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.One wrong decision was all it seemed to take to doom them all.“Are you certain?” he said.The boils on the old man’s face had worsened.“Our grandchildren are hungry too,” the old woman, Patricia, answered.“We wouldn’t put them in danger if we weren’t sure.”“Fine,” Jess said.“We’re leaving in two minutes.Grab what you want and let’s go.”He opened one of the large refrigerators, took two bottles of water, slid them into his coat pockets and walked out.He motioned to the others in the shop and got in the car.The dog had to go with the older couple but was clearly okay with it.Hoover was wagging his tail in the very back, licking the young boy’s salted dangling hand over the back of the seat.They drove away through the ash-covered street, slowly navigating around abandoned cars pot-marked throughout the parking lot back to the van.None of them noticed that there was movement in their wake, things roused by the sound of life in a barren landscape.In the back of the van too, came the sounds of rustling, then banging.“I know it’s going to be weird hearing your mother back there but she’s okay.Even though she’s sick, she’s still with us.”The old man pulled up alongside them, rolled the window down and leaned his head out.“Where are we going?”“Their mother’s parents live on the east end of the province.There’s a solid emergency bunker built below ground which I would love to have handy in case the you-know-what ever hits the fan again.“Sounds good.You think we’ll have enough gas?”“Probably not - but hopefully we’ll get lucky on the way.”The old man coughed into his hand.He looked down at his palm and they both saw some blood there.He grabbed a tissue from the middle console and wiped it away.“Well, after you,” the old man said.It was a tiring route.Each of them were on guard, looking out their particular window for sources of danger.Michael was breathing on his window and drawing shapes in the frost that was created from the warmth of his breath and the cold air outside.“Now I see why you almost failed art,” Dustin said.“It was because of my teacher! She’s an old woman and thinks that everything good has to be in charcoal or watercolour.”Michael flicked the back of his brother’s ear with a finger.“Ow! You dumb jock!”“Clueless dork!”“Shut up! Why don’t you go back to staring out the window and think about pigskin some more.”“I’m bored.Don’t you have some stuff in your jacket pocket I can look at? There must be a comic book you’re hiding somewhere.”“I wish,” said Dustin.“I’d be reading it right now.”“Can’t we play a game or something? Remember that time we drove down to Disney Land and we started counting licence plates to make a game out of it?”“I can’t see any of the licence plates.It’s too dark.”“Okay, hold on.How about we count dead people or something.How many zombies can you spot.You call it out first, you get a point for it.If one is missing a limb, you get an extra point.”“That’s kind of gross,” Jess said.The other car was starting to stray behind them.Jess had to purposely slow himself down to make sure that they didn’t lose the old couple and the young kids.It wasn’t long before his fingers felt strained from gripping the steering wheel too tightly.He had decided to avoid the highways, travelling along small, unknown roads that had less abandoned vehicles in the way.And although highways were often the quickest way to get around in a big city, he knew that if they ran into problems, he would potentially end up having to backtrack a significant distance to get around the obstruction.Such barriers were everywhere on the larger roads and highways.Thus, he took the main road that travelled alongside the lake.There were enough side roads and tributaries that he was able to avoid most of the cars that had stalled in the middle of the asphalt track.Every so often they would pass through a mid-sized town that had familiar stores.Some had their big windows broken but many still looked largely intact.The boys started jumping up and down when they passed a big sign that indicated they were close to a McDonalds.“Please dad, can we?” Dustin said.Jess looked over at Michael who enthusiastically nodded his head.He pulled the van over to the side of the road near the restaurant and waited for the other car to come up beside him.“They’re begging me to go in,” Jess said.“It certainly would be a nice taste of the familiar,” the old man said.“We’re a bit hungry too.”Jess went ahead alone to make sure that it was safe.The doors were open and some garbage littered the floors inside but it seemed largely intact and empty.“Come on, it looks safe.”A basket of happy meal toys were beneath the counter and Jess threw them on a nearby table.The kids, older and younger, all pounced on the things like it was food.Further back in the kitchen they found a large freezer with partially defrosted burger patties inside.Jess smelled them, pulled one apart with his fingers and said: “I think these are edible, if we can just find a way to cook them.”He remembered the lighters and candles that he had taken from the home store and went back to the van to get them.“This might take a while but I think it will work.”They let the kids eat the first burgers.They weren’t fantastic offerings, since Jess had to overcook them to make sure that they weren’t going to get sick but each of them hungrily gobbled them down without complaint.The best find may have been the cool pies he found in another refrigerator.Apple and blueberry.Jess swallowed four of them himself until he felt like he couldn’t eat another bite.“How’s your leg?” said Patricia.“Hurt’s a little.” George said.“And your stomach?”“Feels like I’ve swallowed a bowling ball.”Jess watched as Patricia rubbed his shoulder.“It’s not 21, but it’s not bad considering.”They sat in two small tables.The old couple’s grandchildren sat alongside Dustin and Michael.The youngsters all played with the collection of toy cars and figurines garnered from the loot pile.Patricia had her silver hair pulled back into a bun.Her face was smooth, apart from the corners of her eyes and mouth, where little lines arched outwards like weathered cracks in concrete.Her eyes seemed fixated on something far off in the distance and when she spoke, still looking ahead, she made Jess jump slightly.“Thank you for letting us come with you,” she said.Jess turned his gaze down to his hands.His skin was dry and his fingers ached.“Don’t thank me yet,” Jess said.“I just hope we’re doing the right thing.You might have been better off staying back at the store.”Jess could see out of the corner of his eye that Patricia was now looking at him intently.A hand fell upon his arm.“We would have run out of food eventually.We love those kids, but we’re not young.I can’t keep up with you.”“That doesn’t mean that I know what I’m doing and that you should follow me blindly.I just, I react.That’s what I do.It’s some weird fatherly reaction I suppose.You get used to having to react fast.But in no way does that mean that I’m reacting in the right way.I haven’t a clue what I’m doing.”“That’s what raising children is all about,” Patricia said.“You make your decisions based on what you think is right and you pray you did the right thing.From what I see of those two boys back there, you’ve been doing a good job.”“That’s nice of you to say,” Jess said.“Can you keep an eye on them for a few minutes? 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.One wrong decision was all it seemed to take to doom them all.“Are you certain?” he said.The boils on the old man’s face had worsened.“Our grandchildren are hungry too,” the old woman, Patricia, answered.“We wouldn’t put them in danger if we weren’t sure.”“Fine,” Jess said.“We’re leaving in two minutes.Grab what you want and let’s go.”He opened one of the large refrigerators, took two bottles of water, slid them into his coat pockets and walked out.He motioned to the others in the shop and got in the car.The dog had to go with the older couple but was clearly okay with it.Hoover was wagging his tail in the very back, licking the young boy’s salted dangling hand over the back of the seat.They drove away through the ash-covered street, slowly navigating around abandoned cars pot-marked throughout the parking lot back to the van.None of them noticed that there was movement in their wake, things roused by the sound of life in a barren landscape.In the back of the van too, came the sounds of rustling, then banging.“I know it’s going to be weird hearing your mother back there but she’s okay.Even though she’s sick, she’s still with us.”The old man pulled up alongside them, rolled the window down and leaned his head out.“Where are we going?”“Their mother’s parents live on the east end of the province.There’s a solid emergency bunker built below ground which I would love to have handy in case the you-know-what ever hits the fan again.“Sounds good.You think we’ll have enough gas?”“Probably not - but hopefully we’ll get lucky on the way.”The old man coughed into his hand.He looked down at his palm and they both saw some blood there.He grabbed a tissue from the middle console and wiped it away.“Well, after you,” the old man said.It was a tiring route.Each of them were on guard, looking out their particular window for sources of danger.Michael was breathing on his window and drawing shapes in the frost that was created from the warmth of his breath and the cold air outside.“Now I see why you almost failed art,” Dustin said.“It was because of my teacher! She’s an old woman and thinks that everything good has to be in charcoal or watercolour.”Michael flicked the back of his brother’s ear with a finger.“Ow! You dumb jock!”“Clueless dork!”“Shut up! Why don’t you go back to staring out the window and think about pigskin some more.”“I’m bored.Don’t you have some stuff in your jacket pocket I can look at? There must be a comic book you’re hiding somewhere.”“I wish,” said Dustin.“I’d be reading it right now.”“Can’t we play a game or something? Remember that time we drove down to Disney Land and we started counting licence plates to make a game out of it?”“I can’t see any of the licence plates.It’s too dark.”“Okay, hold on.How about we count dead people or something.How many zombies can you spot.You call it out first, you get a point for it.If one is missing a limb, you get an extra point.”“That’s kind of gross,” Jess said.The other car was starting to stray behind them.Jess had to purposely slow himself down to make sure that they didn’t lose the old couple and the young kids.It wasn’t long before his fingers felt strained from gripping the steering wheel too tightly.He had decided to avoid the highways, travelling along small, unknown roads that had less abandoned vehicles in the way.And although highways were often the quickest way to get around in a big city, he knew that if they ran into problems, he would potentially end up having to backtrack a significant distance to get around the obstruction.Such barriers were everywhere on the larger roads and highways.Thus, he took the main road that travelled alongside the lake.There were enough side roads and tributaries that he was able to avoid most of the cars that had stalled in the middle of the asphalt track.Every so often they would pass through a mid-sized town that had familiar stores.Some had their big windows broken but many still looked largely intact.The boys started jumping up and down when they passed a big sign that indicated they were close to a McDonalds.“Please dad, can we?” Dustin said.Jess looked over at Michael who enthusiastically nodded his head.He pulled the van over to the side of the road near the restaurant and waited for the other car to come up beside him.“They’re begging me to go in,” Jess said.“It certainly would be a nice taste of the familiar,” the old man said.“We’re a bit hungry too.”Jess went ahead alone to make sure that it was safe.The doors were open and some garbage littered the floors inside but it seemed largely intact and empty.“Come on, it looks safe.”A basket of happy meal toys were beneath the counter and Jess threw them on a nearby table.The kids, older and younger, all pounced on the things like it was food.Further back in the kitchen they found a large freezer with partially defrosted burger patties inside.Jess smelled them, pulled one apart with his fingers and said: “I think these are edible, if we can just find a way to cook them.”He remembered the lighters and candles that he had taken from the home store and went back to the van to get them.“This might take a while but I think it will work.”They let the kids eat the first burgers.They weren’t fantastic offerings, since Jess had to overcook them to make sure that they weren’t going to get sick but each of them hungrily gobbled them down without complaint.The best find may have been the cool pies he found in another refrigerator.Apple and blueberry.Jess swallowed four of them himself until he felt like he couldn’t eat another bite.“How’s your leg?” said Patricia.“Hurt’s a little.” George said.“And your stomach?”“Feels like I’ve swallowed a bowling ball.”Jess watched as Patricia rubbed his shoulder.“It’s not 21, but it’s not bad considering.”They sat in two small tables.The old couple’s grandchildren sat alongside Dustin and Michael.The youngsters all played with the collection of toy cars and figurines garnered from the loot pile.Patricia had her silver hair pulled back into a bun.Her face was smooth, apart from the corners of her eyes and mouth, where little lines arched outwards like weathered cracks in concrete.Her eyes seemed fixated on something far off in the distance and when she spoke, still looking ahead, she made Jess jump slightly.“Thank you for letting us come with you,” she said.Jess turned his gaze down to his hands.His skin was dry and his fingers ached.“Don’t thank me yet,” Jess said.“I just hope we’re doing the right thing.You might have been better off staying back at the store.”Jess could see out of the corner of his eye that Patricia was now looking at him intently.A hand fell upon his arm.“We would have run out of food eventually.We love those kids, but we’re not young.I can’t keep up with you.”“That doesn’t mean that I know what I’m doing and that you should follow me blindly.I just, I react.That’s what I do.It’s some weird fatherly reaction I suppose.You get used to having to react fast.But in no way does that mean that I’m reacting in the right way.I haven’t a clue what I’m doing.”“That’s what raising children is all about,” Patricia said.“You make your decisions based on what you think is right and you pray you did the right thing.From what I see of those two boys back there, you’ve been doing a good job.”“That’s nice of you to say,” Jess said.“Can you keep an eye on them for a few minutes? 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