Pandemic: The Beginning (Pandemic Book One) Read online

  Jessica looked thoughtful. “What if we spray some disinfectant on the boxes?”

  “Do you really think that would kill the virus?” Dylan asked.

  Looking grim, Jessica shrugged. “I don’t know. Or we can wait until tomorrow to bring them in.”

  “And risk someone stealing them off of our porch?” Matt shook his head. They had important supplies in those boxes. He wasn’t about to risk someone taking them. The way things were going, he was becoming more convinced by the minute that all the things he’d bought two days earlier plus the items on their porch would become vital. Especially as the news reported increasing fatality rates.

  Jessica sighed, clearly stressed by all that was happening. “What do you want to do?”

  That’s when Matt got an idea. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.” He went out to their RV which was stored in the side yard, took a small box out of the storage area, and came back into the house. He held up the box of disposable gloves that he used when emptying the RV’s waste tanks. “Problem solved.”

  “What are you gonna do?” Dylan asked, his face bright with interest.

  Matt put on a pair of the blue disposable gloves and a face mask, then he went to the laundry room where the cleaning supplies were stored. He took out a spray bottle of disinfectant and carried it back to where his family waited.

  “I got this,” he said with a grin. He went into the garage and pressed the opener. Once the garage had rumbled open, he went to the front porch, sprayed a generous mist of disinfectant over the boxes that sat on the porch, then carried them one by one—careful to hold the boxes away from his body—into the garage. When he was done, he tossed the gloves in the trash, closed the garage, and went inside where he washed his hands with soapy water before putting the face mask aside and turning to his family with a triumphant smile. “We’ll leave them in the garage for at least twenty-four hours.”

  “Dad,” Dylan said with an ear-splitting grin, “you’re a genius.”

  “That was pretty smart,” Kayla said.

  Jessica wrapped her arms around him. “I knew I married you for more than your good looks.”

  Enjoying the accolades from his family, he laughed.

  Chapter 6

  Jessica

  Jessica hadn’t heard back from Rochelle. She’d made several other attempts throughout the day to call her, but each time the call had gone straight to voice mail. Concerned, but not knowing what to do, she hoped Rochelle would finally get in touch with her and tell her she was okay.

  That evening as Jessica was making dinner, Kayla came into the kitchen. “Mom?”

  “Hi, honey.” She put the casserole in the oven and set the timer for thirty minutes.

  “Mom. I don’t know what to do.”

  She turned to face her. “About what?”

  Kayla sighed. “Brooke keeps asking me if I can come over.”

  “No.” The words left Jessica’s mouth without thought.

  Eyes widening at Jessica’s tone, Kayla said, “I know I can’t go over there, but what should I tell her? I mean, her mom died and now her dad’s sick.”

  Thoughts of Rochelle, sick the night before, filled her mind. “Oh no.”

  Her expression must have broadcast her worry, because tears filled Kayla’s eyes. “He’s going to die, isn’t he?”

  Jessica rushed to Kayla and put her arms around her. “Not necessarily, sweetheart. Not everyone who gets sick dies.” She desperately hoped that was right.

  Kayla stepped back, her eyes wet and her eyebrows tugging together. “Yes, they do. I read it online.”

  Had the fatality rate climbed higher? “Where did you read that?”

  Kayla took her phone out of her pocket, tapped something into the screen, then showed it to Jessica, who read the headline: Fatality rate skyrockets to ninety-five percent.

  Terror slammed through her. Pressing a hand to her chest, she found it hard to catch her breath. She had to talk to Matt, had to discuss what to do. But first she needed to comfort Kayla.

  She put an arm around Kayla’s shoulder as they both stared at the ominous words. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

  “Everyone’s going to die, aren’t they? Even us.”

  Jessica met Kayla’s gaze. “No, no, no. That’s why we’ve quarantined ourselves. To stay healthy. To stay alive.”

  Kayla’s forehead creased like she didn’t quite believe her. “I’m gonna call Brooke.”

  Jessica loved Kayla’s compassion. “Good idea. She needs all the support you can give her.”

  The moment Kayla cleared the room, Jessica hustled into Matt’s office. It looked like he was deep into coding, and though she didn’t want to interrupt him when he was in the flow, this couldn’t wait. “I have some news.”

  He spun his chair to face her, his expression guarded. “Bad news?”

  Jessica frowned. “That’s all we seem to have lately.”

  “What is it?”

  “Brooke’s dad is sick now.”

  Matt’s forehead furrowed. “Oh no.”

  “Yeah. Evidently the fatality rate is now ninety-five percent.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “What?”

  She gave him the web address for the site Kayla had shown her and they looked it up together. With a more thorough read, the news was even worse than Jessica had at first realized. Not only had the fatality rate skyrocketed, but the virus was spreading extremely fast.

  Matt turned to her, his expression sober. “You realize what this means, don’t you?”

  A million thoughts flew through Jessica’s mind but she didn’t want to give voice to a single one of them. Still, she had to know what Matt was thinking. “What?”

  “This thing could lead to collapse.”

  She knew what he was saying but she didn’t want to accept it. “What kind of collapse? What do you mean?”

  His face was grim. “Total societal collapse.”

  “From the flu? No.” She shook her head in denial. “No. That can’t happen, Matt. Why are you saying that?”

  “Think about it, Jess.” He held up his hand and touched a finger. “If enough people die, who’s going to deliver food to the stores?” He touched a second finger and then a third. “Who’s going to run the water treatment facilities? The sewage treatment facilities?” He touched a fourth. “Who’s going to keep the electrical grid going?”

  Panic, powerful and swift, crashed over her. How could a little flu bug lead to all of that? “But not everyone is getting sick.”

  Matt gazed at her. “Do you think anyone who’s healthy is going to want to go to work?” He gestured to the programming code on his computer screen to emphasize his point. “I’m not.”

  “Can’t they work from home too?”

  He tilted his head like he didn’t want to point out the obvious because it was such a horrible truth but he had no choice. “There are only so many people who know how to run the utility companies and it’s unlikely all of them will survive this. And those who do probably have to be at the facility to do their job.” He frowned. “Then there are the truck drivers who deliver food to the stores. Do you think those who survive would want to be out among the sick? And you know stores only have a few days’ worth of food in stock.” Matt shook his head, his lips lifting in a grim smile. “Good thing we stocked up when we did. If there’s so much as a single bottle of ketchup on the shelves at this point, I’d be shocked.”

  As it dawned on Jessica how this had the potential to turn into an absolute nightmare, she felt her face pale. “How bad do you think it’s going to get?” Her voice was soft, like if she didn’t say it very loud, it might not happen.

  Matt grimaced. “We haven’t even discussed law enforcement.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Those officers have families of their own. Don’t you think they’ll want to protect them from all the chaos? Sure, there might be a few out there trying to uphold the law, but how long do you think that will last?”

>   “You’re really scaring me, Matt.”

  He placed his hand on her knee. “We need to be prepared for the worst.” He gazed at her. “That includes the kids.”

  Jessica thought about her kids and how their lives were about to change. If they survived the flu, that is.

  The thought horrified her.

  The timer went off in the kitchen. Glad for an excuse to end this disturbing conversation, she stood. “Dinner’s ready.”

  Chapter 7

  Matt

  Matt followed Jessica into the kitchen, his mind on all the horrible things he’d told her. He deeply hoped society would make it through, but he feared a collapse was inevitable.

  “Mom, Dad,” Dylan said from the family room. “Come see this.” His tone was laced with unease.

  “What is it?” Matt asked, walking into the family room and standing behind the couch where Dylan was sitting.

  Dylan pointed to the TV and turned up the volume. Matt’s eyes went to the flat screen mounted on the wall. It was breaking news. The anchor, a woman who was on every night, was calmly sharing the latest information on the flu with a video showing people, some of them wearing earloop masks, fighting over nearly empty shelves at grocery stores. The video changed from one location to another, covering cities in multiple states, but the story was the same over and over.

  “Hospitals are full,” the anchor stated, “so if you have symptoms, the best place for you and your loved ones is at home.”

  “They don’t want people to spread it,” Dylan said, then he looked at Matt. “Right?”

  Matt set a hand on Dylan’s shoulder. “Yeah. I think you’re right.”

  “If anyone in your home has died, authorities ask that you mark your house by painting a red X on your front door or putting a red sheet of paper in your front window. They also ask that you wrap any dead bodies in a sheet until the authorities can collect them.”

  Repelled at the idea, Matt stared at the TV.

  “Dinner’s ready,” Jessica called from the nearby kitchen.

  Matt turned and looked at her. Anxiety was etched on her face.

  “It’s ready,” she said again, as if feeding their family was the only thing she could handle just then.

  “Go get your sister,” Matt told Dylan. Once Dylan had left the room, Matt turned off the TV then went into the kitchen. “You saw the news?”

  Jessica nodded, but kept her gaze focused on the salad she was tossing. “Uh-huh.”

  A few minutes later the four of them sat around the dining room table, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

  “Brooke said her dad…” Kayla’s voice broke. “She said he looks like her mom did right before she died.” Tears overflowed Kayla’s lashes. “She’s going to be an orphan.” Kayla glanced at Dylan. “She doesn’t even have any brothers or sisters. It’s just her.”

  Jessica leapt to her feet and raced to Kayla’s side, wrapping her arms around her. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

  Matt watched helplessly as Kayla sobbed and Jessica comforted her. After a moment he went to them and put his arms around them both. After several minutes Kayla calmed and they went back to their seats, but no one seemed to be hungry. Even Dylan, who usually ate whatever was placed in front of him.

  Matt didn’t want to add to everyone’s distress, but he needed to have a serious talk with his family. “Family meeting after dinner.” His tone was grim.

  Everyone looked at him with furrowed brows.

  Compressing his lips, he met all of their gazes. “I know you might not be all that hungry right now, but we need to eat while we can.”

  “Matt,” Jessica started, but he shook his head. He wasn’t ready to discuss this until after dinner.

  A soft sigh slipped from Jessica’s lips, but he ignored it and focused on finishing every bite on his plate.

  After the dinner dishes were cleaned up, the family gathered in the family room, their faces anxious. Jessica sat next to Matt on the love seat, Kayla and Dylan sat on the couch.

  Matt looked at the faces of his children. Kayla was barely old enough to drive and Dylan was just starting to get zits. Still so young, but it was his responsibility to make sure they were as prepared as possible. “As you’ve seen for yourselves, things have changed. Drastically.”

  Tears filled Kayla’s eyes, but Matt could tell she was doing her best to keep her emotions in check.

  “We’ve done a few things to prepare,” he said, “but there are things you need to know.” He turned to Jessica, whose eyebrows had tugged together. He knew she had to be thinking about their conversation before dinner. Would it be too much to share his fears with his children? Maybe so. He could give them hints without going into too much detail though. Enough to prepare them without scaring them to death.

  “What?” Dylan asked.

  Matt turned his attention back to the kids. “If things don’t change, if people keep,” he looked at Kayla, “dying...well, things are going to get rough.”

  “I already know,” Dylan said.

  Matt narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve seen The Walking Dead, Dad. I know what can happen.”

  “This isn’t like that.”

  Dylan snorted a laugh. “Right. No zombies.”

  “It’s not funny,” Kayla said as she gave her brother a shove.

  He turned to her, his face somber and his voice gentle. “I know.”

  Kayla’s lips lifted in a tiny smile, like she knew her brother hadn’t meant any harm.

  Deciding to let the kids steer the conversation, Matt asked, “What do you think is going to happen, Dylan?”

  Dylan glanced at Kayla, then he faced Matt and Jessica. “A lot of people are going to die.” He bit his lip. “Maybe even us.”

  “We’re doing everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Matt assured him.

  “I know,” he said, “but it’s possible.”

  Matt couldn’t argue with that. Still, he wanted to reassure him. “As you know, we’ve self-quarantined and we’ll do our best to stay safe until this flu has run its course.”

  “Will it?” Kayla asked. “Run its course, I mean.”

  This wasn’t something Matt could be sure of, but he drew on past history. “There have been pandemics before and they always come to an end. Eventually.”

  “But how long will it take?” Kayla persisted.

  Matt turned to Jessica as if she would have an answer. She looked back at him, then she pulled out her phone.

  “Let’s look it up,” she said, her voice businesslike. She read her screen then looked at him and the kids. “Past pandemics have taken a few weeks to several months to run their course.”

  “Are you saying we have to stay locked in our house for months?” Kayla asked, her face incredulous.

  “Let’s hope not,” Matt said, glad that was her main concern.

  “That’s not the biggest problem,” Dylan said.

  And here we go.

  Kayla turned to her brother. “Okay. What’s the biggest problem? Because I don’t think I can stand staring at your face for months.”

  Dylan’s eyebrows shot up like he was offended, then he shook his head like his sister was an idiot. “You’ll be lucky if that’s your biggest problem.” He smiled and ran his fingers through his hair. “Besides, I’m one handsome guy.”

  Kayla snorted and turned away. “Yeah, right.”

  Dylan looked slightly hurt. “I am.”

  “Yes you are,” Jessica said.

  Dylan grinned.

  Glad his kids still had a sense of humor, Matt smiled. “Back to the subject at hand.” He looked at the kids. “Tell me what you think we’re in for.”

  “Worst case scenario,” Dylan said, “no food, no water, no power, no cops.”

  That about covers it.

  Kayla’s gaze shot to Matt, her eyes wide. “Is that true?”

  “We don’t know if that’s what will happen,” Jessica said befo
re Matt had a chance to respond.

  “But what if it does?” Kayla’s forehead was creased like she had no doubt that’s exactly what would happen.

  “That’s why we’re having this meeting,” Matt said with a glance at Jessica, who stared at him like she hoped he wouldn’t go there. He turned to Kayla and Dylan. “That’s why I wanted you to eat your dinner whether you were hungry at that moment or not. We have a good supply of food and we have a decent supply of water, but I think it would be a good idea to fill all of our pitchers with water as well. Plus, I’ll fill the RV’s fresh water tank.”

  Kayla’s phone chimed a text. She glanced at the screen, then her eyes went wide and she cried, “No!”

  “What’s wrong?” Matt asked.

  Kayla looked at him, her face filled with shock. “Brooke’s dad died.”

  Chapter 8

  Jessica

  Jessica had feared that Brooke’s father wouldn’t make it, that it was inevitable he would die, but she’d held out hope nonetheless. Now, that hope was gone. She stood from the love seat and went to Kayla, wrapping her arms around her as Kayla sobbed.

  “Brooke’s an orphan,” Kayla moaned. “An actual orphan. Her mom and dad are dead. We’re all gonna die!” The hysteria in her voice rose with each sentence and all Jessica could do was hold her and murmur that everything would be all right.

  “No it won’t,” Kayla said as she pushed Jessica away. “Nothing will ever be all right. Not anymore.”

  Kayla was completely right. Jessica didn’t see any point in arguing against what they all knew to be true. All she could do was stay by Kayla’s side with her arm around her shoulder.

  “I don’t want to talk anymore,” Kayla whispered.

  “I think we’ve done enough talking for one night,” Matt said, much to Jessica’s relief.

  They put on a favorite movie, a comedy from years past, but there was very little laughter as the four of them stared at the TV.