Robbie Zombie's Arc

Chapter 6 of 6

Robbie opened his restaurant's front door the next morning and froze. Water covered the floor, pooling near the kitchen entrance. A pipe had burst overnight, soaking everything he had prepared. His seasoned brain dishes floated in murky water, ruined. The new spices sat on a shelf, their tins rusty and wet. He grabbed a mop and started cleaning, but the damage was done. Hours of work wasted. His opening day would have to wait while he fixed the pipe and started over. Robbie squeezed the mop hard and kept working, trying not to think about how far back this pushed him. By afternoon, he had mopped up the water and thrown out the ruined food. He needed new supplies fast. Robbie loaded empty containers into his old red truck and turned the key. The engine sputtered and died. He tried again. Nothing. He popped the hood and stared at the rusty engine parts. A belt had snapped, and he didn't have a spare. The truck sat useless in front of his restaurant, full of empty containers that should have been filled with fresh ingredients by now. He slammed the hood down and kicked the front tire. Walking back toward his restaurant, Robbie passed a building with a weathered green bench near its entrance. He sat down hard, his head in his hands. The wrought iron felt cold through his chef's jacket. Everything was falling apart at once. First the flood, now the truck. He couldn't get supplies without the truck, and he couldn't open without supplies. A cracked fountain sat nearby, its marble basin stained with algae. Water dripped from broken jets that no longer worked. Someone had built something nice here once, and now it was just another broken thing in Deadville. Robbie stood up from the bench and walked back to his restaurant. He still had his skills and his notebook full of recipes. The pipe could be fixed. The truck could be repaired. He would have to start over again, but he had done that before. Tomorrow he would find a way to get new supplies, even if he had to carry them on his back. His restaurant wasn't dead yet.