They finished eating and moved to the game room. Lance picked up the shotgun, looking at the end of the barrel. “Glad I didn’t try to use this,” he said, holding it up. Ian gave a soft whistle, seeing the chunk of dirt stuck in the barrel. “I’m going to get my go bag and clean this,” Lance said, walking out.
“What is a ‘go bag?’” Jennifer asked when Lance was gone.
“Our parents made us pack a bag we could live out of for three days. It holds extra clothes, food, and other stuff. If something happens, we only have to grab our go bag. Like if the house caught on fire or an earthquake hit, we wouldn’t have to pack anything, staying in danger. We could move away from danger to a safe place,” Ian said, dropping down in a recliner.
“Like those shows on TV?”
“Kind of,” Ian yawned, closing his eyes. “It just made sense. Like the Boy Scout motto: Always be prepared.”
Jennifer pulled out her pistol and went over the controls several times until she heard soft snoring and looked up to see Ian asleep.
“Typical,” she heard Lance behind her. “He goes to sleep when we have stuff to do,” he said, putting the shotgun on the pool table with a backpack.
“Can I use your phone to try and call my parents?” Jennifer asked, putting her pistol in the holster.
“Sure,” Lance said, pulling out his phone. Jennifer tried her parent’s number, and it rang several times then went to voicemail.
Sighing, she thumbed it off and handed it over. “You think you have any clothes I can wear?”
“We can look in my mom’s closet.”
Jennifer snickered. “Lance, your mom is much taller than me and more—” she stopped, holding her hands out in front of her chest.
Smiling, Lance looked at Jennifer’s tiny body and pictured his mother’s five-foot-six clothes on her, and his smile broke into a grin. “You have a point. Come on,” he said, turning around.
She followed him upstairs to his room. “You’ve changed it,” she said, walking in. He turned around, cutting his eyes at her. “Lance, I’ve been in your room before, and if you remember, I’ve spent the night with you and Ian here and at his house.”
“Forgot about that,” Lance mumbled as he nodded.
“Do you two ever, like, sleep at your own house without the other one?”
“Of course,” he chuckled, opening his closet.
Sitting down on Lance’s bed as he dug in his closet, she said, “I never see you two apart.”
“He’s my best friend; why should we not hang out?”
Even though Lance wasn’t looking at her, Jennifer shrugged. “I don’t know, but I was jealous that you two were always together. I really wanted to join in. You two are always doing something fun.”
“Well, you could’ve,” Lance said, pulling out some pants and shirts.
“No, you two are almost like twins,” Jennifer said as he put the clothes on the bed. “Best friends for life.”
“We liked it when you played with us,” Lance said, looking down at her filthy, tiny feet. “Ah, what size shoe do you wear? Please tell me it’s not a toddler size.”
She laughed. “No, I wear a four and a half or five in most girl sizes,” she said, looking at the clothes on the bed.
“Ah, I wear a size nine, and Ian wears a size eight and a half,” Lance said, reaching up and pinching his bottom lip as he thought.
“What about your mom?”
“She can wear my shoes,” Lance said, letting his lip go, and moved back to his closet.
“I feel sorry for Carrie then,” Jennifer said as Lance started digging in his closet and stepped inside, disappearing.
“Mom has a dresser and closet full of clothes for Allie in the guestroom,” Lance called out. “She says Allie is half hers so she can dress up a girl. Carrie can get some of those.”
The pop, pop, pop of gunfire sounded off in the subdivision, and Jennifer turned around, noticing it was getting lighter outside. “It’s getting close to dawn.”
“Yeah, it’s five a.m.,” Lance called out from the closet.
“Are you looking for the Holy Grail in there?” Jennifer asked, getting up and moving to the closet.
“No,” Lance huffed. “Found ’em.” He stepped back into the doorway holding a pair of small hiking boots. “Mom bought these for me when I was in Cub Scouts and went on my first hike. She wouldn’t let me throw them away.”
Jennifer took the boots and put them next to her foot. “When did you wear these?”
“When I was seven.”
“Looks like they will fit or close enough,” she said, looking up with a smile.
Walking over to his dresser, he said, “Here’s some socks,” and passed over a pair. “Dig through that, and find what fits the best, and we will make you a go bag. Belts are hanging on the closet door. You remember where the bathroom is?”
“Yes,” she laughed. “We called ‘Bloody Mary’ in there.”
“If you need me, don’t yell but just call,” he said as she picked up the pile of clothes and walked out. “Yeah, she’s hot,” he mumbled and stepped over to the window. From his house, he could see Doug’s house much better and noticed the Escalade wasn’t in the driveway, and all the window shutters were open.
Giving a sigh, Lance’s shoulders slumped as he looked around his room. Feeling his pocket vibrate, Lance jumped. He patted his leg and felt his phone. “Damn, didn’t block Ricky’s number,” he said, pulling out his phone, then saw a picture of his dad on the screen.
Chapter 6
“Dad!” Lance cried out, answering the phone.
“Oh, thank God,” his dad said. “Lance, are you okay?”
“Yes sir, but it’s—”
“God damn it, shut the fuck up so I can talk to him!” Lance realized his dad wasn’t yelling at him. “Lance, are you there?”
“Yes sir—”
“Just listen, son, and answer as short as possible. This connection may not last. Where are you?”
“I’m at our house,” Lance said.
Stunned silence filled the phone for a second before his dad responded. “Okay, go to the main gun safe. On the top shelf, you will find flash drives. Find one that the end is painted yellow. Listen to it, and get to the cabin. If you have to leave, there is another flash drive in the big gun safe at Ian’s house. Do not—and I mean do not—go near the cabin until you listen to my message on that flash drive. Understand?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good. Have you been able to talk to Doug?”
“No sir; he hasn’t been home in days.”
“He should’ve been home yesterday from the hospital. Are you sure?”
“Yes sir. We’ve been watching since this happened yesterday. Ian and I took Dino for a walk Tuesday afternoon and made sure his automatic food thing was full.”
“Good boy. Now, you need to listen to that flash drive and get to the cabin as soon as you can. Have you unlocked the gun safe?”
“Yes sir.”
“Very good; you’re using your head. Now, keep an eye out as you get stuff ready to leave for the cabin in case Doug shows up. He may already be at the cabin, but I don’t see him leaving Dino.”
“Dad, the cabin is in Kentucky, over a hundred miles away. I can’t take my bike.”
“Take my truck.”
Lance’s jaw fell open. “Ah, Dad, I’ve driven it like once.”
“It’s your only chance if you don’t hook up with Doug. Wait, let me talk to Jason.”
A lump formed in Lance’s throat. “He’s not here, Dad. He…he got sick and attacked Ms. Patricia and her husband.”
“Dear lord,” his dad moaned. “Okay,” he instantly snapped. “Don’t think about that. Quickly tell me what has happened.” Very fast, Lance gave his dad a cliff notes version.
“Dad, my phone is beeping; the battery is going dead.”
“In my room, the night stand on my side of the bed is a recharging pack, and another is in the right hand desk dra
wer in my office. Can you get there fast?”
Lance was already running for his parent’s bedroom. “Yes sir.”
“Lance, you pack as much meat from the freezers as you can take. Don’t worry about canned goods or other stuff. Take weapons and enough ammunition to get you there. On that flash drive is the route I want you to take. In my office bottom left hand drawer, you will find an atlas. Mark your route, and have Ian navigate for you as you drive. Understand?”
Ripping his dad’s nightstand open, Lance saw the recharging pack and connected it to his phone, and the beeping stopped. “Yes sir, but Dad, what’s happening?”
“Son, I don’t know, but it’s everywhere. We are trying to get a boat to take us to the mainland so we can get to you kids.”
“Do you have sick people there?”
“Yes, we’ve seen a few, but Oahu isn’t that populated compared to the other islands. It’s a war zone on them. From the news we’ve seen, big cities are very bad off.”
“Dad, you and Mom stay there if there aren’t many sick people.”
“No, son, we are going to get off this island if I have to make a coconut raft.”
“Dad, you and Mom can’t cross the country coming home with this going on. At least wait.”
“Son—” Static hissed over the phone. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes sir,” Lance said.
“Wait for—” static broke in, “—days for Doug then leave—” Static. “—don’t go near cabin until you read the flash drive, understand.”
“Dad, you’re breaking up. How many days do you want me to wait on Doug?”
“Two, no mor—” and Lance’s phone beeped. He lowered it, looking at the screen. “Call Failed” was across the top. Getting an idea, Lance pulled up his IM and started typing. “Waiting two days for Doug then heading to cabin. Read flash drive before going near cabin without Doug. Pack only meat and ammo. Taking your truck. Love U.”
He hit send and watched the message load, trying to send with the hourglass spinning around on his screen. “Were you talking to someone?” he heard behind him.
Letting out a yelp, Lance jumped, spinning around and dropping his hand to his pistol. “Hey, it’s only me,” Jennifer said, holding up her hands.
“My dad called,” Lance smiled.
“What did he say?” she said, running over.
“We have to get to the cabin,” Lance said, looking down at his phone to see “Message Sent.” Closing his eyes as he tilted his head back, Lance said a prayer of thanks.
“Are they coming to get us?”
Dropping his head down to look at Jennifer, he said, “They’re in Hawaii.”
“Oh, I didn’t know. Carrie just said your parents and Ian’s were on vacation.”
“Mom went to look at some property to start a timeshare,” Lance said, looking at his phone, and thumbed it off.
“Well, how are we going to the cabin? Carrie said it was in Kentucky deep in the woods.”
“My dad told me to take his truck.”
All expression left Jennifer’s face. “You can drive?”
“I have before.”
“Your dad’s truck?” she asked, and Lance nodded. “How far?”
“Around the neighborhood and around the parking lot at the hospital.”
“Any other vehicles?”
“Doug’s Hummer.”
She took a step back. “You drove his Hummer?”
“Yep,” Lance said and looked down at her. She had rolled the pants legs up and had to really tighten the belt to make the pants stay up with the pistol clipped on her right side. The t-shirt came down to her thighs, but the boots looked like they fit. “Well, how are the boots?”
“Just a little big, but I put on two pairs of socks and found some yellow suspenders hanging on your closet door,” she said, lifting the shirt to show him. “Now, the pants don’t fall down when I put my gun on.”
“If I knew where Mom put my Cub Scout stuff, I would get that for you,” Lance said as she dropped her shirt. They heard a house alarm go off and moved over to a window, carefully looking out as the sun peeked over the horizon.
“It sounds like it’s two streets over,” Lance said as another alarm sounded.
“That one sounds like it’s at the front of the neighborhood,” Jennifer said, moving beside him.
He glanced over at her damp hair. “You showered?”
“Ah yeah, I had mud caked between my toes.”
“Running barefoot will do that,” Lance laughed, looking back out and noticed the sick people moving off. “The stinkers are moving away.”
“Well, having crazy people breaking in makes one panic, forgetting her shoes,” Jennifer said, watching the exodus. “Stinkers?”
“Well shit, they smell like rotten eggs. Like sulfur gas from a geyser.”
Jennifer shook her head. “There’s so many of them.”
“Yeah, that’s the problem,” Lance sighed, seeing groups between the houses on the next street over behind Doug’s house. “I need to wake Ian and tell him what my dad said.”
“Can’t you tell me?”
“Sure. Come on, and you can listen as I tell Ian,” Lance said, heading for the door.
Sighing, Jennifer followed him downstairs and was shocked to see Lance walk into his dad’s office first. He went to the big safe and pulled out a bag of flash drives then pulled one out with a yellow bottom. Putting the bag back inside, he moved over to the desk and pulled out a recharging pack for a cellphone. Stopping at the cabinet again, he pulled out some stuff and shoved it in his pockets.
Without saying anything, Lance walked past her. Shaking her head, Jennifer spun around and followed. “That’s what I’m talking about. You two only see each other as a buddy,” she mumbled.
Lance shook Ian awake, which took some doing. When Ian sat up, Lance told them what his dad said as he handed the charging pack to Ian. Taking it, Ian hooked it to his phone as he listened. When Lance finished, he looked up, rubbing his eyes. “What is so dangerous about the cabin?”
“Shit, I don’t know. I haven’t listened to the flash drive,” Lance said, holding it up.
Ian stood up, stretching. “Wonder what they would’ve done if we wouldn’t have been able to get here?”
“Your dad had one in his safe,” Lance said, walking over to his backpack and pulled out a bag of flash drives. “I grabbed them because Dad told me he scanned all the important documents and stuff and kept them in the safe. I figured your dad did too.”
“He did, but I forgot to grab them,” Ian said, dejected.
“Hey, brother, we had shit going on,” Lance popped off. “It’s only luck I grabbed them, but I did, so no harm, no foul.”
Walking over, Ian took the bag, “Should we listen to them now?”
“No, Dad said load all the frozen meat up in his truck. We don’t need to worry about canned stuff,” Lance said as Ian put the bag of flash drives in his pack.
“You check on Doug’s?” Ian asked.
“Yeah, he’s not there.”
Nodding, Ian took his AR off and laid it on the table. “Well, let’s get packing in case we have to boogie.” Ian looked over and jumped back. “When did you change?” he asked, looking at Jennifer.
“When you fell asleep. I really didn’t want to run around in my night clothes.” Jennifer said, smiling.
Somewhat dejected, Ian looked her over. “You could only fit in those old Cub Scout boots his mom wouldn’t let him throw away.”
Closing her eyes, Jennifer pulled back her hair, took a rubber band off her wrist, and tied her hair back. “The fact you knew that rests my case: You two are twins.”
Ian looked at Lance, grinning. “That’s a first.”
“Knew we were related but not that close,” Lance laughed, taking off his AR and putting it on the table. He pulled out his Ruger pistol and clipped it to his left side under his belt in a reverse draw.
Seeing that, Ian did the same. “So load u
p meat and as much ammo as we need to get there. Just one question; how much is that?”
“Let’s just take as much as we can,” Lance said, pulling stuff from his pockets. He moved over to the loaded magazines for the Rugers and dropped some pouches on the pool table. He tossed one to Ian. “Here’s my belt mag pouch. Jennifer, you take my mom’s,” he said, tossing a paddle holster for magazines.
Jennifer watched as they each slid six magazines in their pouches and closed the flaps, clipping them to their belts. She looked down at hers. “Why do I get the one that only holds two?”
“Learn how to shoot, and we’ll give you one that holds more,” Lance said, heading for the kitchen.
Sighing, Jennifer looked at the pouch, trying to figure it out as Ian stepped over and slid two magazines in and clipped it to her left side. “There,” he said, stepping back.
“I’m trying, Ian,” she said, looking down.
“I know, and so does Lance, but he has a plan now, so he’s going to be moving at light speed,” he said, walking around her.
Watching Ian walk off, she followed, mumbling, “Lance is not the only one.”
As she walked into the kitchen, she saw Ian head down to the basement. Following him down, she saw Lance carrying a hundred-and-fifty-quart ice chest, and he put it in front of one of the two freezers against the wall. Ian walked over, putting another ice chest down and opened it then the freezer and just started tossing in white-wrapped packages.
Lance set another big ice chest down and opened the other freezer and started tossing packages in. “Hold it, you two,” Jennifer snapped. They both stopped in mid-toss and looked at her. “You can’t just toss it in.”
“Why?” Lance asked. “It’s not going to break.”
“Do you just toss stuff in your backpack to go camping?” Jennifer said, moving over and pushing Ian out of the way. She knelt down and arranged the packages, packing them tightly.
“Oh, I see what you’re talking about,” Lance said, looking at the ice chest. “I just never applied that to frozen food; I never really had the chance.”
Jennifer looked up. “I’ll do this. Go get the ice chest.”
“We only have two more,” Lance said, amazed at how Jennifer was packing it. “They are the same size; will that be enough?”
Forsaken World (Book 1): Innocence Lost Page 8