180 Days and Counting... Series Box Set books 4 - 6

by B. R. Paulson

  Grabbing the small kit of oils she stored in the cabinet, she returned to the living room. Claiming a seat on the couch beside Jason, opposite Bailey, Cady pointed toward Jessica’s rash. She swallowed. “These two oils are the most important – helichrysum and ravintsara. Don’t mess around with them. Don’t waste them. I don’t have a lot left and if you… if either of you come down with the disease, you’ll need this. It’s also good for shingles, burns, bites, and more.” Cady studied Jason and Bailey to see if they understood. Beth would know how to make more, but Beth wasn’t there. Cady might never see her friend again.

  They both waited for more instruction and Cady took that as a good sign. “You’ll roll it on the rash or where there might be a rash forming. How do you know where a rash is starting? Well, you don’t on someone else, but you can figure it out on yourself. You’ll notice a tingling on your skin, like the beginning of a cold sore or bee sting right before the rash pops up. I’m not sure yet, what happens after the rash. I know it hurts pretty bad.” Cady unscrewed the lid to the helichrysum and rolled the oil onto Jessica’s scalp where the pink presence of the rash had made itself known.

  Smoothing the oil into her soft skin, Cady added, “Her skin is still smooth, which means the pox hasn’t manifested itself yet. I’m not sure how the disease affects people this young. If it really is a varicella, there might not be that horrific of consequences with the proper care and nutrition.” They fell silent as the reality of what had most likely happened to millions and millions of children included starvation and dehydration – death by unintended-neglect.

  The horror of that very real possibility stuck with Cady and she lowered her voice involuntarily. “There’s nothing we can do for those others. Here, though, we can continue to help each other. Break off a small section of the aloe plant and apply if over the other two oils after they’ve been absorbed into the skin. I’m not sure how long the relief lasts, but Scott assured me it works.” She smiled, setting the plastic bin of oils on the ground and sliding them closer to Bailey. After taking a steadying breath, Cady lifted her chin. “I don’t need to tell you both this is going to get scary over the next few days or longer.”

  Bailey moved to speak and Cady held up her hand. “No. Let me finish. There’s not enough time for denial. We must face what we have to do. No more second chances.” She swallowed to relieve the swelling in her throat, but that just added to the discomfort. She continued past the pain. “Look, I’m not sure what the death rate is on the disease alone. I don’t know if everyone is dying or if there is a chance to survive the virus without introducing loss or the Cure. I’m not… I don’t know.” She lifted her hand and then dropped it back to her lap in frustration. “All I know for sure is it hurts, exceedingly. I’m starting into the middle stage and I have to tell you, sitting here, not screaming, is taking more out of me than I thought it would.”

  Bailey broke in. “Mom, how do we make you more comfortable?”

  “Being comfortable won’t save me, Bailey. I just need to have access to the oils and stay away from the light. Scott has been down for three days now and I’m not sure how much longer he’ll be…” There was no delicate way to say alive. “I don’t know how long it takes for someone to die, to put it plainly.” She pressed her lips together and didn’t even attempt a smile. Anything she tried to pass off as well wishes would come across as a painfilled grimace.

  Jason didn’t look at Cady as he watched Jessica, but he spoke in low monotones. “You don’t think my uncle will make it?”

  Reaching out to touch his shoulder, Cady shook her head. “That’s the problem, Jason, I’m not sure. There is no data about this disease that is conclusive. I haven’t heard of anyone surviving it. As I’m coming down with it, I wish I had heard of just one person living past infection without using the Cure and having access to oils and other palliative measures. At least then, I could go into my illness with a sense of hope instead of this desolate feeling of despair.” She put her hand back in her lap, suddenly very aware of the cool air and her bare feet.

  She needed to get to bed, but she had one last thing she needed to tell them. “Listen to me. The next week is going to be hard. Jason, you might come down with this still which will leave Bailey alone to deal with everything.” She leaned across Jason, taking Bailey’s hand in her own. “Don’t be scared. It’s a lot to put on you, but it can be done. As long as we stay in our beds and work on getting better, your job will be relatively easy. Use the oils and lots of fluid. If the power goes out, you know how to use the generator, but avoid it, if you can for a while.” There was so much Cady wanted to say, wanted to warn Bailey about, but nothing seemed appropriate or particularly important as she stared at her daughter.

  Right then couldn’t be goodbye. She couldn’t die, not yet.

  Bailey deserved better. Scott deserved better. Cady had to fight the illness with everything she could.

  Cady refused to abandon her daughter without putting up a solid fight.

  No matter what the virus had in mind.

  Chapter 9

  Margie

  Kelsey sat on her cot and reached down to untie her shoe. She sighed, her hair short and stubbly in spots and longer in others.

  Margie pointed toward Kelsey’s shoes and turned to face her own makeshift bed. “Don’t do that.” She rolled up her borrowed blanket and shoved it into the top of the orange bag. The duffel was stuffed with as many things as she could fit and then some. The blanket bulged at the top, making zipping the flap even more difficult, if not close to impossible. Pulling the handles apart, Margie flattened the pillow on top, outside of the bag, and pulled the handles back together. She used the Velcro piece to secure the handles together which kept the pillow in place.

  Nothing else would fit. She’d have to either get another bag or empty this one, if she wanted to drag anything else with her.

  Lifting her head, Kelsey yawned. “Don’t do what?” She stopped, staring in disbelief at Margie as if Margie standing there with her shoes and coat on, and bag packed within a centimeter of its stitching was a mirage. “Don’t do what, Margie?” She rubbed at her ear as if she was certain she’d heard wrong.

  Setting her jaw, Margie pointed toward Kelsey’s feet. “Don’t take off your shoes. Get finished packing. We’re leaving tonight.” She didn’t offer an option as she swung her bag off the cot and set it beside the back door. Turning toward Kelsey, Margie narrowed her eyes. Why was Kelsey just sitting there? Margie had stepped out of bounds and taken on the leadership role, but she had to. Kelsey passively existed. She wouldn’t do anything and Margie had to move.

  Spluttering, Kelsey shook her head and then paused long enough to narrow her eyes. “We’re what? Leaving tonight? We already decided to leave tomorrow.” Confusion furrowed Kelsey’s brow as she blinked heavily at Margie. “You don’t understand what’s going on out there. I can’t believe you think we can just make a decision like that. No, that you can make that decision.”

  Inhaling long and slow, Margie gathered her patience around her. She didn’t need Kelsey. She needed her car, but did she need it that badly? “You decided on tomorrow, but think about it, Kelsey.” Margie pointed toward the front which was already under attack. “Why do they only come at night? Something isn’t right. I think there’s more to worry about during the day and if we wait around here to find out, we might not make it. They want to keep you from something, but I’m not sure why just you. You’re one person.” There was no logical reason for those men to target the convenience store, unless it was simply in search of fun.

  “We need those gas tanks. They’ll see us leave. We won’t get out of here.” Panic widened Kelsey’s eyes and she scooted back on her rear, the whole cot moving backward with her. “Margie, I’m serious. You don’t know what these men are capable of.” She shook her head frantically, spittle catching at the corner of her mouth. “I can’t leave. You can’t leave without me. I have the car.” As if to make a point, she lifted her keys wh
ich jangled as they swung. Her features set as if she knew that was the bargaining piece, that’s what was keeping Margie there.

  Margie lifted her chin. “No, I’m not stuck here, Kelsey. They don’t scare me. Staying here scares me.” And so much more. She studied Kelsey again, inclining her head and lifting her hand toward the door. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me? You’re all ready to go. It wouldn’t be hard. I think we can sneak out of here. The best case would be a distraction, but we don’t need that.”

  Kelsey clutched the base of her throat and shook her head, averting her gaze from Margie’s face. Was that shame holding her focus from facing Margie?

  There was nothing to be ashamed of. “I understand.” After a moment, Margie nodded, slowly. Okay. She was going to have to go by herself. Even as she’d lied to Kelsey about not being afraid, she had to lie to herself. She wasn’t scared… too much. Her hands shook and she wiped her damp palms on her thighs.

  But fear of being caught and killed wasn’t as high as her fear of staying stuck in the building with Kelsey. They would starve in there eventually. Margie couldn’t stay there. She didn’t want to be relegated to the cement confines of the convenience store. At what point would those men figure out they could ram into the store with their trucks? They couldn’t be stupid. They must have already figured that out. So what were they doing that they needed Kelsey inside the building? Margie wasn’t a private investigator but it didn’t take a detective to know when things didn’t add up.

  She nodded again at Kelsey, pulling her bag up to ride on her shoulder. The strap stretched across her chest and she pushed the bulk of the pack to ride on the curve of her lower back. “Thank you for taking me in and helping me. I really appreciate it. Good luck.” She didn’t bother holding onto the grudge or mentioning that if Kelsey had let Margie leave when she’d first asked, Margie could still be with her husband. He would still be alive. Margie wouldn’t have to sneak out of anywhere at night.

  Why force the issue when there were no absolutes? She couldn’t be sure that David would still be alive or even that they would still be in the car. She hadn’t had access to gas without Kelsey. One way or the other, her path was affected by Kelsey. Why bring up any of it?

  Kelsey had only done what she thought was best, just like Margie was only leaving because she believed it was best. Unfortunately, there was no way to know perfectly what the best way to go for anyone was.

  Margie just wanted to get back to her family and sitting there in the gas station store wasn’t helping her reach her goal. Arguing with Kelsey about when they were leaving wasn’t either.

  The back-storage room could have been empty for all the sound that came from either woman. Kelsey didn’t look at Margie which worked fine. Margie understood Kelsey came from a position of fear and not-knowing. Margie did as well, which only spurred her to action.

  She turned to the door, turning the knob quietly which triggered the lock to open. She knew once that door closed behind her, Kelsey would never let her back in.

  Fresh, cool air brushed across Margie’s face. She gripped the door knob and closed her eyes. What was she doing? Was she being stupid? If she left the safety of the cement walls, she’d be vulnerable to anything out there. She would be all alone and she wasn’t sure that was where she wanted to be. Had she set herself up to die a horrible death?

  No, she couldn’t think that way. She glanced back at Kelsey who had turned away from the escape route and huddled over her knees. Her debilitating fear scared Margie who couldn’t go back to the frozen immobility. She wouldn’t.

  Taking another deep breath, she didn’t say anything as she stepped through the doorway and slowed the door as it closed with a soft click behind her. Had that been loud enough for the men on the other side of the building to hear?

  Darkness closed in around her. She was blocked from the lights around front with the high wall. While the power was still on there weren’t a lot of lights on around the streets and store. Two parking lot lights glowed close to the rear of the store lot, close to the gas station. The S, F, E, and Y were the only letters still lit in the store name at the front of the store and there were no lights glowing from the inside.

  The moon cast an eerie shadow that seemed to contradict the angle of the large lights casting their own shadows. At least it wasn’t cold enough she could see her breath. That would have made things harder than they had to be.

  Margie crept cautiously toward the back of the fenced in area along the dumpster and the hidden car of Kelsey’s. A large gray boat tarp had been thrown over the car with other trash thrown on top. Kelsey was good at camouflaging her car. Too bad camouflage would only get her so far.

  The harsh scrape of Margie’s hiking boot on a rock across the blacktop increased her pulse and she struggled to calm her breathing. If she left the protection of the back yard, she’d be out in the open. Every step pushed her further out to a more vulnerable position. Her breathing was loud in the outside silence.

  When was the last time she’d snuck around in the dark? She pushed her rear end to the cold cement wall that kept the back area out of view from the parking lot of the grocery store. She looked around the edge again, gathering as much information as she could before ducking back to her position behind the wall.

  The duffle bag wasn’t the most practical. A backpack would be easier to carry, but she didn’t have any other options at that point in time. Plus, the duffle bag held more, and as irritating as it was right then, she’d be thankful for something in that bag in the near future.

  She tried to catch her breath. Had she really gotten that out of shape? She couldn’t breathe normally after just a few feet of anxious actions?

  Get your act together, Marg. She straightened her shoulders and narrowed her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she slowed down her intake to calm down. What was her plan? She needed to find a car. At that point, stockpiling gas wasn’t an option. She probably wouldn’t even be able to load up on gas since Kelsey controlled that and anyone who approached the store at night was supposedly killed. Not that she doubted Kelsey’s account, just that she hadn’t seen anything since she’d arrived. Plus, part of her didn’t want to accept that being out after dark had become the same as a death warrant.

  The cars seemed to be stuck out front, by the gas pumps or within view of the pumps and anyone around them.

  Judging by the position of the trees and the field, Margie could crawl or walk hunched over along the perimeter and then dart into the store without being seen. Hopefully. She glanced at the bag, cringing at the reflective lime green stripes racing along the edges. They picked up the moonlight and shone like flashlights. Maybe no one would notice. She could carry it on the side closest to the trees. She didn’t have any other choice.

  Was all of this worth the chance? Did she really need anything in the store? Not at that point. But that wasn’t the only reason to head that way. Getting as far from the front of the store as possible was the best way to get away from the danger. She didn’t know what lay behind the stores and further into the trees, but she knew what was in front. Nothing good.

  If she could get a car, maybe she could get gas cans to siphon gas and fill. Maybe not. In order to siphon gas, she needed more cars and finding one car was going to be hard enough.

  Shaking off the necessity to get into the store, she changed her plan. Find a car. That had to be her main goal. Even if she could get a car and it had enough gas to get her to the next town, she would take it. If she couldn’t find a car, then she would have to start making her way by foot. Would that be so bad? Probably not. She could stay along the freeway and just stay away from people – if there were any people around or alive to stay away from.

  Either way – with a car or without – she had to get away from that gas station.

  As she ducked to readjust the bag a hulking silhouette caught the corner of her eyes. The shape of a car hid in the shadows of the other side of the parking lot, near the back. The mas
s was barely discernible in the far-reaching light from the parking lot.

  If that car didn’t pan out, she’d start walking. There had to be something behind the store, even if it was only a way to travel along the freeway.

  Getting into position, she rounded the side of the wall and rushed to the grassy area along the trees. The long damp stalks of bent, dead grass brushed against her jeans, clinging for brief seconds to her legs. Ducking in and among the trunks, Margie switched her gaze between the lighted area and as much as she could see of the ground where she stepped. She reached out from tree to tree, softly scratching her palms with the rough bark, not painfully, but so that she knew she was still on the right path.

  What couldn’t have been more than a hundred yards or so felt like a mile with the slow pace and her difficulty seeing. She tripped, catching herself on a trunk with her shoulder. Her bag slammed to the ground, the metal in the bag clanging together. Margie froze, waiting for her nerves to settle down. Had anyone heard? What was she doing? Was she going to get out of there alive?

  Somehow, she forced herself to keep going, inhaling through her nose and absently marveling at the pine scent that was strong in the evening air. Would she be able to associate pine with anything but fear again?

  Margie reached the car and slumped against it, her breathing rapid and shallow. She closed her eyes, her chest heaving up and down. Did she try to get inside and start the car? Or did she give up and lie down and die right there?

  With how hard her heart was pounding, she could see herself just giving up. Was surviving worth it when it came at such an effort? She placed her hands on the chilly metal paneling and hung her head forward. The car was real. She had to make the decision that survival was worth it and quit questioning. That’s all she’d done since she’d started on this adventure. She’d questioned if anything was worth it.