Rey figured it had to be the imaging room for X-rays, but she didn’t see that telltale radiation warning symbol.
She turned the knob and pushed the door open slowly, shining her light inside.
There were no windows and the room acted like a tomb; it had been completely sealed off and perfectly preserved. There were no plants or other growth in view. Even the floor felt smooth.
From what she could see there were no large X-ray machines. There was a counter with what looked like lab equipment on top. A rack with test tubes sat next to the sink.
She kicked the stopper on the door to hold it open and walked to the counter.
There were three tubes in the rack; the substance inside looked like dust and she lifted one, shining the light on it to see a date.
It fell in the same time frame as the bread.
Useless, she thought. They needed to go to the hospital and look there. Obviously, no one had gone to the urgent care for whatever ailed the population into death.
Rey inched down, shining her light around the room. There was absolutely nothing significant there. When she took a step to turn, her foot caught it. The tip of her shoe connected with the hard object and she heard it move across the floor and hit something.
What was it?
Bringing her flashlight beam down, she slowly moved it across the floor and when the light hit the object, Rey, so startled, screamed.
She backed up, spun around, and bolted, screaming again when she slammed into Nate.
“What is it? What happened? What’s wrong?”
“There…” Rey caught her breath. “Sorry, it scared me.”
“What?”
“There’s a head.”
“A head?”
“A head,” Rey said. “It was on the floor, I kicked it by accident.”
“That would be impossible.”
“See for yourself.” Rey pointed, then grabbed onto his arm, pulling him in.
Both of their flashlights gave sufficient lighting and without the element of surprise, Rey got a better look at it.
It definitely wasn’t a human head.
Nate crouched down, then lifted it. “It’s heavy. Let’s take this out front so we can see it in the light.”
Rey nodded, waited for Nate to walk by her, and then she followed him down the hall into the reception area.
It was a head and partial neck and it balanced well when Nate set it on the counter. It reminded Rey of a mannequin head in a weird way.
The neck and back were smooth and white; it looked plastic, but when Rey touched it, it was a harder material. It gave her the creeps and she pulled back her hand.
The face was that of a male, the coloring was slightly darker and more of a shade of gray. The mouth was closed, as were the eyes. And just like a mannequin it was expressionless with vague human features.
“What do you think it is?” Rey asked.
“Nothing,” Nate replied. He tapped on it. “It’s heavy but sounds hollow.”
“What is it doing here?”
“I think someone just had a weird sense of humor. It reminds me of those new mannequins they used that weren’t male or female, nondescript, you know.”
“Yeah. Scared the hell out of me when I saw it.”
“I bet.” Nate exhaled. “Well, there’s nothing here. Did you find anything else in the back?”
“No. It’s empty. The blood tubes I found were the same as the bread date.”
“So no answers here. We’ll move on.”
“What about him?” Rey pointed to the head.
“Leave it. I don’t think the others would find it very funny. Let’s check the vet clinic. Maybe something is there.”
Rey doubted it, but it was worth a shot. She looked forward to checking out the market which was on the next block.
Chalking the urgent care up to a loss, she and Nate left the clinic to try elsewhere.
<><><><>
Another exercise bracelet? Tucker saw the edge of it sticking out of the ground. He didn’t understand why he spotted it so easily. But there it was.
Using his fingers, he dug around it and lifted the object into his grip. “Hey, guys, I found another one.” He dusted it off and put it in the small bag he carried strapped across his chest.
“Why are you making such a big deal about those?” Sam asked.
“Because it’s the fourth one. Second today. Don’t you guys find it odd?”
Finch shook his head. “Not at all. People were wearing them for decades when we left. They just aren’t biodegradable. That’s why you’re finding them.”
“Maybe. And maybe Fort Collins was a big fitness place. Who knew?” Tucker shrugged.
They were combing through the block before the school—a mix of houses and small businesses—trying to find information about what had occurred.
After the bodies at the stadium and the charred pits, they found nothing else. No answers that were any different. Nothing new.
It was clear that a lot of the businesses had either closed down, or whatever happened occurred at night when they were closed.
It was obvious, at least to Tucker, that sooner or later they would have to admit defeat and hope that he was right about that farm.
The answers could lie with the people there, if they were still alive.
Tucker was sure they were; from the imaging the farm looked too well maintained.
Then again, the images were deceiving. He’d seen nothing on them that looked like a giant body bag or burned body pit circles.
“Let’s finish this up,” Finch said. “Wrap if for the day, call Rey and Nate back to camp.”
Tucker nodded his agreement.
There were three stores right before them. A video game store, beauty salon, and convenience store.
“Why don’t we each take one,” Tucker suggested. “I’ll take the convenience store.”
The decision to check the convenience store wasn’t random to Tucker. He saw something about it that seemed off.
Finch and Sam seemed to have the attitude that Tucker was looking into things too much or making a fuss out of nothing, but that store…there was something about it.
The gas pumps were nearly gone. Only a bit of one remained. In the small lot of the convenience store, mixed in with all the foliage were
