The old man gave Aaron a small smile and extended his hand. "Larry Murchison," he said.

"Aaron Masters," Aaron said, shaking Larry's hand. "So how did you know that chick that attacked Eddie was… whatever the hell she was?"

Larry sighed and said, "My grandson went to a party last night. When he got home, too damn late for his own good, he told me someone went crazy at the party and started biting people. Chris, my grandson, got bit on the arm holding the nut down until the police got there."

Larry looked down at the floor and whispered, "When I got up this morning, Chris had Mary Anne, my wife, on the floor in the kitchen. He… He was eating her… I... I ran out of the house and came here. I didn't know what to do."

Quiet sobs shook Larry's body. Aaron couldn't begin to imagine the pain he must be feeling, but there were other things they needed to concentrate on right now. Aaron put his hand on Larry's shoulder and said, "Larry, I'm sorry for your loss, but right now I need you."

Aaron pulled his key ring out of his pocket and slid two keys off the ring. He took Larry's wrist and put the keys in his hand.

"The little silver key opens all the locks on the gun rack. Grab some shotguns and get them locked and loaded," he said. "The bigger gold one opens the cabinet with the pistols. Get a couple out and loaded. Can you do that?"

Larry gulped, wiped his eyes on his sleeve and nodded to Aaron. With Larry off to get weapons, Aaron headed over to Jo. He knelt down on the floor next to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Jo, sweetie, I need you to get up," he said quietly to her.

"Aaron what happened to Eddie?" She asked. "I thought you said he was dead."

"Jo, I don't know what the hell is going on, that's why I need you. We need to get the store locked up so no more freaks like that lady get in, okay?" He asked.

She nodded to him and let him help her to her feet. She swayed for a moment, but Aaron caught her before she could fall.

"Jo, honey, why don't you go in the bathroom and rinse off?" He asked.

"Okay," she said, wandering off towards the bathroom.

Two down, one to go, Aaron thought.

He looked around the store and spotted Jimmy standing in the camping section. Jimmy just stood staring at the front of the store as Aaron walked over to him. As Aaron approached, he saw the front of Jimmy's pants were soaked. He could sympathize with the boy, when Eddie had gotten up; Aaron had nearly pissed his own pants.

"Hey, Jimmy," he said. "Jimmy, are you okay?"

Jimmy turned his tear streaked face to Aaron and asked, "What's going on, Aaron?"

"I don't know, Jimmy. All I know is we need to get this place locked down and make sure no more people like that get in here," he answered.

"You think there are more bad people out there?" Jimmy asked.

"From what the old guy, Larry, told me, there are, yes," Aaron answered.

Suddenly, Jimmy grabbed Aaron's arm and asked, "What about my mom? Oh my God, she's out there with them."

"Jimmy, calm down. We'll call your mom and get her to come here. Then we'll lock this place up and wait for this thing to blow over," he said.

"Yeah," Jimmy mumbled. "Call my mom. Yeah, I'm gonna do that."

"I think the first thing you need to go is change your pants," Aaron said.

Jimmy looked down and, for the first time, saw what he had done. Looking back up at Aaron his face flushed a deep red and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Jimmy, don't think about it. Stuff like that happened to a lot of guys when I was in the Marines. And if it can happen to a big, bad Marine, it can happen to anyone. Now go get cleaned up."

"I don't have any changes of pants though," Jimmy said.

Aaron chuckled and said, "Grab some workout pants or something. I don't think anyone in management will say anything."

Jimmy gave Aaron a ghost of a smile and headed off to get changed. Aaron took a deep breath and let it out. Next, he thought.

He wandered over and ripped open a pack of t-shirts. Sliding one on, he headed back to the manager's office. He closed the door and dialed Cecelia's number. He kept getting the all circuits are busy message until the seventh try. Finally, the phone started to ring.

"We're sorry the number you have dialed is no longer in service," the voice from the other end said.

"Goddammit!" He yelled, slamming the phone down. She'd changed the fucking number again. She thought it was funny to change her phone number on Aaron every six months or so. Making him wait until Katie begged to call daddy and he got her number from his caller id again.

Wait, he thought. Katie called last week. Maybe the new number was still on his caller id. He hadn't checked it this last call and it could have been the new number. But that would mean going out with whatever the hell was going on outside. It didn't matter though. He needed to make sure his daughter was safe.

He stormed out of the manager's office and walked over to the registers. Both Jo and Jimmy were on the phones at the registers when he walked up. Jimmy hung up and the phone and ginned at him.

"Mom's okay. I got her on her cell and she's on her way here," he said.

"Good. When she gets here wave her over to the store room door. We're going to lock the front doors and pull down the security gate," Aaron said.

"Why?" Jimmy asked.

Aaron frowned at the boy. "Because the store room door doesn't have an outside handle. And I want the gate down just in case someone manages to break the glass, they'd still have to find a way through the gate."

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry, Aaron."

Aaron ignored him as he locked the front doors and brought the security gate down. Once the front was sealed he headed over to camping and grabbed one of the backpacks he'd had his eyes on. It was meant for longer hikes and had the waist belt to help distribute the weight of the pack better.

Pack in hand; he walked around the store grabbing any necessities like extra pairs of socks, several of the less disgusting Power Bars and a couple of bottles of water. He zipped those into the main part of the pack.

"Aaron, what are you doing? Jimmy asked.

Ignoring the question, he walked over to the gun section and put a couple of boxes of shotgun shells into a side pocket of his pack.

"What pistols do you have ready?" He asked Larry.

"A couple of the Glock 9mm's, two of the Glock .45's and a .357," Larry answered. "I was kinda hoping I could use the .357."

"Fine by me," Aaron said.

He walked behind the counter and pulled a holster off of the shelf. Cinching it tight around his waist, he picked up one of the 9mm's and slid it into the holster. Getting under the pistol case he pulled out a box of extra clips for the Glock.

While he was loading the extra clips, Larry asked him, "Are you sure you want the 9? .45 has a lot more stopping power."

"It does," Aaron agreed, "but I spent eight years qualifying with a 9mm. I figure I'll stay with what I know."

"Smart," Larry said. "Mind if I ask you what you're doing?"

"I need to know if my daughter's safe. My bitch ex changed her number, but I think I have her new number on my caller id at home. Get the picture?" Aaron asked.

"You sure it's a good idea going out there?"

Aaron snorted a laugh. "No, it's stupid, but I have to know."

Finishing loading the four extra clips, he slid two into each of his front pockets. He grabbed a couple of boxes of shells for the pistol and slid them into the remaining side pockets of the backpack.

He surveyed the store one last time. He knew he didn't have everything he should be taking in the pack, but he wanted to travel as light as possible. He hoped he really didn't need any of what he had, but better safe than sorry.

"Jo, Jimmy, come here," he said.

The two joined him and Larry at the gun display.

"Alright, have either of you shot a gun before?" He asked.

Jimmy shook his head and Jo said, "My brother took me shooting a couple of times. I'm pretty good with his shotgun."

"Good, keep one with you at all times," Aaron said. "Jimmy, I want you to get a holster and carry one of the 9mm's. And, all three of you, I want you to keep the safeties on at all times do not chamber a round until you intend on firing. I do not want accidents. Understood?"

"Umm, Aaron, what does all of that mean?" Jimmy asked quietly.

"Larry will explain," Aaron said. "I have some stuff to do and I'll try and get back as quick as possible. If any more crazies show up, don't let them in. Any people come along, get them in through the store room."

Turning to Jo, he asked, "Did you get a hold of your folks?"

He knew the answer from the look on her face. "No. I kept trying but nobody's picking up."

Jo lived in the same direction as Aaron. Hell, he was going that direction anyway. "I'll see if they're there on my way back, okay?"

Jo threw he arms around him and sobbed a thank you into his shoulder. Pulling out of her arms, he pulled his store keys out of his pocket and handed them to her.

"I guess you're a manager now. Congratulations on the promotion. The hours and pay still suck though," he said.

She gave him a weak chuckle and he knew it was time to go. Shouldering his pack, he picked up one of the shotguns and headed for the store room. Once he was at the store room door, he took a deep breath. The first step is always the worst, he thought. He chambered a round into the shotgun and flicked off the safety.

Looking behind him he saw Jo had followed him.

"Make sure the door is closed tight when I go and if you let anyone in," he said.

She nodded and said, "Be careful."

"Me?" He asked with a grin.

He shoved the door open, brought up the shotgun and stepped outside. A quick check of his surroundings didn't show any crazies so he ran over to his car. Kneeling down buy his car, he slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out his keys. He unlocked the driver's door and opened it. He slid off the pack and tossed it over into the passenger seat.

A string of gunshots nearby made him jump and almost fire off a round from the shotgun. Cursing his jumpiness, he flicked the safety on on the shotgun and got in the car. Locking his door, he started the car and headed out of the parking lot.