The Geostorm Series (Book 4): Geostorm [The Flood]

by Akart, Bobby

  “Why are you asking about this?” asked Sarah.

  Chapman sighed. The proverbial cat was out of the bag, so he might as well address the issue with his mom because she had to be involved in the decision-making process. “The water’s rising, Mom. And I mean a lot. Indian River has overflowed its banks, and Isabella said the river is lapping up at the bottom of our driveway.”

  Sarah sat between Kristi and Isabella on the sofa. “We’ve had flooding here in the past, but never as high as the driveway. Then again, I’ve never seen it rain for this long before, either.”

  Kristi took the floor. “Mom, here’s the problem. I know Chapman and he’s not an alarmist. He also knows his stuff. He and Isabella believe this rainy weather is being caused by the pole shift.”

  Chapman interrupted her. “Well, it’s more of a side effect of what’s happening with the geomagnetic reversal. Anyway, based on what I’ve seen, this rain could go on for many days, even weeks. If it does, at least at the current amounts, the house will be taken by the river at some point.”

  “Taken, as in flooded?” Sarah asked.

  “Maybe worse. The river current would be strong enough to knock it off its foundation.”

  Sarah leaned back in her chair. Despite the emotional pain and suffering she’d been through, she found an opportunity to inject some humor into the serious situation. “When it rains, it pours, right?”

  The group shared a laugh, which was quickly stifled when they heard the sounds of someone stomping their boots on the front porch.

  Chapter 46

  Riverfront Farms

  Southeast Indiana

  Kristi was the first to scramble toward the foyer. She grabbed her shotgun, with Tommy close on her heels. The two flanked the door and readied their weapons. The knob slowly turned and the door was pushed open gently.

  “Hey, y’all,” Levi calmly greeted them as he entered the foyer.

  Sarah didn’t hesitate to race to her youngest son, crashing into him with a bear hug and tears of joy. “Where have you been all night?”

  “I’m okay,” he replied, managing to deflect from disclosing his whereabouts. “Is Carly here?”

  “She just went back over to your place to look for you,” replied Chapman.

  Suddenly, the sound of bare feet running across the wood floors filled the air as Rachel and Jesse, followed by Brooke knuckle-running down the hallway, greeted Levi.

  “Wow! If I had known I’d be missed this bad, I could’ve spent another night out in the rain.”

  “Daddy!” they screamed in unison as they fought through Sarah to hug their dad.

  “We missed you, Daddy,” said Rachel. “Brooke did too.”

  The cute chimpanzee had become a part of the family. Much to the relief of Tommy and Kristi, she hadn’t exhibited any of the violent tendencies that had seemed to overtake Knight in those final days before he disappeared.

  Levi scruffed on Brooke’s neck and shoulders as he glanced around the room. Dealing with the kids was easy. Answering their questions would be far more difficult unless, of course, he told the truth. It’s hard to screw up the story when you tell the truth, Squire had always told Levi, although he didn’t always live by the words himself.

  “Come in, son. Let me find you some dry clothes.”

  Levi nodded and hugged the kids again. He looked around the room, and several probing sets of eyes returned his glance. He tried to smile in an attempt to garner some sympathy.

  Isabella stepped forward and reached for Rachel’s hand. “I think your father might be hungry. Would you and Jesse like to help me make some hot oatmeal and coffee?”

  “Brooke is hungry, too,” replied Rachel. “She might like some oatmeal.”

  Isabella glanced at Kristi, who shrugged. Chimpanzees were known to be omnivorous frugivores. That’s a fancy-ass term for a fruit-loving, leaf-eating, and anything-that-grows-in-the-woods diet. All of which was in short supply at the moment. So, with limitations, Brooke was learning to eat people food.

  “I guess oatmeal for everybody,” said Isabella cheerily. “Come on, children.” She scooped up Brooke and led the kids to the kitchen while Sarah moseyed off to Levi’s room to fetch him some clothes. That left Levi alone with the rest of the group sans Carly.

  Chapman took the leadership role for the inquisition. “You just had to bust Billy in the chops, didn’t you?”

  “He had it comin’ a long time ago.” Levi stood firm in his defense. “Plus, he insulted Carly. He’s lucky it was me who knocked him on his ass.”

  Kristi stifled a laugh. She wasn’t quite as mad at Levi’s disappearance as Chapman was. The family didn’t need to deal with their little brother in jail under these circumstances. Randy would’ve let him rot there.

  “Where did you go?” Chapman continued questioning him, trying to get to the point before their mother returned.

  “I just ran. I really didn’t have a plan, so I made my way back to the house. I changed clothes, grabbed Daddy’s knife and the Colt revolver, and…” His voice trailed off as he faced the moment of truth as to whether he should tell the rest of the story.

  “And what?” insisted Chapman.

  Levi took a deep breath and blurted out his answer. “I went to see Billy, that’s all.”

  Chapman shook his head. “I knew it. We came up there looking for you. Where were you?”

  “Behind the house.” Levi’s answers were short and well thought out.

  Kristi joined in. “What were you doing there? With a gun and a knife?”

  Levi sighed. “I really don’t know, you guys. I just felt like I had unfinished business with him. I guess I just wanted to back him off somehow. You know, get him to leave us alone.”

  “So what happened?”

  “Nothing,” he lied. “I never got the chance. While I was watching the house, I heard a bunch of shouting from the front and then a gunshot. I figured someone else was coming after him. The next thing I know, he was on fire, running outside toward the creek.”

  Chapman scowled. “What? Billy was on fire?”

  “Yeah. It was like watching somethin’ on TV. He came running off the back porch covered with flames, waving his arms like a windmill. I guess he was trying to get to the creek to put it out. Anyway, he slipped and fell. The fire burned for a bit until the rain put it out.”

  Sarah had appeared in the living room with Levi’s clothes held tightly against her chest. “Is he dead?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m pretty sure he is. Cedar Glade burned up, too. Flames were shooting out the back door and through the fireplace chimney. Eventually, the cedar shake roof was burning. By the time I left, the whole house was consumed with fire.”

  A slight grin came over Sarah’s face. “Did you happen to see if Randy was there, or the sister?”

  “No, ma’am. Only Billy.”

  Sarah approached Levi and kissed her son on the cheek. “You get changed out of those clothes. We’ll see about getting Carly back to the house. There’s lots to discuss today.”

  He exited the room, quickly pushing past Chapman and Tommy while casting a quick look in Kristi’s direction. He nodded to her as he disappeared into the hallway.

  There was an awkward silence for a moment as Sarah studied her two oldest children and Tommy. “Was there more?”

  Chapman shrugged. “Um, no, I don’t guess so. It kinda matches up with what we saw when we were there.”

  “Then it’s a closed subject and a closed chapter in our lives. Let’s move on.”

  Chapter 47

  Riverfront Farms

  Southeast Indiana

  Everyone needed sleep. They put away the horses and turned in for long naps, which abruptly ended in the midafternoon. During the naps, Sarah and Isabella sat outside on the porch swing together, with their rifles resting in their laps. The two talked about many subjects, including Sarah’s thoughts on the solar storms.

  She patted Isabella on the leg as she spoke. “You are exactly like C
hapman. He is polite and respects my belief in God and the teachings of the Bible, but deep down, I know the science has suppressed much of what he learned in church as a child.”

  Isabella smiled. Sarah was much different from her parents, who were very analytical. Sarah’s loving ways comforted Isabella, which helped her block out her own concerns for her parents. She hoped they were safe and sound in their island getaway and not subjected to the types of people the Boone family had to face in this rural county.

  “I was not schooled in the Bible as Chapman was, although I am familiar with it. My focus has always been on science and also history.”

  “The Bible provides an historical account of the times during the life of Jesus and before. We can all learn from that.”

  Isabella tucked her ankle under her other leg and turned toward Sarah. “Yes. I have read the stories of the Assyrians in the Old Testament. The oldest written record of solar storms was found in ancient Assyrian tablets. The Assyrians wrote of a red glow, a red cloud, and the colors normally associated with aurora in the sky. Around 600 BC, an extreme storm left particles in tree rings and ice cores discovered by scientists.”

  “Tell me more,” Sarah insisted. She’d taken a strong liking to Isabella and enjoyed speaking with her about something besides the circumstances that drew them together.

  “Well, geographically speaking, Assyria is considered too far south to view aurora unless the solar storm is extreme. However, my research has found that the north magnetic pole was closer to the Middle East during this time period. The Assyrian tablets confirm the science.”

  Sarah adjusted her seat so her toes could reach the porch. She gently swung them as she spoke. “There are references to fire in the Heavens in the Books of Isaiah and Ezekiel. The prophecies reference the sun brightening sevenfold. It’s possible these solar flares are what is prophesized in the Old Testament.”

  Isabella tread lightly on the subject. She’d only known Sarah for a short time and wanted to respect her fragility so soon after the death of her husband. “When did Ezekiel live?”

  “He was born in Jerusalem around 620 BC,” replied Sarah with a chuckle. “I see the look on your face. You will soon learn I am the resident Bible scholar. Well, at least as it relates to some subjects. This was a hot topic of discussion in 2012 when everyone thought the world was coming to an end because of the Mayan calendar. I knew that was all silliness.”

  Isabella thought for a moment. The time of Ezekiel’s prophecies and the scientific findings based on the Assyrian tablets almost matched up. She was about to add to the conversation when the ground seemed to shake.

  “Sarah!” she shouted as the two women gripped each other’s hands. Their porch swing seemed to lift slightly and then drop back down.

  “Was that thunder?” Sarah asked.

  “No. It felt like an earthquake.”

  A low rumbling sound filled the air, much like a group of Harley-Davidson motorcycles driving through the concrete jungle of any large U.S. city. The cycle’s exhaust system gains in intensity as the bikers get closer, and can reach a deafening roar if the sound has no way to escape the tall buildings.

  The reverberating sound grew louder although the shaking subsided.

  Chapman was fully awake after bouncing out of bed and racing down the stairwell. He appeared on the porch without shoes or socks. “Isabella! Any lightning?”

  “No. Only the slight shaking of the ground and the rumble.”

  Chapman was in his element as a weather detective. “For how long?”

  “Two minutes, perhaps.”

  He walked to the edge of the porch, and without getting wet, he peered past the roof overhang at the rain-filled sky. He furrowed his brow and shook his head. “No lightning, right?”

  Sarah took this one. “No, dear. Same as always. Rain and more rain. It was probably an earthquake.”

  “Maybe. We don’t really have earthquakes here, but neither does Ohio,” he added, referring to his trip to the farm with Isabella.

  The rest of the group joined them. Everyone questioned Chapman, and he really didn’t have any definitive answers. There were many logical explanations, which included seismic activity and the sudden appearance of severe thunderstorms off in the distance.

  He’d learned long ago not to hypothesize without all the facts, so he didn’t. But there was a concern that crossed his mind, one he’d discuss at length with Isabella in private.

  Water was heavy. As the ground became soaked in the incessant rain, and the Ohio River swelled, it was likely the Earth’s crust, those first several miles of our planet’s hard outer layer made of various types of rocks, was feeling incredible downward pressure from above.

  This pressure caused instability, which in turn caused tectonic shifts. Unexpected movement of the cracked shells of the planet, the tectonic plates, might be causing a ripple effect across North America.

  However, there was something else. The groundwater levels might be filling the cracks, crevices, and caverns that were prevalent along the Ohio River in Indiana and Kentucky. The sandstone, shale, and limestone under their feet might be shifting. As the voids filled with water and the limestone dissolved, sinkholes could quickly form, causing the surface to collapse or drop into the cavities.

  Almost all of Riverfront Farms, including their home, was built on a limestone subsurface.

  Chapter 48

  Riverfront Farms

  Southeast Indiana

  By late evening, a full day had passed since fire devoured Billy Clark’s residence and the bully himself. Allen Edmund had braved the treacherous conditions to ride a horse-drawn wagon down from his place to pick up the rototiller he’d bartered for and to provide the Boones the news from Corydon. Just to be safe, Levi stayed out of sight, and as a precaution, they lied to Allen about his whereabouts. In the apocalypse, the policy was to trust no one outside the family.

  After Allen left, the family came together for a conversation about the news from Corydon.

  “They’re finally standing up to the Clarks,” said Carly with a hint of pride in her voice. “I think Levi’s public smackdown of Bully Billy gave them the will to fight.”

  “Well, it certainly will keep Randy busy and out of our hair,” said Chapman. “We have some decisions to make. The biggest takeaway from Allen’s visit was why he felt it necessary to come down right away to get the rototiller we traded him. He believes the bridges and roads might be impassible soon.”

  “Allen and his family are longtime residents like us,” added Sarah. “He’s smart enough to know this is unusual.”

  Chapman nodded in agreement. He cleared his throat before he spoke. “Putting my weatherman hat on for a second, you might hear reports, especially in the spring, of towns along the Mississippi River in Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, and Arkansas experiencing a one-hundred-year flood. In other words, the high waters during the spring rains created the worst flooding in a hundred years.

  “Ten years ago, the Houston area experienced three five-hundred-year floods in back-to-back-to-back years. I remember reporting on the floodwaters, which covered interstates and filled the lobbies of high-rise buildings. Heck, the waters brought out of the Gulf of Mexico due to Hurricane Harvey were considered to be a thousand-year flood.

  “What we are experiencing on the farm, and most likely throughout the Midwest, is at least a once-in-a-thousand-year rain event. I hate that we don’t have access to scientific data or NOAA estimates. All we have to go by is the water levels in relation to where we live. We are within weeks of being flooded here at the house if this continues.”

  “Really? Leave?” asked Carly.

  “I don’t think I’m the only one of us seeing a cataclysm coming, but I think I’m the only person saying it, and I think that scares all of us.”

  “But are you saying we need to leave?” asked Levi.

  “I think we need to have a serious discussion about it,” replied Chapman. “The thought of leaving the farm a
nd venturing into the unknown is frightening. There are so many considerations to take into account. I do know this, if we wait too long, until the river is lapping up on our porch, it’ll be too late. We’ll be surrounded by water with zero options.”

  Levi pushed away from the dining table and wandered around the living room. “We can’t leave the farm. This is our home and we’ve…” Levi caught himself before he revealed too much.

  “I understand, Levi,” said Chapman. “It will always be our farm, and it will be here when we get back. I’m just saying we need to get to higher ground.”

  “Like where? And how?” asked Carly. “We’ve got little ones. We can’t just throw them on their ponies.”

  Chapman grew frustrated. “Listen, I don’t want to leave either. I wish it would quit raining. I wish the Clarks hadn’t threatened us with foreclosure. I wish Dad were still here to help us make a decision.”

  Kristi intervened in order to calm both of her brothers down. “C’mon, guys. We have to accept the fact the old rules don’t apply anymore.”

  “That’s right, Kristi,” said Chapman. “What I’m leading up to is this. The planet is going through a cataclysm—a catastrophic change not unlike what’s happened to the Earth before, but not ever during the era of modern man.”

  “Chapman, how do you know this?” questioned Carly. “You just admitted we don’t have access to all those scientific gadgets you need to predict this stuff.”

  Chapman leaned back in his chair. “I base it on what we’ve experienced so far and the climatic conditions we observed prior to losing the power grid. Since then, two things have happened. The rains came out of nowhere and haven’t stopped contributing to this massive flooding. Also, the geostorm has destroyed small electronics. For all intents and purposes, we no longer live in the twenty-first century. It’s more like the 1800s.”