All That I See - 02 by Shane Gregory

I said. “It’s just that we thought there might be a correlation . It’s just a theory.”
    Ben stared at me expressionless then looked over at Sara.
    “If you think something like that might happen, the two of you should come with us,” he said . “Our place is more secure than this one.”
    “We really need to stay here and wait for Nicholas and Judy,” Sara said.
    Ben opened the back of the truck and dug around until he found a box of tampons. He put it and two rolls of toilet paper on t op of the case of ramen noodles that Sara was holding.
    “As soon as things settle down, we’re heading west,” Ron said. “We found a boat, and we’re crossing the river. You’re welcome to come with us if you want.”
    Sara and I looked at each other but neither of us accepted the invitation . We’d already discussed whether or not we should leave the area, and we were on the same page.
    “Okay,” Ben said. “ If you need anything just drive that way until you get to the stop sign. Make a right and we’re the first house on the left. It’s a green mailbox with the number seventy-one on it. Mr. McAllister came looking for us the last time and almost got himself killed , so we better get going . You two stay safe, and we’ll see you soon.”
    We waved as the two trucks backed out of the driveway. They pulled out into the road and headed east .
     
    We were both asleep before eight o’clock that night. Because of my recent injuries and illness, I was more tired than usual. I ended up sleeping a couple of hours past sunrise. As expected, Sara was already up when I stumbled into the kitchen. We hadn’t had any coffee since our run-in with Wheeler’s group.
    “Good morning,” she said. “Are you hungry?”
    I nodded.
    “I mixed up some of that milk for the cereal,” she said.
    I nodded again, still half asleep.
    “I started my period this morning,” she said , almost in a whisper .
    I looked up at her.
    “Do you think we should leave?” she said with a worried expression .
    I poured cereal into my bowl, “We should definitely be ready to leave.”
    “How do you feel?”
    “Better than yesterday,” I said, pouring in the milk.
    “I thought I’d go out and put out some chicken feed from the moving van,” she said. “Maybe we can get them closer so we can catch them. Maybe we can take them with us if we do have to move.”
    I nodded again, my mouth full. She picked up her rifle and went out of the room. I heard the front door open then the sound of her footsteps on the long wooden porch.
    I felt rough. The bone in my left arm still hurt, and there was a nasty bruise between my elbow and wrist. My head hurt, too, but mostly when I touched it . I did need to take it easy, but we had so much to do. I looked over to the kitchen counter where we’d put our seed flats. Five of the little seedlings had recovered overnight after getting some water. We’d need to put them in a warmer place if we wanted the other seeds to germinate. The garden would need to be planted soon, and we still didn’t have enough seeds. We needed to be out every day looking for additional seeds. It didn’t matter how I felt; these things couldn’t wait for me to get better.
    I finished up my cereal and went outside. Sara was sitting inside the back of the moving van with her legs hanging out. The AR-15 was across her lap, and she was tossing out small amounts of scratch feed to the two hen s .
    “ Chick chick ,” she said. “Here , chick chick chick.”
    I walked along the porch. The chickens saw me coming and ran a short distance away. Sara looked up at me. I sat next to her as she stuck her hand in the feed bag and pulled out another handful.
    “Here , chick chick .”
    “ We really ne ed to go out and look for seeds,” I said. “ We should be ready to plant in a week or two.”
    “Do you feel up to it? ” she asked, keeping her eyes on the hens. “ Here chick chick.”
    “We’re out of alcohol, too.” I said. “We can