by KC Luck
“So, what next, Sergeant?” Grace asked taking a tentative sip of her own coffee.
Taylor snorted a laugh. “It’s Chief now. I’m retired, remember?”
Grace shrugged. “It wouldn’t take much of a suggestion to get command to reinstate you,” she answered giving what she said more thought. “In fact, that might be the best solution.”
Taylor raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?” she asked and Grace wished she kept her mouth shut. Even if her sudden idea did pan out, it would still mean changes for Astoria. She swallowed a drink of coffee and then met Taylor’s eyes.
“I know you aren’t buying the “just looking around”
story,” she answered. “Since when in history has any governing force actually done that?” She watched Taylor’s jaw set and her eyes narrow.
“You’re right,” she agreed. “I am not convinced. The military never goes into a place without the objective of occupation. Even if only temporarily to restore order.” Taylor growled under her breath. “But we have order and don’t require intervention.”
Grace tilted her head. “You sure?” she said. “I might have agreed until I learned about the flu outbreak. Not to mention the fact you have a killer on the loose.” Taylor’s response was to look away and drink from her cup. “I will negotiate
special terms,” Grace continued. “As I said, perhaps I can convince command to put you in charge of this location.
They want to secure the bridge.”
At this, Taylor nodded but changed the subject. “For now, I want to focus on the immediate priority,” she said. “I want to find this guy today. Staying away from town and whatever is happening there is making me nervous.”
Grace understood those worries. She left her squad behind, but the corporal in charge was not as experienced as Grace preferred. Drinking the last hot mouthful of coffee, Grace stowed the cup in her pack and stood.
“Then let’s find this bastard,” she said. “Door-to-door?”
Taylor stowed her cup as well. “Yes,” she answered.
“Houses are spread out so there will be a lot of walking, but I think he is in one of them. I want to catch him before he circles back to town.” Grace completely agreed.
WHEN LEXI WOKE UP COUGHING, she ached all over. Rolling onto her side, she blinked at the daylight coming in the bedroom window. What time is it? she wondered reaching for her watch on the nightstand. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she saw it was 8:45. That can’t be right. Today was the Saturday Farmers Market and they always made it a point to be there before eight. She ran a hand over her face and sat up. Glancing into Joe’s crib, she noticed the boy was gone, but that was not unusual. Alice often helped out with him. But why didn’t she wake me? As she considered her options of getting up to ask Alice or plopping back down on the bed, another round of the coughing hit her. She held her aching ribs as the effort to catch her breath shook her entire body. When it finally subsided, she lay down and panted.
After a moment, there was a knock at the bedroom door.
“Come in,” Lexi croaked and grimaced. She sounded about as bad as she felt.
The door opened and Alice poked her head in. “I heard you,” she said. “And thought maybe you would be awake this time.”
Lexi frowned. “This time?” she asked, and Alice nodded coming into the room.
“I couldn't rouse you when I came in earlier,” she said looking concerned. “Joe was awake and fussing, so I took him with me. Are you all right, Lexi?” Lexi groaned and forced herself to sit up again swinging her legs off of the bed.
“I'll be fine,” she said. “I'm just stiff and sore today.” She could tell Alice was not buying it. The woman came closer and put a hand on Lexi's forehead.
“You're sick and need to stay in bed,” Alice said, her tone leaving no room for argument. “The others are ready to go but waiting until I talk to you. I'm going to send them on ahead.”
Lexi wanted to protest, she really did, but just did not have the energy. Waving her hand to let Alice know she could go ahead and tell the others, Lexi flopped down with a moan. “You win,” she said. “But I need you to keep this to yourself, Alice. It's just a little cold, and I don't want everyone to get worried over it. I'm fine.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Alice hesitate but then nod. “I'll be back with some soup,” she said and quietly stepped out the door closing it behind her. Lexi let her eyes droop shut. She would rest for another few minutes and then get up. Jackie and Anna were counting on her to help with the Saturday Farmers Market. Especially with so many of the others from their group away. Lexi assured herself she would be able to catch up if she rested another couple of minutes. I'll just ride in later, she thought as she drifted back into a restless sleep.
CHAPTER 24
aura's horse was unusually skittish as she rode her Lalong the neighborhood street.
They were moving deeper into the city of Hillsboro and so far, things looked quiet. Still, Honey was decidedly nervous.
As she shook her gray head and tried to veer left, Sam slowed to a stop to let Laura ride up alongside. She rested a hand on Honey's neck to calm her. “Easy, girl,” Sam said.
“What's got you so upset today?” Honey nickered as if answering, and Laura wished the animal could talk. There may be danger around, and she believed the horse was sensing it.
“Maybe we should go back and try another way?” Laura suggested. Sam lifted her gaze to scan the horizon.
Following her look, Laura admitted things looked fine. Rows of houses. Parked cars in driveways. Occasionally someone held up a hand in greeting from a doorstep, but otherwise, it looked like most people evacuated. Which makes sense, Laura thought. There would be absolutely no food here after pantries emptied out. Suburbia America would be hit hard by a complete loss of power and the supply lines which relied on it.
Finally, Sam nodded. “Okay,” she answered. “Let’s head more south.” She looked at Laura and smiled. “I’m sure it’s fine. Lester seems fine. Honey probably grew up on a farm and doesn’t know what to make of all these houses.”
Laura smiled back. “I know how she feels. This block after block of identical homes is pretty different than Astoria,” she said. “But lead on. I’m sure we will be out of these soon enough.” Sam answered by nudging Lester
forward and they rode on again. Laura was thankful to feel Honey relax a little and hoped whatever was upsetting her was long gone.
As they continued, Sam led them around a corner only to pull up short. Laura stopped at the sight in front of her too.
The neighborhood of houses ended abruptly, with a blackened field of devastation beyond it. It looked similar to the area of Astoria where her home burned. But this is worse, she thought. This looks like a bomb was dropped.
“What happened?” Laura whispered and saw Sam blink as if trying to figure out exactly the same thing. While they both studied the landscape, something familiar caught her eye. The object was so completely out of place she squinted as she tried to comprehend it. Pointing, she turned to Sam.
“Is that a suitcase?” she asked, watching the woman look where she was indicating. Her eyebrows went up.
“Definitely,” she agreed. “Seriously singed, but a suitcase. And there’s another one.” She motioned further ahead of them. Then, she paused with her hand still outstretched. “Laura,” she continued. “I know what this is.”
“What is it?” Laura asked. Sam swallowed hard, a somber look crossing her face.
“A plane crashes. Probably a jetliner headed to Portland International Airport,” she answered.
Laura felt her heart clench at the thought. Hundreds of people both on the plane and on the ground would have died in a horrifying fireball.
But not just here, she thought, realizing for the first time how the solar storm would have impacted any plane in flight when it hit. Most of them would have surely crashed without power or navigational systems. Tears burned her eyes thinking of it and she reached
out to take Sam's hand. The woman took it and held on tight.
“Are you okay?” Laura asked softly, and Sam exhaled a long breath before nodding.
“I will be,” she said. “But let's go around. I don't want to ride through this.” Laura agreed. It would somehow feel like sacrilege to cross through the place where so many died so horribly.
SHAKING THE HANDS OF people as they arrived at the Saturday Farmers Market, Jackie did her best to keep everyone relaxed and in an upbeat mood as they encountered the soldiers. It was not exactly easy considering they wore surgical masks and were asking everyone about flu symptoms. A little overkill in Jackie's opinion and she would have something to say to both Major Hamilton and Anna whenever she saw them next. Not to mention, the fact Lexi and Alice didn’t come to help her was frustrating. At least I have Meg here, she thought, thankful the ship’s captain offered to do whatever Jackie needed.
They had hardly met, yet Captain O’Grady did not hesitate to help people carry in boxes of wares as a show of camaraderie. Still, people don’t know her, and it would have been better with Lexi.
Will, Callie, and the others assured her everything was fine back at the farmhouse, but Jackie was not completely buying it. The Saturday Farmers Market was not only useful for trade but also highlighted everyone's week. I just can't worry about that right now, Jackie thought. I have enough as it is. Taylor for starters. She didn’t come back from her mission yet. The fact she insisted on being the one to go still irked Jackie. Then, there was the whole aspect of Grace Hamilton, someone who was apparently part of Taylor's past, alone with her. Jackie shook her head. She would simply have to follow her instinct and believe in Taylor's love.
Seeing that most of the town arrived by then, Jackie decided to go inside the building to check the mood of everyone in light of the latest circumstances. After stopping at a few tables and shaking hands, she felt reassured things were relatively normal. Not until she came to the far corner of the room did she have reason to pause. Two men stood together and she overheard one muttering unhappily.
“Well, Orion says he will be taking care of this problem,”
the man said. Jackie could not remember his name, but she knew he was a longtime resident of Astoria. Ray? Ron? she wondered. And what does he mean by Orion taking care of any problem? As far as she was concerned, Greg was not adept at solving anything.
Before she could go and ask, the other man chimed in. “I hope he does something soon,” he said. “Or the whole town will be sick. These damn outsiders.”
Jackie felt the hair on the back of her neck go up.
Outsiders? she thought. Is this the perception of the people who are living in the tent city? Stepping up to the two men, Jackie gave them her winning smile.
“Hello, gentlemen,” she said. “I overheard you mentioning Greg Orion. I guess I am out of the loop. What’s he up to?” The two men looked at each other. Then, the first speaker shrugged.
“Orion said he was going to move those people living in the tent city along and out of Astoria,” he answered.
“And then, until the National Guard gets here, have the chief close the roads leading into the city.”
Jackie did her best to keep a poker face as she absorbed this new information. She recalled Greg in her office ranting about something similar, but she had not taken him seriously. She wanted to kick herself for not paying more attention and knew she let Grace’s arrival distract her.
“When did he mention this exactly?” Jackie asked. Again, the two men looked at each other, and she could tell they were beginning to wonder if they should have said anything
at all. For some reason, this concerned her more than the ridiculous plan itself. Greg discussing things behind her back was a more significant problem. Before she could ask any more questions, a shout went up from the other side of the large room. Glancing over, Jackie saw a group forming and she wished again Taylor or Lexi were there. Rushing over, she pushed past the group standing in a half circle to find a boy puked. Oh, thank God, she thought, worried it was a fight or something more serious. Jackie waited for someone to help the boy and as she did, she heard the first mention of the word flu. No. I don't want that to start. It was too late.
Other people began to say the word and it spread quickly, not only in the small group but across the room.
ONCE THE FOLKS ARRIVING slowed down significantly and Jackie went inside to check on things, Meg was not sure what to do next. I suppose I could go in to do some shopping, she thought although she had not brought anything specific to trade. Meg knew she needed to find something to stay busy though, as thoughts of Grace kept creeping in. Aside from their one kiss, there was nothing between them, yet she could not get the woman out of her head. Even after she wanted to send her away, Meg was not ready to give up on Grace.
Before she could decide what to do with her time, people started coming back out of the building. Although she would not qualify the exit as a panic, there was a definite air of concern. She thought at first it was just a batch of flustered shoppers, but then she saw boxes and a table come out and knew vendors were leaving already as well. Needing to know what was happening, Meg pushed against the tide into the building to find Jackie. She saw a gathering on one side of the large room and rushing over, she stopped when she
saw puke on the floor and a little boy crying. Moving closer to Jackie, she put her hand on the woman's arm. Jackie turned and Meg saw a flicker of gratitude in her eyes when she recognized her. “How can I help?” Meg asked.
“We need to get him to the hospital,” Jackie replied. Meg turned to look at the kid again and the mother beside him.
The young woman had two more small children hanging off of her crying almost hysterically. She would be no help. A glance at the few remaining people standing around told her they were not stepping up either.
“I'll carry him,” Meg said. This time it was relief on Jackie's face.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Meg nodded as she stepped in to pick the boy up.
“Thank you so much,” the mother said. “I don't think it's the flu. He just ate too much chocolate this morning. We haven’t seen sweets in so long.”
“Okay,” Meg said, hoping that the woman was right. The last thing I want is to get sick, she thought, but she could not leave the kid kneeling in his own puke while the rest of the town abandoned him in a panic. She scooped the boy up and made her way to the front doors. Everyone remaining in the building parted to form an aisle to let her pass. Going down the stairs with Jackie behind her, Meg headed the direction Jackie indicated. As she walked, she could not help but wish Grace would get back soon. She was suddenly less worried about the flu outbreak and its impacts on Astoria.
Seeing the faces of the townspeople as they turned to look at her and the boy in her arms, Meg realized the real problem would be keeping Astoria from turning on itself.
CHAPTER 25
fter assessing the boy and finding no other symptoms, AAnna was convinced he had nothing more than a bellyache. She did not believe he had the flu. “Get him home and into bed,” Anna said. “Give him lots of water, and he should be fine.” The look of relief on the mother's face was evident, and Anna knew she thought the worse. The rapidly growing concern about the flu had Anna a bit worried. She wanted people to take it seriously, but not to the point of hysteria. If everyone just followed simple guidelines such as washing their hands and staying out of contact with people who had symptoms, it was likely things would turn out okay. Unfortunately, a lot of people have seen horror movies about a super flu, she thought with a sigh. At least they don’t all have access to the Internet to self-diagnose anymore.
Following the mother and her children out of the examination room, she found Meg waiting in the hall.
“Thank you again,” the mother said as she passed her. Meg smiled, and Anna walked over to stand beside the woman as they watch the family leave.
“And thank you from me too, for being willing to carry the boy t
o the hospital,” Anna said. “Regardless of the circumstances.”
Meg nodded. “I couldn't just leave him there,” she said.
“That's not my style.”
Anna believed it. She liked Meg instinctively and could not help but wonder about the woman's backstory. Since the solar storm changed everything, they all had one. From
what little she had heard, Meg was the captain of the ship that brought Major Hamilton and her squad to Astoria.
Hearing the sound of heels clicking on the hallway’s linoleum tiles, Anna looked to see Jackie walking toward them. “Well?” she asked as she approached them. “Does he have the flu?”
Anna shook her head. “No, not by my estimation,” she answered. “Just ate too many goodies at the market.”
Jackie blew out a long sigh of relief. “Well, that's good,”
she said. “Now, I just need to make sure everyone who was there knows it. You should've seen how people reacted once the word flu started being passed around.” Jackie shook her head. “You’d think it was the plague.”
Anna saw Meg nodding in agreement. “People were not exactly running out the doors, but there was definitely a look in their eyes,” she said. “I realize I’m not from around here, but what I can see is people are on edge over all of this.”
Frowning, Anna knew Meg’s assessment was correct. So, what do we do about it? she pondered, suddenly realizing she had not yet seen Lexi. Which is odd. In fact, she would have guessed it would be her wife who stepped up to carry the boy to the hospital. “Where is Lexi?” Anna asked. “Is she still at the market helping them pack up?”
Jackie shook her head. “No, she didn't come today,” she answered. “Neither did Alice.”
Anna raised her eyebrows. “Is everything all right?” she asked, and Jackie frowned obviously frustrated.
“I don't know. When I asked Callie about it, she was vague,” Jackie said. “I could really have used Lexi's help today, too.”
Anna did not like the sound of any of it. It was not like Lexi to just not show up and she immediately worried something might be wrong with Joe. I need to get back to the farmhouse, she thought. I've been away too long. She resolved to talk to the few nurses who came in, letting them