three hundred pound one of those.” He pointed to the remains of Stan and the other guy from the bar.
“Yeah, sure. Let’s get outta here, then. What are we gonna do?”
“Don’t know just yet, but things are lookin’ to turn to shit real fast. Maybe we can take advantage of this situation. Rawlings Marauders ain’t goin’ down without a fight. Come on.”
The two bikers exited the bar and started up their bikes. A siren went off in the distance, and a cop car sped past them in a hurry along with an ambulance.
Jake gunned the engine of his Harley. He turned to Vance. “Time to do what we do best my man. Let’s ride.”
Chapter 6
The two of them sat on the couch. Lauren rested her head on Trevor’s shoulder. The television channels were all the same now. No real programming at all, just news, grim, deadly news. Trevor flipped to CBC which showed a large riot in downtown Toronto over food deliveries to local supermarkets. The food getting through was sporadic, and people were starting to panic. Toronto had been hit hard with the flu, with over five hundred thousand now infected there. The city services were stretched to the limit. The newscasts showed fires burning in other parts of the city. He had just flipped the channel to CNN when the doorbell rang.
Trevor went to the door to answer it. “Hey, Ben, how are you?”
Ben looked worried with dark circles under his eyes like he hadn’t slept in a few days. He wore a blue collared shirt with gray slacks. His brown hairline was receding away from his temples. He wiped his mouth, his blue eyes wide. “Chelsea has got it, she’s really sick. I don’t know what to do.”
Lauren looked up from the couch, “Oh, no. Ben, I’m so sorry. Did you take her to the hospital?”
Ben rubbed the back of his neck trying to get out the kinks and tension. “No, they aren’t taking any more patients there, they are sending people away. They tell you to ride it out at home. I couldn’t even get an ambulance.”
“What are people supposed to do then?” said Trevor. “Just go home and hope for the best? These people need drugs and treatment, they need—”
Ben sighed. “It won’t matter, nothing is going to matter anymore, this is it. Something bad is going to happen, I can just feel it.”
“Oh come on, society has pulled through these problems before,” Trevor said. ”We got through the Spanish flu didn’t we?”
“It’s different, everyone is getting sick. It’s only a matter of time before we all do.”
Trevor put his arm on Ben’s shoulder. “Have a seat. You want a beer?”
“Sure, thanks.”
“Hey, can you get me one, too?” Lauren said.
“Yeah, hon, three beers coming up.” Trevor went into the kitchen returning a few moments later with the cold beverages.
On the television, the CNN reporter was interviewing a doctor about the ongoing flu crisis.
“Dr. Grange, what do we know about this H1N1-ZX flu? Is it anything like the Spanish flu of 1918? I mean, it’s incredible. What are there, about two billion worldwide with this virus now?”
“Oh it’s not anything like the Spanish flu, that much is certain. We are not sure what to make of it, actually. This is a different virus that shows no signs of slowing down.”
“What can we do to protect ourselves from this virus? Should people stay at home, go to work, what is the best thing we can hope for?”
“We are advising people that have the flu to just stay home. The hospitals are already swamped with patients, and there’s no way to treat everyone at this time. We are confident, however, that a vaccine will be coming shortly.”
“He’s lying,” said Ben. There’s no vaccine. There’s nothing anyone can do.”
Lauren was visibly upset. “Ben, you have to be more positive, they will figure it out. They are the experts, after all.”
Trevor took a pull of his beer. “Once they get the vaccine out, things will begin to wind down. These viruses burn themselves out
Pattie Mallette, with A. J. Gregory