Evelyn Earth Part 1

The sun is rising. It casts everything in a warm light. I sit on the crumbled roof of my building and watch it illuminate the city. A fire is burning in the distance and the smell quickly envelopes its surroundings. It filters down to me and I cough lightly.

“Shit” I mutter. Turning on my heels I quickly scurry down the incline of the roof. Grabbing onto protruding pieces of cement I lower myself through a hole masked by debris. Dropping down into the 7^th floor I relax, just a little. I have to make another run today before the scavengers get closer and strip the area.

 I move down the flights of stairs until the number 4 flashes in front of me. Slowly edging my way around the door frame I appraise the hallway. I don’t even know why I keep doing this, it’s not like there’s anyone left in this building. Habit I guess. I squat down and ease my way through yet another hole; this one leads into the minute crawl space between levels. I hate it, but it’s the only way into my apartment. It’s probably the only reason why my home has been untouched—no looters, no scavengers, just me. Alone.

I crawl for only a few metres before my knees touch on the plank of wood covering an opening in my ceiling. Pushing it out of the way I grip the edge of the wooden beam and practically fall onto the mattress underneath. I suck at entries. Rubbing my face with the palms of my hands I let out a groan. It’s been two months since I’ve used a proper door. Two whole fucking months.

In my room I step over the piles of barricades and peep through the window. Everything seems to be the same. Turning back I flop down on my bed and try to steel myself for the next run. I only ever made one, when this all began, when people were still out on the streets. I close my eyes and remember the panic. Maya was with me. She stood shivering in a singlet and tights, while we watched cars screech around the corner.

“Evelyn what are we going to do?” she whimpered. Neither of us had cars, we lived in Docklands for fucks sake.

“We’ll stay here. No one knows what’s going on or where will be safer. Maybe this will turn out to be the safest place?” I turned to her.

So we did. We stayed and we watched all the other residents vacate the building. I think a few others stayed behind, but you could never be sure. Maya moved her stuff in with me it just seemed safer staying in one place together. We were all holed up, no one wanting to risk the outside, until the water stopped flowing.

“Evie!” Maya yelled, “The taps aren’t working!” I woke up to her voice still dazed from the last few days.

“What?” I slurred.

“The waters gone”

“What do you mean it’s gone?”

“Gone, like fucking not coming out of the taps gone”

“Shit” I swore. It had only been a few measly days. Where were the backup generators, the emergency power supplies, all those things you hear about on T.V. when the world goes to shit there’s supposed to be some contingency plans, right? Especially when it comes to something like water?

“Try the lights” she asked.

“Nothing” I replied, flicking the switch furiously. Looking over to the television I could see the small light devoid of power. No more news. 

“How are we going to know what to do now?” Maya said, “How are we supposed to know what’s happening?!” her voice began to rise. I could see another panic attack coming on. Grabbing her by the wrist I sat her down on the couch and shoved her head between her knees.

“Breathe, slowly, in out, in out” I rubbed her back, “If we don’t have power, no one else does. We’re in the dark, but we’re not alone” I whispered.

The only news we’d heard so far was meagre and uninformative. On the 15^th of November a huge power surge ripped through Melbourne’s inner city. Every light was blazing and it looked like the whole city had turned into a carnival. It was beautiful. Abruptly at 10.59pm the power died out. At 11.07pm explosions ripped through some of the major streets. The news broadcasts were horrible, all shaky cameras, screaming journalists and scraps of bodies. What was worse was that we couldn’t see any billowing smoke. Being so close to the city we stood on our balconies and searched, but there were no fires, no deep red glow of embers. Everything was just pitch black. Flood lights illuminated the scenes and before we could get a close up look of the destruction the broadcast ceased.

 I watched as the Eureka Tower crumbled. The sound was deafening. At that moment I think everybody was on their mobile phones, jamming the signals. The next day a brief broadcast aired listing the damages. The CBD was in ruins. Some of the outer suburbs experienced the same types of blasts. The public was warned not to venture outside, to stay indoors. No mention was made about the cell towers. Why couldn’t we contact anyone? Surely it was impossible for them to be down while the T.V. stations were still running?

“We need to find water” I say. This isn’t a time to break down. We needed supplies if we were going to stay here.

“From where though?” She piped up.

“We need everything right? Water, gas, food”

“Oh my god” she gasped, “this is going to sound so fucking cliché, but Costco has everything.” We looked at each other and laughed nervously.

“Okay let’s do it, Costco it is.”

It was only down the road, one long road with studio warehouses on the left and a shopping complex on the right.

“How are we going to do this?” she asked, “Do we just go in there and take what we want or…”

“Seriously?” I asked arching my eyebrow, “Do you want us to stroll in there and flash a membership card and some cash?”

“No” she replied sarcastically. Sometimes I think I just overstep the mark. I’m not good with sensitive situations, the ones where people need to be coddled and told that everything is going to be A Okay. 

        “Sorry” I mutter, “Look we’ll go out through the stairwell and just run for Costco, once we get there we can suss out how we’re going to pull this off. Worst case scenario, it will be blocked off, best case we get in there load up a trolley and run back.”

        “That doesn’t sound like much of a plan”

        “It’s the best we’ve got” I sigh, “Do you have any backpacks at your place? Just in case”

        “Yeah I’ll go grab them”

         I paced around my living room running my fingers through my hair. A few jet black strands detached themselves from my scalp and glided to the ground. The stress was really starting to get to me. I stood in front of the hallway mirror and examined myself. My eyes were a bit bloodshot, and my pupils were eclipsing my hazel irises. I looked frantic and dishevelled. I needed to fix myself up before I did this or I’d lose all my nerve. Digging through my closet I produced my black Dri-Fit Nike tights, a black singlet and a dark grey pullover. I brushed my hair back and slicked it into a high ponytail. We were going to run and I needed to feel in control dammit. As I pulled on my Nike airs Maya reappeared hoisting two decent backpacks.

        “From my camping days” she shrugged, “Ready to go?”

         I nodded inhaling deeply and exhaling through my nose. Locking the door behind us we quickly descended the stairs and paused before the exit. The sliding doors were smashed and the bonnet of a grey Ford protruded from the debris.

        “Come on we’ll squeeze past” I whispered motioning for Maya to fall in behind me. I carefully sidestepped the glass and ducked under the damaged door. Before I cleared the exit though, I froze. The road lay directly ahead of me and there were smashed cars everywhere. One had ploughed into a tram sending it off the rails and into the side of our building.

        “I guess now we know what all the commotion was last night” I said, trying to be funny but failing miserably. We moved out from the shelter of the doors and sprinted for the next car. I could hear people in the distance. We continued our haphazard run towards Costco. A group of Asian boys began to mirror our movements as we reached the half-way point. There were four of them and they looked just as scared as we did. My eyes locked with one of them and I knew that we weren’t the only ones to have the smart idea about stocking up before the storm.

         I ran forward faster, determined to get there before they did, but as we cleared the turn and the huge warehouse loomed in front of us I realised it was pointless. There were people everywhere. The place was in pandemonium. Someone had set the fun park on fire and it illuminated the smashed glass wall of the Costco food court.

        “Oh my god” whispered Maya, “this is insane!”

        “I know, keep up with me” I dashed forward leaving a wide berth between us and the fun park fire. People were throwing things down from the second floor, not caring how they landed as long as their waiting family or friends could scoop them up from the ground.

        “The main entrance will be jammed up” I turned to Maya, “We’ll need to find another way to get in, like a service entrance or something.”

        “I’ve seen one before” she squeals, “When I go for my runs, there’s one on the opposite side where the car park is.”

        We move off to the left of the warehouse and I follow Maya as she leads us to the service doors. I move in front of her and motion for her to be silent. Slowly I push one of the huge doors open and take a quick look inside.