Influenza: Viral Virulence (19 page)

“You can use the manual override for the garage door to get in and out. It would be much more difficult for someone to kick in the garage door than the front door. If you can find a two-by-four somewhere, along with some brackets, you can also fortify the back door. Like those old medieval doors you see in movies.”

After discussing a few more ideas, they went back to the kitchen to eat. Michael had to admit that the canned food wasn’t as bad as he had imagined. Some of it was quite tasty.

“I’m so tired,” Jeffrey said, stretching his arms and yawning.

Amid Lorie’s protests that he sleep in the bedroom while she took the sofa, Michael refused. He retrieved some of their necessities from the truck. Since the living room sofa was being used to block the front door, he retired to the family room. Lying down on the red plush sofa, he was exhausted. Sandy lay next to him on the floor. She gratefully accepted his petting her fur, and when he stopped, she nudged his hand with her nose until he started petting her again.

He could not even comprehend that, just this morning, he had awakened in his college apartment. Since then, his nerves had been on high alert, and he had almost been killed…twice. Despite the constant danger outside the walls of the house, he fell into a deep sleep as soon as his eyes closed.

He dreamed of being trapped underwater again. He was struggling against the undertow, and he could not break the surface. But this time, he could see Lorie, Liz, and Jeffrey talking on the shore above the surface. Struggling against the strong current and growing weaker, he shouted at them to get their attention.

No one heard or noticed him. It was as if he were invisible or trapped in another dimension. He frantically tried to get their attention, but they just kept talking as if he weren’t there. Battling against sinking farther into the dark depths, he saw Sandy peer over the edge of the water. Looking at him, she barked and whined. But none of the other humans paid her any mind.

Chapter 19

He woke up
in a cold sweat. It was completely dark in the room, but then he heard Sandy snoring softly on the floor by his side. He closed his eyes and tried to fall back asleep. Listening to Sandy’s rhythmic breathing, he was finally coaxed to the unconsciousness of slumber.

Because they had spent the majority of the evening working on protecting the house, Michael slept in late. Waking up in an unfamiliar room, he was a little disoriented when he first opened his eyes. Even though it was daytime, it was still very dark inside the house because of the thick blankets covering the windows.

He could hear familiar voices coming from the kitchen. He got up and walked over to the window. With his finger, he moved the blanket a few inches so he could see out the front window.

It was a little cloudy, but he could see the neighborhood more clearly today than yesterday, when they arrived in the dead of night. It was a nice middle-class neighborhood with old stoic trees lining the streets. The leaves on the trees were turning bright shades of orange and yellow, and some leaves fell to the ground and blew across the street.

Except for having been painted in different colors, all the houses looked identical to one another. The developer must have built the same model over and over again. How original. But the location seemed ideal. Tucked far away from any major roads, it appeared to be the perfect place to raise a family.

The only disturbing thing about the neighborhood was that it was quiet. It was too quiet. Michael could imagine children running around and playing on the street, riding bicycles and playing games just like normal children in normal times. Maybe a neighbor or two watering the grass or raking up leaves.

But no one was out trimming bushes or cutting grass. No one was washing their car in the driveway, and no children were laughing and playing. All the houses along the street peered at him with dark windows. Most had the shades drawn, and there were no signs of life within any of the homes.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Lorie said from behind him. “It’s about time you got up.”

Sandy had followed Lorie into the room. Apparently, the smell of breakfast had drawn the border collie into the kitchen, where she had spent some quality time with Lorie.
Traitor
, Michael thought.

Even without a shower and makeup, Lorie looked wonderful.

“Liz wanted to know if we wanted to stay for at least a couple of days.”

“How do you feel about staying?” Michael asked her.

“I’d like to stay, but I also want to get back home. I won’t be able to relax until I’m home with my parents.”

“I think I agree with you. I’d like to get home as soon as we can.”

“I’m not comfortable leaving them alone in this house. We’ve seen what’s going on out there,” Lorie said, tilting her head toward the window.

“I’m not comfortable about leaving them either. I talked with Jeffrey last night. He seemed pretty adamant that they were going to stay here. He wanted to wait to see if their parents show up.”

“‘If’ being the important word here. I don’t think they’re ever going to show up,” she said sadly. Her voice was soft enough that the others couldn’t hear her from the kitchen.

“We’ve helped them out the best we can in the time that we’ve had. Unless we stay with them, I don’t think we can do any more for them. They seem to have enough food and water to last for a while. At this point, I think they’re safer than we are. At least they have the security of being in a home. We only have my truck until we get back to Cincinnati.”

Liz came into the room and joined them. She was holding a book, which she handed to Lorie. “Here’s a little beginner’s instructional guide to what we were talking about yesterday. It’s about preserving food.”

“Liz, I can’t take this. You might need it…” Lorie started.

“Shh, I don’t need it. I think I have it memorized. It’s just basic stuff anyway. It’ll be a great help if you’ve never done this before.”

“Thanks, Liz,” said Lorie, gratefully taking the book from her.

“So, are you guys going to stay with us for a while, or are you heading out?” Liz asked, looking at both Michael and Lorie.

“We’ve decided that we need to go. We need to make sure that our families are okay,” Michael replied. “But before we go, I’ll give you a map with directions to where I’ll be.”

“Okay.”

“Is Jeffrey around?” Michael asked.

“Yes, he’s in the pantry organizing some of the canned food.”

“Thanks,” Michael said. Then he left Lorie with Liz and went to find Jeffrey.

Watching Michael walk toward the kitchen, Sandy followed.

As he left the room, Michael heard Liz say to Lorie in a hushed whisper, “Girl, we need to talk…”

Finding Jeffrey in the pantry, Michael asked him for help. He had more than enough gas left in the truck to get to Cincinnati, but yesterday had used up almost a half tank, a lot more than he had expected.

This seemed like a safe, quiet neighborhood, and Michael wanted to try to gather some extra gas if he could. He didn’t know what conditions awaited them in the big city, so he needed to scavenge some here.

He gave Jeffrey a short tutorial on the use of the bolt action on the rifle. Then, Jeffrey opened the garage door while Michael got the gas cans out of the truck bed. Emptying the contents of the two five-gallon cans that Brian had given him into the tank, Michael verified that the gauge now showed full. After he got the siphon pump out of his toolbox, he and Jeffrey emerged from the garage into the front yard.

Everything was clear as Michael carried Brian’s two empty gasoline cans to a pair of parked cars on the other side of the street. Sandy followed him and sniffed one of the tree trunks with interest. Shoving the siphon into the first car’s gas tank, Michael cranked the rotary wheel. No gasoline appeared in the hose. He looked up and down the street where several other cars were parked. Not all the vehicles could be empty.

Spotting Jeffrey standing back in front of his home, he could see that he was keeping vigilant watch on the street with the rifle.

Giving up on finding any gas in the first car, Michael moved to the second car. After cranking the wheel, he felt a little resistance as clear liquid started filling up the tube. He placed the other end of the siphon hose into the empty gasoline can and then continued to crank. With satisfaction, he heard the gasoline pouring into the can. Being careful not to overfill the gas can, he crimped the hose with his hand as it got near the top. He then transferred the hose to the second can and filled that one up as well.

He carried the two full cans back to the house and placed them in the truck bed. His hands smelled of gasoline, so he tried using an old rag he found in the garage to wipe the smell off. The remaining smell would go away as it evaporated, he hoped.

They went back inside the house.

Later, they all sat down at the kitchen table to share another meal made from the canned food. Michael had already packed his things into the truck, and Lorie had excused herself to put her suitcase together.

“Jeffrey, would you help Lorie with her suitcase while I draw a map for Michael?” Liz asked. “I want to show them the best way to get back to the interstate.”

“Sure,” Jeffrey said and then left them to help Lorie.

Sandy stayed in her place strategically underneath the kitchen table, waiting for scraps to come floating down.

Liz then proceeded to give Michael directions on how to use minor streets to bypass most of downtown Dayton and get back on the interstate. “You do know that she likes you, right?” Liz suddenly asked, looking up from the map.

“You mean Lorie? Sure,” Michael said. “We’ve been good friends for a while now.”

“No, I mean that she
really
likes you. Not just as friends.”

Surprised by her revelation, Michael just shook his head. “No, I don’t think she does.”

“You should hear the way she talks about you. Trust me, a woman knows what another woman is thinking and feeling. Haven’t you seen the way she looks at you?”

“No,” Michael answered honestly. He was perplexed. He didn’t know if Liz was just joking with him or not.

Liz giggled softly at Michael’s response. “It is true that most guys are not only blind but dumb to the ways of women. Trust me,” she said, patting his arm. “She likes you.”

“I…” Michael stammered, not knowing what to say.

“Michael, she’s a great girl. She’s a keeper. And from what little I know about you, you’re a good guy too. You picked up two strangers that you’d never met before and got them safely home. You protected both me and my brother. Without you, we would never have made it.”

“But I can’t think about Lorie that way while the world is so messed up,” Michael protested, even though, in his heart, he was hoping that what Liz was telling him was true.

“Michael,” Liz said taking his hand. “Because the world is spinning around the big toilet bowl is the biggest reason why you two
should
get together. You deserve each other. You both need to make the best of whatever time remains.” She released his hand and stood up from the table.

Handing him the paper with the hand-drawn map, she bent forward and touched her lips to his cheek. “Thank you for helping me and my brother,” she whispered in his ear.

A little while later, after Lorie and Liz hugged and Michael and Jeffrey shook hands, Michael started the truck and backed out of the garage. Still waving from the passenger’s seat as Jeffrey shut the garage door, Lorie turned to look at Michael. Catching something in each other’s eyes, they looked quickly away. Sandy yawned audibly in her sitting position in the backseat. Michael put the truck into gear and started down the street. They rode in silence for a while. Michael periodically checked Liz’s map and turned where she had indicated.

“Do you think they’re going to make it?” Lorie asked him out of the blue.

He knew instinctively that she was talking about Liz and Jeffrey. “Honestly, I don’t know,” Michael said. “To be completely truthful with you, I don’t even know if we’re going to make it.”

“Things are very bad out here,” she said, looking out the side window. “I’m surprised at how quickly everything fell apart and came crashing down.”

“I’m just as surprised as you are. I thought it would take months or years for things to fail. Maybe I had too much confidence in the human race. Or maybe I didn’t have any idea that the system was as fragile as it was. I can’t believe the power grid failed so soon.” After checking Liz’s map, he took a right at the next intersection.

“I guess I should have watched more of those end-of-the-world zombie movies.”

Michael chuckled. “I’m glad we don’t have hundreds of thousands of reanimated corpses shambling toward us.” He took the next left, and they could see the interstate ramp ahead.

“As long as you can walk faster than the zombies, you’ll be fine,” Lorie smiled.

“You mean, as long as I can walk faster than you…”

Changing the subject, Lorie said, “I’m glad you were brought up by parents who taught you survival skills.”

“Even though I know
some
survival skills, I feel totally unprepared for this,” he said, indicating the world beyond the front windshield. “I don’t think anything could prepare us for what is happening. Right now, I’m just flying by the seat of my pants and praying that I make the right choices. Even something as small as turning left instead of right could get us killed. Or letting two people wearing red bandanas get away so they could gather more friends…”

“I have faith in you,” she said, and then she reached over and patted his hand with her own.

Michael pulled around some cars and then drove up the ramp to I-75. Once back on the interstate, he began weaving in and out between the stopped vehicles.

“I had no idea that we were so dependent on electricity,” she commented.

“I knew losing electricity would be bad, but I had no clue it would be this bad. I think the biggest impact that I didn’t think of was not being able to get gasoline from the pumps at the stations.”

“I thought the worst thing that could happen was we wouldn’t have lights. And I thought we could easily overcome that problem with flashlights and candles. I didn’t even consider the disaster that my hairdryer wouldn’t run.”

“The horror,” Michael said. “Don’t forget the curling iron either.”

“Seriously though, without electricity, people can’t cook, they can’t use their phones, and they can’t even heat their homes in the winter. As a society, we are completely dependent on electricity. I know that I am…or was.”

“Unless people know how to work around those problems, they don’t have much of a chance.”

“Just think about something as simple as bread. Instead of going to the neighborhood grocery store and picking out a loaf from shelves full of different brands, we’ll have to make it. And just think about the process of making bread, all of the steps required. We’ll have to have access to, or grow, wheat. We’ll have to grind the wheat by hand. Somehow we’ll have to add yeast and other ingredients. Then, finally, we have to bake it without the use of an oven.”

“Looks like I won’t be eating any sandwiches for a while.”

She looked at an empty car as Michael drove by. “It’s like we’ve been teleported back in time before electricity. This is like the Wild West again. No law. No army. Nothing. We are back in the 1800s.”

“I think you just hit the nail on the head.”