“This is the only action you’ve had so far?” I yawned.
“Yeah,” said Ray. “Pretty boring up to this point.”
I looked over at Joanna. I could barely see her face peeking out from beneath the hood she’d cinched up and tied closed to protect from the cold. She was still sound asleep. I envied her.
“Let’s give it some time,” I said. “We’ll see how many people show up, and that might give us a good read on how many people are still left around here…might also give us a chance to better investigate the town while they’re busy with their Sunday morning worship.”
I was jittery now with the first signs of other people and I couldn’t have fallen back asleep if I’d tried. Therefore, I decided to let Joanna sleep a bit more while we continued to watch and count new arrivals to the church.
By about 8:55 a.m., the sky had lightened significantly, but clouds had rolled in leaving the morning coated in gray. We had counted the arrival of five vehicles, two ATVs – which may or may not have once belonged to us – and two snowmobiles, all of which brought a combined total of 24 people to the town’s church. It appeared that of those 24 people, at least three were small children, and the remainder was an assortment of adults ranging in age. Winter clothing and our proximity to the church made it difficult in most instances to identify male from female.
Right at nine, the church bell tolled and one more vehicle of five adult-sized people pulled up and made their way inside the church making for a total of 29. We guessed there were probably a few more if anyone resided in the church’s attached rectory.
“You think that’s the entire town?” I asked Will and Ray.
They just shrugged.
“Wouldn’t think there’d be many more if the flu came through here, but it’s hard to know for sure,” said Ray. “An isolated town like this might have weathered the storm better since they could have buttoned the place up and hunkered down. Not much reason for outsiders to venture out this way. That might have helped them keep the sickness at bay better than bigger towns and cities.”
“Think it’s worth a chance checking the place out while they’re inside?” I asked.
“I think it’s worth at least seeing what’s down there; but I don’t think we should all go,” Ray said. “If something happens, we need someone to get back home to get help or…” he trailed off.
“Or be the bearer of bad news,” I nodded, finishing his sentence.
“I’ll go,” said Ray. “I’m the only one without any kids.”
“No,” I said. “I’ll go. I would rather you be held in reserve to come save my ass if something goes wrong.”
“I’ll go with you,” said Joanna, who I hadn’t even realized was awake.
I let out a deep sigh. “You got a death wish or something, lady?” I asked, squinting at her, not understanding her desire to keep putting herself in harm’s way.
“No…but it’s a bad idea to let someone go alone. And I’m just as capable as anyone else.”
I sighed again, standing and brushing the snow off my butt and back and then helping Joanna to her feet. “Okay then…I guess it’s you and me. Anything goes wrong, you guys be ready to high tail it out of here,” I said to Will and Ray. “These people have ATVs and snowmobiles, so don’t try to lay down any covering fire or anything. It’ll just give away your position and they’ll be on you in an instant since you’ll be traveling on foot. If they take us alive and think it’s just me and Joanna, you’ll have a better chance of getting us out later…I hope. ”
“Let’s not have it come to that,” said Will. “Anything doesn’t look right and you get the hell out of there. Then we won’t have to worry about rescuing you later. Got it?”
“We’ll do our best,” I said, hefting my assault rifle. “Joanna, let’s cut back down and around the school. We’ll come up beside it for cover and then head out to Main Street. We can work our way along the backs of the buildings and see what we see.”
“Okay,” she nodded, checking her shotgun and then slinging it around behind her, pulling its shoulder strap up and over her arm.
“Don’t forget this,” Ray said, handing me back my hunting knife from where I’d tossed it down in the snow earlier.
“Thanks,” I frowned, reattaching the object of burden to my belt.
Moving back down the hillside took us a fraction of the time it did to get up it. In fifteen minutes, we were skirting the edge of the school, trying to keep our footprints near the building’s edges where melting snow had left a hard layer of snow and ice that didn’t react as much to our weight and only left minimal imprints. Much of the snow in the asphalt parking lot had already melted and we darted across the open area in seconds flat, zipping from one bare patch to another to help us avoid leaving tracks.
Soon we were in a back alley that ran parallel to Main Street between the backs of stores that lined the business district on one side and the backyards of homes on the other. We ducked into an open garage side door for temporary cover.
“Let’s work our way down the alley away from the church,” I told Joanna. “We can cross over at the end of town and work our way back up the other side and then up the hill to where Ray and Will are.”
“Sounds good,” she agreed.
“Keep your eyes open and be ready for anything,” I said, locking eyes with her. “We don’t know what to expect here.”
We could see other footprints in the alley snow as we moved, which we tried to step in as we walked. A dog barked somewhere in the distance.
Most of the buildings had rear signage that read things like “Employee Parking for Fred’s Barber Shop” or “Julie’s Café. Enter off Main Street” which helped us differentiate what was what and whether they might be sites of interest.
Eventually, we came to a sign that read, “Tipton Five and Dime – Parking Here” which piqued my interest.
“Ssst…” I hissed at Joanna, nodding toward the back door. She nodded back. We made our way cautiously to the rear entrance where we each leaned up against the building, one of us on either side of the door. I quickly poked my head around to take a quick peek through a glass window in the back door. It was dark inside and I really couldn’t see anything. I gently tugged on the door handle, testing it, but it was locked. There were no other windows in this part of the building, and I dared not get too bold in this, our initial inspection of the town. Instead, we worked our way down to the end of the block and quickly moved across the street to the alley behind the row of buildings opposite us.
There wasn’t a whole lot to see – an auto parts store, what appeared to be a vacant structure that may or may not have once housed a restaurant, a law office, a tax firm – and then we came across a small, one-story structure with a sign on the back that read “The Coughlin Clinic.”
“Think this was our Coughlin’s clinic?” I asked Joanna.
“I’d assume so,” she shrugged. “Doubt there were too many other doctors named Coughlin in the area.”
“Let’s see if we can get inside,” I said, moving up to the back of the building and trying the door. Of course it was locked, but this didn’t stop me. Looking around, I spotted a walkway running between the clinic and another building and out to Main Street. We crept our way quietly up the short walk. About halfway through, we found a window on the side of the clinic. I tried forcing it open, but it was locked; however the corner of one pane was broken, so I helped it along with my gloved fist, knocking the rest of the pane out while at the same time trying to catch the shards of glass as they fell away to reduce noise from the break in. Then I reached in and unlocked the window, shoving it open and climbing inside.
“Hang tight,” I told Joanna, who waited outside on the walkway.
I made a quick inspection of the room into which I’d entered and the hallway it exited into. “Okay, it’s clear,” I said, coming back and helping Joanna in through the window.
“Think there’s anything left in here?” she asked, as I held he
r torso while she slid her legs through the window opening and down onto the floor.
“It’s worth checking out,” I said. “At least we know the owner won’t be catching us by surprise.”
“Good point,” Joanna agreed.
The room into which we’d entered appeared to be an examination room. It was cold and dark inside, and by the looks of things, people hadn’t been here for a while. The floor was dirty and covered in snow that had blown in through the cracked window. There was a padded examination table in the center of the room. A grungy looking sink and cabinets with open doors and drawers lined one wall. An eye chart and torn diagram of the human body’s vascular system was affixed to another.
We made a quick inspection of the few cabinets that were still closed but found nothing of any real use. I grabbed a half bottle of hand sanitizer that sat on the counter beside the sink and shoved it into my coat pocket.
The rest of the clinic appeared as though it’d also been pretty well raided of its contents. Drawers in other rooms were pulled open, their less useful contents like rubber gloves and paperwork spilled and scattered across the floor. I was able to gather up a few bandages, some unused hypodermic needles and a box of alcohol swabs that I thought Claire might find useful; but otherwise, the search was a bust.
Eventually, we found ourselves at the front of the building in what had once been the reception room. It looked out onto the snow-covered Main Street through grimy plate-glass windows.
“Alright, let’s get the hell out of here,” I said to Joanna. “I thought there might be some good medical supplies left, but it looks like people have already taken just about everything.”
“You want to check out that church meeting?” Joanna asked.
“What, just waltz right in the front door?” I replied smugly.
“No. But we could check around back. We might be able to find a way in and hear what they’re talking about.”
“I’m assuming they’re preaching the power of gawd,” I said exaggeratedly in my best southern televangelist impression.
“Well, yeah,” agreed Joanna. “But they might talk about other things to, stuff like what’s going on in other places. I mean, I remember going to church as a kid, and our preacher would usually relate his sermons to current events. They’d even take time to do a kind of community events type deal where they would talk about people who were having trouble or were in need of financial assistance, or who had babies, or lost loved ones, or whatever. We might be able to pick up some valuable information about what’s going on here and maybe even what’s going on in the rest of the country…or at least this region. We may not, but it could be worth a shot.”
I thought about it, weighing the pros and cons. I really didn’t want to chance it, but if we didn’t do it, what exactly were we doing here? We’d spent all night hiking in to town. Were we just going to go back home and report that, yes, there were people in Tipton but that we had avoided them like the plague and had no idea if they’re good, bad or otherwise?
Finally I nodded, “I guess we should try…but we need to be damn careful.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” Joanna laughed, looking at me with a smirk. “That’s all we have to be these days is careful.”
“Suppose you’re right,” I gave her a half smile. “But let’s be extra careful.”
“Don’t you ever get tired of worrying about stuff?”
“Yes,” I said, matter-of-factly, “I do. But somebody has to.”
“Why does it have to be you?” she said, pulling back the hood of her coat and in the process revealing her long dark hair that was braided into a pony tale and which she had tucked down into the back of her winter wear to keep out of the way.
I had to admit, she really was a beautiful woman. While I’d been living around her for months, and I knew she was attractive, I frankly had never spent time actually studying her face. It was nice – round with pouting red lips, a straight, almost Greek-like nose, nicely separated eyes that were wide and round but pulled a little at the corners so they had a bit of Asian or maybe Native American appearance to them, and silky black hair that when drawn back revealed a nicely-formed widow’s peak.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged in response to her question. “Just kind of happened that way, I guess. I was the one who planned for this type of thing. I got us to southern Illinois. I had most of the supplies. It all just kind of started off with me…and it just stayed that way.”
“Don’t you ever just want to run away from it?” she asked, stepping closer.
“What do you mean?” I asked, again confused by her words. She had a way talking in questions that I didn’t understand.
“The pressure of keeping everything organized. Of keeping up with parents, friends, kids, a wife…acquaintances like me, and Shane, and Janet.”
“You’re more than just acquaintances,” I said. “You’re family now.”
She snorted, “Yeah right.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I said. “You are. You should know that by now.”
“Whatever,” she shook her head. “I guess I should say thank you for saying it at least.”
“Joanna, you are…all of you,” I emphasized. “We’re all a family now.”
“If that’s how you see it?”
“It is,” I said, exasperated and feeling somewhat angry that I had to convince her of it. “You don’t feel that way?”
“I guess,” she shrugged unconvincingly and then turning away to look out the front windows of the building. “It’s just that sometimes I don’t really get that feeling.”
“Well, I’m sorry if I’ve ever given you the impression that you’re not,” I said, somewhat taken aback by her words when I always thought I’d made every attempt to incorporate her, Shane, and Janet into the group.
“No, not by you, by the others…sometimes…I don’t know, it’s like some of them don’t like us being around,” she said, turning to refocus her attention on me.
“Really?” I said, amazed. “I never got that feeling.”
“Maybe it’s just me,” she said, shaking her head and taking a deep breath.
“Well, I…”
“Don’t you get it,” she cut me short and stepped suddenly closer so that we were only inches apart. She was looking intensely into my eyes. “Didn’t you ever wonder why I wanted to come on this trip? Why I volunteered to come to town with you?”
I half shrugged, half shook my head, looking around at the walls for some sort of response. “I…ugh…well, I thought…”
“It’s because of you,” she said.
Alarm bells were suddenly going off in my head in all sorts of different ways and for all sorts of different reasons. Here I was in a secluded location with a beautiful woman who was starting down a road that I’d heard before – not for a long time of course – but one that I’d definitely heard before. And I knew where this road was heading long before it reached its destination – a destination I really didn’t want to reach with all the potential pitfalls that lay in wait. Not only this, but the woman was armed, and it wasn’t exactly the best time or location to be having this conversation if what I thought was happening was indeed happening.
“Oh, uh, okay,” I muttered. “Well thanks,” I said trying to lead her to a detour before we reached that point of no return on this potentially dangerous topic of conversation. But Joanna didn’t even give me a chance.
“I care about you,” she said, grabbing my head and pulling it down to kiss me and then pulling away fast, almost angrily. It was a hard, violent kiss. Not bad, don’t get me wrong, just forceful and very passionate. “And you don’t have to say a goddamn thing because I know everything you’ll say, every argument you’ll raise, every excuse you’ll give,” she continued almost as if the kiss hadn’t happened. “And I don’t blame you; they’re good goddamn excuses. Your wife is beautiful, wonderful and caring. Your son is sweet, fun and intelligent, and you’re a good, strong, kind-hearted man who will s
tay faithful to his family…and you should. I just wanted you to know that they’re not the only ones who care about you, and it’s fucking tough to watch you risk your ass without knowing that I do too. I didn’t want you to come out here alone and have something happen without you knowing that, and it’s been killing me not being able to tell you.”
She wiped a single tear drop from her cheek.
I started to open my mouth, but she shook her head, “No. Don’t say anything. I don’t want you to. I just wanted you to know. I don’t expect you to change anything or do anything different, I just wanted you to know…that’s all.”
“Uh…okay,” I nodded, unsure of what to say or do next. I probably sounded like a half-wit, but I didn’t know where to go with the conversation. “So how’s that head of yours?” I asked, wanting to change the subject as I nodded to the spot where I had grabbed her when she’d slipped at the drainage ditch earlier that morning.
She reached back and touched it lightly with a hand, “Still there,” she gave a shrug and a smirk and pulled her hood back up as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. “Guess we should get going. Church services don’t last forever you know.”
And with that, she turned and headed back to the hallway that led to the window through which we’d entered. I was left standing there, staring at the floor in a state of befuddled confusion.
I blinked several times, took a deep breath, and shook my head, “Whatever,” I exhaled quietly, completely bewildered by the conversation we’d just had, and the kiss we’d just shared, or should I say, the kiss that Joanna had shared with my lips.
As if my stomach needed anymore knots thrown at it; now I had this to add to my list of concerns. While it may have been a relief for Joanna to unburden herself by sharing these feelings with me, it only seemed to transfer yet another weight onto my shoulders, and I couldn’t say it was exactly what I needed right now. But it was what I got nonetheless.
* * *
The Systemic Series - Box Set Page 36