“That’s okay,” Roman said. “We only need a very small tube of JB Weld. We’ll let it set up, and then we’ll be able to put gas in it in a few hours.”
“Will it set up in the cold like this?” Stephanie asked.
Alex said, “Good question. We’ll have to read the directions.”
She laughed, “I thought men didn’t do that.”
Alex, normally stoic, even grinned at that one. Jane wished they’d whisper. Those things could’ve been hiding out in places like this, especially if the front of the big store was open to anyone. Night crawlers would take refuge anywhere they could find. The cave dwellers had proven that point.
Instead of arguing, Jane followed along even though she wanted to stay in the truck. Or better yet, take Alex’s box truck and head home.
Roman led the way with his flashlight out in front of them. He wasn’t being as careful about covering the end like they always did. Maybe he felt it was acceptable to do so because the store was so vast and didn’t really have much for exterior windows, not even skylights.
It was cold, had a damp feeling to it, and a nasty molding smell. She hoped he found what they needed quickly so they could be on their way.
“Over here,” Roman said to them over his shoulder. “This way.”
They ended up in the automotive department, and he spotted the putty stuff he’d been looking for. Jane tripped over debris, which skidded across the concrete floor into other debris.
“Careful, loser,” Steph whispered, her voice quivering. She seemed scared, too.
“Sorry,” Jane said.
“Let’s go,” Roman said and led the way back out as Alex brought up the rear.
When they got to their trucks, Alex quietly said, “You girls keep watch while we get this thing rigged.”
“’Kay,” Jane agreed.
They both turned their backs to the guys as they worked under the truck with a flashlight, which made Jane very nervous one of those things would spot the light or hear them. Somewhere in the distance, one shrieked. Beside her, Stephanie jumped.
“Hurry the fuck up!” she hissed to the guys under the truck.
“We’re going as fast as we can, Steph,” Roman said.
Another one to their west screamed, followed by others further away.
“Oh, shit,” Alex stated softly. “Roman, this shit takes four to six hours to dry.”
Roman asked, “You don’t think we could pour the gas in and just go? Take a chance?”
“Gas is a chemical. So is this,” he said. “I would think if we go pouring gas in, it could mix with this shit and cause more problems. It has to set up.”
“Damnit,” Roman swore.
“Looks like we’re staying here for the night, or at least half of it,” Alex said.
Jane really didn’t want to stay in a place so open and unsecured, but there weren’t a lot of other options short of leaving the truck, trailer, and all that they stole from the hospital. Avery needed these things. She didn’t want to let her friend down. It was way too dark out to start unloading the truck and trailer and sort through what they might prioritize as higher in need.
“I’m looking at the damage,” Roman said. “The hole isn’t so big, but it pierced straight through the bottom and made two holes instead of one.”
He grunted a few times as if straining, and Jane understood that what he was doing was probably strenuous work, at least reaching under the truck and trying to do something in the dark while laying in the snow, but she wished he’d be a lot quieter.
“This thing have anything at all left in the tank?” Alex asked.
“Less than a quarter tank. Why? What are you thinking?” Roman asked him in return.
“We should find a house to stay in,” he said.
“You’re in my territory,” Stephanie remarked. “My neighborhood isn’t more than a few miles from here. I know it’s empty.”
“Yeah,” Roman said. “She’s right. I think we could make it there on fumes.”
“Our neighbors had a big garage,” she said. “You could pull this in there. Might help the goo to dry faster, too.”
“Good idea,” Roman said and shimmied back out from underneath the truck.
Steph asked him, “You know that back road from here to my house? Glenmont?”
He nodded.
Alex shook his head, “We’ll follow you. Get into trouble? Radio us to stop. We’ll try to hump it to her house.”
“Got it,” Roman responded as another one of those things, nearer this time, screamed, piercing through the silence of the night.
“Don’t use your headlights,” Alex warned. “Try to go on just the fog lamps if you need more light.”
They got into their vehicles, and Jane breathed a sigh of relief when she was able to hit the locks.
“We’re okay,” Roman assured her as he fired up the truck and pulled away.
Jane didn’t know how he was navigating. She could hardly see anything at all without the headlights on. Roman seemed to be handling it, and behind them, Alex was also driving blind.
There weren’t any other vehicles on the road he took and hadn’t been in a while because Jane couldn’t even tell where the road was sometimes. It was one he apparently took often because he even knew when a bend or curve was coming up. She tried not to dwell on the fact that Roman probably knew this road well because he visited Stephanie’s house often when they were dating.
The homes in her neighborhood were huge, very expensive, owned by professionals with very messed up lives apparently, or at least Steph and her family’s was from what she’d found out. Her stepfather was lying dead in her old home, which was probably why she didn’t suggest going to it.
Alex flashed his lights once, and Roman slowed down and pulled over. Stephanie and Alex took the lead as she must’ve had an exact house in mind. They wound around through the moderately large neighborhood with the older trees and
