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ALEXA SLIPPED IN TO the mechanic’s garage, leaving the roll up door wide open, about four feet off the ground. She had spied her ride in the dim interior, when she had driven past the closed shop with an injured Peet in the back seat. Now, she returned to the building. It had taken some prying with her swiped hammer, but the door had finally given way, and now she stood in the dusty interior, letting her eyes adjust to the shade. The garage had the feel of a museum, or maybe the Rapture. Tools and tool chests lay open and scattered about on work benches, as though the men and women who had been working there had left for lunch and were about to return. The inch-thick coat of dust gave away the truth, however. Everyone quit on the same day and the owner had locked the doors and walked away.
In the corner sat a lawn mower. It was an old riding lawn mower, but still...if it worked it would mean transportation. The mower was a dull red colour and coated in grey dust. Dried grass clippings clung to the mower deck, the consistency of straw. As Alexa moved, dust motes swirled into the air, shimmering in the weak light shining down from the fixed window panes. Alexa ran over to the machine and wiped the dust off the seat with her hand, then climbed on board. The keys were in the ignition. Smiling with glee, she turned the key. Nothing happened. She tried again, holding it in the start position, but all was silent. The gauges shifted though, so she knew the battery had power.
Puzzled, she hopped off the tractor and pulled on the seat. It swung up on hinges to reveal the battery. On the underside of the seat was a diagram showing how to start the tractor. The image showed a seated person pushing on a floor clutch. Avalon put the seat back down and then climbed back onto the split vinyl covering then pressed down on the silver button on the floor and turned the key. The tractor whined but did not catch. Avalon got off once again and twisted off the knob for the gas tank. She could not see any gas and the float was way down the tube.
Alexa wandered around the garage, looking for a jerry can of gasoline. Her eyes locked on a high shelf where she saw a red plastic container tucked back into a corner behind some machine parts. She climbed up the outside of the shelving and reached for the can. It was heavy. She placed it on a lower shelf and then climbed down one level at a time, shifting the can at each level until she was back to the cement. Grabbing the container she hurried back to the lawn tractor. She pulled out the plastic fill nozzle and took a sniff. It was gasoline. She filled the tank to the brim then closed the jerry can, tying it on the back of the tractor. The extra fuel would be needed.
Jumping back in the seat, she depressed the clutch then turned the key. Nothing happened. She tried again, and then again, and on the fourth turn of the key, the engine caught and the lawn tractor roared to life. Black smoke billowed out the exhaust and the tractor rattled as she shoved it into low gear. She drove forward slowly as she weaved in and out of the detritus stacked through the garage. She cut her turn short and the mower deck plowed into a stand with tools on it, sending them crashing to the floor. She swiped a bag of wrenches as she drove past the mechanic’s chest, and placed it on her lap before she roared out of the opening. Once free of the garage, she put the lawn mower in to high gear and drove down the laneway past the house and into the field at the back. Cross-country would be much faster than sticking to the roads, and she could see the church at the edge of town, the cross on the spire clearly visible over the low brush marking the divide between abandoned fields.
She was out in the open, anyone could see her, but she could also see anyone approaching, so safety was guaranteed at least until she got closer to her objective. She knew the way to the cache of medical supplies, once she reached the church. The route was a familiar one and she planned to stash the riding lawn mower in a place only she would find it. The machine bucked under her on the uneven ground, and she rocked as she steered, thinking through her plan.
Alexa was excited at the thought of finally seeing Gabriel again. He really did look like Nivens, so the name fit. He had the same distracted air and his eyes would grow so large when worried. He was super funny, too. She laughed so much when she was around him. She didn’t care so much for his older brother, but she would put up with him to be able to spend time with Gabriel.
The stash was located in the base of the church, of all things. The church was not abandoned, in fact, it was still very much operational. They ran a spartan soup kitchen in the church, but with food in such short supply, the hours were sporadic. A sign would go out on the street and the line ups would start almost immediately. The food would be gone within two hours. But the sign really wasn’t needed. The smell of the food cooking would be enough to gather a crowd.
Avalon hoped that tomorrow would not be a soup kitchen day, although the crowd might hide her. She nervously nibbled on her lower lip as she thought about her plan. She would sleep tonight by the dry well and hide the tractor under the rotting bale of hay. She could climb under the hay as well. It would keep the night time chill off too. Her back pack bounced on her back as she went over a big bump. It was mostly empty, in order to carry the medical supplies back to Peet.
Alexa traveled for two hours without incident. The sun stroked its way to the horizon, swimming through the shimmering late day haze, which darkened to purple as she arrived at her chosen campsite. The abandoned farmhouse was a pile of burnt rubble, the victim of a vandal’s fire several years ago. The barn had collapsed with age and grass grew through the twisted wood beams. The metal roofing had been scavenged long ago. The barn looked like the bones of a dragon, bleaching under an unforgiving sun. She bypassed the buildings and pulled around the back side of the barn, where several round bales were stacked, and pulled up beside the hay. She turned off the lawn mower and the roar died. She would need to let it cool down as the exhaust was too hot to go under the bales.
She got off the mower and wandered over to the well. A metal pipe with a long handle stood over the well cap. Alex slid the pack from her back and then unzipped it, sliding her hand inside to search for her water bottle. She flipped the lid then took a swig. She was very thirsty. She gulped two swallows of the liquid and then placed the bottle under the spout and began pumping the handle. It creaked and screeched, stiff with disuse. Every time she stopped at the old farm, she tried the well, and every time it came up dry. The pump stuck and she put the bottle down on the cement lid then took the handle in both hands and shoved with all her weight. The lever resisted her efforts. She pushed it up to eye level then pulled down, and with a twang it shifted. The whole pump shifted and the handle dropped. Surprised, she stumbled and nearly fell. Alexa straighted and moved the handle. Now it moved with ease, up and down, with hardly any resistance at all. Grinning, she pumped up and down, and slowly resistance built. She reached down and grabbed her water bottle as a gush of water exploded from the end of the pipe. It was short lived. A half dozen strokes later, the water trickled away, but it was enough to fill her bottle and dunk her dusty face underneath, before the water stopped flowing.
She carried the precious liquid back to the hay stack. She screwed the lid on tight, then grabbed her pack and burrowed into the hay bale to create a nest for herself. She crawled back out and pushed the tractor up against the hay bale then pulled down a bunch of the loose cuttings to hide the tractor. She crawled back inside the spoiled hay and settled down to rest. She drew the top of her shirt over her nose to filter the dust while she slept.
In the morning, she would get the supplies Peet needed. Alexa mulled over her plans as she settled down to sleep, watching the day fade to night. She did not want anyone to know she had been there, near the church. A young girl alone on the streets of Solace was begging for more trouble than they could handle. The times she had left the barn on the Gainsborough Manor, she had made sure she was never seen, not by Avalon, not by anyone. Except for Gabe. Thoughts of Gabe made her smile and she drifted off to sleep with his face in her mind.