hear the strain in her voice. "It is crazy out there people are walking around with surgical masks on. They said people should avoid contact. Then the CDC said something about hand sanitizer seeming to speed up the infection.” AS Beth spoke her tone became more panicked.
“Yeah Mom heard that already. She threw out every bottle in the house. I swear she was a junkie on that stuff. She was always on me to use it. She must have thrown out, like ten bottles.” Wes sighed. He rubbed his face with his free hand. “Beth, I don’t know what Mom’ll do if something happens to him.”
For a second neither spoke, “He is my Dad you know.? More of a father than that other bastard ever was.” Wes continued as a tear ran down his cheek.
From downstairs a painful hacking cough traveled to Wes’ ears. He listened as his mother fussed over his stepfather. “I’m worried.”
“I know, but he’ll be ok.” Beth’s gentle voice soothed him but something sounded as if she didn't believe it.
“He’s never hit us, or gotten drunk, I think I’ve seen him have like two beers the entire time they’ve been married.” Wes was rambling and Beth let him. This was all information she already knew. Wes had basically lived at the McDaniel house when he was much younger. Beth’s father had actually beaten up Wes’ real father at one point right after Wes’ mother finally got the courage to kick him out. Reg loved Wes’ mother and Wes loved him for being so good to her.
“Thanks for always being there for me.” Wes smiled into the phone.
“Thanks for being there for me. I will never forget what you did when Mom died. Without you Steve would have done all the cooking, and that might have been the end of us all.” She gave a laugh squelching the sob that threatened.
A long silence stretched, interrupted only by the sounds of coughing and moaning from downstairs.
Beth broke the void, “Aunt Marge just arrived.”
“What? Oh the book, yeah it starts to get fun from there.”
They spent several minutes discussing the books and the first two movies they had watched together. The conversation was enjoyable. Both forget how worried and scared they were. That was until Reg started coughing again a dry and rasping cough that sounded truly painful.
“I gotta go. I need to help Mom. It sounds like we need to get Dad to a hospital even if we have to take a number.”
Beth tried to talk him out of going but in the end she could only wish him luck, “Remember if things get bad, Dad will get us out of town.” She said goodbye. Wes sat in his room listening as Reg coughed and coughed then moaned. With each cough Wes grew more scared. His mother call for him. He was on his feet at the top of the stairs when he heard Reg start coughing and coughing then suddenly stop. Wes froze, with his hand on the rail his foot hung in the air above the next step.
Another Night at Work
Steve got into the car turning the key the engine purred to life. The radio came on. It was news on all the channels. Nonstop talk about the illness and how the cities were having trouble with rioting. Steve selected his IPod. After that he was happily oblivious off in his own world the rest of the trip.
So far the ride across town to the distribution center had been uneventful. The roads were empty with very few people daring to venture out. The few Steve saw hurried about wearing surgical type masks. He shook his head as he saw them. “Like I said, that sanitizer stuff would just make people susceptible to this kinda crap. See,” he looked at the steering wheel, “I rarely wash my hands and I feel fine!” He scoffed holding up his hands as if that proved everything.
“Beth I hear you calling.” He smiled to himself as the song began to play. He was happy his sister was done with Corey. "The guy was a douche." He muttered. He passed a car parked oddly on the sidewalk. "You know Wes has been in love with her for forever." He told the car as he passed. "More importantly I trust the guy." He now explained to his car's interior. "Even if it doesn’t work out, Wes will show her how a boyfriend should treat her."
Something caught his eye down a side street. He slowed slightly. It looked like a fight. There were three or four people all crowding around someone on the ground. Steve reached for his phone. He was about to dial when he heard the police siren.
“I guess someone already called that in.” He accelerated and thought no more about it.
At the next block the light was turning read. As slowed to a stop he was surprised as two Harley's thudding loudly to a stop next to him. He glanced over at the steel and chrome covered machines. One bike was covered by a burly bearded guy who looked the part. The other bike had two people on it. The rider was a smaller guy. His jacket looked almost new. On the back of the bike was a girl. Steve admired the her figure. She was covered in leather from head to foot. She shouted something at the big guy and laughed. Steve noticed she was kind of pretty, at least he imagined she was. All he could see were her eyes under the full face helmet. She had the visor up to be heard. She had intensely blue eyes. His mind began to wander. The thunder of the engines startled him. The bikes roared off leaving Steve staring at the green light.
He watched them ride away, the taillights getting smaller and smaller. His mind still on the girl he pushed in the clutch and shifted into first gear.
“Beth is right dude; you seriously need to find a girlfriend.” He said to himself.
Letting out the clutch he began to accelerate thinking about catching up with the bikes. No more than the thought crossed his mind, “SHIT!” he yelped jerking the wheel hard to avoid hitting a woman who stumbled out into the intersection. Jerking the wheel straight and barking the tires angrily Steve gave the woman the finger, “Watch out you fucking drunk!” He shouted through the closed window as he pulled away. The woman stumbled after him for a few paces then continued her slow shuffled across the street.
“Moron.” He muttered angrily. Accelerating down the road he scanned ahead for the bikes but saw nothing. Slightly disappointed he cursed the stumbling woman out again in his head. He really wanted to see the face that held those eyes. Then the idea of the huge brute on the other bike made him think maybe he was better off not finding them. The fact that they were nowhere in sight was one thing. The complete lack of anyone else out and about was something else entirely. This started to bother him. Maybe things are as bad as they were saying.
Making his way down the empty streets felt eerie. Normally this trip should have taken longer. Shops were closed. There was no one out, no one at all. The last person he saw was the drunken woman. He began to wonder where the bikers had been going and whether he should follow. To his surprise he had arrived at his destination.
Steve pulled into the parking lot. He found a space easily. Surveying the lot he notied how many spaces were empty. His mood soared. Even with being early he knew the lot was more sparsely populated than normal. That meant more work to be done. It also meant possible overtime. Hitting the fob he smiled as the alarm beeped. The headlights winked at him. Checking his phone he saw he was at least ten minutes early even with leaving late. “Imagine how early I would have been if I hadn’t been bothering Beth?” He shrugged as he headed into the front office to clock in. He decided to grab a cup of coffee before jumping into his day.
As soon as he walked into the building he was met by Rachel Smyth who was coming down the hall. Rachel was one of the managers. She was in her early fifties, a little plump but with a pleasant happy face. She was one of Steve’s favorites. No nonsense and tough as nails but she was fair and actually
