Short Social Fiction: Adventures of Tupi 38

Tupi saw a small convenience store opening and the owner seemed to be clearing some debris off the side of the store. The store was pretty empty, but there was newspaper delivery and Tupi decided to go and support to buy some papers and a bar of chocolate.

"Everything sold out?" Tupi asked.

"Yeah, people bought out many things before the hurricane, and we do have some products which got damaged as the store was closed for a week, and we had no power. So just cleaning up now." The store owner said.

"No restock yet?" Tupi asked.

"Usually, the big boys like supermarkets get their supplies first." The store owner said. "We get ours from a different supplier who still does not have stock. But I'm not in a hurry, the power is still out here." The store owner pointed a several repairman fixing the electrical cables.

"Its been a week!" Tupi said.

"And we are not the worst hit, you should see the Keys... " The store owner said. "easily half the houses there were destroyed of badly damaged. My cousin's house has a boat inside."

"I thought the flooding down the road was bad..." Tupi said.

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Tupi quickly hurried to the house and was reading the newspapers on the way. "Justin! Florida Keys is like... destroyed!" Tupi said.

"I heard.. it was on the news.. " Justin said. "Do you want to go? I'm not sure if we can access but I can try."

"I'd like to see the damage and how we can help." Tupi said. "I still have my lifestraws and MRE..."

"Sure, I have some blankets and warm clothes." Justin said. "Lets pack the truck and see how we can get there."

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The truck was loaded and ready to go. Tupi brought along a big bottle of water for the trip and brought along some fruits. "Wow, your refrigerator is really stocked up..." Tupi said.

"Well, you can't take the Singaporean out of me... The fear of losing is real." Justin said.

As they were driving there, the roads were still empty. "I can never get used to this... There should be many cars out..." Justin said. The traffic lights are still not working and there were few vehicles on the road. "One week, still like a Ghost town."

As the truck crossed the bridge, Tupi can see widespread destruction on the other side. "There is a boat in that house... That house has no roof..." Tupi was in shock and awe. This is where is destruction by nature starts, and Tupi feels like he is in a movie, and the devastation is still everywhere.