Aftermath

sandals, and a shirt once pastel pink but now stained anything but. It threw itself at him with sudden speed—just like they used to, he thought—but it was no match for his strength. He cut it down with a few well-aimed strokes, leaving it hacked into two uneven halves on the deck, then moving on to the next boat.
    After identifying a number of possibilities, they eventually found two boats moored next to each other which looked like they’d do the job: the Duchess and the Summer Breeze . They were both of a similar size, ten meters long, obviously strong and seaworthy, but more important they were in relatively good condition given the fact they’d been left in the water untended through the autumn and winter months, and looked easy enough to sail. Cooper and Harry both had a reasonable amount of experience with boats, albeit very different types of vessels they’d sailed in wildly different circumstances. But it would be enough to get them back to Cormansey.
    Their objectives were straightforward—transport and supplies. They left Harry to secure this part of the marina, then check the two boats over and get them ready to sail. They took him at his word that he knew enough about electrics, propellers, waterproofing, outboards, and the like to get the job done.
    Cooper, Richard, and Donna found a nearby supermarket. They broke in quickly and began looting, initially working at frantic speed, falling into old habits and grabbing whatever they could get their hands on as corpses began to crowd the building and slam up against the windows. After a while, however, their nervousness faded and they began to loot at a gentler pace. They took their time and collected food which would last and they could easily transport and distribute. Food which would keep the people on Cormansey healthy and strong. Medicines. Tools. Clothes. Cooper didn’t find everything he was looking for. He made a mental note to try and find a garden center, DIY store, or farm shop before they returned to the island. We need to start thinking ahead now , he thought, realizing just how much their situation had changed since they’d last been on the mainland. We need to start planning for the future, now that it looks like we might actually have one. We need to be able to plant and harvest crops, to grow as much of our own food as we can. We need to get ourselves into a position where everything we need can be found on the island and we never have to come back here again unless we want to.
    *   *   *
     
    A short time later he found Donna standing in the middle of a clothing department, standing in silence, just looking up at the dust-covered mannequins. Jack Baxter had been moaning to her recently abut all the clichés in the post-apocalyptic books he used to love to read. “I don’t want to end up looking like an idiot,” he’d told her. “I want to wear decent, comfortable clothes, not hand-knitted jumpers and coats made out of sewn-together animal skins!”
    Donna hadn’t moved for a while. Cooper wondered what was wrong.
    “You okay?” he asked, startling her. She caught her breath and turned around to face him, smiling briefly.
    “I’m fine.”
    “You sure?”
    “Sure.”
    “What were you looking at?”
    She pointed at two female dummies directly in front of her. The wig had slipped off one of them, partially covering its face and leaving half of its head unflatteringly bald. The other had a beard of cobwebs stretching from its chin to its chest, and wore a short party dress; even now some of the thousands of sequins caught the afternoon light which trickled in through the window. It had a handbag slung over one frozen shoulder, and it was wearing a pair of gorgeous (Donna thought), yet completely impractical, stiletto heels.
    “Love those shoes,” she said.
    “Have them, then.”
    “Are you having a laugh? I mean, I know I could take them, but what’s the point? When am I going to get to wear them? When I’m walking into the village? Around the house? They’re not that practical for trudging across fields.”
    “Sorry,” Cooper said quickly, feeling unexpectedly embarrassed and insensitive.
    “It’s not your fault.” Donna sighed, looking down with disappointment at the jeans and mud-splattered boots she was wearing, shoving her hands into the pockets of the same winter coat she’d worn every day for as long as she could remember. “I was just thinking, are we ever going to be able to dress like that