Chapter 12

They were stranded by weather for two weeks and Theodora was driving Babette nuts with her cabin fever. It was almost Halloween and Babs felt like she was living in a horror movie. They were staying on a farm somewhere near the Ohio-Indiana border after they were forced to take a more southern route between Pittsburgh and Akron. The bitterly cold air and blowing snow finally moved on. There were many uninfected people in the farm country and Theodora insisted on interviewing many of them. She told Babs that the in-person interviews were just as important as the personal experiences gleaned from social media.

The Mennonite Farmers all admitted to canning their own foods and such, but revealed the wife of the cousin who lived in the house had grown up in the city and could barely boil water when it came to cooking. Her lack of skills that the majority of the local women had possessed from a very young age; meant she had killed her family by feeding them pre-packaged meals. The family here had died and been cremated except for the infant who was too small to eat baby food and only consumed raw milk from the family cow. When they got sick, an aunt took the baby and it was a good thing because within a week, they were dead and had eaten several of the pigs being raised for slaughter.

The farming community was very interested in the information Theodora and Babs knew about the zombie-causing infection, but Babs was glad to be leaving. Three young men in particular kept coming over. After the first time, Theodora made Babs put on her wedding ring and repeatedly lied that Babs was engaged to her grandson Lionel.

"Are we ready to go?" Theodora demanded impatiently and Babs knew she wanted to be on the road again.

"Why don't we do as they suggest and go to Norfolk?" She hoped that they could just backtrack and be done with this trip. She was tired of waking up with a stuffed nose and the feeling of cat fur in her throat. Even her HEPA filters didn't seem to help after Wolfman shed all over her bedding. She was convinced that she was going to start having hairballs of her own soon.

"My boys aren't at Norfolk and the Admiral of the Atlantic Fleet did not listen to Admiral Lansing about the food and they are probably all undead," Theodora announced, then ordered more than asked, "Can you start carrying the cats out?"

Swallowing her groan, Babs sniffed and wiped her dripping nose on her sleeve. She had given up on wearing a mask, and began dosing herself with antihistamines until she just didn't care how dazed she felt as long as she wasn't sneezing constantly. Picking up the two cats closest to the door, she walked out to the recreational vehicle and put them inside. Continuing to carry the cats out in pairs down the icy sidewalk, she had this strange recollection of Noah's ark. She was grateful that cats were the only animals they were traveling with. One of their farmer neighbors had offered them a goat or two to take on the road with them so the cats could have fresh milk, and several chickens for eggs. Babs seriously considered accepting the chickens but she was worried they would become stranded somewhere and she would have to abandon them.

"Hullo!" a voice called out to her over the sound of a four-wheeler.

"Hi, Jacob." Babs waved back then trekked back to the house to get another pair of cats.

She thought she had all as she picked the last three and left King, but she had lost count. She put the trio in, and started the motor and heater, then started the panel truck to warm up too. She plugged in one of the portable HEPA filter fans. He stopped by the truck and offered her a pet carrier with a clear top. Inside were three fluffy gray chickens. They were half the size of the chickens the neighbors had kindly stocked the house's chicken coop with.

"What are these?" She asked in surprise.

"The night you made that buckwheat noodle soup, I noticed you put an egg in yours. You said it was your favorite way to eat ramen and soba, so since you can't take full grown chickens on the road. I traded for some blue bantam cochins," Jacob smiled at her then rubbed over his heart. "Look, I know my brother and cousin can be overbearing but if... if you don't find your fiancé or if he didn't make it... I would like for you to come back. I promise I can give you a good life here. I'll even give up bread."

His jest made her giggle, then she sneezed and snotted down to her chin. "Oh. Sorry."

He handed her a handkerchief, as he grinned and added, "And I promise, no inside cats."

Embarrassed, she wiped her face with a blush burning her frozen cheeks. "You're sweet. I wish I could stay but I have to get Dr. Thorpe and the Pandemic Five information to Kitsap Naval Station in Washington." She looked at him with sad eyes, admitting, "I'm not engaged to Theodora's grandson. My boyfriend died. He was so scared of becoming a zombie, he locked himself in a freezer when he got sick instead of going to the hospital. I'm sorry we lied; I just need some time to grieve."

Pulling off his glove, he reached up and wiped the frozen tear off her cheek. "I understand. The girl I was dating was always eating junk food. Her dad... when they got sick, he burned the house with the whole family in it."

She leaned into the warmth of his hand. "I'm so sorry."

"Babette, come get King and let's be off," Theodora called out loudly.

Smiling sadly at Jacob, she asked, "I already milked and gathered this morning's eggs. Will you make certain the chickens and cow get back to where they belong?"

"I will," he promised and for a moment he looked like he might kiss her and she was glad the truck was between them and Theodora. Instead, she begged, "If you meet someone nice, enjoy their company, spend time with them. Don't squander your chance at happiness like I did. We only had one date before Pandemic Four turned into Pandemic Five and then I lost the chance to even kiss him."

"Babette?!"

"Coming." Shouting back, she walked away from him, then said softly, "Thank you for everything, Jacob."

"Anytime." He opened the cab of the panel truck and put the chickens inside with a backpack of food. "They will need water and crumbles every day."

"I promise I'll take good care of them," Babs answered.

He carried Nix while she helped Theodora to the RV with water and snacks for she and King in a backpack over her shoulder.

"What is he doing here?" The elderly cat lady grumbled not so quietly, as King followed with his tail held high.

"He came to take care of the cow and chickens now that we are leaving, and to give me three Blue Bantam Cochins so I can have eggs for my ramen," Babs revealed. Then begged, "Can we please stay south? I worry about getting too close to Chicago. There were riots and..."

"Oh Pish Posh, they are all dead and frozen, it will be fine. Now let's go before more of your fan club show up." Theodora stepped up, took Nix from Jacob, and slammed the door.

"Sorry about her." Picking up King, Babs carried him to the truck and put the cat and backpack in, then she hugged Jacob goodbye until Theodora honked.

Babs climbed in and waved, "Stay safe, Jacob."

"You too, Babette. May God watch over you." He watched them drive away before he went inside.

Glancing back in the mirror, she wondered if she could love him then decided no, because they had nothing in common except the grief caused by Pandemic Five.

^..^

The roads were icy but mostly clear of drifts. There were tracks where others had driven down the highway. Crossing the state line, Babs changed her playlist to something more of a light jazz mood. King sat beside her happily watching the three little hens through the clear top of the pet carrier.

Unable to go north to Fort Wayne, they stayed south until they reached Interstate 67. Theodora was determined to get back on Hwy 90 but the closer they got to the greater Chicago area the worst things became. There were burned cars and military vehicles. Looted and burned buildings and so many bodies. Many wrecked cars had just been shoved off into the ditch and were covered in melting snow. At the one gas station they found which hadn't been burned, the tanks were empty and Babs was forced to fill both vehicles with the barrels in the back of the panel truck. She kept staring at a billboard painted with the words, "Pharoah's Famous Fungus killed us all" over the face of an insurance claims lawyer.

"I think we need to go back south," Babs insisted.

"We need to get back on Interstate 90."

"There are plenty of places west of here where we can go back up to 90. I don't like it here. It gives me the creeps." As she used the hand pump to fill the RV, she argued with Theodora for twenty more minutes while.

"Explain to me rationally why you don't like it here," Theodora finally demanded as Babs finished refueling the vehicles.

Feeling like she was butting head with her late Aunt Ouisa again, Babs thought hard on what she wanted to say then carefully worded her answer. "Chicago has always had a reputation for gun violence. Every single corpse we have seen has had some kind of gunshot wound. Most of the vehicles have bullet holes. If someone decides to rob us, they will just shoot us and take the truck and RV. We have to think about the information we're taking to Kitsap. We can't risk going closer to Chicago." Babs went to the cab and pulled out the paper road atlas. "If we go back and take this road to Peoria, we can curve north and head up to Des Moines, then from there, we can take Interstate 80 across."

"No, no, that won't do it all. I already told Leo and Lionel that we would be on Interstate 90," Theodora huffed.

"You did what? Why would you do that? How did you do that?" Babs clenched her fists angrily.

"I left them a letter on the mantle and sent an email. Interstate 90 is the shortest and fastest route."

"In the summer... When there's no snow on the roads and no zombie apocalypse happening!" Babs almost shouted at her in frustration. She shook the map book at the elderly lady. "You can't be serious about trying to get to Interstate 90 this way. If we go through Chicago, we'll both be killed."

As if the universe answered her assertion prophetically, in the distance, they heard the unmistakable sound of gunshots. Babs pulled down the back of the truck and locked it. "That's it, King and I are going through Des Moines."

"Babette, wait."

"No. We don't know where those shots came from or whether those people are coming in this direction. We need to leave and leave quickly." Babs went back to the cab of the panel truck and got in, waiting on the glo-plug to warm, she watched Theodora's face scrunched up in the mirror, but the elderly lady called her clowder of cats back to the RV and got in.

Pulling back onto the road, Babs drove as quickly as she could south, then turned west again. Theodora kept up until they reached the Illinois River. Driving north through Peoria, and then south toward St. Louis, they discovered all the bridges across the Illinois River had been blown up. The further south they traveled, the more dead they saw wandering around. Many looked like they were in the early stages of starting to putrefy from having their surface frozen for a short period.

It was after sunset when they found a place to cross in a tiny town Babs couldn't even find on the map. As they parked for the night, Theodora let the cats out while Babs reheated the leftovers from the previous day.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," Babs apologized.

Theodore scowled in that grumpy old person way. "I know I'm difficult and very set in my ways. I make a plan and I want to stick to it no matter what... But you were right I was putting us at risk." She sipped her tea then asked, "Do you think they have destroyed all the bridges across the Mississippi River?"

"Goodnes, I hope not," Babs muttered, "Because if they did, we will have to go all the way to Minnesota."

After they ate, Babs made the table and benches into the bed for Theodora then she put her three little chickens by the heater vent in the bedroom. The bedroom was filled with their supplies and food, but was the only mostly cat-free space for Babs to sleep. Taking her anti-histamine, she fell asleep listening to Theodora shuffling papers and muttering about finding a way across the mighty Mississippi.

The next day they drove north looking for a way across the Mississippi. The weather had turned warmer and rainy, but it was still miserable for Babs when she had to refuel the trucks. The jogging to and from the river and the roads going north doubled the amount of time for the distance north they travelled. The only good thing was they found a gas station in a small town that still had fuel and Babs was able to refill the barrel they emptied. Soaked to the skin, Babs walked across the street to a Family Dollar store. She took three plain gray sweatsuits in her size and dry socks. She didn't even look at the bags and cans of food knowing there would be nothing they could eat. She carried the clothes back. King stopped in the middle of the road and began hissing as he looked up the street. Babs scooped him up and ran back to the vehicles.

"We gotta go," she panted then sneezed violently, before wheezing, "King thinks the zombies are coming."

Turning off the stove, Theodora poured homemade tomato soup into two travel mugs and put the warmed yeast-free flatbread in a container. "Go." She opened the door and called, "Puss... Puss.. Puss." Then she blew on a small silver whistle. The cats came running back and piled into the Recreational Vehicle.

Babs shoved King, the dryclothes, and her lunch into the cab and hurried to get the hoses and pumppacked and tossed in the back. Lifting the notebook with the informationinventory list, she didn't have time to wonder how it got out of the cargo netholding the boxes and onto the fifty-gallon drum, as she shoved it back intoplace. She sealed the fuel container and then slammed and locked the door.Dropping her keys, she bent to pick them up and saw a pair of legs not belongingto Theodora. The barefoot undead person stood by the driver's side door. Babs crawledunder the truck and held her breath as the zombie walked around it. King wasyowling and clawing at the window to get out. The zombie stopped by the driver'sside door.