He remembers to an exact that blood will last five days at room temperature, which Norman also confirmed for him. That gave them five days after Jack died to find suitable storage that could be traveled with. Storage that was chilled, and could be kept chilled.
The group found a big chain supply store within three days. The doors were damaged, held open, and most of the windows were busted out. The group only encountered three infected while inside the store, no doubt the others had migrated away during the twelve years since the outbreak.
Inside the store they found a small, but insulated, food bag. The bag was too small for the canteens full of blood to fit into, a shot to their hearts. Deeper inspection into the store revealed water proof temperature controlled thermoses. Karo also found a single, undamaged, yet filthy, travel cooler. Norman transferred the blood into the thermoses, then put the thermoses inside the cooler.
On the fourth day it began to snow. Karo packed the cooler with snow, and left the lid off it to keep the cold wind flowing through it. By day five they were out of the snow. Day six the snow had melted inside the cooler, but the water was cold. The cold temperatures of the days kept the water chilled.
On day eight it snowed again, and Karo repeated the process until day ten when the water wasn’t keeping as chill as he thought it needed to be. Day ten the thermoses felt cool to the touch, but not overly so. Day eleven Patrick fell into depression. Karo and Norman took turns carrying him until he was able to move on his own again on day thirteen, which brought more snow.
It is now day sixteen, and though it hasn’t snowed again, the river that Karo altered their course to follow along contained frigid water. Karo filled the cooler with it, and all five of their drinking canteens.
Each day has brought with it an obstacle to overcome, an issue that has slowed their journey, but each new day has also brought fortunes that have allowed them to keep the blood at a low temperature. Without weather forecasts it was impossible for them to know whether or not they were following along the path of the snow storm. Karo realizes it has been nothing short of miraculous that they were.
Delivering this blood, and these people, is Karo’s purpose. He’s certain of this now. There’s no other explanation for the events that have transpired since Jack’s death. By the grace of God they’ve managed to keep the blood chilled for sixteen days, and now they’re nearing Georgia, ideally leaving somewhere around eleven to twelve days of travel time left, Karo estimates.
Karo was up at dawn on day sixteen, as he has been on every other day. He awoke Daisy first, then Norman and Patrick, and they set off resuming their trek to Florida. After two hours of walking, Karo is the first to break the silence, and he does so to Daisy.
“We’re close to Georgia now, still in Tennessee, but close.”
“You sure?”
“That’s what the map indicates.”
“Just checking that you know where we’re going.”
A grunt, a snort, a puff from his lungs, and a sly grin from her. The conversation ceases for another three hours. The group clear through some dwindling brush, and pop out the other side onto a small, two lane road. In the distance they can see a sign.
The green, rusted and stained, sign has three letters of a town’s name left on it, and has a faded, barely legible five next to the name of the town to indicate it’s distance. There doesn’t appear to be enough space after the five to fit another number next the faded ‘mi’ and missing letters that should follow those.
“Only five miles. We could use some supplies, bandages, tape, bullets, anything that can be used as a weapon. It’s been hard to hunt when we only have one gun and knife, and sometimes fishing is taking longer than we’d like.” says Norman.
Karo gestures, then continues on past the sign, keeping to the middle of the road, so as to have enough visibility, as well as distance and time, to react to anything that could potentially jump out at them.
The group treks onward to the small town that lay ahead, hopeful to find anything of use, and to avoid any unwanted determents. Daisy, Norman, and Patrick stay close to Karo as they follow behind him.
The road begins to branch off on either side into numerous streets. A few houses can be seen from the road, but Karo would rather not venture too far down these side paths. It is more probable that houses will have supplies than old stores, as the stores will have defined places for items, making them easier to pillage, and also making that the probability of the items still being inside much smaller.
He did previously spend several hours in a sizeable supply store, resulting in the finding one cooler, four thermoses, but nothing else of use. So, he’s quite confident in his preference of houses over stores for supplies, but houses bring the great danger of a smaller, more confined setting.
The first structure they come upon, that is directly off the road, is a small gas station. The windows are completely busted out, the fuel pumps are black and charred, and the roof is collapsed in. Whatever happened here was brutal, and the sight of it is enough to keep them from closer examination.
Not more than a quarter mile after the gas station, they come across several houses on the either side of the road. These houses are immediately off the road, and not
