End of the Line Read Online Free
Author: Lara Frater
boast morale which was low, the holidays hit us the hardest, even me and I’m Jewish. For many of us it was the realization that not only were we not going to have our family members back, but the wo rld would never be what it was.
At 12:01, a minute after Christmas was over, Abe excused himself. He went to the roof and jumped off. Jumping off the roof was not the best way to go as it isn’t that high up but he didn’t survive the fall. Princess without emotion said he dove head first like he was going into a swimming pool. He had been laughing and joking even as he left for the roof. N o one knew he planned to do it.
Jonathan froze to death soon after. I wonder if he offed himself as well. Abe set up leadership: he was in charge of a four member council that included Jim, Eli, Ashley and me. After Abe’s death, all three voted for me to become leader. I voted for Jim.
We didn’t add anyone to the council; they gave me two votes instead. Today was the day we would find out if that worked.
The walk to the pharmacy seemed to take forever. I had shopped in this store before and I didn’t remember it being this big. Ashley stood near the entrance with Jim. She was a petite woman in her late fifties with grey hair with dark ends from her grow n out dye job. Eli joined her. Abe put Ashley on the council so she would feel useful. She was an unskilled laborer, high school diploma and working dead end jobs to both live on and give some cash to a former drug addict daughter going through college. She didn’t have anything to offer except be working at CostK ing already when Abe came in.
She enjoyed her leadership role. It made her not think if her adult kids, a girl and a boy, and two grandchildren were alive or not. Because of her age, she knew we wouldn’t go to heroic methods to save her. Jim and I gave her a sheet of codeine which was against the rules. Except for Princess and Ernie, painkillers must be preserved for emergencies.
Princess got two Vicodin for when she had to do something outside her normal duty. I didn’t know if she was using it or making sure she had them. We have an ample supply of Vicodin and when we fini shed, we would give her Xanax.
The pharmacy was locked and only Jim and I had keys because only two keys could be found. In it we kept most of the painkillers including the over the counter ones. Although everyone was given two big bottles of whatever OTC they wanted. I chose generic Tylenol. We also kept the antibiotics whi ch we’ve only had to use once.
“Hey doctor,” Ashley said.
“Good morning, Ashley.”
“Heard we got some goo d candidates,” she said.
“Any have medical training?”
“Pharmacist, that’s all and a massage therapist.”
I laughed and Ashley looked at me oddly. I guess Princess might get her masseuse after all. “Let me go check on Annemarie, and I’ll be with you shortly.”
We kept the infirmary next to the pharmacy, among the vitamin, beauty and drug aisles and tented it off with blankets with a single space heater inside to keep it warm and a floodlight for night. I pulled a blanket aside and found Annemarie and Mindy chatting. Mindy wore a mask to not catch Annemarie’s cold. Despite that Jake often slept with Mindy, she and Annemarie were best friends.
“Hey doctor,” Mindy said. Mindy was a divorced woman in her late 20’s whose husband left her with a high school education and debt while he got his MBA. She ended up becoming a home health aide to make ends meet and had planned to go nursing school. She was my honorary nurse.
Mindy had the triple whammy of
At 12:01, a minute after Christmas was over, Abe excused himself. He went to the roof and jumped off. Jumping off the roof was not the best way to go as it isn’t that high up but he didn’t survive the fall. Princess without emotion said he dove head first like he was going into a swimming pool. He had been laughing and joking even as he left for the roof. N o one knew he planned to do it.
Jonathan froze to death soon after. I wonder if he offed himself as well. Abe set up leadership: he was in charge of a four member council that included Jim, Eli, Ashley and me. After Abe’s death, all three voted for me to become leader. I voted for Jim.
We didn’t add anyone to the council; they gave me two votes instead. Today was the day we would find out if that worked.
The walk to the pharmacy seemed to take forever. I had shopped in this store before and I didn’t remember it being this big. Ashley stood near the entrance with Jim. She was a petite woman in her late fifties with grey hair with dark ends from her grow n out dye job. Eli joined her. Abe put Ashley on the council so she would feel useful. She was an unskilled laborer, high school diploma and working dead end jobs to both live on and give some cash to a former drug addict daughter going through college. She didn’t have anything to offer except be working at CostK ing already when Abe came in.
She enjoyed her leadership role. It made her not think if her adult kids, a girl and a boy, and two grandchildren were alive or not. Because of her age, she knew we wouldn’t go to heroic methods to save her. Jim and I gave her a sheet of codeine which was against the rules. Except for Princess and Ernie, painkillers must be preserved for emergencies.
Princess got two Vicodin for when she had to do something outside her normal duty. I didn’t know if she was using it or making sure she had them. We have an ample supply of Vicodin and when we fini shed, we would give her Xanax.
The pharmacy was locked and only Jim and I had keys because only two keys could be found. In it we kept most of the painkillers including the over the counter ones. Although everyone was given two big bottles of whatever OTC they wanted. I chose generic Tylenol. We also kept the antibiotics whi ch we’ve only had to use once.
“Hey doctor,” Ashley said.
“Good morning, Ashley.”
“Heard we got some goo d candidates,” she said.
“Any have medical training?”
“Pharmacist, that’s all and a massage therapist.”
I laughed and Ashley looked at me oddly. I guess Princess might get her masseuse after all. “Let me go check on Annemarie, and I’ll be with you shortly.”
We kept the infirmary next to the pharmacy, among the vitamin, beauty and drug aisles and tented it off with blankets with a single space heater inside to keep it warm and a floodlight for night. I pulled a blanket aside and found Annemarie and Mindy chatting. Mindy wore a mask to not catch Annemarie’s cold. Despite that Jake often slept with Mindy, she and Annemarie were best friends.
“Hey doctor,” Mindy said. Mindy was a divorced woman in her late 20’s whose husband left her with a high school education and debt while he got his MBA. She ended up becoming a home health aide to make ends meet and had planned to go nursing school. She was my honorary nurse.
Mindy had the triple whammy of
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