least he hoped they did—until the fog slightly dissipated, opening into a flat clearing. The weird freaky mushrooms were back, but this time it was as if they’d entered a mushroom festival. They were everywhere. And inside the clearing, five people milled around with puzzled expressions, staring at their surroundings before narrowing in on Logan and Jack.