Red Death: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller Read Online Free Page B

from the dollar store to the door when Lee pulled in. There were so many others in her car, she asked him to help. So much for keeping it a secret. Nevertheless, just seeing Lee made her feel better. His handsome face and dark hair could still make her heart skip a beat even after all these years. He walked back behind the garage with her to where her SUV was parked.
    “They’re all gone over there now,” Tara told him, gesturing toward the neighbor’s house. “I hope to God they disinfected everything. Marla puked on the patio that day—and I worked outside all week with the wind blowing it over my way!”
    Lee put his arm around her waist reassuringly, and she pulled away slightly. “I don’t want to give it to you if I’ve got it.”
    Lee laughed. “I wouldn’t worry about that. I doubt it catches that easy, and if you’ve got it, I’ve also got it by now. I’d rather we go out together, anyway.”
    Tara instantly relaxed at Lee’s calm acceptance of things. It was just his way, and it was the perfect counter-balance to her usual high-strung anxiety. This is why I love him so much… Twenty-five years together filled with both ups and downs, and they’d grown very close. Time had shown them that nothing else much mattered except each other.
    They made three trips, carrying multiple bags each time.
    Finally, Lee’s usual quietness was tested. “What in God’s name did you buy, woman?” he joked. Tara cringed inwardly, but decided to spill it. As she set the bags down, she pulled out the bullets from the gun store.
    Lee raised one eyebrow. “I guess we’re ready for anything now.”
    Tara nodded. “I tried to think of everything, and if we don’t need it, so be it. I bought stuff we can use anyway. Other than the bullets, it’s all food we normally eat, so nothing will be wasted.” She paused. “I also ordered some masks and stuff too, since I’m confessing everything. I splurged for overnight shipping. I just feel better having it all here, Lee.”
    He nodded, not mad at her at all, and Tara relaxed. She knew Lee really understood her. Thinking of every possible thing that might go wrong and preparing for it quelled her usual anxiety. It came from a childhood of total chaos—Tara needed control in order to feel secure.
    She threw her arms around her husband and hugged him. “I love you, and if there’s any way to keep us safe, I’m gonna do it!” she laughed. Lee smiled and told her he loved her too, crazy paranoia and all.
    She felt much better now. “It’s not paranoid to be paranoid when your next door neighbors die of Ebola,” Tara told him, munching on a cracker she’d taken from the package.
    His face fell, and then it hit her. Their neighbors were dead. They were nice people who didn’t deserve such a thing, yet it had happened. This was serious, and although both she and Lee were trying to keep it light, Frank and Marla were dead. The mouthful of dry cracker suddenly stuck like sand in her throat, and she threw the rest of the piece away.
    “May God rest their souls,” said Lee, and Tara somberly agreed.
    They spent the evening in their separate pursuits; Tara sorting cans of food and dating them with a sharpie. It made it easier to use the most recently dated first, so she placed those facing outward in the cupboard. She cleaned out the pantry, and stacked and rearranged the supplies. Lee brought down an old upright potato bin from the attic. It had been her mom’s and had a wire front on each of three shelves which she filled with cans too. Lee disappeared into the basement to take stock of his tools and Tara’s old shelf of prepper supplies from her parents.
    Later, they watched TV together for a while. The news had a CDC press conference from earlier in the day, but what they said didn’t make any sense. The CDC claimed no one else was sick with Ebola, and in fact, Africa was gaining control of the epidemic. They claimed no one had died in America, so there was no reason