Read Sympatico Syndrome (Book 1): Infection (A Pandemic Survival Novel) for Free Online Page A

the World’ party I’ve been invited to.”
    Cole groaned. “Well, for god’s sake, don’t go.”
    “No, I won’t, but it figures I finally don’t have to study, and I still can’t accept the invitations.” He chuckled, and Cole heard his valiant attempt to act like he wasn’t scared. Cole blinked hard and turned his back to Sean and Jenna. “Okay. Well, I’m going to head out and get some supplies too. If you have any trouble, call me. I’ll text you directions on how to get to Uncle John’s island.”
    “Okay, Dad. I’ll see you soon.”
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    C ole left Sean’s house and headed to a gun shop. He wanted a shotgun and another hunting rifle, plus as much ammunition for them that he could get. It had taken longer than he expected because the shop had been busy.
    As Cole listened in on some of the conversations, and it sounded like most of the people there had the same idea he did—to bug out until the crisis was over. While he was glad people were taking precautions, it made him anxious that he could get enough food to last them for six months or longer. What if everyone was thinking the same way?
    He called his brother when he finished getting the guns. “Hey, Sean, it seems like the word is leaking out somehow or people are reading between the lines. The gun shop was packed. I think we need to leave tomorrow. I’m heading to the store now to get as much food as I can, but I think it would be a good idea if either you or Jenna made a trip to the store. Probably Jenna. She’ll know what we need.”
    “Yeah, she left for the warehouse store on the west side of town. We’re packing stuff here.”
    “How did the kids take it?”
    Sean sighed. “Trent is a little scared, but he thinks it’s kind of cool too. Like we’re going on a camping vacation. Piper was quieter, but she’s pretty scared. She’s up in her room packing clothes right now.”
    Cole stopped at a light as he waited to turn into the Walmart parking lot. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Poor kids . He didn’t have any words of comfort so he told Sean to pack up as much as they could today, focusing on clothes, non-perishable food, kitchen items like pots, pans, and utensils—anything they had that didn’t require electricity. He didn’t know if the island had any right now. Even if the island was fully powered, if the infrastructure broke down, which it could if enough people died, the grids might go down. His first priority was to get several generators. He was hoping he’d be able to get fuel for them, but that was a problem for later.
    “I’m at Walmart now. I’ll call you later.”
    Cole sat in the parking lot, gauging the people going in and out of the store. After leaving the gun shop and driving across town, he’d listened to the news on the radio. The death toll had risen to over eight-hundred already, but it was confined, so far, to four cities—and it was confirmed that at least some of the initial victims had flown in from San Diego in the last few days. Unfortunately, one of the cities was Chicago.
    Even though Cole was closer to Milwaukee, he knew that ninety miles separating the two cities were pretty much negligible. He debated wearing one of his painter’s masks into the Walmart. He still wore the clothes he’d intended to wear to paint a house he was working on, but Elly’s call had canceled those plans. He kept this pair specifically for painting in and few splotches of green paint decorated the old jeans. He reached into the back seat and found the box of masks, and slipped one on, but let it dangle around his neck for now. He could pull this off without causing too much of a stir.
    As Cole walked towards the door of the store, he lifted the mask from his neck and started to settle it over his nose and mouth. This was Walmart, after all, and there were internet memes about the crazies who shopped there. Wearing a mask shouldn’t even raise an eyebrow. But then he thought about it. They might take him for