Tertiary Effects Series | Book 2 | Storm Warning

by Allen, William

  “Most people these days rely on in vitro,” Earl pointed out. Then his face paled a bit under his tan. “You think things are going to get worse, don’t you?”

  Mike and I exchanged a glance, and at my nod, Mike answered his question.

  “Mr. Lovett, we expect the world and the people in it to change drastically in the days to come.”

  “When are you expecting this to happen?”

  “Look around you, Mr. Lovett,” I said carefully, letting myself be drawn into the conversation as Mike began to become uncomfortable with the direction of our discussion. I decided not to use his Christian name, and to go more formal with this conversation. “The changes have already started. We’re seeing prices rise at the grocery store in spite of the price freeze, and the days of plenty are drawing to an end.”

  “You sound like this is some kind of Biblical reckoning,” Mr. Lovett countered with some irritation. “This country has stood for too long to allow something like an earthquake or a bit of bad weather to tear us down. America is down for now, but we’ll bounce back.”

  “I won’t bring God into this,” I responded calmly. “His promise not to drown the world again seems to be holding, despite the weather we’ve been subjected to, but I do think the weather is off from all the ash we’ve gotten. But I do not share your confidence in mankind’s ability to adapt to change. However, the facts are indisputable. The oil refineries that fuel our country are now mostly offline.”

  “That’s just not true,” argued Mr. Lovett.

  “You should know better than me,” I conceded. “But let’s look at the facts. Every refinery in Baytown, Texas City, Pasadena, Deer Park, Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange are all still offline. Look at Louisiana, where Baton Rouge, Lake Charles and New Orleans are under two feet of water or more. That’s not even counting the dozens of refineries wiped out in California. I know we’re limping by with fuel rationing at the moment, but how long is that going to last? No, I think we’re going to see a return of grass burners as a viable transportation method in the near future.”

  “If all of that is indeed true, then why tell me? You’ve only succeeded in driving up the value of these horses in my mind.”

  The question was valid, and I know even Mike was looking at me curiously. Ironically, it was Mrs. Lovett who answered her husband’s own question.

  “You’re worried about us, aren’t you? That’s why you wanted to warn us about the changes you’ve foreseen.”

  I looked at the ground for a moment, studying the way the waterlogged Bermuda grass was struggling to poke up through the mud stirred up by countless footsteps.

  “Ask your daughter to share whatever it is that has her so agitated.” I swallowed convulsively before I could speak again. I had a feeling she’d been witness to something highly disturbing on her way here, and she was struggling with how to break it to her parents.

  “I can tell you that the roads aren’t safe, and people not thirty miles from here are being dragged from their homes and murdered for the contents of their kitchen cabinets, assuming they have food left to feed their families.”

  “But the news reports…”

  “Are designed to make us feel safe, and to keep us in our homes,” I interrupted Mr. Lovett with a grimace of regret at the impolite behavior. “The networks are being censored, and the violence along the border, it isn’t just limited to those areas. Mike and I saw it firsthand, and it seems to be getting worse as it spreads.”

  “Is this true?” Earl Lovett demanded, spinning to glare at Mike in accusation.

  “Yes, sir. Bryan and I were gone to see a friend in Kountze just the other day, and we stopped to help a family being attacked in their own house. They were doing it in broad daylight, and in full view from the road. Doing so probably saved our lives too, as we were still at the house when reinforcements for the raiders showed up. If they had caught us on that narrow little road, we likely would’ve both been killed.”

  I saw Earl swallow and Lynette went pale at Mike’s words.

  “How did you get away?” Earl asked.

  “We killed them all, Mr. Lovett,” I answered simply. “Then Mike drove the wounded family members to the hospital while I stayed at the house and guarded the children.”

  “My God, where were the police when this was going on?”

  “Guarding the hospital, and that was about it,” Mike replied with a touch of scorn in his voice. “We didn’t try to hide what we did, Mr. Lovett. I found a deputy as soon as I got Mitch’s wife and uncle into the Emergency Room. They didn’t even act surprised. Bryan checked their IDs, and they were all refugees from the hurricane, hitting houses as they made their way north, if I was guessing.”

  Lynette stepped away from the fence, stifling a sob as she did so. Earl looked closely at Mike, then turned his gaze to me.

  “Neither one of you seems that upset over what happened. Not the first time you two have been in a shooting since this started, though, is it?” he said accusingly.

  “Mr. Lovett, until this mess started, I would’ve been just as happy as to never have done such a thing,” I replied with a flat tone, “but that doesn’t mean I’ll stand aside and let innocent people get hurt. Those men we fought with at Wilson’s Feed Store had just shot a policeman and robbed the bank in the grocery store, and they came at us with guns blazing. And what happened south of Fred, well, I don’t feel much sympathy for someone who’d shoot into a house that has kids in it.”

  Earl accepted the answer without flinching, then looked over at his wife.

  “You think we need to take more precautions here, then?”

  “We do. If you’ve got a pistol, wear it all the time. If you’ve got a rifle or shotgun, load it and leave it by the door. If you have more than one, I’d load them all and keep them handy. If your daughter has children, then think about mounting hooks on the wall.”

  After I stopped, Mike added his own two cents.

  “Leave your gate at the road closed, and then padlock it. Sure, somebody can cut the chain, but the idea is to buy you time. You might want to reinforce your doors, maybe mount a bracket to add a bar, but your windows are your biggest weakness. If you just cover them over, you’ll pay for it when the lights go out and you’re trapped in the dark.”

  “The lights…”Lynette started, surprised, then seemed to grind to a halt, so I explained.

  “We barely have the power back from the last string of tornadoes, and I expect we’ll have more. If you have kerosene lanterns, you might want to dig them out and buy more kerosene. If you have a wood stove, be sure and get more firewood. A lot more.”

  “We have the fireplace, but not a wood stove,” Earl said, looking at me curiously.

  “If that’s all you have, then it’ll have to do, but a wood stove would be more efficient. We expect the ash kicked up by the Ring of Fire will give us a cold winter, so think about moving into the living room where you have the fireplace, and then blocking off the rooms you don’t use.”

  “What about the horses? We don’t have any kind of heating in the barn, and if the winter is going to be that cold, what can we do?”

  “You do what you can for your family first, Mr. Lovett. That’s why we’re telling you these things. You can choose to ignore us, and that’s your decision, not ours. We’re just trying to be neighborly and give you what information we can.”

  “Well, you’ve certainly given us a lot to think about,” Early finally said, and I could see the wheels turning. “Now, let’s talk about something less grim.”

  Mike smiled.

  “Let’s talk about horses,” my brother said, trying to lighten the mood.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  When Marta got home that night, Mike grabbed her as soon as she walked in the door so they could have a private conversation. They took a walk together, enjoying the cool evening air as the rain continued to hold off for a few more hours. As the sun set, I could see the thunderheads building, and I knew we would be in for anot
her soak tonight. While my brother talked about important real estate things with his wife, I went around the house and checked the bolts on our camera mounts. I didn’t want coverage gaps in the rain, and a camera lost to a wind gust almost guaranteed a broken camera after the storm carried it away. I was up on a ladder when Nancy wandered out to see what I was doing, and I became aware of her presence when I felt the aluminum treads steady under my feet as I leaned over for a closer look.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “Gremlins,” I replied with a serious tone, averting my gaze so she couldn’t make out my smirk.

  “Gremlins? You’re a grown man, so how can you believe in make-believe?” she demanded, and I could hear a little humor in her voice as she teased.

  “Well, how else would one of these cameras work themselves free in the night?”

  “Has that ever happened?” she replied, answering my question with a question of her own.

  “Nope, because I always check for gremlins, so they can’t get a foothold,” I shot back, satisfied with my inspection and backing down the ladder until my feet were planted back on the ground. My arm, sleeves rolled up, brushed past hers as I descended, and a spark of excitement shot through my belly as our flesh made innocent contact.

  As I stood there, folding up the ladder, I felt her hand on my shoulder, so I turned to face Nancy with a little grin on my face. Nancy, however, tried to give me a serious look as she spoke next.

  “I thought about what you said before, about being so close to dying,” Nancy started, and all humor vanished as she continued. “It scared me. It scared me a lot. I know how much you’ve done for me, for us here, and at first, I thought it was selfish of me to want you to avoid danger. Just so my daughter and I can survive. Then I realized, I wanted you to stay safe for your own sake, Bryan. I want you to stay safe, and I want to keep living in a world with you in it. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

  I felt my throat turn dry at the words, and the implications of what she said.

  “I feel the same way about you, Nancy. I know we’ve only known each other a short time, but you’re a special person. When I thought I was going to die, the last thing I thought of was how much I was going to miss you.”

  As I stood there, I felt the need to wrap Nancy in my arms, but I resisted the urge. She didn’t need me slobbering all over her, and even if there were feelings there, this wasn’t the time. I was no love-sick teen, mooning over my first crush.

  Nancy took away my option to maintain a separation when she rushed in, enfolding me in a hug that took my breath away. We stood there in the growing twilight, drawing comfort from each other as the hint of sunlight faded into the gathering gloom.

  “Are you going to be okay?” I finally asked, my voice hoarse with repressed emotion.

  “I will be, now. What happens next?”

  I didn’t know, and I knew we were in dangerous waters. From what I knew and my guesses, Nancy had never been in a functional relationship with a man. For me, I knew with grim certainty I had closed off that side of my personality when Collette and Charlie were snatched from me. Together, we were a confused, volatile mess awaiting that spark to set us both ablaze. I didn’t need a fortuneteller to warn me that the best plan forward involved proceeding with caution.

  “What happens is we continue to take things slow, and get to know each other better,” I temporized, somehow managing to convert my muddled thoughts into a semi-coherent plan. “Between the two of us, we’re toting quite a bit of our own history.”

  “Baggage, you mean,” Nancy corrected, and I had to chuckle at her indelicate characterization, and she wasn’t wrong.

  “If you like,” I conceded. “I know it’s been almost five years since I lost my heart, and instead of manning up and accepting what happened, I retreated into a shell. Sold my old house, retreated from the city, and tried to return to my childhood. Heck, I think even the shooting classes I took with Andy were a form of disassociation, a way to ignore the hurt and try to pretend it never happened.”

  Nancy took a minute to absorb what I said before replying.

  “I guess I did something similar, after what happened at school. At least we had our families to fall back on, but honestly, I’ve felt alone for so long, I don’t know how to move forward. I just know I feel safe with you, and that’s not something I ever thought I would experience with a man. And seeing you with Lisa, that has been the biggest surprise.”

  “Really? She’s a great kid. After,” I paused, gathering myself, “after Charlie died, I couldn’t look at children for a long time without feeling guilty. My nieces and nephews though, they didn’t understand, and little by little they wore down that barrier. I think that’s why I feel so close to them. They helped me heal, and none of them ever understood at the time.”

  “I can tell how you feel about them, and I think that encouraged Lisa. She’s never had a positive male influence in her life,” Nancy explained, “except maybe Wade, and when I was living in Texarkana she hardly ever saw him. But with you around, she’s really started to open up to you like I’ve never seen.”

  Whatever I was going to say next was interrupted when I saw Mike turn the corner of the house and start to approach us. Stepping apart self-consciously, Nancy and I separated. Neither one of us seemed to know what to do with our hands, but Mike was oblivious as he stepped closer.

  “Marta said okay,” Mike blurted out, then seemed to notice Nancy and lurched to a halt. He glanced back and forth between us, as if finally solving a particularly difficult math problem, and shrugged before charging forward.

  “She wasn’t thrilled with the idea at first, as you might expect. We talked about the long-term situation though, and she knows there’s no way we’ll be going back.”

  “What’s the play then?”

  “I’ll call this Armstrong guy Monday, see if he’s serious, and we’ll head up Tuesday. Marta will need to call in sick, which isn’t a stretch. She’s already running on fumes after just this first week.”

  “That bad?”

  “She said they’re pulling back-to-back surgeries all day, Bryan. She’s worried about post-op patient care, saying the facilities aren’t set up to handle the volume. Plus, the hospital is starting to run low on supplies, and she’s concerned.”

  “Are they going to run out of surgical supplies?”

  “No, the National Guard’s running escorted convoys to make those deliveries every week, but they’re running low on everything else. Going to close the cafeteria because the administration can’t guarantee the food will be there on a regular basis. Those shipments are being intercepted, it seems.”

  “What’s causing the uptick?”

  “Gunshot wounds,” Mike explained. “No surprise there. She said the cops around the hospital are thick as ticks on a dog’s back, so at least she feels safe.”

  “I’m shocked the administration doesn’t have her working longer hours,” I responded.

  “Can’t. Well, they tried to get her to work over in the post-op ward, but the doctors actually stepped up and vetoed it. Seems they don’t want their surgical nurses bailing out on them, or messing up in surgery from being sleep-deprived.”

  “That’s actually a good point,” I conceded. “Think we’ll be able to complete the trip and get everything done in one day?”

  “What? I thought you were kidding about wanting to tear up Dallas,” Mike said, and I saw Nancy stiffen next to me.

  “Whoa, I just meant getting the house cleared out and handling all the paperwork to put the house on the market might take more than one day, or a single trip.”

  “Well, that’s all we’re committing to,” Mike countered. “Travel is only getting more chancy, and I don’t just mean the road agents.”

  “What do you mean then?” Nancy asked, finally joining in the conversation after listening to our brotherly back and forth.

  “Wade and Doyle were telling us yesterday that the roads are taking a beatin
g with all this rain,” I explained. “Some of the shoulders have collapsed and there are mudslides that have to be navigated. Trucks are still getting through for now, but TDOT is struggling to keep up.”

  “But what are road agents? That sounds like something bad,” Nancy asked.

  “Just another term for hijackers,” Mike quickly said, before I could soften the information. “Ethan was telling Wade about how they’re becoming more bold out on the roads.”

  “Are the three of you going to be enough? We can send more people with you,” Nancy reasoned, but Mike and I both shook our heads.

  “We need everybody else here keeping an eye on the farm. I wouldn’t even be going if the trip was going to last more than a day or two.”

  “And if we didn’t need the money,” Mike continued softly.

  “Wait, what? Why do you need more money?”

  “Got a shopping list,” I replied, and gave Nancy a mischievous smirk at the idea of adding to our horse herd. Mike and I actually did make a list, combined from our own tallies of the horses we looked at with Earl and Lynette Lovett.

  Without talking about particular horses, Earl gave us an idea of how much we could expect to pay on average, factoring in age, confirmation and bloodline. Between the two of us, we found six more we agreed on, five fillies or young mares, and a slightly older quarter horse stallion. We considered one of the three Percheron stallions but in the end, the size of the offspring made us pass on going that route. Without having easy access to a veterinarian, the potential problems foaling made both of us shy away from something that might cost us not only a foal but the mother as well.

  We had others on the list as contingencies, predicated on how much money Mike and Marta actually realized from the sale of their house, but I insisted on a hard cap at twelve. Mike expected to clear more than the expected cost, so the limiting factors came down to our lack of facilities and the required fodder needed to bring that many horses through a long, hard, winter. Or maybe, a year without a summer.