“I doubt it,” he answered. “But I don’t have an update on what it’s like at the hospital today.”

“Several of the older folks are on medications that are keeping them alive,” a young woman interjected.

“And there are a number of diabetics in town too,” a man said. “A few of them are kids.”

“I know, Harold. We’re going to discuss all that tonight and pool what we can until official word comes in, okay?”

Harold gave a frustrated sigh and turned away and the rest of the small crowd began following as they talked amongst themselves.

“Sorry I can’t be of more help,” the sheriff said, turning his attention back to us. “Unless you need something on these shelves. I can’t run the cash register, but folks have been leaving money in an envelope behind the counter and I’ve been collecting it for the Redmonds, who own the place. They left yesterday to get to their pregnant daughter who’s in another part of the state.”

I looked around. About the only things left in this store were makeup and magazines. I respected that these people were operating on the honor system so far. It was nice to see after what we’d witnessed just before stepping into this town. “Do you know if there’s a sporting goods store anywhere in the area?”

The sheriff had begun walking toward the front and we turned and followed him. “Yeah, there’s one off the next exit. But one of our residents rode his bicycle up that way yesterday once enough snow melted to see about buying some ammo, and he came back to say it’s completely empty. Not even a pair of sunglasses. Apparently, folks got a little out of hand in a few places.”

I hoped that turned out to be true. That their behavior was unwarranted and needlessly out of hand and they’d look back and regret panicking.

But it’d been four days. Four days with no official word was not good.

We followed the sheriff from the store, stepping out into the chilly but sunny day. The streets were still deserted, even the few people who’d been at the pharmacy were now out of sight. “Why is everyone hiding?” Charlie asked.

“They’re not hiding. Just laying low or gathered together at the church or community center. And quite a few, who could, left to be with family in other areas,” the sheriff said. “We’re not sure what to expect. There’s been some buzz on the ham radio about what might have happened, but no official confirmation of any kind. All just guesses at this point. Whatever happened, electrical systems all went haywire.”

“Any news from surrounding towns? You mentioned one a few exits from here,” I said.