The Fall

by E S Richards

  THE

  FALL

  SOLAR CRASH

  Book 2

  By

  E S Richards

  Mike Kraus

  © 2019 Muonic Press Inc

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

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  Chapter 1

  Len was silent as he and Harrison slowly walked away from his home, away from Harrison’s bunker and away from the one place he knew was truly safe. He knew he had to put his son’s life ahead of his own and ultimately he knew he was making the right decision. Despite this, a tiny selfish voice in his head screamed at him to turn back. To run back down into Harrison’s bunker and wait there until everything returned to normal. However long that would take.

  The sight of Chicago around him was a constant reminder of everything that had happened. Small fires still burned in doorways and burnt-out wrecks of cars littered the streets. Black plumes of smoke dotted the skyline; Len was only able to guess at what had caused them. The lack of people was hard to ignore as well, the area where Len and Harrison had lived was relatively quiet, but not how it was now.

  Walking past a small park, Len was reminded how he used to push James on the swing there when his son still lived in Chicago. The park was always busy with children on hot days, but now it was completely deserted. Every sound Len and Harrison made was more pronounced because of the emptiness around them. It made Len nervous; that and the knowledge of the long journey ahead of him.

  The weight of the backpack was heavy on his shoulders, his body still not fully recovered from the beating he had taken in central Chicago. The group of people, all with shaven heads, kicking at his old body as he curled up on the ground, desperately trying to protect the little baby he had rescued.

  Len wondered how far Freddie and Jen had made it by now with the little boy. Would they have been able to follow the river all the way back to Bloomington? Len had no idea how long the journey would take, or if the fuel they’d brought on board would be enough to get them there. He just hoped the baby—Matthew, as Jen had called him—was safe.

  His encounters on his way home through Chicago filled Len with both hope and fear. He had met more good people than bad, the gang acting unlike anyone else and completely taking Len by surprise. Amongst the others though, he was glad in a way that he had come across them. They reminded him that not everyone was inherently good and the chaos that had struck Chicago had surely brought out the worst in many of its residents.

  That was why he was so curious about Harrison. The old man was so prepared for literally anything that could come his way and yet he had left all that behind to help Len find his family. There must be another reason but Harrison hadn’t been forthcoming in revealing it. Len had asked, but Harrison somehow always managed to steer the conversation in another direction, all but confirming Len’s suspicions.

  He mused about how long Harrison must have lived just down the road from him, preparing for a disaster that might never come. Perhaps that was why Harrison was accompanying him—what was the point in preparing for something if, when it finally happened, you just hid away and never experienced it?

  Len shook his head and smirked slightly at the thought. It was a stupid explanation, but he couldn’t help thinking of it as a possibility. If Harrison wasn’t going to clarify, Len would just have to imagine why. Still he couldn’t stop himself from asking the older man again.

  “So what is there in Michigan for you?”

  Harrison turned his head and smiled at Len, the skin around his eyes wrinkling as he did so, showing his old age. “In Michigan? Nothing.”

  Len let out an exasperated sigh, slapping his hands against his thighs in a show of disappointment. “Then why?” Len questioned again, “Why are you coming with me?”

  “Don’t you want my help?”

  “Well of course,” Len combatted the question. “I’ve already told you I can’t thank you enough. You saved my life and I already feel ten times more prepared than I did two days ago, but still. You must have another reason.”

  Harrison regarded Len carefully. He had another reason, the only reason really, but he was still unsure whether he trusted Len enough to tell him the truth. He was normally confident in everything he did. He’d been preparing for the apocalypse since he was a little boy, knowing that one day his time would come. But without anyone to protect or anyone to save, it had left him feeling rather hollow.

  He had no idea where his daughter might be. He hadn’t seen or spoken to her in over twenty years, not since his wife had died and she’d moved away. The last he’d heard she was in Canada and through his research online he had managed to keep track on her whereabouts to some extent. Obviously now without any electricity he was forced to guess based on her last known location: Toronto.

  Harrison hadn’t told Len anything about his daughter and how she was the true reason for him traveling to South Haven. He was still ashamed of himself for not trying to find her sooner. He was more prepared than anyone and yet it had taken a city businessman to make him see what was right.

  Len impressed Harrison, even though he didn’t reveal that either. He had a strength that Harrison perhaps didn’t possess, even though he desperately wanted to. Maybe it had been so long since he’d seen his daughter that he’d somehow forgotten what it meant to be a father. Len clearly had not.

  “I have a daughter,” Harrison spoke quietly, still uncertain about telling Len the truth. He could tell his companion wasn’t going to let it go so easily though and it was probably better to have the conversation now rather than days down the line.

  Len stopped walking for a second to turn and look at Harrison. He hadn’t expected that; he hadn’t expected getting an answer at all. “Oh,” he muttered as he stepped back into line with Harrison, “where is she?”

  “Canada,” Harrison spoke curtly, “I think.”

  Len paused for another second. He could tell Harrison didn’t want to speak about his daughter and it took all his self-control not to press the man. If he changed his mind it was clear Len was interested, but for the time being Len accepted it was best not to aggravate his companion. Even though Harrison had equipped him well for the journey, Len was still very aware of how much he would need the older man.

  “What’s her name?” Len asked after a moment, choosing a question that was less invasive than the many others swimming around his mind. He had never even suspected that Harrison migh
t have a daughter or a family. His bunker and his house were both filled with only the necessary objects; Len hadn’t seen any indication of anyone else living there, past or present.

  “Nina,” Harrison breathed. “She’s called Nina.”

  After the brief interaction the two men continued moving forward in silence. Harrison was leading them south, their route taking them away from central Chicago but still through many densely populated areas.

  The destruction appeared less intense in these parts of the city, but it was still dreadfully obvious. The first giveaway was how few people were out and about. Len and Harrison approached everyone with caution, but most of the people they came across were simply making their own way to their homes.

  A gruesome car crash dominated the center of the street as they turned a corner towards Chicago State University. Six, maybe seven cars were crushed into a heap, parts of them still burning while the smell of gasoline filled the air. Harrison led them in a wide curve around the vehicles, all too aware of the dangers of gasoline near an open fire. Len was too, the flames reminding him that his house still lay in ruins.

  Even with the wide berth they gave the vehicles, Len could make out a limp arm hanging from a car window. It was completely motionless; Len didn’t need anything more than a cursory glance to tell him whomever it belonged to was long dead. Either killed by the impact of the crash or burned alive in the aftermath; for some reason Len hoped it was the former.

  These smaller details reminded Len how bad things had become. He remembered the story Freddie had told him, a fireball screaming down the street towards them with no option but to dive into Lake Michigan. Len was so thankful he had been underground when the gas line exploded; he doubted he would still be alive otherwise.

  Following Harrison, Len started walking up the gradual slope of the intersection, the once busy road littered with abandoned cars. Many of them had burned up in the heat, bodies charred and unrecognizable inside. Others were simply deserted, the drivers deciding they had a better chance on foot than trapped in a metal box. Len wondered for a moment what would have happened to his own car; it felt like so long ago that he had climbed out and wandered into O’Riley’s searching for a solution to his troubles.

  The city slowly began to give way to more greenery as they walked, Len aware of a golf course somewhere near the university. He much preferred the natural scenery, nature somehow remaining almost the same despite how much the city itself had changed. It said something for the power of humanity, Len mused, how so much technology could be destroyed in minutes while everything that was there before man remained constant and stoic. No matter what man creates, it all comes crumbling down eventually.

  Not everything was the same however. No birds sang in the trees and the waterways that dotted the golf course were still, devoid of life on or beneath the surface. Len wondered where the animals had gone; he’d heard things in his life about animals sensing these sorts of disasters before humans were able to. Was that true? It was another question Len didn’t have an answer to.

  “Quiet, isn’t it?”

  He spoke instead, breaking the silence that amassed between himself and Harrison. They had been walking for over an hour and hadn’t spoken except for Harrison’s reveal of his daughter’s existence. Some time had passed since then and Len was already growing tired of the sounds of their feet on the asphalt below them. He hadn’t minded it so much when he had been traveling alone, but with Harrison beside him the silence felt awkward and uncomfortable.

  “Quiet is good,” Harrison shrugged, “better than everyone screaming and crying.”

  Len bit his lip. He didn’t disagree with Harrison’s statement, but they could still enjoy quiet without there being absolute silence.

  “So,” he paused for a second, thinking of an appropriate question for the old prepper. “Where were you when everything started?”

  Harrison stared at Len for a second. He didn’t like having to answer questions, least of all when danger could spring out at them at any second. His senses were all heightened, every sound making the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand on end while his eyes were constantly darting from side to side, ensuring his field of vision was as wide as possible.

  “In my bunker,” he answered anyway, despite his preference not to. Harrison could already tell Len was going to keep badgering him with questions; it made sense to allow the conversation from time to time. “The cameras cut out, so I knew there was a problem with the power.”

  “You had cameras down there?” Len sounded surprised, although as soon as he asked the question he knew it was stupid. He’d seen the lengths Harrison had gone to in his home and in the bunker. Of course he had cameras set up.

  “Of course,” Harrison too responded with a voice that confirmed Len’s question was stupid. “When the backup generators didn’t turn them back on, I knew it was serious.”

  “So what did you do?”

  Harrison smirked, letting Len realize he’d asked yet another obvious question. “I stayed in my bunker. Set up the gas lighting, secured my supplies, and started working on my radio. Just like I’d prepared for.”

  Len shook his head in disbelief. He still didn’t understand how Harrison was so calm. How he could experience what must have merely been a power outage for him and then decide to fasten himself down in his bunker, already prepared for the end of the world.

  Len felt a mixture of admiration and pity for the old man. He couldn’t deny it was impressive to face a disaster with such a degree of calm, already fully aware of the steps that would need to be taken to ensure survival. But then on the other hand, it was sad that someone’s life had reached that point. Len couldn’t imagine not having a relationship with his child—although he couldn’t be certain that was what had happened with Harrison and his daughter even though it seemed that way. He couldn’t imagine not having anyone nearby to speak to every day and share experiences with. He found it hard enough adapting to life without Amy and James in the same home as him. Cutting off all communication was already vastly widening the hole in his heart. Harrison was so alone and Len realized with a quiet gasp that maybe that was the true reason he was accompanying Len. Perhaps the old man was just tired of seeing only his reflection in the mirror.

  Chapter 2

  Dixon couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He stood outside of the White House, surrounded by several other government soldiers like him, who had all regrouped to receive orders from General Shepherd. They waited obediently for orders in the courtyard, their knowledge of what was going on in outside world still only made up of eyewitness stories like the one he was hearing.

  Two of his fellow soldiers had been on patrol outside the gates during the final newscast and they had seen the public reacting to it there and then. Dixon was sweating in his uniform in the blistering heat as he listened—it sounded like everyone had reacted in the worst possible way, locals and tourists screaming on the streets and pushing past each other in an attempt to get inside.

  The two soldiers said they hadn’t reported any casualties as of yet, but Dixon could still hear the screaming from beyond the walls of the White House. On top of that, he knew things would only get worse, the echo of vehicles crashing and loud bangs of potential explosions bouncing off the walls he was safely inside of.

  General Shepherd was off to one side, talking in hushed tones with Mr. Wilson, the President’s chief of staff and therefore the first man who Dixon had taken the news to. With President Bruce trapped inside the emergency bunker, along with Vice President Cleo, Dixon knew Wilson and General Shepherd would be in charge of proceedings from now on. It was a responsibility he was glad not to have.

  Being a soldier meant everything to Dixon. He had known ever since he was seven or eight years old that it was what he wanted to do. He joined the cadets at a young age, working his way through the ranks before his first tour over five years ago.

  He could still remember every detail. Back then he was more reckless,
more willing to dive head first into danger. On his second tour he’d learnt the hard way that his behavior wasn’t clever, the bullet scar on his knee a constant reminder. He didn’t let it deter him though. He knew there was more than one way to serve and his role within the White House had allowed him that. Still, he couldn’t deny the smile that crept onto his face as the familiar itch of danger crawled up his spine. Dixon never thought this day would come, but finally he would be going back into action.

  ***

  “I can hold things down here, General,” Wilson rested his hands on his hips as he spoke with General Shepherd. He had ended up navigating his way through the White House in relative darkness on his way down to the emergency bunker, only to find the doors inaccessible, even with his close relationship to the President. Now that he was finally outside and had located General Shepherd, he knew the two of them had to maintain control while the official protocol was carried out. Wilson had trained in the military for a couple of years when he was much younger before deciding to take up a role within politics as a civilian instead.