It was early morning but the ranch was already buzzing with activity. Bob and Edward were tending to the cows and horses, Mary was feeding the hens and Anna was dragging bucket full of pig feed through the open gate to the pighouse. She stopped to look around and straighten her back for a bit, only to see George leaning over the wall from the southwestern watchtower, grinning widely.

[color=a187be]“Care to help me?”[/color] she shouted at him.

[color=f26522]“Nah, just enjoying the view,”[/color] he laughed and gestured to the countryside around the ranch. 

Anna had to admit that it was a beautiful morning, a bit colder than usual, but view of the sun shining on the meadows around was almost poetic. [color=a187be]“What a gentleman you are.”[/color]

[color=f26522]“Always at your service,”[/color] he said with a small bow and disappeared beyond the wall.

Anna cursed quietly and lifted the heavy bucket again. The pigs were already waiting for her by their troughs, grunting eagerly. She emptied the bucket and wiped sweat off her forehead, turning around only to see George heading towards her.

[color=f26522]“Ah, it seems I am too late,”[/color] he said, trying hard to sound sad.

[color=a187be]“Oh don’t worry, I am sure that there is still plenty of work to be done,”[/color] Anna answered, irony dripping from her voice.

He just shook his head with a sad frown. [color=f26522]“Nono, I already asked. No work left for me. You should find some for the princess though, she is acting like she is on a vacation in a five star hotel.”[/color]

Anna laughed. [color=a187be]“Yea, I can’t really picture my daughter-in-law mucking the pigs out or milking a cow.”[/color] George raised his eyebrows.[color=a187be] “I know,”[/color] Anna said defensively.[color=a187be] “But what exactly do you want me to do? I can’t actually threaten to kick her out.”[/color]

[color=f26522]“Well you can say that who doesn’t work, doesn’t eat.”[/color]

[color=a187be]“Really? You would starve to death,”[/color] she grinned. [color=a187be]“It will be alright. She will come around, she just needs some time to adjust.”[/color] Anna dearly hoped so. Their relationship has never been good, even at the start. Anna hoped that it was just a crazy dating phase her son would get over, but the beautiful blonde art student has wrapped him around her skinny finger. A few months later she was sitting on their wedding with a stiff smile, as she watched Ethan swear to love that witch forever.

Sighing, Anna had to admit that it was partially her fault for letting her discontent show even in front of Rachel and not really giving the girl a chance. But it had to be an ART major, for God’s sake? There weren’t many less practical fields to study. And that attitude of hers, never laying a finger on anything even remotely resembling work. Anna honestly had no idea what Ethan sees in this girl. Only after Alex had been born the relationships went from open hostility to a quiet tolerance, spiced up by a few ironic or sarcastic remarks. At least Ethan had this idea of taking his family and staying at the Oakwood ranch for a few weeks. It made things much easier now that the world was going to hell. 

She realized George was talking to her. [color=a187be]“Sorry, I spaced out a bit. What were you saying?”[/color]

[color=f26522]“That we should go to the city.”[/color] Anna looked at him with a surprise, but he continued. [color=f26522]“Just to Cortez, to raid what is left in Walmart and some other stores. This is the last chance to get supplies, maybe for a very long time.”[/color]

[color=a187be]“You are right, let's tell the others.”[/color]

[hr]

Ethan glimpsed at the man driving the car. He never understood what his mother sees in a man like George. Had he known that his mother was thinking the same thing about him and Rachel just an hour ago, he would have probably laughed at the idea. He always thought that Anna May was a bit crazy. He loved her, of course, but all her fears of the world ending and society collapsing and need to prepare just weren’t… the most normal thing a mother would say to her child. Ethan remembered that his father could keep her ideas on acceptable level, but ever since he died, Anna became almost obsessed. Well, now her ‘I told you so’ moment arrived, but no one was happy about it.

Sighing, he turned his head to the window. He has been in Cortez maybe twice or three times before and it always looked like a typical sleepy town. Well, if it looked sleepy before, it looks dead now, he thought. A lot of shop windows on the main street were closed, the usually busy cafés and bistros were empty, there were almost no people in the streets, no children playing on the playground. It seemed like everyone has either left the city or barricaded at home, refusing to stick a nose out.

The parking lot in front of Walmart was a sharp contrast to the empty streets. There was a lot of people there, many with large trucks or at least pickups similar to theirs. Everyone was loading large packs of bottled water, cans, even huge boxes of shampoo bottles and toilet paper.

[color=f26522]“Let’s hope we are not too late,”[/color] George said, pulling the car into an empty parking spot. As he leaned to open the door, Ethan could see a gun in a shoulder holster, partially covered by his jacket. He shook his head, but didn’t comment, knowing he would just get another lecture on how ‘you can never be careful enough’.

The inside of the store looked like it was Black Friday and at least 80% discount on everything. Most of the shelves were empty, with just an occasional piece of goods that had been torn apart, spilled on the floor, or otherwise damaged when people were fighting over it.

[color=8dc73f]“It looks like we are too late after all,”[/color] Ethan said, picking up a pack of flour, the only one left on the shelf, just to notice that the paper is torn and more than half of it is already spilled out.

George just grunted and headed to the hardware section, which wasn’t as sacked as the food section. [color=f26522]“There we go,”[/color] he smiled and started picking up some wires, strings and other things. 

[color=8dc73f]“What do we need garden hoses for?”[/color] Ethan’s eyebrows went up.

[color=f26522]“You never know.”[/color]

Seriously? Why does this man have to treat him as a child? Shaking his head, he walked to another aisle, just to get away from George for a bit. [color=8dc73f]“Hmm, this might actually be useful,”[/color] he mumbled to himself, watching some machetes and axes.

A deep voice growled behind him and some large body pushed him aside. [b]“Move away, kid.”[/b]

Ethan turned around to say something but paused when he saw a big and dangerously looking man in biker jacket. [color=8dc73f]“Excuse me, sir,”[/color] he started, trying to sound as assertively as he possibly could. [color=8dc73f]“But I was here first, so if you could just wait and…” [/color]

Man’s eyes narrowed and he grabbed the largest axe, pointing it to Ethan’s face. [b]“You were saying?”[/b]

[color=f26522]“He was saying that we are leaving.”[/color] A quiet but decisive voice made the biker turn around. They stared at each other for a while, but the man looked away first, growling something and leaving the aisle. Ethan stood there stunned, unable to think. Did someone really just threatened to kill him with an axe inside a Walmart? How did this happen?

George gave him a sympathetic look. Maybe there still was hope for this kid. [color=f26522]“Let’s go.”[/color]

But Ethan shook his head. [color=8dc73f]“We need to stop by at the pharmacy. Looks like we are going to need a lot of medical supplies.”[/color]

George nodded and smiled. [color=f26522]“Now you are talking.”[/color]

[hr]

A while later they were loading everything into the pickup truck, along with a considerable supply of bandages, antiseptics, painkillers. Ethan also prescribed some strong broad antibiotics for George, so they could pick them up right away.

[color=f26522]“What does this cure?”[/color] George asked, puzzled by the cryptic names on the pill boxes.

Ethan just laughed. [color=8dc73f]“Everything, hopefully.”[/color] Seeing the sceptical look on George’s face, he explained. [color=8dc73f]“These are broad-spectrum antibiotic, which will function against multiple types of bacteria. They normally aren’t used much, because there is a general fear that the bacteria will adjust to it, rendering it completely useless. I don’t think that will be the problem now, though. These are various antivirotics and other things to help treat most common diseases I could think of on such short notice.”[/color]

[color=f26522]“What about the uncommon ones?”[/color]

[color=8dc73f]“Well, we will just have to improvise.”[/color] They laughed together and stepped inside the car. [color=8dc73f]“So, when are you going to give me the ‘I told you so’ talk?”[/color]

George shook his head. [color=f26522]“Do I have to? Man, you have much more to lose than I do. It is you who should be worried. And I think you finally realized that this is no joke or crazy talk.”[/color]

Ethan had to admit that George was right. He had a family to take care of. He might dislike George, he might think his mother is crazy, he might hate the guns and violence, but this world wasn’t for cowards. He sighed. [color=8dc73f]“Looks like I’m gonna have to learn how to use a gun.”[/color]

Laughing, George nodded. [color=f26522]“Now you are talking.”[/color]