What Remains Here

Chapter 2

October 6

We've emptied out the house.

It turns out that the Hunters were avid campers, like fairly hardcore ones. Because the garage was so dark when we first raided it, May and I only got glimpses of all that they had, like the fishing poles and the axe that we took. But it turns out, in the unmarked cardboard boxes and large, opaque plastic bins that lined the walls, there were many more supplies to be found.

We found dozens of brightly colored lures and dried fish bait laying in the cardboard boxes along with a whole family of fishing rods. I'm not sure how useful fishing rods are going to be, given how unstable the ocean is, but maybe we could try our luck in the reservoir or in the rivers. But either way, Grandpa was super stoked to see them. I don't think I've ever seen him that happy before.

Mom even found some fish netting. Well, technically, it's gardening netting to prevent things like squirrels and rabbits from bounding into the garden and eating all of the crops, but she thinks that she can transform it into a net via the power of arts and crafts. We could hang the net in the tidal zone between two homes, and we wouldn't even need a boat to move the netting to capture the fish because the tide will push them straight into the nets. Even though I hate eating seafood, the thought of having a bit more food seems reassuring.

Even Dad was impressed by the riches in the Hunters home. He was hanging in the part of the garage that contained all the plywood boards and tools. "We can protect our windows with these. Maybe even build a bin."

"See," Mom said, her face dimly lit by a fading flashlight. "You don't need to be scared of dreaming big."

Dad grunted, but anyone could see the smallest hint of a smile on his face.

The only cart that we had was the medium sized wagon that we used for wood-gathering, so we brought some old suitcases for carrying everything back. If anyone had seen us, they'd probably think we were crazy because we looked like clueless tourists that arrived during the worst season to travel, rolling our suitcases behind us and blissfully ignorant of the desolation around us.

We brought back so much stuff. There were synthetic fertilizers, both liquid and solid, pill-looking forms, and bags of mulch that we didn't really know what to do with. We still took them back, possibly to burn sometime in the future because they were wood chips, and saved some of the peat-moss for gardening purposes since I know that they can help with drainage (or something like that). There was an assortment of shovels, and Dad made sure that they made their way home because he said that they could be weapons.

There were also just other basics that they left behind. We added to our, surprisingly still large toilet paper stash, and having some extra tissues and paper towels would always be useful once the toilet paper inevitably gets all used up. We also found some Christmas wrapping paper, so if those run out, we'll have some backup. And the cardboard boxes can back up the wrapping paper, if we cut the cardboard pieces really thin. That's all assuming we don't burn the boxes first, but whatever. It's nice to have a backup to the backup of the backup (Wow, that was a mouthful to write).

There were just a bunch of miscellaneous items that we found: saucepans and clay pots that were nearly too heavy to carry, a plastic Christmas tree that Mom brought back, only because it could be useful for bartering and because the metal pole trunk could be sharpened into a spear, and a plastic globe.

"Maybe they'll use this to get a geographical advantage," Mom said as she grabbed it, and she says that I'm the hoarder of the family.

Mom and Dad handled the more dangerous things in the garage, like the pesticides in case they were leaking, along with some of the cleaning supplies, like bleach and ammonia. I know that it's a pretty dark thought, but we could mix the bleach with some of the white vinegar that we have at home to produce chlorine gas, which can, well, eliminate someone. I think bleach also reacts with ammonia, but I forgot exactly what it makes.