They were sitting in a small room, eating dinner prepared from their stock of cans.
He wasn’t happy, it was mushrooms again. He didn’t like mushrooms. He looked along the shelves, hoping to spot something better for their next meal. The cans, packets and bottles were all dusty and hard to read. She again wondered just how well he was coping with the situation. She had always been the strong one in their partnership. The last thing she wanted was to have to cope with him becoming completely unhinged. Things were bad enough, without that. She remembered the incident that had occurred when the first flash came. Maybe recounting this would help him take his mind off things.
She said, “I forgot to tell you, we had a caller, the night of the first flash.”
“We did?”
“Yes. He was dressed in an expensive-looking suit. I must say, he was very polite. You were in the shower at the time.”
“What did he want?”
“You, apparently. He said that some uncle of yours in Canada had passed away leaving you what he said was a generous inheritance, apparently including a large amount of money!”
“Wow! I know who that is… a large inheritance, you say?”
“That’s what he said.”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing, really. I was asking myself whether this was a scam, when we saw the first almighty flash. He just turned and ran off without another word. Not that I blame him for that, it was pretty scary. Of course, that was just the first of many flashes to come.” She pulled a face. “You know the rest.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?
“Well, a lot’s been going on, you know!” She shook her head. “Anyway, he gave me his card; I’ve still got it.”
His eyes widened. “OK. OK. Let’s have it.”
She looked exasperated for a moment, before digging into her bag, which never left her side, then into her purse for the business card.
Handing it to him, his eyes lit up. “If I can find a telephone that’s still working, I’ll give them a call.”
She looked around at the tiny fallout shelter. What were the experts saying: the nuclear winter could last for anything up to a decade? She looked back at him still gleefully fingering the card.
She sighed.
Good luck with that, she thought.
