by E S Richards
“It’s okay, Pop,” Chase said, noticing how worked up his grandfather was getting. “Calm down. Take a deep breath.”
Pop nodded, trying to listen to his grandson. He purposefully slowed his breathing, inhaling for as long as possible before letting the air escape from his lungs. It worked. He felt his heartrate slowing and while he still didn’t understand what had happened, he felt less panicked by the situation.
“How did we get here, Chase? I don’t remember anything.”
Chase looked at his grandfather with sorrow and pity in his eyes. He couldn’t imagine how scared the old man must feel. To lose control of your own mind like that had to be the most terrifying thing to experience. Any way he could help his pop through this, Chase vowed he would do it.
“You wandered out into the storm,” Chase started, knowing he had to tell Pop the truth in order for them to move past what had happened. Perhaps hearing the story would jog his memory, if anything. It was worth a shot. “When I went upstairs to take another bucket to Grandma, you picked up the radio we’d been working on, ditched your sweater, and went outside. I came back down and found the kitchen door wide open and you gone.”
Pop shook his head to himself as Chase told him the story. Nothing sounded familiar to him. It made no sense. He knew he’d been experiencing blips of forgetfulness recently or times when he got confused, but he’d never completely blacked out and wandered off before. It was extremely frightening—if he couldn’t trust himself anymore, how could he expect anyone else to be able to rely on him? How could he keep his family safe, if he couldn’t even look after himself?
“I—” Pop stumbled over his words. “I don’t remember any of that. And I just walked out here in the storm by myself?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Chase replied. “When you weren’t in the kitchen anymore, I came outside looking for you. Checked in the barn first, but then I thought to look in here and found you. You were freezing.”
“I’m so sorry,” Pop muttered. “Thank you for finding me, Chase.”
“Pop.” Chase felt a lump form in his throat. He’d never experienced his grandfather being so vulnerable before. It was humbling to witness such a great figurehead brought down to an apologetic old man. “Please don’t apologize, I’m just glad you’re okay. How do you feel now? Are you all right to walk back to the house?”
“Sure,” Pop replied as confidently as he could muster. He didn’t want Chase to suffer any longer as a result of his actions and he was sure Linda and Riley were both worried sick. “Let’s head back.”
***
Grandma Linda sat nervously at the kitchen table. Riley was by her side, though neither one of them spoke to the other. It had been hours since Chase left, literally hours. Despite what Linda had told him about returning after fifteen minutes if he couldn’t find Pop, there was no sign of her grandson. Now she feared the worst. Not only was her husband missing, but her grandson too.
She had sworn she would protect both Chase and Riley the second they had been born. That vow only became more sincere when their parents passed away, and again when they were left in her care while Mia went off to work. Linda felt like she had let everybody down. How could she manage to lose track of both men in such a short space of time? She should’ve been more responsible. She should’ve taken better care of Pop; she knew just how bad he could be. But then, he had never just wandered off on his own before. This was a whole new stage of the disease Linda knew was slowly claiming her husband’s mind. She hated it so much.
The storm outside was finally dying down, the wind gradually becoming less blustery and the rain not quite so deafening. Both Linda and Riley had done very little since Chase left, aside from watch the weather outside of the kitchen window. It was incredible to witness, despite how terrifying the scene was. Darkness claimed every inch of their farmland. Even the lights of the house itself only stretched so far, nothing beyond the immediate garden visible to the naked eye.
Please, please please, Linda begged internally. Please let them come back to me.
They were words that ran through her mind constantly. The fear of losing her loved ones was so powerful and painful. She had felt it before when her son, Brogan, died. He and Lauren had been such an incredible couple. They didn’t deserve what had happened to them one bit. The crash was a horrible thing, an unexpected and unimaginable disaster that shook the lives of their family and turned it upside down.
Linda had doubted she would ever feel pain inside of her like how losing Brogan had made her feel. It was like she’d been ripped apart. A parent should never have to say goodbye to their child like that, Linda knew. He should’ve been the one to say goodbye to her eventually, not the other way around. Even now, fifteen months after it had happened, she still felt like there was a huge part of her missing. And there always would be. Nothing could replace the son that she lost; nothing could even come close.
Yet, as she sat at the kitchen table, Linda felt that pain flooding back through her body. And now it was magnified. Now she felt the pain for three people—her three boys. Losing Brogan had been difficult enough. She couldn’t let herself lose Jerry and Chase as well. She just couldn’t.
“I’m going out!” Linda suddenly stood up from the table, shocking Riley and making her jump in her seat. “I have to try and find them!”
“Grandma, you can’t,” Riley argued. “It’s too dangerous.”
“We can’t just sit here, Riley,” Linda responded, looking desperately out of the window once more. “We have to try and find them.”
“But what if the same thing happens to us?” Riley did her best to keep her voice level. She wanted to be strong; she knew she had to be. But talking to her grandma about what was going on was so difficult. All she wanted to do was curl up in her arms and weep. It took all of Riley’s strength to argue against the woman and try to keep her inside.
“Please, Grandma,” Riley rationalized, “I don’t want to lose you as well.”
At her granddaughter’s words, Linda stilled. Immediately she questioned whether leaving the farmhouse was the right decision. She still had Riley to look after and even though she might have failed with everyone else, Riley still had a chance. Looking into her eyes, Linda saw those of her daughter’s; Mia. She thought about her being at the center of the disaster, right where the volcano had exploded. Without a doubt, Mia would be doing everything she could to survive and make it back to them. Family was the most important thing and Linda knew she had to look after hers in any way possible.
“Okay,” she nodded eventually. “Okay, Riley. I’m not going anywhere.”
Riley broke out into a faint smile, wrapping her arms around her grandmother’s body as Linda sat back down beside her. They still had each other; Riley didn’t want to ever forget that. Hugging Grandma Linda made Riley feel peaceful. She sighed and looked out of the window, gazing into the darkness and praying for Chase and Pop to return. She wanted to see them so much that she thought she could almost make out their figures approaching through the mist. The fog hung so low that it danced around and made shapes that could be deceiving. Chase and Pop were out there somewhere though, she was sure of it.
Chapter 14
“Stop where you are. Don’t make another move.”
The sound of a shotgun slide chilled Blake to his bones, stilling him in an instant as he stood in the doorway of Vic’s shop. The whole place was blacked out in darkness, only a dim light from the room in the back illuminating the store. The shutters had been half-pulled down over the front of the store, meaning Blake had had to duck under them to get inside. Perhaps that hadn’t been the wisest idea. Whoever was pointing the gun at him clearly didn’t want other people inside. Blake just hoped it was his friend.
“Vic?” Blake questioned, raising his arms slowly above his head. “Is that you? It’s Blake, from the apartments across the street. I just want to talk, man.”
Blake stared at the silhouette holding the gun, desperately trying to make his e
yes adjust to the light so he could figure out who it was. The frame was larger than Blake’s, which would’ve been accurate for Vic. He also thought he could make out a chunky gold chain hanging from the person’s neck, which was something he had never seen Vic without. He didn’t want to jump to any conclusions though; Blake was fully aware that he could’ve made a big mistake by walking into the corner store.
“Blake?” The voice eventually replied, the Eastern European accent finally confirming that it was in fact coming from Vic. “I’m sorry, dude, you gave me a bit of a scare there.” Vic put his gun back down on the counter and flicked a switch underneath it, flooding the store in yellow light once more. “What are you doing breaking into a man’s place when all of this is going on?”
“Sorry, Vic,” Blake apologized and stepped forward, shaking the man’s hand in a friendly gesture. They’d always exchanged pleasantries, but he was uncertain just how far the man would take things now that the city was on high alert. “I was just making my way back home and thought I’d pop in. The whole city has gone crazy thanks to this news. I was kind of hoping I’d be able to get some supplies and information from you.”
Vic laughed. “Well you’ve come to the right place my friend. Although I’m not sure what additional information I’ll be able to share with you. Supplies though, that is my area of expertise. You just want the basic stuff, or can I finally interest you in something from the back?”
Blake faltered for a second. He’d never been in the back room of the store, despite being well aware of what happened in there. Vic was a good man. Though, with his immigrant status, he struggled to get by due to the increasing taxes laid on his business every year. As a result, he ran a bit of a side business from the back of his store that wasn’t strictly legal. Blake wasn’t certain what sort of things he sold from back there, but he could hazard a good guess. Perhaps it was finally time to take a look.
“Okay,” he nodded. “It’s about time I went back there, I guess. Show me what you’ve got, man.”
“Finally!” Vic grinned, clapping his hands together in excitement. “You are in for a treat. This way my friend.”
Following Vic behind the counter, Blake was led through a small door that opened into a narrow corridor. From there it was only a few steps before the second door appeared, opening into the treasure trove of secrets that Vic had kept hidden all these years.
Walking inside, Blake was immediately struck by the sheer quantity of goods that lined the wall. Vic was kitted out for everything. From survival gear to foodstuff and alcohol, ranging all the way up through the weapons department and back down to things like paraffin heaters and portable electronics. It was an interesting mixture of things that were definitely illegal—like the weapons—to items that would just be useful for a disaster. By some stroke of luck, Blake seemed to have stumbled into a haven for his situation. Vic was undoubtedly the most prepared man in the entire city.
“Dude,” he breathed, turning in a slow circle to take everything in. “This is crazy.”
“Aha, you approve then?” Vic chuckled, enjoying the expression on Blake’s face as he marveled at the hoard. “Not what you expected?”
“I don’t know what I expected,” Blake admitted. “I always knew there was stuff back here, but I had no idea there was this much stuff. You’re sitting on a gold mine, Vic. There are people out there who would kill for half of this stuff.”
“I know,” Vic replied, his tone suddenly turning serious. “That’s the problem. I’ve had all sorts of customers back here over the past few years, some less savory than others. If those people are still in the city then they know what’s in here and I’ve no doubt that eventually they’ll be coming to find it.”
“Oh yeah,” Blake mumbled. He hadn’t thought of that. While Vic’s store was probably one of the best places to be in the city, it could also be one of the most dangerous. If the wrong sort of people tried to break in, they would be done for, even with everything they had to protect themselves. “You need to lock this place up, man,” Blake suddenly thought. Yes, the shutters had been down when he’d entered, but the door itself had been unlocked. “You can’t just let anyone walk in here like I did.”
“I know,” Vic nodded, turning and walking out of the back room and into the main store. “That’s literally what I’d been about to do when you turned up. I barely had time to turn off the lights and grab my gun before you were inside.”
Blake followed him, watching as Vic opened the door to pull the shutters all the way down outside then closed it, turned the key in the lock twice and then pulled both bolts across, securely locking them both inside. He instantly felt safer and also extremely lucky. If he’d turned up at Vic’s store just a minute later, he would’ve been stuck outside. For all the danger that was associated with the place, Blake was much happier on the inside than out.
“Are you just planning on holing up in here then?” Blake asked, an idea slowly creeping into his head.
“Yeah, I think so,” Vic nodded. “There are more valuables here than there are back at my place, and I’ve got a camp bed in the back I can lie down on if needed. Enough food to last a lifetime. It makes the most sense. I’d rather be here to protect this place than at my crummy apartment even further downtown.”
“Want some company?”
The suggestion hung in the air for a few seconds, Blake waiting anxiously for a response. He wasn’t scared of being back in his apartment. He knew he could take care of himself if needed, he just figured he could take better care of himself with all of Vic’s supplies in tow. He didn’t know how long the backlash of this eruption would go on, but it wouldn’t be bad to have someone else around to wait it out with. Vic was a good enough man and they’d known each other for plenty of time. Blake didn’t feel weird making the request; he just hoped he hadn’t overestimated the relationship he had with the storeowner.
“Sure, why not,” Vic shrugged. “There’s enough room here. Guess you’ll stop me from going insane and talking to myself.”
Blake laughed, though inside he was extremely gracious. “Thanks, man,” he smiled. “I can help out with whatever needs doing as well. I won’t just be a freeloader.”
“Ah, don’t worry about that, my friend. Two heads are always better than one, and I’m sure the time will pass in no time.”
“Yeah, I hope you’re right,” Blake agreed. “Reckon you can show me some of the stuff in the back now then? That gear looked mighty impressive.”
“Absolutely,” Vic beamed, excited to have a chance to show off his stuff—both the items themselves and the knowledge he had of them. “Let’s do this.”
Walking into the back room of Vic’s store for the second time, Blake seemed to notice even more things lining the walls and piled in boxes and cabinets than before. It was staggering. Whether Vic had a personal interest in the stuff or not, he was unequivocally prepared for any major sort of disaster. Blake wondered what percentage of it was there because his customers had requested it and which items he’d just thought would be useful to have around.
“Where should we start then, my friend?” Vic asked, opening his arms wide and gesturing to everything around him. “What did you come in here to find?”
Blake paused for a second; what exactly had he hoped to find when he entered Vic’s store? “I’m not really sure,” he began. “To be honest, I don’t know what I was looking for. I was in a Walmart earlier and things were going crazy. Someone even fired a gun in order to get what he wanted. But I don’t know. How long do you think this thing will last? How would you prepare?”
Vic laughed to himself, a wholesome, comforting laugh that made Blake feel like he’d made the right decision. “Is this even something you can prepare for?” Vic questioned back, his face melting into a more serious expression. “I hear that within the week, life will be completely different. The cloud—they say—will block out the sun and leave us without light or heat. Our water will no longer be drinkable, our food ruined b
y contamination and our animals killed by it, too. I fear that nothing will be the same after this, my friend.”
Blake didn’t know what to say. He supposed he had brought on Vic’s response by the questions he had asked, but he still hadn’t expected that response. It was sobering. The reality of what was happening sank into his bones and Blake really thought about what was about to happen. Since the news reports he had been focused on his own immediate survival but he’d spared little thought for anything else. For the future.
Yellowstone erupting was truly going to change their lives. Blake thought about his parents and whether they would be able to survive. They lived in a retirement community in Florida now—would that be far enough away from Yellowstone to avoid the most dangerous effects? Sadly, probably not. Nowhere would be safe. He hoped they had at least seen a broadcast and been more sensible about it than he had. They wouldn’t be running out to the local store. They wouldn’t be running anywhere really. Blake tried to remember how prepared their little bungalow would be, but he couldn’t come up with an answer. It had been over a year since he’d last visited them, a fact he was deeply ashamed of.
“What about a radio?” Blake asked Vic, filling the silence between them that had amassed as they both took a minute to think about the bigger picture. “Do you have anything in here we could use to try and gather more information? There must be more broadcasts than just the one I saw, right?”
“Good idea,” Vic nodded, spinning around and immediately starting to move boxes aside. “I’ve got some old Army stuff around here somewhere. Like, really old. There might be a wind-up we can use. Or…” Vic paused for a second, letting his thoughts catch up with his mouth. “There’s the usual digital one I listen to in the shop. Will that still work?” He paused for a second longer, but not long enough for Blake to answer before he started talking again. “My cell cut out about an hour ago but you never know, I guess. Do you want to go and grab it from under the counter while I try and find the older version?”
