Relieved he hadn’t let Arthur down, “Thank you,” Shawn sighed, then grabbed Arthur and moved him to the side as Pat came creeping back up, carrying a pallet of chicken feed.
“Keep an eye out, but stay under the cover of the awning,” Arthur said.
“I will,” Shawn assured him. “I’ll stay beside that column like you did.”
When Arthur nodded, Shawn walked over and grabbed Beth’s hand and led her outside. Turning around, Arthur saw Andrea going through bins and then closing them up and writing a name on the lid with a permanent marker. Looking over, he saw Vicki feeding Pam, “Has Lucas…,” Arthur stopped when he saw Shelia feeding Lucas.
“I tried feeding Pam, but she didn’t want me,” Shelia said with a smile.
When Andrea moved to another bin, Tony came over and picked up the one she had finished. Stacking it on a pallet, Tony moved back while carrying another empty bin and set it down near a stack of boxes with boots and shoes.
“Jim, Betty, with me,” Arthur said and felt Daisy rub against his leg and looked down. Pointing to the front door, “Guard,” Arthur commanded and Daisy trotted off to the front of the store. When he looked up, he saw Jim and Betty beside him.
Knocking the electric lantern over, Andrea gave a groan as she picked it back up. Setting it on a bin, Andrea turned and watched Arthur move off into the store. “You know what he’s getting?” she asked, glancing back at Vicki.
Holding Pam’s bottle under her chin, Vicki leaned back and pulled out a stack of folded papers. Unfolding them with one hand, Vicki glanced where Arthur had headed and then down at the papers. “Stuff for the horses,” Vicki answered. “We were only supposed to load it in bins to pick up later, but Shawn thinks we can load it up since we now have another truck.”
Standing up and looking out the front door, “Um, I hope he doesn’t expect me to drive that,” Andrea mumbled.
“Arthur always says, ‘just drive slow, so mistakes are made slow’,” Vicki quoted as Pam emptied the bottle. “If he tells you, just do your best,” Vicki offered.
When the babies were fed, they were laid down in the stroller to nap. Vicki laid a blanket out on the floor for Robin and Robin just dropped down and went to sleep, still only wearing the pink cowboy boots. Leaving Tony with Andrea, Vicki led Shelia out in the store to fill up storage bins.
An hour later, Pat called out that the trailers were full and Arthur gathered everyone up. “I’m leading in the new truck. Andrea, you will be driving the Suburban with most of the kids, so be careful. You will follow me with Shawn at the back,” Arthur explained and everyone nodded. “Vicki, you will explain to Shelia how we keep watch in the Suburban. Tony, you’re riding with me and Jim, so he can explain it to you.”
Tony raised his hand slowly and Arthur nodded at him. “Where are we going, sir?” Tony asked in a low voice.
“Home,” Arthur sighed with a grin and then felt Nicole move and pulled another bottle from his cargo pocket. “We are only making one more stop. The only ones getting out are me, Tony, and Shawn. We won’t be stopped long and everyone needs to keep a lookout.”
Everyone nodded and Arthur told Jim and Tony to head for the truck as he led the group out the side. “I’ll open the gate so just drive and turn around but remember, you have a long trailer so swing wide. Shawn, when you clear the gate, jump out and just roll it closed, then we’ll take off,” Arthur told them as they loaded up in the vehicles parked inside the storage yard. Putting the dogs in the back of the Suburban, Arthur folded up the stroller after Lucas and Pam were put in their car seats.
Closing up the side doors, Arthur headed to the front and closed the front doors. Looking at the trailer, Arthur gave a wry grin at all the stuff piled on. “Just might make this,” he said to himself.
Climbing in, Arthur saw Jim and Tony were both in the front seat looking around. Pulling the truck up, Arthur climbed out and opened the yard gate. Holding Nicole so she wouldn’t bounce, Arthur trotted back over to the truck and climbed in. Unlike the Suburban or Blazer, the massive Dodge barely acknowledged the heavy ass trailer it was pulling.
Avoiding what big roads he could, Arthur headed north leaving town. As the businesses and houses spread out, Arthur saw the interstate ahead. The exits formed a cloverleaf and an Army detachment was set up in the eastbound exit ramp. Having stopped there already when he had scouted the towns, Arthur had only found four troops there. All four had been in the tents, lying on cots and coughing up chunks of blood.
Pulling to a stop on the road the ramps fed from and ran under the interstate, Arthur glanced around as he put the truck in park. “Jim, keep an eye out and if you see anything, start calling on the radio,” Arthur instructed and Jim gave a nervous nod while holding up his radio.
Climbing out, Arthur looked back and saw Andrea had pulled up beside his trailer and Shawn was right behind her getting out of the Blazer. “Let’s go,” Arthur said, gripping his AR but didn’t jog, so he wouldn’t jar
