> 16 Months Earlier
>
> "Broooo... look at the booty on her!" Luis said in a hoarse before returning to sucking weed smoke through a large purple bong. It bubbled as he did.
>
> The TV was on some Telenovela.
>
> He reached a spare hand into a bag beside him but came away with orange fingers and disappointment.
>
> "Oh fuck bro. Fuck. We're out of Cheetos."
>
> "Bro...? Bro!? We're out of cheetos" Luis spun around, looking paranoid, danzed and confused and finally his blood shot eyes landed on Danny. He spoke as if the absence of the cheese snack as a life or death matter.
>
> "Oh good, I thought you left..."
>
> "Where the hell would I go?" Danny replied, exhausted.
>
> It had been 8 months since the stay at home order first took effect and Luis had begun to really wear on Danny. Their relationship had began to strain, although Luis took no notice. The situation going on in the world didn't even seem to bother him.... as long as he had a steady supply of weed and cheetos, that is, and he was out of the latter and Danny had a feeling the former was in short supply too especially the way he was puffing like an asthmatic dragon.
>
> "Good point" Luis said finally, giggling.
>
> Luis had been Danny's room mate for three years. It had been fun at first. Danny was new in town and they met on Craigslist. Both needed a room mate so they got a place together. But Danny's career took off while Luis maybe moved up one small rung in the drug trade. He was a weed dealer who moonlighted as a Door Dash driver after being fired from Uber because too many riders complained his car smelled like weed ("No body has ride with me but the pizza!" Luis had bragged when he started with Door Dash). But Danny didn't care, as long as he paid his share of the bills which he did and the good news was Danny traveled a lot for work so he didn't have to be around him more than he could bare. But that had changed months ago with the virus. Danny had been furloughed with no money coming in and there weren't anymore stimulus checks coming. He'd just about burned through this savings. Luis now was making more than him, although the weed side of his money was drying up, being only able to get enough to smoke himself -- which he did more than ever now.
>
> "Dude, is it our day to shop?" Luis asked, stoned as fuck.
>
> "That doesn't start until next week, man..."
>
> "Oh... dope..."
>
> Luis started to slowly put his shoes on.
>
> "What are you doing?" Danny asked.
>
> "Going to the store. Dude, didn't you hear a word I said? We're out of cheetos, man."
>
> Danny shook his head.
>
> "Sit tight, I'll go" he said.
>
> "You sure?"
>
> "Yeah. I'm sure. You're in no shape to drive and anyway I want to get out of the house"
>
> "Oh. Word. Thanks bro I owe you one... But don't worry about me, man. The cops pull me over I'll cough on 'em and tell them I have the virus..."
>
> Luis giggled wildly.
>
> "Yeah. Don't do that" Danny said shaking his head. "You know they passed a federal law for that kind of shit, right? 5 year mandatory minimum..."
>
> "For real?"
>
> "...and, for the record, as much as you smoke your lungs have got to be black as Wesley Snipe. You get the virus you're a dead man."
>
> "Nah bro" Luis said, leaning back over the back of the couch so he could see Danny. "Mary Jane gonna keep me from gettin' it. Just you watch."
>
> With that Luis went back to watching the big booty Latin girls.
>
> "How do you even know what's going on?" Danny asked. "You don't speak Spanish..."
>
> "I'm the worst wetback ever" Luis laughed hysterically.
>
> "Aren't you Dominican?"
>
> "Si..."
>
> Danny shook his head and was able to leave when the TV flickered to a news report.
>
> "Reports are Maine has the lowest rate of new virus cases...." a reporter said. The screen flickered back to the Telenovela.
>
> "Did you see that?" Danny asked
>
> "Huh? See what?"
>
> "Nothing..." Danny muttered to himself, shaking his head and rubbing his temple.
>
> Fuck, not suppose to touch my face.
>
> He drove in his car towards the Wal-Mart. He hoped it wouldn't be busy. They were only letting in 10% of occupancy in at a time now, which meant only about 50 people max. Beginning next week they were going to make people only shop on certain days based on the last two digits of their Social Security number. They'd also have to have their temperature checked by a thermal thermometer before being allowed in the store. They already had a mandatory mask and 6 foot "social distancing" rule.
>
> He turned on the radio. He had been a Spotify man before but wireless Internet had been spotty for a couple months now. No one knew why but the popular theory was so many people on at once coupled with limited man power to fix problems as so many telecom workers had become sick with the virus.
>
> The news played on the radio. NPR.
>
> "New reports coming in about Maine. The state has the lowest growth rate of the virus of any state in the entire country. While the rest of the country averages a 37% a day growth rate Maine has shown a small 3% growth rate. Experts speculate this could be a benefit from the state Governor's controversial decision to ban all incoming visitors to the state without mandatory screening and 14-day quarantine. In addition all visitors must have essential business in the state, own or rent property in the state or have relatives who are residents of the state to enter...."
>
> Danny found himself entranced by the story. He listened so intently he almost missed his exit and made it just in time, narrowly avoiding the traffic barrier.
>
> He sighed in relief and pulled up to the Wal-Mart parking lot.
>
> Fuck.
>
> It was packed. Great.
>
> The entire front of the parking lot had been roped off for over two months now and been replaced with a long snaking maze made out of upright shopping carts and caution tape. On the ground were markers every six feet. That's where each person stood in line. You had to put your mask on as soon as you got into the line. They let people in based on the occupancy rate. If there were too many people inside, you had to wait until some came out.
>
> He put on his N95 mask and stepped in line. It wasn't the worst he'd seen, but it was bad. It took him 20 mins to get to the front the line. There an employee in full protective gear holding a tablet made a mark on it with her finger and nodded to him. Another employee handed him a freshly disinfected cart.
>
> He passed signs reminding him to stay six feet from everyone. "Practice..." was the word they used. But it wasn't practice anymore. You didn't do it right they kicked your ass out, simple as that.
>
> Another sign reminded him to take no more than 30 mins to shop.
>
> He picked up the few things they needed and that he could afford, money being tight. They were out of Almond Milk, but they did have nasty Oat Milk. It would have to do. No eggs, but he found a pack of bacon. "Limit One per customer" the sign said, but there was only one left and an older woman gave him a dirty look through her flower print mask but went the other way.
>
> Sorry Granny, not today. You shouldn't be out here anyway. That's what the Senior hours are for.
>
> They had Pepsi, which was good. They hadn't last week. Last stop was the cheetos and, lucky for Luis, they still had a few bags. He got three.
>
> That should keep him good for at least a couple days.
>
> He was about to leave when he realized he'd been in there only 10 minutes so he decided to make use of his remaining time and went by the electronics section just for the hell of it. It was completely empty. No one working the register there. No customers. There was barely any games in the cases or Blu-Rays on the racks.
>
> The display TV's were still on the wall, though. The news was on everyone of them. Literal wall-to-wall coverage. The audio was off but the subtitles on.
>
> He glanced at the words on one.
>
> "Come to Maine! Beautiful scenic..."
>
> He blinked and looked again. Nothing about Maine. Just more news about it devastating nursing homes in the area.
>
> What the hell is going on with Maine?"
>
> He shook it off and went by the mostly empty video game cases. Even if he could afford a new game he doubt he could ever find a worker to come open the case for him. There were no consoles at all. He thought wistfully about the "good ol' days" when the biggest concern about the virus was that it was hard to get a Nintendo Switch or gym equipment. Now even food was scarce.
>
> An pre-recorded announcement blared over the loud speakers. It reminded them to keep six feet apart and keep their shopping limited to 30 mins so other people could shop. They'd probably played this 4 times since he'd been in the store, but it had become white noise to him.
>
> He looked at the empty spot where the Switch's would have been. In the early days it had started with the masks and sanitizer, then the cleaning products and then the... toilet paper!
>
> They were down to one roll and desperately needed some. Luis shit a lot. He didn't want to have to go back to showering after taking a dump like they had a month ago. He doubt they'd have any, but he decided to check anyway.
>
> It was his lucky day. An employee was rolling out a fresh card of boxes full as he turned the corner. He begin to cut them open with a razor blade and people swarmed like zombies.
>
> "Hey! Hey! One pack per person!" the employee yelled helplessly, but they didn't listen. People grabbed three or even four rolls. It was stupid because they'd just tell them they couldn't have them all at the check out and there was no sneaking them through via the self-checkout. That had been shut down weeks ago when they realized it was impossible to keep people six feet apart there.
>
> A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
>
>
> "Fuck..." Danny muttered to himself, thinking he was out of luck.
>
> "Hey!" someone called in his direction. He turned to see a young couple, maybe in their early 30's. The guy was a tall light skinned black dude with an easy smile and a bald head. He was slim and looked to be in shape. Beside him was a shorter female of the same age. She was cute and was even lighter, maybe bi-racial and wore her hair short just below her ears. She was slim but had a big ol' booty on her Luis would love. She was smiling too and that's when it hit Danny. He could see their smiles. Their masks were pulled down to their necks.
>
> The man tossed Danny a pack of TP and he caught it. They didn't have gloves on either.
>
> I'll have to disinfect this when I get home.
>
> But he was grateful.
>
> "Thanks" he said.
>
> "Don't mention it..." The man said. "I'm Tyrone and this is my girlfriend Scarlet, but everyone calls her Scar-Lo."
>
> "Hi!" she said.
>
> Why are they so joyful?
>
> "I'm Danny" he said. "And...uhh... don't mean to be rude, but they catch you without those masks on..."
>
> Tyrone waved his hand dismissively.
>
> "They look like they're busy right now..."
>
> Danny looked over and three people were fighting over a pack of toilet paper. Another employee rushed over to help the original one and the pack ripped open, spilling rolls on the ground which rolled away as the customers ran after them.
>
> Tyrone shook his head and laughed and literally ran a hand across his face. Danny cringed and Tyrone noticed.
>
> Tyrone laughed.
>
> "Relax, man. We're immune..."
>
> "Immune?"
>
> "Yeah. We both had the virus and got over it. You see Scar-Lo works at a nursing home. One of the ones that had a bad outbreak. Oakhill."
>
> Danny knew it. It had been one of the worst.
>
> "Well, she got it and gave it to me and then we started showing symptoms. Took about three weeks but we got over it and then we tested negative about three months ago. So, we're not being reckless, we're just good to go..."
>
> Danny nodded. He'd never actually met someone who had gotten immunity before. When someone got the virus and recovered the federal government had started issues a special ID card that gave them special exceptions to rules, including letting them work normally restricted jobs.
>
> "Explains the lack of masks..." Danny said.
>
> Tyrone nodded.
>
> "Well, it was nice to meet you both but I think my time is about to expire so I better get going..."
>
> "Hey, you too Danny" Tyrone said smiling.
>
> "Byeee!" Scar-Lo said cheerfully.
>
> Danny went to the check out, stayed in line for 25 minutes six feet apart from other customers, paid for his stuff using his credit card and and headed out the door. As he did another employee made a mark on a tablet.
>
> "Have a great day, sir. Stay safe out there!"
>
> Danny nodded. "You too" he said, the words muffled by his mask.
>
> "Stay safe out there" had become the slogan of the time. Everyone said it.
>
> He arrived at his Subaru and opened the hatch and started loading.
>
> "Here, let me give you a hand with that" a familiar voice said. Danny turned to see Tyrone and Scar-Lo. Before he could object, Danny was already grabbing and helping him load his stuff.
>
> Danny immediately went into his car and grabbed the tiny bottle of sanitizer out of his cup holder. He squeezed and squeezed until a pea size dropped came out, making a fart noise as it did.
>
> "Almost out..." Tyrone observed.
>
> Danny nodded.
>
> "Here..." Tyrone said and produced a brand new travel size bottle of Germ-X from his jacket pocket.
>
> "Oh, I couldn't..." Danny said. But he really wanted it. Germ-X was like gold. These travel bottles sold for $50 a fucking piece on the black market, which was the only way to buy them because selling them to the general public was now illegal. They were reserved for medical professionals only...most of whom turned around and sold them on the black market.
>
> It suddenly occurred to him this is likely how they got this one -- Scar-Lo working in a nursing home and all.
>
> After a moments pause, Danny graciously accept the gift.
>
> "Good man" Tyrone said smiling. "Like I said, we're immune. You need it more than I do..."
>
> "Must be great..." Danny said, his voice muffled still. "To not worry about getting sick, I mean..."
>
> "Come on man, take that stupid thing off" Tyrone said laughing. "We can't get you sick and you can't get us sick. Let's talk like people used to talk."
>
> So Danny did. He removed his mask and they had a conversation in the parking lot. It felt good, real good, and Danny realized that he could hang out with them and not worry about getting sick. Finally someone other than Luis to hang out with.
>
> "What's your plans?" Danny asked. He had meant what were they doing later, but Tyrone took it someplace unexpected.
>
> "Well, in truth, we just feel out of place here" he said. "We're thinking about moving..."
>
> "Moving?" Danny asked, disappointed. "Moving where?"
>
> "Maine" Scar-Lo said, excited. Danny felt his heart sink.
>
> What the hell is going on with Maine!?
>
> "Mai...ne?" Danny stammered.
>
> "I know, I know...." Tyrone said laughing. "Two black folks moving to Maine. The only black people there are the Magic kind of Stephen King novels..."
>
> Danny laughed. It was a real laugh and his first in awhile.
>
> "If you had told us even a year ago we would want to move to Maine we would have called you crazy, but it makes total sense: we're immune and most people there aren't sick. Things are normal there and if you have the immunity card, than you get in. No hassle, no quarantine, not nothing."
>
> "Wish I could go" Danny said. "Sounds like heaven..."
>
> "Come on" he said. "Come with us. You'll have to do the 14-day quarantine, but after that you'll be free!"
>
> "But you have to have property up there right? Or family?"
>
> "We could handle that for you easy" Tyrone said with a wink. "Here..."
>
> Tyrone took out his iPhone and took down Danny's information.
>
> "I'll be in touch" he said. Danny was about to speak. He was dumbfounded and felt uneasy, but then Scar-Lo gave him a big hug. The first hug he'd had in over a year and it felt so good and warm and real he forgot everything.
>
> "Nice meeting you, Danny" she said. "Smile, it'll be better soon"
>
> He watched them walk away, get into a nearby Land Rover and drive off. After a moment, he did the same.
>
> Driving back on the highway all he could think about was Maine. Every billboard on the highway was an advertisement to visit Maine. His head was spinning.
>
> He arrived home and, groceries in hand, he hustled up the stairway to him and Luis apartment, unlocked the door and carried everything inside. The Telemundo blared on the TV.
>
> "ven a visitar el hermoso Maine!"
>
> He dropped all the bags. They crashed onto pressboard floor.
>
> "Hey man, you get the Cheetos!" Luis called from behind the couch. A figure rose and turned, but it wasn't Luis, it was Xir.
>
> Danny tried to scream but he couldn't speak. Xir held out a wooden box in front of him.
>
> "Open it..." he said.
>
> "Dad! No! No Dad!"
>
> ------------------------------------
> "Danny! Danny! Wake up!"
>
> Danny jumped up with a start and pumped his head on the cave ceiling.
>
> He was dripping cold sweat and his heart was beating a mile a minute.
>
> Jen was there and grabbed onto him to calm him.
>
> "Danny, it's okay. We're safe. You were having a nightmare. It wasn't real."
>
> After a moment he began to calm and slumped to the ground.
>
> "Here..." Jen said, giving him some water to drink, her face stricken with concern.
>
> "You were screaming in your sleep. About dad. About Xir. Before that you were muttering about Maine... and toilet paper?"
>
> "Yeah..." Danny said, wiping the sweat away.
>
> Not suppose to touch your face.
>
> He snatched his hand away and gathered his thoughts.
>
> Everything he had dreamed he remembered vividly. The Luis turning to Xir hadn't happened but everything before that had -- or at least he was pretty sure it had. It was kinda foggy now. But it was not a dream, but a memory replaying in his head. Tyrone. Scar-Lo. Luis. The trip to the Wal-Mart. All were real, all had happened.
>
> And Maine. Maine. Maine. Maine.
>
> "Let me ask you something..." Danny said quickly, just as Jen was about to speak.
>
> "Yeah?"
>
> "I know you said you came here because it was said to be a sanctuary but before you did... did you feel like... Hell, I don't know... Like something was...calling you here?"
>
> There was a pause. Jen said nothing.
>
> "Shit. Nevermind. That doesn't make any sense, does it?"
>
> "Actually..." Jen began.
>
> Danny looked at her hard.
>
> "Really!?"
>
> "Well, not like that, per say... but, I don't know how to describe it exactly but you now how you hear about something a lot or something happens and before that you thought about it a lot like you predicted it or something?"
>
> "Yeah, actually I know exactly what you mean" Danny said.
>
> "It was kinda like that..."
>
> "Hmmm..." Danny said, deep in thought.
>
> "Why? What?"
>
> "Nothing. Well... I just don't know. I just feel like for months before I came here something was like... compelling me to come here..."
>
> "That sounds weird."
>
> "Because it is" Danny confirmed. But Danny knew weird wasn't always wrong. He finally shrugged.
>
> "Just a bad dream" he said.
>
> "OK" Jen said after looking at Danny hard a moment.
>
> There was a pause, then Jen lit up.
>
> "Oh, hey!" she said, pointing at an open book among the other books messily thrown all over the cave floor. "I found something!"
>