Chapter 2

Well, now it was Tuesday and last night I had my first shower in my cabin. Man did that feel great, but it made me realize I had another problem; the hot water tank was too small. Since it was the first of the month and I had money, I decided to go to town and buy a bigger one. I had put in a 6 gallon one out of an RV and in my own defense, I thought it would be big enough for one person if you were fast. Wrong! If you have a bad hip and knee and a bad back, hot water is a miracle treatment when you're hurting from too much bending and twisting. I had let the hot water run on my back last night and by the time I got soaped up to wash it was pure cold water from the spring. Man, you talk about an eye opener! I made up my mind then and there I was getting a bigger tank if I had to drive all the way to Tucson to find one. No more cold showers for me! Besides, I had a shipment of ammo coming in that should have been delivered yesterday if UPS was on time. My friend BK would sign for it, so I knew it should be there and I needed to pick it up. My friend BK and I were shooting freaks and we were always ordering something on sale from the online gun sites. This time I had ordered several thousand rounds of sixty grain 22 long rifle ammo. It had been on sale so I snatched it up. I had a 22 rifle and pistol that I loved to plink with and a 9mm pistol. Now BK was into the long rifles and had several that he used, but where I liked open sights, BK loved scopes. He would get lost in his own little world shooting at targets you couldn't see with the naked eye. I hated scopes and always have, but then again I preferred pistols. It took me a year to persuade him to even buy one and after he did, he had a lot of fun with it, even if he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. I was on the main road when I remembered I had forgotten to bring the trailer so back I went.

When I walked into the hardware store in Willcox, the only people I saw were the employees. I found a thirty gallon hot water heater that was 115 volt and spoke for it immediately. I had plenty of extra pvc and all the extras in a pile out back of the cabin, so the only expense I had was the tank itself. The clerk loaded it and tied it down for me so I headed back to BK's place to check on my ammo. When I walked in, he was reloading shells as usual. I figured he had bought more brass from the company I bought the ammo from.

"Hey old man, your 22s are here. How damned many more did you buy? He had to cart them in on a dolly. Did you get the generator hooked up yet? I plan on coming out next week to do some shooting and will bring the long tape to measure off yards. Hey, have you heard about this new flu? They are saying it has a 94% death rate. It started on the east coast, but when I was at Mom's yesterday, they said it had spread to Texas and that they were considering implementing Martial Law to control the panic. The hospitals are turning people away and telling them to stay home and drink plenty of liquids."

"The guys mentioned it last week, but since I can't even get cell or radio out there that was all I heard about it. I ordered 5,000 rounds since they were half off. Besides, I been wanting some of the 60 gr to try out. I wonder if they will be accurate beyond a hundred yards."

"Well, they should be, but we will have to try them out. You got room out there for me to stay a couple of days? Since you moved out, I ain't got no one to yell at. I thought maybe I would come out and see this place you been braggin' about. It's just too damned quiet around here all by myself."

He gave me a shit eating grin and went back to priming brass while I carried the ammo out to the trailer. He was right about one thing though, I did miss having him around. We had been roommates for several years and gotten comfortable with each other's company. We were a couple of old farts that had the same hobby and enjoyed each other's company most of the time. Of course we stayed in our rooms and took turns cooking meals when we felt like it, which wasn't often. Since I no longer had internet, I had to come here to get online, but that just gave me an excuse to come to town. I bid him goodbye and said I would see him next week sometime, and headed back to the cabin.

I got the tank hooked up and was sitting back smoking my pipe and sipping coffee when I heard a horn honking. I grabbed the binoculars and looked up at the gate. There was a Sheriff's car sitting there, so I got up and headed up to see what was going on. It was my friend the deputy that lived down the road and the news he had wasn't great.

"I know you heard about this new flu, but there is something I need to tell you about that hasn't been on the radio or TV. They sent all law enforcement a bulletin advising us to immediately burn the bodies of the dead. If this hadn't come from CDC I would have laughed, but they are coming back alive after they die."