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for some fresh milk.”
    He shook his head. “Condensed milk or powdered milk will work just fine.”
    Carly wrinkled her nose. “Powdered milk? Gross.”
    Justin cast an amused glance at her. “You must not have gone camping much.”
    “No, Mom wasn’t into that kind of thing. Dad took me fishing once, but that’s about as much as we enjoyed the great outdoors.”
    “Well, trust me, powdered milk is great when it comes to weight, and when you’re carrying a pack for twenty miles, every ounce counts.”
    “Jeez, you used to hike twenty miles? For fun ?”
    Justin chuckled. “I once did the entire Appalachian Trail, all twelve hundred miles of it.”
    Carly grinned at him. “I once walked all the way to the Food Mart from my apartment building.”
    “I’m so happy I could be part of the momentous occasion.” They entered the drug aisle, which was cleaned out of cold medicines and fever-reducing medication. It made Carly sad to see it, for it was silent testimony to the number of people who thought cough syrup could combat the Infection.
    Justin tossed boxes of bandages, eye wash, and topical antibiotics into Carly’s cart, along with all of the bottles of iodine on the shelf. 
    “Peroxide stings less,” Carly said.
    “It’s not for cuts and scrapes. You can use it to purify drinking water.” Justin had moved on to anti-diarrhea medication, of which he took every bottle and box.
    “Expecting an upset stomach?”
    “This stuff is going to be worth more than its weight in diamonds.” Justin waved a box of tablets before he dropped into the cart. “Trust me.”
    At the end of the aisle, they approached the pharmacy counter. The place was in shambles, even more so than the rest of the store. Justin, surprisingly lithe for such a large man, jumped over the counter and began to read the labels of boxes and bottles, tracing his finger under the lettering.
    Sam bumped Carly’s leg with his head, and she saw he had something in his mouth. She put down her hand, and he spat out a can of beans. “Good boy!” She rubbed his ears, and Sam wagged his tail, delighted. He started searching the floor beneath the shelves again.
    “Are you on birth control?” Justin asked.
    Carly felt her face flame and was glad it was so dim back there. “Excuse me?”
    “Don’t be embarrassed. I’m asking because there’s a fuckload of the pill back here, and we should grab it if you need it.”
    “No, I’m not on the pill,” Carly muttered.
    “You’d better grab some of your girly shit while we’re here.” 
    Carly’s blush remained firmly in place at his words. She walked the few paces over to the feminine hygiene aisle and grabbed several boxes of tampons, which she stuffed to the bottom of the cart. She didn’t know why she was so embarrassed about it when Justin didn’t seem to be.
    He came back with a small shopping basket filled with drugs. 
    “What is all that?” 
    “Antibiotics, mostly. A few pain-killers, though the junkies already got most of those. A couple other odds and ends.”
    Carly wondered why he thought he’d need so many antibiotics. Maybe he had some health issues.
    They collected what food was left on the shelves. Very little in the way of canned goods remained. Sam bumped Carly’s leg twice more with cans in his mouth. Justin stared. “Did you train him to do that?”
    Carly shook her head. “I think he just figured out I want cans, so he’s bringing them to me.” Sam couldn’t differentiate between the cans, though. One had been a diet soda, which she opened and gulped down on the spot, only afterward thinking she ought to have offered Justin a drink. She flushed again and dropped the empty can, but he shrugged and said he disliked diet soda, anyway.
    They went into the next aisle, and Carly struggled to push the cart past a fallen rack of batteries. Justin took control of it and swung the cart to the side with ease. 
    “Hard to believe I once went to the gym twice a week,” she