was trying
to take it away from her.
She scanned University Avenue, where people still roamed
about, stunned. Word had come from Sergeant Logan, somewhere up near the Circle where they said the blast had
taken place. Move the cars; clear the road.
Two toughs wearing hooded sweatshirts had pretended to
help, but she'd spotted them stealing stereos and cell phones.
They took off down a side street, but they wouldn't be the last,
not if power and phone didn't come on soon.
Alexis had planned for that, too. Her generators were
locked up in a cinderblock shed behind chain-link fencing,
and her oil tanks were underground. If need be, lights would
burn all night at Donnelly's, keeping the darkness-and the
evil roaming in it-at bay.
Most of the staff had gone home, some gearing up to walk
two miles or more. That was understandable, and it was good.
Fewer people to keep an eye on. Alexis had loaded them up
with juice drinks and kept an eye on the younger ones, making
sure they didn't pocket an item or two from the snack aisle.
Before sneaking out the back door, Kaya de los Santos had
helped Alexis wrap Ralph's body in a tarp and move it into the
meat cooler. It just didn't seem right to leave him out like that.
Mopping his blood from the floor was one of the most heartbreaking things Alexis had ever done.
Kate and jenny had asked to be allowed to stay. Too far to
walk, they said, and their homes were in opposite directions
from each other. And then there was Tripp Sheffield. The kid
had been in the store, buying macaroni and cheese for lunch,
when the bomb blew.
He had begged to be allowed to stay, offered to work. His
older brother was trouble, but Tripp was a good kid, still on the
fence between the straight way and the street way. Alexis and
he had had a meeting of the minds a few months back-she
wouldn't harass him if he would tuck in his shirt when he came
into the store. To him a loose shirt was cool; to her it was a
shield for shoplifting.
Job one was to pull down the grates. Alexis had had them
installed in anticipation of expanding the store to include a
pharmacy. With the windows out, the grates would be the only
thing securing the store. That, and Alexis's gun.
Though the store had power, the grates didn't respond to
their computerized controls. She'd have to pull them down
manually-a tough job, but she had just the guy for it.
Tripp was a fireplug of a kid, would have been an offensive
lineman on the football team if he had any meanness to him.
He gazed out at University Avenue. "Why're they doing
that?"
"Doing what? Moving the cars, you mean?" She held the stepladder steady while Tripp climbed up and grabbed the handle
on the first grate.
"Yeah"
"Someone said they're all stalled." Alexis hadn't thought it
through until this moment. She had done her reading-knew
all about EMP bombs. Best not to speculate aloud, however.
"Yeah, but why're they moving 'em?"
"To clear a path for emergency vehicles."
Tripp rode the grate to the ground, silly grin on his face. "So
why ain't they coming?"
The innocence and stupidity of youth, Alexis thought. "They
probably already did. The firehouse is down on South Spire.
They wouldn't pass this way to get to the Circle."
"Then why did Sergeant Logan want us to move the cars?"
Tripp said.
Maybe for the same reason she had asked jenny and Kate to
squeeze the air out of the beach balls and fold them into storage
boxes, Alexis thought. Something to do.
A scream came from the back of the store. Alexis went
running and found jenny in the bake shop, cupcakes at her feet.
"Whatever is wrong?"
"I ... came back here to get something to eat. Kate and me,
we're hungry. We're gonna pay for them, honest."
Right. "And you screamed because... ?"
She pointed at the safety shower in the corner. "I heard something in the drain. This clicking sound."
"Water dripping."
"It can't be. We don't have any water."
"
Wonderful, Alexis thought.
to take it away from her.
She scanned University Avenue, where people still roamed
about, stunned. Word had come from Sergeant Logan, somewhere up near the Circle where they said the blast had
taken place. Move the cars; clear the road.
Two toughs wearing hooded sweatshirts had pretended to
help, but she'd spotted them stealing stereos and cell phones.
They took off down a side street, but they wouldn't be the last,
not if power and phone didn't come on soon.
Alexis had planned for that, too. Her generators were
locked up in a cinderblock shed behind chain-link fencing,
and her oil tanks were underground. If need be, lights would
burn all night at Donnelly's, keeping the darkness-and the
evil roaming in it-at bay.
Most of the staff had gone home, some gearing up to walk
two miles or more. That was understandable, and it was good.
Fewer people to keep an eye on. Alexis had loaded them up
with juice drinks and kept an eye on the younger ones, making
sure they didn't pocket an item or two from the snack aisle.
Before sneaking out the back door, Kaya de los Santos had
helped Alexis wrap Ralph's body in a tarp and move it into the
meat cooler. It just didn't seem right to leave him out like that.
Mopping his blood from the floor was one of the most heartbreaking things Alexis had ever done.
Kate and jenny had asked to be allowed to stay. Too far to
walk, they said, and their homes were in opposite directions
from each other. And then there was Tripp Sheffield. The kid
had been in the store, buying macaroni and cheese for lunch,
when the bomb blew.
He had begged to be allowed to stay, offered to work. His
older brother was trouble, but Tripp was a good kid, still on the
fence between the straight way and the street way. Alexis and
he had had a meeting of the minds a few months back-she
wouldn't harass him if he would tuck in his shirt when he came
into the store. To him a loose shirt was cool; to her it was a
shield for shoplifting.
Job one was to pull down the grates. Alexis had had them
installed in anticipation of expanding the store to include a
pharmacy. With the windows out, the grates would be the only
thing securing the store. That, and Alexis's gun.
Though the store had power, the grates didn't respond to
their computerized controls. She'd have to pull them down
manually-a tough job, but she had just the guy for it.
Tripp was a fireplug of a kid, would have been an offensive
lineman on the football team if he had any meanness to him.
He gazed out at University Avenue. "Why're they doing
that?"
"Doing what? Moving the cars, you mean?" She held the stepladder steady while Tripp climbed up and grabbed the handle
on the first grate.
"Yeah"
"Someone said they're all stalled." Alexis hadn't thought it
through until this moment. She had done her reading-knew
all about EMP bombs. Best not to speculate aloud, however.
"Yeah, but why're they moving 'em?"
"To clear a path for emergency vehicles."
Tripp rode the grate to the ground, silly grin on his face. "So
why ain't they coming?"
The innocence and stupidity of youth, Alexis thought. "They
probably already did. The firehouse is down on South Spire.
They wouldn't pass this way to get to the Circle."
"Then why did Sergeant Logan want us to move the cars?"
Tripp said.
Maybe for the same reason she had asked jenny and Kate to
squeeze the air out of the beach balls and fold them into storage
boxes, Alexis thought. Something to do.
A scream came from the back of the store. Alexis went
running and found jenny in the bake shop, cupcakes at her feet.
"Whatever is wrong?"
"I ... came back here to get something to eat. Kate and me,
we're hungry. We're gonna pay for them, honest."
Right. "And you screamed because... ?"
She pointed at the safety shower in the corner. "I heard something in the drain. This clicking sound."
"Water dripping."
"It can't be. We don't have any water."
"
Wonderful, Alexis thought.
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