With a Pop and a Click

There it was again. A pop and then click, soft and subtle, but absolutely a man-made noise. Where was it coming from? What was making the noise? Liv inched around the burnt-out shell of the iconic blue Wal-Mart building in her small hometown of Waterloo, Illinois. A place that used to be the only box store for miles around was now just an open wound reminding everyone around of what they had lost. An empty bright, blue carcass of the American dream left torn and shattered, amongst the landscape of the corn and soybean fields. What was once a quintessential small Midwestern town, born from German settlers migrating out of big cities, was now just another mar on the map of this new world.

Who would have thought this is how the new world would start? This small town had survived almost untouched as the rest of the world began its decent into what can only be described as chaos. The world, this town, had survived so many struggles before. Diseases like H1N1 and Covid-19, wars brought about by stupid politicians and dictators hell bent on bending others to their rule. Hell, it had even survived religious zealots killing others for only being different. But this, this is what would end it all for humanity?

A tiny thing, a spark if you will, that no one really noticed until it was far too late. All the stories that you read about an apocalypse were always alien invasions, diseases, or war. To think something so small and seemingly irrelevant could destroy an entire world is crazy.....well, tell that to the Incas, right?

There it was again, that click.

Liv peered around the shattered wall again, quickly taking in what used to be the home and garden department of the thriving store. Melted lawn chairs now forever melded into the concrete, looked like they had been placed in a microwave on high and left until the buzzer chimed. Hundreds of dead, potted plants were piled on each other in a great mountain off to the left of the cashier stand. The once cool and inviting soda case that promised refreshment, now lay on its side dark and drained of its enticing bounty. There were wheelbarrows set up like a blockade stacked one atop the other now protecting the shell of an electric door, with no actual door attached.

Liv watched and listened holding her breath in anticipation of another click, but none came. Silence. Just the rustle of wind and the crinkle of the dead plants as the wind lifted their brown, dry leaves.

"Damnit" Liv hissed under her breath.

Without knowing what it was that made the click she could not move. She did not dare step out and expose herself to what was likely going to be a threat. She gripped her rifle to her chest and listened. Closing her eyes, she wished again for X-Ray vision. If she had that SPECK this would be easy.

Pop. Click. There it was. So soft, just the sound of two pieces of metal scraping against one another and then clicking into place. Liv let out her breath slowly. How long had she been holding it? Was that a side-effect too? Being able to hold your breath, for minutes or hours? She could not think about that now. She needed to focus on the noise and who or what was making it.

She crouched down low almost touching the rubble piled next to the half standing wall of the building. She peeked again into the garden center watching, waiting. Movement within the pile of dead potted plants caught her eye. Whatever it was, it was small. Small enough to be inside the mound of plants.

Pop. Click. Yes, for sure, something was there, but what was it? How could she draw it out without exposing herself? As her mother always said, in times of great desperation there was only one solution. Chocolate! Liv smiled, missing her mom’s creative wisdom, but using it now to address her problem. For this situation, her mom would surely say, “There is not a creature on Earth that does not love chocolate.”

Reaching behind her with her right hand and placing her rifle on the ground with her left, she felt for the large zipper pocket on her army issue backpack. Slowly and as quietly as she could, she eased the zipper open. Tooth by tooth she slid it open enough to fish her hand inside and search for the KitKat bar she had found in an abandoned gas station just two days ago. Grasping it, she pulled it out and opened the wrapper. She broke off a row and then broke it in half. She peeked around the corner again, careful to not be seen and aimed carefully for the opening of the tower of plants. She tossed it softly and it landed just far enough out so whatever was inside would have to reach out to retrieve it. The figure inside jumped as it landed among the dead leaves and debris. Liv waited and watched. Seconds ticked by as she counted.

21, 22, 23, 24, 25

A human hand, small, dirty, and shaking slowly inched out towards the candy. Then an arm appeared covered with a dirty, light purple sweater, the kind her mom made her wear at Easter when she was little. Not quite able to reach the candy the thing poked just the top of its head out from the mound and Liv glanced at a tangled blonde hair. It was a girl. No more than 7 or 8. She snagged the candy and retreated into the safety of her leafy dead fortress. Liv threw the other piece of the candy bar farther out from the mound of dead plants. Again, the girl hesitantly reached out to grab the chocolate covered wafers. This time though she had to move out from inside her protective shield to reach the treat. Liv watched as the matted blond head peeked out and scanned the area. Liv could see that her clothes were matted with dirt and torn in various places. The once pretty, white dress hung off the girl's emaciated frame.

After grabbing the second piece of candy, the girl darted back into her hiding place, scared, and shaking. Liv sighed as she watched the girl, wondering how she had stayed alive. Sure, that she had not hidden here for 7 months while the world spun out of control:

"Hello." Liv called out to her. "My name is Liv. I'm not here to hurt you. Are you alone?"

Silence came back to her.

Liv tried again, “If you come out and talk to me you can have the rest of the candy. Will you do that?"

Again silence. Then the subtle pop and click.

"Okay. I understand.” Liv said, “It's okay to be afraid of strangers. I don’t want you to be scared so I'm going to leave now."

A rustle of dead leaves floated over to Liv. She peered around the half-fallen wall again and this time to her amazement there were 10 little girls. All dressed in exactly the same dirty, white dress and torn purple sweater, all with the same matted hair and depressed eyes.

"You’re a dupe?" Liv asked smiling at the girl.

All ten little dirty heads nodded. All at the same time, the girls reached up to their necks and grasped what looked to be a heart shaped locket hanging from around their neck. They pulled it left and right, in a nervous habit, on the long silver chain around their necks. Then again, in unison, they opened the heart shaped locket.

Pop. Click. Pop. Click. The noise came, as they opened and closed the heart shaped locket in a repetitive, calming gesture, over and over again.

Liv stood and stepped out from her hiding place behind the crumbling wall. She held the remaining candy bar out to the little girls and said,

"Would you like the rest?" silently the ten little girls nodded their heads yes.

Liv stepped towards the girl still holding out, the candy. As Liv got closer to the girl in the center, the images, or holographs of the real girl, began to fade to the right and left. Each step forward that Liv made, a duplicate girl vanished, until Liv was standing four feet away from the single, dirty, hungry, little girl.

The girl reached out her hand to take the candy as Liv asked,

"What's your name? Where do you live?"

The girl shrugged and snatched the candy front her hand.

"Are you alone here? "Liv asked trying to get the girl to open up and talk to her.

Soundless, the girl shook her head yes again. She inhaled the candy, eating it so quickly, Liv thought she might choke. When she was done, she looked at Liv expectantly.

"That's all the candy that I have, but I have some crackers. Would you like them?"

The girl shook her head vigorously that she did indeed want some. Liv turned to retrieve her backpack from her hiding spot behind the wall. As she turned, she heard the roar of an engine, coming from across the parking lot of the abandoned store. Liv dropped to the ground, army crawling back to her position but this time inside the wall of the store. She reached around the wall and grabbed her pack and her rifle. Looking across the pock marked parking lot, she saw the front grill of a battered Ford F250 truck, mounted with a cattle guard, like all cowboy trucks have in the Midwest. It was coming fast, roaring over the empty parking lot with huge mud tires that could certainly maneuver the debris.

Liv hurriedly crouched ran to the little girl who was still standing outside of the dead plant fortress. She grabbed her arm and looked for someplace to hide. The girl pulled and tugged at her arm trying to free herself from Liv’s grip. Liv released her and she scampered into the opening of dead plants. With nowhere else to go Liv followed. Liv ducked in and was surprised to see that at the back of the pile of dead plants there was an opening in the asphalt. Only large enough for a child or a small adult, Liv followed he girl into the dimly lit opening. As she stepped down into the space, she could see that it was a rather large hole that had been dug out into the ground. It was deep enough that Liv could stand and just barely touch her five-foot two-inch frame to the ceiling of the space.

Liv turned to the girl, “Okay, now what KitKat?” she whispered.

Without blinking the girl turned and reached for a rope that hung through the opening, up into the dead plants. She pulled down hard and instantly the hole was covered by a platform that Liv had not seen as she was coming into the hole. Darkness enveloped them both, but the sound of the large tires screeching to a halt outside the walls of the crumbling building penetrated the dark. The engine stopped. Creaking doors opened and shut with a loud thunk.

Liv pulled the girl down to a crouching position, as they listened to the stomp of boots and click of heavy machine guns.

“I know what I saw.” A rough male voice said. “There was someone or something standing up here. I saw it as we were passing by on the road.”

Liv sat on the floor of the space and pulled KitKat next to her. Breathing shallow, she listened as the men outside and above her looked around, searching for them.

Pop. Click. Went the heart shaped locket as KitKat opened and closed it. Liv put her hands over the girl’s on the locket to quiet the noise, and put her finger to her lips.

“Shhhh,” she said hissing it through clenched teeth.