Hogan nodded numbly. His arm extended blindly, and he tried to reach the drawer with his things. Trish reached over and pulled out a plastic bag with his things and handed them to him.
“Thanks. I’m going to try to call Laura. I know, I know, but I have to try. I’ll think about what you’ve told me. Thank you.”
“I’m sorry Hogan, I am. I can’t even imagine. Look, here’s my number. Call if you need anything or just want to talk. I’ve got a lot of preparing to do. I’ll see you in a couple days. Eat, you’ll need your strength.” She said, handing him a slip of paper with her name and number on it. She turned and left him alone. She shut the curtain behind her, giving him some privacy.
Turning on his phone, he waited. Then he hit dial and waited. He got a tone and then a recording. Due to recent events, we are unable to complete your call. He tried twice more before stopping. He pulled up a news channel and watched for a few minutes. It essentially told him the same information that Trish and Wang had relayed. He knew and understood the government didn’t want people to know how bad it was. That would cause widespread panic. Like the panic you feel now, he thought grimly. He closed his eyes and let the tears slide down his face. He was trapped.
Ӝ
Trish pulled out of the hospital parking lot. The last four days had been frightening as she and the others watched the news, tethered to the TVs throughout the hospital. Her mind had been going nonstop, thinking of all the implications, this devastating attack would have on them all. Long term effects. One of the worst things was that she couldn’t share her knowledge with anyone at work. Either they’d look at her like she was a crazy lunatic, or she’d start a panic. She had no proof, but her own gut instincts and a kind of knowledge that she’d worked on and developed over the years. Years of preparing for various situations.
She didn’t know Hogan from squat, but he had military training. That would be crucial. She would see if she could look up some information on the man. Look for any kind of arrests and such. On the surface, he seemed like a good man. She was a pretty good judge of character. She’d known that she’d need another person, but as yet, hadn’t found anyone. It was a delicate balance finding others who shared your views, especially with regards to end of the world situations.
She could kick herself now. For all her prepping, she’d not gotten a weapon yet. Nor had she trained with one. As a nurse, she’d seen the effects of careless firearms handling. Perhaps, if Hogan took her up on her offer, he could teach her. She was angry with herself for vacillating back and forth on that issue. She’d make sure she’d correct that deficit.
For now, she’d head to SAM’s and fill her truck with supplies. With the coming nightmare, you can never have too much, she thought grimly. Then she’d head to Big Lots and do the same. She’d make a run home and dump it, then head back to the stores in different clothing and a hat. She didn’t need to raise suspicion. People were spooked with the bombings and so they should. She was frightened as well, but she couldn’t hide. She needed to get supplies while she could. Yes, she had plenty of supplies hidden away and stored up, but in the coming days, all hell was going to break loose. Especially, when the first refugees got there. The poor souls would of course, be welcomed, at least at first. Trish thought that most Americans are compassionate people, that is until their own circumstances are threatened.
The refugees coming might be Americans, but they were coming with empty stomachs and only the clothes on their backs. It was mid-October and the daytime temperatures were in the mid-sixties now and cold at night. Within a week or better, those temps would start dropping. In a month, they’d be hitting near freezing at night. That was when the very old and young would suffer if they couldn’t find shelter. The farther the refugees had to walk, the more danger they were in.
What would happen when people started closing their doors to strangers? What would those refugees do when their children were starving? Would FEMA be ready for the massive influx along the roads? How would they get all those people to the camps? No, it was going to turn into a shit show, just like in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, only this would be on a staggering scale, with millions. A shiver passed down her body. Pulling into the store’s parking lot, Trish got out and headed in. She grabbed a cart and went to the dry goods section. She hauled two hundred pounds of rice onto her cart, four fifty-pound sacks. She moved to the flour, beans and other aisles, gathering what she could.
Heading to the paper aisle, she grabbed the large business style toilet paper rolls. They were huge rolls and would last a long time. Then she grabbed the multipacks of regular toilet paper rolls. She also hit the spice aisle, she looked at the people around her. She saw no panic in their demeanor. She picked up five large bottles of dried onions and dried garlic. She also picked up ground spices as well as pure vanilla extract. At home, in the basement, she had jars and jars of shortening.
She’d seen a couple of “how to” videos about canning shortening for long term storage. She knew how important it was having fats stored. It had been simple; melt the shortening down to liquid,
