Slowly, Shawn started to nod. “Okay, but if you see me making a wrong turn, please call out because I can’t back up that long trailer.”
Reaching over and squeezing Shawn’s shoulder, “We will practice that later, now let’s get home,” Arthur said with a grin.
After loading the dogs up, Arthur saw Robin lying in the cargo area sound asleep, naked. “Don’t wake her up,” Arthur told the dogs, then closed the cargo door.
It took Shawn longer to lead them home because he drove slower, but he never made a wrong turn. Stopping at Jack’s barn, Pat and Kirk jumped out and ran for the forklift and track steer. Taking the straps off his trailer, Arthur stepped back as the boys headed over and started unloading the trailers.
Helping the others undo the straps on Shawn’s trailer, Arthur turned back and saw Pat taking the last load off his trailer. Stepping back as Kirk drove over, Arthur patted Nicole and watched Kirk lift the first pallet off Shawn’s trailer.
When both trailers were empty, they gathered up the straps and loaded back up. Pulling over to the fuel tanks beside the barn, they filled the trucks up. It was just after one when Arthur led them out of the valley, heading to Russellville.
It was after 2 p.m. when Arthur led them into Russellville and stopped at another large box chain home improvement store. After pulling the trucks inside, Arthur didn’t have to tell anyone what to do. Pat and Kirk took off with the dogs and found the forklifts and were soon dropping off empty pallets around the store.
As Arthur, Shawn, and Vicki loaded the pallets, Pat and Kirk started loading the trailers. Unlike last time, Arthur stopped them before the trailers were completely loaded. Loading up several pallets of plastic storage bins, Arthur let the boys load them up on the trailers and then strapped the loads down.
Pulling out of the store and closing it up, Arthur headed back to the Suburban and stopped. Off to the east he heard gunfire and then turned to hear more shots off to the west. “Don’t shoot at me and I won’t shoot at you,” Arthur mumbled, patting Nicole in her sling.
Climbing back into the Suburban, Arthur pulled out on the road weaving around a few stopped cars. Having shopped in Russellville since he’d moved into the area, Arthur turned off the main roadway he was on and took side streets as he headed east.
Driving through the neighborhoods, Arthur had to weave around a wreck. He slowed and looked at the small car that had plowed into a parked truck and saw bullet holes along the car. The door was open and there wasn’t a body inside, but Arthur glanced around as he drove off.
Rounding a curve, Arthur took his foot off the gas at seeing a figure ahead in the middle of his lane, pushing a grocery cart. As the Suburban slowed, Jim called out. “Man at twelve o’clock.”
“Good eye, keep an eye out in case he has friends,” Arthur said as the man stopped and looked back at the vehicles coming toward him. Grabbing his grocery cart, the man pushed it into the opposite lane. Getting closer, Arthur saw a pistol at the man’s hip and what looked like a AK resting on the seat of the cart.
Pulling his pistol out and holding it low, “Kids, get down,” Arthur said, reaching over to roll down his window and slowed. The man took a step back, almost touching the opposite curb and raised his hands up, watching the Suburban slow to a stop in front of him.
“Afternoon,” Arthur called out, tilting his head but not taking his eyes off the man. At one time, the man had been younger than Arthur, but had aged decades over the last weeks.
Tilting his head to Arthur, “Afternoon,” the man said and stifled a cough. Looking at the man, Arthur saw the man’s nose was very red; almost shining.
“Not my business, but you should stay off the roads,” Arthur told the man.
“Can’t drive,” the man said, then turned and coughed violently for several seconds. Spitting out a bloody mouthful, the man rasped, “Tried that a few days ago and wrecked when a coughing fit hit me.”
“Just saying, we’ve seen several moving around and shooting,” Arthur said, gripping the pistol tight and aiming through the door at the man. Then it dawned on Arthur, the man had been coughing for days and concluded he was fighting off Rudolph.
“You had Rudolph?” the man asked, taking a step back and raising his hands back up.
Shaking his head, “Not all of us yet,” Arthur lied.
“Then stay back,” the man wheezed. “You’re right about groups moving around, though. Saw a group pull a woman out of her house yesterday, but they took off before I could help. Seen you with kids at that store, so knew you weren’t a threat if I wasn’t.”
Glancing at the cart quickly, Arthur moved his eyes back to the man. “You take care of you and yours and drink lots of fluids,” Arthur said, impressed with the man’s reasoning.
“Thank ya,” the man smiled with bloody teeth. “Stay away from the interstate. That’s where a group of kids hang out, chasing any that they see. You have kids and they won’t care.”
“You do the same,” Arthur replied with a slight nod. “Please don’t grab for a weapon until we are out of sight because the kids behind me shoot first and ask questions later.”
The man doubled over in a coughing fit and to the west, Arthur heard the sound of engines. As the man stopped coughing, Arthur barely heard the squeal of tires. “That would be them,” the man panted and then spit a glob of blood on the blacktop. “You need to get those kids
