Read Life as We Knew It for Free Online

grateful for a can of soup than for a box of stale cookies."
    "Speak for yourself," Mrs. Nesbitt said.
    "Get Progresso," Mom said. "They don't need water."
    "Mom," I said. "We have water."
    "Which reminds me," she said. "After you pay for your first wagons, put the stuff in the car and go back.
    Jonny, you get water. As many bottles as you can fit in. Mrs. Nesbitt, you get whatever you think you're going to want. Miranda, you go to health and beauty aids. Get aspirin and peroxide and Band-Aids."
    "Great," I said. "The world's coming to an end, and we're fixing it with Band-Aids."
    "Vitamins," Mom said. "Get lots and lots of vitamins. And laxatives. Calcium. Vitamin D. This is so hard, trying to remember everything we might need."
    "Or might not," I said. "Mom, I love you, but I think this is crazy."
    "So we'll all get vitamin D for Christmas presents," Mom said. "Just do it, okay. Jonny and Mrs. Nesbitt and I have car keys, so wait for one of us to show up, and we'll put your stuff in with theirs. Okay?"
    "Sure," I said, because I decided it was better to humor her.
    "After we finish our second loads, we'll see what it's like," Mom said. "Then we'll see if it's worth it to go back in."
    She pulled into the supermarket parking lot and I got a real sense of the madness going on. There were people racing for carts, people screaming, and two guys punching each other out.
    "Jonny, get a wagon for Mrs. Nesbitt first," Mom said. "Everyone stay calm, and remember you have cash.
    That's all they're taking, and we have a real advantage there. Work fast. Don't debate. If you can't decide between two things, take both. Pack the carts as high as you can manage. If you have any problems, go to the car. Don't try to find anyone in the store. Okay? Are you ready?"
    We all said we were. Jonny looked like he actually meant it.
    Mom found a parking spot toward the back of the lot, and -there were two carts there. We raced out of the car and grabbed them. Mrs. Nesbitt and I each took one and went into the store together.
    The supermarket reminded me of the hallway at school this morning, and maybe because I'd just been through all that, the store didn't scare me as much as it ordinarily would have. So what if people were screaming and crying and fighting. I plowed through people and raced to canned vegetables.
    I realized I'd forgotten the cartons for the bottom of the wagon. There was nothing I could do about that, except put as many cans on the bottom as I could and hope for the best.
    Except for the total terror I was feeling in the pit of my stomach, it was kind of fun, like those game shows where someone wins five minutes at the supermarket except there were dozens of other winners and we were all there at the same time.
    I didn't have much time to look around, but it seemed like most of the people were buying meats and produce, and there weren't that many people fighting over the canned carrots. I even lucked out with the soups: Campbell was a lot more popular than Progresso, which made my life easier.
    When I filled the cart as full as I could possibly manage, I wheeled it to the checkout lines only to discover people were simply throwing cash at the poor terrified cashiers. I took two $50s out, tossed them in the same general direction, and then since nobody seemed to be bagging, I pushed the cart out of the store and made my way back to the car.
    It was actually raining harder, and the storm seemed to be closer. Not as bad as it had been this morning, but bad enough. I was relieved to see Mrs. Nesbitt standing by the car, waiting for me.
    We threw all the cans into the car, and put the jars in a little more carefully.
    Mrs. Nesbitt grinned at me. "All my life I've been well behaved," she said. "It's about time I got to push people around and not apologize."
    "Mrs. Nesbitt, you little devil," I said.
    "Ready for round two?" she asked. I said I was, and we made our way back to the store.
    Except that some guy tried to steal the cart from