Sela that she could take everything in her own store and not have enough for them, not for months. And it wasn’t just Carol and Olivia. What would happen when a friend or neighbor showed up, and they needed something? Her family came first, but it would be damn hard to turn people away. Shit. She stared at the pitiful stash she’d accumulated.
No way was this enough.
She took a deep breath. “Of everyone here in the valley, who would you choose to believe when it comes to surviving a catastrophe?”
The two women stared at each other, and Sela knew they were both picturing their friends and acquaintances, and measuring them against the tough, grim, hard-muscled man whose eyes said he’d seen more than they could ever imagine, or want to imagine.
“Hot Buns Steelbody,” Carol said reluctantly, coining a new term for Jernigan.
They shared another look, then Sela said, “Watch the store for a while.” She put the last of what she’d gathered in the office. “I’m going to town.”
“For what?” Carol asked.
“Smart things we need to do. Call your pharmacy and get refills on all your medications, and I’ll swing by and pick them up.”
“They aren’t due, insurance won’t—” Carol began, then said, “Oh. Forget insurance, we’ll pay for them ourselves. Right? Will pharmacies do that?”
“Don’t see why not, as long as it isn’t narcotics. Call and find out, and let me know.” Sela grabbed her purse out from under the counter and headed for the door, already organizing a list in her head: cash from the bank, more supplies from the grocery store, the prescription refills for Carol, batteries, fuel for the oil lamps—more and more items occurred to her, so many she felt overwhelmed. She couldn’t think of everything, she couldn’t get everything . . . but everything she did get was a small step toward keeping them alive and safe.
Maybe Jernigan was totally wrong, maybe he was nuts, or possibly a decent but gullible guy who’d been given bad information. An image of him flashed to mind. No, scratch “gullible” from any description applying to him. He didn’t strike her as a man who trusted easily.
Someone was always hyping that next Tuesday, or next year, or a date on an ancient calendar, was going to be the end of the world. Knock on wood, so far they’d always been wrong.
That wasn’t Jernigan. He didn’t seem either gullible or nuts. She didn’t know him beyond the most superficial acquaintance, but of all the people she could think of he struck her as the one who would know the most about what was going on in the world beyond Wears Valley.
He had seemed almost reluctant to warn her, but he had, and suddenly she wondered why. Was he telling everyone? Was he doing a Paul Revere, up and down the valley?
“When will you be back?” Carol asked.
“I don’t know for sure, but before Olivia gets off the bus. Hold down the fort.”
Chapter Two
Sela was in the grocery store before she realized that except for canned soup and more instant coffee, she had little idea what to get to prepare for such a long time without power. Even more disconcerting, the store wasn’t particularly crowded. Surely something of this magnitude couldn’t be kept secret, even though there hadn’t been the official announcement that she’d expected to see on her phone or on the radio or even an emergency siren sounding on the town’s loudspeakers. So whatever was going to happen—if it was going to happen—not many people knew about it yet.
She started to bypass the produce section. There was no need to buy anything perishable. But still, as she passed the bananas she grabbed a bunch. They’d get eaten in the next couple of days, and damn it, if Jernigan was right they might not be able to get bananas for a while. And oranges. They’d need the vitamin C.
It had to be a false alarm. She prayed it was a false alarm, that nothing at all was going to happen. Halfway down the aisle she thought, “Bull, I’m not doing this,” and turned around to replace the bananas and oranges because no way could she just walk off and leave a shopping cart for someone else to deal with, but then Jernigan’s grim face flashed to mind and her heart started pounding and she returned to shopping. What would a couple of years’ supply of canned chicken hurt, anyway?
Something about him inspired trust. Even though she couldn’t say she