Jakarta Pandemic, The by Steven Konkoly Page B

in a few hours. Really unbelievable. It was a madhouse. When I left, every single cart was gone, and at least a dozen people rushed me while I was loading groceries into the minivan. It was scary. I’ve never seen anything like it.
    “They have two police cruisers parked in front of the store with their lights flashing. I think it’s the only thing keeping the situation from falling apart, and they need more. Anyway, I just wanted to call and let you know. I wouldn’t bother right now. There was a line of cars extending at least a mile down Route One. It’s a total mess.”
    “Thanks for calling, Sarah. Are you sure you’re all right? You sound a bit rattled.”
    Alex met Kate’s glance, her raised eyebrows and flat smirk saying, “So what?” He covered the mouthpiece with his hand. “Just trying to be nice. It sounds pretty screwed up over there. Cops and everything,” he whispered. He raised his finger to keep Kate from responding.
    “No, I’m fine,” Sarah responded. “I’ve just never seen people acting that way before. It was fine when I arrived, but the store filled up within minutes. Crazy.”
    “All right, Sarah, let us know if you and George need help with anything. Okay?”
    “Sure, thanks, Alex. Say hi to Kate for me.”
    “Will do. Later.”
    Alex hung up. “She said every cart was being used, and that a mob of people followed her out of the store to get her cart.”
    “Jesus.”
    “I can’t wait to see what it’s like out there. I have to admit, this is kinda exciting. You got gas, right?”
    “Yesterday,” Kate replied.
    “Good. I’m going to start moving the wood into the garage today and make a few trips out to buy some essentials.”
    “Like Xbox games and HDVDs?”
    “I think those count as essential.”
    “Do we have any cash?” she asked.
    “Not yet. We have $16,000 in our money market account. I can take that out any time I want. I can also borrow against our 401k and get a money wire into our checking account. If nothing happens, I’ll redeposit the money in our Fidelity account. Call it a reallocation of investments. The market hasn’t done shit for us this year anyway.”
    “That’ll be weird having big money like that stashed around the house,” Kate said.
    “Mafia weird. Big money rolls stuffed in our pockets weird,” he joked.
    “Yeah, but with nothing to spend it on.”
    “How about a boat?” Alex suggested.
    “Nice try,” she said, walking toward the bathroom.
     

 
    Chapter Nine
     
     
     
    Saturday, November 2, 2013
     
    Alex approached Hannigan’s from the direction of the Maine Mall. The back of his Subaru was filled with “essential” items from Home Depot and Best Buy. He left the Maine Mall slightly disappointed, since neither store was mobbed like he had predicted, or secretly hoped. He was less than a minute away from finding out why.
    As he approached a point about one mile down the road from the Hannigan’s Plaza, traffic began to slow. The oncoming lane was devoid of traffic, so he pulled over a few feet into the lane to get a better view down the road. He saw a police cruiser with flashing lights near the only turnoff before Hannigan’s, at Copley Road.
    This is for Hannigan’s? That’s where everyone is?
    He had gotten the idea to check out the Hannigan’s parking lot on the way back, but he had just planned to scan the lot and continue to Route One. Now he wondered if he could even get through to Route One on this road.
    Maybe they have a bypass lane set up.
    Traffic came to a halt a few hundred yards from the police cruiser.
    Come on, I really don’t need this right now.
    Alex laughed out loud at this thought because he really didn’t have anywhere to be at the moment, and he could have chosen from several other routes taking him far clear of this Hannigan’s.
    “I did this to myself,” he mumbled.
    After several minutes of mindlessly tapping the steering wheel, he decided that he didn’t need to sit in traffic any