They swam a bit more, bare skinned, luxuriating in the feel of the cold water against their bare skin. As the sun began to dip lower in the sky, they dressed and walked slowly back toward where they'd hidden the bike. They climbed on and headed off toward Daryl's house. They had agreed that they would stop and he'd feed and water the beagles, then they'd head to the farm where Daryl would spend the night.
They pulled up into the little drive of Daryl's house and his heart sank immediately. On the porch sat Merle, smoking and drinking a beer. He stifled a groan and helped Amy off the bike. "Stay here," he whispered. He walked slowly toward the porch, glaring at Merle. Merle smiled one of his shit eating insincere grins and waved at Amy.
"Well hey there baby brother!" he shouted. He was already well on his way to being drunk. Daryl sighed.
"Hey Merle," he grumbled. Merle stood up and swayed, then grabbed Daryl around the shoulders roughly trying to get him in a headlock. Daryl shook him off roughly and stepped back in a defensive stance.
"Ain't ya glad to see me baby brother?" he rasped. He glanced over at Amy and winked. "Or ya too busy to give me the time of day?" he snickered.
Daryl shook his head impatiently. "What do ya want Merle?" he snapped. Merle made a mocking gesture at Amy and Daryl.
"Well well, I guess ya have been too busy ta think of me," he began belligerently. "Guess ya haven't heard the news lately," he grumbled.
Daryl shook his head again. Amy saw him start to bite his thumb in agitation. "I don't know what you're talkin' bout Merle. Just spit it out," he said disgustedly.
"I'm talkin' bout I got out early on account of the virus," Merle swayed again and fell into the rocker.
Daryl looked over at Amy and frowned. "What the hell are ya talking about Merle?" he snapped again.
Merle frowned back, confusion on his face. "Ya aren't playin' are ya baby brother?" he asked querulously.
"No, dammit Merle, I'm not. What the hell are ya talking about?" he spat on in frustration.
Merle sighed. "it's on the tv. There's some virus, supposedly spreading through all the big cities," he began.
Amy looked at him sharply. "Merle," she said as she stepped closer to the porch, "are you saying there's a flu epidemic?" This made no sense to her, flu didn't happen in the summer.
"Who the fuck are you?" Merle slurred. He looked from Daryl to Amy uncertainly.
"Never mind," Daryl growled, "just tell us what the hell you're going on about," he snapped again.
"Go turn the tv on. They can tell ya better than I can," Merle mumbled. He was starting to slump in the chair.
Daryl snorted in disgust and shook his head. "I'm gonna go water and feed the dogs. You stay over there by the bike. He can sleep on the damn porch, we'll go to your place so we don't have to deal with his shit all night," and Daryl stalked off toward the back yard where he had a pen with shade and water and food for the dogs.
Amy stayed by the bike, watching Merle cautiously. She was anxious to get back home and look at the news to see what Merle was talking about.
Twenty minutes later Daryl pulled the bike in beside Amy's truck and they hurried inside. Amy grabbed some bottled water as Daryl turned the tv on one of the local channels. Amy sank down beside him, her eyes riveted on the scene before them. The tv showed scenes of panic and chaos, looting and burning in D.C., New York and Boston. The announcer said the virus had erupted into an epidemic over the last seventy-two hours. So far only major cities had experienced power outages, looting and damage to buildings. A few cities on the West Coast were starting to turn patients away from hospitals, setting up makeshift quarantine areas. The officials were of course telling folks not to panic, not to try to come into the cities, to stay put where they were and wait for instructions.
Daryl turned the channel to one of the twenty-four hour news channels and they watched in growing horror as the scenes repeated in cities all over the world-Moscow, Paris, Prague, London, Tehran, Jerusalem, any country that you could name had people panicking and rioting, looting and burning. Amy got her laptop out and powered it up. "Let's see what this virus is, and how it started," she whispered. Normally her internet service was exceptionally speedy, tonight it was taking a long time to connect and for any page to open up. Finally she was able to type into the search bar the questions she wanted answered.
Apparently everybody else and their brother was trying to access the same information. Page after page showed variations of her question with variations of the same answer. The virus was a part of a biological warfare experiment that had somehow gotten airborne and rapidly spread across every continent. The first victims had been quarantined and kept secret while the government tried to find a way to stop the spread of the virus or find a cure. This was two months ago. Amy frowned at Daryl.
"Two months ago this shit started, and no one told anyone what was going on. Now it's spread like crazy everywhere, and people are panicking and rightfully so. No one's giving any information out. All it says here is that it's airborne, that anyone can catch it, no one knows how to stop it. We're all supposed to stay in our houses and not panic and wait for somebody in charge to tell us what to do," she snorted in disgust.
"Well, ya used to work in doctor's offices right?" Daryl mumbled. "Do you remember ever reading anything about this stuff?" Amy thought a minute and nodded slowly.
"Well, it wasn't exactly about this but we had classes on biological and chemical accidents. How to prepare for patients involved in that sort of thing. We wouldn't expect anyone at the clinic, but if this happened we'd be expected to report to the hospital to help out in any way we could. I know some of the guys that worked at the hospital were into all that doomsday prepping shit, and they insisted on keeping survival kits packed and ready at their homes and in their vehicles-kinda like some folks keep hurricane or tornado kits ready." Daryl nodded.
"What all was in those kits?" he asked, thinking rapidly. They could put something together and prepare themselves in case they had to leave. Until then they would sit tight at the farm and watch the news.
"The usual. Kinda like a camping kit-first aid stuff, water, nonperishable food, matches, sewing kit, extra blankets and linens, changes of clothes. Important paperwork like birth certificates, passports, driver licenses, insurance and medication information." She paused to think. "I think that's it. Of course some guys had gotten really serious and a few of them had built safe rooms or shelters underground-like storm shelters or those old bomb shelters-stocked them with enough food and stuff for months." She sat and thought silently.
"Well, how bout we do this?" Daryl asked, "how bout we put together some stuff now, put it where we can get at it quick. Make sure everything outside is secured, make sure the house is secured. Kinda like a tornado is coming but we have advance notice. Then we wait and see what the tv says tomorrow." Amy nodded in agreement. "First though I want to go back and check on Merle, get him inside the house and lock it up, maybe leave him the bike so he has some kind of vehicle, that okay with you?" Amy nodded again and they headed out to Daryl's house, Amy following Daryl in her truck.
It took both of them to carry Merle in to the couch and get him settled. Daryl scrawled a hasty note for Merle, made sure the house was locked up and left the bike keys with the note where Merle would see it. He worried what to do about the dogs, but decided they'd be okay for now. He double checked their food and water and then he and Amy went back to her house in the truck. He pulled the truck to the back as close as possible to the back door then they went inside and locked up.