The Shelter

CHAPTER THREE: Divide and Conquer

CHAPTER THREE: Divide and Conquer

Mrs. Travis brought me over some beef soup and homemade bread. It was as if I had died and gone to heaven—I never tasted anything so good in all my life. When I had finished, I took my bowl back to the kitchen area. “That was delicious.” I told her.

“Let me get you some more—we’ve got plenty.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll have to give you the recipe…” and then she caught herself and laughed. “I’m sorry, I suppose you won’t be doing much cooking at home anytime soon.”

“No, I doubt it,” I laughed with her. “I’m heading away from home anyhow.”

She stared off into the distance, her face going slack. “We’ve all been uprooted. Where you out of?”

“Upland, California.”

“That’s south of LA, isn’t it?”

“Yes, ma’am, I thank the Pomona Hills for absorbing most of the initial shockwave. I was on the freeway when the blast popped the ground so hard it was like somebody shook out a tablecloth. The manhole covers exploded into the air and one landed on the hood of my car totaling it. I crawled out of my wrecked car and made it down into the sewer system. It saved my life. I was able to get out of the area by following the pipes below ground—miles and miles of pipes—they went over the Grapevine and down into Bakersfield.”

“Did you have family?” Her hand shot to her mouth. “Oh...I apologize. I am notorious for sticking my foot in my mouth. Of course you had family—everybody did.” Her eyes glazed over with a sad, far-away thought.

“Actually, I lived alone—just me and my old dog, Sonny, but I don’t think he made it—the entire area’s a wasteland now.” Ray felt uneasy and looked around. From across the room, he spotted Kyle Walters staring at him intently. Then he slapped his leg, stood, and started to walk over in a huff. He’s probably pissed about me eating the food.

"How long have you known this Kyle guy?"

"Not long. They were new neighbors. That's why we went to the movies together. Kind of a welcoming gesture. I think his bark is worse than his bite."

I decided that now would be a good time to practice my sword work. I set his bowl down and slid my Samurai sword from its sheath, moved into first position, and then in a series of flashing strokes and cuts, went through a rigorous three minute workout. From the corner of my eye, I saw Kyle head in the other direction.

Re-sheathing my sword to the loud applause of all the children, I graciously bowed and smiled in there direction. Katie smiled back, and then lowered her eyes as if embarrassed.

“My, oh, my,” said Mrs. Travis. “You’re a regular Bruce Lee, ain’t ya?”

“I had my own school in LA for over ten years. It’s the one thing I’m good at.”

“You’re good at staying alive, or you wouldn’t have made it this far.”

“Yeah, I guess so—but it hasn’t been easy.”

Mrs. Travis spun the four-pegged handle of a door lock like the kind you see on submarines. “Come here, Ray, I want you to take a look at this.”

She opened the door and stepped inside, I followed her.

Inside, I saw stacks of crates. Several were busted open revealing their contents. “Dehydrated food,” she said, “like the kind the Government uses. There’s crates and crates of the stuff along with bottled water.

“Like I said, you’re blessed. Those people outside would die for this—plenty of them already have.”

“I know,” she said sadly. “But Kyle Walters doesn’t believe in sharing.”

“There was a world full of people out there that thought the same way. They're all dead now...or worse.”

“This—this is what I wanted to show you.”

Ray looked at a crate that was nearly empty. “Yeah, what of it?”

“I didn’t open it. And either did Rose. Somebody’s stealing the food.”