Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone)

virus, or whatever it was, be introduced via the blood at all?  
    Even if it could, Brent shook his head, there was still the problem of access.
    Despite this plan’s flagrant flaws, the idea of infection seemed more likely to pull off when compared to a brute force smash-and-grab approach, even if that likelihood was minimal. Brent scribbled at the bottom of the page:

    Who to infect? WHO?  

    Brent needed a break. He dropped his pen on the page and watched it roll to the edge of the table, then stood, went to his pantry, slipped the journal inside a baggie and then slid the baggie into a canister of rolled oats. He placed the canister on the shelf next to two other identical canisters.
    The phone rang again.
    Perhaps he would see Jane, after all. Last night, he told her he wasn’t feeling well. And he’d yet to tell her about what happened in the city. Had yet to tell her that his wife and son were still alive.

    **

    Though dinner was full of awkward adult moments, Brent was able to maintain playful conversation with Emily.  
    “Aren’t you gonna have some more green beans?” the girl teased playfully, pointing to his plate, still heaped with his original serving of the vegetables, though he’d just piled second helpings of grilled chicken, instant potatoes, and gravy. This was an inside joke between the two of them. During a prior dinner, she noticed he hadn’t eaten all his green beans on two separate occasions, and asked if he liked them. He lied and said yes, so he wouldn’t offend Jane. However, on a third night, a night when Emily was missing her dad and feeling withdrawn, Brent waited until Jane left the table to get something from the kitchen, and scooped up some green beans from his plate and put them on the girl’s.  
    Her expression was priceless, mouth wide open in shock which turned to a smile. “Hey! I thought you . . .”
    “Shh,” he whispered, holding a finger to his lips. “Truth is, I hate the things. Can you help me out and finish them?”
    Emily laughed and said, “Sure!” then stabbed the remaining green beans onto her fork and began to eat them. When Jane returned from the kitchen with a pitcher of tea, Emily got a case of the giggles that wouldn’t go away, which of course, made Brent fall into his own fit of laughter.  
    Now, as he dug into his chicken and gravy, Emily repeated the question, “Aren’t you gonna have some more green beans?” with a huge grin on her face.
    Jane pretended Brent hadn’t told her about the little joke and feigned ignorance, “Yeah, Brent, don’t you like my green beans?”
    Brent cast a sideways glance at Emily, who was trying to keep the giggles inside.
    “Sure,” Brent said, overly animated, “I LOVE your green beans! In fact, I think I’ll have a whole lot more!”
    Jane handed him the bowl and Brent ladled a heaping spoonful onto his plate. “One scoop,” he said, then got another, and another. “Two servings. Three. Should I have even more?”
    He scooped more onto his plate, smiling at Emily.
    “I’m gonna start some coffee,” Jane said, finding an excuse to leave the table.
    “OK, I’m just gonna finish up all these green beans.”
    “You do that,” she said, laughing on her way out of the room.
    Brent scooped a fifth spoonful of green beans onto this plate and then looked at Emily with a huge grin and said, “I hope you’re hungry!”  
    He scraped the whole pile of green beans onto her plate, smiling.
    “Hey! I don’t want all those!”
    Just then, Jane came back into the room and sat back down, and noticed Brent’s green beans were all gone. “Wow, you really DO love them!”
    “Yeah, and Emily was so jealous, she decided to have a bunch of ‘em, too.”
    Emily looked at her plate with an exaggerated frown, which only made Brent laugh harder. He reached over, then took her plate and scooped half the green beans onto his. “Okay, I’ll help you,” he said.
    She giggled again and they both dug into their green beans. Even though Brent had to hide his distaste, the laughs were totally worth it.  

    **

    A while later, Brent asked Emily if she’d like him to read her a story before bedtime. She ran into her room as he and Jane sat beside one another on the sofa. He flashed back to their last moment alone on the sofa and flushed.
    Emily ran back and hopped up on his lap, holding a book, “Can you read this one?”
    He took the book, turned it over, saw Stanley Train smiling back, and thought of Ben,