Fall Back (Collapse: New Republic Book 1) by Riley Flynn & Mike Wolfe

Author:Riley Flynn & Mike Wolfe
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Syndicate Press
Published: 2017-12-09T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Anna Mathis was supposed to be at soccer practice.

It was Thursday, and Thursday was her day to bring orange slices to Ryan’s team at the middle school. They were only eight, but they had to play at the middle school field because of scheduling. Anna didn’t do the scheduling; she did the orange slices. Every Thursday.

She glanced at the watch on her wrist. Unlike her phone, the watch still worked. The time was 3:30 p.m. She felt a pang of panic—She still didn’t have any oranges, and practice was about to start. And she was still almost a mile from the school.

The Safeways all seemed to be closed, so she was hurrying to the Save-A-Lot that she’d been boycotting ever since the bag boy had made eyes at her last summer. She supposed she could put up with it if it meant she could get her bag of oranges. She wouldn’t have time to slice them; she hoped that would be okay. Sure it would. She could peel them and pull them into segments. That would be okay. That would be fine.

She noticed the cigarette in her hand as it pulled away from her mouth, and suddenly remembered that she had started smoking again. She shook her head; nine years down the tubes. She’d quit the day she learned she was pregnant with Ryan and hadn’t had a puff since, until—until when? When had she started again?

She pushed the thought away as she scurried up the street. Didn’t matter when. She was smoking again; that was that.

Up ahead, she saw the bright red and blue letters of the Save-A-Lot sign. The front door underneath was open: she would get her oranges. Her relief felt as good as a glass of cool water in the afternoon heat.

She pitched her cigarette onto the ground as she approached the door. It vaguely occurred to her that the parking lot was empty. All that meant was more oranges for her.

Inside, Anna saw that the lights were out. There had been rolling brownouts forever, it seemed, so it wasn’t a surprise. She walked through the door, ignoring the fact that there was no one manning the tills next to the entrance. No bag boys to ogle her today.

She steadfastly ignored the smell.

Produce was off to the right, so she made her way past the aisles of processed foods: snacks and potato chips and bulk peanuts. She didn’t let Ryan touch any of that stuff. Fresh fruits and vegetables were what growing boys needed. Everyone knew that.

Ignoring the smell got harder as she got closer to the produce section; it got worse with each step, and with each step she felt panic rise a little higher in her chest. Why did the smell affect her like this? She needed to go to the doctor.

No doctor! her mind screamed at her. No doctor, never again!

Anna realized she was hugging herself as she caught sight of the fruit section. This wasn’t right—the bins were empty. The ones that weren’t had a few mouldering pieces slowly liquefying inside them.

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