Until the World Stops - L.A. Witt Page 0,28
know. I had no fucking idea. No matter how many times I debated it in my head, I could not tell where the line was between being prepared and joining the panic.
“How can you be out?” A woman’s voice startled all three of us, and I looked to see a lady screaming at an employee. “How is every place in this city completely cleared out of paper towels and toilet paper?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the employee said with a placating gesture. “There’s more coming, but as soon as it’s on the shelf, it’s—”
“You’re keeping more in the back, aren’t you? I know you are. You can’t be completely out!”
“We’re not keeping any in the back. We’re hoping for a shipment next Wednesday, but—”
“Next Wednesday? How does that help me today?”
“Wow,” Casey said under his breath. “Good thing you grabbed some this morning.”
I met his gaze. At one time, I probably would’ve been smug and maybe even said I’d told him so, but right now, I was as relieved as he was. This whole thing just kept getting weirder, and the weirder it got the more unnerving it was.
We took everything out to the truck, loaded the bed, and got out of there. For a long time, we rode in silence, both of us staring straight ahead.
It was Casey who finally spoke. “If this thing really does get out of hand, and things start shutting down…what do we do?”
“I, um…” I swallowed. “I don’t know if we have a lot of choice, do we? Hunker down, socially distance, stay—”
“I mean what do we do?” Without looking, I could feel his gaze on me. “Neither of us really bargained to be locked down together, you know?”
“Oh. I, um. I guess we play it by ear. All of it. I mean, it’s the same as if a blizzard or something comes through, right?” I shrugged, stealing a glance at him. “We stock up, hunker down, and ride it out. Except, I mean, God knows how long this is going to last. A blizzard is usually a few days. This thing?” I whistled.
Casey shifted in the passenger seat. “How bad do you think it’s going to get?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. One minute, it sounds like it’s going to be another swine flu, and it won’t be as big a deal as people said it would. The next, it’s going to be a horror show.”
“That’s what I keep hearing too.” He pressed his elbow under the window and rubbed his forehead. “Even the chain of command is making noise about taking it seriously.”
“Really?”
Casey nodded. “They’re trying to get their hands on masks and stuff, but no one can get those right now.”
“Not even the Navy?”
“Nope. Buddy of mine is a corpsman at one of the navhospitals on the West Coast, and he said they can barely get them.”
I whistled. “Shit. That’s kind of…uh…”
“Unnerving?”
“Yeah. That.”
“It is.” Casey exhaled. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. Chief has some ideas about… Ugh.” He rolled his eyes. “You know what kind of ideas he has.”
“Let me guess—New World Order, reptilians, a plot to disrupt the election, and George Soros?”
“Don’t forget 5G.”
“Right.” I thumped my hand on the wheel. “I knew I forgot something.” We both chuckled dryly, but my humor faded pretty fast. “I have no idea what’s going to happen, but man, I’m not gonna lie—this thing scares the crap out of me.”
“Yeah,” Casey breathed. “Me too.”
We glanced at each other.
I couldn’t explain why, but admitting out loud that I was scared and hearing him do the same was a relief. “How long do you think it’ll last?”
“Not very long, I hope.”
I didn’t know if he meant the potential pandemic itself, or the part where we were on lockdown together.
Either way, I agreed.
Chapter 9
Casey
When the pandemic went from a hypothetical to reality, it happened fast. It felt like all hell was breaking loose, except some of it was in slow motion while the rest seemed to happen at breakneck speed. One minute, we were all kind of nervous. The next, businesses were closing. Restaurants were doing curbside and drive-up only. People were being advised to stay home as much as possible and to stay several feet apart whenever they went out. “Social distancing” went from something a doctor on TV recommended to something everyone was either doing or talking about.
All in-person events were canceled, not just the big ones, so it was no surprise when Tristan got laid off for real. Not that he’d been