A Flock of Ill Omens by Hart Johnson Page B

like life's oldest friend, though. Grant had had a rough childhood—a homophobic dad with a misconception he could make his son straight with enough discipline. She thought that was why he and Sarah never talked about the childhood years.
    “I'm not going, either,” Sid said.
    “You have to. You're flying.”
    “I can delay it a day.”
    “Well, I'd call and check on that.”
    She knew it was true and she didn't really want to drive four thousand miles, so she called the airlines.
    “Miss, there are a lot of cancellations. I can get you on later. But I need to warn you, they are talking about stopping air service. I don't know that I'd wait for tomorrow.”
    “What is your latest flight out tonight?”
    “Eleven twenty.”
    “And you're sure it's going?”
    “Yes, ma'am. Staff are already checked in at Minneapolis. They fly to Atlanta, here, then back the way they came.”
    “Okay, book me on that.”
    Sid would have liked another day, but she was as worried about Jeff as she was about Grant. Well, that wasn't completely true. She could see Grant was really sick, and Jeff might have been fine, but until she knew for sure, her imagination would wreak havoc. And with her renewed commitment to find out what all this was about, she felt the headquarters of the CDC might be just the place to find some answers. After all, Jeff had warned her about the shots a week ago. Somebody had to know something. And she certainly wasn't able to get access to them from here.
     
    Sarah's measures weren't enough. Sid didn't think anything would have been enough, but Sarah took it hard, all the professionalism collapsing when Grant's heart stopped pumping. Sid had to call David to come down when it was over. Sarah blamed herself for not knowing more, while Sid blamed the hospital and ambulance system for not coming to get him. David reminded them there was more nefarious blame to go around.
    “It's the vaccine. Somebody is killing people on purpose.”
    Sid desperately wanted that not to be true, because you couldn't fight an enemy you couldn't see and she felt it placed the burden of figuring it out on her own shoulders, but at the same time, she could see it let Sarah breathe easier. They called again for the bodies to be picked up, but doubted anyone would come.
    Were there really dead people stuck in apartments all over the city? It was starting to look like that had to be the case.
    Sarah called Grant's mother, but sadly, had to leave a message.
    Sid called Ricky's sister, who was devastated, but she said Ricky had been HIV positive for more than a decade. It confirmed Sid’s guess, though it had never been her business, so she hadn’t probed. It sounded like the sister had steeled herself to the idea of Ricky's death years ago, before the cocktail had changed HIV from a death sentence to a chronic condition.
    At the house they tried to eat a pizza because it was easy, and Sarah and Sid drank a bottle of wine, toasting Grant and Ricky and crying a lot. Then David drove Sid to the airport. She made her flight after all.

1. 11. Sarah McGrath:
    In Transit
    The Roundabout Path to Matrimony
     
    Sarah cried through much of their packing and the waterworks only increased when David left to take Sid to the airport. By the time David got home, her bags were by the door and she'd crashed, but she kept finding her face wet all the way to Biggs the next day.
    David reached for her as he pulled off the freeway. They'd stopped at this truck stop half a hundred times. “Sarah, honey? You want anything?”
    “Diet soda.”
    He made a face, but went in to pay for gas and get drinks. He said nurses knew better, and it was true. Diet soda was about the worst thing for her. But Missoula was a ten-hour drive from Portland, and she knew somewhere around Spokane she would finally convince David to let her drive. He hadn't slept any more than she had in the last few days, though he hadn't just lost his two best friends, one of them permanently,