CHAPTER 4

My gaze drifted over Derek as he stared up at the half moon while making the call. The rugged, untamed look was really working for him, and it was impressive how easily he'd rolled with the onslaught of problems.

Derek had even offered to be the solution. He knew it could lead to incarceration, but he was willing to sacrifice himself. Somewhere in this rough and dangerous guy lurked a responsible protector.

Grant let out a painful groan, pulling me out of my stupor. His face scrunched up as he bent over, clutching his stomach tighter.

Suzie's brow wrinkled as she lightly placed a hand on his shoulder.

When the pain appeared to subside, Grant silently turned and walked back to their truck. Even though I wasn't Grant's biggest fan, I still felt awful for him.

Suzie watched him longingly until he opened the truck door. Then she sadly returned to check on Mom.

I glanced over at the big man who gazed toward his wife and son as he massaged the back of his neck.

"I can't get through." Derek yanked the phone away from his ear and seemingly glared at the screen as he typed. "Let's hope texting works."

Everyone in our small group pulled out their phone to check for service. I still had one bar.

I called my best friend, Maxine, but instead of hearing her voice, a recording answered. "All circuits are busy. Please try your call again later."

Great. And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse.

Who the hell was I kidding? This whole situation was spinning out of control. No one looked up from their phones as they searched for other methods of communication.

"My internet isn't working." The tiny woman sniffed and removed her glasses to wipe tears from her eyes. I wanted to tell her that crying wasn't the solution, but who was I to judge? If her husband and baby looked anything like Mom, she had every right to express her emotions.

"Anybody get anything?" Dad asked.

Everyone shifted in discomfort, but no one answered. Hope was dwindling.

"What about the radio?" Big man rubbed the stubble on his chin.

Dad let out an irritated huff, walked over to our SUV, and ripped open the driver's door.

Trying to remain invisible to Dad, Suzie curled deeper into her seat. She didn't look at any of us. Her lips and chin trembled while tears streamed down her face. My baby sister was terrified. It took all my control to stop myself from going to her and hugging her, but this wasn't the time for comforting. There would be time for that later.

Clenching my folded arms tight to my body, I couldn't stop myself from analyzing Mom. It was so hard to look at her because she didn't resemble my mother at all. The bruises hadn't improved, but the swelling in her cheeks looked like it had deflated a little, which was a good thing. Mom would be okay. She would make it through this.

Loud static crackled from the speakers, and I flinched back. My shoulder knocked against someone's arm.

"You good?" A gentle hand found my lower back. I turned to find Derek's intense blue gaze on me. It was filled with warmth. His focus slid down to study my cheek.

Why in the hell was he standing so close? My question was answered when I noticed everyone had formed a small circle around Dad.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I stepped away from Derek's touch.

"Why aren't any of the regular stations working?" Dad yelled, slamming his palm against the steering wheel before he pressed the search button.

I pulled on the sleeve of my hoodie while we waited for something to happen. After the radio cycled through all the stations twice, it suddenly stopped on a fuzzy signal coming from 88.1. "... and all residents are being asked to stay at home and lock their doors. Officials say the escaped prisoners are armed and dangerous. Six deaths have been confirmed with many left injured. While in transit—"

The station cut to back to static. Shivers ran through me. What the hell was that? The closest prison was at least thirty miles away.

And what was going on with the radio? It seemed like there was someone intentionally making it impossible for us to get any help or find out what the hell was going on.

"Try A.M." Big man stepped in front of me to be closer to Dad. I stepped back to make room and landed directly on Derek's foot.

He hissed.

I moved to the side. "Sorry."

His eyes closed as he flexed his foot. "No worries."

"Nothing! No radio, no phone, no internet," Big man released a furious grunt and threw his hat at the ground. "I can't believe this! What the hell are we supposed to do now?"

Damn. Big man was irate. I thought Dad had been angry, but Big man was scary when he got angry. I reacted by backing away from him and glanced over to find Derek gently ushering me behind him. He was protecting me? From his dad?

"Does anyone have cell service?" A female voice hollered from somewhere in the distance. "Please help me. My family needs help!"

"Join the club, lady." The tiny brunette woman muttered. She'd been so quiet I'd almost forgotten she was still here.

When I gazed into the darkness to find the woman hollering, a young couple emerged. They were trudging up the sidewalk at a snail's pace. The woman supported the man who looked like he would fall over at any moment. Every step appeared to be difficult and painful for him. She was fully concentrated on him and wasn't searching for people to answer the question. So she wasn't the one who had yelled for help.

The man's ashen face was covered in sweat. At one point, he ripped himself away from her and stumbled into the bushes to violently throw up. While he was hunched over the greenery, an immense sense of guilt washed over me. They were about to walk into a violent mess at the hospital, and this sick man would never get any help there.

Just as I was about to tell his worried girlfriend about the mayhem lurking ahead, Dad caught my elbow to stop me. He shook his head and quietly explained that he didn't want to cause a scene since most would have to see the chaos to believe it.

Even though what Dad said went against everything he and Mom ever taught me, I understood.

I'd passed a vehicle full of sick children, and that young woman had to make a choice on what to do. Like us, and many others, this couple would have to decide for themselves on how to deal with the reality of the situation.

As much as I hated the thought, it was every person for themselves.

But what if some of them believed my story? We could save them from the craziness of the hospital, but what would that mean for us? People would want to talk to us about our solution to help our loved ones. I didn't want Derek and his friend getting roped into stealing the entire inventory of antibiotics from their work. We were already in way above our heads.

I nodded to Dad in acceptance and kept my mouth shut, but that didn't stop me from hating myself for doing nothing as I watched the couple continue their long trek toward the madness of the hospital.

"I told you my family is dying. Help me! Please!" The hollering lady, far down the line of cars, was still yelling and screaming at people. I could picture her pounding on the window of every vehicle she passed. How did she not see that everyone around her was suffering?

"We need to get out of here before that lady gets here. I'll be damned if I'm helping her out. She'll be nothing but piss and vinegar. I can't deal with that right now." Big man cleared his throat as he replaced his hat, and slapped a heavy hand on Derek's shoulder. "Hear back from Thomas yet?"

"No," Derek's eye twitch was so insignificant that I'm sure no one caught it except me. "He only lives a minute from work. I'll stop by and talk to him. I know he'll help. He's good like that."

"Alright, but no messing around. There're people here depending on you." Big man's tone was losing every bit of its niceness. Had he been putting on a show for all of us before? Something was definitely off.

Derek clenched his jaw. "Yeah, I know. What the hell do you think I'm planning on doing?"

Big man's nose flared as his eyes narrowed on Derek. "Just get the damn medication."

Derek didn't answer his dad before he turned to me. "Ready?"

"She's ready," Dad motioned for me to come close. "Just give me a moment with her alone."

Derek nodded and looked back toward the noise of the hollering lady.

Dad squeezed my shoulder as he tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. "I want you to know I appreciate you volunteering to go with Derek. He seems like a good young man and he doesn't want anyone to get into trouble. Once you two meet up with Thomas, let them do all the work. You should only get involved if it's absolutely necessary."

And what if it was necessary? What if something happened and instead of bringing home the medicine I was hauled off to jail. Of course, that would only happen if the police showed. They were totally MIA for the moment, so I could only assume every police officer in the county was busy with more important events, but that had to change soon, right?

No matter what happened, if I didn't return with antibiotics for Mom, Dad would go off the deep end. He needed to keep his wits about him if we were going to get through this.

"Mom and Suzie need you to hold it together so don't do anything psycho. Please just trust we'll get this done." I studied Dad's face to make sure he was actually listening to me. "Get Mom home and take care of her. Everything is going to be okay."

He glanced over his shoulder at Mom and Suzie before he pulled me into a tight hug, causing me to flinch when his jacket grazed over the broken skin on my face. "I'm proud of you, Casey. We've been through hell tonight, and you've handled it so well. I don't know what I would do without you right now. Do whatever it takes to get those meds. Be smart, okay? Mom's life depends on it."

"I know." I blinked and swallowed back the lump in my throat.

"Please! Why won't anyone help me?" Hollering lady was much closer now and the people that were leaning against the cars had magically disappeared. No one wanted to deal with her. She was pounding on someone's car, sobbing and screaming. "My kids are burning up with fever, and my husband is completely unconscious!"

"Woman! You best back your ass up from my vehicle!" Another feminine voice bellowed.

A small yelp echoed before the woman started sobbing again.

"Okay. Here's the plan. Go get your vehicles. In two minutes, I'm going to do a u-turn and head back the way we came. Be ready to follow me. We can't be heroes so don't stop for that lady or anyone else. Here's our address just in case." Dad handed both the tiny woman and the big man a piece of paper. Dad turned to us. "Don't come back until you get what we need. Just be fast about it."

Derek and I nodded in unison.

"But you don't understand. My kids are sick! I can't get a hold of anyone, and my phone stopped working." Hollering lady cried.

"Open your eyes, woman! My family is sick too. And my phone don't work neither! Now get on outta here before I beat your skinny little ass." The other woman sounded like she was ready to throw down.

"We need to go." Derek wrapped his hand around my wrist. "Now."