Scarce

No one saw it coming. 

“Pack two pairs of everything.”

“Do toys count too?” 

“If Aden is taking a toy then I want my gaming system.”

“No toys and no gaming systems, we need to travel light,” mom ordered. 

“Aila, you’re in charge of both cars right now. Fill them both up,” my dad scrambled through his pockets for any type of bills and handed them to me, along with the keys to the jeep and minivan.

“Why both if we’re traveling light?”

It was all happening too fast. Two of our closest neighbors barged in through our back door, carrying one backpack each and bags of foods. My favorite aunt and cousins entered through the front door, all carrying one backpack as well with bags of more food. The kitchen through the living room was getting filled with gossip of what was recently happening outside in the city. 

“Everyone is panicking, fights already started to break out at the stores around the corner,” our neighbor Christopher said. 

“Not as bad as the highway,” my aunt Persilla added. 

“You should have seen uncle Tito, my mom was almost going to slap a woman because she was blocking the exit,” James was the youngest cousin out of our generation and the most innocent. However, as he continued with his story, he was more excited than worried because he was not understanding exactly what was happening. “And then there was going to be another fight because someone was driving away with cases of water bottles.”

My dad rubbed James head, acknowledging his finished story with a nod before turning to my aunt. All she did was shrug, ignore my dad’s scolding face and hugged my mom. 

“All right, well I’m going to be on my way to the gas station-“

“What?!” my aunt pulled away from my mom and spun to face me. “Why now? Tito you didn’t fill them up yesterday like I told you?” Now it was my dad’s turn to be scolded. 

“Why, what do you mean?” my mom intervened. Seems like she’s been only asking questions all morning. 

“All the gas stations that we have passed have been rioted. Didn’t you just hear? Fights are breaking out everywhere and you want to send your daughter to go get gas in the middle of this water drought crises where there’s people literally panicking over everything! Including bananas,” my aunt’s voice silenced everyone in the living room. No one wanted to sneeze or breathe too loudly to upset her. But my dad was also known for his thunderous voice and this time he used it.

“We have to leave out of this city Cici! We can’t stay here!” he shouted. 

“And make it to the airport and fly to Alaska? Did you know the flights are being cancelled because they are being bombarded with groups of people!” she countered.

“The original plan was to get together and leave to the airport.” Christopher said in the most stern and strong voice, calming the tense presence in the room. “That’s what we are going to do. Aila, me and Stephanie will go with you to get gas. Tito, you and your relatives make sure to pack the most necessary things: no toys, no systems. All the young ones, use your brains and those tech-savy phones to research the fastest and safest route to the airport and stay updated with what is happening on social media and the news,” he ordered. 

“You can’t have the kids look-“ before my mom could protest, Christopher shook his head.

“This is no time to shield them from what is happening. They are all old enough to understand what is happening and they need not be scared. This is reality kids. Now, we should be back within 30 minutes and everyone should be waiting outside ready to leave.”

Everyone, including my parents nodded to the orders of Christopher. He gestured to me to lead the way to the front door and he and his wife followed behind me. The rest of the group got started on packing and turned on the news to hear the news. 

I hopped into the jeep and Christopher and his wife took the minivan. “Follow me and whatever you do, do not roll down your windows.” I nodded and drove behind him.

I had not known fear until this day. I had not known the value of life until this day. You see, everything was going fine for the last week. However, the news and the government were slowly warning their states of the droughts in other countries and how it may arrive here. People were slowly preparing in the event a drought did occur. No one expected for it to suddenly happen. No one expected for there not to be hot water to shower, no water to pour out of the faucet to wash the dishes, pools to become empty holes, beaches to become sandy deserts; fountain statues to be abandoned by water. 

And as soon as the first store opened their doors, the panic started. It started with one family, then another, then another, until it was multiples rushing in and out; all running to the frozen foods sections, scrapping the left over ice to melt it, others fighting for the packages of water bottles; soda bottles were left in their places, unwanted. Food isles were left empty, other material things such as cosmetics and cleaning supplies were untouched. Everyone’s only focus was the water and to get whatever was left. 

I watched the panicked people running on the streets. There were cars crashed on every other corner and were left abandoned, their trunks popped open and left empty. One man was carrying a 12 pack of water bottles before he was violently shoved into the floor by another man with a gun, pointing it at his head. The man let go of the case, watching it as it was being carried away by the masked person. 

I was caught off guard by a loud bang on the hood of the jeep to see a woman badly hurt, bleeding from the side of her head. Behind her I saw Christopher get out and point a gun at her. Their shouts were muffled. 

My anxiety was in my stomach. I had a bad feeling. I could feel it making my heart thump fast, the chaos outside was too much. Seeing the minivan get crashed, seeing Christopher pull the trigger at the woman, seeing her fall to the ground like a rag doll, Christopher running to Stephanie’s side, only to be followed by another car; crushing them both. 

I’m not sure what took hold of me, but I felt my hand switch the jeep to reverse, stepped on the gas, and sped all the way back home. 

We had to leave now.