Pandemic

by Tinnean

  Standing this close to the door, he was struck by the odor that was becoming all too familiar. “Mrs. Dupuis?” He rapped on the door, then turned the knob, and took a single step into the room. The lone lantern on the night table provided enough light to reveal the two still figures on the bed.

  The odor was more noticeable. Laurie went to the left side of the bed and touched Wheat’s father. His body was stone cold.

  “I’m so sorry, Wheat. He’s gone.”

  “But…Why didn’t Mother come tell us?” Wheat hurried to the side of the bed where his mother lay against his father, one hand on his chest. “Mother, wake up.” He touched her shoulder, and when she didn’t respond, he shook her lightly.

  She flopped over and stared sightlessly at the ceiling. An uncapped bottle of pills slipped from her palm, and the fact nothing spilled out of it revealed what she had done.

  Wheat straightened and studied the label.

  “What is it?” Laurie asked.

  “I don’t know.” His boyfriend read the name off the label and hunched a shoulder. “I never heard of it before. Whatever it is, I didn’t even know she was taking it.” His voice cracked, and Laurie hurried around the bed to wrap Wheat in his arms. “She must have had them in her purse.”

  “Oh, Wheat.” Laurie didn’t know what else to say when you found your mother dead of an overdose.

  Wheat turned into him, shuddered, and drew in a shallow breath. “I can’t say I’m surprised. She wouldn’t have wanted to go on without him.”

  Laurie hated to say this, but…“We’d better open the windows.”

  “Yes.” Wheat tightened his grip on Laurie for a second, and then they both hurried to crack the windows enough to air the room.

  Laurie turned to see his boyfriend hunched over and gripping the windowsill. Laurie joined him and slid his arms around him. “I have you, love. I’m here for you.”

  “I know. Thank you.” Wheat leaned against him. “I’m sorry, I won’t be able to go to sleep yet.”

  “I know. Whatever you need.”

  Wheat glanced at the bodies of his parents, then let Laurie urge him out of the room. Laurie shut the door with a nudge of his hip, then ushered Wheat into the great room. “I…I think we should bury them out in the backyard. There’s a corner they were fond of—Father had a lilac bush planted there for her. That would be ideal.”

  “All right. I didn’t see a shovel in the shed, though.”

  “No. But there’s a local construction company in town. They’ve got a backhoe that should be exactly what we need.”

  “Okay, we’ll go down in the morning and take a look at it.”

  “Oh God, I can’t believe they’re gone.”

  He took Wheat’s hand. “Do you want me to heat up something for you to drink?”

  “Yes, please. I’m not sure what we have, but whatever you choose will be fine.”

  Laurie rubbed his boyfriend’s shoulder, then went to the kitchen, found a packet of hot chocolate, and set about heating the water for it.

  * * * *

  By the time the hot chocolate was steaming in a mug Laurie had taken from a cabinet, Wheat had their bed on the sofa made up and was sitting on it, his head resting on a pillow he’d propped up against the back of the sofa.

  “Thank you,” he said as he accepted the mug.

  “You’re welcome.” Since Wheat had taken off his hiking boots, Laurie unlaced his work boots and made himself comfortable beside him. “Once we’ve taken care of your folks, do you still want to head for Vermont?”

  “I don’t know. Would you mind if we waited to see if it’s worthwhile to stay here for a while?”

  “Whatever you say.”

  But apparently Wheat hadn’t heard him, because he continued giving Laurie reasons why it would be a good idea to remain where they were. “If we can get some fuel for the generator, we should do okay here. We’d have lights and air conditioning and heat.” It was obvious Wheat was thinking of the winter and staying here long-term. “Vermont is cold in the winter—I’ve skied Stowe in January, so trust me, I know.”

  Wheat had gone skiing? The most adventurous thing Laurie had ever done was ride the horses on one of the farms near where his Aunt Ethel and Uncle Wilbur lived.

  Wheat held up a hand as if to stop Laurie from saying a word, even though he hadn’t planned to. “And I know Jersey can be cold as well, but we’re already here. We’d still have to get to Vermont, and once we were there, we’d have to find a place to stay. Then we’d have to go looking for supplies, and we don’t know if there’s anything left. Plus we have no idea what kind of people we’ll find there.”

  His boyfriend paused to draw in a breath, and Laurie squeezed his knee.

  But once again Wheat continued before Laurie could speak. “So would you mind? I know it’s selfish of me, but I don’t want to leave my parents yet. And the wall around the cottage and its property is pretty substantial—”

  Laurie finally managed to get a word in edgewise. “And if we stay here, we’ve already got a place that’s safe, and we can see what we can scavenge from the town.”

  “So you think it’s okay?”

  “Whatever you say. Do you think Althea and my sister will want to stay here?”

  “They’re welcome to. We can ask them in the morning.” Wheat slid his arm around Laurie’s shoulders and offered him a sip from his mug.

  “Thank you.”

  “No, thank you. You’re always taking care of me.”

  “Isn’t that what boyfriends do?”

  “I don’t know. I never really had a boyfriend.”

  “Neither did I. But we’ve got each other now, don’t we?” He leaned his head against his boyfriend’s shoulder.

  “Damned right we do.” Wheat tipped up Laurie’s chin, then ran his thumb over Laurie’s upper lip. “You had some cocoa on it.” He sucked his thumb into his mouth, and Laurie felt his eyes glaze and his own mouth go slack. His boyfriend turned away from him.

  “Wheat?”

  “Just give me a minute. I don’t want to spill hot chocolate all over us.” Wheat swung his legs off the sofa and rose, all liquid grace, and Laurie almost swallowed his tongue. This…this man standing there was his.

  Wheat strode across the floor to the kitchen, put the cup in the sink, and returned, He climbed back on the sofa, wrapped an arm around Laurie’s shoulders, and pulled him close. Then Wheat kissed him, scouring his mouth for any lingering taste of hot chocolate, and Laurie shivered and melted into the kiss.

  It was over sooner than he would have liked, but his boyfriend settled beside him, held him close, and dropped a kiss on his hair.

  And in spite of what the day had brought them, in spite of what he knew they still had to face, Laurie sighed with contentment. One way or another they’d manage.

  After all, they were in this together.

  THE END

  Author’s Note

  Laurel Hill is a fictional town on the East Coast of the United States. Once it was on the verge of collapse, but with the help of the wealthy James family, things are about to pick up. However, strange things happen in this little town, including a number of apocalypses. First there was the nuclear holocaust, which involved Lync Ryland and Adam James (yes, that Adam James), but now there’s a pandemic that could very well result in the extinction of mankind. This book is told from the point of view of Laurie Parkinson and Wheat Dupuis, who were mentioned in Surviving the Apocalypse. And if it seems they see things in a slightly different perspective, it’s because we never see ourselves as others see us.

  You can find a list of what you should pack in your own bugout bag at skilledsurvival.com.

  The Walker Brothers’s “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” and Skeeter Davis’s “The End of the World” can both be found on YouTube.

  ABOUT TINNEAN

  Tinnean has been writing since the third grade, where she was inspired to try her hand at epic poetry. Fortunately, that epic poem didn’t sur
vive the passage of time; however, her love of writing not only survived but thrived, and in high school she became a member of the magazine staff, where she contributed a number of stories.

  Starting a family resulted in the writing being set aside, although throughout those years Tinnean did continue to keep a journal. Once the kids were old enough to do their own thing, she was able to dabble in writing again. It was with the advent of the family’s second computer—the first intimidated everyone—that her writing took off, enhanced in part by fan fiction, but mostly by the wonder that is copy and paste.

  While involved in fandom, she was nominated for both Rerun and Light My Fire Awards. Now she concentrates on her original characters and has been published by Nazca Plains, Dreamspinner, and JMS Books.

  Tinnean is what you might call a hopeful romantic, and if you see her name on a story, it will have a happy ending.

  Her signature line, a quote by Ernest Hemingway, says it all: “Once writing has become your major vice and greatest pleasure, only death can stop it.”

  A New Yorker at heart, she resides in southwest Florida with her husband and two computers.

  ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC

  JMS Books LLC is a small queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance, erotic romance, and young adult fiction. Visit jms-books.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!