Invasion

"This emotionalism is a frightful weakness," Beau admitted. "Our kind has never come up against a species with such interpersonal bonds. There is no precedent to guide me."

Beau's snakelike fingers inserted themselves beneath the broken picture frame. A shard of glass cut him and his finger emitted a green foam.

"You've injured yourself," Alexander said.

"It's nothing," Beau protested. He lifted the broken frame and gazed at the image. ''I must know where she is. We have to infect her. Once it's done, then I will be satisfied."

"The word is out," Alexander insisted. "As soon as she is spotted we will be informed."

"She must be in hiding," Beau lamented. "It's driving me mad. I can't concentrate."

"About the Gateway ..," Alexander began but Beau cut him off.

"I need you to find Cassy Winthrope," Beau said. "Don't talk to me about the Gateway!"

"My god! Look at this place!" Jesse said.

They were standing in the parking lot in front of Jefferson's Supermarket. There were a few abandoned cars with their doors ajar as if the occupants had suddenly run for their lives.

Several of the huge plate-glass windows fronting the store were broken and the shattered glass was scattered about the sidewalk. The interior was illuminated only with night lights, but it was adequate to see that the store had been partially looted.

"What happened?" Cassy questioned. It looked like a scene from a third-world country locked in a civil war.

"I can't imagine," Nancy commented.

"Perhaps the few uninfected people panicked," Jesse said. "Maybe law enforcement as we knew it no longer exists."

"What should we do?" Cassy asked.

"What we came here for," Jesse said. "Hell, this makes it easier. I thought I was going to have to break into the place."

The group moved forward tentatively and looked into the store through one of the broken floor-to-ceiling windows. It was eerily quiet.

"It's a mess, but it doesn't look like much of the merchandise has been taken," Nancy said. "It appears that whoever did this was mostly interested in the cash registers."

From where they were standing they could see that the cash drawers on all the registers were open.

"Stupid people!" Jesse commented. "If civil authority breaks down, paper money is going to be worth only what it's printed on."

Jesse took one last look around the empty parking lot. He didn't see a soul. "I wonder why there is no one around here?" he asked. "They all seem to be walking around the rest of the city. But let's not look a gift horse in the mouth. Let's do it."

They stepped through the broken window and headed up the central aisle toward the pharmacy, which was located in the back. The walking was difficult in the half light since the floor was covered with scattered cans, bottles, and boxes of food stuff that had been knocked from the shelves.

The pharmacy section was divided from the rest of the store by a wire mesh grate that rolled out of the ceiling and locked to the floor. Whoever had ransacked the grocery section had also been into the pharmacy. A rough hole was cut in the grate with a pair of chain cutters that were still on the floor.

Jesse held the jagged edges of the hole apart so Nancy could squeeze through. She quickly reconnoitered behind the pharmacy desk.

"What's it look like?" Jesse asked from outside the grate.

"The narcotics are gone," Nancy said, "but that's no problem. The antiviral drugs are here and so are the antibiotics. Give me about ten minutes and I'll have what I need."

Jesse turned to Cassy. "Let's you and I get those provisions," he said.

Cassy and Jesse went back to the front of the store and got bags. Then they started down the appropriate aisles. Cassy selected the items while Jesse played porter.

They were in the middle of the pasta section when Jesse slipped on fluid spilled from a broken bottle. The fluid had made the vinyl floor as slippery as ice.

Cassy managed to grab his arm to help keep him upright. Even after he regained his balance, his feet continued to slide around, forcing him to walk with his legs wide apart. It was like a comedy routine.

Cassy bent over and looked at the bottle. "No wonder," she said. "It's olive oil. So be careful!"

"Careful is my middle name," Jesse said. "How do you think I lasted thirty years as a cop?" He smiled and shook his head. "Funny, I'd been hoping for one big last hurrah before retiring. But I got to tell you, this episode is a lot more than I bargained for."

"It's a lot more than any of us bargained for," Cassy added.

They rounded the corner and entered the aisle with all the cereals. Cassy had to push through an enormous pile of boxes which included some large cardboard containers. All at once she sucked in her breath as if shocked. Jesse was at her side in an instant.

"What's the matter?" he demanded.

Cassy pointed. In the middle of what had been a crude hut constructed from the boxes was the cherubic face of a young boy. He was no more than five years old. His skin was smudged and his clothing disheveled.