Too Late

by B. R. Paulson

  Too Late

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  The End

  Too Late

  Book 4

  180 Days and Counting… Series

  B.R. Paulson

  Too Late

  A travel log of disaster and disease…as the world descends into madness and death.

  Margie’s survival is hampered by her husband’s health while Beth’s survival depends on her willingness to let go.

  Scott’s survival hangs in the balance as his fever spikes. Cady watches helplessly as those she loves face the hardest of trials and there’s nothing she can do to save them.

  As each person in Cady's life heads toward her, the deadliest of them all works his way north and faces his own mortality in the face of the end.

  None of it matters, if their humanity doesn’t stay intact.

  Chapter 1

  Cady

  “I know it’s in here.” Cady grunted, bending deeper as she reached further into the Rubbermaid bin. Rummaging through the upstairs storage closet took Cady’s mind off what was happening outside her gate. She’d scraped knuckles in her attempt to escape reality.

  An old incandescent bulb glowed dimly above her from a side-mount on the wall. She pulled another plastic bin from the deep tall shelves, hefting the one she’d been working on into the newly emptied space.

  The afternoon light didn’t reach the closet with its windowless space and position across from the closed door of the laundry room. No sign of time passing made it easier for Cady to pretend she hadn’t killed Kent that morning, taken his body and dumped it on the side of the highway, gone to the store and stolen all the baby supplies she could cram into the ATV trailer.

  She’d returned home, parked the four-wheeler, washed her hands, and made her way upstairs to look through every closet she owned. She may or may not have had lunch with Bailey. Cady didn’t care. What she cared about was her newly appointed mission. That’s all.

  Usually, her Christmas decorations were packed on the bottom shelf. She couldn’t find any of those boxes with the strands of lights and unused twenty-year-old yule log. Maybe the ornaments had made their way out to the loft of the shed. It wouldn’t be the first time Cady had lost something.

  She sneezed and froze. Was that a sneeze because no one dusted their closets or was sneezing a symptom of the virus? Everything was suspect. Nothing could be ignored or cast to the side. She couldn’t be vulnerable. No, paranoia would probably be what saved her daughter.

  Most likely it was just because of the dust. She’d taken on a difficult task and the more she dug, the more impossible it seemed. Cady narrowed her eyes at the number of boxes and lowered the newest one to the ground at her feet.

  Sitting, slowly, beside the blue bin, Cady sighed. Rolling her shoulders back and leaning her head forward, she tried to stretch muscles she hadn’t used in a long while. She was tired, but she couldn’t say it was because she was sick. No, lack of sleep could be the reason. She hadn’t slept a sound, solid night’s rest since Zach, her husband, had died. Even though it hadn’t been that long ago, it felt like years.

  Cady didn’t have any tears for his loss, not anymore. Too much had happened that almost seemed like Zach had made it out of the entire ordeal with a better hand than the rest of them. He didn’t have to deal with the virus, or the Cure, or killing neighbors, or anything else that might come up that Cady would have to deal with… virtually alone.

  “Mom? Where are you?” Bailey’s voice carried down the hallway from the stairs. Her birthday was in a couple days and Cady hadn’t gotten her anything, since they’d self-quarantined a few weeks back. Having knowledge about the end-of-the-world virus had been helpful in some areas, more guilt-inducing in others.

  Cady leaned back, glancing past the oak trim of the doorjamb. Her daughter hung onto the landing, searching in Cady’s bedroom and facing the opposite direction of the closet Cady had holed up in. Cady tapped the wood by her face and called out, “Here.”

  Turning, Bailey spied her and loped her way. Her long auburn hair was still in a braid from that morning. As she got closer, her eyebrows knit together and she scrunched her nose. “What are you doing? Scott’s supposed to be home in a few hours. Are we going to take the stuff over to his place before it’s dark?”

  Scott, their neighbor – another thing she was avoiding thinking about. Cady shook her head and waved her hand limply toward the contents in the closet. “I’m looking for my old answering machine.” Where had she put it? Chances were good she’d gotten rid of it a long time ago and just didn’t remember.

  Bailey squatted beside her mom, peering into the bin. “What’s an answering machine?”

  Her question gave Cady pause. She lifted her gaze to Bailey from the box and arched an eyebrow. “I dropped the ball on your education, apparently. Seriously? It’s a machine you get your voicemail off of.” Cady hadn’t realized that the terminology had become all but extinct.

  “So, a phone?” Bailey’s confusion was genuine which irritated Cady for some reason.

  “No. It’s a machine that hooks into the wall and then the phone hooks into it. When the phone rings a certain number of times, the machine answers and, if you’re around, the message can be heard. You can press play or erase or rewind or whatever you need to in person. You don’t have to keep it on your phone and you don’t have to remember which numbers do what – seven to erase or one to replay.” Cady reached into the last box in the closet. She was running out of hiding spots and patience.

  Understanding erased the confusion on Bailey’s face. “That makes sense. It sounds interesting. What do you need it for?” Bailey reached up and played with a bell hanging from a small parakeet cage Cady had stored after Bailey’s pet bird, Spacey, had died.

  Finally, a good question. “Grandma and Grandpa might call while we’re out taking Scott’s stuff to his place. If she can leave us a message, then we’ll know they’re okay.” Cady needed to know if her mom was alive. Cady wasn’t sure how long she would be down at her neighbor’s house, but she had to hold out some kind of hope her mom was out there and trying to reach Cady. She’d never forgive herself, if she missed a call because she and Bailey weren’t there.

  Bailey studied the floor and then lifted her gaze to her mom’s. She wrinkled her nose. “Do you really think they’re still alive?”

  Cady didn’t answer for a minute as she dug through the box. Her fingers fell onto the smooth edges of an electronic device. Dragging it from under the other college memorabilia, Cady smiled. “Here it is.” She knew Bailey waited for an answer. She put the machine on the ground beside her, tugging the rest of the cords out of the box and setting them on top of the device. Putting the lid on, she braced her arms on the edges of the blue bin.

  Glancing at Bailey, she nodded slowly. “Yeah, I have to think that they are. At least for now. The last few days… I’ve tried to ignore that they might be dead, might be alive, might be sick…” She raised her hand and pressed on her forehead an inch above the bridge of her nose. “Going into town this morning…” She sighed again. “Look, I have to believe Grandma is going to do her best to get here. She’s a tough woman. I know she’s been living an easy life with Grandpa, but Mom has… she’s stron
ger than you think.” Was Cady trying to convince herself or Bailey? She knew her mother. There were things Margie could do that she didn’t do anymore since she’d taken early retirement with David.

  Cady was always impressed with her mom and would like to blame her mother’s independence and strength for Cady’s own independence and strength. Now that there was such devastation in the world, she couldn’t think of a better way to approach the apocalypse then to combine their strengths to survive.

  That’d be hard to do with her mother’s whereabouts unknown.

  Cady held her tongue as she stood, putting the bin back where she’d pulled it from. Bailey didn’t know about Cady’s dad’s cancer. He’d told Cady while her mom had worked to hide it from her. Apparently, honesty wasn’t one of Margie’s strong suits.

  “I think Grandma is fine. She can be a brat and she’s too stubborn for the virus to get her.” Bailey laughed, pointing at Cady’s chest. “Remember when she had the shingles last year and she helped us deep clean the coop? She didn’t even say anything until afterwards that she needed to put some medicine on it.” Bailey shook her head as she followed Cady from the closet. “That was crazy. Do you think I’ll get shingles? It looks like it hurts.”

  “Why would you think you’d get them? I don’t remember you having chickenpox.” Cady glanced at Bailey as they reached the stairs and climbed down them together.

  Bailey shrugged. “I don’t know. You said they’re contagious, so… I guess I just thought I would get them, too.” She rubbed the back of her arm where Cady had pricked her with the vaccine for the virus. “Maybe I’m protected from that stuff, too. You think?”

  “I’m not sure. That’d be a good thing, if you were.” Cady tried not to wrap her tired mind around the intricacies associated with virus. The best thing for her right then would be to rest, but she couldn’t until she’d gotten Scott’s supplies dropped off at his place. Getting home and into bed sounded like the best plan she could think of.

  In the kitchen, Cady set up the machine, plugging it into the wall where the landline hookup waited unobtrusively beside the outdoor light switches. “Can you grab the phone from the office for me, please?”

  In less than a minute, Bailey was back with the small cream phone. She placed it on the counter, then rounded the end to the sink. “How long do we need at Scott’s?”

  Their neighbor would be home that afternoon or evening. Cady cleared her throat, the lines clicking into position satisfyingly loud. “He’s hoping he’ll be home later today. He didn’t give me a time, but if the roads are clear, he should get there somewhere close to sunset. Let’s get his stuff unloaded and then get out of there. I don’t want to be gone longer than twenty minutes or so.” Cady plugged in the electrical cord and made sure everything was connected as it should be.

  “You didn’t say if he was able to get his parents up with him.” Bailey turned, leaning her hip against the counter to watch Cady, her arms folded over her chest.

  “No. He said they’re dead.” Cady waited for the digital red numbers to blink on as she plugged in the machine. A few beeps, a flash, and the digital numbers stayed on. She didn’t want to think about Scott’s parents dying. If they died when he was helping them, the chances weren’t good for her parents. Cady swallowed. “Look! It’s going to work. Maybe.” Holding up her cell, she inspected the reception bars. She shook her head. “My cell service is in and out, but I’m going to try it.” Three and two and three… the bars flickered back and forth. She didn’t care. She’d try it anyway.

  “Okay, when will we know if it’s working?” Bailey leaned forward, eyes on the machine like it was going to start dancing or singing.

  “You’ll see.” Cady dialed the landline. She waited, but stared at the machine as well. She would never admit it, but she kind of hoped the machine would be some great answer.

  The phone rang loudly, the shrill sound like a scream into the kitchen. Cady jerked toward the plastic piece and quickly turned the volume to the lowest setting while it continued ringing.

  After four rings a loud click filled the room followed by a much younger Cady-voice. “Hi, you’ve reached Cady and Beth. Leave us a message. We’re probably out taking over the world. We’ll call you when we get back.” Beep.

  A wave of melancholy washed over Cady. Bailey’s excitement that it worked faded as well. She blinked, glancing out the window then back at her mom. “Have you heard from Beth?”

  Cady swallowed past the tightness in her throat. “No. I haven’t talked to her since the night…” She didn’t say anything else because talking about that night was just bringing up Zach’s death. Bailey didn’t need constant reminders about the people they’d lost. Slapping the counter, Cady tilted her head. “But, I forgot to tell you, Scott is bringing a brand-new baby niece up. He was able to save a couple family members, I guess.” Cady smothered her sarcastic add-on – he’s also bringing the virus up. He’s going to expose you and I to the virus we’re trying so hard to stay away from.

  Once he got home and Cady went to help him, her time would be up. She had to push off that moment as long as possible. Bailey’s antibodies might not have had enough time to develop. Either way, getting the virus wouldn’t just be conjecture at that point.

  There would be no going back. Nothing terrified Cady more. The point of no return had already come and gone for the world, but not for her. Not for Bailey.

  Bailey’s expression softened. “A baby? Oh, I’m so excited.” Then she downcast her eyes. “But, Mom, that baby will get sick and… die, right?” She lifted a belligerent expression to face her mom. “Why should they save anyone? Why don’t they kill her and leave her be?” She didn’t have a hate in her voice, but simply a curiosity. “I mean, wouldn’t it be nicer than making the small baby suffer?”

  “You know, that’s a valid question. I think there’s always a chance that someone could survive the sickness.” Did Bailey feel that way about Cady? Would she want to kill her mom just to save her from the suffering? Maybe Bailey wouldn’t fight Cady’s decision to go into the woods when Cady got sick enough.

  Tilting her head to the side, Cady studied Bailey. “I think it’s okay to get attached to the baby. She will need love as well, even if it’s only for a few short days of her life. Can you imagine how fun she’ll be to cuddle and love on?” Cady wouldn’t let Bailey leave behind her hope for the good things. Not yet.

  Cady had to rein in too much excitement for the baby. Bailey hadn’t gotten the vaccine more than a couple days ago. Hopefully, the vaccine would take hold and work, but Cady couldn’t take any chances with her daughter. Unfortunately, that might not matter as Scott got closer to home.

  After they dropped off the supplies Cady had stolen from the store, she would have to tell Bailey she couldn’t see Scott for a while. She had to stop pushing excitement for the baby onto Bailey when Cady was going to deny her access at first.

  Cady ignored her longing to call Beth and check on her friend. Ever since Cady had found out that she’d been instrumental in bringing about the virus that was wiping out the human race, she’d lacked any desire to check in with friends… ignoring Beth had become almost as haunting as not knowing where her parents were.

  She’d waited too long, by that point. What would she say? How would she explain why she hadn’t contacted her before now? Maybe it would be okay to just assume Beth was dead and go with that. Of course, Cady could never say anything like that out loud. There was no point in lying at that stage of the game. And saying that she didn’t care what happened to Beth was one of the biggest lies she would have ever told.

  Setting the phone and machine into place, Cady jerked her head in the direction of the front door. “Come on, let’s get those things over to Scott’s.” Patting her hip, Cady was more than a little comforted that she hadn’t forgotten her gun this time.

  Who knew which neighbor was going to try to kill her next?

  It would be dark soon and Cady didn’t want to take a
ny chances of being off the property at night. During the day you could at least see what was coming at you. In the dark, all bets were off.

  While Bailey got her boots and jacket, Cady wiped down the four-wheeler with a bleach and water mix a second time. She couldn’t take any chances that the virus hadn’t spread from her man-handling the neighbor’s body off the trailer earlier.

  Who was she kidding? She was probably already hosting the virus. She’d only know if she could stay away from Scott and monitor her timeline.

  Bailey came out of the house, pulling on plastic gloves. She glanced at the trailer and her eyes widened. “I hadn’t seen all of it yet. You got a lot of stuff. Is that all baby stuff?” She peered at the mass collection of formula, wipes, and diapers mixed with so much more.

  “Are you ready?” Cady slid onto the ATV. Scott’s house was as sanitized from the virus as it was going to be. Once he got there, everything would be exposed. This would have to be the last time Bailey helped Cady. She didn’t want to think about what that would mean when Cady was exposed to Scott.