Chapter 5 V

Felipe, day 1 Goiânia, Brazil

I wake up with Vitor's hand on my shoulder, the sun is already high in the sky, someone has opened the sunshades over our chairs. He looks sad at me.

"Hey Lipe."

I sit down on the chair. And I tell him what we saw on the monitors in the guardhouse and on the internet before the light went out. He listens quietly, horribly quiet, painfully quiet. While we watch Laura swimming endlessly from one side of the pool to the other. She stops and looks at us, she leans over the edge and lifts herself out of the water with her firm arms, every muscle in her belly contracted and marked as well as her firm breasts under her wet bra, she has a little devil tattooed on her neck, she almost smiles as she slowly gets dressed looking at us and then walks towards us. Still barefoot.

"What's up guys?"

Vitor finally opens his mouth.

"What are we going to do?"

"Sincerely I don't know."

Vitor answers quickly, but still without conviction.

"Lipe told me what you saw, and there's one thing that I can't get out of my head."

"What is it?"

" How did the people in Times Square survive?"

I raise my eyebrows at him. Knowing that he will answer even if no one asks.

" They survived for the same reason we did."

Laura shakes her head negatively.

"What is the possibility that they are in a freezer in Manhattan?"

Victor answers quickly."

" Not in a freezer, but in another hermetically sealed place."

I can't take my eyes off the blouse marked by the wet bra. Vitor nudges me, Laura pulls her blouse to unhook it from her bra and smiles with her eyes at me. I feel my face burning and know from experience that I must look like a fucking tomato. I say something just to change the focus.

"What kind of place, Victor?"

"Elevators, airplanes, maybe basements and cellars."

Laura interrupts.

Maybe that thing didn't get to the subway, they could have come from the subway, the clothes, there were well-dressed and poorly-dressed people mixed together.

Vitor speaks.

" If your underground idea is right, maybe there are people alive in the underground parking lots of the malls."

Laura shakes her head.

"The thing came through here at 10:30 and the mall was already closed.

Vitor insists on the idea.

" It wouldn't hurt to take a look, maybe the security people."

"The problem is that we're miles away from the city's malls."

She's right about that; the nearest mall is so far away.

Vitor answers discouraged.

" We'll ride our bikes there?"

"I don't see any other way to get there."

Laura gets up and takes the lead.

"I'm going to look for a backpack or something to carry water and food."

She leaves almost running towards the kitchen door, her wet panties give a little transparency to the tight pants she wears and draw with perfection the perfection of those thighs, pun intended, I know. Vitor elbows me.

"You're a pervert."

I look at him and make my best serious face. He shrugs his shoulders and smiles.

We get up and go slowly towards the kitchen door, I open the door and look back, Vitor can't get in. He is shaking, I look at him and at the uniform on the kitchen floor. I go to the sink, turn off the faucet. I get up and look around the kitchen looking for it, I run to the living room, there I find what I want, I get a small, beautiful ceramic vase, that tapers toward the lid like a neck, all with little purple flowers drawn on it. I go back to the kitchen and in the most respectful way possible I put the ashes in the vase, on the floor near me is the crucifix that my aunt always used, I cover the vase and wrap the crucifix around it. She was always kind to me, always worried, I know that she always made extra food knowing that I was going to eat there, and the clothes that she gave me, saying that they didn't fit Vitor, we are the same size, always angry, always demanding. I don't even know how many times I envied Vitor for having her. I feel Vitor's arm around my neck and he kneels on the floor beside me, we cry together, I give him the vase, he hugs himself to the vase and I hug him. I cry for how much I will miss my aunt, but also for my mother, for my grandmother, and maybe I cry for the whole world. I don't know how long we stay like this, my knees are numb when I hear Laura's voice.

" Kids, I know it's not easy, but we can't stay here."

We get up and go to the street. We look at the road and Vitor says.

"What are we going to do?"

Laura gives us the idea.

"Why don't we go by car, and change cars in each blocked place for the closest free car on our way?"

When we pass by the guardhouse Laura takes the baton and we get in a Pick Up that is stopped in the gate, Laura goes out cutting by the cars of the neighborhood to the highway and for several times she pushes the cars in the way for out of the way until it is impossible to continue, as much for the amount of cars in the way as for the state of the Pick Up that already starts to release a lot of smoke through the hood. We get out of the car and cross the corner of the road for about fifty meters until the way is free, on one of the sidewalks an SUV is stopped, Laura tries to open the door that is locked. Vitor looks at me and then at Laura.

"I still don't understand what is this truncheon."

He barely finishes talking and Laura breaks the SUV's window on the driver's side with a single blow, opens the door, throws the shards of glass on the seat on the floor and sits down to start.

"Are you coming?"

" I understand the truncheon."

And so we follow as in one of those toys in the park, using the SUV to push the cars on the way, until again it is not possible to continue, we walk a little more, until the avenue becomes more empty, we choose a Jeep this time and with it we arrive at the mall, the largest in the city, we break the gate and enter the outdoor parking lot that is empty, We go down the access ramp to the underground parking lots, empty and illuminated only by the emergency lights that give the place a ghostly air, Laura honks all the time, the sound echoes through the empty building, every time the headlight illuminates a pillar I have the impression of seeing a person, the impression disappears in the next moment. Laura breaks the silence.

"It's getting late and I'm starving."

"It's a mall, let's eat."

Laura smiles.

" Wise words, Victor."

Laura goes up two floors and stops in front of the parking lot exit. We get out of the Jeep and walk toward the glass doors that give access to the mall. I try to open them but they are locked. I look at Laura.

"I'll get the master key from the car."

She leaves and comes back with the baton, Vitor looks at her and shakes his head.

"What's wrong, we need to get in."

"These doors are made of tempered glass, not easy to break."

Laura looks angry at him.

"Move away, slim."

We move away, Laura approaches the door, stretches out the arm that holds the truncheon and hits the tip of it in one of the corners of the door with an absurd force, seriously, without exaggeration, it was a huge blow, the entire door cracks splitting into hundreds of little squares, but still standing. Again the strange look, she smiles, and it's an almost evil smile. She puts the tip of her truncheon against the glass and pushes, the little squares separate and the glass splinters into hundreds of little shards on the floor. The same ghostly air as the emergency lights, the stores all closed and the corridors empty. We walk slowly until we pass in front of a skate shop, in the window there are two Alpha Mormaii next to each other, they are the Ferrari of traditional skateboards, our kind of skateboard, I mean, mine and Vitor's. We both stop to admire them. We both stop to admire in front of the window. Laura stops behind us.

"Do you like it?"

We nod our heads yes.

"Then move back."

We move away and again the truncheon makes the shop window splatter on the floor.

"I'll meet you at the food court in half an hour, okay?"

Vitor answers already jumping into the store and grabbing one of the skateboards.

"Yes, that's fine."

Laura leaves. I go inside the window and get the other one, I've never played a so good equipment, I feel the weight of the 9 laminas maple shape, the orange and black tiger print, I feel the texture of the 80 sandpaper, I turn one of the wheels model shore 100 and observe the carbon steel bearings working, I test if the polished aluminum truks are well fixed, everything is perfect, I put the skateboard on the floor and when I'm about to put my foot on it, Vitor interrupts me.

"You are not going to put these shitty shoes on this precious thing, are you?"

I look at him, who is standing next to a display case with the most incredible skateboarding shoes ever made and behind them several racks full of shirts, shorts and pants. I had never entered this store before, I never had the courage, I was afraid of being shouted at by some stuck-up salesman. I run to the racks and honestly don't know what to get. Vitor changes clothes and then changes again, I choose a pair of pants, a shirt and a sweatshirt jacket.

"Check out your clothes Lipe."

I smell the t-shirt and I can't explain it, I don't remember having smelled this before, nor having felt a cloth so soft and comfortable. Vitor laughs at me.

" I smell expensive clothes."

"We have worn expensive clothes that your mother's boss gave her."

" None of them had this smell, the smell of new clothes."

I run back to the display case with the sneakers and my eyes go straight to a Janoski zoom canvas, I put it on my feet and it fits perfectly. I grab the skateboard and jump out of the store, get on the skateboard and pick up speed in the mall corridor and try again the hard flip, another failed attempt.

"It was almost this time, Philip. A race? From here to the food court?"

I get up quickly, get on my skateboard and run, I hear him shouting behind me.

" I'll catch up with you little thief."

LAURA- DAY 1 GOIANA-BRAZIL

I have never been a shopping mall girl, but today is the exception, I pass in front of several stores with their silly and uncomfortable dresses, made to dress dolls and not people. Finally a mannequin wearing something nice and useful, a pair of nice jeans, a white tank top and a jean jacket, one of those from the 80's, perfect. I use my master key in the window, then I get dressed and keep walking through the corridors, I'm not sure what I'm looking for, I pass in front of a jewelry store and see a white gold choker with three big rubies, silly dresses never attracted me, but jewelry has always been my weak point. And of the classic gems, rubies are my favorite. I break the window display to look at this beauty up close. They are beautiful gems with few impurities, an intense red, in jewelry they call this color pigeon blood and the cutting of these stones was done by a great artist. I put the choker on my neck, the delicious sensation of the cold metal on my skin and the soft weight of the piece on my neck. I leave the jewelry store, walking down the hallway I find a security guard's uniform lying on the floor, there is a holster with a pistol in it. I remove the belt and put it on, it doesn't match the choker, but I don't care. I walk in front of a store and see a black leather boot,it fits almost magically on my feet. My last purchase before heading to the food court. The boys are waiting for me with a monstrous portion of fries and gigantic quadruple burgers on a counter. They are wearing new clothes, Lipe holds a skateboard as if it were a treasure, while he eats, I sit down with them and get a sandwich. We eat quietly and with a full stomach I can feel the sadness coming back into the boys' eyes. Vitor looks at me and smiles.

"What's wrong, Victor?"

"You look pretty in these clothes and this is a necklace, isn't it?"

"It's a choker, thank you, you look beautiful too."

Philip looks at my waist, his little green eyes can't get away from my curves, but this time he's looking at the gun at my waist. I answer without him asking.

" Always expect the worst."

" I love your optimism."

" Don't fuck with me, Vitor."

" We should take a look outside, see if we can find any movement or light. It's almost eight o'clock at night."

Vitor's right about that.

" Let's look from above, from the terrace."

The boys agree, we walk up floor after floor in the penumbra, illuminated by the emergency lights, which get weaker and we reach a big metal door, with a red light indicating emergency exit, the door leads to a metal staircase that takes us to another door that opens to a sky filled with stars. The boys can't stop looking up, their mouths open.

" Vitor, have you ever seen the sky like this?"

" It's always been like this, Philip, the city lights were hiding it."

"Boy, we didn't come here to look at the stars."

" What exactly are we looking for?"

"I don't know, some sign of people, movement, lights, anything."

" Like that illuminated mansion over there Laura?"

About three or four kilometers away from the mall a huge house with a light on the second floor turned on. Vitor hurries to identify where the house is.

" It's in Alphaville."

The damn playboys always do well, these people can take care of the kids, I can't be responsible for them like a damn baba. They both look at me waiting for me to tell them what to do, I won't lie, the feeling is good, the power, the feeling that they depend on me.

" Whoever arrives last in the jeep is the priest's wife."

I run toward the stairs, plunging into the ever-increasing darkness of the mall with its slowly fading lights. Lipe and Vitor run after me, my advantage ends when we reach the shopping center's corridors and they get on their skateboards. Vitor goes slower, I don't know if he's afraid of dropping the vase he carries in his backpack or if he's trying to be nice to me. We arrive at the car, I'm out of breath and with the title of the priest's wife. We are lucky, we managed to get to Alphaville with relative ease, but the jeep is already gone, the radiator got stuck while I was trying to get a car out of the way. We finish the last 500 meters to the gate on foot, the boys walk beside me under the starry sky, we see a shooting star. Vitor closes his eyes tightly, takes a deep breath, and continues walking. We arrive at the gate, a BMW is stopped with its window open at the gate. I drive slowly following the luminosity that leads us to a beautiful mansion of concrete and glass that rises from a hill on two elegant pillars, as if it were hovering in the air.