Pandemic

by Tinnean

  “Of course not.” She encouraged Father to stroll to a nearby flowerbed, murmuring to him.

  Laurie had his carving knife, and Wheat had the baseball bat. Together they approached the house. Laurie tapped on the door, and when there was no answer, he turned the knob. The door wasn’t locked, and he pushed it open.

  “Hello,” Wheat called. Again there was no answer, and he exchanged a glance with his boyfriend. Laurie shrugged and took a few steps inside.

  “Is anyone here?” This time it was Laurie who called out.

  Abruptly Wheat was struck by the odor, which he had no trouble recognizing this time, and he clapped a hand over his mouth. All the occupants of this house were dead, he was sure of it.

  “This isn’t good,” Laurie said. He backed toward the door, dragging Wheat along with him.

  “No.” Wheat abruptly froze and stared up at the ceiling. “Is that f-footsteps?” The sound seemed to cross the room above them.

  Laurie’s eyes grew huge and he tugged harder on Wheat’s arm. “I don’t know. All I know is we’re not spending the night here.”

  “Oh God, no!” Wheat’s voice was hardly a whisper. They stepped out onto the porch, and after Laurie pulled the door shut behind them, they raced back to the SUV.

  “Will we be staying here, Morrison?” Mother asked. She seemed a little out of breath, and he realized Father was leaning against her heavily.

  “No, Mother. Laurie, please get my mother in the car.” Wheat eased her out of the way, assisted his father into the SUV, and secured his seat belt. Father leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes.

  “How bad is it, Father?”

  He opened his eyes. They were bloodshot. “Nothing more than a bad cold, my boy. I’ll be—” He broke off, coughing. This time, when he took his handkerchief from his mouth, Wheat could see specks of blood on it. “—fine in the morning.”

  “Of course you will. I’m just going to get Mother now.”

  Father waved him away.

  He closed the door and ran around to the other side of the SUV. As soon as they were away from this place, he’d give his father some antibiotics.

  “It wouldn’t be a good idea, Mrs. Dupuis,” Laurie was telling her as Wheat rejoined them. “I’m sorry, but we’d…uh…we’d never get the smell out of our clothes.”

  “The smell? Oh. I see.” She gazed across the space to the house, and her lips moved silently.

  Of course she’d say a prayer for those poor people. But…they had to go.

  “Althea!”

  She came up to them. “We’re all set. Jo found a spare gas can, and I filled that as well, so we should be good.”

  “Get in the car, please?” Wheat could feel drops of sweat bead along his hairline.

  “Jo, where’s Vic?” Laurie’s voice was tense.

  “Right here.” She had the collie right beside her.

  “Okay, good, get in the car, all of you.” Laurie turned to Althea. “Would you mind if I kept driving?” he asked her.

  She studied him thoughtfully, then nodded.

  “Okay, let’s get out of here.”

  Once Althea was buckled up beside Jo, Wheat and Laurie got into the SUV and buckled up themselves. Laurie took the wheel again, drove around the pump, and headed toward the main road.

  Wheat watched the house through the passenger side mirror. Did the curtain in the front room flutter? Did the door open just a bit? “Faster,” he urged, his mouth desert dry. “You’ve got to go faster.”

  Laurie didn’t question him, just stepped on the gas. In minutes they were back on the road heading north.

  Wheat sent a quick glance toward him. “Don’t slow down.”

  “No.”

  “Why are you going so fast, Laurie?” his sister asked.

  “He is driving fast, isn’t he?” Wheat scrambled for an excuse, then decided to throw himself under the bus. “My fault. I’m sorry. Everyone in the house was dead, and I guess I got spooked. Your brother is just humoring me.”

  “Aww. That’s so sweet.”

  “Yeah, well, just don’t get us killed,” Althea ordered.

  “No, ma’am.” Laurie reached blindly across the console, and Wheat seized his hand and held on until the SUV skidded on a turn and Laurie had to take the wheel with both hands.

  Wheat breathed a shuddering sigh of relief. He would have grinned when his boyfriend echoed him, but he was too fucking stressed.

  His father coughed, and Wheat remembered his promise to himself. He reached into the console for the antibiotics and shook two into his palm. He twisted in his seat and handed them to his father. “Take these.” His father swallowed them with a little difficulty and accepted the bottle of water Wheat offered him.

  He needed the comfort of his boyfriend’s hand, but Laurie needed both hands on the wheel. Wheat clenched his hands together and stared blindly out the passenger window.

  This time Laurie caught Wheat’s hand. “We’ll be okay,” he promised, and Wheat had to bite his lip to keep from weeping in gratitude. Laurie gave Wheat’s hand a final squeeze, and he drove on through the late afternoon.

  * * * *

  “We have to stop,” Laurie said about an hour later. “It’ll be getting dark soon, and if we keep going, we run the risk of driving into an abandoned car. Or running over a body,” he added softly so only Wheat heard him.

  “You can turn on the headlights,” Father said almost petulantly. “I don’t see why you can’t turn on the headlights.”

  “We don’t want to attract attention, Mr. Dupuis.”

  Wheat shivered. Even if the people weren’t sick, they could still be a threat, wanting their supplies, their vehicle, and even the women. He turned his head, about to inform his father as gently as possible of the danger. At the same time Father said, “Really, McIntyre, you’re being preposterous. We want to return home as soon as possible.”

  “We’re going to the cottage, Edison,” Mother said, utterly calm. “Don’t you recall?”

  “We…we are?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then why is it taking so long?”

  “There must have been an accident up ahead. Why don’t you try to get some sleep? I’ll wake you when we arrive.”

  “All right, my dear. I am tired.” He rested his head on her shoulder, and Mother stroked his hair. She met Wheat’s eyes, and the desolation in hers almost broke his heart.

  Wheat shifted in his seat and stared out of the windshield; his lower lip quivered. The antibiotics hadn’t worked—weren’t working—and Father had contracted the illness. Thank God he hadn’t reached the point where he became violent. When he did…They had rope, and there were bungee cords in the bugout bag also. He hated the thought of having to secure his father.

  Wheat could feel his boyfriend’s gaze on him, and then Laurie reached for his hand once again.

  “We’ll get through this together,” Laurie assured him, and Wheat gripped his hand, grateful he had this man at his side.

  * * * *

  About twenty minutes later, they came across a strip mall whose anchor was a mattress store. The glass windows were covered by signs that announced a huge clearance sale that was long since over. The signs would provide some concealment.

  Laurie exchanged a glance with him. “What do you think?”

  Wheat shrugged. “It’s as good a place as any to spend the night.”

  “Okay.” Laurie drove the SUV around the back and parked it in the shadow of a dumpster. “With a little luck, no one will notice it.”

  Their luck had held out so far. “Fingers crossed,” Wheat said. He held up his left hand to show his crossed fingers, while Laurie held up his right hand.

  “Okay, let’s do this.”

  And in the morning, they’d head on to the little town of Hyacinth.

  Chapter 21

  Their luck had held, and they’d spent an uneventful night, disturbed only by his father’s coughing.

  Now they had r
eached the final leg of their journey to the cottage, and Wheat sat behind the wheel this time. Laurie had suggested it, since Wheat was most familiar with this part of the trip.

  Hyacinth was located at the base of the mountain it had taken its name from. Mount Hyacinth was only about three thousand feet above sea level, but it was high enough for everyone to refer to it as a mountain.

  The town of Hyacinth was typical of other mountain towns in the area. Its main street ran the length of the town and contained the usual shops and businesses. The houses were mostly Craftsman-style, their yards enclosed by white picket fences. Chimneys rose above the peaked lines of the roofs, and while there had never been curls of smoke rising from them during the times Wheat and his parents summered there, now they somehow gave the impression there never would be again.

  Wheat shivered as he drove through Main Street. Trash littered the curbs, and sheets of newspapers and weekly flyers were blown across the street by a fretful wind. Hyacinth must have been evacuated, because unless people were watching behind the curtains draped over their windows, there didn’t appear to be a soul in town. Even stray dogs and cats were missing.

  Wheat took the long, winding road that eventually led up the mountain to the Dupuis cottage, which was a few hundred feet below the peak. He passed the drive that ran through the Adams’s property to their summer home. The wrought iron gates that closed it off from the town’s permanent residents were open. Of course. With power out, they would automatically open to permit egress.

  “Our property is also gated, and it’s far enough out of town, I think it should be fairly safe,” he told Laurie.

  “We still better make sure no one’s broken into the cottage.”

  “So everyone else stays in the SUV?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Sounds like a smart idea. Althea?”

  “Whatever you say, Wheat.”

  “I wish we’d brought a few of the oil lamps we had in the bunker,” Wheat said to Laurie.

  “I’ve—” Athea started speaking, but Mother interrupted her.

  “Oh, the electricity should be turned on,” she murmured absently.

  “What?” Wheat braked sharply and whipped his head around to stare at her. She met his gaze as she stroked the hair off Father’s forehead.

  “And Mrs. Rodriguez will have stocked the refrigerator and the pantry,” she added. “Your father called her before we left Laurel Hill.” She smiled proudly at Father, but it was a smile tinged with sadness. She rested her cheek on his shoulder. They hadn’t had to restrain him yet, although they were prepared for that eventuality. Fortunately, her touch didn’t rouse him to violence. Was it possible Father could beat this?

  From the corner of his eye, Wheat could see Laurie’s eyes had widened, but Wheat just shook his head. Of course his father would not only do that, he would also have their housekeeper see the generator was turned on and there was plenty of fuel for it.

  “Did he offer her the use of the cottage?” he asked his mother.

  “Of course not. Why would he?”

  “Perhaps because Mrs. Rodriguez’s family has taken care of the cottage for as long as I can remember.”

  “Oh, longer. Her family has always been the cottage’s caretakers.”

  Wheat ground his teeth but shook his head. It wasn’t that his mother was uncaring. She’d just been raised that way.

  “Never mind.” He turned around, eased his foot off the brake, and continued driving. “We’re…” His words petered out. The gate that guarded the cottage and its lands stood open. If the generator had been powered up, it would have been closed.

  “Take your gun,” Laurie said curtly. “Althea, come around to the driver’s side. Lock the doors after us, and if you hear shots, don’t wait to see what’s happening, just get out of here.”

  “But this is our home,” Mother protested. “Why would we leave?”

  “It might not be safe,” Wheat said as gently as he could. Was she growing confused also?

  “Really, Morrison, you’re becoming melodramatic.”

  “Do you have the key, Mother?”

  “Of course.” She rifled through her voluminous handbag and handed him his father’s keyring.

  “Thank you.” He and Laurie got out of the SUV. They waited until Althea was behind the wheel and they heard the snick of the locks engaging before they turned to face the cottage.

  “Cottage?” Laurie demanded, obviously nonplussed as he got his first look at the place where Wheat had spent his summers. “This place is a mansion.”

  “Hardly,” Wheat murmured. If Laurie ever had the opportunity to see where Wheat had grown up, he’d realize how small the cottage was in comparison.

  Once again they ducked and dodged up to the front door.

  They slipped up to the front entryway, and Wheat cautiously reached for the doorknob, blowing out a sigh of relief when it didn’t turn. He unlocked the door, and they entered, still using all the caution they could muster.

  It didn’t take long to go through the cottage and attached garage and ascertain they were empty and had been since they’d left the previous summer. The open floorplan on the ground level consisted of a gourmet kitchen—which, considering the fact there was no power, didn’t surprise Wheat at not having been provisioned—formal dining area, and an expansive great room with a huge stone fireplace, while two bedrooms, each with an adjoining bathroom, occupied the entire left side of the cottage.

  Finally, they came down from the upper level, which contained the master suite.

  “All right, I think we can get everyone in here,” Wheat said.

  “Shouldn’t we check the basement?”

  “We don’t have one.”

  “What, no basement?”

  “No.” Wheat couldn’t help being a little amused at his boyfriend’s disgruntled tone. “Did you want one?”

  “You’ve got everything else.” Laurie poked him. “I told you this place is a mansion. You can fit four of my apartments in the first floor alone and still have room to spare.”

  Wheat caught Laurie’s finger and nipped it. “Does it bother you?”

  “Doesn’t it bother you? You’re…you’re rich.”

  “I was, but things are different now. This pandemic has pretty much leveled the playing field.”

  “Yeah, but if it hadn’t happened, there wouldn’t have been a playing field to level, and we’d never have gotten together.”

  “Laurie,” he said in his sternest voice, and as he hoped, Laurie’s eyes widened and became glazed, and a flush crept up his cheeks. “We are together, and that’s all that matters.”

  “Yes, Wheat.”

  “Good. Now let’s get everyone inside. It’s getting late, and we still have to put together some kind of meal for dinner.”

  They dashed out to the road and waved Althea in. Laurie glanced at him. “Close the gates?”

  “Good idea.”

  It took some muscle, but they managed to get the gates closed. “I don’t like leaving them like this.” Laurie worried his lower lip.

  “This has always been a safe area.”

  “You said yourself things are different now.”

  “Yes.” He rubbed his forehead.

  “Are you all right?”

  He liked that Laurie worried about him, but at the same time, he preferred not to cause his boyfriend worry. “I am. I’m just tired.”

  “Suppose we leave them like this for the time being,” Laurie suggested. “We can come out tomorrow morning and secure them better.”

  Wheat nodded, and they walked back to the cottage, where flickering lights could be seen through the windows.

  “We’re gonna have to do something about that.”

  “We will.” Laurie wrapped an arm around Wheat’s shoulders and gave him a reassuring squeeze.

  Wheat had never been able to tolerate being touched outside of bed, but with this man who Providence had given him, he found he couldn’t get enough of it. He wound
his fingers in Laurie’s.

  “What do you say we go see about dinner?” his boyfriend asked.

  “I say that sounds great.”

  Chapter 22

  Althea was just withdrawing a cardboard box from the SUV’s trunk when Laurie and Wheat approached.

  “Let me help you with that,” Laurie said.

  She stopped and raised an eyebrow. “You do know I can manage this, don’t you?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She raised both eyebrows, and he groaned and covered his face with his palm.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She chuckled. “Just as long as you know.” She let him take the box. “Thanks.”

  “Where are my parents?” Wheat asked.

  “Jo’s helping your mom get your dad settled,” she told him.

  “That’s kind of her.” Wheat sent a rueful smile Laurie’s way when Laurie twined the fingers of his free hand with his boyfriend’s.

  “What’s in the box?” Laurie asked Althea, hoping his question might distract Wheat.

  “Dinner.” Althea smiled wryly. “At least I hope so. There’s freeze-dried hamburgers in here.”

  “God, I’d kill for a hamburger. But there’s no power.” Laurie felt he had to point that out.

  “And I didn’t have room for a grill. I don’t know what I was thinking. If we can figure a way to cook them—”

  “Hmm.” Wheat glanced at him, and Laurie returned his glance, puzzled by his boyfriend’s intent expression.

  Suddenly it dawned on him. “Oh, no. I hate to disappoint you, but I’m not Lync. I’ve got no idea how to make a fire without a match, briquettes, and starter fluid.”

  “That’s okay.” Wheat rubbed his shoulder and leaned in to whisper, “I’m very glad you’re not Lync.”

  Laurie wanted to purr.

  “We have a grill in the garden shed out back. Mother…” Wheat’s voice hitched, and it took a second before he could continue. “Mother loves hamburgers cooked over charcoal, and there should be plenty of that.” He hurried ahead a few steps to open the front door. “After you. Althea. And I’m aware you can open the door yourself.”

  “Thanks.” She grinned at him and walked in. “This is so beautiful.”