(Content warnings: death, reference to former toxic relationship)
Exhibit 1: The Source
Is it… Okay. Recording. Hi.
Jules found this audio recorder in what’s left of The Source. I said she should find something with video. Jules said I get this because it’s all they have and I “need something to do.” Plus she found a pack of triple-As and a working battery charger. Which is great while the electricity lasts.
Right, so…
Welcome to your audio-tour of Spruceway Mall! I found an old brochure map, which hopefully you did too because I’m marking the “exhibits” so you can follow along. If not, use your imagination! Yeah. Anyway…
Exhibit 1: The Source. Step right up. We’ve got dead cell phones, unsold computer mice, one audio recorder, a pack of triple-A batteries, and one working charger. It’s the best tour ever!
•••
Exhibit 2: Spruceway Mall
Exhibit 2: Spruceway Mall. Specifically, the main entrance with the big letters over top. Fancy, right? Of course, for safety, I recommend staying inside the mall where you can’t actually see the sign. We’ve barricaded the doors so you can’t see through the glass either. I helped with that.
Anyway, the mall brochure, which you might have found, gives you an idea of the font. Very “1980s view of the future.” We’ll say this stop represents the mall as a whole. Should this have been Exhibit 1? Probably! But I can’t rearrange files on this thing and I’m not starting over.
I always thought the best place to be in a zombie apocalypse would be the Canadian Tire. You’ve got everything you need in one big-box stop. Fuel, appliances, bicycles for travel, hockey sticks to defend yourself with. Or skates. You could stab a zombie with a skate blade. There’s tents and blankets and sleeping bags to stay warm. There’s a toy section and lawn games so you won’t get bored. If the apocalypse starts in summer, you could use their Garden Centre to grow tomatoes. If not, there’s jerky and snack food by the registers. That stuff never expires.
I made the mistake of telling Brent and Kylie this at a pre-apocalypse group supper. Someone proposed a hypothetical “what if” scenario and I knew three things right away: I wouldn’t die first, Canadian Tire was the place to go, and if a zombie bit me, I wouldn’t lie about it. Why had I put so much thought into the zombie apocalypse? Great question! It was just a game back then.
Now Brent and Kylie rule the Canadian Tire. It’s a whole dystopian cult. I’m not even joking. You risk being sacrificed to actual zombies if… I don’t know. They don’t like you? Or they think you’re annoying? Or a threat to their power. I’m not getting close enough to ask. I barely got away last time. And Monica… she was at that supper too… she wasn’t breathing anymore. But she crawled over the wire… and what I said about skates…
Anyway, Exhibit 2: Spruceway Mall. It’s been going downhill for over a decade.
Spruceway Mall—it was half-dead before the rest of the world got undead!
I’m going to die in Spruceway Mall and you can too!
Stay tuned for Exhibit 3.
•••
Exhibit 3: The Quilt Rack
Exhibit 3: The Quilt Rack. Fine old-fashioned quilts—mass produced but whatever—and home to Betty and Carla.
It’s one of the comfier living spaces. And you know what? They deserve it! They used to walk laps around the mall every morning at 7am. Sometimes they’d do group yoga in the mall courtyard things. Sometimes they’d go on coffee dates at Tim Horton’s.
Betty and Carla still walk laps around the mall every morning at 7am. They know this place better than anyone. They were the first to take shelter in the Spruceway, and didn’t mind sharing space when the rest of us moved in. Not that we’re short on space. Betty and Carla gave me a quilt after Jules found me, bruised and bloody from the Canadian Tire escape. Jules introduced me as “I think we went to high school together.” The three took shifts making sure I was still breathing. It was… nice. Better yet, they didn’t ask a million questions.
You know what they don’t have in the Crappy Tire Cult? Privacy. They’ll dig through all your secrets in the end. Or make something up. Whatever it takes.
Anyway, if you see Betty and Carla doing the rounds, give them a wave and you’ll get a friendly nod back.
•••
Exhibit 4: The Palm Tree
Would you believe there’s a palm tree in the mall? Exhibit 4: The mysterious palm tree! It’s a real, living tree. I checked.
How is this thing still alive? Is one of us watering it?
Jules lives nearby in a pop-up Halloween shop. She changes the decorations out front once a week. That’s her thing to do. Today it’s a pair of plastic skeletons sipping imaginary lattes from paper coffee cups. It’ll be something else when you’re here.
Jules says she’s not watering the plants, but does she have a masked alter-ego? She’s got the supplies for it! Or is there a Phantom of the Spruceway?
How often do you need to water a palm tree? Why did Spruceway decorate with palm trees instead of literally anything else that resembles a spruce?
The big questions of our time.
•••
Exhibit 5: The Bookstore, Introduction
Exhibit 5. The bookstore went out of business before all this started. It’s now home to Chenelle and…
Do you want to give a tour? Okay, you’re going to talk right here. Ready? Go…
•••
Exhibit 5: The Bookstore, Presented by Princess Cat and Baby Cat
HI! I’m Princess Cat. And this is Baby Cat. Say hi!
He meowed! Did you hear? We have cat ears. You can’t see them. Do you hear the flicking? I’m flicking my ear.
This is our house. Mummy sleeps there and this is our bed. And that’s our art gallery. I did this one. It has star stickers. They glow in the dark.
This is Gloria. She’s a polar bear. I got to bring her from our old house. She protects me. Matty has Pawesome, see?
Okay. That’s our tour.
BYEEEEEEE! MEOW!
•••
Exhibit 5: The Bookstore, Conclusion
All right, you’re back with your regularly scheduled tour guide. I don’t think I can describe an empty bookstore better than Princess Cat. So, there you have it! Exhibit 5. I’ll see you at the next one.
•••
Tour Break
We’re approaching exhibi—Shit.
There’s scraping. We’ve blocked all the windows. It’s fine. It’ll wander away.
We’re fine.
If this is the last entry, I hope you liked the tour.
•••
Exhibit 6: The Food Court
Exhibit 6: The Food Court.
That’s right, the tour continues! Lucky you.
You’ve got five choices here and none of them specialized in non-perishables. We’ve got oil and grills though. And tables if you’re feeling social. I tend to eat alone, but this is your tour. Follow your heart!
As long as it stays in Spruceway.
•••
Exhibit 7: The Toy Cart
Exhibit 7: The Toy Cart.
You can’t go inside The Toy Cart anymore.
This was home to Cassidy and Roger. Cassidy was the manager before everything changed. They were the second to come to Spruceway, after Betty and Carla. Maybe they gravitated to something familiar. Maybe a store full of board games and puzzles seemed like a good way to pass the time. They were a puzzle-before-bed kind of couple. They dragged a mattress in there from the furniture store. They shared plush toys and card games with the rest of us.
They used to forage for food at the nearby supermarket. They always brought a lot back. Shared it with everyone.
I don’t know what happened on their last foraging trip. They must’ve thought they were fine until they realized they weren’t.
One morning the big metal door was shut across the front of The Toy Cart. The door used to signal the store was closed. Now it shut Cassidy and Roger on the other side.
There’s no back entrance to The Toy Cart.
A pile of canned goods was outside. The remains of their last foraging trip. Like a final donation. There was a sign taped to the door. It said, “Lock It On Your Side. God bless.”
So we did.
At first there were… there were sounds. Shuffling, boxes falling from shelves. Then banging and scraping at the metal door. Then howling. Sometimes you could hear it from the Food Court.
Chenelle told the kids this hall was off limits. Betty and Carla changed their walking route so it wouldn’t circle past here anymore.
The sounds have stopped, but no one comes down to The Toy Cart. Unless you’re here following the tour.
I shouldn’t say no one. I’m here now recording. I don’t know why. You wouldn’t know if I did this from here or The Quilt Rack or The Source.
Someone else has been here too. Maybe more than one of us. There’s a bouquet of dead flowers and some teddy bears. Like it’s the site of a car crash. The display’s probably still here. You’re probably looking at it right now.
Now you know why.
•••
Tour Break
(The next audio log consists of panicked breathing and a muffled voice saying, “you’re alright. You’re still breathing.”)
•••
Exhibit 8: The Roof
Exhibit 8 is brought to you by Jules and her ability to pick locks. Because voila, we have roof access.
Maintenance people must’ve come up here. There’s… air ducts? Some sort of metal grey box none of us are touching. The place isn’t pretty, but we can go outside. If you keep your eyes on the sky, you won’t see movement in the distance.
I guess movement in the distance is better than right below us. What if they remember that rocks break glass better than rotting fists?
Moving on. We’re moving on.
I shouldn’t say it’s not pretty here. Sometimes it is. Sort of. Last week there was a rainbow. It was a full arc. There was even a faint double.
Chenelle and the kids were up on the roof that time. The kids started talking about how rainbows lead to buried treasure. Think classic pots of gold. And unicorns. Can’t forget unicorns.
I thought it was cute, but when I turned to Chenelle she was crying silently, not letting the kids see. Because they can’t travel to the end of the rainbow. They can’t even go everywhere in Spruceway Mall. Chenelle was crying, and I just stood there. Even Jules didn’t know what to say.
But we all stayed on the roof until the rainbows were gone.
•••
Exhibit 9: Dream Floral and Gift
Exhibit 9: Dream Floral and Gift. Now light on floral—at least living ones. We can’t all be mysterious, immortal palm trees.
It’s still decently stocked on “gifts.” If you like ceramic frogs, plant pots shaped like boots, and picture frames with stock photos in them. This one has a golden retriever. Remember pet dogs? Do they still exist?
I think Jules had a dog in highschool. I kind of remember her walking it, unless I’m thinking of someone else. We did go to the same highschool, just different grades, different friends. If you’d asked who I’d be in touch with years later… guess it worked out.
I’ll leave the dog picture on the counter. The star of Exhibit 9. And this frog in overalls. Yeah. That looks cute. Hope you find it. I—
I’ve got an idea. If it works, I’ll make it your next stop. See you there.
•••
Exhibit 10: The Other Palm Tree
Exhibit 10. Did you think there was just one mysterious, immortal palm tree? Guess what? There’s two!
You’ve made it to double-digit exhibit numbers, so I’m going to trust you with a secret: This palm tree’s special.
Jules and I went to every store in the mall, breaking into registers and finding every loonie we could. We took the coins to the kids and told them they were gold. Princess Cat pointed out they’re only worth a dollar. I won her over by saying they’re the right colour.
Anyway, here’s the secret: the gold’s buried under this palm tree. Jules and I took another one of the mall brochure maps and turned it into a treasure map. If that’s the one you’ve been using for the tour… you’re missing all the exhibit numbers, so that hasn’t helped. But you got our highly creative names for the mall’s features. Quilt Rack of Torture. The Dream Realm. The Source of Power.
It’s not the end of a rainbow but it’s what we’ve got. I don’t know. Maybe it’s still sad. But if you can hear those faint screams in the background, that’s the kids following a false lead. Laughter screams. Those aren’t so bad.
I’ve had better plans go worse.
•••
Exhibit 11: The Supply Room
Right, so. This is me. Exhibit 11. A supply room. It has a sleeping bag and stacks of tissue. I moved the cleaning supplies into one of the food court stalls. No one complained.
If you’re listening to this audio tour, I don’t know if I’m here anymore. I guess I keep picturing you finding this in the future. Sometimes I imagine the others here. Most of the time, you’re walking through the mall alone.
Why a supply room? Because of the door. The stores have the big metal ones, but they’re a pain so no one bothers. Besides Cassidy and Roger. Everyone else uses blankets from the Quilt Rack.
So yeah, my room is small and smells like chemical lemon cleaner. But I can close the door and the whole mall goes away. And I have a window. It’s a small one near the ceiling so I can’t look out, but that’s a good thing. When I think of looking out, the image of a face pops in my head. I’m scared it will be looking in. And I think of tangled wire, shirt fabric catching… and skates…
But a little bit of natural light is nice.
If I’m not here when you take the audio-tour, you can have this room. The best supply room in Spruceway.
•••
Exhibit 12: Everything Else
Exhibit 12 is the roof again. But let’s say it’s everything else. And it’s night so it feels different. If you’re listening during the day, just… come back later. If you hit pause, you can pretend I waited for you.
Alright, Exhibit 12. Everything else. It’s the empty subdivisions surrounding the mall. It’s a big blank sky. It’s the trees on the other side of the almost-empty parking lot. It’s the abandoned pick-up, which is why I said “almost-empty.”
It’s a good night, so there’s no movement in the immediate area.
It’s knowing there’s movement in the distance. Especially around Canadian Tire. There’s fire glowing in that direction. Everyone wanted to be there, but not everyone made it inside. And not everyone survives inside. But the dead stick around it. They never leave. I guess it was a bad plan after all.
And meanwhile you’re here, with us—or the memory of us. This weird little village we’ve made. Welcome to Spruceway.
It’s getting colder. We’ll get snow soon. I can see my breath in the air. I can see Jules’s breath too.
Hah hah.
Yeah. Little puffs of fog. No Toy Cart for us yet.
We’re still alive at Spruceway Mall.
