Belvedere by David Allen

Author:David Allen [Allen, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781477224489
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Published: 2012-07-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

I gathered the few things that I had, which wasn’t very much, since the rest of my belongings are still in the trunk of a car that is now buried in a bomb shelter beneath the city. But now, as we made our way out to the parking lot, I deeply regretted leaving my things behind. All of my clothes and personal toiletries were in that trunk, and I could certainly use a fresh outfit and a clean shave right about now. The blood that was caked on my clothes was all dry, but now it is very scratchy and uncomfortable, especially against my stitches. Not to mention, my breath is utterly horrendous too, and the coffee didn’t help one bit. Even though I’d taken the liberty of paying for both rooms in full last night, just to avoid any unnecessary delays this morning, I now decided to take a few minutes to run into the gift shop. Hopefully, I can at least get a clean shirt, and maybe even find some toothpaste. The thought froze me in my tracks as we were crossing the lot. Everyone turned to look at me, probably wondering why I would suddenly stop. There was nothing wrong though. It’s just that sometimes my head will work clearly, but my brain and body never seem to meet on the same terms.

“Would anyone else like a tee-shirt?” I asked. I thought I was answering their unspoken question, but they still just looked at me like I was crazy. They were probably confused about why I should suddenly have the urge to buy souvenirs. “Never mind,” I said. I figured I’d just explain later, “I’ll be right back.” And with that, I headed off towards the lobby.

Once inside the store, I found plenty of useful things: shirts, sweatshirts, deodorant, toothpaste, toilet paper, water, and lots of great snack foods for the road. So I decided to do a light shopping spree, and I raided the shop for whatever items I thought might come in handy. From the looks of it though, I guess everyone really was concerned for my sanity, because Cornelius came in to look for me a few minutes later. He found me as I was loading up on a few bags of trail mix and protein bars. I handed him a bundle of things to carry while I finished up, and now that he held the essentials, he clearly understood my game plan.

“Good thinking,” he said.

“Always be prepared,” I said with a sly grin. “I just wish I had thought of this last night.”

Once I was done, we approached the counter, each with an armful of goodies. The young girl at the register looked at us as though she thought we’d never seen stuff like this before, but she rang it all up without saying a word, and the total came out to well over a hundred dollars. I charged everything to the card that was issued to me by the Post. Only after we’d left the store did I realize that this was probably not a wise course of action.

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