Joel and the other three men passed through the threshold into the kitchen. He, Dale, and Tommy went straight for the pantry, ready to rid themselves of any leftover products made with flour. Shane stood behind them, his face still skeptical.
Joel couldn't care less what Shane or anyone else thought of this decision. He was doing his best to wear a brave face, all the men were, but the truth was, they were all terrified of what was going on. He was grateful that Dale had brought this information to him and Tommy first. Any chance to keep Sarah safe, even if this was false information and a terrible decision, he would take it. They could always find more food.
"Look at this," Tommy said.
He grabbed several packages of Skinner spaghetti left on the shelves.
"All of that has to go," Dale commanded.
There was more where that came from. Joel joined Tommy, grabbing more of the packages of pasta left on the shelves. He grabbed a package, long stiff noodles of spaghetti spilling all over the floor.
"This one was opened recently," he held the package up.
Dale shook his head morbidly as if at some grave omen.
Joel could only hope that it wasn't recent, but he didn't know how long the restaurant would leave an open package of pasta without throwing it out. He hoped not too long. The FDA wouldn't appreciate that.
"Guys, come check this out," Shane's voice beckoned from the main kitchen area.
Joel led the other men back out, surprised to see Shane with his hands fishing through the full trash can, pulling out small slips of paper.
"Those are their orders," Dale observed.
"Yep, and looks like at 5:49 PM yesterday someone named Edwin J ordered spaghetti for dinner," Shane said, observing a slip of paper stained with red sauce.
"That's Doctor Jenner," Dale said. "He's the professor of biology at Jefferson Christian Academy. He was here yesterday morning, I remember seeing him."
"What room did they send him to?" Joel asked.
Dale shook his head. "Lori has all that documented in her office."
"Alright, Dale, you stay here and look through these notes, see if anyone else ordered anything made from flour," Shane instructed. "We'll go to Lori's office."
Shane's face was serious like he was beginning to consider the possibility that the bread had been the cause of all this after all. Maybe it was only his need to be in control that made him doubt Dale's concern.
He rushed out of the kitchen, Tommy followed after him. Joel looked between Dale and the direction that Shane and his brother had gone. Dale could handle this, but he needed to make sure that Tommy was safe. And if the flour had been the means by which this fungus spread, then Tommy could be in danger if he went to this Edwin Jenner's room without Joel there to keep him safe.
He jogged after the two men, spotting them heading down the hall towards the administration section of the hotel. He followed them into an office labeled as Lori Grimes, Executive Manager. Shane already had the hotel roster in his hands, a big slip of paper. This hotel was old, and things were just now moving into the twenty-first century. Lori must not have been using the computer system to document guests yet, despite the big chunky PC perched upon her desk.
Shane skimmed the paper down with his finger.
"Edwin Jenner, assigned to room 306," he said. "With one guest."
Joel and Tommy didn't wait for him to say anymore, just dashed out of the office towards the staircase. Joel grabbed onto the railing, rushing his way up.
"Really should've got an elevator installed in here," Tommy remarked, his voice echoing throughout the stairwell.
"Oh, the army veteran can't handle a few flights of stairs?" Joel asked.
Tommy only scoffed his response.
"Elevators won't be up and runnin' much longer if the world doesn't sort itself out," Shane mumbled, coming up right behind them.
The world sorting itself out was a funny idea. When had that ever happened? The world was what it always was. A bunch of apes trying to figure out a way to run things and failing miserably. Of course, Joel hoped for a safer world for his daughter and brother, but with how quickly everything had gone to shit, a premonition was sinking in his gut that things were different for good now.
