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The group left at dawn the next morning. They took two flamethrowers and a two-gallon can of gasoline with them. They had a couple of other things that Bobby had shown me...two hand grenades he had liberated from the National Guard Armory.
The previous night, after the meeting, I had pulled Susan off to the side. Phyllis came, too.
“Susan, are you sure you want to do this?” I asked.
Susan looked at both of us, and saw the worry there. “Yes. I want to do this. For me, it’s payback for losing Cheryl to those things.”
“Is that all it is?” asked Phyllis.
Susan thought for a moment before answering. “Of course not. The world as we knew it is gone, and my life is gone, too, because Cheryl is gone. I don’t plan to die on purpose, but let’s just leave it at this: If I die, I won’t mind. Is that what you wanted to know?”
With that speech, Susan walked away.
So, the next morning, the five of them left to hunt down the nest of the flying creatures. Before they left, I asked Bobby to come closer to me, and I whispered what little I knew about Manuel and Dr. Case’s observations about him. Bobby said that he’d keep an eye on him.
They left with little fanfare, but a big crowd had turned out to see them for what most expected to be the last time. As they disappeared through the tree line, heading north, we all hoped for their success, and prayed silently for their safety.
Meanwhile, Phyllis and I talked to a few people about the plan to raid the town for more supplies. Strangely enough, Richie wanted to go. He even made a wise suggestion.
“Why don’t we go at night? Most of the creatures are pretty dormant at night. It might be safer,” Richie said.
I could have made a comment about the squirmers going dormant in the sunlight, but, instead, I leaned back in my chair and thought about it. It really was a good idea. “Richie, that’s a great idea!”
The young man blushed a little, but seemed proud of the praise. Teresa was sitting next to him. She beamed at him, and linked her arm into his.
I looked at Phyllis. “Let’s go tonight, then.”
“If you think it’s best, Paul,” she replied.
“How much room is in the freezer?” I asked.
“Quite a bit,” said Phyllis. “And if we fill it, there’s always Susan’s.”
And that was that. We didn’t talk about Susan or the others any more than that. We didn’t expect them back for at least a day, and that was if they came back at all.
For tonight’s raid, I would lead the way, and we’d take the bus. Billy Barnes would go, and Richie volunteered. Latisha was going, and wouldn’t hear otherwise.
“You think you takin’ my bus tonight without me?” she said. “You guess again, writer boy!”
Lee Adams, the elderly man from the RV, volunteered, and so did Bernice. I protested. I felt that they shouldn’t come, but Bernice summed it up nicely.
“Paul, we can help. We’re experienced with hardship, and you know we’re dependable. What else are you looking for?”
Lee piped in with, “Yeah, and you know we’ll stand our ground. We’re too damn old to run.”
I chuckled at his comment, and agreed that they could help.
Phyllis was worried. “Paul, don’t you want a few more people to go with you? I’m afraid you don’t have enough.”
“No, honey, if we take more people, we won’t have a lot of room in the bus. I think we’ll be okay with what we have. We’re only going to hit one grocery store and one clothing store. If we can find an undamaged Target or Wal-Mart, or something else that has both food and clothes, we’ll just make one stop.”
“Don’t you want me to come with you?”
“Of course I do, but who would take care of the kids? We don’t know when the others will be back, and, truthfully, I don’t even know the names of most of these people. No, I want you to stay here with the children, and ask Dr. Case to stay alert, too.”
Phyl didn’t like it, but she didn’t argue. It was logical.
We left at seven o’clock that night. It was well past sundown, and very little light was left in the sky.
Latisha drove. Everyone was fully armed with what we had, and Richie had strapped the flamethrower to his back. Latisha took her time going down the narrow road. It was an uneventful trip into Pine Valley.
“There’s a Wal-Mart at the edge of town,” Lee said. “We can give that a shot.”
I nodded. “Let’s do it. Would you please give Latisha directions?”
“Of course!” Lee moved up to stand next to Latisha, and within five minutes, we had pulled into the store’s parking lot.
The parking lot had a few cars in it, but they looked abandoned. Some had doors standing wide open, and in some, the dome light still shone dimly. A couple of cars were overturned, and there was a huge dead millipede-looking creature underneath one of the overturned cars. It was dead...or, at least, we hoped it was dead. The lights in the store were still burning brightly, which meant that the freezers would still be operating. Latisha drove slowly past the front of the store. We saw no signs of people...or bugs.
“Where you want to park, Paul?” asked Latisha.
“Right in front of the door,” I said. “And leave the engine running. If we have to make a fast exit, I don’t want to wait for the engine to start.”
Latisha brought the bus to a stop in front of the grocery side of the store.
I stood, and told everyone, “Okay, we’re not looking for sizes in clothing. Take a shopping cart, and fill it up. Jeans, underwear, socks, shirts, and coats...all of that goes into your cart. When your cart is full, bring it out here and load it into the back. We are not splitting up! We stay together, and we all stay alert. Once we have our clothes, then we’ll check out the groceries. Everyone ready?”
Everyone was.
“Okay, Richie, you’ll use that flamethrower only as a last resort. We don’t want to burn down the store before we’ve gotten what we need,” I said.
Latisha opened the doors, and I led the way out of the bus. We gathered on the sidewalk in front of the entrance and listened. There wasn’t a human sound to be heard. No talking, no dogs barking, no cars...nothing. That was bad.
On the other hand, we didn’t hear any bug noises, either. That was good.
The first set of automatic doors slid open. We cautiously entered the building. We walked carefully through the vending machines, kids’ ride ‘em machines, and video kiosks. The second set of automatic doors slid open, and we entered the store itself. It was weird. There was no sound, no music coming across the speakers, and no people sounds. No ‘boops’ from the cash registers broke the silence, and no shopping carts could be heard rolling along the floor.
“Okay, I’m officially freaked out,” said Billy. “I’ve never heard such total quiet in a store like this before.”
“I know, right?” I said. “It’s like the world has stopped.” I took one last look around at what I could see of the store, and said, “Everybody get a shopping cart. Let’s go get some clothes.”
Pulling out the carts from the cart storage area seemed to make a huge noise. Each cart’s rattling as it was pulled from the rest seemed to echo through the empty store, and coming back to us with a faint, hollow ring. Slowly, we pushed our carts through the store, pausing at every aisle intersection and looking all around us for any sign of movement.
“Have you noticed?” asked Bernice. “You would think the store would have been looted by now.”
“Yeah. It’s like nobody had time. The bugs must have hit hard and fast,” replied Billy.
“Strange,” I replied. “Let’s just get ours and go.”
We came to the clothing department. We started with ladies’ clothing.
“Go with warm stuff, ya’ll,” said Latisha. “Sweatshirts first, bras, panties, jeans...oh! Paul, we got to get shoes, too!”
We began throwing clothing into buggies. We didn’t worry about sizes or designs. We worried about warmth, and wearability. If it was for women, it went into a buggy.
We had just filled two of the shopping carts when we heard, “Hey! Stop that! Stop that right now!”
All six of us whirled to the sound of the voice, weapons raised and ready. Standing in the aisle, pointing his finger at us, was a skittish man with a tie. His name tag read “Walt – Assistant Manager” and his face had a comical look of surprise on it. His khaki pants suddenly had a dark spot that spread from his crotch to halfway to his knee. He had soiled himself from fear. Having five shotguns and a flamethrower pointed at you by surprised people might cause that to happen.
“Y-you people can’t b-buh-be here,” stammered Walt. “The company won’t like it. And stealing is against the law!” His look of fear turned to a look of fear and hope. “There might be charges!” Walt said this last bit as if it mattered...as if it were the most important thing in his life.
I lowered my shotgun, and motioned for everyone else to lower theirs.
“Walt,” I said. “My name is Paul Stiles. I have a cabin up in the mountains, and these people are staying with me. We need supplies, and we’re taking these.” I paused. “Walt, do you know about the bugs? The creatures?”
Walt had begun fumbling around in his pocket as soon as I had told him my name. By the time I finished talking, he had pulled out one of those 3x5 memo pads with the spiral wire holding the sheets of paper together. He then began fumbling in his pockets again.
“Need a pen, buddy?” asked Billy. He was holding one in his hand, his arm stretched out to Walt.
God forgive me, but Walt reminded me so much of Don Knotts at that moment, that it made me start laughing. I couldn’t help it.
“What’s funny, Paul?” asked Lee.
I quoted from the Andy Griffith Show. “Got your bullet, Barney?”
All of them except Richie understood the reference, and burst out laughing. Richie was too young, and had never watched the show.
Finally, I finished laughing. “So, Walt, you do know about the bugs, don’t you?”
Walt, who had been scribbling, nodded. He put his arms to his sides, and burst out crying.
Bernice moved to the man’s side, and put a hand on his shoulder. Walt responded to the touch by turning and burying his face on her shoulder. His crying intensified, and Bernice patted his back for several minutes, until he got himself under control. He finally pulled himself away from Bernice’s shoulder, pulled out a handkerchief, and blew his nose loudly.
“Walt, you’re coming back with us to my cabin.” I turned to the rest of our group. “Right?”
Everyone made noises of agreement.
“Thank you.” Walt gave one final wipe to his nose and tucked the cloth back into his pocket. “Yes, I know about the bugs. I killed one in the storeroom.”
I know my mouth was open in astonishment. Billy eyed Walt with a new look, as if he were sizing him up. Richie had no expression, and Latisha nodded in understanding.
Lee was also amazed. “How did you do it, son?”
Walt smiled. “I mixed some boric acid with water in a five gallon gas can. Then, I climbed up on top of the shelves in the storeroom and waited for it to pass under me. I doused its head with it, and it died. Painfully.” He paused. “It was one of those long things, like out in the parking lot.”
A millipede creature. I was impressed with the simplicity. “How have you kept them out of the store?”
Walt’s smile got even wider. “I sprayed an entire can of Raid at every entrance, and laid down some boric acid at the big doors in the back. I also pour some into each toilet after a flush.”
“That is absolutely amazing.” I turned to the others. “Can you believe how simple this is?”
“I use bleach sometimes, too,” added Walt. “And pool chemicals. It all works, and it’s kept them out so far.”
I looked at Billy. He seemed to be as flabbergasted as I was. “I can’t believe it’s that easy.”
Walt perked up. “Want to see the dead one? It’s in the back!” He started walking toward the storage room in the back of the store.
“No, no, Walt, that’s fine.” I held my hand up to stop him. “Listen, Walt, we have a nice cabin up on the mountain, and we’re taking you back with us. Is it just you?”
Walt shook his head. “No, there are two others here with me.”
I nodded. “Good. Then they’re coming, too. But, right now, we need to start loading supplies onto the bus, and now we’re going to add a few things...like boric acid, bleach, and pool chemicals!”
Walt waved at the ceiling. A camera was there, behind its little darkened globe. Soon, another man and a young woman joined us.
Walt introduced them. The man was Carlton, and the woman was Heather.
“Pleased to meet you folks. Shall we all get started?” I began putting clothes into the carts again.
With nine people working, we soon had enough clothes, soap, camping gear, and chemicals. They filled half the bus. Now it was time to get the frozen stuff.
Latisha was ready to get moving. “I’m feelin’ antsy, Paul. We need to get gone.”
Billy agreed. “Yeah, I’m feelin’ it too, Hoss.”
I felt goosebumps along my arms. “So am I.” I turned to Heather, who was standing with Richie. “Heather, there aren’t any bugs here at night, are there?”
She shook her head. “Not usually, unless you count those moth-looking things. They chase the streetlights in the parking lot.”
I felt cold inside. “How big are they?”
“About the size of a person’s head. Not big at all, compared to some of the other bugs.”
“Do they chase people?”
Again, Heather shook her head. “There haven’t been any people around since those moth things showed up.”
That told me exactly nothing. On one hand, the moth things could be harmless. On the other hand, they could be deadly to people.
I made an announcement to everyone. “Okay, everyone fill your carts with fresh meat. We can use some of that immediately, and freeze the rest. Then, pick up any frozen meat that will fit. I’ll take a cart, and load it down with frozen vegetables. One cart apiece, and then let’s hit the road. I got a bad feeling.”
I believe everyone had a bad feeling, because we had all nine carts filled in ten minutes flat. We lined up at the door.
“Okay, just like before. Get the carts outside, and we’ll start a bucket brigade for loading the bus. Let’s go!” I led the way.
Outside, Billy and Richie fanned out slightly from us to keep watch. Lee, Bernice, and Latisha were inside the bus, putting the food away. Walt and I were outside the doors, passing the food inside. Carlton and Heather made up the rest of the bucket brigade. When we emptied a cart, we just pushed it out of the way and pulled the next one up.
Billy said quietly, “Incoming.”
I turned to look, and from the north side of the parking lot, the moth creatures came. They came in a large swarm, and would swarm quickly over one of the lights in the parking lot. Then, a few would break off, and those few would swarm another light. And a few more would break off, and this third bunch would swarm over another light.
We had maybe thirty seconds before they were right over us.
“Walt, grab the cart! We’ll lift it onto the bus and take it with us!” I lifted my side, Walt took the other, and we muscled that baby onto the bus. Latisha settled into the driver’s seat, and Richie climbed aboard, too.
I was panicking. “Billy! Come on!”
Billy clambered aboard, and just as Latisha got the doors shut, we could hear the moth things peppering themselves against the sides of the bus.
“Reckon they harmless?” asked Latisha.
I was still in panic mode. “Who cares? Let’s go!”
Latisha didn’t need any further prodding. She stepped on the gas, and the bus pulled away from the front of the store. The big vehicle belched out a huge greyish-black cloud of exhaust. The exhaust fumes were apparently too much for the moth bugs to stand, because they didn’t bother the bus again. They only did their swarming thing over the lights in the parking lot. A couple swooped down in front of the bus’s headlights, but were smacked down into the pavement, and crushed under the big vehicle’s wheels. The bus left the parking lot with the sound of screeching tires.
As we drove through the deserted streets of Pine Valley, we all began to relax a bit. It began to sink in that we had pulled off the supply raid. Walt, Carlton, and Heather had joined us, and we were on our way home.
“Paul.” Latisha had spoken so quietly that I almost didn’t hear her.
I moved up beside her. “What is it, Latisha?”
She waved one hand ahead of her. “I keep seeing things. It’s like they’re at the very edge of my headlights. But, when the light touches them, they duck out of sight.”
“Bugs?”
Latisha nodded. “Yeah. It sure ain’t people.”
“You sure?”
She snorted. “They wayyy too big, Paul”
I turned to the others. “There are some big bugs dancing at the edge of our headlights. Other than the squirmers, what kind of bugs are nocturnal?”
“Lightning bugs!” called out Heather.
“Millipedes,” said Walt.
“Mosquitos,” said Richie.
“Spiders,” added Carlton
I shuddered at spiders. Heaven help us if spiders mutants were in the mix.
“Moths, but we’ve already seen those,” said Billy.
“What about ants? Do they come out at night?” asked Bernice.
“This is purely yucky, but Bernice and I know from living in Florida. Cockroaches,” said Lee.
A cold chill ran down my back at that thought. Cockroaches bred so fast, and they would eat anything. They were almost impossible to kill, and scientists said that cockroaches would survive a nuclear holocaust.
And cold didn’t bother them very much.
Surely those Russian scientists weren’t dumb enough to use cockroaches, no matter how much the Islamic terrorists paid them. If they had, humanity surely was doomed.
Actually, the thought of ants was just as bad. Ants tunneled underground, and could lift many times their own weight. If ants had been genetically altered, there wouldn’t be a safe place on earth.
I leaned over to Latisha. My voice was very low “Don’t stop unless you have to. We’ve got to get out of here. Coming at night might not have been the best plan.”
Latisha’s voice was just as low. “Paul, we had to come, no matter what time it was. Food, clothes, other supplies...they wasn’t just layin’ around up there at the cabin.”
I nodded. “I know.”
Latisha’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit!” She slammed on the brakes.
Ahead of us, crossing the road, was one of the millipede creatures. It was the size of a diesel locomotive. In its mouth was a cow. It was lowing pitifully, obviously in pain. The cow was probably the only reason the thing didn’t come after us.
Everyone could see it, but the only sound came from Billy. “I don’t think I’d want to go against that thing.”
After the creature had passed us, Latisha slowly gained speed. We had no further bug incidents on the remainder of the trip home.
