White Flag of the Dead Read Free

were dealing with them as quickly as they could. If it was not a life-threatening emergency, then we would have to wait.”
    I looked at the scene across the street. I guessed the waiting for help to arrive had just started. I decided I needed to get home and get with my family right now. I said as much to Janet and suggested that she leave right now as well. She didn’t argue with me, having three children of her own waiting for her at home.
As I packed up to leave, I looked out the window again. The old man was gone, and so was the woman. Blood was all over the grass, turning brown in the sun. I guess 911 came to the rescue after all. Hope the guy with the bite on his arm was okay.
    As I walked out into the parking lot, I was struck by how quiet everything was. I didn’t hear any trains going by, I didn’t hear any kids playing. Unusual for this neighborhood. I did hear an odd moaning, but I figured that was the wind. As I got to my car, I thought I heard several pops, like someone lighting off fireworks. It came from the east, where the hospital and clinic were, but I didn’t think anything of it.
    As I drove home, I kept the radio off. I kept replaying what I had seen in my head and nothing added up. What would make an old man attack someone like that? Alzheimer’s did not turn people violent, and most certainly did not turn them into cannibals. I was so lost in thought I barely felt my cell phone vibrating. It was Ellie. I snapped it open, not sure of what I was going to tell her. “Hey, you!”
    “Hey, John. Just wanted to touch base with you. I’m still at Cost Go right now and have picked up a lot of things, is there anything else you think we need.?”
    “Off the top of my head, just extra batteries for the flashlights and the toys, some extra medicine stuff like aspirin and baby cold medicines for Jakey.” My voice shook a little as I spoke to her.
    “Are you sure? That seems like a lot.” Ellie seemed skeptical and reluctant to spend so much.”
    “Trust me, I’d rather be on the safe side. Look at it this way, you won’t have to go shopping for a while.” I tried to be humorous, but I kept seeing that old man attacking that poor woman. Jesus, what the hell?
    “All right.” Ellie said. “I’ll see you at home.”
    A thought occurred to me. “I may be home a little later, I want to make a couple of stops.”
    “Right. Pizza okay for dinner?”
    “Sure.”
    “Bye now,”
    “Bye.”
    I looked to see where I was and I realized that I needed to get over quickly to catch the interstate. I had three stops to make, and would need to move fast to get home in time for dinner. As I merged on the interstate, I noticed there was a lot of traffic leaving the city, but that seemed normal. It was a Friday, and people generally left the city for relatives and other places. I caught the ramp to another highway, and moved towards the street I needed. I briefly hoped that I would be able to get through the traffic quickly, but one never knew.
    My first stop was a little shop tucked away behind a gas station. It had two floors, and the first floorwas devoted to fishing gear. Anything you needed for fishing except boats could be found there. I wasn’t interested in fishing gear, I needed what was on the second floor. I went up and found the place to be slightly more crowded than usual. Racks of rifles and shotguns lined a display behind the counter, which held a wide variety of handguns. As I worked my way to the back of the store, I caught snippets of conversation.
    “Heard its spread to three cities now…”
    “What’s this I hear about London and dead people?”
    “What’s the damn government gonna do, set up another committee?”
    “Can we waive the waiting period?”
    I stopped in front of the reloading supplies and looked around. Guns, I didn’t need, but ammo was another story. I grabbed two cans of powder, two boxes of primers, and box of 1000 180gr HP 40 cal bullets. I worked the supplies over