AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s okay,” Carly said. “They’re nice.”
Justin was almost running as he hurried toward the house, Carly right at his heels. He drew his gun as he charged through the door, and Stan grabbed Mindy and stepped in front of her before he threw up his hands in instant surrender.
“Who the fuck are you?” Justin demanded.
“Stan and Mindy. We live here.” Stan gave Justin a small, rueful smile. “And might I add, I really don’t enjoy being on the business end of a gun. That makes twice today.”
Mindy poked her head around him. “Hi,” she said.
“Hi.” Justin didn’t lower the gun. His eyes were narrowed in suspicion. “Where were you, if this is your house?”
“Out foraging for food. We were gone for three days. I didn’t want to leave Mindy alone, so she came with me.”
Sam hopped down off the bed and trotted over to Justin, his tail swishing in the air, side to side. His tongue lolled out the side of his mouth. Justin stared at him for a moment and then put his gun away.
“Is anyone hungry?” Mindy asked. “I’ll make brunch.” She went over to the bag that lay beside the kitchen door and withdrew cans. Carly was touched; Stan and Mindy obviously didn’t have much, but they were willing to share with the strangers who had invaded their home and held them at gunpoint.
“I could eat,” Justin replied, though a hint of wariness lingered around his narrowed eyes. He pulled Carly against his side, and he glanced down at his baby once more, as if reassuring himself again that both were safe and sound.
Mindy had a little camp stove she set up over the sink, heated by chafing dish burners, which she said she’d gotten from a friend’s catering business. She made a stir-fry of canned vegetables, and Carly contributed a pot of white rice to eat with it. While Mindy cooked, she excused herself to feed Dagny and change her diaper and returned to lay her down in the laundry basket-bed beside her chair. She gave Dagny a set of plastic keys, and Dagny gnawed on them happily.
The vegetables Mindy was cooking reminded her, and Carly shuffled uncomfortably. “Um, my horses have probably wrecked your garden. I know they ate your flowers. Sorry.”
Mindy chuckled. “It’s worth it to see a horse again.”
“We saw some wild ones up in Canada,” Carly said. “So, I guess the ones that were closest to humans got the Infection, and maybe the wild ones were safe because they kept their distance. Maybe they had some level of natural immunity humans didn’t have.”
“Tell me about this flu-shot theory of yours,” Stan said. “The only survivors you’ve met were people who had Cederna flu shots?”
Carly accepted a plate from Mindy and thanked her. “It’s not really a theory. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about.”
“Go on.”
“Well, Justin and I got the shot and we’re immune, and so did you guys. I haven’t been taking a poll or anything, but I’m really curious if the rest of the survivors got one, or if anyone who got a shot from Cederna got sick and died anyway.” Carly twirled her fork between her fingers and bit her lip. “I’m not, like, a scientist or anything. It just seems to me if we want to figure out why we survived, we need to look at things we have in common.”
Justin picked up his fork. “Carly, if your theory was correct, every active-duty man and woman in the armed forces would have survived. They’re required to get flu shots.”
She hadn’t thought of that. “You weren’t required?”
“No, but I got one anyway. I get the flu every damned year if I don’t.”
“No more vaccines,” Mindy said. She glanced down at the laundry basket where Dagny lay, sound asleep again.
They were all silent for a moment, pondering the implications of that truth. At that moment, while humanity was still scattered to the winds, the danger was small, but once communities began to form again, the risk of disease would increase.
“Sanitation is going to be essential to preventing outbreaks.” Justin didn’t say it, but Carly knew it was one reason he was hesitant to live with other people.
“Well, you could find out about Cederna if you wanted,” Stan said and forked in a huge bite of vegetables.
“How?” Carly had to wait for him to finish chewing.
“Their executive headquarters isn’t very far from here.”
“Really? Oh, Justin, we’ve got to go there!”
“Why, Carly? What are you hoping to find out?” Justin tossed his fork on his plate. Carly knew he didn’t feel the compulsion she did to find some answers for what had happened. He had a point; the knowledge wouldn’t improve their lives in any way, and he was probably a bit exasperated at her for wanting to go on what he saw as a wild goose chase.
“I want to know what was so special about that shot and if they knew—”
