Free Snow & Ash: Endless Winter by Theresa Shaver

in some sort of order. Matty had fussed until we set him free from his baby seat and now he’s trying to climb every pile in the place. I feel like I’m spending more time pulling him away from stuff than getting anything put away so I give up and just grab him and fly him over my head like an airplane. His shrieks of happiness soothe the burn in my chest that never seems to go away completely. I keep waiting for the cops to show up and arrest us for looting the store but the hours drag on and no one comes. I’m also waiting to feel sick. I don’t know anything about radiation or how it works or what it does to a person, but Daniel said it was a really bad way to die. The more time that goes by and I feel fine, the more I wonder if maybe he was a crackhead that didn’t know what he was talking about. Or maybe he knows what he’s talking about and we’re safe in this concrete room. I guess there’s no way to know.
    “Rex, watch out for those diaper boxes!” Belle calls out as my foot catches the corner of one and I almost drop Matty. The place is a total mess with hardly any clear floor space. I don’t know how we’re going to be able to stay in here for a couple weeks without going crazy. I bounce Matty on my hip as I look around the room. Grey painted cinderblock walls with posters reminding employees to wash their hands stare back at me. There’s a scratched up fake leather couch against one wall currently piled high with winter clothes. A short kitchen counter with a small sink and two microwaves stacked on it has some cupboards that we can fill up and a staff room table that seats six. The other wall is filled floor to ceiling with staff lockers and is interrupted by a door that leads to a tiny bathroom. The whole room is maybe twenty by twenty and with the four of us and all the supplies we’ve gathered and dumped in it, I can’t even think of how we will be able to stay here for so long.
    This is stupid! We need to get out of here and see what’s going on out in the world. I’m just about to tell Belle and Sasha how that Daniel guy was probably a crackpot when yelling and a crash comes from out in the store. We all freeze in place as the sounds of people get louder and it doesn’t sound like happy shoppers out there.
    Belle dashes over to the table and reaches for the lanterns that light the room. She’s waving frantically at me to get to the other lantern on the counter as she turns the flame down low so the room is hardly lit at all. I do what she wants but I don’t really know why until she comes over and scoops Matty away from me. She digs a handful of gold fish crackers out of an open bag and transfers them to Matty’s sticky hands as she whispers to me.
    “The light might show around the cracks of the door. We don’t want anyone to know we’re in here!”
    I glance at the door for a second and then back at her.
    “Do you really think that guy knew what he was talking about? I mean how would he even know if all that stuff was true?” Maybe one of us should go out and check things out.”
    Belle is shaking her head even before I can finish talking. She opens her mouth to reply but before she could say anything there is a scream of anger much closer. The sound of a woman’s voice coming through the door is shrill as she yells.
    “You can’t keep it all! We need things for OUR families too!”
    We all have our eyes glued to the door in shock. Her voice sounds like she is right outside the staff room. There’s another crash and a bang of a door hitting a wall before a pain filled wail erupts from the woman. I turned back to Belle in scared confusion as the wailing moves away. Belle’s face is filled with terror and her eyes are huge as she lifts a shaking hand and puts a finger to her lips in a “shhh” gesture. I slowly nod my head and glance over to Sasha. The poor girl is down on the floor between piles of supplies. She’s got her knees drawn up and her head down on them as she rocks