Lockdown – Day Ten (continued)
Day Ten continues…I shall be taking the long Easter weekend off so you will have to be patient in finding out what happens next…not that I’ve got a lot of stuff to do outside during a lockdown but a change is as good as a rest…
Enjoy!
[image error]Photo by Luca Nardone on Pexels.com
DAY TEN (continued)
John
After realising that the car was short on petrol, I’ve been worried about just how far we might get. It doesn’t take long for the helpful car to inform us that we are running on empty and need to refuel in the next thirty kilometres or so. I think we might need at least double that to get to Rebecca’s parents. Rebecca wants to get back to the highway in hope that we will find a car with some petrol there, or maybe a pump that still works. From the cars we’ve seen in the residential streets around here, it’s obvious that they won’t be much help and that we should move on. I wonder whether we should try large car parks in the city centre but Rebecca tells me in no uncertain terms that going into the city would be foolish, “There are too many people there.”
We press on.
We are able to return to the highway after a detour of only a few kilometres. The road is surprisingly clear. There are a few cars which have mounted the central reservation or the banking by the hard shoulder, looking in some cases like they may have been pushed or dragged there to keep the road open. I guess it didn’t matter now.
I can’t understand why I didn’t notice any of this when I came back from the south. I can only assume I was still in some kind of stupor after drinking myself silly for weeks and that I probably shouldn’t have been driving. Mind you, the northbound side that I’ve been able to see has been clear so maybe it is more a sign of people trying to get out of the city than of getting in.
We haven’t seen any cars that seem worthy of attention and so we leave the highway to pause at a BP services. I’m scared to turn off the engine in case it won’t start again. The pumps here are dormant. There are no opportunities otherwise either. We don’t tarry. It isn’t long until we move onto rural roads. As habit dictates that I signal to come off the highway my trusty Honda starts to cough, almost like it has a virus of its own. There’s a petrol station in around five kilometres but it might as well be ten times that. I pull over on a grass verge. It hasn’t been cut for a long time now and the bumper ploughs through the blades.
“Great,” I say.
“Walk?” Rebecca asks with a sigh.
I nod, “It looks like it. I could try going to the Caltex down the road if you like though? They might have a can I can fill up and bring back. Or do you guys think you could walk for at least ten kilometres?”
It’s around three o’clock already. None of us really want to be out here at nightfall, if nothing else it would seem rather uncivilised. It might take me a few hours to get there and back, and even then it might be for nothing.
Rebecca shares a look with Sarah in the backseat and concludes without any words between them, “Let’s walk.”
Sarah
I don’t really want to walk but it feels like this new world, despite all of the space and options we suddenly have, there are actually fewer genuine choices. It’s just about survival. Right now, we need to find some shelter for the night and hope the zoo animals haven’t followed us this far. I’m really hungry.
Finding accommodation in this part of the world might be harder because the houses are further apart, with acres of farmland in the middle. They grow a lot of potatoes and onions around here so maybe we can make a nice soup for dinner at the very least. We start off positively, we are bound to find somewhere. The sun decides to put in an appearance for the first time today to coincide with our trek. It feels like it is burning and I wish I had a hat. I feel OK to be walking which is more than I might say about Rebecca but then she seems to be made of steel.
Progress is slow. After twenty minutes John stops in frustration, him having all of the bags.
“Do we really need the clothes?” he asks, getting red in the face.
Rebecca says, “Not really. Sarah?”
“I thought they were mostly yours anyway. I’m happy enough to find stuff on the way, even if I have to wear floral print.” I smile at them. I prefer black.
John looks happy and relieved. He opens the bags and redistributes what we have so he can ditch one of the bags by the roadside. He leaves it open so if anything or anyone wants a new jumper they can help themselves. Only three left now.
“I guess we still need the books,” he comments. “It really makes you appreciate the internet. It’s a shame it was so full of pictures of cats and meaningless selfies.”
“Didn’t you ever take a selfie, John?” I ask. “Didn’t you have any friends?”
I think I hit a bit of a nerve because he makes a noise that sounds a bit like harrumph and walks on. Rebecca thinks it’s hilarious and says, “I guess not” to me.
“I’m not sure I ever had much cause to take a selfie either,” she adds just for my benefit.
Doing her job, perhaps I’m not surprised.
“I guess we won’t have much reason going forward either,” I reply, a little sadly.
She puts her arm around my shoulder, partly out of leaning and partly out of protection, it’s been ages since I’ve been hugged and it feels weird.
Rebecca says, “You never know. If we find a phone with some juice left in it and a reason to remember something we can always take one.”
John
Finally! I see a house off to the left, not too far. I start gesticulating to the ladies some distance behind me, looking like they’re off for a Sunday afternoon stroll along the beach.
I don’t wait for them as I start to walk down a fairly long driveway. It’s slightly overgrown here. I have to walk around the side of a gate which is chained and padlocked across the entrance. When I reach the house, it’s huge. This bungalow must have five bedrooms easily. It also has a stable visible. Sarah will love this. There are two horses in a paddock happily grazing. Their stable door is open to them if they want it but they don’t retreat from me. The sight of such beautiful creatures makes me feel at peace. Just in case, I go to the door of the house and knock.
I’m pretty surprised when the door opens without my forcing it.
