Chapter 4

Valerie shivered, and not just from the cold. She hated not knowing if one of them was waiting in the dark. Her fingers fumbled with the lighter, but finally, she got a spark. The flame wavered, but there wasn't quite enough wind coming through the roof hatch to blow it out. She lit three of the candles, setting two of them on a shelf across from the door. The other she held in her left hand while she pulled the little pistol from her pocket. She took a deep breath and pointed the weapon at the door. "Okay, I'm ready."

Matt pulled on the handle. The click of the latch of the walk in freezer door echoed loud in her ears. He swung the door open with a creak. A foul stench wafted out, but it didn't smell like them, and she didn't see anything move in the flickering candlelight. The barrel of Matt's rifle swung back and forth as he scanned the dark room. "Looks okay." he said. Despite his words, he moved cautiously, poking the barrel of his rifle under the shelves and behind a stack of boxes before he waved her in.

The smell was far stronger inside, but not nearly as bad as standing on the roof above those things. She held the light so that Matt could check the food. There were boxes and boxes full of moldy cheese, bowls and pizza pans full of hardened mold covered dough. There was even mold on the walls. They checked everything anyway. Some of the pepperoni looked like it might be ok, but when he asked her she shook her head, it wasn't worth taking a chance. On the top shelf in back, they found a box half filled with cans of anchovies. By the door, there were two partially full ten pound bags of flour, and an unopened number ten can of olives. Valerie waited at the bottom of the ladder while Matt carried everything up to the roof, then they went to the front of the pizza shop.

They hadn't gone up front before, because unlike the dollar store, the entire front of the pizza shop was just glass. Someone must have robbed the store during those first days, because the cash register was open and empty. Valerie found a huge bag of Parmesan cheese in little plastic packets under the counter, but nothing else edible. None of those things were visible on the other side of the glass, so Matt hopped the counter to check the refrigerator in the lobby. He stacked what he found on the counter, four bottles at a time. "All the pop is gone, but they still have these."

Valerie picked up one of the bottles. It was cold, too cold for her to hold for long, the sports drink had frozen completely, so had the smaller bottles of water. She was glad to have them though, she hated drinking melted snow. She was always afraid that it would be contaminated somehow, even though Matt made sure it boiled every time. They brought their finds to the back, and Matt climbed up to the roof. She stayed at the bottom of the ladder, out of the wind, filling plastic bags for him to haul up with a rope.

The icy wind bit right through the t-shirt and two sweatshirts she wore, and the falling snow stung her face. She tramped over to the next roof hatch. Snow worked its way up her pants legs, wetting her socks. By the time they were down the ladder, she couldn't stop her shivering, and she worked her hands inside the pocket on the front of her sweatshirt.