Chapter 7

We drove into town slowly and carefully. The roads were deserted. We saw no one or even any sign of anyone. We went to the local shopping center with our current needs list. Doris told me on the way in to take everybody with me as she needed to go to the drug store and fill prescriptions and pick up some simple medical supplies.

We pulled up at the local grocery store and went over our lists. The girls were after fresh fruits and vegetables. Charlie was after canned goods and bread. My target was meats. We each had a shopping list of wants. Doris and I planned to pick up on a freezer or three to keep at the Stover's place with some kind of generator backup. It was a cobbled together plan but it was a plan. We could operate better when we knew more.

No one was around when we drove up and went inside. Inside, we could tell that a few people had been there from the blank spots where food had been. Whether these people were still alive was conjecture at this point. Charlie and I had guns and Doris had my pistol which she knew how to use. We were trying to be careful but not overly paranoid.

I cautioned Doris to look before she left the drug store. As we entered the grocery store, I reminded Charlie and the girls that we would look before leaving, also. We gathered two grocery carts of food, vegetables and fruit. Charlie had a smaller one for his canned goods and a few loaves of bread. He said most of the bread was going bad. Melody said the vegetables and fruit were going bad, also. I had picked up all the milk that wasn't bad while over at the meats which were holding up pretty well. There was a large walk-in freezer and it had lots of meat in it. As long as the power lasted, the meat would there would be safe. We were ready to leave and I left first and slowly and went to the car with a small load making no overt effort to be watchful. No one showed. I waved to the kids and they came out with their loads. We filled the trunk completely, got in and went to the drug store. I told Charlie to keep watch with the girls and went inside. Doris was just finishing her list and starting for the door as I came in. She saw me and stopped reaching for her pistol as I stopped and announced myself. We both took a breath. I took some of her packages and we started out. At the door, we looked over at the kids and looked around for any people. Seeing no one, we went to the car and loaded Doris' packages, cranked the car and left. I had Charlie and Angela watching the back to make sure we weren't followed. When we came to the rest area, I had he and Angela get her car to bring back. We caravaned back to the house with our goods. No one followed us.

We unloaded and had a large meal of fresh fruit and vegetables. Doris and the girls wanted to use what was still good that they brought before it could go bad. We ate a large, light meal and talked about what we found and what we didn't find, namely people.

We talked about our next step. I suggested that we needed a bigger transport, something to haul our proposed freezers with, and a decision on generators and fuel. I reminded everyone that freezers and generators would not last forever and we still had to plan long term for the day that would come when there would be no electricity.

I also wanted Melody and Angela to learn to use our guns and for Doris to learn rifles in addition to the pistol.

We needed more people to help spread the load. On that thought, we sought our beds and sleep.

The next morning, we went over to the Stovers house and started preparing for the freezers. Charlie and I went through the barn and found an old generator. We added fresh gas and cleaned the spark plug and started it up. I cut it off. It would handle two thousand watts at one hundred twenty volts. I couldn't find an ampere readout but knew that, with those two numbers, I could figure amperes from formulas on the Internet. I took out my pad that I now carried and made a note to raid a library and a home build-it center for books on different skills. Also, I needed to download information from the Internet while we had it.

We cleared out their old living room and figured to use the double front door to load the freezers into the room. I would figure out electricity after we placed the freezers. It didn't need to be pretty, just functional. Gas was or would be an issue that we would have to address. I got to thinking about bringing a tanker in to load large but portable tanks which we could use to fill up whatever we needed. I added diesel to that item. We spent all morning on this little project. At lunch, we decided to obtain the freezers and place them to complete the day.

We went into town with me driving the Stover's pickup truck, Doris driving her car with Charlie inside, and the girls driving another pickup in the middle of our little caravan. We drove through to the north side of town to an appliance store. We used the store's appliance dolly and loaded two freezers into the truck I drove and one into the girls' truck. We were starting back when two men stepped out into the street. I stopped and stared at them. I quickly realized that it was probably a father and son. I put my phone on the seat and dialed Doris. I told her to have Charlie and her cover me. She pulled out and a little to the right. I slowly got out of the cab keeping my hands in plain sight and walked toward the two.

"Hello," I said. "My name's Bob Robbins. Who are you?"

The older one said, "I'm Arnie Jacobsen and this is my son, Scott. We've survived the sickness and drove here to head for Memphis where there will be authorities and help."

"Mr. Jacobsen. Arnie, I hate to bust your bubble but I don't think you'll find much there. We have been watching the news and it looks like this thing has taken everybody everywhere. We left Memphis when it all started and came out here to our weekend place to live."

"I've got a wife and two more children with me. What will I do?"

"My suggestion is to stay the night here and we'll talk. The more each of us know about conditions, the better off we will be."

"That sounds reasonable. Where should we stay?"

"There's a clean motel on the other side of town. I'm guessing you came in from the east and started on this road when you heard the motors?"