There was a brief silence as they walked along and Annaliese took the opportunity to probe her new companion. “I guess for some of us, it already feels like the world has ended.”
Nick nodded and seemed to stare off into the distance. “Pretty much.”
“You said you had a wife and child?”
Nick looked away from her. “Yeah. Deana and James. They were both infected. I left Deana alive, but James…”
Annaliese put a hand on his back. “It’s okay. I get it. You don’t have to say. I can’t imagine what you went through.
Although, I pretty much can. I know what it’s like to lose a child.
“But,” she continued. “The people in your group seem pretty glad to have you around. Most people are infected or gone, so I guess we should try and count ourselves lucky that we’re still here at all. Least that’s what I keep telling myself. Only thing that’s keeping me from going crazy, to be honest.”
Nick glanced at her. “So, did you lose anybody?”
“Yeah, I lost someone. But not because of all this. Guess I’m lucky that none of this horror has directly affected me like it has other people.”
“I don’t think anybody is lucky anymore. I’m sorry for your loss, whenever it may have been.”
Annaliese smiled glumly. “Thank you.”
They came back to the midway games area and Nick came up with a suggestion. “We could use the plush toy prizes as pillows – some of them are pretty big and they look soft.”
Following the same train of thought, Annaliese had an additional suggestion. “I think they sell wet weather ponchos in the gift shop, too. They could be good for bedding.”
“Looks like we’re on our way, then. Let’s get started.”
Nick vaulted the basketball midway game and begun pulling stuffed dinosaurs down off the shelves. He threw them out so that they landed in a loose pile on the pavement.
Annaliese entered through the back of the Arabian Derby and started grabbing the biggest plush toys she could find. There would be more than enough to use as pillows.
“We’re going to need a bag or something to carry this stuff back,” he shouted over to her. “Any ideas?”
“The gift shop. It might sell tote bags.”
“Let’s go check it out. We can look for the ponchos at the same time.”
Nick vaulted back out of the basketball game and joined Annaliese on the pavement. She led him towards the gift shop and was grateful that she had once visited the park with her husband back when they were courting. It was useful knowing her way around the theme park area of Ripley Heights.
The gift shop was up ahead and themed like a fairytale cottage. Nick picked up a rock from a nearby flowerbed and let fly with it. It smashed out a window of the shop.
“That’s how you guys do this, right?”
Annaliese laughed. “Nowadays we do. Got to tell you, though, I really miss using doors.”
“I miss a lot of things,” said Nick. “I miss crap television and pop music.”
“Huh!”
Nick looked at her. “What?”
“Nothing. It’s just that those are the things I miss, too. Aren’t you supposed to missing football and the pub?”
“Hey! Way to stereotype me. I’m not really that kind of guy. I’m more wine and a movie at home with the wife. At least…I used to be.”
“Come on,” she said, changing the subject. “Let’s get inside.”
They climbed through the broken window of the gift shop and headed inside.
“Fantastic,” she said, heading straight for a hanger full of souvenir hoodies. “These should keep us all warm.”
“And here are the ponchos,” said Nick, thumbing through a folded-up pile of plastic sheets. “They’ve got souvenir towels over there as well.”
“And here are the tote bags.”
Nick laughed. “Well, that was easy. Makes me wonder when something’s going to go wrong.”
There was an explosion.
It shook the floor beneath them.
But it came from far away.
Both of Nick’s eyebrows were stretched high and Annaliese thought he looked a little like a shocked clown. “What the hell was that?” he asked her.