Dead Highways: Origins by Richard Brown Read Free Book Online

the window and looked out at the humvee still sitting in the middle of the street. I couldn’t believe the engine hadn’t shut off during the night, even if the occupants inside already had.
    Peaches groaned and rolled over the wet spot I had left behind on the bed. She didn’t seem to mind sleeping in my sweat. I was just glad she was still moving, glad that both of us hadn’t yet become infected like the poor people on the news. I returned my gaze to the street. Like the poor people out there.
    I left the room and got a bottle of water from the kitchen, drained it fast. The water seemed to help cool me down. I didn’t remember fever being one of the early indicators of the infection, just fatigue, loss of motor control, blurred vision.
    Then coma.
    My stomach growled, unsatisfied with just the water. The last thing I had eaten was one of grandma’s lean chicken and rice TV dinners, and it wasn’t particularly filling. So I checked the cupboard. Stale wheat bread. Instant grits. Rice cakes. A few cans of vegetables. Not bare, but nothing to jump up and down about. Nothing to make a good meal. The fridge and freezer didn’t contain much more than the cupboard, and what it did contain would spoil soon enough. I instantly regretted not going to the grocery store earlier in the week to stock up on food and supplies. The food here wouldn’t feed three hungry people for more than a few days.
    I went back into my room and sat at the windowsill. As I watched the sun come up, I considered my options. Let’s see. I had no phone, no TV, no internet, no power, and only a meager supply of food and water. I couldn’t solve the first four problems, but I at least had a shot with the fifth.
    I decided I would go across the street to the Haji-Mart. I didn’t think they would be open, but maybe I could force my way in somehow. Moments later, I realized I wouldn’t have to, as I saw the door to the store open and Naima poke her head out. She stared at the humvee dead in the road, just as I had for so long, and then ducked her pretty head back inside.
    As I gathered together some stuff for the trip, like Sally and plenty of extra bullets, Peaches woke up.
    She looked over and frowned at me. Her hair was a mess and her face puffy and red from sleeping on her arm.
    “What are you doing?” she asked.
    “What does it look like I’m doing?”
    “Going somewhere.”
    I nodded.
    She quickly rolled out of bed. I don’t think I’d ever seen someone move so quickly that soon after waking up. “If you’re going outside, then I’m coming with you.”
    “No.”
    “Yes.”
    I stuffed the muzzle end of Sally in my brown khaki pants like a real gangster and then turned to Peaches. “I should really get a holster, huh?”
    “Might be a good idea if you don’t want to blow your dick off.”
    I shook my head. She began to slip her sandals on. “I told you you’re not coming with me.”
    “Why . . . where are you going?”
    “Just across the street to the convenience store. We need food and water.”
    “But I thought . . .” She walked past me and looked out the window. “Jimmy, they’re still out there.”
    “They’re infected.”
    “How do you know?”
    “You see the gunner in the back hunched over.”
    She looked closer. “Oh.”
    “Yeah, I bet I can sneak by them just fine. But still I want you to stay here with grandma, in case something does happen. There may be others wandering around. You never know.”
    “But I could help you carry stuff.”
    “Or I could make more than one trip. Look, I just don’t want to take any chances. Why don’t you sit by the window and you can watch me. If I have any problems, I’ll signal you. Can you do that?”
    “What if you become infected?”
    “The window’s been open all night. If the virus is in the air, it obviously doesn’t like us very much. And if it suddenly decides to change its mind, then I guess that’ll be our fate. You can’t do anything about fate, right? But