Daphne Lamb: The Girl's Guide to the Apocalypse

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asked.

“Just everyone shut up for a moment,” I said

Weirdly enough, they did. I turned around to look, only to see him pointing past me.

“Is that what I think it is?” he asked.

“I found water,” I said. “I don’t know how clean it is, but maybe we can use it. Boil it or something. Whatever you’re supposed to do in a survivalist situation. Or in Mexico.”

“I’m sure that’s fine and well if one of us was having a baby.” Robert raised an eyebrow. “How do we know that’s safe?”

“Fair question,” I said. “Very fair. And I don’t know, but no one’s come up with any other options.”

Debra folded her arms. “Get Lupe to test it first. Just so we know it’s okay.”

“Priscilla!” I shouted. “Her name is Priscilla! I just remembered.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yes. Sort of. Ninety percent sure. Maybe eighty-five. But I know it’s closer than the names you’ve been calling her this morning.”

“You should be glad I’m not calling the ones I think in my mind,” she said.

“Oh, I am,” I said. “Don’t get me wrong on that.” I took a deep breath. “I don’t know where she is, though. She was here and then she wandered outside.”

“Did she go shopping for us?” Robert asked, looking around. “I gave her a list this morning.”

“Are you kidding me?” I asked. “She’s got family around here somewhere. She’s probably out looking for them, something we should probably all be doing. And why would you give her a list?”

Bruce was still staring at me.

“You found that?” he asked as he pointed at the hose.

I nodded.

“How long were we arguing?”

I shrugged. “I guess it really doesn’t matter.”

He stepped forward and hugged me. It felt real, it felt good, but maybe there was a hint of something else. Like duty or boyfriend obligation.

The water streamed slowly into the sink, making a dripping noise. The kind of sound that weighs on your bladder.

“Great,” Robert said. “Now I’ll have to go to the bathroom and there won’t be anywhere to do it.”

I found a glass in the cupboard and put it under the makeshift tap. Debra wrinkled her nose at it.

“I don’t know about that.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “It’s all we have right now.”

“It’s just bottled water tastes so much better. It’s science.”

I smiled and nodded, then turned away from her.

The glass was half full and had a slight tinge of brown to it.

“Maybe we shouldn’t drink it,” I said. “What’s the rule about this?”

Robert grabbed the glass from my hand and tossed it down like a whiskey shot. He smacked his lips, savoring like a glass of fine wine.

“Not bad,” he said. “Refreshing if anything else. Where can I get some more?”

I pointed at the hose. “Probably have to wait a few more minutes,” I said. “Kind of slow.”

He rolled his eyes and placed the glass under it. “This is bull. We need a better system.”

He tapped his book. “There’s always a better system.” He stared hard at the slowly dripping water.

Priscilla entered, out of breath, arms full of what looked like food. Her eyes were wild, her face sweaty. I rushed over to her as she started to drop the contents onto the floor.

“Are you okay?” I asked. “Where have you been?”

“I was chased,” she panted. “I know I was stealing, but I was afraid they were going to kill me.”

I put my hand on her back out of sympathy and then recoiled it slightly at realizing how moist she was.

Debra bent over and picked up a wrapped loaf of bread. She wrinkled her nose.

“Really?” she asked. “Bread? What is your people’s fascination with carbs?”

“Would it make you feel better if she ran back out and got you some kale?” I asked dryly.

“Would that be so hard? Am I asking for the moon here?”

We had a stare down as I reached for the bread. I fumbled through the bag and took a slice out. Slowly, I brought it to my mouth and took a bite. It was soft and comforting, the best thing I’d eaten in weeks.

“It’s delicious,” I said. “Highly recommended if you haven’t eaten anything in days.”

Priscilla dropped the rest of the things in her arms. I saw some vegetables, more bread and a few canned items. I think they were soup.

“Here.” I tossed Debra a bell pepper and tomato. She caught them and then curiously looked at them as if confused as to what to do with them.

“What did you see?” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bruce snag one of the cans, take a look, then let his face fall with disappointment.

Priscilla shook her head. “I was being stalked, I could feel it, and then I could hear it.”

She took a deep breath.

“But I saw a couple RVs,” she said. “They were camping. I thought I would go to them and ask if they’d seen my family.”

Debra shook her head. “Really? That was the first thing you thought of?”

“I knocked on the door,” Priscilla continued. “No one answered, so I just walked in. And there was all this food. Maybe I shouldn’t have stolen it, but I was just overcome with—” She choked up. “I haven’t eaten in so long, and they had bread. I’ve been craving it so badly.” She started to cry.

Bruce held up a can of soup. “What’s this?”

Priscilla looked down at his can.

“Clam chowder?” his voice dripped with disdain.

Debra shook her head. “Typical for a gluten addict,” she said. “Can’t discern what they’re allowing into their bodies.”

“It’s okay,” I said in my most soothing tone. “What happened?”

“I almost got caught,” she said. “I grabbed what I could and ran out of there, and I heard shouting and someone threw something at me.”

“That doesn’t mean you bring clam chowder back with you,” Bruce said. “You might as well bring us a visit from the lactose intolerance fairy.”

She turned her head to show her ear was bleeding. “I just hope I wasn’t followed.”

“Did they have water?” I asked.

“I saw a sink,” she said. “It was dripping.” She quickly became apologetic. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t get any in time.”

I shook my head. “No, of course not.”

“Did they have a bathroom?” Robert asked sincerely. “What were the mattress situations like?”

“Can you point to me where it is?” I asked.

She nodded and took me into the kitchen to the window by the back door. Bruce followed us.

“There,” she said, pointing to a general space behind the hill. “Behind those trees.”

“Did you happen to see if they had something like a minestrone or Italian wedding, maybe a comforting chicken noodle?”

“Bruce!” I said. “Really?”

“If we cook this, do you realize it’s going to stink up the house?” he asked. “Does no one think of these things?”

She carefully put her pilfered supplies into the cupboard before leaving the bread for herself. She crawled into the corner and gnawed on it while I stared out the window, polishing off another slice. I thought about how I should have gone with her. Together we could have brought in twice as much. I was also struck by how this woman ignored everyone’s ill treatment and still brought them food. It was inconceivable to me.

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“You’re thinking about going there, aren’t you?” Robert asked.

I turned around and saw that he looked genuinely concerned.

“I’m sure it doesn’t matter,” he said. “What matters is that Iris is okay and that we continue to look out for each other.”

“Priscilla,” I said.

“Priscilla,” he said. “Her too.”