Volume II - Episode 89 Where: Melbourne, Australia When: 1 month and 3 days after E-Day, 11:48 am I caught a quick glimpse of market stalls filled with sights that made me realise just how hungry I was for real food: wooden boxes piled high with lettuces, onions, peas and cabbages; a display stand stacked with apples, pears and kiwifruit; a few cartons of freshly laid eggs; a long table adorned with pies, cakes and pastries; and a generator-fuelled freezer that I could only assume was filled with milk and fresh-cut meat. My mouth began to water... ...and then I was surrounded by people. Questions and introductions came at me from every direction. “Hi sweetie, I’m Nancy.” “My name is Han.” “Anna.” “I’m Milorad. You can call me Milo.” “Brayden.” “I’m Kayla. You’re not...with the government...are you?” “What’s your name, honey?” “You look hungry. Come have a slice of my pumpkin pies. It’s fresh!” “I’ve got marinated chicken wings in the freezer. Very cheap!” “Where are you living?” “What did you do for work?” “Are you alone? Do you have any family?” “Have you met any other survivors?” I”f you want a haircut, just come see me.” “Oh, he’s a computer guy! Emily will want to see him.” “Do you know what’s going on in the city?” “Do you know what caused all this?” I could feel my face grow hot as my cheeks filled with blood. Sweat glistened on my forehead and ran down my back into the waistband of my pants. I tried to answer their questions. I tried to stammer pleasantries and smile and be polite. But all the while, my feet subconsciously locked into reverse gear and carried me slowly backwards towards the door. I think I even spluttered something like “hey, I gotta get going, I’ll be back soon, okay?” And then, an angel’s voice. She appeared out of nowhere. A tall, slender woman with caramel-coloured hair. “Come on, guys,” she said. “Let the poor guy take a breath.” She said it light-heartedly, with a smile in her voice. But they listened. The circle parted and let her through. “Hi, I’m Emily,” she said, extending her hand. I shook it, hoping against all hope that she didn’t notice how sweaty my palms were. “I was a doctor before all this. A GP. I actually have a room over there, if you’d like to go and have a quick chat?” I wanted nothing more than to get out of there and hide. But I was here now. And I still didn’t have the food I’d come here for. Suddenly I realised they were all looking at me expectantly. “Uh, okay,” I said, blushing furiously. “Sounds good.” And that was how I came to meet Dr Emily Willson.