Pox by P X Duke Read Free Book Online Page A

were
trying to achieve, you’ve captured it. I’ve missed that, too. I’ll
tell you what. I’ll wash my sheets for you, and tonight you can
crash in my bed.
    She raised an eyebrow.
    —Will I be alone in there?
    —That’s up to you.
    —Then there’s no sense in washing anything.
    I would have grinned like someone who had just won
the lottery, but for the fact that there was no place to spend the
money. Instead, I grinned like a fool. I didn’t even try to hide
it.
    —And stop grinning.
    I couldn’t. Instead, I put on the coffee.
    I rummaged around in the back of a closet and came up
with a couple of board games that the previous occupants must have
had for their kids. For the rest of the day and well into the
night, we competed for the best properties and tried to stay out of
jail.
    Strip poker was out of the question, because by now,
purposely or not, it was evident Caitrin had absolutely nothing
else on under the t-shirt.
    When we tired of the board games, we talked. We
talked long into the night and well into the morning. We realized
there would be no going back to the world we knew before the
purges. We knew too that there was bound to be more people just
like us, whether single or living in groups.
    There had to be, otherwise Caitrin’s place would have
remained untouched.
    We also knew that they might not be law-abiding. Knew
that they might not be friendly. That they might not be so willing
to help others in the same situation. That they might want to loot
and steal everything we had collected up to now and take it for
their own.
    It took us until just before sunup to talk it out and
come up with a partial solution. We were just about dead in our
tracks from fatigue and nervous exhaustion.
    Neither of us slept on the sofa.
    I didn’t do the laundry for a couple of days.
     
    We agreed to work together to expand our cache of
houses and goods to as many as we could manage to fill over the
next months. We planned on an additional three or four places in
different neighborhoods. If we outfitted them just like mine, we’d
be able to go on the run at a moment’s notice.
    By the time we finished developing a basic plan, we
knew it would take months to get everything set up. And that was if
we could find the right locations already equipped with fresh water
reserves. If we didn’t locate those places right off, it would take
us even longer.
    It didn’t take much convincing to agree on the need
for two trucks, radios to stay in contact, and maybe even a dog
with a good nose to sniff out danger. At least we were thinking of
danger, even if we weren’t prepared for it beyond a couple of
shotguns and a knife.
     
    Caitrin climbed on the motorcycle and we took off. We
began slowly working our way to her place. To throw anyone off who
might be watching, we worked the streets off the main drags and
zig-sagged as though we were scouting more gasoline reserves.
    We arrived in the early afternoon to a wide open
front door.
    —This isn’t right. I locked it before I left. I’m
sure of it.
    My alarm bells started to ring. I suspected there
were some things Caitrin hadn’t been honest about, and probably
more she didn’t want me to know. I thought I knew why. I pushed it
into the background and concentrated on right now.
    I went around the back of the house to the pool.
Food, canned goods, chairs, tables - anything light - had been
tossed in. It started to look like maybe a jealous boyfriend had
wanted to send her a message.
    —If there’s anything you need in there, you’d better
collect it. I won’t be bringing you back here. You’d be wise to
keep away.
    She started to close the door.
    —Don’t do that. Whoever it was will know you
returned.
    —You’re right. Let’s just go.
    She climbed on the back and we re-traced our route.
At a safe distance from her house I stopped at a small park.
    —We need to talk.
    Caitrin fished through her backpack and pulled out
sandwiches.
    —I’m not completely