by Mike Kraus
Around the back of the shop, Linda started getting antsy when Frank didn’t show back up for a few minutes. She was getting ready to head around to the front to search for him when she heard a click and the back door slowly swung open.
“Linda? Where—what the hell, it’s me!”
Linda breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her pistol. “Dammit, Frank. Why didn’t you come back around?”
“Seemed easier to open the back. Less walking for you.”
“Did you break in through the front door?”
Frank grinned and held up the sign he had taken off of the inside of the front door. “Nope. Check this out.”
The sign was handwritten in black marker against cream-colored paper with a small pair of wings in the upper right corner over which the name of the store was printed.
To All Visitors,
If no one is available to assist you, please take what you need and leave whatever you find fair in trade. In this troubling time we ask you kindly to only take what you need and leave the rest for others.
Thank you.
Linda held the sign as she read it, then handed it back to Frank with a puzzled look on her face. “That has got to be the most polite sign I’ve ever read. They even laminated it and put a suction cup on the back, too.”
“I’d love to shake their hand but I’ll settle for doing exactly what the sign says. I’ll grab one of the fuel containers and bring it inside while you start looking for something your size.”
Linda nodded, handed Frank the keys to the car and hobbled inside while he held the door open. Once she was in, he grabbed his flashlight from the car, then went to the trunk and pulled out one of the flat plastic containers filled with gasoline. “Five gallons seems like a fair trade for some clothes.” He mumbled to himself as he carried one of the packs in through the back door of the shop and placed it behind the counter.
After affixing the sign back on the front door, he searched behind the counter for a pen and paper and wrote a short note thanking the store’s owner for their generosity and left it on top of the fuel container. He then began browsing through the store, trying to find some long pants, shirts and a pair of gloves to go with his jacket and undergarments that were in his backpack.
It took Frank and Linda just over half an hour of browsing to get everything they needed, and even though they were in an unknown shop in the middle of a strange town at night, neither of them felt wary of the situation. There was something about the town, the store or perhaps the blatant generosity and goodwill of whomever owned the establishment that put both of their minds at ease.
“You find anything?” Frank walked over to the women’s clothing side of the small shop with three shirts, a pair of gloves and two pairs of pants draped over his arm.
“Yeah, this should help a lot.” Linda held up an armful of clothing. “Got a couple jackets, some more pants and shirts. Found a pair of shoes that fit me, too.”
“I’m jealous. I looked for shoes but there was nothing in my size.”
“We should go, if you’re ready.”
“Yep.” Frank nodded and headed for the back of the shop. He held the door open for Linda and they walked out to the car together. “You know,” he said, “this has to be the slowest-paced breaking and entering that’s ever been performed.”
Linda looked back at the store as she tossed the clothing into the back of the car. “This whole town seems so… I don’t know.”
“Peaceful?”
“Abnormally so. But without the creepy psycho-murderer vibe. It feels wholesome.”
“So we’re at, what, two for five if you count that little place where you shot those two guys?”
“Yeah. Well. We’ll see, I guess. We’re still not out of the town yet.”
“True enough.” Frank threw his clothes into the back of the car and helped Linda into her seat. “Think it’s worth visiting those schools to the west, or should we just blow past them? We still need food and I’m not seeing a grocery store around here so it’s probably not on the main road.”
“I think I have enough for another day. Maybe two if we stretch it. But we need water, too. We could always try to find a rest stop and raid the vending machines instead.”
Frank shook his head and got in the car. “Those’re just going to be on the big highways. I think we’re far enough into the state and away from the major highways that we won’t find anything like that.”
Linda leaned her head back against the seat and sighed. “Dammit. Fine. Let’s see what’s going on at the schools. Worst case we can just drive like a bat out of hell if things get sketchy.”
Chapter 9
With the deployment of the eighteen canisters the city of Pittsburgh is doomed. Infection sets in almost immediately after deployment and the initial symptoms take less than thirty minutes to appear. People taking shelter in the school building begin to cough up blood in their sleep. They wake up, startled, and rub their eyes to find blood oozing from there as well. Panic sets in as each person realizes that they are not alone in their symptoms.
As groups of infected start to panic, they begin running to and fro, spreading the infectious disease far and wide. The rate at which the disease tears through their bodies is wholly unnatural and unprecedented. Within two hours ten percent of the population of the city is infected. Twenty-four hours later and one hundred thousand—a full third of the city’s total population—are infected.
While the disease kills quickly, the rate at which it burns through its victims is both a blessing and a curse to its survival. The panic caused by the rapid onset of symptoms causes victims to seek help, thus spreading the disease far and wide. Once medical personnel begin to understand what is going on and enact basic quarantine procedures, though, the death rate plummets.
Martial law is declared and individuals are told to remain in their homes. Public workers out in the field don respirators to protect themselves, but infections still run rampant as the virus enters through small cuts and tears in their skin. As the number of new infections drops, the disease all but wipes itself out within a few days of when it began. This fact, however, is impossible to know.
State and federal agencies across the country—already strained to their breaking point by the explosions that rocked the transportation industry—are ill-equipped to handle a biological attack. Though the attack is over with nearly as soon as it begins, the states and feds set up massive quarantine perimeters around cities that are both infected and not infected.
Infected cities are off-limits to anyone going in or out and teams of scientists work tirelessly with samples of the contagion to identify its nature and how to combat it. Bomb disposal robots are refitted with biological sensors and sent out to roam the streets, measuring the air and any bodies they come across for evidence of infection. Cities that are not infected are fortified and act as region-wide emergency shelters. Broadcasts are put out on every working television and radio station, calling anyone and everyone to mass at what are quickly known as Shelter Cities.
After long delays the Shelter Cities are the first to benefit from food and medical airdrops from the United States military as their planes and convoys start moving again. People who hear about the cities begin walking towards them or, if they are lucky, are carried by military transport. With tens of millions of people slowly relocating to Shelter Cities, resources are strained to their breaking point, and martial law is put into permanent effect in the cities. Across the United States, the population distribution is shifting and the face of the nation is changing. People struggle to survive in the harsh new world, not knowing that the worst is still yet to come.
Chapter 10
After passing over a narrow bridge, Frank slowed the car to a crawl while he spoke with Linda, confirming that she wanted to go there.
“For the last time, Frank, yes. The town seems like it’s in good shape so I think food is the most important thing here.”
“I don’t see why you don’t wa
nt to try and sneak in like we did with the hippy camp.”
Linda chuckled. “Call it intuition. I don’t think we’re going to find trouble here.”
Frank sighed and gunned the engine as he made a turn into the long, winding road that led onto the school grounds. “I sure hope not.”
The two-lane road leading into the school was framed on either side by wide fields of grass. A few scattered trees dotted the landscape, but it was well-maintained, plain and extremely clean. Farther to the west past the second school building was a football field and a few playgrounds. The winding road opened into a large parking lot in front of the schools that was barren aside from half a dozen vehicles parked right up next to the entrance.
Located to the south of the school buildings, the large parking area was separated from the main road out of town by a short wooden fence and a long strip of tall grass. The main road sat on an incline looking over the parking lot and school buildings, but the slope was gentle enough that it could easily be walked without trouble.
“Where do you want me to pull up?”
“Turn the lights on first and honk the horn a couple times. Then pull up slowly in front of the high school. There are a lot of lights on inside there. Try to keep the left half of the building shielded by the cars next to us, though. If trouble breaks out I want you to pull behind those cars, then head for the slope behind us to get back onto the main road.”
Frank glanced around, trying to put the pieces together for all of what she had just said. “Put us in partial cover, use the cover in case we start getting shot at, then go straight for the road and hope we don’t take a bullet. Got it.”
“You’re doing fine, Frank. We want them to know we’re here but we don’t want to make ourselves completely vulnerable.” Linda patted Frank on the shoulder and pulled her pistol out of her waistband before tucking it under her leg.
As Frank eased the car up into the parking spot Linda had pointed out, he turned on the lights to the car and honked the horn twice. Before he could do anything else, the double doors to the front of the high school exploded outward as a pair of uniformed police officers ran out. They stopped halfway between the school and the car and raised a pair of shotguns, bringing them to bear on Frank and Linda.
“Oh shit!” Frank put his hand on the shifter and was about to throw the car into reverse when the shorter of the two officers, a woman with brown hair pulled into a tight bun, shouted at them.
“Stop right there! What do you want?”
Frank glanced at Linda who was already in the process of rolling down her window. She whispered to Frank as she raised her hands, keeping them up near her face and in plain view of the officers. “Keep your hands down and ready to get us out of here if this goes south.”
“Hi there!” Linda cracked a big smile and tried to sound as friendly as she possibly could. “I’m Linda and my friend here is Frank. We’re just passing through and were hoping we could trade for some food.”
The taller officer, a man with short-cropped greying hair, eyed Frank and Linda suspiciously. “Where are you from?”
“Maine!” Linda shouted back, still keeping her hands raised.
“Mighty long way from Maine. How’d you find yourself in our town?”
Linda shouted, “That is a very long story. Look, do you mind if we get out of our car?”
The two officers glanced at each other and the taller one leaned down and whispered in his partner’s ear. She shook her head and frowned, then looked back at Frank and Linda as she whispered something back. He, in turn, shook his head and rolled his eyes before glaring at Frank and Linda. Both of the officers lowered their guns slightly and the woman began walking slowly towards Frank and Linda’s car.
“You got any weapons in there?” The woman spoke loudly.
Linda nodded and the man raised his gun again, his entire body stiffening. “Keep your hands up, both of you!”
Frank looked at Linda who nodded at him and whispered. “Just do what he says. Leave the talking to me.”
The woman stepped down from the sidewalk into the parking lot, keeping a few feet away from the car as she eased closer. “Look, I’m sorry about all of this.” The woman shrugged sheepishly and motioned at her partner. “Everybody’s on edge, Officer Jackson especially.”
Linda smiled and nodded. “I completely understand. Look, we’ve got a rifle and a handgun in here. The pistol’s under my left leg and the rifle’s in the back seat. Both are loaded and there are rounds in the chamber.”
The woman nodded. “Thanks. I appreciate that. Just do what he said and keep your hands up so he doesn’t get nervous. Now you said you wanted to trade? We don’t have a market here, you know.”
“We have fuel. Gasoline. We’d be happy to give you some in exchange for a few days’ worth of food. We’re trying to get to Pigeon Forge, where my parents live.”
The woman eyed Linda and Frank carefully for several seconds before nodding slowly. “I’ll see what we can do for you. You ex-military?”
“Marines. How’d you know?”
The woman gave Linda a faint smile. “You talk like one. Stay here for a minute, okay?”
Linda nodded and the woman walked back to her partner. They held a brief whispered conversation that involved a lot of gesticulating and looks being thrown at Linda and Frank. Finally, after a long minute, the woman walked back to the car. Her stance was visibly relaxed and while she still held on to her rifle, it was loose in her hands and pointed at the ground. Her partner’s gun was still at the ready, but he appeared to be somewhat more relaxed as well, but still vigilant about the new arrivals.
“Come on out, guys.” The woman waved to Frank and Linda. “Just… leave the guns in your car, please.”
Linda pushed open her door and swiveled her legs out. Frank got out slowly and walked around the front of the car to help Linda, and the woman backed up a few paces and looked at him warily. He caught her glance and held up his hands. “She was shot in the leg. Just helping her out of the car.”
The woman nodded but stayed back until Frank had helped Linda out and they both stood in front of the car. She reached out and shook Linda’s hand first, then Frank’s. “Linda, Frank, I’m Caroline. The guy who looks like he’s got a stick up his rear end is Percival.”
“Perry.” The other officer grunted and shook his head at Caroline. “Only my mother calls me Percival.”
“Right. How do I manage to keep forgetting that?” Caroline cracked another smile, then gave Linda a concerned look. “You mind leaving your piece in the car?”
Linda raised an eyebrow, impressed that Caroline had managed to see when Linda stealthily slipped her pistol back into her waistband. “I really would rather not, if it’s all the same to you. We’re happy to do a quick trade out here and then leave, if you don’t want us to bring our weapons inside.”
“Yeah, Perry’s not going to like it if you’re carrying inside the building.”
“Nope.” Another grunt followed Perry’s blunt pronouncement.
“I wouldn’t mind going inside and seeing what we’d be willing to trade, then bringing it out here, though.” Linda swore she could hear Perry growl at Caroline’s suggestion, but the man made no move to put a halt to the offer.
Linda nodded quickly. “That’d be great, thanks.”
“You got the fuel in the back?” Caroline motioned towards the back of the car.
“Yeah.” Linda limped around to the trunk with Frank following close behind. Caroline, despite her upbeat demeanor and pleasant smiles, was cautious to stay several steps away from Frank and Linda. As the three of them circled around to the back of the car, Perry walked along the sidewalk, watching them intently.
Linda noticed Perry’s movement and spoke quietly to Caroline. “Your partner there; is he former military, too?”
“Yeah, part of a SEAL team.”
Linda nodded. “That was my first guess.”
“It’s good for you that you were in the Mar
ines. Otherwise he’d have sent you packing and probably put a few holes in the back of the car, too.”
Frank unlocked the trunk and opened it with a flourish. “That would’ve sucked.”
Caroline took a step forward, raising her eyebrows and nodding appreciatively. “No kidding. That’s a lot of fuel. In flat packs, no less. You guys preppers or do you just like driving around with a bunch of gas in your trunk?”
Frank started to speak but Linda cut him off. “We had a run-in with some less than savory types. They torched our truck so we borrowed one of their cars. We were lucky that it had all of this in it, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to make it to Pigeon Forge.”
“Very nice.” Caroline nodded and looked over at Perry, giving him a thumbs-up. “So how much can you spare?”
Linda glanced at Frank. “What do you think?”
He shrugged. “Ten, maybe twenty gallons? Depends on what you have to trade.”
“Hm. That’s less than I was expecting. Just hang tight, though, all right? I’ll go inside and see what we can do for you.”
Caroline was walking back towards Perry when the sound of a rifle shot was accompanied by her crying out in pain and falling to the ground as she clutched her shoulder. Linda immediately whipped her head around to locate the source of the shot before grabbing Frank’s arm and pulling him towards the front of the car. “Get down, Frank!” Linda limped along for a few feet before ducking down in front of the car just as another shot rang out.
Concrete exploded from the sidewalk next to Perry where he squatted over Caroline’s body, trying to identify where she had been shot. “Get her over here!” Linda shouted at Perry and he quickly scooped up Caroline and gently laid her back down behind the large truck parked next to Frank and Linda’s car.
“What the hell is this?” Perry glared menacingly at Linda and Frank.
“How would I know?” Linda shouted back. She flinched as a shot passed through the back window of their car and struck the front floorboard.
