had Preston asked her to go with them to his retreat? She pondered that for a few minutes. She couldn’t come up with a good reason. She was nobody special. She didn’t really have any special skills at the moment that would be an asset to them at the retreat. She planned on having some skills in the future. She had a lot of information about snaring and trapping for food. She would learn. She loved to learn new and interesting things. But she had to admit to her self she had no real experience just yet.

Tears formed in her eyes and her breath hitched. What if these other two people at his retreat didn’t like her or didn’t want someone with no real skills there? What would she do then? Everything she had read about said only people with real skills would be let into survival groups. She realized that she really didn’t have a choice in the matter; she couldn’t stay here and hope to survive with no real supplies or skills. Her tears ran down her cheeks. She wiped them away. She hated crying. Crying never solved anything. Thinking and working through a problem is when a solution would be found. And crying about it never solved anything except make you feel worse and give you puffy eyes and clog your sinuses up. She looked around and noticed some antibacterial wipes. She took one and washed her face. She looked in the mirror and decided she had done all that she could to get rid of the evidence of crying. She smiled at herself. At least now after scrubbing her whole face it was just as red as her eyes. She smiled a real big happy smile at her self. She was going some place with Preston. She did a happy little dance for a few moments. Then she lost her smile as she realized that it didn’t mean a thing because the dainty princess Sharon was coming too. She sighed and made a face at her self in the mirror. She decided to just take each day as it came. One day at a time with what was going on would be more than she could probably handle anyways. She finished up in the bathroom and came out into the living room.

Preston looked at her and said, “You look tired. I made you a place to sleep on the couch. It’s a pretty comfortable couch too. We’ll talk tomorrow after some sleep. Things are just,” He paused and smiled at her and then continued, “a bit different now. I hope you don’t think that I am presuming anything. I made up the couch for you without really thinking about it from your point of view. We really don’t know each other very well and I didn’t give a thought that maybe you wouldn’t want to stay here. I just did it and was thinking about protection. I wouldn’t be able to protect you from the little zombies running around out there with you over in your own apartment.” Amy said, “Thank you. That was very kind of you to think about protecting me at all. I appreciate all that you’ve done. I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I went to my apartment. I would be worried about the little zombies and what the future will bring. I would be up all night. So thank you again.” Preston was puzzled by her answer a little. He said to her, “You’re welcome.” Amy walked over to the couch and sat down. She took her coat off and laid it at the end where her feet would be. She reached down and took her jogging shoes off. She lay down and pulled all the blankets over her. She turned on her side facing the room. It felt cozy and warm. She snuggled down closing her eyes and sighed.

Preston went over to the lantern and turned it off. Without it on the noise outside seemed much louder. He got into his sleeping bag and lay facing the door. He sighed too. It felt good to just be able to relax for awhile. This may be the last time he could do so until they reached the retreat. He intended to get as much sleep as he could. He closed his eyes.

Preston was the first one up in the morning. They had a relatively decent night sleep. He was woken up a few times by noise but nothing that was close enough to make him have to get up. It was now 6:00 am. He had over slept this morning. He was usually up at 5:00. He got up and went around and removed the sheets and things that he had covered the windows with last night. It made it a little brighter in here. He didn’t want his windows to look any different than anyone else’s by being darker or anything that would bring attention to this apartment. He looked out the sides of the windows. It looked like a war had taken place out there. He shook his head and went and put coffee on. He checked the water at the facet. Nothing came out. He hadn’t expected it to. It had stopped last night. He was just checking. Without the pumps working at the city water building there would be no more water coming out of those pipes. He went into the bathroom to wash up and shave.

Amy smelled coffee. That is what woke her up. She sniffed appreciating the smell. She stretched and looked around. Preston was not in his sleeping bag. She hadn’t really thought that Sharon the princess would have been thoughtful enough to put coffee on for all of them. Of course not, it had been Preston. She got up and put her shoes on. It was cold in here. She walked over to the kitchen and looked at the coffee pot perking away. It looked done but didn’t want to turn it off. Maybe he likes really strong coffee. She rinsed out the cups from the night before so they would be ready as soon as Preston said the coffee was done. She just stood there watching the coffee pot and holding her hands out getting warmed up from the flame of the propane stove. Preston stepped around her reaching for the coffee pot. It made her jump in surprise. She hadn’t heard him come up behind her. He filled both cups sitting right there and handed one to her. She mumbled a thank you at him. He reached down and turned the burner off. She looked at Preston all cleaned up and thought how unfair that was. She would be looking like something out of a horror movie about now. Hair all over, probably lines on her face from the pillow and puffy eyes from crying last night. But wow, he looked good. She could get used to looking at him first thing in the morning. She realized what she just thought and blushed reminding her self not to go there. Remember the princess. She turned and headed for the table to sit down and enjoy her coffee.

Preston smiled at Amy’s back as she was walking to the table to sit down. She didn’t look like she liked mornings at all. She looked cute with her shiny light brown long hair pulled out of her braid and hanging around her face. She looked young, real young. She had blushed and had a scowl on her face. She didn’t look like her usual bubbly self. It was quite attractive really. She was human after all. He still had a hard time believing she was as old as she said she was.

He was just reaching for the coffee pot when he heard Sharon mumbling in the bedroom. He turned and walked into the hall seeing her disappear into the bathroom and the door closed. He sighed. Sharon would be all put together when she came out. She always was. He realized how unnatural that was. Like a mannequin or robot or something. He looked over at Amy and saw how real she looked in her rumbled slept in clothes and uncombed hair. She was much more beautiful in a natural way than Sharon could ever be. Sharon worked hard to keep looking good everyday. It was an illusion. That thought shocked him. He realized that he had never seen Sharon in a natural state like Amy was right now, with no makeup on or in rumbled clothes. He wondered if he did if he would think she was attractive or not, probably not. He had seen her a few times in the morning with her hair a little messed up and it had never struck him how attractive she was at that time. He shook his head. What in the he*l was the matter with him? The world they knew had ended and here he was comparing these two women. He took a deep breath shaking his head at him self and walked over and poured more coffee into his cup. He kept telling him self over and over again, get your priorities straight right now.

Amy got up and walked up to the coffee pot. She poured another cup. She yawned. She went back over to the table and plopped down in a chair. She really appreciated that Preston wasn’t a talkative person in the morning. She really disliked conversation until after her third cup of coffee. Her brain will have kicked into gear by then. But until then she was not fit to converse with. She felt a little groggy this morning because of the crying last night. She looked at the windows and realized Preston had taken the sheets and what knots off the windows. It was cool in here. Not too cold anyways. Trying to find something positive to think about she thought about what she could make for breakfast. She had went shopping just the other day and loaded up on groceries. Her refrigerator was stocked pretty well. It would normally have lasted her for a month or more when it was just her. She always froze whatever she had left over to keep it fresh when she was cooking. Her freezer had a lot of prepared meals in it that they could use until they left. She doubted there would be enough room in the packs for frozen food to take with them. She smiled just thinking about it. She could just imagine the conversation that would spark from Preston. She got up to get her third cup of coffee.

Preston was going through the things he had set aside in his second bedroom in the apartment to put in the packs. Space was really limited for the two women’s pack. He knew it would be a losing battle to try to talk Sharon into leaving any of her makeup or hair stuff behind. But, she would have to carry it on her back herself. He smiled at that thought. I wonder how long before she starts to throw some of it away? He hated the thought of wasting the very valuable limited space they had with that kind of stuff. But Sharon was Sharon after all. He doubted he would be able to reason with her about at all. He finished his pack and set it aside. He had all of their essentials in his and the saddle bags he had made for the bikes.

Sharon was just about done with getting herself put together to face the day in the bathroom. She was frustrated and upset because she couldn’t shower or wash her hair. She debated whether she should wash her hair anyways with the water in the bath tub. She decided that wouldn’t do because with the power out she wouldn’t be able to style it properly without using her hot rollers. She sighed and swore. It was very important to her to look her best all the times. Now how was she going to accomplish that without the power to do so? Hopefully, the power would come back on soon so she could take a shower and wash her hair. It made her feel dirty to not take a shower or wash her hair. Especially after walking all the way home and perspiring on the way yesterday. She shuddered at the thought of yesterday and all that had happened to her.

It was his entire fault, too. When she had woken up and smelled that disgusting coffee he made she knew he was still around. She will call the police to come and arrest him for abusing and threatening her just as soon as the power was on. The very minute the power came on that is the very first thing she will do. Then she remembered her cell phone. She should try it now it might work. Maybe the problem with it yesterday was only a temporary thing. He will be so surprised when the police get here and arrested him along with his guns. She shuddered again at the thought of it all. She told him to get out of her apartment and she meant it too. She will not have him here anymore. He was mean to her.

She left the bathroom and walked back into the bedroom. She went over to the dresser and grabbed her cell phone. It still didn’t work. Well, just as soon as the power was on again that problem will be solved. She walked into the kitchen ignoring everything around her. She reached inside the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. She went back into the bedroom and went over to her purse and got out a couple of tablets of pain reliever to help with the headache she had. That was also his fault she thought angrily. All of this was his entire fault. She huffed out a breath. She was going to finish getting ready to go to work. As soon as the power came on when she was at work she was calling the police and having him arrested. How dare he treat her like that? She had some bruises on her cheek and a slightly swollen sore mouth thanks to him. She also had bruises on her arms where he held her and shook her. Nobody treats her like that. No one at all will get away with that ever. He will soon find that out for him self. She smiled and laughed. The problem of making him leave here would soon be solved. She will press charges and get a restraining order against him. Then he can’t come back here to this apartment again and make her leave or move out. She will pay the rent so there will be no complaints about that. He won’t have a leg to stand on legally. She will say everything here is hers. She likes it here because it is close to everything and only three miles to where she works. She has done this before and it worked out just fine. She smiled at that thought. It lifted her spirits right up.

She decided on wearing a business pants suit. She would still have to wear something soft on her feet because they still hurt and were a bit swollen. The pants suit would cover that fact up. She was looking in her closet deciding what pair of shoes would do when Preston walked in. She ignored him. He was a problem that soon would be solved and gone.

Preston heard Sharon in the bedroom and wondered what she was doing. He walked in to see. She was dressed to go out and standing in front of her closet. He said, “Sharon what are you doing?” She ignored him. He tried again and said, “Where do you think you are going?” She ignored him. He touched her on the shoulder and she turned around and pushed him away screaming, “Don’t touch me you asshole, don’t ever touch me.” Preston looked at Sharon and said, “Fine. But answer me this, “Where do you think you are going?” Sharon screamed at him, “I will not answer you. You don’t exist to me anymore. Do you understand me? You do not exist. Get out of my apartment. Go. Go. Just leave me alone.” She angrily grabbed a pair of flats and shoved her feet into them. She winched and cried out, “Sh*t that hurts.” She continued getting the shoes on and walked out of the bedroom with her head high and her body tight with anger.

Preston got up and sighed. Then he went after her. He ran into the living room and almost knocked Sharon over. She was standing there with an angry look on her face looking all around. She turned to him and slapped his face real hard screaming, “How dare you? How dare you sleep with her here in my apartment? You bast*rd. Get out now. Get the he*l out and take that sl*t with you.” She continued to pummel his chest with her fists. Preston grabbed her wrists and said, “Sharon calm down. Just calm the he*l down.” Sharon continued to screech at him. He held her wrists so she couldn’t continue to hit him. She started kicking him with her pointed shoes. He was hoping around trying to avoid her kicks while trying to tell Sharon why Amy had stayed the night. Sharon was past hearing anything he could have said in his defense. Preston saw Amy walk up behind Sharon and stand close to her. She grabbed Sharon and shoved her right at Preston. Preston was able to get her turned around so he could hold her still with his arms wrapped around her. Sharon was still screeching at the top of her lungs. Preston couldn’t do a thing about it; it took everything he had just to hold her. Preston saw Amy coming with something in her hands and smiled at her. She maneuvered around to get close to Sharon and Sharon reached out and slapped her and scratched her face. Amy didn’t even look mad just a bit surprised by it and continued to come at Sharon. Sharon tried to slap her again and Amy lunged right at Sharon knocking her hands away and applied what she had in her hands across Sharon’s mouth finally shutting her up. It was a piece of duct tape. Sharon had a shocked look on her face and stood absolutely still in Preston’s arms. They all stood there and panted for breath for a few moments. Preston and Amy was enjoying the quiet.

Amy was the first to move. She walked back over to the table where the duct tape was and grabbed the roll and came back to where Preston and Sharon stood. She showed the roll to Sharon and said, “Do you want me to tie you up with this?” Sharon was looking at the roll of duct tape then looked at Amy and then back to the roll again. Amy said, “Shake your head and tell me if you want me to tie you up or not? I will not wait very long for your answer Sharon. I will just tie you up and be done with this, this” Amy paused not even sure what to call it then continued, “this fit of yours. Do you comprehend me?” Sharon looked at Amy with fear in her eyes and nodded her head yes. Amy said, “If Preston releases you will you sit down so we can have an intelligent conversation about your wrong impressions?” Sharon was shooting daggers at her with her eyes but nodded yes. Amy looked up at Preston and said, “Okay, let her go but if she starts her crap up again I will duct tape her up into a little ball. This is ridiculous.” Preston let go of Sharon and took a couple of steps away from her real slowly just in case she did something again. She didn’t. She marched over and sat down in a chair in the living room not saying a word. Amy let out a relieved breath.

Amy looked over at Sharon and said, “Would you like a cup of coffee?” Sharon shook her head no. Amy went to the dinning room table and got her cup and walked over to the counter and got Preston’s coffee cup that he had placed there earlier. She bent down and lit a match. She turned the burner on and lit the fire to heat up the coffee. Sharon started to say something and Amy whipped around and said, “Not one word Sharon. Not one little bitty word until we’re all sitting down. What would you like to drink?” Sharon glared at her and said through clinched teeth, “Water.” Amy grabbed a glass of water sitting on the other counter and started to walk over to Sharon with it. Sharon said, “Bottled water.” Amy stopped walking and turned around and looked at Preston. He said, “In the refrigerator.” Amy went and got a bottle of water out of the fridge and walked over to Sharon and set it on the table by the chair. She walked back into the kitchen and tested the coffee. It was hot. She poured coffee into the cups and took them over to the coffee table and set them down. She indicated to Preston to have a seat on the couch. He sat as far from Sharon as he could get. Amy sighed and walked over to the couch.

Amy sat down the closest to Sharon. She reached out her hand and grabbed her coffee and took a sip. She looked up at Sharon with a hard look in her eyes and said, “Sharon we will get one thing straight right now. I will not put up with your fits. Get that in your head right now.” Sharon huffed and said, “Who the he*l do you think you are to tell me what to do?” Amy sighed again and said, “Sharon this is Preston’s apartment. This is not your apartment. He lived here long before you came along. You are a guest here in his apartment and you had better start acting like one. I will not permit you to treat him like you do. He doesn’t deserve it. Do you understand me?” Sharon looked outraged at what Amy was saying. She opened her mouth to speak and before she could Amy said in a threatening voice, “Before you say one word you had better think long and hard about your answer to me. You will treat Preston and I with respect Sharon. You will talk nice and calmly to us about any concerns you have. We will answer you in the same way. But, I am warning you right here and now, I will not put up with your shenanigans, you’re screaming, cussing and hitting us again. Do you understand me? Those are the ground rules we will abide by. In times like these we have to have some kind of order and respect between us all. If you get out of hand with Preston again and attack him or even don’t talk to him with a respectful voice I will tie you up in a little bitty ball of duct tape. If you ever raise your hand to hit me again I will punch your lights out. You have been warned Sharon. I will not warn you again. Preston is too nice of a guy to make you behave. I am not as nice as he is. Now think before you open that big mouth of yours.” Amy rubbed her temples to ease the headache Sharon had given her. It was way too early in the morning to deal with this Sharon sh*t. It wasn’t even 8:00 am yet. She looked at Sharon and indicated for her to speak.

Sharon pouted for awhile. Amy sighed once again irritated with Sharon. Amy said, “Sharon I stayed over night here because it isn’t safe out there. I don’t have any way of protecting myself. I don’t have a gun and I don’t know how to use one. I slept on the couch and Preston slept in his sleeping bag over by the door to keep us safe. Preston was a perfect gentleman last night. None of this had anything to do with sleeping with each other or anything like that. We are friends and neighbors and nothing more. And why you would think that he would sleep with me is beyond me at the moment. You have nothing to worry about on that subject. Okay?” Sharon looked at Amy and then at Preston and demanded, “Are you going to let her talk to me like that?” When Preston didn’t do anything or say anything she said to him in a squeaky voice, “How dare you let her talk to me like that. You let her in her and you are letting her treat me this way.” She started to cry. Amy sighed again. Sharon sounded broken hearted. Preston moved to go to Sharon and Amy grabbed his arm and pulled him back down on the couch. She shook her head no at him. She turned back and looked at Sharon. Sharon was faking it. Amy turned to Preston and looked at his face. He was feeling sorry for Sharon. He wanted to go to her and comfort her. Oh boy, did he need to be educated about Sharon.

After a few minutes of Sharon’s fake crying she got up and dramatically ran from the room and slammed the bedroom door. Preston let out a shaky breath and said, “Sharon is delicate and can’t handle things like this. I thank you for helping me with her but, I don’t think you were right to be hard on her like that. She is just upset right now and has the wrong impressions about us. She is really upset and she is crying and I should go to her and reassure her and help her.” Amy sighed and thought, oh brother. She looked at Preston and said, “You think she was really crying?” Preston looked at her shocked that she would say such a thing. He said, “Yes, she was. You were really hard on her and she can’t take being treated like that. She has a delicate constitution.” Amy laughed. Preston said, “Why are you laughing? This isn’t funny. You were very mean to her.” Amy said, “Preston she has you wrapped around her finger and can make you do anything she wants. All she has to do is look up at you with one of her delicate expressions in her baby blue eyes or to cry and you cave in like an earth quake hit you.” He didn’t quite know what to say to that statement. Amy said, “What do you want to bet that she isn’t really crying?” Preston stared at her and said, “I know her better then you do and I know she is crying. She can’t handle situations like this. She is too delicate.” Amy was getting irritated at Preston’s innocent knowledge of what Sharon was doing. Amy said, Okay, I will prove it to you. I will go into that room and accuse her of faking it and let’s hear what she says to me. You sneak up and listen by the door okay? Don’t make a sound or anything. I want her to think it is just her and me. Okay? Is it a deal?” Preston was getting mad at Amy’s attitude about Sharon. He said in a firm voice, “Okay, I agree. But this is my apartment as you said earlier. Don’t think you can come in here and tell me what to do. You understand that?” Amy looked at him with amusement dancing in her eyes and said, “Absolutely I agree with you. But we will talk after we go check if Sharon is really crying or not. When I motion you with my hands to come in. Then do so and see for yourself.”

Amy walked regularly down the hall and Preston kept his word and snuck over next to the door leaning on the wall where he would be hidden from sight to listen. Amy softly knocked on the door and then opened it up and said, “Sharon.” Sharon looked over at Amy out of the corner of her eye and saw that she was alone. Sharon faced her with her hands on her hips and said in a haughty manner, “Get away from me you bit*h. You think you’ve won Preston with your tough attitude? I will show you how little effect you will have on him. He loves me. Me. Not you. Just look at you. You are a fat cow with a big butt. I am beautiful. You have an ugly face and body. You are not even someone that people would talk to. They walk right by you and don’t even see you. You blend in to the walls. You are nothing. You don’t exist to Preston. I will make sure of that. He will come in here and I will make him not listen to you. I will make him get rid of you. All I have to do is cry again and he will do whatever I want to make me stop. You will be out on your big tramp of an ass you cow sl*t. How dare you come into my apartment and tell me how to treat him. I will treat him however I want to and there is nothing you can do about it. Go ahead and do something to me. Go ahead and I will scream and cry and tell him how you are just jealous and did horrible things to me. Who do you think he will believe? He will never believe you over me you cow sl*t.” Sharon had a very smug look on her angry face. She reached up and smacked herself on the side of her face and started to cry. Amy had never moved from the door right next to Preston throughout all of this. Preston stepped around Amy and pushed the door open all the way and looked at Sharon crying on the bed. She looked up at him with tears falling down her face and the redden slap mark showing up very prominently and said, “Oh Preston she was so mean to me and she hit me. Help me, please help me. Get her away from me. Please, please get her away from me. She’s was hitting me.” She cried like her best friend ever had just died. She leaned over hanging onto Preston and looking up at him with those pretty blue eyes of hers. Amy started to laugh so hard she almost choked. She said, “Now do you believe me?” Amy laughing walked away.

Preston walked out into the living room looking a little lost. Amy had spent the time straightening everything up and folding the blankets. She was in the kitchen trying to figure out how to clean the frying pan with both of the sinks full of water. She was hungry and decided to leave them to their little dramatic scene and cook breakfast. She already had a new pot of coffee going. Preston walked into the kitchen and looked a little shell shocked. Amy walked up to him and said, “Why don’t you sit down at the dinning room table and I’ll bring you some coffee as soon as it is done?” He looked at her and started to say something then changed his mind and shook his head and sat down at the table and looked down at his hands. Amy felt sorry for him. It was a hell of a shock to find out you were a sucker when it came to the Sharon’s of this world. She had seen other men when they realized they were just being played. Most men never figured it out. She finally decided to use a bucket she found to pour the water into after she cleaned the frying pan. It would be better than putting down the toilet. She didn’t want to take a chance of clogging the toilet up with the grease. That’s all they needed on top of everything else going on. She needed to go over to her place and get them some food. After they ate they could talk and make plans. Preston just needed a little time and some food and he would be able to function again. He didn’t strike her as someone who would remain down for long even after a blow like this one.

She walked over to the table and said, “Can you let me out? I have to go over to my place and get us some food to eat out of my refrigerator.” Preston looked up at her and said, “What?” Amy repeated her question. Preston said, “Have you seen what it looks like outside?” Amy said, “Yes, but I still need to go get us some things to eat. You have nothing here but survival stuff. I have a refrigerator full of food. I will bring over some things to make a good breakfast with. So can you wait at the door for me again so when I need to be let back in you are there?” Preston said, “Okay. How long will you be?” Amy said, “I’m going to grab some things out of the fridge and put them in a box and grab a couple of things from the freezer too. It shouldn’t take me more than five minutes.” Preston smiled thinking of how fast she was last night and what a sight it had been of seeing what she had brought over. They both went to the door and Amy put her coat on. She turned to look at Preston and said, “It will be okay. She will come around now that she knows her tricks won’t work.” She gave his arm a squeeze. He unbarred the door and she walked out. Preston stood there thinking of what she said. He really doubted that Sharon would come around. It seemed she had been playing a game with him the whole time they had been together and it didn’t look like she would change her ways now. She had tried to convince him he hadn’t seen or heard what he had. He left her in tears. He was pretty sure they were genuine this time because he had made it clear that he would not be blinded by her again.

Amy grabbed a box out of the hall closet and ran to the kitchen and opened the fridge door and started loading things into it. She opened the freezer and put some containers into the box. She also grabbed two loaves of bread for the ham and sliced cheese she had. She could make up a lot of sandwiches to take with them too. She made sure to grab the Miracle Whip and mustard out of the fridge. She didn’t know which he would prefer. She stopped a minute and walked over to her window and looked out at the edge of the blind. This was a horror movie scene she thought. There were several bodies she could see next to the cars on the road. The scene looked the same as it had last time she had looked out the window at Preston’s apartment. She closed her eyes and felt so very sad for the people out there that were still alive and sad that the people that had died had been in the wrong place and at the wrong time. What would the future hold? What would happen to the human race now? How could Humpty Dumpty be put back together again? She had no answers to these questions. She sighed.

She turned around and grabbed the box. Wow it was heavier than she thought it would be. She dragged it over to the front door. She turned back and went into her bedroom and got a couple of changes of clothes and some more thermals to wear. She went to her jewelry box and got her grandmother’s watch out and put it over her neck. It was a wind up watch and it would probably work. It would be a good thing to have. She wouldn’t be able to set it until the sun set tonight. She looked at her calendar on the wall and saw that sunset was at 6:52 tonight. She wound the hands to that time and then as soon as the sun set she would wind the clock up. It would be nice to know approximately what time it was within a minute or two. She grabbed her stuff and threw them in the box and dragged it out into the hall. It was spooky out there. No sounds except the ones she made. She softly knocked on the door. Preston said, “Ya.” Amy smiled thinking of her comment last night of him being a man of many words. She said, “It’s just your neighbor and nutty coconspirator.” The door opened up. She said, “Stand back I have to drag this in it is too heavy for me to pick up.” Preston looked down at the big box and said, “What the he*l do you have in there?” Amy said, “Food and clothes.” He reached out and brought it inside frowning. Amy stepped inside. Preston closed the door and barred it.

He turned around and saw Amy was dragging the box into the kitchen. He scratched his head. “What is it with women and big boxes?” he thought. Amy returned and placed a folded bundle of clothes into a straight back chair by a corner table. She turned and smiled and said, “Coffee is ready. Want some?” He said, “Ya, I could use a couple gallons of it right now.” Amy said, “Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt to drink that much? Follow me and the first cup of two gallons of coffee coming right up.” He smiled and said, “You think you’re funny don’t you?” Amy made an innocent face at him and said, “Who me? No. No, I’m never funny. No. Not one funny bone in my body.” He laughed. Amy smiled and walked back into the kitchen. She got the coffee pot and grabbed the two coffee mugs they had used earlier. She set the mugs down on the dinning room table and filled them with coffee. She walked back to the stove and place the coffee pot down. She went back into the dinning room and sat down. She grabbed her coffee and took a sip. She said, “I’ll make breakfast in a few minutes. You are hungry aren’t you?” Preston said, “Yes, I am. What are we having?” Amy said, “Bacon, fried potatoes, eggs and English muffins.” He said, “Wow that sounds great. You really cook don’t you?” Amy raised her eyebrow at him and said, “Of course, most women do cook you know. These days most men cook too.” He said, “I only know of one woman that cooks. Well, now I know two.” Amy shook her head and said, “Boy, have you been hanging around the wrong women. Just think of all the home cooked meals you didn’t get.” She started laughing and said, “Preston you are one of a kind. You have no idea how many meals I have cooked for men and none of them really appreciated it. They would tell me how to prepare meals to their satisfaction or not care that I spent the time or money to do so at all. Many would prefer to go out and eat. It was a way to be seen at the trendy places for an image they were trying to show everyone. I got so tired of it. So, I just now cook for myself and make what I want to make the way I want to make it.” She got up and went into the kitchen to start breakfast. It was kind of nice to have someone around that appreciated her efforts of cooking. He seemed to like her cooking.

She felt she should keep him busy so he wouldn’t have time to think about the situation with Sharon too much. She walked back into the dinning room and he was sitting at the table staring at his hands again. She put her hand on his shoulder and said, “Don’t you have things to do to get ready for all of us to leave?” He looked up at her and said, “Yes, I do. Um, I’ll go get to them then.” He got up and went into the other bedroom where he had been packing before.

Amy got busy making breakfast and decided to take a few minutes and organize the kitchen to her satisfaction. She had everything done and was just now lightly browning the English muffins the way her grandfather had showed her. She smiled remembering him. She had grabbed a fruit salad she had made up a few days ago out of her fridge. She thought that maybe Sharon could eat that and some cheese. She prepared a tray for Sharon and sighed about having to wait on her but knew that it wouldn’t be a good thing right now for Preston to do so. She went to the bedroom and knocked lightly and opened the door. Sharon was straightening her clothes up in the drawers. She didn’t even look up at Amy. Amy set the tray down on the dresser and said, “I brought you something to eat. Preston said you don’t eat any meat so I brought you some fruit salad and cheese and crackers and bottled water to drink.” Sharon still didn’t acknowledge that she was there. Amy tried again. After all they would be going through all of this together and she was trying to make the best of the situation.

Amy walked up to Sharon and said, “What are you doing?” Sharon ignored her. Amy sighed and said, “We are all going through this together. Can we please try to at least be civil to each other and get along?” Sharon turned to Amy and said, “You don’t exist. I am not talking to a fat cow like you. You were mean to me and I am having you arrested as soon as the power comes back on.” Amy smiled and thought, “That’s the best you can do?” Amy said, “Sharon the power is not coming back on for many years to come. Everything changed because we were hit with an EMP bomb. Nothing that is electrical will work. We will all have to start over from scratch. Nothing will be fixed for at least five years.” Sharon said, “You are as crazy as he is. He is just a conspiracy nut. Don’t believe him when he says this stuff. He is wrong. He is so very wrong. You both will feel pretty stupid when the power does come back on. But what can you expect from morons and fools like you two?” Amy said, “You really think the power will come back on?” Sharon just looked at her and rolled her eyes and continued to straighten a dresser drawer. Amy thought for a few minutes and then asked Sharon, “What do you think happened when the power went out and the vehicles, watches and cell phones stopped working for everyone out there? Everything stopped working at the same time Sharon. This is not just some power outage for a few days. This is permanent. This can’t be fixed easily or quickly. ” Sharon said, “You’re crazy. I’m not listening to anything you say. You are just a stupid fat cow.” Amy had just about enough of Sharon burying her head in the sand and not excepting what has happened to all of them. She reached out and grabbed Sharon and dragged her over to the window. She opened the blind and said, “Look at this Sharon. Does this look like a typical power outage to you? Those are dead bodies out there Sharon. If this was just a temporary thing don’t you think that the police or an ambulance or someone who can do that kind of thing would have helped these people? There is no one left out there that can help anyone. This is something none of us have ever seen before. You had better wake up and except this situation for what it is. It is complete chaos out there. Look at those fires burning everywhere? We have to get out of the city tonight Sharon before the bad guys that killed those people out there come here and kill us too. Because they will come and kill us, that is what they do because they like to do those things to people and there isn’t any police left that can stop them. They will hunt us all down and rape us women and then kill us. If you have a gun you might be able to make it out of here. This is the situation we are facing now. Do you understand what we have been saying now?”

Sharon was just staring with a very shocked look on her very pale face. Her eyes were a bit glassy looking. She wasn’t blinking right either. Amy realized she might have been a bit too plain speaking to her. Well, tough. They didn’t have time for anymore of her tantrums or fits or her inability to really look at this situation. Amy reached up and closed the blind. Sharon was still just staring and not blinking. Amy led Sharon over to the other side of the room and sat her down on the bed by the dresser. She got down and looked Sharon in the face. Sharon was still not seeing her. Amy clapped her hands in front of her face. Sharon blinked a few times and then reached out and pushed Amy away. Sharon said, “Get away from me. You’re crazy. The power will come back on. You wait and see. The power will come back on. What happened out there is just a, a, a, riot or something. Get out of here. I don’t have to listen to you. You are just a big fat cow of a bug. Get away from me. I am having you arrested just as soon as the power comes back on.” Amy couldn’t believe it. Sharon still refused to believe the situation they were in. Amy threw her hands up in the air and said, “I tried, I really tried.” She turned around and walked out of the room.

Amy went back into the kitchen. She stood there for a few moments in complete disbelief at how Sharon was acting. She looked around and realized she would have to warm everything up again. She got busy and did so. She then went to the second bedroom where Preston was. Preston had his head suck in the closet doing something. Amy said, “How do you want your eggs fixed and how many do you want? We have plenty to use up so pigging out is okay.” Preston turned and looked at Amy. He said, “I heard what you said in the bedroom to Sharon. I didn’t think she would change her mind and all of a sudden just start to believe what we have been saying to her. But please don’t open the blinds again. We don’t want anyone to see that people are up here in the apartment. Okay? It will let the bad guys know where we are.” Amy said, “I’m sorry for doing that but I couldn’t think of anything else to do that would make her face what is happening out there. I won’t do that again.”

Amy looked down at the floor and then back up to Preston and said, “So how do you want your eggs and how many?” Preston looked at her and said, “I would like three of them over easy please. I just wanted to say that I appreciate all that you are doing. Cooking and keeping us fed is a very good thing. We have to eat right for the coming struggle we will have on the trip. We may be faced with situations where it will not be safe to have a fire to cook with or to keep warm with so eating real well now before we leave will help us on the trip to my retreat.” Amy smiled and said, “Thank you for saying that. I was feeling like pretty useless around here. I have no real skills to contribute to this group.” Preston said, “Amy you have more skills then you think you do. You will find out on the trip to the retreat just what they are and what I am talking about. You keep a level head and think things through. That is the most important thing you can do right now and for the coming trip. Sharon will not make the trip easy.” Amy said, “Thank you Preston. I really appreciate you not making me feel like I’m just taking up space that should go to someone else more qualified. I have an idea about eating on the trip. I am making up two loaves of bread with ham and cheese sandwiches to take with us. I figured we might not be able to stop and make food sometimes or whatever. I also have a lot of beef jerky and a lot of bags of various trail mixes we can take with us to eat between meals for energy on the trip.” Preston smiled and said, “See this is what I’m talking about. You already have the food situation for the trip pretty much handled for when we can’t have something hot to eat. You used your brain and came up with solutions instead of questions. That is a very valuable skill to have and one I truly appreciate in a person that will be with me on the trip.” Amy felt better about her part in getting ready for the trip. She said, “Okay breakfast will be done in about five minutes.” She turned and went back into the kitchen. Her heart felt less heavy than it had been before she talked to Preston.

In the afternoon Preston looked at the list Amy made. He was very surprised by it. This is what she listed on it.

Amy’s List

Survival Kit

Folding Stove With 36 Fuel Tabs

16 Energy Bars

2 Space Blankets

1 Tube Tent

First Aid Kit

2 Light Sticks

50 Germicidal Water Purification Tablets

2 Tubes Of Fire Starting Paste

Picked Up At The Discount Store

Hand Cranked Radio

2 Hand Cranked Flashlights

1 Pound Of Vacuumed Packed Coffee

2 Key Chain LED Small Flashlights,

Knife With Compass On It

1 Shake Chemical Flashlight

Swiss Army Knife With A Lot Of Neat Tools On It

Water Bottle With Filter On It

36 Fruit & Peanut Bars

6 Boxes Of Waterproof Matches

24 Packages Of Freeze Dried Soups

2 Cases Of Beef Jerky

1 Case Of Salted Peanuts

4 Cases Of Cup Of Noodles

36 Bags Trail Mixes

6 Bags Of Snack Sized Chocolate Bars (A Must Have For The Trip!!)

Bought At The Military Surplus Store

Key Chain Can Opener

24 Various Colored 12 Hour Light Sticks

4 – 120 Hour Candles

Canteen

5 Gallon Collapsible Water Container

Mess Kit

Stain Less Steel Chow Set With A Can Opener

4 Flints To Start Fires With

Picked Up At Garage Sales

Sterno Stove With 4 Cans Of Fuel

Small Metal Coffee Pot

2 Wool Blankets

Small Water Purifier With A New Filter Still In The Box

2 Hand Cranked Egg Beaters

1 Hand Cranked Apple Peeler

3 Hand Cranked Can Openers

1 Tiny lantern

½ Gallon Lamp Oil

Supplies She Bought On The Web At      Snare Trap Survive Website

For The Future

Buckshot’s Complete Survival Trapping Guide

Buckshot’s Basic Survival Manual

Buckshot’s Emergency Snare Kit

2 Snare Repair Kits For The Snare Kit

2 Dozen Small Game Snares

2 Small Snares Repair Kits

2 Dozen Medium Game Snares

2 Medium Snares Repair Kit

2 Dozen Cam Lock Snares (Emergency Deer Snares)

2 Cam Lock Snares Repair Kit

1 – 4 Ounce Bottle Of Muskrat Lure

1 – 4 Ounce Bottle Of Raccoon Lure

1 – 4 Ounce Bottle Of Beaver Lure

1 – 4 Ounce Bottle Of Predator Lure

1 Dozen #110 Conibear Traps

6 Yo Yo Automatic Fishing Reels

Buckshot’s Survival Snaring DVD

Buckshot’s Advanced Survival Snaring DVD

Preparing Game For The Table DVD

Beginning Trapping DVD

Buckshot’s Predator Trapping DVD

Animal Skinning DVD

Ultimate Survival Trapping Tips & Tricks DVD

Seven Day Deer Camp DVD

Preston thought, “Wow, she has been preparing for a survival situation.” He smiled and thought no wonder she didn’t think he and Joe were nut cases. He laughed softly. He had had no idea his neighbor was a survivalist too. He would have to think about all of her supplies and what they could take with them. He already had his stuff packed up. He will look over her stuff and then decide what can be brought and what will have to be left behind. Amy was in the kitchen and Preston called her out to the dinning room area. Amy came out wiping her hands on a dish towel. She saw he was looking at her list. She said, “Ready for some coffee? I just heated the pot up.” Preston said, “Yes, thank you. I wanted to talk to you about your list.” Amy said, Okay, I’ll get the coffee and be right back.” She did so. She filled the cups and sat down across from him at the table.

Preston asked, “You were preparing for an emergency situation or a disaster?” Amy said, “Yes, I was. After New Orleans I got to thinking what would happened here if something like that happened. So I started preparing. I also started looking things up on the web and learning about survival. The things I read scared me too. I saw how easily we could just fall apart like a crumb cake if something serious happened and we weren’t ready for it. I’ve only been doing this for about a year now. I didn’t have that much money but I did what I could afford to do. I just didn’t have enough time to get all I wanted to. I know it’s not much but I did what I was able to. I was buying a gun and taking a shooting and a safety course for the next item. Then I was going to get non hybrid vegetable seeds and so on till I had a large stash. I was going to take a survival course for trapping and snaring to provide meat and animal skins to tan. I was going to prepare my uncle’s hunting camp in Maine for my retreat.” She looked down at the table with a sad look on her face. She then looked back up at Preston with a very serious look on her face and said, “There just wasn’t enough time for me to do it all before this happened. That is why I said I didn’t have any real skills yet. I had planned on having several skills to offer a group and we would go to my retreat in Maine and somehow survive together.” Preston was really blown away from her answer. She was so far ahead of the game for the average person.

He looked at her and said, “The first thing we will do when we get to my retreat is run you through a shooting course for handguns, shotguns and rifles. You will learn gun safety at the same time. I can teach you that. I have taught shooting before. So we can take care of that on your list. You will then have a very valuable skill. You will be able to protect your self and others.” Amy smiled and said, “Thank you Preston. I really want to learn to protect my self and others. I hate the idea of being so vulnerable right now.” Preston then said, “What on this list do you feel you have to have with you. I need to know what things you won’t part with as I calculate what will fit in your backpack.” Amy immediately said, “All the things listed under for the future. Those things will be very valuable to have. I will learn those skills from the books I have. I am taking the DVDs with me in case sometime in the future I can run across a working DVD player. I figure there has to be one working someplace. I also want to take my two hand cranked egg beaters, the hand cranked apple peeler, the three hand cranked can openers, the hand cranked radio, hand cranked flashlight, the key chain LED small flashlight, my survival knife with a compass on it, the shake chemical flashlight, my Swiss Army knife, a flint and the six bags of snack sized chocolate bars.” Preston had been checking them as she named the items. He looked up at her said, “How big of a pile is all of this and how much does it all weigh?” Amy said, “I really don’t know how much it weighs but the pile of it will be able this big.” Amy showed him with the box she had emptied out about how big of a pile it would be. Well, it would be doable but he had to find out how much all this weighed first. He said, “Could you go get it and bring the items here before dark so we can get packed up?” Amy was glad to hear this. She smiled and said, “I’ll go right now and get my stuff.” Preston said, “Okay.” He got up and let her out the door.

Later in the afternoon a few hours later they had all of Amy’s things packed up and ready to go. Preston told Amy he was going out to see if he could find her a bike. He took some things with him in a small should bag. Amy barred the door. Preston had told her he would come and knock on the door. Before letting him in he wanted her to knock back on the door, then he would knock three times. That would let both of them know that everything was okay. Preston had asked Amy if she would please get Sharon ready to go while he was gone. He was anxious to head out as soon as it got dark. He had already spray painted Sharon’s ski jacket that was yellow and pink a matte black color. Amy’s coat was navy blue so he didn’t need to do anything to it.

Amy walked to the bedroom door and sighed. She reached out and tapped the door and then opened it. Sharon was sitting on the bed looking through a magazine. Amy stepped into the room carrying the backpack Preston had said was Sharon’s to use. She had noticed that he had a very large backpack and her and Sharon’s were quite a bit smaller than his. Amy went up to the bed and dropped the backpack on top of Sharon’s magazine and said, “Get this packed up with what you are bringing with you. We will be leaving soon. I am giving you about fifteen minutes to pack this up. If you don’t do it I will come in and do it for you. You will probably not like what I would pick to put in this backpack for you so you had better get busy right now.” Sharon said, “I am not going anywhere you stupid cow.” Amy turned around and left the bedroom.

Amy went into the kitchen to get a few more things ready to go. Then she sat down at the dinning room table to have a cup of coffee. She was thinking about all that had happened today. What a day. It almost matched yesterday for weirdness and being upsetting. Sharon was lost in her own little world and refused to believe anything was really wrong. All afternoon she had kept saying the lights would be on soon. They could hear her moving around turning the lights on and off testing them. Every time her or Preston checked on Sharon she would refuse to talk to them except to say that she was not going anywhere with them. She called Amy a fat cow and Preston a girlfriend beater. Amy sighed. She was one hundred and twenty five pounds and the doctor had told her that she was a little under weight for her bone structure and height. She was not fat. But, next to Sharon she did feel like the big cow that Sharon called her. Was it her fault she had a tiny waist, hips and a butt that showed? She looked down at her stomach. It was flat. Her doctor did that fat test on her and said she was very healthy with little or no excess fat. In fact she could stand to gain five to seven pounds more. Her grandfather and uncle used to tell her she should be glad to have a figure like Marilyn Monroe and not be a bean pole like those other women were. That would not happen, that was for sure. She had been comparing her self to the straight up and down model figures since she was twelve and started to get curves. She always had wished that her mother had lived or had a grandmother or aunt or some women she could talk to about this kind of stuff. But really now that the world had ended she had better get her head on straight because that kind of petty thing didn’t mean anything anymore. It was just a hard thing to let go of. It was a bad habit to break. She had been doing it for seventeen years. She vowed that she would not give it another thought. It was time to go find out what Sharon had put in the backpack.

When Amy went into the hall she saw the backpack laying empty on the floor outside the door. She rolled her eyes and picked it up. She opened the bedroom door and went inside. She noticed that Sharon had finally eaten some of the fruit from the fruit salad that the cheese and crackers were gone. Amy walked over to the dresser and started opening drawers to go through Sharon’s stuff and pack for her. Sharon screeched, “Got your fat cow hands off my stuff.” Amy ignored her and continued to go through the clothes separating them. The next thing she new she went flying into the wall dropping the backpack. Her head bounced off the wall. She lay there stunned and dizzy. Sharon jumped on her and started pulling her hair screaming and slapping her, “You are not touching my stuff you fat cow. Get out of here. I will kill you. Don’t ever touch my things again.” Sharon slapped and scratched Amy a few more times in the face and on her arms leaving bloody scratches behind. Amy felt like a tornado had just hit her. She reached up and pushed Sharon off of her. She tried to stand up but her knees were too weak and her head was spinning. Sharon jumped on Amy’s back pulling her hair again and was trying to knock her head into the wall again. “That’s it,” Amy thought. Amy reached back and grabbed Sharon by the hair and lowered her upper body and threw her over her shoulders and head. Sharon landed with a loud thump on the floor. Amy crawled over to the wall and stood up on her shaky legs. Sharon was still lying on the floor trying to get a breath. Amy had knocked the breath out of her. Amy made her way over to the bedroom door and left. She walked a little steadier the farther she got down the hall. She went into the dinning room and grabbed the roll of duct tape. She made her way back to the bedroom door and went inside. Sharon was neatly putting all the clothes back into the drawers.

Sharon turned to look at her and saw the duct tape in Amy’s hand. Sharon’s eyes got big. She backed up to the bed. Amy just kept coming straight for her. Sharon fell back on the bed and rolled over to the side nearest the bedroom door. She then took off running but was going to have to get by Amy to get out of the bedroom. She plowed into Amy but Amy was ready this time. Amy grabbed Sharon and both of them swung around in a circle. Sharon was able to get her elbow up and elbowed Amy in the stomach to get away. Amy huffed out a breath but kept a hold on Sharon swinging her around again. They swung around by the bedroom door and Sharon shoved Amy at the door. Amy head banged into the door and she lost her hold on Sharon and went down to her knees. Sharon took off running down the hall. Amy stood up on shaky legs and raced after her. Amy rounded the hall into the dinning room and flew though it into the living room. Sharon was at the door trying to open it. Amy took a flying leap and tackled Sharon. They both went down to the floor in a jumble of legs and arms but Amy was on top. Amy grabbed Sharon’s head and banged it a few times on the floor and then pulled her hands up and ripped a strip of duct tape free. She grabbed Sharon’s arms and tried to tie them up but Sharon got one hand free and scratched Amy’s face again.

Amy drew back her arm and punched Sharon in the face. Then she grabbed Sharon’s arms and pulled them down and rolled her over on them after tying her hands together and pulled them down close to Sharon’s body. Amy then tore some more tape free on the roll and started tapping Sharon up. Sharon started screaming. Amy started rolling Sharon across the floor tapping her up into a tight bundle. When she got to Sharon’s feet she tore the tape off the roll. She then tore a strip off and taped up Sharon’s mouth. Sharon was laying squirming on the ground with her nostrils flaring out heavily breathing. Amy sat there for a few minutes to get her breathing under control and to rest. She finally stood up and pulled Sharon over to the corner and sat her up right. She got into Sharon’s face and said, “I warned you that I would duct tape you up if you got out of hand again.” Sharon’s eyes were very wide and glassy. She was shocked senseless. “Good,” Amy thought. She was just going to go over and sit down on the couch. She accessed the damage Sharon had done to her.

There was a knock on the door. Amy raced over as fast as she could and knocked once on the door. Three more knocks came from the other side. Amy said, “Who is it?” Preston said, “The bike guy.” She moved to open the door and hissed in pain. When she finally got the door open Preston quickly entered wheeling in a mountain bike. He took one look at her and did a double take. He noticed Sharon taped up in the corner. Amy was having a hard time getting the bar back down into place. Preston stepped forward and grabbed the bar and said quietly to Amy, “Let go. I’ve got it.” Amy let go and stepped aside. Preston secured the bar. Amy was slowly walking over to the couch. She sat down.

Preston went over and looked at Sharon sitting in the corner. Sharon was staring at him with shocked wide eyes. She kind of looked like she had last night when he had to be rough with her to get her to shut up. Except she now looked like she would have a real shiner tomorrow on her left eye. It looked red and puffing from being hit. He took a step back and really looked at her. Her arms were taped to her chest and all the way down to her waist. Her legs and feet were taped together snuggly. He wondered how Amy was able to get the tape so tight and snug. Sharon had to have been squirming around. Maybe she had knocked her out first. He turned and looked at Amy. She looked like she had just had a fight with a wildcat. She had scratches all over her face and arms and hands. Her hair was out of her braid and hanging all around her. She was leaning back on the couch with her eyes closed deeply breathing. She had smeared blood in her hair on the right side. He turned back around and looked at Sharon. Wow, he must have missed a he*l of a fight. He walked into the bathroom and gathered supplies up and got a basin of water and a wash cloth. He came back into the living room and everything was still just as he had left it. He shook his head at the scene before him. No one would believe it if he told them. Nope, no one would believe it. He went over to Amy and set everything down on the coffee table.

He gently touched her arm were there was no scratches to get her attention. She opened her eyes and looked at him. He noticed that her pupils seemed to be dilated more than they should be. He reached up and felt her head where her hair was streaked with blood. She hissed at him. That was some bump on the head. He wetted the wash cloth and gently patted the area. It came away with fresh blood on it. He cleaned the area and the blood out of her hair. Then applied light pressure to stop the bleeding. When it stopped he looked at it and decided that it would be fine. It was just a small scrapped area on the bump. Head wounds always bleed a lot. He applied triple antibiotic ointment to it. He knew he should cut the hair around the area but women were picky about their hair and after seeing what she been through and the shape she was in it was not something he wanted to approach right now. If necessary it would be done later. He then cleaned the cuts and applied more ointment and bandages to the areas of open cuts. He asked her if she was hurt anywhere else and she said softly, “No. Thank you. I was resting first then I would have cleaned them up.” He said, “That must have been some fight you were in.” She smiled and said, “Ya, you should have seen us rolling around the floor. You would have liked that scene. That is how I duct taped her up.”

Preston laughed at that. He would have really liked to see that happen. He gathered everything up and stood up and walked out of the room. Amy stared at Sharon. Even with all the aches and pains she had she still started to fill a bit sorry for her. She looked so pathetic sitting in the corner with her wide shocked eyes. She got up and had to wait a minute for the dizziness to pass. When it did she went into the kitchen. She opened up the freezer and took out the bag of frozen peas she had placed in there earlier in the day. She walked back to Sharon and laid the bag over her reddened eye. She then grabbed her comforter and placed it around her to keep her warm. She went back over to the couch and started fixing her braid. She started thinking about what the he*l they were going to have to do to get Sharon into her right frame of mind. Amy wasn’t sure she would be able to survive another attack like that one. Sharon had had murder in her wild hate filled eyes. If she wouldn’t have been able to get the upper hand Sharon would have killed her. There was no doubt in Amy’s mind about that fact at all. She thought maybe she should have just let Sharon go out the door. No, no she couldn’t have done that. That would be like letting a lamb out to run loose with a wolf pack waiting outside the pen for it. Besides she would have had to tell Preston she had failed at the job he had given her. Well, she still had failed to pack up Sharon’s stuff but she could go do that now. She slowly stood up and let the dizziness pass. She also felt slightly nauseous. She waited for it to pass too. She then walked out of the living room and made her way to the bedroom.

Amy walked into the bedroom and Preston was there looking at some of Sharon’s clothes and stuff. He turned and faced her. He said, “You should be resting. I think you have a slight concussion. Your pupils are a little dilated.” She said, “I said I would help Sharon pack up and I will do it.” He said, “Okay tell ya what. You sit down on the bed and tell me the items to put in the pack. Okay?” She smiled at him and said, “I’m not delicate you know. It will take a lot more than that to put me down for the count.” He smiled at her and said, “I don’t doubt that at all.” She said, “Hand me each stack of clothes and I will separate what to take and what not to.” They got busy working. In no time they were almost finished. Amy said, “We have to go into the bathroom for the rest of Sharon’s stuff. She would have a fit if we failed to bring some of her toiletries, you know.” They went into the bathroom and Amy looked through all of Sharon’s stuff. She looked at Preston and said, “I can’t believe one woman has this much stuff.” Preston shrugged his shoulders and said, “Have you looked in the closets yet?” Amy said, “No.” Amy picked out the most important items she thought Sharon would want and placed them in the bag one by one. Preston went on, “Both closets are filled to the brim with her clothes.” Amy looked at him and asked, “Where do you keep your hang up clothes at?” Preston said, “The hall closet.” Amy just stared at him and made a clicking noise with her tongue. Amy said, “You are way too nice to that she devil.” Preston laughed and said, “That is the first time you have called her a name other than her own.” Amy said, “That was because it wasn’t my place to but now it is because she attacked me. I tried being as nice to her as I could.” Amy turned and started to sway with dizziness. Preston caught her and said, “You are lying down on the couch and resting. No complaints. You need rest.” Amy said, “Okay, twist my arm. I won’t complain at all.” Preston led her to the couch. Amy lay down and Preston took the sheet and the other two blankets and pulled them over her. Amy shut her eyes to stop the room from swaying. It felt good to rest for a few minutes.

Amy woke up and had a he*l of a headache. She tried to get up but felt nauseous. She lay back down. Preston had the lantern on in the dinning room. She looked around and saw that the sheets and things were back up on the windows. She also noticed that her comforter was on top of the two blankets covering her up. She started to feel really bad that they hadn’t been able to leave when it got dark. She vaguely remembered Preston waking her up a few times. She wondered what time it was. She slowly started sitting up. It wasn’t as bad this time. Her stomach still was upset but not too bad. But boy, her head was really pounding in time with her heartbeats. The light was making the headache worse too. She was thirsty. She slowly got up to get a drink. She noticed that Sharon wasn’t in the corner any longer. I wonder what Preston did with her? She moved slowly to the kitchen. She grabbed a glass full of water and started drinking it. Preston walked into the kitchen and said, “Don’t drink that too fast or you’ll be throwing it right back up shortly.” Amy turned around and looked at him. He said, “How’s the head doing?” Amy said, “A heavy metal drummer is in there rehearsing for a concert.” Preston said, “That good, huh?” He held out his hand and said, “Take these. They should help. Then you need to go lay back down. Rest is the best thing for you right now.” Amy took the two tablets from him and placed them in her mouth swallowing them with another drink of water. She said, “Thank you. I’m sorry we couldn’t leave when it got dark. Do you know about what time it is?” Preston said, “It’s about 11:00 pm. Sharon wasn’t in any shape to leave either yet.” Amy swayed on her feet. Preston said, “Come on, let’s get you back to the couch.” He helped her walk back to the couch and sit down.

He said, “Can you tell me what happened this afternoon?” Amy told him all about what happened. He smiled and said, “Wow that was some fight. I was wondering because you had a lot more damage than Sharon has.” Amy said, “What can I say. I underestimated how tough she could be. She fought like a wet wildcat. She attacked me when I wasn’t looking. I wasn’t ready for that. After the first surprised attack I got her under control.” Preston chuckled and said, “Yes, you did. I had a he*l of a time cutting her out of the duct tape.” Amy said, “You undid her? Why?” Preston looked at Amy for awhile before answering. Then he said, “She was traumatized by it all and in shock. I cut her out of the tape and got her into bed. She hasn’t spoken a word to me or even looked at me either. I found her a little while ago going around the apartment trying the light switches. She saw me coming and ran back and got into bed and buried her head under the covers.” He sighed. Amy said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that to her but she crossed the line.” He said, “Don’t worry about that right now. We’ll have to leave tomorrow night. We can’t put if off anymore than that or we won’t have much of a chance to get away. You lie back down and rest and gain your strength so we can leave tomorrow.” He took a small flashlight and shined it into each of her eyes. She flinched and closed her eyes. He said, “Your pupils look normal now. Are you still nauseous?” She said, “Yes.” He said, “That should be gone by morning. Are you hungry?” She said, “A little.” He said, “We should get a couple of crackers and broth into you and see if it will stay down. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He got up and walked into the kitchen. She lay down and got under the covers. Her headache was getting more tolerable.

He came back in and Amy tried to sit up. He said, “Stay down and eat these crackers slowly. It will help your upset stomach.” He handed her the crackers. She took small bits and slowly swallowed them. He waited for about five minutes then said, “How does your stomach feel now?” She said, “A little better.” He said, “I’ll be right back.” He came back and brought a steaming cup and set it down on the coffee table. He said, “Scoot up just enough so you can slowly sip this.” She did so and he picked the cup up and handed it to her. She sipped the broth. After a couple of minutes she said, “Thank you for taking care of me. I appreciate it.” He smiled and said, “No problem. It’s the least I can do seeing that you’re in this condition because Sharon was my girlfriend and I left you alone with her. I had no idea she would do something like this.” She smiled and said, “Well, we both just didn’t think she had it in her.” She finished the broth and scooted back down and snuggled under the covers. He said, “Get some more sleep and you should be as good as new in the morning. How are the scratches?” She said, “They feel stiff and sore.” He said, “We’ll change the bandages tomorrow and check them.” He walked out of the living room. She closed her eyes.

It was just getting light out when Amy opened her eyes. She looked around and saw Preston asleep in his sleeping bag. She stretched and flinched at the stiffness and soreness that seemed was everywhere on her body. She got up and put coffee on. She went into the bathroom and got cleaned up and put clean clothes on. There was nothing like washing your face and body with icy water to wake you up. The coffee was done. She poured a cup and sat at the dinning room table. She felt really good. She just had a small headache and a tender sore spot on her head. She was clear headed. She had felt so groggy last night. It had been really nice to have someone to take care of her. She wondered what this day would bring. Ever since the EMP had hit it had been nothing but one thing after another happening. She sure hoped they would be able to leave today. She heard Preston stirring in the living room.

He came into the dinning room running really fast and looked at her then headed on through down the hallway. He came back and said, “The door was unbarred and Sharon is gone.” She said, “What? Where would she go?” He said, “I don’t know.” She said, “When could she have left?” He said, “I don’t know that either. I must have slept harder then I thought I would. I didn’t hear her open the door.” He walked over to the window and looked to see if he could see Sharon anywhere. He turned to her and said, “I’m going to go get us ready to leave. If someone grabs her and makes her talk about where she came from and they find out that we have food, water and lights they will be coming to take it from us. We’ll take the bikes and our packs and we’ll go out in the woods over there.” He pointed to a woody area then continued, “We’ll wait and see if she comes back or if anyone has forced her to tell them we are here.” She looked at him seriously and said, “And then what?” He said, “If she doesn’t come back we will just head out without her. I don’t even know where we could look for her or which way she went. If she comes back with someone we will have to play that one by ear and decided what to do and what the situation is.” He turned and walked down the hall. She went and got ready to leave.

Sharon lay in bed for about an hour after she heard Preston settle down and turn off the lantern. She silently creped out a few times to make sure they both was still asleep. She put her good wool winter coat, gloves and hat on. She walked slowly and quietly into the living room and went to the door. She took a long time opening the door so she wouldn’t make any noise. She made her way slowly out of the apartment building. It was so very dark out there. She felt her pocket to make sure she had the little flashlight that Preston kept in the bedside drawer. She was going to need it to see the street signs. She had decided after Preston had cut her out of the duct tape that she wasn’t staying there anymore with them two crazy people. They were trying to kill her. At least that bit*h would. She just knew it. How dare Preston leave her alone with that bit*h and go off to who knows where while she had to fight for her life. Her whole world had turned upside down. She still couldn’t believe that he would believe that bit*h over her. That had never happened to her before. He had not been very nice either to her.

She was going over to her Cousin Monica’s house to wait it out until the power came back on. Then she would have them both arrested at the same time for the horrible things they did to her. How dare they treat her this way? Well, she would show them just as soon as the power came back on. She had been checking the phone and the light switches all day and night because she was calling the police as soon as the power came back on. She made her way along the highway. She had a long ways to go. Monica lived about eight miles away. She made sure to wear her new jogging shoes too so her feet wouldn’t hurt too bad after remembering the horrible walk home she had to do. It was creepy out here. You could see fires burning all over the place in the distance. The cars were just sitting there. Some of them with the doors open. She had to keep stopping to rest. Boy this walking stuff was really hard. She took out of her pocket the bottle of water she had and took a drink from it. She recapped it and placed it back in her pocket and started walking again. The small bag she carried was getting very heavy. She was still pissed at that fat cow bit*h and Preston because she couldn’t find some of her makeup or her good hair brush. God only knew what they had done with her stuff. That cow bit*h probably stole them and Preston let her do it. Who do they think they were? Nobody treats her like that and gets away with it. Yup, just as soon as the power comes back on they were going to jail and out of her life for good. Good riddance. No one treats her like that. She still couldn’t believe that cow bit*h had hit her and given her a black eye and tied her up. Half her face was swollen up and she couldn’t even open her eye on that side of her face. It hurt too.

Sharon looked around and remembered she had to go up an overpass to get the Monica’s house. It looked different walking then it did when you were driving. It was pretty high up too. She came to an intersection and got her small flashlight out to read the street sign. She must have made a wrong turn back there. She was on the wrong road. She walked back and looked around and went the right way. She kept stumbling over things on the sidewalk. She had to stop to rest more often now. She was so tired. She could see the sun was rising. It was scary out here. She knew she had to keep going. She could hear weird scuttling sounds and a few times she thought she heard footsteps. She had hid in a doorway for awhile and the sounds went away. She was walking passed an alley when a hand reached out and grabbed her. She screamed. She felt her self being thrown into the wall of the alley. She heard laughter.

Preston and Amy got everything together they were taking. Preston said, “I’m going to take this bike over to where we are spending the day. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Then we’ll go down in storage and get the other two bikes and take them over too.” Amy nodded her head at him. He looked at her and said, “Lock up and wait for my knock.” Amy walked to the door and she said, “Be careful. Watch out for all the little zombies.” He smiled and nodded his head as he stepped into the hall. Amy barred the door. She went into the kitchen to check one more time for anything they said they were bringing that might have been left out from packing the backpacks by mistake. She sighed deeply as she went back into the living room and watched the wooded area for Preston out of the window. It was a scary thing happening. They were taking off into the wild blue yonder together and just leaving everything behind. She wondered how long it would really take them to get to the retreat. What would the retreat be like? Would his friends there like her? She was more worried about that than anything else. She closed her eyes and sighed. Take one day at a time and deal with it before worrying about what the next day after that would bring. Deal with one problem at a time, too. There will be a lot of problems on this trip to get through. What had Sharon been thinking taking off like that? If she thought being tied up with duct tape was bad what in the he*l would she think of what the little zombies would do to her? There was a soft knock on the door. Amy turned and walked to the door.

Sharon woke up feeling really cold and hearing more laughing. Someone poked her. She looked over and one guy was going through her bag throwing stuff all over the place. She tried to get up and realized someone was holding her down. She yelled at them, “Get your hands off my stuff.” They laughed harder. She struggled to get up and couldn’t do anything but wiggle around some. One of them said, “She doesn’t have nothing good in here. There’s no food or water.” The other one was holding the bottle of water she had had in her pocket in the hand that wasn’t holding her down. They both took a drink from it. Sharon kept squirming around trying to get free from the guy holding her down. She was saying over and over, “Get your hands off me.” Finally the one that had been going through her stuff looked over at her and said, “Where did you get the water?” Sharon just said, “Get your hands off of me.” He reached out and hit her in the face on the side that was already bruised. Sharon screamed. He said, “Answer me right now. Where did you get this water?” Sharon was really trying hard to get away now. She was scratching and kicking as hard as she could. The same one reached over and grabbed her throat and yanked her up to where he was face to face with her and said, “Tell me where you got the water from?” She started crying. He shook her and said, “Tell me where this water came from?” She barely could get a word out. She said, “My apartment.” He said, “Do you have more water there?” She tried to shake her head yes but could barely move at all. She was trembling in terror at the look in his eyes. He tossed her back on the ground and said, “Where do you live?” She said, “24012 Maplewood Drive.” He said, “What else do you have at your apartment?” She said, “Some food and a lantern.” He stood up and dragged her up to her feet and said, “Let’s go. Lead the way.” They both started laughing. One reached out and pushed her. She stumbled and fell to the ground. He yanked her up again and said, “Get up and get moving.”

Amy said, “Who is it?” Preston said, “It’s me.” Amy said, “Me, who?” Preston said, “Very funny.” Amy was already opening up the door. He stepped into the living room. He looked around and said, “Let’s go.” Amy picked up the backpack and got the rest of her things and they walked out of the apartment. Preston led the way down to the storage area. He went over and unlocked his storage space and brought the bikes out one by one. They walked them over to the door and Preston looked around and said, “It’s clear. Follow me.” Amy walked closely behind him steering Sharon’s bike. He would stop behind things or beside them and look around and then go on. When they got across the road and into the wooded area Amy saw where Preston had the other bike at. It was hidden in a little space underneath some trees. Preston motioned her to lean the bike by a tree. He took the saddle bags and secured them to the bikes. He then pulled a tarp and put it on the ground then opened up two sleeping bags and indicated for her to sit down on one. He sat down on the other one. He said to her, “We will stay here today and wait to see if Sharon comes back. We will only wait until dark for her. Then we leave.” Amy got them a couple of sandwiches and poured them some coffee out of the thermos she had filled for them. They sat quietly and ate their breakfast.

Amy was looking at his bike now that it was a little lighter out and she could see things better. She asked, “What is that on your bike?” He had rigged up a mount for his bike. It was a swivel that held a 20 gauge semi auto Charley Daley shotgun. He had sawed off the stock so it had a pistol handle and sawed off the barrel down to fifteen inches. He said, “That’s a shotgun. It will cover any head on assault we run into.” He held up an AR-15 and said, “I will carry this on my back.” He laid the AR-15 back down and said while patting his 45 on his side, “And I have my trusty 45 on my side.” Amy said, “Cool.” She indicated the shotgun on the bike and asked, “How did you get it up there like that?” He said, “I used the swivel part from a boat oar. I modified it and locked it down. It worked like a champ. I took a bike air pump clip design to snap and hold an air pump on the bike frame and modified it to hold the handle of the gun. It worked really well. I simply pull up and the gun it will be free to swivel around where I need it to point to.” Amy smiled at him and said, “Wow, that’s going to work great. Good thinking.” He smiled back and said, “Thank you. We should get as much rest as we possibly can today while were waiting. We don’t know how long before we will have to go until we can find a safe place to stop for the day at after we leave here tonight. Later this afternoon we will go over a little gun safety and you can practice some pretending to shoot. I have a 9mm hipoint with a shoulder hostler and two extra magazines that you can carry for personal defense.” She said, “Okay.” She thought for awhile and then asked, “How long do you think it will take us to get there?” He said, “We should be able to cover about twenty miles a night. The trip is going to take ten days. Maybe more, it will depend on what we run into between here and there.” They sat in silence deep in their own thoughts.

Amy had practiced with the handgun all afternoon. She felt comfortable with it now. She didn’t know if she would hit anything she was shooting at or not but she would give it her best effort. They took turns laying down and having a nap. The other one would stay up and keep a look out for anyone coming near them and to keep an eye out for Sharon. When the sun started to set they got everything ready to leave. They both kept an eye out for Sharon. When it got dark Preston sighed and said, “Okay it’s time to go.” Amy looked at him and said, “Are you sure you don’t want to wait a little longer to see if she shows up?” Preston said, “No, we have waited long enough. I don’t think she is coming back at all.” They left the other bike and Sharon’s backpack right there. Preston had Amy take Sharon’s bike because he had equipped the bikes with tubeless airless tires. www.airfreetires.com  That reduced the weight they had to carry. No need to carry patches and air pumps. They climbed on the bikes and started riding. Preston led the way and Amy followed him.

It was about a half hour after dark when Sharon and the two guys finally made it to the apartment building. They pushed Sharon up the stairs. She was freezing. She had lost her hat on one of her many falls to the ground she had taken. She hadn’t even realized it. She had seen so much today that made her climb inside her self and refuse to see anything that was out there. The smell of rotting meat was everywhere. She stopped at the apartment door and fumbled to get her keys out of her pocket. Her hands were cold and her palms were bloody from the pavement. She had lost her gloves too. She didn’t remember when. The one guy standing behind her had a gun pushed into her back. She was able to finally get the door opened. No one was there. They went inside. The guys commented on what a nice place it was. They walked around and saw all the water and searched the cupboards for food. One of them grabbed a bottle of wine and was eating some cheese as he walked around looking at everything. Sharon was still standing in the middle of the living room. The two guys came back and looked at Sharon and said, “Now we can party. We have everything we need. Food, water, wine and a woman to entertain us.” The one guy set his bottle of wine down and went over to Sharon taking her coat off and whispered in her ear, “Its party time.”

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