No Ordinary Day , Tate, Harley [ebook offline .TXT] 📗

was computerized, from water flow, to treatment plants, to natural gas pipelines, everything relied on the grid. “The people who found us in the woods, they said the agriculture supply chain would break down. Without power to keep refrigeration going, farms wouldn’t be able to export their crops and livestock. Meat processing facilities couldn’t run.”

Raymond nodded. “Add in the bakeries that can’t mass produce packaged foods and this country is a few days away from starvation.” He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the table. “Whenever the power goes out, people ransack the convenience foods. The easy to cook, no need to prepare aisles. Produce? It’s full. But canned goods, gone. Fewer and fewer people know how to do anything anymore. People rely on restaurants and fast food and things in a bag or a can. Without mass food production...” He didn’t finish the thought, but he didn’t need to.

Emma looked up at Holly. The poor girl was falling apart. Tears brimmed over her lashes and she wiped them away with her sleeve. “Nothing’s ever going to be the same.”

“No, it’s not.” Raymond didn’t sugar coat it. “And I’m afraid most people won’t survive what’s coming.”

Gloria swished the last dregs of tea in her mug. “We have enough propane to last us for a few months if we conserve, a well that runs on solar to pump into the house, and plenty of wood for heat.”

“But at some point, our food stores will run out.” Raymond glanced around the table. “Faster with extra mouths.”

Emma opened her mouth to offer they leave, but Raymond waved her off. “Not complaining, just stating a fact.”

“We can hide here for a while, but sooner or later, we have to face it out there.”

Emma glanced at Gloria. “We also need to be prepared if someone comes for us.”

“Do you really think they’d find us here?”

Emma focused on the wood grain of the table. “John found us in the woods, a few miles from the truck we abandoned. If he could track us that far, then whoever he works for can find us here.”

Gloria shivered.

“We still don’t know if John is with them. He might not be out to get you.” Even after confronting the new state of the country, Holly still believed in him. “You shouldn’t rush to condemn him.”

Emma didn’t respond. While she hoped the girl was right, she’d seen enough to put her money on the opposite.

Ray pushed away from the table. “If someone is coming, then you need to prepare. Let’s suit up and get in some early morning target practice.”

Emma lifted an eyebrow.

“What? It’s never too late to learn.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

John

John rose with the first hint of daylight, stretching stiff legs as Tank hurried off into the woods to do his business. The poor dog had to be starving. John’s own stomach rumbled, but the pain in his side kept the worst of the hunger at bay.

He lifted his sweater. The T-shirt had soaked through in the night, leaving a dark red stain across his middle. He couldn’t track Emma and Holly like this.

He would need supplies. Antibiotics. Maybe stitches.

He grimaced as he stood, bracing himself on a tree to keep from falling. Tank emerged from the woods, loping toward him like they’d known each other for years. “How about you and I take a walk into town? See if we can’t get you some breakfast and me some medical help.”

Tank leaned against him, rubbing his shoulder across John’s thigh, before pointing his nose in the direction of the road.

“My thoughts exactly.”

Without a map, John had to navigate by the position of the sun and what he could remember, angling northwest and hoping he reached civilization before his body gave out.

It was slow going, with pauses every ten minutes to catch his breath and beat back the nausea threatening to overwhelm him.

How Emma and Holly ended up with that family, he hadn’t a clue. Were they ambushed on the side of the road? Captured in the woods?

He hadn’t a clue. But that little escapade threw a spanner into his plans, for sure.

Now he’d lose precious time trying to bleed to death while Emma put who knows how much distance between them. He pulled out his tracking device and checked the location.

She hadn’t moved since he’d first checked that morning. Had she found Gloria’s cabin? Or was she holed up in a town, plotting out her next move?

If he didn’t find her soon, he’d never know.

Tank kept to his side all morning, nudging him when he felt like falling over, trotting on ahead to keep him moving. They emerged onto a road around eleven, and John turned north.

On the road, without a tree to hold for support, his pace slowed. It took until midafternoon to find the fringes of a town. Morganton, Georgia.

A sign pointed to the left for historic Blue Ridge and to the right for Main Street. John headed right. A woman sat on the front porch of a house, the first in miles. As John approached, he tried to straighten up. He closed the distance, about to smile and wave, when she abruptly stood and headed inside. Guess he didn’t look like good company.

He used her mailbox to rest, gathering enough strength to head down the road. After a few more houses, he entered a small business district with a small toy shop, hardware store, and pharmacy.

A faint light in the rear of the pharmacy filled John with hope and he tugged the front door open. At the cash register, an older woman stood, ringing up an elderly man with a calculator and a pad of paper. She glanced up when he entered, a small gasp slipping past her lips.

The man made a comment about Tank, but John ignored it, hobbling down the closest aisle toward the rear of the store. He emerged into a small waiting area and the pharmacy.

Two customers sat in chairs along the wall and a single pharmacist scuttled among dark rows of shelves