Free Sealed In by Jacqueline Druga

they’re not already dead.”
    “Jesus Christ, we have to call the authorities. Call the health department, CDC, whatever …”
    “No. We can’t do that and you know it.”
    “What?” Larry laughed in ridicule. “Why the hell not?”
    “The people in this town may not know it, but they’re already dead. Every man, woman and child. You and I will be the only ones standing. Then we’ll stand trial. We will be the men that go down in history as the ones who released the world’s deadliest biological weapon. Accident or not.”
    Larry poured another drink, downed it, and brought his hands to his head. “My God, this isn’t happening. If we don’t call them, we can’t help the people.”
    “We can’t help them anyhow.”
    “What do we do?”
    “The only thing we can. This town is far enough removed. Very few outsiders come in. This thing is only going to take a few days. We do the only thing we can. Sit down right now, devise a story, and devise a plan. We have a chance at stopping this thing here and now. Stopping it from spreading. But we have to act fast,” Val said. “We have no choice. We have to shut down. We have to seal the town.”

Chapter Seven

Lincoln, Montana
 
December 1 6 th
     
    Andy wasn’t gone all that long from Emma’s, maybe a half an hour, but it was long enough for Del to get to the house after he saw Andy in town.
    His car was parked in the driveway, angled as always to stop a car from pulling in next to him. Where did he think he was, at a mall?
    Since Del was on his extended visit, he was always at the house. Andy didn’t let it bother him too much, he just hung around Emma who avoided Del. Del was there for Richie or Heather. Seldom Cody. It was as if he refused to recognize Cody as a grandchild.
    After parking his truck, Andy walked around to the back and lifted the bushel basket from the rear. He carried it with him up the driveway to the house and stepped inside.
    Andy could have predicted what he’d see.
    Del and Richie in the living room, the standard pizza box, empty soda cans tossed about as they played video games. They used a white board to communicate. After three weeks, Andy thought for sure Del would have learned to sign some.
    He tapped Richie on the head to let him know he was there. “I’m back; I’ll be in the kitchen.” Andy signed. “Hand me a slice?”
    “Sure thing,” Richie replied and grabbed a piece of pizza for Andy.
    Del paused in playing. “Hey, nice basket of tomatoes.”
    Richie signed, “I thought you were dropping them off at Bonnie’s diner.”
    “I was,” Andy signed. “But she was gone early tonight. They must not have been busy. You having fun?”
    “Yeah, actually, I kinda like him more now.”
    Andy laughed.
    “Ok, enough,” Del said. “I know you guys are talking about me.”
    “N … not every … every th… thing is about you-you.”
    “Re….re…really.”
    Andy sighed.
    From the kitchen Emma yelled, “I heard that, Andy. You have my permission to deck him. It is my house.”
    Andy ignored her typical statement and looked at Del. “We .. we were t … talking about you.” Andy stumbled over the ‘R’, then skipped it and said, “He … he … likes being with … with you.”
    Del smiled, grabbed a pen and wrote down what Andy said. He showed it to Richie.
    Richie nodded.
    “Cool.” Del grinned. “Let’s hang out more. You can go continue to be errand boy for Emma, Andy, she’s in the kitchen.”
    Thinking ‘he’s such an asshole’ but not saying it, Andy went into the kitchen. He set the bushel on the floor. “B … B … closed.”
    “Really?” Emma asked. “That’s odd. She must have been dead in the diner tonight.” After a shrug, she thanked Andy and kissed him. “I appreciate you going down there. We’ll just take it tomorrow. Right now, prepping these tomatoes for canning is a bitch.”
    “I … t … told you. N-not to start tonight.”
    “I know. But now I won’t be happy until we