THE ALEX FLETCHER BOXSET: Books 1-5 Page 3

  Turning toward the fuel tanks, Alex checked their levels. One tank was completely full; the other two-thirds. Three years earlier, he’d installed the second tank, in response to skyrocketing oil prices. He filled both tanks when the prices were lowest during the year, stretching the fuel during the coldest months of winter. Alex scratched a note in his pad: Fill second oil tank.

  After the tanks, he started a detailed inventory of the entire locker, starting with their water supply. The Fletchers were in the habit of using and replacing the stored two-gallon water jugs on a weekly basis. A long bank of eight metal storage shelves extended from the door to the front concrete wall of the basement, containing spring water in two-gallon containers. Each four-level shelving unit held thirty of these containers, all on the lowest three shelves to keep the units from tipping. Five hundred gallons of water in total.

  Every container was marked with the date of purchase, and each week, one of the oldest containers was removed and placed in the kitchen for consumption. During their grocery runs, the used container would be replaced, ensuring that the water supply stored in the basement was slowly turned over throughout the course of the year, preventing the inevitable decay of the plastic containers.

  The system employed to rotate water through the shelves was also applied to most other stockpiled items. They regularly rotated food, water, medical supplies, batteries and other shorter shelf-life items into their daily lives, and replaced them on a weekly—or at least monthly—basis.

  The Fletchers started their stockpile by first purchasing all of the shelving units, which had cost a small fortune, and slowly filling them with essentials. Purchasing a few items in each essential category, once or twice a week, until the shelves were filled with enough food and supplies to last a year.

  In addition to the usual food and medical supplies, Alex made sure the family had enough prescription medications to weather any storm. At the end of the water row, he faced the first of eight shelving units placed along the front basement wall of the house. The first shelving unit contained health and medical supplies. The top shelf was fully stocked with over-the-counter medication: Motrin, Tylenol, Sudafed, and antihistamines. He grabbed a few to check their expiration dates, his random spot check finding nothing ready to expire.

  Prescription drug samples occupied the shelf below. He had slowly and surreptitiously acquired from various physicians’ offices throughout his sales territory. Their stockpile contained over forty courses of antiviral therapy split between TerraFlu and Tamiflu. If a pandemic struck, he planned to reserve two courses of TerraFlu and one course of Tamiflu for each member of his own family, leaving twenty-eight courses for neighbors and friends. A quick look through the expiration dates on the medications reassured Alex that all were still in usable conidtion.

  The bottom two shelves contained first aid supplies and vitamin supplements. Most of the space was dedicated to first aid, filled with gloves, masks, assorted size and shaped bandages, compresses, triangular bandages, medical tape, scissors, antiseptic solution, antibiotic ointment, gauze, eyewash, thermometer, hand sanitizer, several first aid manuals, instant cold packs, and alcohol wipes.

  Two makeshift portable first aid kits sat on the floor in front of the unit. He had bought these military-style “butt packs” and attached two aluminum D-rings to their straps, so that they could be hooked onto anything. Each kit was filled with the basics for treating wounds and minor illnesses. One of the kits was marked with medical tape and contained a basic surgery kit. He spied several bottles of children’s and adult vitamins tucked away among the medical supplies.

  The remaining shelving units contained food items. Dozens of large airtight plastic canisters filled with grains, beans, cereals, sugar, nuts, seeds, tea, dried mushrooms, dried peas, and other dried vegetables. The shelves also housed canned goods, which were regularly rotated. Checking the dates on a few of the containers, satisfied him that the food also remained fresh.

  Overall, their food supply was more than adequate to last a year, possibly longer. He noted: “Buy more toilet paper.” This reminded him to make another note. “Go to Home Store and buy four large plastic buckets and lots of trash bags for makeshift toilets.” The batteries, camp stoves, fuel and candles were all fresh and abundantly stocked on the shelves. Standing silent and ready for the next disaster.

  He made another note: “Fill up empty gas containers. Fill up cars.” They had several empty gas containers in the garage—enough to hold about twenty gallons of gasoline.

  He glanced at the gun locker on his way out. The locker held a Colt AR-15A3, a Mossberg 590 shotgun and two semiautomatic pistols—plus adequate ammunition for each weapon.

  Standing back and looking over the massive overstuffed room of supplies took his anxiety about the pandemic down a few notches. He took the defense of his family seriously and made sure they were well prepared, no matter what happened. Even if the raging pandemic became as bad as predicted, he knew the Fletchers would survive, he would ensure they did.

  Chapter 5

  Alex’s calf muscles burned as he pushed through the last hill on Harrison Road, turning onto Durham Road. He slowed his pace after the turn and started walking with his hands clasped together over his head. Morning runs were not his favorite, but he had awoken at five a.m., and couldn’t fall back asleep. Not wanting to stare at a computer screen again, waiting for pandemic updates, he decided to run to Hewitt Park to do some outdoor calisthenics. He left the park with the intention of an easy jog home, but the temperate, humid morning tempted him into a longer run.

  As he slowed, the Quinns’ garage door started to open and he stopped to let George pull out of the driveway. It was early and the sun hadn’t yet peeked through the deep orange clouds on the low horizon, so he wasn’t taking any chances. A Honda Odyssey pulled out of the garage bay. Not George. He watched the car back down the driveway and stop even with him at the sidewalk. Sarah Quinn opened the car window.

  “Nice run?” she asked. Sarah and her husband were competitive runners well beyond Alex’s league.

  “Yeah. Not bad, actually. Felt like I was grinding away all of my remaining knee cartilage for the first ten minutes or so, but not so bad after that. No run for you guys this morning?”

  “Maybe later. I’m heading over to Hannigan’s. Didn’t you read the paper?” she asked.

  “No. I left the house pretty early. What did it say?”

  “The new flu is everywhere. They think there might be upwards of around a hundred cases in Maine, most of them in Portland. New York City’s been hit the hardest on the east coast. Boston’s been hit. Hartford. They’ve known since Thursday night that it’s been in the greater Portland area. A reporter at The Herald broke the story. It’s even worse on the west coast.”

  “I saw something yesterday morning about the west coast, LA and San Francisco,” he said.

  “Yeah, they tried to keep it under wraps there, but one of the papers cracked it wide open. Why would the government want to keep this a secret?” she said.

  “Probably trying to keep panic to a minimum.”

  “Well, that didn’t work. Some expert from one of the disease control agencies said that everyone should have at least two weeks of food and essentials on hand, maybe more. He said that the virus is spreading faster than expected and that they predict major disruptions to the food supply…and all kinds of other stuff. Saw it on CNF. Anyway, we figured the stores would be mobbed. What about you guys? George is going to head over to Home Store when I get back. You two should head over together and take our pickup.”

  “We’re actually set right now with food and supplies. Thanks, though. You should get as much nonperishable food as possible. Water, too. Is your oven propane or electric?”

  “Electric,” she replied, looking slightly annoyed at his brush off and sudden lecture.

  “Then George should get as much propane as possible. Small, green cans like the kind you use for camping, and a couple of the big ones l
ike for your gas grill. If we lose power, you’ll lose your stove. You guys have a camping stove, right?”

  “Yeah, and we probably have a bunch of those green propane canisters, too.”

  “Get more. Hey, if George has any questions about stuff to buy, have him give me a call. I sort of did a project on this topic for my company. You should get going. Could you give us a call at the house to let us know what it’s like at Hannigan’s?”

  “Sure, I’ll call when I get back,” she said, closing the driver’s window and pulling the car out of the driveway. She waved as the car accelerated out of the cul-de-sac.

  Alex continued walking toward his house, taking the long way around the idyllic neighborhood, careful not to get hit by the neighbors’ sprinkler system. As he walked by the Murrays’ house, Greg Murray opened the mudroom door and called out to him.

  “Sorry to ambush you like this.”

  “No worries, man. I’ve certainly seen worse, but nothing like those plaid pajama bottoms. I hope nobody sees us out here. I’m a little worried about my reputation,” Alex said, staring at Greg’s orange, purple, green, and brown plaid pajamas.

  “Nice. Carolyn got me these for Christmas last year, and I can’t exactly throw them away. She gets a little sensitive about presents.”

  “A long time ago, I told Kate to leave the clothes shopping to me. She used to buy me the same type of stuff,” he said, nodding at the pants again. “Want to hear a conspiracy theory?”

  “You always do have a new one brewing.” Greg laughed.

  “This one’s old. I suspect that the wives buy stuff like this to keep the other ladies at bay, except there’s a fatal flaw in their plan,” he said.

  “Sexy is sexy?” Greg said and raised both arms to flex his bicep muscles.

  “There’s certainly that—but their plan backfires when they all buy stuff like this at the same time, and we all look equally ridiculous. Then it all comes down to good looks, where you and I have a considerable advantage. Unfortunately for you, I think Carolyn’s trying harder than the other wives.”

  “I’ll let her know your theory. I’m sure Kate would love hearing it, too,” Greg said.

  “Hey, I have to keep her sharp. So, what dare brings you outside in those pants?”

  “Not much, I just wanted to see if you guys already went shopping. Did you see the paper?”

  “Not yet, but I heard about it from Sarah Quinn. She’s on her way right now,” Alex said.

  “We saw the evening news, and I thought about what you said the other day, so we both made trips last night to Hannigan’s. Thanks for the heads up. You sounded a little crazy until last night, then the news hit this morning. This thing is all over the country.”

  “Yeah, I meant to call you again last night. I’m glad you got out. We finished the last of our runs yesterday. You might want to consider braving the madness and hitting the stores again.”

  “We might. We did it with the kids last night, but I don’t think it would be such a good idea if the place is mobbed. I couldn’t believe it wasn’t more crowded last night. I definitely need to hit Camping Authority and Home Store.”

  “Me too. Even with everything we have, I still never feel like it’s enough. If this thing goes code red, you guys are welcome to ride it out at our house. We have the solar power, the wood burning stove, and plenty of food. Everything we might need and plenty of it.”

  “Thanks, Alex, but if it gets that bad, I’m pretty sure we’re gonna drive to my parents’ house outside of Albany. My parents’ house is pretty isolated, so we figured we’d hang out there until everything cools off.”

  “The offer still stands if anything changes,” Alex assured him.

  “Thanks, man, seriously. God knows we’d probably be better off at your house, but we should be fine at my parents. They stick to themselves and still have a functional sixties-era nuke shelter in their backyard. They’re stocked to the gills over there. I don’t think my dad ever bought off on the end of the cold war.”

  “Sounds like it should be perfect. When do you think you’ll make the trip?” Alex asked.

  “Good question. Carrie’s not sure how she can take off from the pharmacy, especially if a lot of people start getting sick. They’ll be swamped and probably have to double up on pharmacists.”

  “She should consider getting out of that pharmacy as soon as possible. Every sick person in the town is going to walk up to that counter. Seriously, that’s one of the last places you want her to be. Maybe she could take a few days off to spend at her ‘grandma’s bedside.’”

  A sly smile spread across Greg’s face. “Not a bad idea. I don’t feel comfortable with her at the pharmacy either. Patient zero in Scarborough is guaranteed to fill a script there.”

  “Yeah, and judging by the apparent spread of confirmed cases, that may be a possibility sooner than you think.” Alex glanced at his watch. “I’m gonna head home so I can get a quick shower before the Weekend Review.”

  “Sure thing, Alex. I’ll catch you later today.”

  ***

  He leaned against the footboard of their sleigh bed, facing the television.

  “You’re blocking my view,” Kate complained, propped up by a few pillows.

  Alex slid over to the far left side of the footboard as Weekend Review started.

  “Good morning, I’m Amy Robach, with Lester Berry. Welcome to Weekend Review, Saturday, November 3rd. Overnight, there have been several major developments related to the brewing pandemic, both domestic and abroad. First, yesterday evening, world health officials announced that the flu-like disease spreading like wildfire throughout China, and now starting to hit the rest of the world, is a new H16 subtype. H16N1. Previously, only fifteen influenza subtypes had been discovered in either humans or animals. So far, very little is known about the characteristics of the H16 subtype, aside from reports that the virus is highly contagious among humans.

  “As a result of these early observations, the World Health Organization increased the pandemic warning level to phase four, officially recognizing that the new virus demonstrated efficient human-to-human transfer. Experts predict that the World Health Organization will soon upgrade the pandemic warning level again, in response to the flu’s rapid worldwide spread. So far in our own country, several hundred laboratory-confirmed cases of H16N1 have been reported, striking nearly every major city, with New York City and Los Angeles being the hardest hit.

  “In a possibly related story, the Indonesian government just announced a strict travel and communications ban, barring all foreign journalists. Strict government control of media content has cast a thick shadow over Indonesia, and this latest move has launched some speculation regarding a possible major flu outbreak within Indonesian borders.”

  When the broadcast concluded, Kate sat up in bed and turned the television off. Alex could see the strain on her face. She clearly felt the same fear that gripped him. This pandemic was spreading fast and deadly, especially to healthy young people.

  “I’m worried. What if this is already here in larger numbers than we know? Are the kids safe going to school? Should I stay home from work?” she said as she climbed out of bed.

  “Probably not a bad idea. I heard that ISPAC believes that the epicenter is Jakarta and that because of their close relationship with China, that country has an astronomical number of cases. What’s scary is that people travel through Beijing all the time. That’s why it’s spreading so fast,” Alex said grabbing her hand as she brushed by.

  “I know. I also saw that they’re warning people that of they get exposed, they could likely die. The advice is to stock up on food and stay home if sick. Nothing like scaring people and then offering no good advice.”

  Their home phone rang and Alex grabbed the phone off the nightstand.

  “Alex Fletcher.”

  “Hey, Alex, it’s Sarah. Hannigan’s is mobbed. I wouldn’t even bother trying to head over there. It’ll be empty in a few hours. Really unbelievable. I
t was a madhouse. When I left, every single cart was gone, and at least a dozen people rushed me while I was loading groceries into the minivan. It was scary. I’ve never seen anything like it.

  “They have two police cruisers parked in front of the store with their lights flashing. I think it’s the only thing keeping the situation from falling apart, and they need more. Anyway, I just wanted to call and let you know. I wouldn’t bother right now. There was a line of cars extending at least a mile down Route One. It’s a total mess.”

  “Thanks for calling, Sarah. Are you sure you’re all right? You sound a bit rattled.”

  “No, I’m fine,” Sarah responded. “I’ve just never seen people acting that way before. It was fine when I arrived, but the store filled up within minutes. Crazy.”

  “All right, Sarah, let us know if you and George need help with anything. Okay?”

  “Sure, thanks, Alex. Say hi to Kate for me.”

  “Will do.”

  Alex hung up. “She said every cart was being used, and that a mob of people followed her out of the store to get her cart.”

  “Wow. This is getting bad.”

  “You got gas, right?”

  “Yesterday,” Kate replied.

  “Good. Both cars are full. I’m going to start moving the wood into the garage today and make a few trips out to buy some essentials.”

  “Like Xbox games and HDVDs?”

  “I think those count as essential.”

  “Do we have any cash?” she asked.

  “Not yet. We have $16,000 in our money market account. We can take that out any time we want. We can also borrow against our 401k and get a money wire into our checking account. If nothing happens, I’ll redeposit the money in our account. Call it a reallocation of investments. The market hasn’t done anything for us this year anyway.”

  “That’ll be weird having big money like that stashed around the house,” Kate said.