Volume I - Episode 43 Where: Melbourne, Australia When: 1 day after E-Day, 9:31 am I swung at the sliding door with all of my might; which, as a computer programmer, was not terribly mighty. The hammer bounced off the glass and flew out of my hand. I squealed (quite girlishly, I must add) and leapt out of the way as the hammer thudded to the concrete. It wasn't a very promising start to my quest to obtain supplies. Yes, I said "quest". Yes, I was a role-playing geek. Deal with it! I shook the tension out of my hand, picked up the hammer, and prepared myself to take another swing at the door. "This time," I told myself. "Hit it hard, hit it straight, and don't let go." I readjusted my grip on the hammer and took a deep breath. I swung at the door. The large pane of glass didn't just shatter, it exploded. Glass shards flew in every direction. A huge wedge fell from the top of the door, barely missing my arm, and exploded into fragments next to my feet. But it was the sound that unnerved me. The sound of glass breaking is unsettling at the best of times, but in the still morning air, with the world completely devoid of people, and cards, and animals, the sound of breaking glass was deafening. I dropped the hammer and ran back to the car park. I expected someone to shout at me. I expected a siren or alarm to ring out. I expected a big burly security guard to come out of nowhere and grab my shoulder, demanding an explanation. But none of these things happened. It was just me, standing alone in the car park in front of the Safeway supermarket I had just broken into. I must have stood there for 15 minutes, waiting. Waiting for something to happen. At any moment, a police car would appear over the hill on Dover Road, lights flashing red and blue, and would come to arrest me. But again: nothing. There were three other cars in the car park aside from mine, all of them parked close to the supermarket's entrance. My mind ran with the possibilities of who the vehicles could have belonged to, and what had become of their owners. Eventually I settled on them belonging to the team who came in at closing time each night to clean the store. Presumably they had all disappeared at midnight (along with everybody else in the world) when E-Day struck. I stood staring at the supermarket, thinking of the treasure trove of goodies that lay hidden within its ugly brick walls: cereals, dried meats, canned vegetables, lollies, fresh water. My stomach rumbled hungrily. It was time to start filling my shopping list. And as I walked towards the store, I glanced at the sign above the shattered front door. I couldn't help but smile.

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First published: Saturday, 19 March 2011 Credits: Rodan by Jepe Clothes from DAZ3D Background photography by me Character rendered in Poser Pro Composited in Photoshop CS5 Extended