Read False Prey: A Wildfire Novella (Wildfire Saga) for Free Online Page A

here,” said Danny, tossing him one of the plastic drugstore bags.   Sang caught it awkwardly.  
    “What’s this?”
      Danny looked at the ceiling. “Let’s see…I don’t know, I grabbed a whole bunch of stuff off the shelves.   They were ready to close up shop and go home—”
    “But it’s only 9am!” blurted Sang in disbelief.   He started pulling boxes and containers out of the bulging bag.  
    “The flu has everyone scared,” said Danny.   He sighed.   “They didn’t even want to let me in until I told them I was a reporter and needed some supplies to finish the story I was following.”   Danny grinned. “Between you and me, I’m thinking I interrupted a management-approved looting.”
    “I hadn’t thought it would get so bad so fast…” Sang mumbled.
    “Noone did.   The guy that runs that drugstore is pretty smart, though.   He looked like he was loading up whatever is going to be really valuable—the pharmacy, over the counter meds, food, that kind of thing.   Those employees will be sittin’ pretty when things get worse.”   Danny pointed at the second bag, “Oh, there’s fresh gauze, bandages, antibiotic ointment, and some Advil in that one…”
    Thomas stared at the contents of the bags for a moment.   “You really think it’s going to get…like before?”
    Danny grunted.   “Maybe.   Maybe it’ll be worse.   This bug seems to move faster—at least from what I’ve been hearing.”   He shrugged.   “Either way, what happened ten years ago is a big part of the reason why the town hates you right now,” said Danny.   He held up a hand to forestall the argument when Sang opened his mouth.   “I’m an outsider, just like you.   They don’t know me here either and they certainly don’t trust me—they only talk to me when I explain I’m with the press.   Most people can’t resist their 15 seconds of fame.”
    “So why are you here?” asked Sang.   He tore open a box of gauze strips with his teeth and spit the lid out.   “Why don’t you leave and get out of this crazy town?   These people are nuts…”
    Danny sat down heavily on one of the two ratty-looking chairs in the room.   It protested a bit under his bulk but seemed to hold.   He sighed—the universe was giving him yet another sign that he needed to lose weight.   He reached for his cigarettes out of spite.
    “So I got a story I’m covering—the effects of the flu and the fear it’s spreading in small-town USA.”   He shrugged.   “And I guess in small-town USA…everyone knows everyone’s business.   They’re very…” he searched for the right word.   “Protective, I guess you can say, of their way of life.”
    “That explains the roadblocks that they set up as I was trying to get through town.”   Sang winced as he unwrapped the bandage over his injured arm.   “God this hurts, but it needs to be changed.”   He popped open the Advil and dry-swallowed three of the little latte-colored pills.
    Danny nodded.   “Yup.   The local good-ol’-boy network decided to shut down the town to outsiders.   We’re kind of trapped here.   Good for me—I need the story—bad for you, though.”
    “As soon as I can get my car back, I’m outta here,” mumbled Sang.   He applied some ointment to the cuts on his arm and hands, where he had been dragged through the street.
    “I went ‘round to Moore’s shop and asked about your car.   I think he was a little suspicious why I was asking, but I told him that I was just following up for my story and hadn’t seen you since you ran from the courthouse.   I had to really act surprised when he told me the police had seized your car as evidence—you know, since they thought you were a spy and all.”
    “Ridiculous!   Crazy sons of bitches…”
    “I know—but he thought I was serious.   He gave me all the gory details about the day you arrived and how no one in town had been sick until you showed up.   Same thing he