Free Hard Choice by C. A. Hoaks Page A

Carl.”
Norma protested.
    “Do you see Carl here?” Lynette asked. “He’s
not here and won’t be coming back anytime soon, so I’m taking
it.”
    Lynette walked past Norma and hurried toward
the break room. She could hear the heavy set, bottle-blonde woman
close on her heels.
    “What are you doing now?” Norma
demanded.
    “Whatever I have to do to get out of this
mess.”
    Lynette walked past the vending machines to
the supply closet, raised the cane and slammed the heavy metal end
down on the cheap door knob. The metal knob shattered and fell to
the floor in a clatter of pieces. She stepped inside the small
supply closet and emptied a box of power bars into the canvas bag
hanging across her body. She threw in packages of nuts, and all the
dried fruit mix from another box. She added three bottles of water,
tested the weight and grabbed another. With the last one settled in
the bag, she tore open a power bar and ate it in two bites.
    “That’s stealing!” Norma protested. “You
have to pay for that. It comes out of petty cash, and I have to
balance at the end of the month.”
    Lynette settled in a chair at the table and
opened a bottle of water. When the bottle was half empty, she set
it on the table. “I know you’re having a problem with accepting
this situation, but I’m not sitting here and waiting for help that
won’t ever come. The infected will either get in or we’d run out of
food. You can come with me or stay, up to you.” She got to her
feet. “If you want to leave, be ready when I come out of the
bathroom.”
    Finishing the remaining water, she tossed
the bottle in the recycle bin. She turned and left the break room
heading for the bathroom. After using the toilet, she stood at the
sink and looked into the mirror. Would she leave Norma? The
woman was a miserable person most of the time, but could she leave
her alone if she refused to come? She’d have no choice,
right?
    After splashing water on her face, Lynette
wiped the droplets away with a handful of rough paper towels. She
adjusted the bag on her shoulder, picked up the cane, and pushed
the door open.
    Norma stood in front of the opening. “You
can’t leave me.”
    Lynette stepped around her and answered.
“I’m not staying.”
    “Then you have to take me with you. I rode
the bus.”
    Lynette looked at Norma’s feet crammed into
spike heels with pointed toes. “You won’t make it twenty feet with
those shoes.”
    Norma sniffled. “I don’t have any other
shoes.”
    Lynette sighed. “Then find some. Check every
cube.”
    While Norma went from cube to cube looking
for shoes, Lynette walked up to Norma’s desk and grabbed the huge
bag she used for a purse. She turned it upside down.
    The contents spilled out on the floor in a
messy pile and a weighty thud. Lynette brushed away a pile of
tissues and saw a handgun. She picked up the .38, checked the load
then dropped it into her own bag. After sorting through the rest of
the clutter she found a small box of ammunition and dropped it in
her bag as well.
    By the time Norma reappeared, Lynette had
added supplies to the big purse similar to her own in addition to a
knife from the break room. It was a large cheap blade that had been
left behind after a celebration or office gathering a few months
ago.
    “What are you doing with a gun, Norma?”
Lynette pulled the .38 from her bag.
    “Oh, was that in there? Before my husband
died, he bought it for me when I started working late.” She
shrugged. “I forgot about it. I’ve only fired it twice.”
    “Then I’m keeping it,” Lynette announced and
looked at a ragged pair of jogging shoes in her hand. “Get the
shoes on then we’re leaving. You can carry this knife.” She slammed
the stuffed bag into Norma’s chest.
    Norma slumped on a chair, kicked off her
heels and stepped into the shoes. “I’ll probably get athlete’s
foot. These belong to the new kid with red hair. He’s always
covered in scabs or something.”
    “That was