What had happened? Was it a bomb? Was Hogan okay? Had it affected everyone? The whole country? What did that mean? Laura thought again of their trek to her parents’ farm. She’d been walking over an hour when the girls had gotten tired of walking. She’d loaded them up into the garden cart and had attached the smaller wagon to it. It had been a little awkward to pull, but she’d managed it. She just had to make wide turns when she turned down different streets and roads. They’d been going along fairly well, with no problems. People waved and smiled at them. No one seemed worried yet, because they didn’t know the extent of the outage. She’d paused to feed the girls and they’d found high weeds to relieve themselves. The girls had thought that was fun.
Laura used the wipes and hand sanitizer that she’d packed. She’d sat on the side of the road, eating her sandwich when she saw that Randy had followed them. He was about six hundred feet behind the miniature caravan. Her heart had thumped heavily in her chest with fear. He’s a sexual predator, Donny had warned. She’d gotten up and waited for him to get closer. When he was about twenty feet away, she pulled out her Glock and aimed it at him. Her back was to the girls and they didn’t notice. They were busy eating and chatting between themselves. She started walking toward Randy, the weapon never wavering and from the look on her face, he must have realized she’d not be a victim, they were not easy prey.
He stopped and when she kept coming, he turned around and ran. When he looked over his shoulder, she was still advancing and then he began to haul ass. Laura stopped and watched the man run, a malicious smile creasing her face. Bastard. She felt sorry for anyone that wasn’t armed, who wasn’t ready to kill.
A smile was on her face now, remembering and then it vanished. She heard the soft chime of the clock in the hall, it was 3am. She knew she couldn’t go back to sleep. Her mind was fully engaged. She reached over to the nightstand and felt around for the headlamp that Donny had given her. Clicking it on, she made her way downstairs, the wooden steps creaking beneath her feet. For the millionth time, she thought about Hogan and wondered where he was. She knew he was near Kansas City. If this thing had affected him, then he was there still.
If he were to try to make his way home, it would take months for him to get there. It had been almost a sunny day today, but the wind had blown cold, the chill factor cutting through her. The sky looked like it wanted to clear, but there was that heavy haze. Each day would get colder, it would be too cold to travel by foot. Especially trying to carry enough food to last him as well as water. Going to the stove, Laura struck a match and turned the knob. Fire whooshed on and she set the coffee pot on the grate. Her mother had dug out an old enamel blue coffee pot from the basement. The pot was chipped and dinged up but it worked fine. Their stove was gas and they had a tank buried behind the kitchen. While she waited for the coffee to heat, she went to the back door and looked out into the night. She wondered what Hogan was doing right now. Sleeping, she thought.
She heard the rooster crow, its sound muted by the closed windows. She laid her forehead on the cool glass of the door’s window. “Please, please watch over my Hogan, Lord.” She whispered.
Ӝ
Kansas City, MO
Trish helped Hogan into the truck. He’d been allowed to be discharged, only because Trish said she’d be taking him to her home. She’d made four trips to SAM’s over the last couple days. On her last trip, she’d been told that she could only take one fifty-pound bag of rice instead of the three bags she had on the cart. She’d also had some of her other items taken off the cart. She’d noticed the price hikes and wasn’t surprised. She’d been so grateful that she’d been able to get what she got. She’d add it to what she already had at home.
“Let me know if you get dizzy or nauseous. I want you to take it easy.” She admonished as she shut the door.
“Do you think the police will let me have my weapon back?” Hogan asked, buckling the seatbelt.
“We can call once we get to my place. Shouldn’t be a problem. When did they speak with you?” Trish asked, pulling out of the hospital’s parking lot.
“About an hour after you left the other day. I told them I swerved to miss a herd of deer. I hated to lie to them, but I didn’t want to tell them what I saw. It would just make things more complicated. I also contacted my boss, told him about the accident. They in turn, called the insurance, so they’ll be dealing with that.”
“I thought your boss would be in Denver?” Trish asked, surprised.
“No, the headquarters is in Atlanta, Georgia. They’ll try to contact the hub
