7:00, The Arrival

07:00

Kady was the first one to see them arrive, from her position just inside the door to the donation area, but not nearly the last.

First one minivan, a pale yellow, then another, then another, then more, and then still more.

With only an hour to go until closing, the parking lot had emptied out compared to earlier in the day, allowing the newly arrived horde to fill it back up - not quite to capacity, but one wouldn't know it to look out at the sudden influx. Several larger minivans stood out from the rest by dint of the large white trailers that each was toting behind them. Rather than parking, these made their way in a short line to the overhang marking the donation area, Kady emerging to meet them.

Each of the vehicles disgorged its passengers more or less in unison, further engulfing the parking lot.

(The cashiers were watching the emergence from the windows behind the cash registers; Liz gaped, Christine's eyes bulged, and Fatima was frowning with worry.)

The women were not, strictly speaking, identical. Hair colors ranged from the golden yellow of sunlight to reddish shades, from blondes so pale they bordered on white to others so dark they approached brunette, each one differently styled. Body types were likewise across the spectrum, some stick-thin and others round and plump, some pear-shaped and others top-heavy.

Each one, however, shared certain physical attributes in common with all the rest: not a one was a shade other than blonde, and not a one was below the age of twenty-five or over the age of fifty. Most strikingly, every last one seemed to project the same attitude into the world around them - that they were the masters of that world and all in it, and the rest of it existed solely at their forbearance.

While half a dozen of these women approached Kady, the rest - approximately another two dozen, give or take six - converged on the front door. The cashiers had spread the alarm to the other employees on the floor, and the stockers and cleaners as well braced themselves for the incoming rush of humanity as best they could.