now it was sliding towards Ethan as well, her brother-in-arms was now becoming the male side of her parental want. She knew he had problems, but there were doctors to deal with that, and even in the orange jump suit, he was an attractive man—a bit younger than her, but close enough to not really matter. She suddenly realized how lucky she was to have found Ethan in his little hospital cell.
“It seems to be getting darker faster than I had thought,” Ethan commented as he looked across the overcast sky. “We may need to hole up in a building or something, wait the night out.”
“You think that is a good idea?” Shannon asked sincerely.
“No,” he said thoughtfully, “but I am sure it would be better than being caught out here at night.”
A sudden baying screech raced down the mountain and sliced through the fog. It was the same screeching of the night before, and it raked their ears to hear it. Like the evening before, it brought their nerves to a painful grating and their teeth to grinding.
“Let’s make it back to the drug store and see if we can find a clock or watch or something,” Ethan suggested.
“How about some ear plugs?” Shannon asked only half jokingly.
The howl ripped at them again.
“Yeah, ear plugs sound like a good idea.” Ethan smiled back.
They began walking again, this time a bit faster. Ethan was able to carry Kayla without too much difficulty, the backpack full of bleach jugs counterbalancing the weight of the child. Shannon, now unburdened, was able to keep pace with him. The drug store was many blocks away, and the light bled from the sky as if mortally wounded. They quickened their pace, rushing themselves to their supposed sanctuary. Still, the distant screams reached them from almost every direction, the nail-biting screeching continued to assail them from the mountain, and now with the sound of motion, scratching, footsteps, and dragging weight as well.
As they came down the last hill, the base of which was the large parking lot of the drug store, Ethan caught movement out of the corner of his eye. In one fluid motion, he spun himself to put his body between the motion and the child he carried, drawing the gun from one of the jumpsuit’s large pocket.
Just above the sights of his gun, he saw a large crow, or possibly a raven. It was all black, at least where it still had feathers, most of which were torn off or skinned like a branch. It was eating an orange tabby cat that was lying there—still soft with fur, still flexible with its recently lost life. The strange reversal of roles, a bird eating a cat, disturbed Ethan, made his reality shift momentarily like the smog swirling all around them. The bum came from nowhere, as he always did, and strode to the cat. Ethan turned away before the bum could show him something he did not want to see and continued into the darkening parking lot.
The tall lights that illuminated the parking lot suddenly sizzled and hummed to life as the trio past underneath them, yet another indication that the day had escaped and they were not going any further. They rushed through the automatic doors and over the large scab that had developed under the heads still hanging from the stucco. Once inside, Shannon turned back to the doors, waited for them to close, and slid a lock into place to keep them from opening.
“Is there a back way into here, a loading dock or something?”
“Yeah, I’ll go check it.”
“Be careful and meet us in the sporting goods section. There are sleeping bags there and more weapons.”
“Try to find us some food …” Shannon trailed off as she reached the end of an aisle and disappeared towards the secretive behind-the-scenes area of the store.
Kayla squirmed in his arms a bit so he let her down to walk but kept a tight hold on her little hand. She was such a precious little treasure, and Ethan did not want her to wander off alone. He took her around the store with a basket and collected some frozen meats, still not ravaged by the odd aging effect, some cellophane-wrapped dessert items, and a tub of Neapolitan ice cream, a set of disposable salt and pepper shakers, and a six pack of cold soda.
They met Shannon in the sporting goods department where she was collecting sleeping bags and other camping items. In no time at all, they had a camp set up in a large area between aisles complete with steaks in a pan on a camping stove, a radio, and bright gas-powered lanterns in case the electrical service should happen to fail.
Ethan went shopping after turning the cooking over to Shannon. He collected a complete set of clothing and a large pot to heat water in so they could wash. It had been a couple of days since his last shower, and he looked forward to getting some of this grime and rotting stink off him. He could smell the cooking meat throughout the store so he did not linger.
Shannon was just forking the meat onto a tin camping plate when he returned. He filled the large pot with water and put it on the camping stove to heat while they ate. Kayla was already on her third pack of Twinkies and second can of soda. She seemed more comfortable, more accepting of their situation—that or she had completely gone mad and did not realize their peril any longer.
The radio statically whispered some form of country music, almost indecipherable over the background noise.
Ethan looked down at the radio as he took the plate from Shannon. “That’s not a local station, is it?” he asked almost hopefully.
“No, Philadelphia. That’s why it’s so hard to hear.”
“Well, its music and proof that society continues, at least somewhere,” Ethan replied as he sat on a sleeping bag next to Shannon.
“Kayla, would you like some steak?” Ethan offered.
“No, thank you. I don’t eat meat,” she said in a very adult voice. She washed down her fifth Twinkie with a sip from her soda. She put the can down, kicked her shoes off, and worked her way into a sleeping bag decorated with a square, spongy cartoon character.
Ethan ate his steak in silence, trying to ignore the bum who was trying to explain the living conditions of cattle before they slaughtered them for his meal. Shannon had cooked it a bit overdone on the outside and not quite done on the inside, but it was far and above one of the best steaks he had ever eaten. Twinkies and soda followed the steak along with some of the chocolate ice cream.
“So, we try the other road in the morning?” Shannon asked over the soft sounds of Kayla’s snoring.
“Yeah, you know where it is, right?”
“No…but maybe Kayla does. I only know it is in the direction of Black Water Mountain.”
“I’m sure we will find it,” Ethan said as he rose and went to the gun counter. He found a couple more boxes of 40 S&W ammunition for the handgun and a pump shotgun with a couple boxes of shells for it. It took him some time to get the locking chain off the rifles, but he felt better having a weapon more powerful than the Glock.
When he returned to the makeshift camp, Shannon was washing herself with a dishtowel, squatting nude before the stove. Her body surprised Ethan, her skin so flawless with the exception of the bruising and scratches of the night before. Her back was slender and delicate, ending with a full bottom, topped with lengths of wet blonde hair. Ethan found he was becoming quickly aroused and turned his back out of respect for her as well as what she had been through the night before. He would have made a pass at her had she not been so brutalized—hell, he would have considered her bathing like this a pass at him if not for the rape.
He sat and loaded the shotgun with as much as it would take, then placed it alongside his own sleeping bag. He could hear Shannon getting dressed again, and he waited a bit before turning back. She was briskly rubbing her hair dry with a towel, and when their eyes met, she smiled broadly.
“I feel like a new person.”
“I bet. You look like a new person, too.”
“Thanks,” she replied brightly. “I don’t know if it is because I used to work here or not, but I feel safe enough to sleep, and sleep I’m gonna.”
“You should. I will watch over you two,” Ethan promised softly as he began to wash himself. He wondered if a woman could ever overcome a rape like the one she had suffered and still lead a normal life or have normal relationships. He doubted it but found himself hoping nonetheless.
“Wake me at some point so you can sleep, too; no need for you to be exhausted,” Shannon offered as she climbed into her sleeping bag.
