The lack of power was also slowing things down since it was hard to see more than a few feet in front of you, let alone what was on the shelves. Angry voices nearby filled the air as fights broke out over the few remaining items.
John headed straight for the drink aisle and scooped up as many two-gallon water jugs as he could find. The human body could go weeks with minimal food, but only days without water, which made that a priority. Once home, he would empty what was in the pipes to fill the bathtub and as many buckets as possible before the water pressure finally gave out. Afterward, he could always use a clean garden hose to drain the water heater in the basement if push came to shove.
Now that he had a good number of two-gallon jugs, John headed for the canned food section. Beans, pasta, corn, spam, vegetable soup. He needed to make sure his family got the widest array of vitamins and minerals. Many preppers concentrated on foods that were easy to store without thinking of a balanced diet. In the old days, sailors crossing the Atlantic had often succumbed to scurvy until they realized it was caused by a lack of vitamin C. It would only be a question of time before illnesses like scurvy that had been far behind them began to rear their ugly heads once again.
He then stocked up on salt, sugar and cooking oil. These were other common items often overlooked in emergencies.
It took an excruciating thirty minutes before John’s cart was filled to capacity. Next he would have to wait in a twisting line for the cash. And cash was the right word, since credit and debit cards were completely useless. He was amazed at how many people were forced to leave empty-handed because credit was all they’d brought. The other thing that amazed him was how the tenuous threads of law and order still hung in the air. Those angered shoppers without cash left shooting off little more than their mouths. They threatened lawsuits and all manner of nonsense, but not one of them tried to steal the food. How long that veneer of civility would last, John could only guess. It would end when grumbling bellies began to take charge of people’s behavior.
A woman in front of him with two small boys and a girl was visibly shaken. Either her husband was stranded at work or she was a single mom, trying to weather this crisis alone. John’s heart went out to her. She turned to him and smiled weakly.
“Crazy, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I hoped something like this would never happen.”
“There are so many rumors flying around I just don’t know what to believe.”
He glanced in her cart and saw fruits, vegetables and three heads of lettuce. His heart sank even further. She’d fumbled an opportunity to stock up on some useful supplies by grabbing perishables. Course he couldn’t blame her. Most people didn’t have a clue what they needed in such situations.
“I hate to say it, but I think it’s as bad as they’re saying, maybe even worse.”
Her face darkened with fear.
“I’m sorry,” John said. “I know that isn’t the kind of thing you wanted to hear, but it won’t do you much good if I sugarcoat things.”
“I just hope Craig’s okay.”
“Your husband?”
“Yeah, he’s in Phoenix on business. The phones aren’t working. I have no idea if he’s lost power as well.”
It was a good point. There was no telling how localized the problem was, but the further John had travelled—even just this morning—the more convinced he’d become that it was probably affecting the entire country.
“I’m sure he’s fine,” John offered, the words feeling hollow.
She smiled before advancing to the checkout girl.
His conversation with the woman had distracted him, but the closer John drew to the cash, the more outcries he became aware of. Even from people waving money around. And it didn’t seem to be coming from frustrated customers trying to use credit cards. He wondered what was going on. After she was done, the woman with the perishables gave him one final look and all John could do was smile and mouth a silent prayer.
The checkout girl was sweeping each of John’s items from right to left, rattling off prices as she went. Beside her, another girl recorded the numbers in a notepad. But something was odd about the numbers she was reading off. One can of corn, normally ninety-nine cents, was now five dollars. The water, once six dollars ninety-nine cents, was now fifteen dollars. Prices had doubled or in some cases quintupled. She hadn’t even processed half of the items in John’s cart before he was over the two-hundred-dollar mark.
“Wait a minute,” he told the girl. “The price on two gallons of water is six ninety-nine, not fifteen dollars.”
“I don’t make the prices,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Yes, but you’re gouging people right when they need these things the most.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, sir, but this may be the last order we get this week. It’s not me, it’s my manager.” She pointed to a mirror on the wall and the manager’s office John knew was behind it.
What a weasel move. Hiking up prices during an emergency and making these young checkout girls take all the heat.
John had a difficult decision to make and he’d have to make it quickly. Given the state of things, there wasn’t much chance of withdrawing any more money from the ATM. In fact, any money he had in the bank, as well as his 401k, had just gone up in smoke. He had ten thousand dollars’ worth of gold pieces stashed at his house for just such a moment, except none of it would do him much good right now. It would still be a few days before people were ready to barter for goods and services. Cash and credit were so ingrained in the average mind that showing up with gold pieces would only add to the confusion. What would a teenage cashier know about the value of gold bullion?
A man behind John told him to hurry up.
“Sir?” the cashier asked. “Do you want the stuff or not? I’ve got other people in line.”
He handed her his last two hundred dollars, gritting his teeth. Yes, he could take his chances at another grocery store or maybe even a mom-and-pop shop, but who was to say he’d have any more luck there?
Fuming, John left the store, pushing the cart filled mostly with the jugs of water and a few cans of food. He made it back to the Blazer to find Diane behind the wheel, looking nervous. Even though it was still early in the morning, the windows were opened a crack to let in some air.
John scanned the surrounding area to make sure it was safe to open the rear cargo hatch. Diane opened the window further and tossed him the keys. After loading everything onboard, John went to the driver’s side and climbed in. Diane had already slid over to the passenger seat.
“The expression on your face tells me it wasn’t pretty in there,” she said. Emma and Gregory were asleep in the back seat.
“I didn’t need this,” he said, removing the S&W and handing it to her. “Things were about as orderly as one could expect under the circumstances.” He then told her about his run-in with the cashier and the price gouging he’d experienced.
He started the engine and drove away.
“I can’t say I’m all that surprised,” she said.
John didn’t agree. “A small convenience store I can understand, but a big chain?”
“When times are tough, people get greedy. In the end, no one was shooting the place up.”
“Not yet,” John said as he headed for home. “But it’s only a question of time.”
Chapter 9
Once home, John got out and manually opened the garage door while Diane drove Betsy in. The kids were awake by now, expressing how strange it felt to be missing class. Emma was staring off into the distance, likely also missing Brandon.
All of them helped bring the water and food inside. After that, John called a family meeting.