The Bells of Tanah
By Invid Fan
©2012

****

Chapter 1

"You should see me with makeup sometime."

Chuck sighed. Not this again.

A can began to fall off its stack, obviously not placed there to its satisfaction. With practiced anticipation, Chuck casually, but quickly, moved his hand to steady the problem item. His other hand brought another can of green beans up, filling the last empty spot on the shelf. A quick tug on a few of their neighbors brought the front ones flush... and he was done.

With that box, at least.

Still kneeling on the floor, Chuck leaned backwards and cracked his back, one hand grabbing the cart behind him so he didn't fall over like an idiot. He sometimes got nervous enough around the more attractive cashiers as it was, without making them laugh at him because of clumsy mistakes. Speaking of which...

With a turn of the head he saw Alicia standing a few feet away, in front of the boxed mashed potatoes. Her own hand cart, the same brown four wheel, two level design as his, sat behind her with tomorrow's sale signs awaiting placement on the store shelves. She was looking down at him, waiting for a response. A response to... ah, right.

"Why?"

Alicia blinked.

"Why what?"

Chuck chuckled, shaking his head, which turned into a yawn. Intelligent conversation could be difficult near the end of the night. He grabbed a half filled box of canned corn from the cart, an experienced eye judging that he could fit all of it in the allotted shelf space, with some cheating.

"Why should I see you in makeup? You look fine how you are."

And, she did. Long, curly blond hair framed a face full of life, blue eyes that twinkled in any light, lips that always had a smile on them, a scar running up her right cheek, from a half inch away from her lips to just next to her ear...

Chuck saw her react to his glance, smile fading a bit, and mentally kicked himself. The scar seemed to be all she thought others saw, which every glance of his confirmed. It was old, he could tell that. This wasn't some recent disfigurement Alicia was traumatized by. The eighteen year old had lived with it for awhile... adjusted to it. Or, more likely, been warped in some ways. At least, so went his professional analysis as a fellow teen.

Forcing his eyes over to hers, he tried to put all the reassurance he could into his gaze.

"Seriously, you look great now."

She smiled, nose crinkling in that cute way she had.

"Thanks... but you should see me in makeup."

****

Chuck pushed the cart down the back aisle, trying not to think about how much longer till closing time. He hadn't wanted to work at a supermarket. Hadn't wanted to work, really. Mowing a half dozen lawns a week over the summer had been more than enough income for him, especially as someone entering senior year of high school that didn't date much. But, that wasn't good enough for Dad. Oh, no. Chuck had to learn to have a "work ethic" or some such, and that could only be acquired through slavery to "The Man". Or, in this case, "The Manager". So, Dad had given him an ultimatum: either get a job... or pay for college himself.

No, it had made no sense to Chuck, either.

Thus, here he was. Working the evening shift at the Clarence Bells supermarket on a Saturday evening. Gosh, what a fun use of his youth. At least some of his co-workers were cute...

"Chuck!"

... then there was Melinda.

He was tempted not to stop, to keep going towards the back room, and the safety to be found there. But, there was always the chance Anthony had sent her to find him, so...

It's not that he didn't like the girl, or that there was anything wrong with her. Sure, she wasn't the most attractive cashier, with big glasses and a body seemingly without curves. While Alicia could turn the required white blouse, black pants, and ugly tan store vest into an incredibly curvy fashion statement, on Melinda, it just sort of hung there. It also wasn't that she was dumb or anything, really. Chuck didn't know her well enough to really pin down something like that, the two of them going to different school districts (the store was near the town line, but most of the employees, apart from him, came from Clarence). No, it was just... Melinda liked him, and he didn't look at her in that way. Simple as that. A few years ago, the idea of a girl throwing herself at Chuck would have seemed a wonderful concept. Maturity, and having actually had a girlfriend, had taught him that it was wise to pick which port you pulled into in a storm.

Which didn't mean he in some ways didn't like the attention.

Melinda came up to him at the end of the paper goods aisle, right hand clutching a sign trumpeting half off no-name toilet paper. Her eyes, behind those black frames, were wide, her expression not sure if it should be excited or worried. If she had long hair, she probably would have been chewing on an end, but given it was short and curly that wasn't really possible without some real effort. Not that he wouldn't put it past her to try if he said he'd have found the result sexy.

"What is it?"

She came close, biting her lip. That, Chuck thought, WAS sexy.

"Have you looked outside?"

He looked at her, a bit perplexed, then raised his eyes over her black hair towards the front of the store. The large glass windows were far enough away he couldn't see much. Just white and black, really...

He dropped his gaze back down.

"What?"

"The storm! It's a real blizzard out there!"

"Really?" Chuck raised his eyes again, seeing one could interpret what he saw as that. With no sound, apart from the annoying store ads and mindless music coming from the ceiling speakers, there was no real sense of whatever it was doing outside. "Bad?"

"Um, yeah! Dad texted me, asking if I'd rather walk home so he didn't have to try and drive in it!"

Chuck chuckled, looking down at her again. She came up to about his shoulders. He wasn't sure what that came out to, height wise, although as he was going into engineering it probably was a math problem he should be able to do. Let's see, he was five foot eleven, carry the one...

The small part of his brain not taking part these important calculations noticed Melinda was looking at him expectantly. Mentally shaking his head, he shrugged at her.

"Well, nothing we can do about it. We'll be closing soon, so with luck we won't get trapped here."

She laughed for a moment, then her cheeks began to darken. It only took a moment for Chuck to realize where her mind was going. Shaking his head, he grabbed the handle of the cart and pushed it onwards towards the back room.

***

Anthony leaned against the bottle return counter, looking down the length of the front aisle. He loved closing.

Here he was, in charge of the entire store, with few customers and no real chance of problems. No owner breathing down his neck, no other managers to have disagreements with. Just him, and a half dozen slaves to do his every whim. What could be better? Oh, sure, a job that actually paid a decent salary, and didn't require him to waste his weekends stuck at work until after 10 PM would be nice. But, the bars in Buffalo closed at 4 AM, so there was still plenty of time to go out if he was in the mood, and as of last week he now had a steady female companion so it wasn't like he had to go out trolling for that. Plus, this wasn't one of those huge, open all night superstores with thirty aisles, but a nice, quiet, edge of suburbia oasis. All in all, it was a good life.

"You gonna stand there all night?"

Even the bitchy females were fun. With a grin, he turned and raised an eyebrow at Hannah. The twenty four year old raised an eyebrow back, meeting his gaze. Anthony just chuckled.

"Is there something else you'd like me to do?"

"If I thought you'd be any good at it, yes."

He grinned as she turned away to finish whatever it was the office girls did, a smile on her lips. Anthony liked Hannah. Liked Tammy, the other girl working in the office tonight, but Hannah was special. For one, she was married. That meant he was free to flirt with the busty brunette as much as he wanted without having to worry about it going anywhere. That she had started the whole thing, despite being married, was interesting but not his problem. It was a good release, and kept him from doing something stupid with the cashiers.

His gaze went down to Nona, the lone girl at a register. The darker skinned Southeast Asian looked bored, leaning against the conveyor belt, cell phone in hand. She was very cute, but, what, 16? 17? Untouchable, basically, as were the other two he had off doing sale signs, something the owner's younger brother should have realized or he wouldn't now be coming to work here. Really, the stupidity of walking up to a kneeling cashier, stopping right next to her, and saying, "While you're down there..." And this guy was now to be putting in his forty hours a week here because nobody else would hire him? Great. Supermarkets were no place for that kind of thing.

Oh, sure, there was the constant sexual tension between stock boys and cashiers, pairings and un-pairings, managers having to fire couples found engaged in the back room... he still regretted having to get rid of Owen and Veronica, but Mr. Vento had come up next to him in the open cooler doorway and seen Veronica bent over the 2% as Owen tried to give her some fresh cream. After that, Anthony tried to work the schedules so no couple worked too much of a shift together. Sure, it probably ruined their social life, but that wasn't his problem. He didn't care what they did, so long as it didn't cause trouble for him.

He didn't like trouble.

The door to the office opened, both Hannah and Tammy coming out towards him. Tammy was a bit too plain for his taste, an unremarkable face framed by long straight dirty blond hair that she wore pulled back into a tight pony tail. Small breasts too. He knew one of the stock boys kind of had a thing for her, but as it was one sided he hadn't bothered to do anything about it. Let Justin lust from afar all he wanted.

"There're no customers left," Tammy told him, her voice low and soft. "Should we close up?" Anthony's eyes flicked up to the clock over the counter, showing quarter to ten, then to the front windows. You could barely see the first row of parking spaces, filled not with cars but a sprinkling of shopping carts, despite the light coming from the poles. He considered, then nodded.

"Do it. Time to get the fuck out of here."

****

"Attention all customers, this store will be closing in five minutes. Please bring your items to be cashed out. Greg, please bring in the carts."

The three boys looked up at the ceiling speaker, Tammy's voice interrupting an important discussion over who should be traded at the deadline. All had agreed the team needed a new center for the third line, but who to get rid of? Chuck looked at his watch, still chuckling at Justin's idea of just trading everybody and starting over. The guy did not know hockey: the Sabres were only two points out of the playoffs...

"What the fuck?" Greg pushed himself away from the freezer door, pissed. Ignoring the amused looks on the other's faces, or more than likely enjoying them, the football player strode over to the nearby intercom phone. Picking up the receiver, he hit a few buttons. The overhead speaker gave a staticy beep. "Why?"

His voice echoing through the store, Greg hung up and stepped back, turning to grin at his coworkers. A moment later, Tammy's voice came on again.

"Because you're ugly and Chuck's mom dresses you funny."

Adjusting his glasses, Justin cocked his head at Greg.

"She's right, his mom does. You really should talk to her about that."

"Fuck you!"

A reply was on his lips. Chuck could see that. The smaller boy had a comeback all ready. But... Greg had turned, going over towards the coat pegs. The moment was over. A small sigh came from Justin, tactfully ignored. Greg came back, buttoning up a school jacket that really wasn't suitable for the weather.

"Typical," he groused, pulling a red knit hat out and pulling it over his curly hair, "send the Black guy out into the snow." Chuck raised an eyebrow, turning to Justin. Justin just shook his head.

"Hey, I'm African American, so leave me out of this." Jumping up from the milk crates he'd been sitting on, the thin boy began walking over towards the utility area. "I've got the buffer."

****

Chuck pushed the large dust broom down the baking goods aisle, trying NOT to mentally repeat along with the paper towel ad currently playing throughout the store. It was so hard, though, much as it was hard not to sing along with even the most hated Christmas song on its twentieth playing. The fuckers just burned themselves into your brain. He tried focusing on the broom: long wooden handle, wide brush, able to cover a full aisle in just two passes. In the aisle he'd just finished, he could hear Justin start up the buffer, whistling some tune or other. The buffer was fun: a mini Zamboni, you just stood behind as it went along its way and tried to keep it from hitting things as it polished the tiled floor. Oh, and made sure it kept moving. Paul hadn't done that, as the burned spot over in produce kept reminding everyone.

Moving quickly, now trying not to sing along with some bad pop song, he pushed the growing pile of dust and dirt along into aisle three. Nine to go...

He felt a shudder.

The lights went out.

A moment later, a few small, dim emergency lights came on.

The sound of the buffer faded, Justin obviously not wanting to use the battery operated machine in the dark. It was replaced by Justin giving a yell.

"Captain! Captain! All the stars have gone out!"

Chuck chuckled, although he had no idea what geeky thing Justin was quoting. Some things don't need context. To his surprise, from the other side of the store Melinda's voice came back.

"You fool! You've hit the button again! Turn the view screen back on!"

"Nerd!"

"Oh, look who's talking!"

"Damn it," came Anthony's voice, "we have no time for a nerd fight! Chuck, Justin, cover the freezer and cooler cases!"

Laughing, Chuck maneuvered the broom and pushed his way back to the rear aisle. The main back room entrance was over at the far end in frozen/dairy. Justin quickly caught up with him, having abandoned the buffer to its fate in bulk, then turned and went into the meat department. Well, that settled that division of labor. He'd cover all the meat and fish cases, while Chuck did Frozen. 

A quick pop into the back room, now lit by just a red glowing "Exit" sign over the back door (you never knew what backup system worked until you needed them), Chuck was soon out again with a cart loaded with covers. They were a mixture of folding metal, foil quilts, and cardboard. Obviously, just temporary things meant to keep stuff from going bad for an hour or three. With practiced ease, he began tossing them on the reach-in freezer cases that ran down the center of the aisle.

"Need a hand?"

It was Melinda, naturally, coming towards him from the cashier room (that mysterious place where drawers were counted, and no stock boy was allowed). With a grin, he took out two covers and pushed the cart with the rest towards her.

"Go for it!"

It was nice having a slave.

****

Alicia just wanted to get home.

This was the worst part of the day, for her. Her work was done, and she had to sit here waiting for everyone else to get their shit together. Didn't matter that her drawer was counted a half hour ago, that all the stupid make work they'd tossed at her was done. No... she had to wait because nobody was allowed to leave until the office had all the money counted and accounted for. People could steal whole cases of food out the back door and nobody would care, but God forbid there be a dollar difference between the computer and the safe!

The weather wasn't helping either. Leaning her butt back against the register three counter, she gazed over the row of carts out the window. She didn't want to drive in that. This, she thought, was the downside to having a car: you actually had to drive in crappy weather. Well, maybe she could catch a ride with someone, or call her boyfriend to pick her up. If he'd pick her up. Alicia wouldn't blame Daren for telling her to go to hell, rather than risk death driving in this. It was BAD. So bad, she couldn't even see...

Alicia's blue eyes widened.

"Oh my God," she whispered. Blinking, she looked again. No change. "Anthony! Get over here!"

"What?" His mustached face popped into view behind the office cashier window. He was the only person she knew who actually had a mustache, which was strange enough. True, without it his face probably would be rather boyish, and with it he was rather handsome... but this wasn't the time for that!

"Come here, quick!"

He vanished, reappearing a moment later from around the corner. A hand was up running through his short black hair.

"What is it, Alicia?"

"Look outside!"

The manager raised an eyebrow at her, then with a sigh came to stand next to her and looked out the window.

"Now, what am I suppose to..." He trailed off. Eyes focused on his face, she saw his brows furrow, his head cock. "What the..."

"You see it, too? Or, rather, don't see it?"

Anthony ignored her and walked forward towards the glass. Stopping at the wall, he put one hand on an empty shopping cart and stared.

The parking lot was gone.

Well, everything IN the parking lot was gone. For all he knew, under all that snow the actual lot was still there. But, there were no light poles. No shopping carts, or cart corrals. Turning to his left, he looked out through the glass doors, through the unlit foyer with its gum ball machines, and through the pair of outer glass doors down the front of the store. Even without lights, he could still see a fair distance down the front sidewalk, with its covered awning and columns. Out the front, he had to figure he could see the same distance... and all he saw was snow.

"This..." He shook his head. Alicia, at his side, unconsciously grabbed his left arm with both hands. He looked down at her. "Did Greg come back in?"

Alicia's eyes shot open.

"No! He should still be out there!" Her eyes swept the snow. "Where is he! Anthony!"

"OK, OK, don't panic. Maybe he snuck in while we weren't looking." Disengaging from her hands, not noticing Alicia's slight blush as she let go, he turned to face the darkened store. "Everyone up front! Now! Drop what you're doing!" From the office, Hannah's voice came back, saying the safe wasn't counted. "Don't care! Everyone up by the registers!"

Alicia stepped away from him, arms hugging herself. Suddenly, she felt cold. She wanted Daren to be here. He'd know what to do. From the office, Hannah, Tammy and Nona came around the corner, followed by Chuck and Melinda. Naturally, Melinda would be with Chuck. Alicia liked the slightly chunky brown haired guy well enough, but didn't see what Melinda saw in him. She could do better. Up from the baking aisle came Justin.

No Greg.

Her eyes met Anthony's, his mouth seemingly giving a silent curse. He stepped up.

"Has anyone seen Greg?"

"He's doing the carts." Chuck cast a puzzled gaze past the manager, only taking a second to do a double take. "What the fuck!?"

****

For the next few minutes, all was confused bedlam. The teens pressed themselves against the window, not believing what they saw, what they didn't see. The faint lights coming from over the registers made even the inside of the store now seem spooky, unreal. Finally, Anthony stepped back. It was time to regain some control of the situation.

"OK, let's think here. I'm going to go out and see what's up. There has to be some explanation."

"Like what?!" interrupted Melinda, obviously scared. "My dad's car should be out there! He was picking me up!"

"We'll find out! Chuck, go get your coat and mine from the back. It's the dark blue one. Tammy, Nona, get some flashlights and batteries from the shelf. The rest of you... just, find someplace to sit."

"I'm gonna call Dad," Melinda said, whipping out here phone and dialing with the practiced ease of a modern teen. The others watched her quickly looking down at the display, confused. "There's... there's no signal." Six other phones were quickly in out of pockets, then slowly returned to them. Anthony put a hand to his forehead. He didn't need this,

"Hannah, check the office phone. Chuck, Nona, GO! Get the coats and flashlights!"

They went.

****

"I'm scared."

Nona just looked at Tammy. The plain girl was a year older then the Junior. She shouldn't be frightened. Being scared was... well, for children. Grabbing two large hand lanterns off the bottom shelf, Nona gave a snort.

"Well, don't be. It's not helping. OK, these two need... oh, wow, do we have any of the large six volt lantern batteries?"

"Yeah, here." Tammy tossed four into the brown plastic basket. She then tossed some D and C batteries in. "Might as well get some regular flashlights as well."

Nona gave her a quizzical look.

"They're gonna be pissed if we just take all this from the store for no reason."

"Well," Tammy replied, grabbing the plastic encased flashlights herself, "when Lenny comes through that door I'll be more than happy to pay for our theft myself."

****

"OK, here's the plan. Chuck, Melinda and I will go outside and look around. The rest of you... make yourself busy. Finish covering the cooler cases, if nothing else." The looks Anthony got back weren't happy. The office phone was dead, and the store was getting colder. The batteries in the store's emergency lights wouldn't last forever. They wanted to go home.

So did he.

Anthony turned to the teens next to him. Chuck had actually been thinking and brought up all the jackets, resulting naturally in his stalker requesting to go out with the two males. It made no difference to him.

"Ready?" They nodded. "OK. Onward."

Reaching up, Anthony unlocked the automatic door so it swung freely. Too freely, really, and once inside the foyer he eased it closed so it didn't just slam shut. Going to the outer doors, he freed them. Pausing to put his gloves and hat on, Anthony turned on his flashlight and opened the door.

The wind hit them, not quite like a wall, but hard. It took some effort to keep the door open for the other two to exit, then to ease it closed. It was cold, too, the wind going right through his jacket, not to mention his thin dress pants. He took two steps... then realized he had no boots.

Great.

Well, he'd just have to deal with wet socks and sneakers when he got back inside. Looking up and out at the darkness, he tried to make some sense of it. There was... nothing. Just snow. No buildings out beyond the parking lot. No street. No nothing. He cast his flashlight beam over the snowdrifts. Nothing.

"Anthony, look."

Chuck was flashing his light down at where the lip of the concrete sidewalk should be. He removed a glove, reached down, and felt the snow.

"It's... different. Seriously, feel it. The snow on the store side is dry, but the other stuff..." He grabbed a handful and squeezed, "is wet."

"And look how much of it there is!" Melinda took a step off the curb, the snow up over her knees. "No way this much fell in an hour!" She turned to get back on the sidewalk, almost falling, as the snow didn't want to give back its prey. Anthony grabbed her hand, Chuck grabbing the flashlight then her other hand as they pulled her back. She fell against both of them with a grunt. "Thanks!"

"No sign of Greg... GREG!" The other two joined Anthony in calling for the missing stock boy. Only the howl of the wind came back. "OK, this is stupid." He shone his light down the front of the store, past snow covered shopping carts towards the far end of the sidewalk. "Let's walk around the store. See if his car is still there." Without waiting for a reply, he started off.

The snow here was only up to their ankles, but already the wind was causing more to drift. Melinda called out a couple more times for Greg, then stopped.

"It's like the silence is mocking me," she mumbled to Chuck.

"Mock it back."

"I'd rather you two didn't mock anything that might not like it," Anthony said over his shoulder.

Coming to the end of the sidewalk, he cast his light over the side parking lot...

The cars were gone.

"What the FUCK!?"

He stepped off into the snow, eyes trying to understand. No cars lined the west side of the store. No road, no car wash beyond the nonexistent road, no... no anything.

"Oh," Melinda said, dryly, "I think I know what's fucked."

****

The eastern side had them even more confused.

They now knew why the store had no power. The power lines attached to the rear of the store now lay, cut, in the snow, their five foot length giving some evidence to Melinda's theory that somehow the store had been... well, scooped up and deposited elsewhere. She'd yet to air it, though. She wanted nothing more than to be proven wrong.

Rounding the corner, the final unexplored side showed that such a "scoop" had picked up more than just the building. Extending out from one of the two loading bay doors was the tractor trailer which had contained that day's delivery. It had been left overnight, to be picked up when the next truck came with Monday's load. Stepping forward, the three found the snow was suddenly just a couple inches deep. Chuck knelt down, feeling it.

"It's the dry stuff again." He pushed down. "I also feel asphalt under it. So... we have SOME of the parking lot. We probably should see what's under the other snow..."

"Later," Anthony said. Melinda bit her lip, noting they were getting a bit chapped. They should explore all they could now. Who knew when they'd get another chance...

Anthony suddenly ran forward, around the end of the trailer, the other two sprinting to follow. They skidded to a stop as the adult gave a jump for joy.

"Yes!"

His van was still there.

So, too, was Hannah's red minivan. Both were parked right against the store, almost as if the scoop had to extend out that far to get the trailer and just accidentally got them as well. Chuck came up next to Anthony.

"So, do we try and drive home?"

"On what road? I have four wheel drive, but there's no way we're getting through those snowdrifts. At least, not tonight. In the morning, we'll see what the situation is."

"If there is a morning," mumbled Melinda. Chuck glanced at her. She blushed a bit, although with her cheeks numb from the wind there probably was no change in color. Anthony fished out his keys and unlocked the blue van. Opening the passenger door, he reached in and pulled out a small duffle bag. Looking at the others, he gave a small smile.

"Overnight bag. Let's get inside."

****

"What is happening!?! I want to go home!"

Alicia's crying had the others gathered at the front of the store at a loss. The "away mission", as Melinda called it, had given their report to the increasingly worried teens. Justin, sitting on a stock cart, felt horrible. He knew what he should do. Be a man. Go over to the girl, put his arm around her, and tell her it would be OK. She'd turn, bury her head in his chest, he'd pull her in close...

Hannah moved over and sat next to the weeping blond on the counter, pulling her into a hug.

"Shhh, it's OK, we'll get home soon. Just you wait and see. Everything's OK." She started rocking back and forth, Alicia's crying turning into sniffles.

Justin had waited too long.

Again.

Story of his life.

"OK," Anthony said, pushing off from the wall, "it's getting late. The storm isn't going to let up anytime soon, and the power isn't coming on, so we might as well see about getting some sleep."

"We're going to SLEEP here?" Nona looked at him in disbelief. He shrugged.

"It's either that or just stay up and get more tired and cranky. Do whatever you want. As for me, I'm going upstairs to sleep in the manager's office. There's a rug on the floor of the conference room, so a bunch of you can probably lay down there."

"But there's no lights!" Alicia looked at him in shock, eyes red and wide. He shrugged again.

"That's what flashlights are for. Feel free to raid the store for drinks and snacks, but stay out of the beer cooler. Oh," he added, "and there's no water in the bathrooms, so don't flush."

****

Chuck pushed open the thin metal door leading to the bakery, shining his light inside. Unlike a lot of the newer places, the Bells bakery wasn't really visible from the store proper. Oh, if you went up to the bakery counter, turned your head and leaned over, you could see into it, but otherwise it was isolated in the back corner of the store.

Exactly what Chuck wanted.

He walked in, carrying a rolled up rug under his free arm. Panning the light around, he saw there was less room then he had thought. The main work table took up much of the space, as did the mixer and various machines he had no idea the use of. Taking a few more steps, he was relieved to see there was indeed enough room on the floor between the table and the walk in cooler for his plan.

That was a welcome change.

Putting the flashlight down on the table, he dropped the rug on the floor and unrolled it. "Rug". Really, it was more of a long mat, just something so customers didn't slip and fall. But, it was better than sleeping on the floor. Walking over to a corner of the room, he was relieved to see the bag with used bakery aprons was nice and full. Removing it from its metal holder, he drew the drawstring closed, brought it over to the other side of the table, and dropped it at the end of the rug.

Now he had a pillow.

"Just like home," he muttered. With a sigh, he turned off the flashlight, got down, and lay on the rug.

What a fucking day.

He was nowhere close to sleep. That he knew. If anything, lying down let more blood into his brain, causing it to whirl faster. What was going on? Where were they? Where were his parents and sister? Hell, where was his CAR? Staring at the dark ceiling, he chuckled. At least the car came below his family in the ranking of things he missed.

Morning. Morning would tell them everything. They might not like what they discovered, but in the light of day they'd know.

Maybe.

Chuck didn't know how long he stayed like that, in the dark, thinking. He could faintly hear the wind, assorted mystery noises, the creaks and groans of a large store no longer in its native environment. Closing his eyes, he tried to will them away.

The sound of the bakery door swinging open came to his ears. Opening his eyes, Chuck saw a flashlight sweep through, landing on his sneaker clad feet.

"Chuck?"

It was Melinda. Pushing himself up on his elbows, he saw her walk around the work table, coming to a stop at his feet. She looked...

Her flashlight turned off.

"Chuck, I..." He heard the sound of the plastic flashlight and her glasses being put on the counter, her coat sliding off her body onto the floor. In the darkness, he could sense more than see her drop to her knees, pause, then begin to crawl on all fours over him. He reached up, whether to push her away or hold her he wasn't sure. His hands ended up on her arms as she came to a stop, her face above his.

"Melinda, I don't..."

"I know," she said, softly. "I know. But..." He could hear the tears in her voice. "Please." With that, she slowly lowered her body onto his. He could feel her plastic name tag pressing into his coat, her thin legs straddle him. His hands, of their own accord, slid up her arms to her side as he felt her lips on his. They were soft, moist... her body trembled against him, whether from the cool air or something else he didn't know. When her small tongue flicked out and gently licked his lips... he gave in.

Chuck's left hand slid down her side, coming to rest cupping her ass cheek. His other moved up into her curly hair, grabbing Melinda's head as his mouth opened and sucked her tongue in. She moaned, pressing herself against him and slowly gyrating her hips against his hand and crotch. It had been a few months since he had been with someone, since Carol. He could feel Melinda's hands running through his short hair, his tired mind becoming overwhelmed with sensations.

With a mind of its own, one of his hands found its way up the front of her shirt, pushing her bra up. Her breasts were small, barely fitting his cupped hand, but he felt a hard nipple scrape against his palm. One of her hands was between his legs, cupping a cock which had already slipped out of the front of his boxers and was trying to find a way free from his dress pants.

Melinda sat up on him, his hands still under her shirt and vest. He felt her legs move, heard fabric sliding, then felt her legs once again straddle him. Trembling fingers unzipped his pants, a warm hand let his dick free into the cool air. Chuck sucked in a breath at both sensations... then again as a tight, moist, burning hot enclosure slid down onto him.

"Oh, God..." He had never been in a girl without a condom. Never felt sex the way it was meant to be... She rode him, silently, his hands falling to her hips as if he lacked the energy to do anything else... he could feel his release coming. Everything was forgotten. The days problems, its mysteries... even, and he would later cringe at the memory, who it was with him. Melinda's body brought him to the brink of pleasure... then over it.

****

She shouldn't have done that.

Melinda lay down on the now sleeping Chuck, head resting against his chest. She had put her pants and coat back on, the store now too cold to sleep next to him the way she wanted. She had, however, unzipped his jacket so her head could lie against his heart. She could hear it beat, slowly, its constant rhythm telling her all was well.

Her Stepmother, her first one, had given her some important advice when the twig of a girl first began to show interest in boys. "Never," she had said, "sleep with a boy you love. Only sleep with a boy who loves you."

It was wisdom proven true, every time she broke it. There had been Ricardo, and Trent. Both boys she had thrown herself at, only to regret it when, after taking what she offered, they let her fall to the ground.

And she had done it again. With a boy she REALLY liked, and seemed to at least enjoy talking to her! She could have just asked to sleep next to him, like she was doing now. Asked to just be with him, and if something happened in the night... well, he'd be the one doing it. The one coming to her. Not...

Tears coming to her eyes, she wiped her face on his shirt. She just didn't want to be alone. She never wanted to be alone. Where was Dad? She wanted her daddy...

****

On the frozen wasteland of an unknown world, the store slept...

****


Edited by SciFi Nut

Comments more then welcome.
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