By the time, the last goods were unloaded from the Explorer and neatly stacked against the wall, Jeb was exhausted. Fighting the crazed mob had given him a taste of how bad things might become. His expected one-hour trip had turned into a three-hour sortie. He wanted nothing more than to kick back to watch a little television, but he was worried about Josh. Maybe he would spell Karen and let her rest. She was on the edge.
It was dark when he entered the house, which disturbed him, because Karen always left too many lights on. She did not attempt to keep their electricity bill under control.
“Karen,” he called out. When he received no answer, he went straight to Josh’s room, thinking to find her there. To his surprise, Josh’s bed was empty, and the covers thrown off the bed. His heart began jack hammering his chest. In a panic, he raced room to room through the house, finding each one empty. In the kitchen, a hastily scribbled note on the island caught his attention. He picked it up and read.
“Josh worse. Stopped breathing. Couldn’t reach Ben. Taking Josh to Oro Valley. Come soon.”
Jeb read the note two times, the words dancing on the page as his hands shook. Stopped breathing? My God! He threw the note on the floor and looked out front. He hadn’t even noticed earlier, but the Hyundai was gone. Reynolds’ words popped into his mind about sealing hospitals. He rushed to the garage and cranked the Explorer. At the end of the drive, he pounded on the steering wheel, impatiently waiting for the gate to slide open. Then he wheeled recklessly onto Oracle, bouncing off the median curb. The medical center parking lot was full, with autos parked haphazardly along the side of the road. He spun into the emergency entrance and leaped out. A guard attempted to stop him, but Jeb brushed by him and confronted a harried-looking nurse just inside the door wearing a sterile mask.
“My wife and child just came in a short while ago, Karen and Josh Stone. He’s about six. He was unconscious.”
The nurse looked up at him from her clipboard. Her eyes above the mask looked weary and overwhelmed. “I’ve got a hundred and fifty patients waiting to see a physician. I don’t know who they are.”
Frustrated, he brushed her aside and began calling his wife’s name.
“Karen!”
A few heads turned his direction, but most were too engrossed with their own problems to pay much attention to one more frantic sick person. Many of them wore masks over their nose and mouth. A few distraught mothers held coughing children. The sight only quickened his fear.
“Karen!” he repeated.
He spotted two guards approaching and ducked through the double doors into the treatment area, ignoring the nurse’s warning. “You can’t go in there.” He looked around, but saw no sign of either Josh or Karen. What he did see sent cold chills racing through him. Sheets covered at least two dozen dead bodies on gurneys pushed up against the walls of the corridor of the makeshift morgue. As he stood there in shock, he felt hands tighten on his arm. He glanced at the two guards flanking him. Each wore disposable masks over their mouth and nose.
“My wife and son,” he said numbly.
One of the guards looked at him with obvious sympathy and said, “Anyone coming here in the last few hours has been sent directly to the FEMA camp in Marana. We’re way past capacity.” He looked around and leaned closer. “There’s talk of transferring most of the worst cases to Marana soon.”
Jeb’s initial resolve to storm through the hospital searching for his family dissolved. He knew he wouldn’t find them here. He stared at the corpses, nodded meekly, and allowed the guards to escort him back outside. Trying to decide what to do, he sat in his truck for a few minutes. As he sat there, two canvas-covered, five-ton army trucks pulled up. A captain jumped down from the cab of one and spoke briefly to the guards. The guard who had confided to Jeb, glanced in his direction, and shook his head slowly. Taking it as a warning, Jeb pulled out of the drive slowly and headed towards Marana. He only hoped he wasn’t too late.
Judgment Day is available from Amazon here