I drove for an hour before I entered Pittsburg proper. I had already been through here, but now I had an incentive to be more thorough in my search.

I stopped at a supermarket and retrieved cases of canned goods, items like soup, tuna, peas, beans, beets and corn, as well as tomato juice, orange juice and fruit. The stuff in cardboard and paper were pretty much gone. Rats can chew through just about anything, especially when they’re hungry. In fact, the rats acted as if they owned the place.

I had to shoot at some wild dogs in order to get out of the supermarket.  I wasted no time in getting back in the truck and moving on. I even saw some bears roaming the streets. I wasn’t surprised. Bears are common in Pennsylvania. 

While driving down a boulevard near the center of the city, I heard a scream and it startled me. I looked all around but couldn’t see where it was coming from, so I got out with my AK-47 at ready. I walked down an alley and came upon a sight that made me so excited I almost hyperventilated. A girl was up on a ledge trying to escape wild, growling and snarling dogs. The crazed animals were leaping up at her, trying to get at her feet. I had to think quickly because I could see that she was losing her grip and would soon become a meal. I shot at dogs in the rear of the pack, which caused the rest to turn and prey on their fallen comrades.

I ran over to the girl and extended my hand. “Take my hand.”

She hesitated, unsure of her footing. 

“Come on! We have to get out of here.”

She literally fell into my arms and I escorted her as quickly as possible to the truck. The dog pack continued to fight over the dogs that I had killed.

I assumed that she was approximately my age. She was barefooted and dressed in a dirty torn rag of a dress. Her face was smudged with dirt and her hair was matted and stringy. She looked like hell. 

She stared at me with her deep blue eyes. “I didn’t think anyone else was alive.” 

I tried a calm approach. “I’m Jack Siefert, and I’m from Fairlawn, Ohio.”

“I’m Diane Hobert, I’m from Wheeling West Virginia.”

“I’ve been searching for another . . . a live person for the last two months. I had almost given up . . . how did you get here form Wheeling?”

“I drove my dad’s car but it ran out of gas. I’ve been eating stuff I took from home . . . do you have any idea what happened?” 

“No, but I think it’s a biological weapon.”

“Who would do this?”

“The Russians.”

Her face reflected dread. 

I pulled into a shopping mall and stopped at a Department store. 

“Why are you stopping here?”

“We have to get clothing for you.”

She ran a hand through her stringy hair. “What I really need is a good bath . . . and a meal.”

“You’ll be able to do that when we get back to the compound.”

She gave me a confused look. “Compound?”

“I chanced onto a large walled compound that contains a mansion with all the amenities.” I climbed out with my AK-47 ready for action. “Let’s get to the store quickly.”

She got out and ran with me to the department store entrance. It was locked but I used the butt of my gun to break the glass and unlock it. We entered, obtained a couple of carts and went to the teen’s section.

“Grab whatever you want. I would choose jeans, shirts, shoes and . . . good undies if I were you. The compound has a farm and we’ll probably have to help run it.”

I watched her go off and start selecting stuff. Like most teen girls, she was in seventh heaven shopping for clothes. I also got some clothes for me, and we hauled the loot out in carts to the truck as fast as we could and got out of there. 

We stopped at a drug store so that she could get some personal items, like toothpaste, deodorant, hygiene items and whatever else we could grab.

On the drive back, I avoided questing her too much. She had to be in shock and she needed food and some assurance that she would be safe.

Apparently, she wanted to vent. “I couldn’t believe what had happened. Nothing was left of my dad except bones and powder. I had very little time to escape because the house caught on fire. My friends were all dead and I had no one else to . . . “ 

She cried, and I left her alone.

“I’m sorry,” she finally said. “I thought I was going to die . . .” She looked at me with a confused expression. “But, I didn’t.”

“Believe me, I know what you mean. We didn’t die, so I suppose we’ll have to mourn the dead and move on.”

“What will life be like in a world without people?” 

That question summed up our sad situation, but I was more concerned that this was an invasion and we would end up getting killed anyway. However, I didn’t want to upset her anymore than she was.

“That’s a good question. One thing we do have in our favor is that the compound has all of the amenities including food and clean water.”

She smiled. “That sounds like heaven.”

“It may be the closest thing to heaven that we’ll ever find in the messed up world.”

She sighed. “I pity any other survivors out there.”

“I wished that there was a way to find them because unless they adapt they’ll soon die.”

“Thank you for saving me,” she said with a cautiously amused look.

“Thank you for surviving,” I replied with a weak smile.

Her face went through several expressions from shock, surprise, and curiosity to amusement. It was a good sign because it meant that she hadn’t gone bat shit crazy . . . at least not yet.