"Pull out of here first, before those guys get any closer. Get onto the street, take a left. We can go crash at my place, it's like a mile away. I don't have any cloths that will fit you Paige, but could scrounge something up for Mike."
"Thanks. Clothing was my first concern." said Paige sarcastically.
"Well it should be, plus we all need showers, we're filthy!"
Mike stammered, "I should call my dad."
"I ain't stopping ya."
Paige, still driving, asked, "Okay where do I go from here?"
"Fairmount Estates. You know the way?"
Paige just looked at her, "You live in a gated community?"
"Yes darling, now speed us along, I wrecked my car and my nerves are just shot this morning. Get me home Paige."
"Rich bitch." Paige muttered under her breath. Dora heard, as she was supposed to and just smiled and nodded.
In the back seat Mike was talking to his frantic father, the conversation was not going well. Mike got off his phone and said, "I need to go home."
"Me first, Mikey. We are almost there now. You can call your dad again after that."
Mike looked out the window and didn't say anything. Paige pulled her car up to the security gate and looked over at Dora for the pin number to open the gate up. Dora smiled and said, "I can't give it out to you. If I did that everyone would have it! You know your face looks very ugly when you do that. I am just kidding of course, just winding you up a bit. The pin is one four three two, which is also my street number, very not clever, right? I am surprised we don't have more robbery's here, I really am. Plus to get out just takes making the motion sensors go off, you could get in by throwing a basketball over the gate and waiting for it to open automatically. Stupid really."
Paige snorted, "Geez do you want to tell me where you hide your spare keys to get in too?"
"Under the stone in my potted plant on the front stoop. I mean, really I could leave the door unlocked, with all the heavy security around here anyway."
They drove about two blocks into the community with Dora calling out directions in a haphazard way, which required a trip around the block to arrive in the correct driveway.
"So. Here we are." Dora looked at Paige, who looked back.
"Yeah, get out." said Paige.
"What?"
"You're home, Mike needs to be brought home, so you need to get out."
"I thought we would stick together during this time of crisis? Don't you dare abandon me Paige Lynn!"
"Paige Lynn? My middle name is not 'Lynn'."
"Oh? You look like a Paige Lynn to me. Anyway the TV said to get into your home and stay there, I thought we could crash here."
"Us? With you?"
"Sure I saved your lives already, so I am useful. Plus I have organic eggs and probably some good beer, oh and a virtual cellar full of very good wine." Roger would hate it if even one bottle were drank, which is why Dora was planning to foist as many off on her guests as she could.
"I'm twenty, Mike is seventeen, we can't drink yet. Not legally."
"In my house, you follow my rules, don't you worry about the law in times of crisis."
"You seriously think you can bribe us to stay here with alcohol?"
Mike's door opened and he got out. He looked sheepishly away from Paige as she looked angrily out the window at her. "Besides we should keep our heads about us, we got infected people running around and, and…"
"And what?" asked Dora getting out of the car.
"And… the governor said not to break any laws!"
Dora threw back her head and laughed through the open car door. "Oh honey, that's great. Now shut off the car and come inside so we can decide what to do."
Still mad Paige shut off the car and followed the other two into the house.
Dora waited until Paige came inside then said, "Lock the door honey, we don't need any baddies getting in."
Fuming Paige turned and locked the door behind her, "We are only here for a few minutes, I have to get Mike home. Right Mike?"
"Ah, maybe…" he mumbled.
"Relax, we are all safe here, don't rock the boat any Paige dear. Mike call your dad, you too Paige if you need to I still have an old fashioned land line. I'll go upstairs and find you something to wear. Turn on the cable when you are done and by all means help yourself to anything to eat or drink. Don't pilfer the silverware or steal any trinkets." With that said Dora headed upstairs leaving them alone.
"Call your dad, then lets blow, she is fine here." said Paige after Dora was out of sight.
"No, I would rather stay here, my old man, he is fine."
"You'd rather stay here with her? You've got to be kidding."
"She's funny."
"A stuck up bitch is more like it. What's so funny about her?"
"She thinks she is right about everything. That's funny." said Mike.
"How exactly?"
"Oh knock it off Paige! I saw you laughing too, when we first ran into her. You're just pissed because she is ordering us around."
Paige thought for a minute before answering, "I still don't like her. You should call your dad anyway, let him know you are safe. I'll call my parents and try and get ahold of my roommates."
The both got busy on their cell phones, Paige had a brief conversation with her mother, telling her she was all right and in a safe place, but she could not get in touch with her roommates, who were probably still sleeping. She had wandered over to the large flat panel television and was figuring out how to turn it on when Dora came back downstairs with an armful of clothing.
"You might not have to smell like French fries anymore, Paige dear! I found some of Roger's mothers clothing from when she visited last fall. Just a jogging suit, but really it should look good on you. There is a shower in the guest bedroom over this way, c'mon darling, let's get you cleaned up."
Mike was still on the phone with his father, at least it sounded like it, so Paige let herself be hauled off to the guest bedroom and into a rather well appointed tile bathroom.
"No underwear dear, sorry about that, but I know how to use a wash machine, so you just go commando and toss your dirties out to me to launder. I'll wait for Mike to get his shower in too and let us all get in hot showers before I start the wash."
"Uh, I don't think my underwear requires washing just yet, but I'll give you my uniform."
The women stood looking at each other before Paige realized Dora was waiting for her to undress, she turned a bright pink and said sternly "Out!"
Dora laughed and called over her shoulder, "Oh, so I don't get to see your goods yet, huh? I was going to suggest we shower together to save time and water during this crisis too."
As the older woman shut the door Paige couldn't be sure she had been joking. Paige locked the bathroom door, which brought another snicker from the bedroom, then proceeded to shower as quickly as she could.
Back in the living room Dora picked up a massive remote and turned on the sixty inch television with surround sound. Static greeted her ears and she scrambled to turn the volume down and find a channel still broadcasting. The news channels were still up, CNN, FOX and others, but Dora skipped the national channels and went to the local NBC affiliate, hoping for another update from Jim and Diane. It was still on. Dora was pleasantly relieved, after the TV died in the restaurant she had thought the station had gone off the air. Or maybe it had, the picture was all grainy, like they were using old cameras to film the newscasters. Dora watched the broadcast for several minutes, but learned nothing new about what was actually going on. The station did say it was going to broadcast over the old airwaves system in case the digital channels went down.
Mike came and stood by her and she brushed some dirt off of his face, "You okay hon?"
He blushed and said, "Sure. My dad says to stay put here, guys in army cloths are shooting anyone outside right now. He was a little…well he was mad we didn't go to his place right off the bat, he has a gun and thinks he can defend us better, so if the army lifts the travel ban we should go over there."
"A gun? Oh Roger, that's my bastard of a husband, has a gun. Do you know how to shoot?"
Mike nodded.
"Well then let's go get it. Hm now where does he keep it. I think in the garage. Let's check there first." Dora grabbed Mike's hand and pulled him through the kitchen into the garage. Once there she opened a door to what looked like a storage area beside a work bench and in front of the four car bay. Two of the bays were occupied; there was a large green Suburban in one bay and what looked like a speed boat in the other. Mike was gawking at the vehicles while Dora retrieved a duffel bag from storage.
"Here it is Mike, see what you can do with it."
Mike took the bag from her and sat it on the work bench, which was completely empty and looked as if it had only ever seen light use. Unzipping the bag he gawked at what he saw, then looked at Dora, then back at the bags contents.
The door to the garage opened and they turned to look at Paige, still dripping from the shower. She was wearing a rather nice set of Kansas City Chief's sweat pants and a matching t-shirt.
"Curses! Foiled again!" mumbled Dora, then more loudly she said, "I haven't even got his pants off yet darling, you finished your shower too quickly!"
Mike took a second, looking at both women, trying to figure out what was going on, then gave up and said, "Dora, this isn't going to help us. Well not much anyway."
"Tut-tut you unbeliever it fires bullets, that is good right? Time for your shower Mike, I simply cannot stand how you smell of old grease and French fries. Plus you must get out of those cloths if you expect to use any of my furniture."
Mike thought that was probably wise, the furniture in Dora's house all looked pretty high end and the vents had been coated on the inside with grease and smoke and oil, his pants had been soaked through at the knees and would stick to his legs when he was walking. The women headed back inside with hardly a glance at him and Mike was left to gather up the duffel bag of paint ball equipment and lug it in himself.