299 Days: The Collapse

Chapter 65 Milk Run Chaos (May 7)

That morning, Pow was going out on a “milk run,” as they called it. That’s where they would escort some neighborhood people to the grocery store and the gas station. Things were still semi-civil in town. There was violence, but a very small percentage of people were engaged in it. Most were just trying to get some food and gas and get back home in one piece. And most were doing so successfully.

Many grocery stores and gas stations had a police car at the entrance, although there wasn’t always a cop to go with the car. Sometimes, the cops parked their car at a store and walked over to another one to double their coverage. There were occasional sirens, which just added to the scariness because it reminded people how the sirens went constantly a few days ago and now were largely silent. There was a definite sense that the police could not possibly control things anymore. But, most people still believed they could, despite the evidence they were seeing with their own eyes. Decades of thinking the police would always be there prevented people from evaluating the facts before their eyes.

At the stores, people were arguing and occasionally throwing punches to get the last of some kind of food or a place in the gas line. That would have been an amazing event in peacetime, but now was common. Wes and Scotty watched as a woman drew a revolver at a large man in the parking lot of the grocery store. By the time they could get over to where she was, the guy took off.

Overall, the Team was very surprised that things had not devolved into full-scale warfare. It amazed them that the stores were still open and selling things. The shelves were getting bare, prices were much higher, and the stores were only taking cash. Most people had come to realize that something bad was happening and that they better stock up for a few days. But they didn’t think this was the end of the world.

That morning, the rumor went around that the banks had closed and the ATMs were running out of cash. Bobby confirmed this when he was on the milk run. It made sense that the banks and ATMs would be closed. Armored cars full of money to restock them weren’t exactly driving around right now. Cash, like everything else, was supplied on a just-in-time inventory basis. And, with the internet down frequently, credit and debit cards weren’t working. No stores would take checks. Cash was it. And it was virtually gone.

This was a turning point. People would freak out when, finally, after looking all over town for some product they desperately needed, the store wouldn’t take their credit or debit card and they had no cash. They would yell, sometimes hit people, and occasionally pull out a gun. But no one on the Team had heard a gunshot yet.

Some of the people from Pow’s neighborhood went to the stores on their own, without the escort Pow and Clay had organized. Most would bring a handgun with them.

It was amazing how many guns were coming out of the woodwork. Old .38 Specials and grandpa’s .45 from the war were being dusted off from sock drawers and being tucked into belts. People were carrying guns even if they didn’t have a concealed weapons permit. That law now seemed a quaint little rule from the past. Now, with what was going on, requiring a concealed weapons permit seemed like requiring a permit to breathe.

Some people in Pow’s neighborhood went to the store without a gun the day before. It didn’t turn out so well for two of them, an older man and wife, the Terrytons. They were robbed on their way there. Some young thugs in a pickup truck pulled up beside them at the intersection, jumped out, and forced their way into the Terrytons’ car. The thugs pulled the Terrytons out of their car, beat them, took their money and jewelry, and stole their car. This happened in broad daylight. The Terrytons were beaten unconscious and laying in the intersection for a while until some people pulled them onto the sidewalk. A bystander tried to perform first aid, but there were no ambulances or police cars. After a while, the bystander had to get to the store herself before it got dark, so she reluctantly left them there. The Terrytons died on a sidewalk as several hundred people drove by.