Chapter 23: And the Shit Rolleth Forth

"Shouldn't we have offered those girls some help?" Alice asked sheepishly after they'd driven a few miles in silence.

"They didn't want our help," Maggie snapped.

"After something like that, people aren't always ready to trust a bunch of gun totting strangers," her father answered.

"Still, shouldn't we have tried to reason with them? Explain how they'd be safer with us rather than wandering around unprotected?"

David sighed, and then addressed her question without taking his attention from the road ahead of him.

"We can't force people to do what they don't want to. Some people will gravitate to someone offering them protection. Some react negatively to it. I left them the men's guns. If they're of a mind to, they should be able to defend themselves next time. If not, we'll never even know how it turned out."

"Still," she tried to argue.

"Alice. They didn't want our help. End of story," Maggie said, turning around and flashing an angry glare at her. That shut Alice up. As much as she was worried about her father, she was suddenly worried even more about Maggie. If seeing his wife get shot had deranged her father, then surely having someone die in your arms—especially a trusted companion, exposing you to something that was likely to kill you in only a few days' time—was likely to have an even worse effect.

"Sorry, I was concerned about them is all," Alice answered, sounding defensive.

They rode in silence for several more minutes before David briefly closed his eyes for a moment in reflection. "That could have gone better."

"Gee, you think?" Maggie hissed at him. "We kill five men, traumatize two women, miss saving one life by possibly only a few moments, all while risking our lives, and you suggest it might have gone better if you'd planned it more?"

"I wanted to see if I could prevent people attacking each other," David protested. "We succeeded in that. We stopped them. They won't do it again, and they'll serve as a warning to anyone else who tries it. What's more, we saved two lives, at least."

"Great," Maggie sighed in exasperation. "Now those two dingbats will head out, looking for some other innocent people to terrorize, while the other people they scare will try to steal more guns to defend themselves with. Face it, coming out and looking for trouble was a mistake. You could have gotten all of us killed, and for what? So someone can spit at us and accuse us of looking at them wrong? Frankly, if you want to protect people, I'd suggest you start at home. Keep the girls at home where they're safe. There's no sense exposing them to sickness, attacks, hatefulness and death!"

It was silent as David considered how to respond to Maggie's mini-tirade.

"You mean exposing them to sickness and death like having them ride in a car with someone with the plague? And how would you have felt if it was Alice and Amy that those men dragged into the woods? Would you still want me to keep everyone safe at home, rather than trying to stop it?"

"I don't know," Maggie sighed, the tension seeming to escape as she sagged in on herself. "I'm frustrated. No, that didn't go well. Yes, any one or all of us could have been killed. I might very well have shot Amy just then."

"Hey, you're the one who insisted on coming along," David reminded her.

"Hey, don't start on me. Can you imagine what would have happened if I wasn't there?"

He didn't bother to answer, and Alice was sorry she'd forced the issue, suddenly missing the awkward tension-filled silence they'd been enjoying prior to that little emotional explosion. She just hoped things were going better back at the house.

"Yeah, this is David," he answered after Flora radioed him on their way back home.

"I just got a message from Nancy Evens, Sheriff Ben's radio person at the police station."

"Yeah, I know who she is. What's up?"

"She said that someone came in, reporting they'd been attacked at the Maple Gardens Shopping Center, and their one available policeman is out of range. She was hoping you could check it out for them."

"We're on our way home so we aren't that far off. We'll stop by. What should we expect?" David asked.

"She says the woman left just after the disturbance began, riding a bike, so it's been a while since it started. Apparently there were a group of men, all young, destroying property, firing guns in the air, starting fires and threatening people."

"I thought the shopping center was closed?"

"It mostly is, but there were a couple shops trying to sell off some of their remaining stock for whatever people could offer them. Apparently the men attacking the place are terrorizing the people there and breaking into the other closed shops."

"Do they think this is an organized attack, or just a bunch of guys blowing off steam?"

"She says it looks like bored kids trying to 'have fun' while they still can, but there's no telling what may happen. After all, if these guys are sick, they may figure they've got nothing to lose."

"OK, we'll take that into account. We're almost there. I'll call you later and let you know what happened."

Pulling into the Maple Gardens Shopping Center—basically a strip mall with about ten to fifteen small shops—they didn't see anyone remaining. The place was a wreck with various doors hanging from their hinges, fires burning in the parking lot, smoke coming from a few of the stores, and broken glass scattered all over.

"OK, it looks like we may have missed it but be careful. There's no telling whether anyone is still here, or is hiding inside one of the shops. Maggie, you head left, I'll take the right side. Alice, you and Amy stay here in the center and keep a look out for any signs of trouble."

Everyone climbed out of the car and headed out, scanning their surroundings for any threats. David headed in one direction when Alice stopped him with a shout.

"Hey, you! Stop!"

Spinning around, he saw Alice sprinting after someone down a passageway between a couple shops. Swearing under his breath, he took off after her, angered she'd run off without determining whether it was safe or not.

As he cleared the corner, he saw she was chasing a young boy. Figured he wasn't who they were after, and wasn't likely to be a threat, he slowed down and stopped.

"Alice, don't—" His shouted instructions were cut short by a pop sound that David, despite his inexperience with it, recognized as the sound of gunfire. Spinning around, he broke into a run, heading back to the same area they'd left Amy. Not wanting to alert anyone to his whereabouts, he didn't call out to anyone else. Nearing where he'd left Amy he saw no sign of her, but drawing closer, he saw something half lying in a doorway.

Closing in, he saw it was Amy, lying flat on her back, beginning to roll over. However, what he saw of her made his blood run cold. Her shirt was shredded, and she had blood all over her arms, chest and face.

Stopping behind the doorway beside her, sheltered from the interior, he quickly glanced at her to ensure she wasn't critical, then took a breath before spinning into the doorway, gun drawn, scanning the interior.

"Whoever is in here, drop your weapon and stand dow—"

"Get the fuck out of my shop!" someone shouted. Despite the interior being dark, he saw a movement and spun out of the way as another gunshot blasted out of the corner, the pellets tearing the wood and plastic displays he'd ducked behind to shreds.

Jumping back into the opening, bearing his gun on where the shot had come from, he shouted out. "This is the police. Put the weapon down now before I shoot you where you stand!"

"The fuck you are," an older woman hissed as she cocked her gun again.

"Unless I'm wrong, your shotgun has only two shells, so you're out of ammo. But if you point that thing at me, I'll put a bullet square in your forehead," he warned her.

"You say you're police, but you have no uniform," she challenged him.

"I've been deputized by Sheriff Adams. If you put down your gun, I'll show you my badge."

"How about you get out of my shop and I don't blow your ass out of your shoes, asshole?"

Without any further warning, David fired a round behind her, shattering a wall of glass bottles behind her, showering her with her with various liquids, giving off a heavy chemical smell to the establishment.

"That's your last warning. I won't miss next time. Drop your weapon or die where you stand," he shouted.

Looking uncertain, the woman, still in darkness, stepped forward and set her shotgun down on the counter.

She was an older woman, her face wrinkled and set in a deep scowl. "OK, show me your damn badge," she challenged.

Holding his weapon with one hand, David fished his temporary badge out of his pocket. He heard motions behind him, and assumed that either Alice or Maggie was assisting Amy.

"That's not even a legitimate badge," the woman scoffed. "Where's the badge number, the credentials? Do you have a photo ID of some kind?"

"Look lady, you just shot one of my people. Ben only gave me what he had because I'm serving as a deputized officer while his other officers are incapacitated. Now don't make me do what I'd really like to. Why the hell did you shoot my girl?"

"She came into my shop, threatening me and my possessions," she insisted, not backing down.

"You OK, Amy?" he called back, growing impatient with the woman.

"I'm fine," she gasped, having trouble speaking clearly. "My vest stopped the force of the blast. The pellets hit me, but I'm not hurt."

"She looks worse than she is," Maggie assured him. "The pellets tore her face, shoulder and arm, but there's no serious injury."

"Hear that?" David asked. "That's the only reason you're still alive. Now I suggest you get your stuff and get the hell out of here. What the hell are you doing here anyway? What is this, beauty supplies or something?"

"No," the woman replied, "it's a nail salon. I returned to pick up my supplies. I didn't want to leave them to whoever decided to break in, as they just tried to."

"Wait a minute. Who the hell risks their lives while everyone is dying around them to pick up cases of nail polish? That just doesn't make any sense. What's really going on here?"

"There's nothing going on here," the woman insisted, growing upset. "I just thought I could do better treating women around me than I could leaving it here."

"Lady, I can't imagine women facing death, watching their friends sicken and die, being that interested in painting their nails. Back over there while I check to see what you're hiding here."

"I've got her, Dad, you go ahead and check," Alice told him.

"Are you OK with Amy?" David called back to Maggie.

"Yeah, I'll help her outside and we'll watch out for anyone approaching, but we'll need to get her somewhere I can work to extract all these damn pellets. Frankly, she's a mess."

With that David marched forward. The woman tried to block his way, but he motioned to Alice behind him and she reconsidered her resistance. The look in Alice's eyes announced she was more than ready to exact some revenge of her own.

"You've got no right to search here without a warrant," she protested.

"Honey, in case you haven't noticed, the entire legal system has collapsed. Right now, we're simply interested in preventing people killing each other, and frankly, you shooting one of my people is enough to trigger my curiosity."

She grumbled but didn't complain any more. David was about to check the back room when he saw an old style military knapsack sitting behind the counter. Kneeling, he unzipped it and found it full of little bottles, much too small for nail polish. Picking up one and holding it to the light, he saw they each contained a fine white powder.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Is this why you shot Amy? You figure you can continue selling drugs in the middle of a plague, killing whoever doesn't fall over dead? You're really disgusting, lady."

"Hey, it's a valid business. If there wasn't a demand for it, I wouldn't be able to sell it."

"And let me guess, the people causing the damage here were looking for this?"

"No, that was purely happenstance. They were just acting out, trying to cause destruction, but I wasn't going to let them destroy what I invested in this stuff."

"Well, lady, we'll destroy this ourselves. Now I suggest you take your shotgun and head home. You'll likely need it to prevent being attacked, but if you come back here or you try to sell anyone any more of these drugs, I won't hesitate shooting you next time. Do you understand?"

"You can't..." she started to argue before David shot her a look. In response, Alice pointed her rifle at her and clicked the gun from single shot to full auto just for effect, knowing she wouldn't be able to differentiate it from the safety.

The woman glanced between them, then cautiously reached around David for her shotgun.

"Can you at least hand me some shotgun shells?" she asked.

"You've got to be kidding me?" David replied before he dug in the bag and found a handful of shells. Walking to the door, which Maggie and Amy had vacated, and hauled off and threw them as far as he could.

"You can pick them up and load your shotgun, but if you head in our direction, or try to sneak back, I'll have Alice here put a bullet between your eyes. Now get the fuck out of here."

The woman scoffed and grumbled as she wandered off, Alice following her, tracking her movements.

"Do we have time to deal with this stuff?" David asked Maggie.

"Amy needs treatment, but she's not critical. If it'll only take a few minutes, go ahead, but if it's going to take very long, I suggest you think of something else."

"OK, I'll tell you what; Alice, keeping an eye on our friend, bring me the shotgun from the SUV." She ran off, still tracking the woman picking up the shotgun shells. While she was gone, he took out a single package of the glass jars and spread them in a small pile on the floor. Then he carried the knapsack to the door, and went back to search the rest of the establishment for any more drugs.

"OK, what do you want me to do with it?" Alice asked when she returned.

"Are you still watching the woman?" David called from the back room where he had found a supply of small liquid containers, which he assumed held steroids.

"Maggie's covering her while we finish in here," she told him.

"Good, shoot the containers on the floor. I want anyone returning to see that we've destroyed the drugs. If they see shattered bottles with loose drugs on the floor, they'll be able to figure out they're gone," David answered as he started carrying the newest supplies out to the SUV so they could dispose of it later.

It was bad enough that everyone around them was dying, and that those healthy enough to survive were busy killing each other, but to have people trying to make money by continuing to sell drugs in the current environment was just too much for David to fathom. 'Maybe it's time we thinned the species out a bit, ' he said to himself. 'Maybe we can eliminate some of the craziness from humanity.'

Driving like a madman on the way back, David was continually shocked at just how bad Amy looked. She said that while she was sore, she was mostly unhurt, but her face, shoulder and arm were torn up, with blood and bits of skin dangling from open wounds, with a series of small dark holes pock-marking her skin. David could see how the flak jacket had saved her, but the shotgun's dispersal pattern had been too wide, which is precisely why it's such a destructive weapon. But David was more worried about getting her patched up than he was about her shredded shirt or the few cars they passed.

He'd been tempted to enter the shop guns blazing when he'd seen Amy on the ground. Even then, it had taken a lot to resist smashing the woman's face when she started mouthing off to him. But the fact of the matter was that while it was easy justifying extreme actions against those who proved themselves a threat to the community, David still had trouble justifying hurting or killing someone who wasn't a direct threat to others. While the woman was offensive, she'd really presented no threat once her drugs were removed, and she was unlikely to find anyone to supply her with any more in the near future.

They'd tried calling Flora back, but she hadn't responded. They had reached Nancy, though, and she thanked them for taking care of the situation, and told them she'd send the woman back now that it was safe. However, given the chaotic situation on the streets, David cautioned her to keep her there until someone could accompany her home.

What's more, Maggie had begun to look bad too. David could see her sweating and shivering, so David knew he'd have to take care of her as well. It seemed like everything was going wrong at once. But then, David knew that with the Plague becoming more prevalent, things were going to continue getting worse.

Pulling up to the house, David saw Flora and Ellen carrying something in the wheelbarrow, while everyone else looked on. David had a bad feeling about that, but he didn't have time to consider what might be wrong just then. Driving directly to the front door, passing the people curiously watching him, he jumped out and hurried to help Amy out of the backseat.

"Really, David, I'm fine," she told him. "I'm sore, and I hurt like a son of a bitch, but I can make it on my own."

"I'll accompany her inside and clean her up in the upstairs bathroom," Maggie told him.

"Just be careful, remember you're contagious," he warned her.

"Yeah, like you have to remind me that I'm facing death," she complained as she followed Amy, who was walking a bit unsteadily. "I'm familiar with the procedure, and I won't do anything to harm her. You and Alice just take care of that crap we brought back with us."

Instead David just watched them enter the house, worrying about them. But once they disappeared inside he turned to do just that.

"David, we've got a situation here," Ellen called out.