Free Plague: Death was only the beginning! by Donald Franck, Francine Franck

motioning the people out, they again unloaded them and their gear before pulling away. Tom and Sally still had to spray down their trucks and trailer before they could rest.
    Tony smiled and gestured toward the front door. One platinum blonde gestured right back to tell him what she thought of the whole affair before walking to the door and going inside. The other men and woman looked at Tony and wondered who was going to carry in their bags. Tony settled it by grabbing his bag and walking to the door. The others could only stare before they picked up what they could carry and followed.
    Turning to the group, as they finally stopped in the large living room, Tony waved his hand around as if to display the scene. A warm log fire was burning in the fireplace, and a hearty stew was simmering on the stove.
    “Well, that was fun. When are they coming back to carry in the rest of our bags?” one man asked. “I didn’t pay you to carry shit!”
    “Sorry, but for the next week or so, we are on our own here. We have a well-stocked bar and wine cellar. Plenty of foodstuff and firewood to keep us for some time. And there are movies and books by the thousands in the library,” Tony replied. “I would plan to be here for some time to come, and I wouldn’t try to leave just now. Conditions outside are bad, very bad. The U.S. Government has completely collapsed, and the plague is running through town like a fast train to hell.”
    “So, what are we going to do, read?”
    “Yes, you paid me to get you all to safety. I did so,” he replied. “The facility is completely self-contained and self-powered. We have our own well, solar panels for lights, and plenty of firewood for the central boiler and in-floor heating. The food supplies will last for a number of years, and we have the ability to grow more if needed.”
    “Oh, now we are farmers? No damn way. I can fly your jet; give me the keys to the truck outside. I’m leaving,” a silver-haired gentleman stated. “I should have gotten on my boat like I wanted it. Until you talked me out of it.”
    A small silver handgun appeared as if by magic in Tony’s hand. The man glanced at it and turned away. Picking up his suitcase and garment bag, he walked down the hall in search of a room.
    “Anything on the left is open. My room is the last one on the right. Stay out of it.”
    Picking up his own bags, he walked to the last room. As he opened the door he heard, “My God, what is wrong with these people! There is meat in this …” He closed the door and locked it.

 
     
     
    “Gently, child, gently! The knife is sharp!”
    -Thoughts from the Author
     
    Chapter 20
    Worldwide Deaths: 27,900,000 est.
     
    Chevy Sands looked both directions before he pulled out his crowbar and jimmied the outside door. He wasn’t afraid of the alarms going off as the power to the entire city had stopped two days ago. And over the last week or two, he had watched everyone die around him. His mother and sister went first, and he stayed in the apartment with their dead bodies until the smell drove him out. First living on the street and later in abandoned cars, he survived. Maybe, just maybe, he was the only one in all of New York City, who was either not already sick, or dead from the plague. Wow, he was the King of New York!
    The next night, he found rooms in one of the few hotels that did not smell of death. So many people traveled to New York for business. and they stayed in some of the finest hotels in the country. Those same hotels had become their tombs as the casual brush of a stranger or a cough from a maid spread the plague as quickly as an injection.
    Now, he had the run of the best hotels in town, and he couldn’t walk into the front door. And him the King too! He finally found one place that had better insulation or just wasn’t as crowded. But then, he faced the other problem! No power! No power, no lights, NO elevators! And even the emergency lights had died long ago. After one