Chapter 1: Solitude

Loneliness, privacy, isolation, seclusion, and aloneness are just some of the synonyms of solitude I felt as I used the bolt cutters to cut yet another lock on just the latest of a long series of warehouse gates. I pulled the cut lock and chain free, and pushed open the gate enough to get the Humvee through. As I turned around to walk back to pull the Hummer in up to the one unoccupied loading bay, I spotted the feral dogs silently rushing toward me. I walked to the open driver's door, and pulled out the milk crate full of hunks of fresh meat I had left on the drivers seat and dumped it on the ground. I threw the crate back through the door to the passenger's side, climbed in and slammed the door shut. Now the waiting started again, the dogs would bark and yap for a bit, and then fight each other till the last scraps of drugged meat gone. Then slowly those who had ingested enough drugs would pass out. I would then shove some more drugged meat out the narrow gap at the top of the partially open window till they were all out. Only then would I drive forward through the gate and get out with the large knife and slit the throats of each and every dog.

'Why not just shoot them, ' you ask? Because the barking and yapping is just background noise you would avoid because you already have enough problems just surviving. But gunshots are the primary sign of human activity that just has to be investigated; whether you are seeking help or you survive by preying on others. In either case, I prefer not to be bothered, I would just take care of myself, but protect what I had.

Once I had the gate closed and chained, I backed the hummer into the loading bay, I then grabbed the cordless drill, and light stand, from the back seat, then got out. There was a door about 50 meters to the west, that most likely went in to the warehouse directly, and another about 100 meters to the east that most likely that lead to the dispatcher's office. So I walked east, climbed the stairs, and just opened the door, as it was not locked. There was more than enough light to see by, so I just sat down and started with the manifests looking to see what was available. This particular warehouse supplied the Shopper Drug Marts in the region with their name brand products and of course drugs. I was going to have to get the inventory computer started up, so I walked back to get the portable generator and extension cord. I got everything set up, and plugged in, checked to make sure that the heavy duty muffler was in place, primed the motor and started the generator up, prepared to shut it down if it was too load. There was hardly any noise at all; you would not be able to hear anything much beyond 100 meters.

With power, I got the computer started, and ran the inventory program. I was looking for Glyburide 5 mg and Metformin 500 mg tablets to treat the type two Diabetes, my fifty-year-old body developed after a lifetime of abuse. They also had plenty of test strips and lancets, as well as test units to put them in. I was also looking for your basic over the counter treatments for every thing under the sun, cold, flu, poison ivy, vitamins you name it and I was going to grab it. I also had a list I complied from the Internet, before it all went to hell, including painkillers, antibiotics, and the like. The diagnostic program I snatched from my doctor's office was also helpful in that it provided a listing of necessary supplies to treat most common aliments that plague mankind.

Once I decided on what I was going to get, I printed out a list that detailed where it was all stored and got to work. Taking a five-foot stack of plastic, hinged-lid storage crates I began 'shopping'. As I got one filled I took it to the end of the aisle and stacked it with the rest. I had just finished packing a crate with boxes of sanitary napkins, (they make good compress bandages) When I heard a very distinctive frightened female voice call out, "Hello, is anyone there?"

'Fuck," I whispered to my self, "just what I needed, another stupid bitch looking for a free ride. I slowly and making every effort to be as quiet as I could, made my way to the rear of the warehouse away from the direction of the voice.

"Oh please let there be someone here," she said aloud to herself. Calling out again, she yelled, "Is anyone here? Did you kill all those dogs? Is that your truck? Please, answer me."

I continued to slowly move toward the back, once there I continued around the stack of crates, so that I would be out of sight to anyone looking down the aisle from the front.

"Please, my baby is sick, I don't know what to do, you have to help me; please help me," she said crying at the end.

"Shit - Fuck, why did she have to have a baby, and why does the bitch think it's my problem; damn."

I wrestled with myself for a bit, silently cursing myself for the various kinds of idiot I was about to become.

I yelled out, "STOP RIGHT THERE, don't move, don't say anything except to answer my questions. Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes, please help..." she said before I interrupted.

"I SAID DON"T TALK, just answer my questions. Where is your baby?"

"In the car, with my oldest daughter, my son and my sister and her two daughters," she answered sounding afraid to say more.

"Go and get the baby, but everyone else stays in the car, if anyone else comes back with you, I will leave. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Thank..."

"Just go, get the baby, and return, just you, the baby and no one else."

She went running out, and returned about three minutes later, just her and the baby. In the mean time I finished my shopping, getting the last of the stuff I wanted into a crate; I stacked it with the rest. When she returned, she started to call out, "Mister, I am back, I brought my baby, and no one else came with me."

"Now, just start walking towards the light," I said as I turned on a flashlight.

It took her a minute or so to find me, but once she did she stopped dead in her tracks, just stood there staring at me. This went on for almost a minute, then getting tired of waiting; I walked toward her, put my hands out and asked for the baby. Which surprising enough she gave to me. Continuing on toward the office, I walked past her, around the corner, and down the centre corridor. While I was walking, it was obvious that the baby had a fever, looked like it was dehydrated, but it's color was good, no blue or yellow tint. When I got to the office, I held the brat in my left arm, and used the right to push stuff from the top of the desk onto the floor. Once I had enough space to work, I put it down, and opened the bundle the baby was wrapped in.

From behind me I heard, "Mister can I come in?"

"Yes, come and hold your baby, while I get my med kit," I said waiting for her to come and hold her daughter.

Once she had a firm hand on her daughter, I went back into the warehouse to the bay door I was parked at. I opened both locks on either side of the big door, and they started pulling on the chain to open it. Once I got the door open to head level I saw that there was another car parked in front the hummer, and a SUV had been pulled up along side. Ignoring the woman and several children, I jumped down, not bothering with the ladder next to the door. Opening the passenger side front door I grabbed my med kit. Slamming the door, I turned and headed back to the open bay door, used the ladder to climb back up and reentered the warehouse.

Back in the office, I dropped the kit on the desk's chair and opened it. I took out the IR ear thermometer, a couple of tongue depressors, and flashlight. Putting the working end of the thermometer in the babies left ear, in a moment or two I got a reading of 100.3 degrees, I gently used a depressor to open the mouth and used the flashlight to get a good look at a slightly inflamed throat. Reaching back into the kit, I pulled out the stethoscope and listen to the gurgling sound of the babies labored breathing. Wrapping the baby up again, I turned to the mother, who was still staring at me.

"Your baby has a cold or maybe a minor flu; she does not have the plague or anything else like that. I am going to collect some medicine to take with you. Just follow the instructions on the labels and your baby will be just fine." I said before I once again turned to the computer to locate the baby aspirin, children's decongestant cough syrup, and some LiquiLytes to replenish the fluids and minerals lost due to the dehydration. I also looked into their baby food inventory to see where it was.