Chapter 11 - Dean
Dean
“Almost to the northern part of Georgia.” Lily rubbed her legs and wrapped the blanket over them. “Have you ever felt a September this cold?”
Many times. “Not around here.”
“We need better clothes.” Her nose wrinkled. “Plus food and water.”
The grocery stores we visited were picked over, and so far, we’d chosen forward progress over exploration.
No longer.
“There’s no one here,” Lily said, noting the dollar store’s empty parking lot. “I want to stay.” I narrowed my eyes at her statement. “Not forever. I can’t be inside a vehicle for much longer. It’s claustrophobic.”
“One night. That’s reasonable.” How could I argue over another delay on our return journey? “Assuming it’s safe.”
Lily perked up. “A night away from the rain. The constant tippy-tippy tap is a secret torture tool.”
I turned off the ignition. “You realize it’ll continue for months?”
“Don’t. Not now. Let’s go inside. Food and clothes, Dean. You can borrow Ryan’s clothes when we get there.”
Her brother sat behind a desk for a living, and I doubt he had visited a gym once in the past year. “If it fits.”
Ryan demanded two promises: take Lily home and keep her safe. What choice would I make if forced to pick? Lily spoke constantly about her family and home, while never asking what came next. Could Deer Lake provide the level of safety I offered or demanded?
I didn’t trust Bill Sutton’s ability to protect his daughter. The Sutton family’s ability to see only the best in people blinded them to realities. I had no choice but to earn back Lily’s trust, so my plan became hers, whatever form it took.
“Me first.” No human presence. Nothing except a dark interior and gray concrete blocks.
“Can we go inside now?”
I held back a smile at her impatient tone. “We can go. Let me get you first.”
Lily waited while I opened her door and hopped down. “Why do you insist on the chivalry routine?”
“It’s not a routine when it’s a freely chosen act. I’m indulging myself. C’mon, let’s go.” Lily took my offered hand without protest as I led her to the side of the building, allowing its overhang to save us from the wet deluge.
Inside, the rain faded to muffled taps. We rubbed water off our arms and faces.
“I love being indoors. So very much,” Lily said.
A potato chip bag fell off a shelf.
“We weren’t alone,” I said, but it was too late.
“Hands up!” A man stepped from behind the food shelves and approached. He wore a fluorescent orange trucker hat and jacket. He pointed a hunting rifle at my chest.
“Get behind me,” I told Lily, shoving her instead of acknowledging the man’s request. “You know how to use that,” I said to the stranger.
The man’s stance and easy hold confirmed it. “What do you want?”
“Food. My wife hasn’t eaten today. Clothes too, if there’s any here.” I didn’t raise my hands. “I’m Dean Montgomery. This is Lily.”
I eyed the rifle. He knew how to use it, but did he know how to protect it? We hadn’t wasted time searching for sporting goods stores, and there’d been no gun stores in the few small towns we passed through.
A face poked out from the shelves, revealing a woman close to his age. Early twenties, both of them.
“Where are you from?” he asked.
“We’re going home to Kansas,” I said.
The woman stepped from her hiding place and turned on a flashlight, illuminating her pregnant body before pointing it at us. “Ray, I don’t think they’re a threat. He’s not armed.”
Ray’s stance didn’t relax. A hunter, judging from his clothes and weapon. I doubted he’d ever used it against another person, but circumstances changed. We stood ten feet apart in an awkward standoff. “Some men tried to rob this place yesterday.”
He wanted to protect his wife and their soon-to-be child.
I couldn’t blame him for that, but we also needed food.
Ray’s comment implied they spent time in this dollar store, perhaps taking it over or claiming it for their own.
It didn’t matter to me; we weren’t staying.
An overnight visit with strangers was a risk we wouldn’t take.
I’d also let him keep the rifle.
“I’m unarmed, and you have a gun pointed at my chest. You can kill us both now, if you want that on your conscience. I won’t be able to stop you.” I spread my arms wide.
“How far along are you?” Lily asked. She took a tentative step from behind me. Her fingers hooked onto my belt loop, pressing into my skin. “I’m Lily.”
“Six months, almost seven.” The woman gave her stomach a comforting rub.
“A boy or a girl?” Lily asked.
“A boy. I’m Stephanie, by the way. Are you hungry? You’re the first woman I’ve seen since it all started.”
“We’re starving and the same here,” Lily said and gave the other woman a friendly wave. “I don’t know anything about guns.”
“They won’t hurt us, honey,” Stephanie said. “Please.”
Ray eased his grip on his rifle after his wife spoke.
I pressed him. “Like I said, we’re unarmed. We need food and clean clothes, if there’s any here. I’m trying to take care of my wife, just like you.”
Lily wrapped her arms around my waist and left the safe space behind me.
The two women shook hands before sharing an awkward hug.
Ray lowered the rifle at my admission. “Come in. I’ll warn you, it’s mostly junk food. We lost power yesterday, so you might still get lucky with the freezers. You can take whatever you can carry.”
“Sweetheart, why don’t you go shopping?” Lily gave me an amused look at the endearment, so I placed a hand over hers and winked. “Pick for me, will you? You know what I like.”
Her eyes widened. “Sure thing.”
I suppressed a smile at her terse response and kissed her forehead. “Thanks.” I removed her claws from my hands and pushed her forward.
Lily headed to the small frozen food section without a backward glance.
The shadowed store was comfortable despite the lack of air conditioning. Constant rain and the rare low temperatures meant we’d need cold-weather gear soon.
Trusting Lily with our food needs, I checked for batteries, candles, or anything else of use, assuming my extra shadow wouldn’t get in the way.
“Where did you two come from?” Ray asked as he followed me to the automotive aisle.
Providing intel was a straightforward path to receiving it. “Tampa. It’s been slow. Stay off the interstate. They’re full of abandoned cars, so you won’t get anywhere, at least not easily.”
“We haven’t seen much of anything. Those thieves from yesterday were the worst so far. What’s it like out there?”
The world started its turn into a wet hellscape at the moment of impact. The process would increase as people realized that.
“Out there?” His question stunned me. If Ray had traveled even a day, he’d have seen what we had.
“We saw house fires the first day, from gas lines. Militiamen. We saw a naked couple walking in the rain, holding hands like they were on an evening stroll. Jacksonville’s skyline turned orange before it went dark.
I don’t know if anyone survived. Some collapsed bridges. ”
Ray swallowed. “An old friend of mine lives in Jacksonville.”
Poor dead friend. “A lot of flooding, and if the rain keeps up, it’ll get bad.” I didn’t mention the town party or the dead man resting in his truck. A pregnant wife and a dollar store to protect were enough to worry about.
“I heard it was the same in Tampa. Tsunamis took it out.”
I hoped it killed Lily’s Stephen. Better, I hoped he pissed his pants with fear first. “You’re from here, aren’t you?” I guessed.
“How’d you know?”
His redneck attire, for starters. “You told me, or maybe it’s what you didn’t say.”
“I heard enough from my uncle,” he explained. Ray set his rifle on a stack of dusty motor oil bottles. “He has a CB radio he’s been on constantly.”
That drew my attention. “What have you heard?”
“Nothing much bad.” He bit down on his lip like the gesture thought for him. “No one from the West Coast. My uncle thinks those states might be gone. No one from the northeast either.”
“What about Washington?” I’d worried about Ryan since his phone call, while focusing on caring for Lily and plotting our path forward. I couldn’t help Ryan at this point.
“We heard a bunch of politicians made it out. Figures, don’t it? Someone in Montana said they’re making a new government.”
Far enough away to make no difference, even if true. “What else?”
“The southern half of Florida is underwater. The man who said that stopped reporting. There are people everywhere. Survivors waiting.”
That confused me. “Waiting for what?”
“The FEMA trucks will show up. It takes a few weeks, but we’ll get it cleared out and fixed up. It always does.”
I looked away to hide the pity in my eyes. “Good point. Best stay here to take care of your wife.”
“Dean,” Lily called out.
“What is it?” I asked as she approached.
“Clothes for us, and food.” She frowned at my empty hands. “Should we go?”
“Give us a minute.” I waited until Lily wandered away. “I’ve seen what hunger does to people. A man picks up a gun and realizes killing isn’t so bad, or a mother kills the men who hurt her daughter. You mentioned a couple trying to rob this place yesterday.”
“Three men.” His skin flushed.
“You chased them off,” I guessed, which his expression confirmed.
“It won’t be easy next time. They’ll take a chance once they see your wife, or they’ll be armed.
Make sure you do what needs doing. Who else depends on you?
You mentioned an uncle, so I’m guessing there’s more.
Be ready for what’s coming, because it isn’t FEMA trucks.
The outside is their world now; get used to that. ”
“Like you?” he shot back. “Look, I appreciate the warning, but we’ll do fine, and not everyone is like you.”
“Like me?”
“I’m a hick, but that doesn’t make me dumb,” he said. “You considered it before you saw my Steph, didn’t you? You thought about taking my rifle, but then you’d leave a pregnant woman all alone. I saw it in your eyes. It was your wife who stopped you.”
Ray’s hunting rifle still lay on the motor oil bottles, tempting me. We needed a weapon beyond the small knife in my back pocket.
My wife. I’d fix our situation before we returned to Deer Lake, assuming we ever did.
“Thanks for the information, and the food,” I said rather than answer his question. “Your wife found a good man.”
“So did yours.”
I flinched.