CHAPTER 12
Thursday, September 8th
Deer Creek, Montana
Jennifer wheeled David’s bike out of the garage towards the front street just as the sun began to peak over the eastern horizon. It had been years since she had ridden a bicycle, but after a few blocks, she was pedaling comfortably down the street on her way to Missoula. She wore a sweatshirt to keep warm in the unseasonably cold weather, and with no activity in the streets, she rode in near silence, the only sound being that of a squeaky wheel and the rocks that crackled under the tires.
On her back, she wore David’s school pack filled with a handful of sturdy bags that she hoped to load up with supplies. Her plan was to try and find some food in Missoula and see what the situation was. At yesterday’s meeting, a few people had commented on their forays into the city, and Jennifer was anxious to see for herself how things were. Her family’s dwindling food supply was worrying her, and while it would still be awhile before they were down to nothing, anything extra she could find would be welcome.
Pedaling steadily, Jennifer covered the fifteen miles into town faster than expected. It had only been six days since she’d driven this road, and she was shocked to see such a big change in so short a time. At the early hour, the ride into Missoula was like a scene from a disaster movie -- abandoned cars littering the streets, no one emerging from their home, no farmers working their fields, no radios blaring, no airplanes overhead. It was unsettling, and Jennifer’s nerves were on edge the entire trip.
An hour after leaving home, Jennifer arrived at her regular grocery store and was surprised to see that the parking lot was half full of vehicles, then she realized those cars were abandoned as well. She rode up to the front of the building, leaned her bike against a lamppost, and chained it there. Glass was broken out of one of the front doors, and she carefully pushed against the frame. The door resisted, the motor for the automatic door fighting her efforts, but allowed her to enter.
As she stepped inside, the sound of the door closing behind her echoed ominously in the empty store. The only illumination in the building came from the sun streaming through the front windows in a dozen blazing pillars of light. Nervous, Jennifer paused and listened, then looked behind her to see if anyone might be following her before taking a deep breath and walking further into the store. She looked down the first aisle and was greeted by a gut-wrenching sight. Shelves that had been packed full with groceries a week before were empty, stripped of everything but shelf labels and sale signs. Jennifer walked up and down each aisle hoping to find just a few items, but with each step she became more certain there would be nothing left for her. She noted as she passed the greeting card and magazine racks that even those had been emptied.
Removing a small flashlight from her pack, Jennifer searched through the back room, finding only a few packages of spoiled meat and several boxes of ice cream that had long since drained their contents onto the floor of the warm freezer.
Jennifer walked slowly back to the front of the store, her feet heavy, the squeak of her shoes on the tile floor sounding louder and louder with each step. Back outside, she shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight and walked dejectedly to a bench near her bicycle. Jennifer felt tired and helpless, and even though the day had warmed, her body felt cold and weak. The situation weighed heavily on her -- children who needed to eat, Kyle gone, no contact with her family, and her world turned upside down. The weight of the world seemed to squeeze her like a vise, pressing the air from her lungs and the hope from her heart.
Sitting by herself on a bench in front of the empty grocery store, with no one to talk to and not knowing how tomorrow would be, Jennifer felt as alone as she ever had in her life. Tears started slowly but were soon cascading unchecked down her cheeks. She pulled her feet up onto the bench, wrapped her arms around her knees, and buried her face in her legs. Oh how she wished Kyle was there, to hold her, to put his arm around her and reassure her that things would get better, to protect her, to make everything alright. Her friends described her as a strong, capable woman, and she felt she was, but after sharing fifteen years of her life with Kyle, it was like half of her was missing, and she desperately wanted to be whole. She missed everything about him, the touch of his hands, the smell of his cologne, the sound of his voice, the feel of his lips, the way he smiled at her when he came home at night, and even just the simple comfort of knowing he was there. Jennifer closed her eyes and tried to picture him. What would he do? How would he handle the situation?
Jennifer heard a sound and looked up to see a young girl, maybe eighteen, pushing a stroller towards her. The girl had shoulder length hair that was either blonde with dark streaks or dark with blonde streaks, bad acne, and was wearing a white t-shirt and well-worn blue jeans. A baby wrapped in a thin blanket lay in the stroller, sleeping peacefully as the stroller rattled along. Jennifer wiped at her tears and runny nose and tried to compose herself, embarrassed by emotions she couldn’t quite manage to control.
The girl barely acknowledged Jennifer as she passed by, her eyes locked on the doors of the grocery store.
“There’s nothing inside,” Jennifer said, trying to sound calm.
The girl stopped. Jennifer could tell the girl was busy processing the information. “Are you totally sure?” she asked, turning towards Jennifer, sunlight reflecting off a metal stud in her nose.
Jennifer nodded. “I am. I just finished searching the store. I even brought a flashlight to search the back room, and it was empty too.”
“Isn’t there even anything, like salad dressing, or ketchup, or something?” the young girl asked, desperation obvious in her voice.
“I’m sorry. It’s empty,” Jennifer answered, holding up her empty backpack as proof. “Even the shampoo and dog food are gone. There’s nothing but empty shelves.”
The girl let out a long, heavy sigh and slowly turned the stroller around. She walked back the way she’d come, and Jennifer could see that she was crying as well. “Hey, you gonna be okay?” Jennifer called out.
The girl shook her head. “I don’t know,” she managed to say, the tears audible in her voice. “We’re real hungry, especially my little boy.”
“I have a couple of granola bars,” Jennifer said as she unzipped a side pocket on the pack. “Would you like those? I don’t need them.”
The girl turned back, eyeing Jennifer suspiciously. “You mean that?” she asked, wiping her face with a dirty hand.
Jennifer nodded. “I have some more at home,” she lied. “I’ll be alright.”
The girl stepped towards Jennifer and stretched out her hand, her eyes hungry and anxious. Jennifer handed her the granola bars and smiled. “I know it’s not much, but I hope it helps.”
The girl tore one of the packages open and bit into it. “I haven’t eaten for two days,” she said between bites. “I’m starting to think we really are going to starve to death.”
“Don’t you have someone who can help you?”
The girl shook her head. “It’s just me and Austin. We just moved here, plus my parents and I don’t get along.”
“What about Austin’s dad?”
“He’s not around. I haven’t seen him since before Austin was born.” The girl finished off the first bar and looked at the remaining one in her hand. “Do you think he can eat one of these?” she asked, pointing to her baby.
“Does he have teeth?”
She nodded. “A few. He’s teething, which doesn’t make things easy.”
“It’s not what a doctor would recommend, but I think if you break it into tiny pieces, he’ll do okay with it. Just make sure they’re real tiny.”
“I will. Thanks. Thanks a bunch, Mrs?”
“I’m Jennifer. You can just call me Jenn. What’s your name?”
“I’m Cassidy. It’s nice to meet you, Jenn.”
“Well, Cassidy, I hope I’ve helped. Do you think there are any other stores around we could go try?”
“No,” Cassidy said. “My neighbor went to the big Wal-Mart, and she said it was wiped out. I walked two miles to get here. Thought with it being on the edge of town it might have some things left. I guess we were both wrong, huh?”
“I suppose so. I rode fifteen miles in on my bike to get here. I was afraid it would be empty, but I came anyway. You know, it’s funny in a way. I was here last Friday afternoon, probably an hour before the event, and everything was fine. No indication whatsoever that anything bad was about to happen. If it had happened an hour earlier, my car would be out in that parking lot with the rest of them.”
“Guess you had luck on your side, didn’t you.”
“I suppose. More luck than the people who owned these cars at least. I wonder how many of them were unlucky by just a few minutes.”
Cassidy shook her head. “I’m sure a few.”
Jennifer looked at the cars. “You know, Cassidy, I bet there were a few that already had their groceries when the bomb went off. I bet there are a couple of cars out there with food in them. Do you want to look with me?”
A flash of hope lit Cassidy’s face, and she nodded.
They found some shade beside a van for Austin and started to work their way across the parking lot, searching each vehicle as they went. Most vehicles were locked, but they could see through the windows of the trucks, vans and SUV’s, which were all empty. Two sedans were unlocked, but their trunks had nothing.
“Our luck hasn’t been so good,” Jennifer observed, leaning against a white Taurus. “There are only four cars that we haven’t been able to open or see inside. Should we try and get in, or give up?”
Cassidy’s expression had gradually fallen as the search yielded nothing, and she now looked thoroughly hopeless. “I think people came and got their stuff. It won’t get us anywhere,” she said, turning towards the parked stroller.
Jennifer could see the blanket moving and heard Austin crying. Retrieving her bike, she pushed it over to Cassidy. “What are you going to do?”
Cassidy shrugged her shoulders and broke off a tiny piece of the granola bar to put in Austin’s mouth. “I don’t know,” she said, her voice lacking any life. “I just don’t know.”
“You should try some of the local churches,” Jennifer suggested. “They might be able to help you. Just don’t give up, okay, Cassidy? You’ve got your little boy to live for. He needs you to stay strong.”
Cassidy nodded but didn’t speak.
Jennifer gave Cassidy a pat on the shoulder and smiled at Austin, who was busy trying to chew on the piece of granola bar, his arms and legs kicking excitedly. “I’ve got to go, but please don’t give up.”
“I’ll try,” Cassidy responded weakly.
Jennifer pedaled away and was about to turn onto the street when a wine colored car near the back exit of the parking lot caught her eye. She stopped and looked at it, noting that the car was facing towards the exit. She pedaled over and peered through the windows. The seats were empty, but the rear passenger door had a big dent in it that kept it from closing tightly. Jennifer tugged on the door and managed to pull it open after a couple of good yanks. She opened the driver’s door and lifted the latch for the trunk.
Hurrying to the back of the car, Jennifer opened the trunk and found herself staring at a dozen plastic bags filled with groceries -- pasta, canned vegetables, a dozen or so cans of tuna fish, crackers, and plenty more. She removed her backpack and quickly filled it with bags of food. As she worked, she noticed a foul odor and found, in one of the bags, a package of chicken thighs, which was now a putrid, dripping, brown mass. Holding her breath, she tied the bag of rotting meat shut, finished loading her bags, and climbed back on her bike.
Jennifer rode around to the front of the building where she had last seen Cassidy, but Cassidy was gone. She rode to the other side of the building and looked both directions, spotting Cassidy pushing the stroller down the street and away from the store. “Cassidy!” she shouted as she hurried to catch up. “Cassidy! I found some food!” Startled, Cassidy turned to see Jennifer holding out a bag. “There was a car on the other side of the building. The trunk was full. I grabbed this for you, but there was more for you to take if you go back.”
Cassidy’s eyes went from Jennifer, to the bag, then back to Jennifer again. She reached out and took the bag, but her expression didn’t change. “I don’t know that I should.”
Jennifer nodded. “Go ahead. I have as much as I can carry on the bike. I just wanted to find you and let you know.”
Cassidy shook her head. “What’s the point, Jenn? So we get some food. That just prolongs the inevitable. Now we’ll die in two weeks instead of one. It doesn’t change the reality.”
Jennifer stared at the young mother, shocked. “What are you saying? That you’re giving up?”
Cassidy looked away from Jennifer and didn’t respond.
“I can’t believe you,” said Jennifer, her anger rising along with her voice. She struggled to find the right words. “You’re a mother. You should be ready to kill for your child, not sentence him to death.” Jennifer felt her hands shaking, and she clenched the handlebars of the bike. “You should be ashamed. I’ve heard of mothers fighting wild animals to save their children, and you’re just going to give up?”
Cassidy turned back around and started to push her baby away from the store, the single bag of food hanging from the stroller.
“You need to think of Austin,” Jennifer called to her. “He deserves a chance at life, not a death sentence. The car is by the far exit if you change your mind, but the food won’t last long.” As a few people nearby took Jennifer’s directions to heart and ran for the unclaimed groceries, Jennifer watched Cassidy walk away, feeling madder than she had in years.
Jennifer jerked the bike around and had just started to pedal when she felt something tug on her bicycle. She twisted her head around and saw a man with unkempt, curly red hair holding onto the cable of the lock she had wrapped loosely around the bike seat post. The sight of him holding her back frightened her, and Jennifer pressed harder on the pedals, trying to break free of his grip.
“What do you want?” Jennifer shouted as he pulled her to a stop. Her heart was racing and her legs shaking so much she had a hard time keeping her balance.
“You said you have food. I want it,” the man demanded.
“Please, I have three children. I need it.”
The expression on the man’s face didn’t change. He was young, probably in his mid-twenties, and his face was covered with freckles, giving him an especially youthful look, but his eyes were set hard, and Jennifer could tell by his expression that he was completely serious. “I don’t care about your kids. I have my own worries. Give me your food!”
Jennifer swallowed hard, trying to stay calm. She could see Cassidy monitoring the situation over her shoulder, but hurrying in the opposite direction, and making her escape while she still had a chance. “Please,” Jennifer begged. “Please, I really need the food.”
The man jerked on the cable, pulling the bike and nearly knocking Jennifer to the ground. “Just shut up and give me the food. I don’t want to hear about it.”
Jennifer swiped at a tear on her cheek and had started to slip the backpack from her shoulders when she heard another voice from across the street. “Let go of her!” it demanded.
Both Jennifer and the man holding her bike turned in the direction of the voice. An older man wearing boxer shorts and an undershirt that was once white was striding across his lawn with an aluminum baseball bat raised threateningly above his right shoulder. He had a determined expression and was making a beeline towards them.
“Stay out of this, old man,” the red head snarled, looking back at Jennifer. “This is none of your business.”
“I’ve seen enough to know this is my business, you little punk. Let go of the lady. I don’t want to have to get your blood on my bat. You understand?”
The young man nodded slowly and released his grip on the cable, the lock falling back against the frame of the bike with a metallic clang. “Leave now!” the man with the bat ordered, looking at Jennifer.
Jennifer wasn’t sure who he was speaking to, but didn’t really care. As soon as she was free, she pushed her bike away and reached with her foot for the pedal. Once up to speed, she turned to look back at her protector. Just as she looked she saw the red head lunge towards the older man, and the baseball bat swing around in a heartbeat, catching the red head on the side of his head and dropping him to the ground like he’d been shot.
The violent act shocked Jennifer and she almost lost control of the bike. Catching herself, she weaved the bicycle between a couple of abandoned cars and turned back to where the two men were. This time the older man was kneeling on the ground, checking the younger man for signs of life.
She let out a horrified gasp, but she didn’t stop, too frightened to spend any more time in the city.