Holly Fever (Mondamin Court #1)

Chapter 16

Once they'd made the decision to try for the grocery store, there wasn't much else to say. A few people wondered about the wisdom of leaving the school, but without food or heat, there wasn't much reason to stay. Nobody held out much hope that there was any sort of relief effort coming. So they crammed all the remaining water—which wasn't much—into a bag and headed out.

The area was bright but eerily quiet. The streets were empty and unplowed. In the distance they heard a crow cawing. None of the usual hum of traffic, voices, or machinery was apparent. Wind blew, and water dripped from roofs as snow melted.

It was a few degrees above freezing, but after the last few days, it felt almost warm. Holly unzipped the front of her jacket for the first time in days.

Paul stopped at his pickup truck and pulled a hunting knife out from under the seat. "No idea if there are looters," he said as he strapped it to his belt.

They set off west along a side street. They walked down the middle of the road, the clearest path they could find. As they went around the building, Holly glimpsed the long line of corpses at the back of the school. A stray dog was sniffing around the edges. It made Holly so mad she found a rock and threw it, scaring the dog away. Nicky's body was in that pile somewhere. Part of her wanted to go over and find it, say one last goodbye. But she couldn't bear the grief, so she let Marlee take her arm and pull her down the street.

They heard voices about two blocks from the grocery store. Holly's hopes rose as they hurried the final blocks and into the parking lot. They stopped short at the sight before them. A large truck was backed up to the front of the store. The ramp was down, and people were loading boxes into the back of it. Two men looked on, shotguns at their sides.

The men turned as James stepped forward. "That's close enough," one said as both men hefted their shotguns. James froze.

There was a body face down in the parking lot. Strange place to die of the flu, Holly thought. Her eyes flickered back and forth between the men and the body. Had they done it?

"We're starving," Marlee called out. "We just need some food."

"There's another grocery store a mile that way," the man said.

"But we're starving," Max protested. "Just give us a little something."

"If I give you my food, then my group will starve."

"It's not your food," Paul sneered. "Besides it's a big store. Surely you can share something."

"It's our food now," the man said. "And there's not near as much as you think. We ain't the first group here. A couple days' worth of food left, if that. Now, you've got to the count of three to move along, or we're gonna show you the same welcome the last group tried to show us." He raised the gun and started counting. "One, two . . ."

"Come on," Paul said quickly. "Let's go."

Holly hurried across the street, her heart hammering in her chest. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She couldn't believe people would be like that—not yet anyway. How long had they been without some sort of civilization? A week? And this barbarity?

There was a gas station about a block to the south. The windows were broken out, and it had been thoroughly looted already. Paul shook his head, and his eyes hardened. "Fuck," he muttered and led them onward.

A truck came down the road. Afraid it was the grocery store looters, they ran down a side street. They had a short debate about going back. "They couldn't have possibly taken everything," Max insisted.