woods at night. But of course it wasn’t night. It was five o’clock in the afternoon.
She glanced at Leigh’s house once more. God, this darkness. It penetrated her with horrible imaginings.
She gave up on going into the woods and, leaning the spade against the fence, walked over to Leigh’s house. If she knew her neighbor was there, maybe she wouldn’t be so afraid.
His car sat in the drive, hooked to its recharge cell. The blinds on his living room window were drawn and the light was on, but the light had been on like that for the past five days. She was really beginning to think something had happened to him.
She went to the front door. The console scanned her and asked if she were the owner, a guest, or a delivery person.
“It’s Glenda Thorndike.”
She read the screen.
So Leigh was inside? “Leigh?”
She caught movement at the side of house.
Leigh emerged from the bushes. She swung her flashlight in his direction. He carried a rifle. His face was slack, as if the last several days had taken their toll on him.
“It’s you,” he said with obvious relief.
She lowered the flashlight. “I thought you were inside.”
“You’re alone?” He peered past her shoulder. “Where are the kids?”
“In the house.” She motioned at his weapon. “What are you doing with a rifle?”
“Turn off the flashlight.” He cast a nervous glance toward the road. The corners of his lips turned downward and he raised his chin. His eyes narrowed in suspicious perusal of the thoroughfare.
“What’s wrong? Why were you at the side of the house?” She glanced out at the highway. “What are you doing?”
He continued looking at the road. “Just being cautious.”
She turned off her flashlight. “Have you been going to work? Your car’s always in the drive.”
“I’ve been off for a while now. I’m going to weather this thing at home.”
She gave him a hint of her own apprehension. “I just wanted to make sure you were here. I thought something might have happened to you.”
He turned to her. He tried to smile but his expression crumbled, and he looked as if he were going to be physically sick.
“Leigh, what’s wrong?”
“I did something stupid.”
“What?”
He looked away. “I told a couple of guys at work I had a stash.”
“A stash? What kind of stash?”
“Food. Water. Basic supplies.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “We were just sitting around talking about the shroud…and how people were preparing for it. And I let it slip.” He shook his head. “I’m a total idiot.”
She gave him a sympathetic grin. “I’m sure they all have their own stashes.”
“Glenda… I saw this thing coming a long time ago. I never trusted the Tarsalans. I’ve been stocking up for the last three months, since the minute the negotiations got rocky. I knew they were going to try something. And these guys at work—they’re always so full of themselves. We were talking about the shroud… and I had something to brag about for a change, so I bragged.” He shook his head and glanced out to the highway again. “Now I realize it was a big mistake. I keep thinking they’re going to come to my house and take everything I have. I haven’t slept. My whole cycle is screwed up.”
He lapsed into silence.
She tried to be helpful. “Where do these guys live? Do they live far?”
“In Raleigh.”
“And you think they’re going to come all the way out here and raid your house?” She shook her head.
“Doesn’t that sound a little… crazy?”
“It’s just this one guy, Jamie… the last day I worked, the way he looked at me. He knew I was taking time off. Just the way he was looking at me. Like he had plans for me. Like he was going to hook up with these other guys, Lars and Perry, and they were going to come out… I wouldn’t put it past them, Glenda.
These guys are real assholes.”
“Yes, but how much of a stash do you have? All the stores are closed. Would it be worth their while?”
“I’ve got two fifty-gallon barrels of fresh water. I’ve got candles, and boxes of ammunition for my rifle. I bought a lot of dried-food dinners from a specialty place in Raleigh, those little vacu-packed ones. I’ve got a hundred rolls of toilet paper. I know that might sound stupid… but toilet paper is something you don’t want to do without.”
“Jeez, Leigh. I really don’t have more than enough supplies to last me a week now.”
Leigh’s eyes narrowed in speculation. “If you guys get hungry, I’ve got tons.”
She nodded, trying to swallow her pride. “The government relief truck didn’t come to the school yesterday.”
“I’ve got an extra rifle, too. You know how to use a rifle?”
“My dad used to take me partridge hunting. Back when I was a kid in Kansas.”
“Because you should really have a rifle in the house.”
“I hate to ask you for a handout.”
“The food reserves in this country have been horribly managed.”
“Bayard’s doing everything he can.”
“Not really.”
“He’s downed a total of thirty killer satellites. We’re chipping away at them.”
Leigh shook his head. “That doesn’t help the food situation, does it?”
His complexion was pale, and he had great dark patches under his eyes. Despite his boasts of more than enough food, he looked as if he had lost weight. He smelled like he hadn’t bathed in days, and his face was unshaven.
“Leigh, why don’t you come over and sit with us for a while?”
Leigh drifted for a few seconds, staring at the dead grass; then his eyes narrowed and the corners of his lips tightened. He looked like an entirely different man. “I would like to see Jamie try,” he said darkly. He turned to her. “Let me get that rifle.”
As he went inside, the lights turned on automatically. Their glow spilled onto the front stoop. The begonias in the terra-cotta planters had died. The ivy covering the side of the house was nothing more than a dry, spidery track.
Leigh came back a few moments later with the rifle and a plastic bag. “Here. I hope you won’t have to use it, but you never know.” He held up the plastic bag. “And here’s three freeze-dried dinners and a few
boxes of ammo. Put the freeze-dried dinners in boiling water and they cook up nicely. If you need more, let me know. I’ve got a stash in the basement, plus some stuff buried out behind the shed.”
She took the rifle and bag. “Thanks.” She inspected the rifle, a Remington. “It’s pump action?”
“You ever fire one before?”
“No. Just bolt action.”
He took the rifle and demonstrated how to use it, then handed it back. “It’s got a four-round magazine.
It’s not the best rifle, but it’s not the worst, either.”
When she finally went back home with her rifle, food, and ammo, she had a lot of jittery new thoughts, ones she knew she wouldn’t have if it were broad daylight. Thoughts of Jamie, Lars, and Perry. Thoughts of Leigh going beserko on her. Of everybody going crazy because of the damn dark. But most of all she thought of how Leigh had a stash buried behind the shed. Because if worse came to worst… She nodded to herself. Yes, if worse came to worst.
She heard about people getting into confrontations. Fighting over food. Even killing each other for it. But she never got in a confrontation herself. She talked to Tammy St. Martin, who lived over the west hill, and learned that every single store in Old Hill had been looted clean and there wasn’t even one can of beans left anywhere.
And then the mailman stopped coming and she phoned the post office, and the computerized voice on the
