“I think the junior high was one of those emergency shelters the National Guard opened up,” Megan said as they stared at the clog of military and police vehicles up ahead.
After a few moments of silence, she looked at Jeff and realized he hadn’t heard her, or wasn’t paying attention. She nudged him with her elbow.
“Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just…” Jeff waved a hand in front of them, showing a trace of the shock Megan knew was on her face as well.
“I know. It’s hard to believe.” She looked back outside, trying to grasp what had become of all the shops and stores she remembered so well from her three years living in the area. Megan tried to blot out the thoughts, tried to focus. “I think we should check out the junior high.”
Jeff looked off into the distance in the direction of the high school and junior high. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” He pointed above the buildings that lined the street. “See that smoke? I don’t like the looks of it.”
Megan scrunched up her face until she caught sight of the smoke curling toward the sky. “I think that’s too far away. It’s coming from the city or at least a suburb closer to it than Milfield. The junior high is just a mile down the road.”
Jeff did not respond immediately. He studied the fire truck and other vehicles at the intersection. His eyes narrowed with understanding, and he turned to Megan.
“I really don’t think we should go that way.” He raised his hand to stall her protest and pointed to the vehicles in front of them. “See that fire truck?”
Megan’s expression told him how stupid she thought his question was.
“I mean do you see how it’s set up?” Jeff paused as she looked out at the truck once again and waited until she nodded. “I think there was some sort of last stand here.”
He let his words sink in as they both studied the fire truck. It was blocking the road leading to the junior high and beyond, where the interstate that circled Cincinnati ran. Downtown was a mere twenty-five miles from where they sat.
Megan’s face was a picture of conflicting emotions as she let the ramifications of Jeff’s words sink in. The city had been ground zero for the first viral outbreaks in the region. From there it spiraled outward, attacking the suburban landscape in random spots as it built momentum and grew out of the control of the civil and military authorities trying to contain its progress.
Jeff could see the sparkle of tears in Megan’s eyes even as she tried to blink them away. His heart sank, watching her struggle with the reality that it was unlikely anyone they knew was a survivor. The shelter had, in all probability, been overrun weeks ago.
He sat in silence, unsure of what to say that might offer her comfort. As he stared down at the steering wheel, he tried to clear his mind and focus on the magnitude of what they were facing.
“So where do we go from here?”
Jeff glanced over at Megan, but she was still looking down the road. She rubbed at her eyes fiercely with the back of her hand and sniffled, but otherwise showed no further emotion as she asked the question.
“I think we should head out into the country. We might have a fighting chance out there,” he suggested without hesitation. They needed to get as far away from the city as possible.
“Yeah,” Megan whispered and sniffled again. After a moment, she grimaced and shook her head. “Probably a bunch of gun nuts and survivalists out there, but what other choice do we have?”
“Maybe, but they’re the ones who have the best shot of making it through something like this,…not a couple of suburban dipwads like us.”
Megan tilted her head and stared at him. She could see a gleam in his eyes when he winked at her. She gave him a halfhearted laugh in response.
“Okay then, Mister Dipwad, let’s get the hell out of here.”
Jeff grinned, relieved that Megan seemed to be handling things well enough to toss a bit of abuse his way.
Lifting his foot off the brake, he let the van roll forward and scanned the immediate buildings. They had been sitting near the intersection for a couple of minutes and had seen no movement thus far. His eyes moved from building to building, settling on the drugstore, where they stayed focused for several seconds. A look of grim concentration came over Jeff’s face.
“What?” Megan asked as they slowed to a stop again. She stiffened, fearing an attack, and swiveled around to see what he was staring at with such intensity. When all she saw was the drugstore and not much else, she relaxed and turned back to Jeff to await his explanation.
“I think…” He paused and seemed to confirm something with himself. “Yep, definitely.”
“What, for Chrissakes?” Megan blurted out.
Jeff snorted at the frustration in his companion’s voice. He nodded at the drugstore. “Before we go, I think we should do a little shopping.”
Chapter 15
Jeff was grateful for the sunlight that crept inside the entrance to the drugstore, even though much of it was blotted out by the minivan, which was parked directly in front of the demolished front doors, blocking anything from getting past them from outside. Unfortunately, the light only illuminated a short distance into the building. He could see another glimmer of light at the back, where the pharmacy drive-through window was, but much of the cavernous store was buried in a deep layer of darkness.
He gave one look back toward the van where Megan sat behind the wheel and sighed. It had taken some work to convince her to let him check out the drugstore, but in the end, she had agreed, knowing just as well as he did that they desperately needed supplies. She still refused to come inside, stating that he might be crazy but she wasn’t. Megan had gone so far as to give him ten minutes to get back to the van before she would leave without him. He thought she was joking until he saw the naked fear in her eyes. That was when he nodded and promised to be quick.
Most of the aisles were still standing, although many of the contents were scattered on the floor. Makeup, candy, and overpriced DVDs covered the ground and had been trampled repeatedly. Jeff turned on the flashlight and swung it back and forth.
To his left were the registers and photo development area. Much of the products hanging on the walls-film, batteries, more candy, magazines-were still there, untouched. He crept farther into the store, the rubber soles of his hiking boots squeaking as he skirted the piles of trash on the floor.
He noticed congealed blood pooled between several aisles. Down one lane, it looked like a skirmish had occurred, with a jumble of bloody footprints layered on top of one another and thick ropy splatters of red sprayed against a display of vacuum cleaner bags and humidifiers. Several shelves in the area had collapsed.
Jeff tried to detect any sounds that might hint of anyone still in residence in the drugstore, but he heard nothing except his own breathing. Gritting his teeth, he moved deeper into the gloom.
He found an overturned shopping cart and righted it. Pushing it along, he moved through the more well stocked aisles, grabbing anything that looked even remotely useful.
Jeff snatched up bandages, aspirin, allergy medicine, deodorant, hydrogen peroxide, razors, shaving cream, tampons (stifling a giggle as he did), and anything else within reach. He filled the metal cart and built up speed, the flashlight jammed in an armpit as he grabbed snacks and cases of soda. Unfortunately, there was no food of any real substance, but they had already collected quite a few canned goods from the house in which they had hidden the night before.
He glanced at his watch: three more minutes before Megan started freaking out. He was still staring at the timepiece when the contents of a shelf next to his head crashed down on him.
The flashlight clattered to the floor, and Jeff let out an involuntary squeal and dove forward. He thought he felt a hand touching his shoulder when several bags of chips and boxes of cookies fell on him. In his mad, blind dash, he slammed into another shelf and nearly sent it teetering over. He tried to keep his balance, but tripped on something between his feet and sprawled headlong, landing on palms and knees and then sliding across the floor.