DEAD IN BED By Bailey Simms: The Complete Second Book

PART 8, SECTION 6

Without a doubt, it was the scent of barbequing steak. And not just from somebody's backyard grill. It was the same scent that always wafted through town during football games when the Boosters grilled up enough tri-tip to feed the whole town.

If there was one thing that Muldoon had in abundance, it was cattle. And if the FEMA airdrops were slowing down, it stood to reason that someone would start slaughtering cattle for food.

I made my way down Walnut Street toward the high school. Sure enough, a haze of barbeque smoke was hovering over the bleachers.

My hands were shaking with hunger.

I needed to find Ed, but if I didn't eat soon I was going to pass out. And where there was food, there would be people. If I was lucky, I'd find someone I could trust who might know something about Ed.

The only good thing about the miserably cold weather was that I could wear my parka's hood without appearing suspicious. I pulled the hood forward as far as I could, mostly concealing my face.

A small crowd had gathered around the entrance to the football field. I recognized Tuck Schroep standing in line at the ticket kiosk, his hands stuffed in his pockets. He was mumbling something to Cindy Trummel, the woman who'd once owned the gift shop I'd just seen burned down along with the pharmacy. I'd almost forgotten these people existed, but I recognized at least half the faces in the growing crowd. The entire Muldoon population seemed to have emptied out to converge at the high school. I pulled my hood even lower.

As Cindy stepped into line, she reached into a big plastic bin. When Tuck moved forward, I could see the words "FOR PUBLIC DISPERSAL" stenciled on its side.

What Cindy took from the bin was a surgical mask, the kind of mouth covering that doctors wear to protect against germs. She affixed it to her face and tied the strap.

Tuck put on a mask too. He shook his head incredulously.

"Airborne scare?" he huffed. "Bullcrap. Home Guard just wants to look like they're actually doing something to keep people safe. Airborne scare my ass."

Was it possible? Had a strain of the TGV pathogen actually become an airborne contagion? It seemed unlikely. From everything that Chris had told me about the disease, I was pretty sure it could only be transmitted sexually, and not through the air. Maybe Tuck was right. Maybe the Home Guard was starting rumors just to keep people dependent on their services and less likely to revolt.

Whether or not the threat was real, I was happy to have an excuse to conceal my face better. Keeping my head down, I stepped into line and grabbed one from the bin. There were also simple black parkas and military-style boots, all courtesy of the Home Guard. I slipped the mask over my face, tied it on, and pulled my hood back up.

I glanced at Cindy to see how well the masks concealed someone's face. You could still see her eyes of course, but she was pretty unrecognizable. I hoped that as long as I kept my own mask on, no one would see who I was.

But getting into the football field for a meal wasn't going to be as easy as just waltzing in, as I'd hoped. As the line moved forward, I could see that a pair of rangers were checking ID cards and ticking names on a list.

"No ID, no food!" one of them shouted. "Have your ID's ready, or get out of line!"

Not only did I have no quarantine ID, or any ID for that matter, if I handed over something with my name on it, I'd be arrested on the spot. Maybe even shot.

So I slipped out of line as casually as I could. If I was going to get into the football field, I had only one other hope. . .

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Please VOTE 🌟 before continuing. xxBailey