“Was that an ‘up north’ thing, or your parents’ idea?”
“I think it was a class thing,” her reply almost sounded cheeky. “I mean social class, not… class, class. My parents wanted us to be a part of the upper crust; or at least my mother did. I’m not sure what my father wanted, beyond always working to please her.”
“Oh,” he clipped the word, and dropped his chin for a moment. “Well, in that case, I should tell you, there won’ be any classes in a few months. There won’ be much of anything, for that matter.”
“I know,” she agreed readily, then cut her eyes over to take him in, “And I have to admit, I’ve been a lot happier since I stopped trying to be what my mom always wanted me to be.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes,” she grinned. “I haven’t had makeup on my face since the first morning I spent at The Ranch, and I don’t really miss it.”
“I don’t miss it either,” he showed her his teeth as well, “You look real pretty without it, Bailey-girl.”
Placing their dinner on the table, she reached for the plates, “Well, I’m glad. So, once we get a vehicle, and pack it full of supplies, we can head south? Or do you have somewhere else in mind?”
“South,” he agreed, serving himself, “I want to get there before anything ultra-crazy happens.”
“Are you going to tell them that we’re coming?”
“No,” he squinted at her for a moment, “I don’ think it’ll matter either way. Besides, I’ve called twice today, an’ neither my father, nor your uncle answer the phone.”
“Well, that’s no surprise,” she said between bites, “Neither of my phones got service out there.”
“Neither? You had more than one?”
“Yes,” she admitted quietly. “It’s a long story, and the point is, I don’t think them not answering means anything. I think it’s the location.”
Caleb shook his head, wondering if he should mention what he knew. Finally, making his choice, he admitted quietly, “Pete shut your phone off. That’s why you didn’t get any service. They were afraid of who you might contact; and why.”
“You’re kidding me,” she stared at him, fork suspended for a moment in mid-air, anger washing over her before she pushed it aside. “Well, what about the other one? I had gotten a pay-as-you-go phone, and it didn’t have service either.”
“Well, did you pay th’ bill?”
“Yes, as far as I know. Maybe that means the one I have now isn’t going to work either. Maybe The Ranch is outside their area,” she pondered the idea, unhappy that she would lose contact with the outside world again.
“Yeah, well, who’re you gonna call, anyways?” he laughed at the idea. “Shit!” he slammed his fist on the table, “I forgot about your grandparents!”
“Oh my God,” she breathed, “I did, too. And they haven’t answered the phone since I talked to Nanna before the ice storm hit.”
Caleb placed his elbows on the table, leaning his chin against his hands, “I don’t know what to do about them, little bit. I don’t know that there’s anything we can do.”
Realizing he was right, her eyes grew misty, and a tear slid down her cheek. “It’s ok,” she sniffed. “I know it would be stupid to head north, even if we thought we could get to them.”
“Yeah,” he agreed in a soft tone, “We’ll be doin’ good if we can save ourselves. There’s a lot o’ road between us an’ The Ranch. A large number o’ things that could happen t’ prevent us from gettin’ there.”
Her eyes wide, she stared across the table at him, her appetite gone. “I shouldn’t have said anything at the store tonight. What if someone there comes after us, or wants us to take them with us?”
“We won’t,” he shook his head, fingers pressed against his lips. “We can’t save everyone, an’ it would only make our situation worse if we tried. Don’t tell anyone else what we’re planning. We get the car tomorrow, an’ leave tomorrow night. Travel after dark, an’ try to push through.”
“Ok,” she agreed, standing to clear the table.
“You’re not gonna eat that?” he indicated her unfinished meal.
“I’m not hungry,” she admitted quietly, the thought of what lay ahead of them stealing her appetite away.
“You should eat it anyways,” he stared up at her, “We may have some lean times ahead of us.”
Glaring down at the plate, she hoped he wasn’t right, but feared that he was. Sitting down, she managed to eat a bit more, while the conversation had come to an abrupt end.
Way Down South
Caleb woke Bailey before her alarm went off, his nerves not allowing him to wait any longer. Joining him in the living room a few minutes later, she donned her jeans and a long-sleeved tee. “You want breakfast now, or when we get back?”
“Now,” he agreed, checking the time, “It’s almost five. That gives us an hour to eat an’ get over t’ Wal-Mart. We can get some storage bins to put all this food in that we’re taking with us. The buses start to run at six, an’ we can get them back here the same way we did the other day.”
“Ok,” she agreed, setting out the skillet. Opening the fridge, she pulled out eggs and sausage. “We won’t be able to take the perishables with us, will we?”
“Probably not,” he shook his head. “Better if we avoid anything that might spoil, unless we end up with tons o’ room left over. Since we still don’t know what vehicle we’re gonna get, we might as well eat this an’ save th’ canned an’ dry goods t’ take with us.”
Whipping up the meal, the girl did her best to remain calm, continuing with the small talk, “Did you think of anything else we need to do while we’re there?”
“Well, we’re gonna need some water bottles. We can get some now, empty so they’re easier t’ carry, an’ fill ‘em after we get the car. They got those water things all over town.”
“Ok,” she nodded, stirring the eggs, “I like that idea. So we need a roll of quarters. Hey, maybe the store won’t be so crowded this early in the day, either.”
“I’m sure it won’ be,” he agreed with her assessment, “But we wanna get everything we can now, ‘cause it will be later, an’ we don’ wanna fight with that if we can avoid it.” He wrung his hands periodically, helping her by making and buttering the toast to keep them busy.
Finally seated, the pair ate hungrily, her appetite returned after her light dinner. Scraping off the plates, she rinsed them and loaded the dishwasher out of habit, giving it a start. “I guess that wasn’t necessary,” she grimaced, “We won’t be back here again after today.”
“You never know,” he praised, “An’ it didn’ hurt. Grab your jacket, an’ le’s get rollin’.”
A few minutes later, they pulled into the Wal-mart parking lot. Caleb could feel his pulse in his neck when he surveyed the number of cars on the far end, gathered around the door. Finding a space, it would be a small hike to the entrance, an oddity at the ungodly hour of five in the morning.
“Are these all employees?” Bailey asked in a mystified tone.
“The other doors are locked until seven,” he informed her as they made their way towards the front. “Tha’s why it looks like so many cars; everyone is bunched together on this end.”
“Oh,” she accepted his reasoning, “Well, at least they’re open twenty four hours,” she grinned. Inside, she stopped, staring at the store in dismay, “Wow, this place is a mess!” Glaring at the aisles, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Or the number of patrons milling about. “Uh, Caleb. This is actually… a lot of people.”
Standing in awe for a moment, he reached to clasp her fingers, “It’s ok. Get a basket, an’ we’ll get what we need an’ go.”
Pushing the cart, the couple took the path that passed along the front, headed for the housewares side of the massive shopping center. Locating the aisle that held the water bottles, they discovered only three remained on the shelf, and he quickly snatched them. “Wow, this place is picked over already!”
“Yeah,” a man in a blue vest passing by laughed at him, “Everyone’s gettin’ stocked for the storm!”
“What storm?” Caleb gaped at him, unsure what he was referring to; maybe we quit watching the news too soon.
“That big cold front, goofy,” the guy’s eyes darted, taking the younger man in from head to toe in disbelief, “By six o’clock tonight, ninety-percent o’ the South’s supposta be sittin’ under a couple o’ foot o’ snow.”
“The South, huh?” he gave a brief retort, reaching for their basket with a fresh sense of urgency.
“Yup,” he grinned lopsidedly, “From Florida, all the way t’ us. I don’ believe it myself, but apparently somebody does,” his open palm indicated what remained of their inventory. “Jus’ wait ‘til you get to the food aisles,” he tossed a thumb over his shoulder in that direction. “It’s a circus over there. Thank God I work in hardware!” Something about the man’s laugh made Caleb’s flesh crawl.
His jaw set, his eyes shifted over at his companion, and he moved closer to growl, “I think we need t’ get our stuff an’ get movin’.”
Bailey nodded, claiming an empty cart that had been abandoned close by and following him to the rear of the store. Finding the plastic containers, they located a few of the ones they wanted, and the covers that fit them. Hustling to the other side, where the food items were located, it looked as if a bomb had gone off, and navigating became much more difficult.
“I can’t believe all these people!” she hissed, leaning closer to her comrade, “It’s so early!”
“I think they must be really scared. As soon as we get back to the apartment, we need t’ get a line on this new storm situation!”
Pushing their carts, they managed to work their way down a few of the rows. Choosing a large multipack of individual water bottles, Caleb tossed that on the rack under his cart.
Weaving their way, they picked up another box of trash bags for packing the rest of the household items. Deciding to take more canned goods while they were there, they discovered a group of people raking everything that they saw into one of their baskets.
Fighting to get ahead of them, Caleb began to do the same, grabbing any and every can he could get his hands on. “Hey, little bit. Get over on the next aisle an’ get as many o’ those meat stuffs as you can!”
Pushing her cart, she fought her way around the corner, earning a scowl from a very large woman who pushed a basket full of dry goods after she had bumped into her. “Sorry,” the girl remembered her manners, and adjusted her basket to allow the lady to pass. Standing at the end of the shelving, she glared in disbelief, then swung the basket over to the next, grabbing boxed dinners instead.
When she found her way back to him, Caleb glared at her heaping pile, “Where’s all the meat?”
“Gone,” she breathed a disgusted noise out her nose, “Someone got there first! Do you really think they’ll have snow in Florida?” she tossed out, her mind running in circles while she plucked a hand-crank can opener from a hook.
“With th’ crazy weather we’ve been seein’, I wouldn’ say no,” he scowled, grabbing a second. Pausing, he noted that she looked panicked, and wished he could take back his part in it. “Honestly, I wish I hadn’t said that I’d like t’ see an Ice Age. I really didn’ mean it that way,” his voice trailed away with the confession.
“I know you didn’t,” she stepped closer and ran her hand across his back, with a makeshift squeeze for an embrace.
Catching her appendage, he drew her in and held her firmly, feeling a tingle of connection between them. “We’re gonna make it, little bit.” His blue orbs dropped to her lips, and his fingers sifted through a handful of auburn curls, pulling her into a private world where the chaos that swarmed around them didn’t exist.
He smiled, only for an instant, leaving her breathless with the familiarity of his touch, and the idea she really wanted him to kiss her. Relaxing against him, her mind shifted to her past mistakes. “You know,” she stammered, “I’m not very good with guys.”
“Good, ‘cause I’m not really a guy. I’m your best friend,” adjusting his hold, he lifted his chin, challenging her to deny it.
She felt the warmth of the flush crawling up her neck, not sure if he had intended to put her in her place, or if his words were meant to draw her in. Smiling faintly, she gave him a pat on the chest, “Yes; you really are. And I’m so thankful that I met you.”
Slipping out of his grasp, she gave him a sideways glance, fairly certain he had no intention of revealing the meaning behind his words. Allowing herself to return to the present, she looked around at the crowd, feeling a bit less tense after his caring gesture, “I think we’ve done all we can here.”
“Agreed,” he adjusted his cart, ready to take what they had and go.
Working their way towards the front, they picked up anything that looked promising, knowing what ever came up short would have to do. Standing in line, Caleb continued to touch and caress her, using his attention to distract her from the throng of people that milled about them.
When they were finally ready to pay, they purchased their items out of her account with a swipe of her card, remembering to pull cash for two rolls of coins. “That leaves me with a little over two grand, which we may or may not want to bother pulling out. It sounds like we won’t be able to wait until after dark to leave town, if the storm’s coming before that, so we may not have time for the stop.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, “We’ll wanna get outta here as soon as we get the car loaded. For right now, we wait for the bus, an’ I’ll meet you at the house, same as before. Once we get there, we’ll get the news on an’ find out what the official word is on this new storm.”
Executing their plan, they hauled everything up the stairs a short time later, and he switched on the television while she began packing their dry goods into their new containers. While she accomplished that task, Caleb moved to the computer, performing a few searches to locate the best place for them to shop for the vehicle.
Seeing a few that interested him, he jotted down the specifics on a notepad, grumbling to himself, “I wish this was a laptop,” as he shut down the machine, “That way we could take it with us.” Joining her in the front room, he inquired, “Have they said anything about th’ new storm?”
“Yes,” her features crinkled in disgust, “It’s going to land right on us.”
“What about The Ranch? You think it’ll see any of it?”
“I have no idea,” she replied with a shake of her head. “I don’t really know where it is exactly, and I hate to speculate.”
Kneeling down next to the wide screen, he outlined the area for her with an extended finger, the next time the map popped up. “This is th’ general location,” he gave it a light tap, “Looks like it’s right on the edge. It may or may not be hit, so we’ll find out when we get there, I guess. Pack all your warm stuff, an’ whatever the boys have, so we can take it with us.”
“We should try to get ahold of them again,” she suggested. “If we can’t reach them by phone, we should message everyone and see if someone will respond.”
“Yeah,” he nodded, wishing again the computer was a laptop. “Go kick the computer back on, an’ I’ll try some numbers.”
Doing as he asked, she made her way into the smallest bedroom, and watched the icons pop into place while she shoved their warmer clothes into a trash bag and tied it shut. Pulling up her uncle’s profile, she noted that there hadn’t been any new posts or new comments in over twenty-four hours. Going down the list, she began to grow uneasy when she realized there hadn’t been any posts made by anyone, in the same length of time.
“Caleb!” she called loudly, “Something’s wrong!”
Hearing her disgruntled tone, he made his way into the room, “I still don’ get any answers. They all ring, an’ go t’ voicemail, an’ I tried every number in my contacts,” he plunked down beside her, avoiding the top bunk with his head when he did so. “Whatcha
got?”
“Nothing,” she replied curtly, “No one has posted anything, since early Sunday.”
“Scooch over,” he commanded, not ready to accept the entire community had dropped off the face of the earth simultaneously.
Ten minutes later, he ran his fingers through his short blond hair, emitting a loud sigh of disgust. “What the hell does it mean?”
“It means something’s happened,” she breathed, “And we need to get there as quick as we can.”
“Well, we are,” he agreed sharply, checking the time. “We need t’ go. The car lot ‘ll be opening soon, an’ we can get that done, get loaded, an’ get the hell outta here.”
Making their way down the stairs, she swung onto the bike behind him, gripping him as they rode. Their first stop was the bank, where he emptied his account, the clerk giving him an odd look when he withdrew almost sixteen thousand dollars in cash. Dropping by Bailey’s credit union, she did the same, and they were on their way to the dealership.
The car shopping went smoothly, and they picked out a bright yellow Jeep Wrangler, with four doors, a back seat, and a cargo area. It only took about thirty minutes to complete the paperwork, and with Caleb’s employment and credit rating, they were able to have it financed with only two-thousand dollars down.
Bailey handed the salesman her wad of cash, grinning shyly at his look of surprise. “I’ve been saving for it,” she cooed, sliding her arm around the man next to her, implying they were a couple.
Accepting her mediocre explanation, he closed the deal, handing her the keys, and allowing her to roll off the lot. She followed her assumed boyfriend back to the apartment, a satisfied grin curling her lips. Once they had arrived, they loaded the boxed goods into the cargo area and placed the jugs for the water into the back floorboard, leaving the back seat empty.
“Well,” he observed, “We’re not gonna fit the motorcycle back there.” He paused, scratching his head, “We can fill it with other stuff, if we have time for a shopping trip. An’ I guess we could get a hauler for the bike, if we want to take it with us.”
The Irrevocable Series Boxed Set Page 29
