The Jared Chronicles | Book 2 | Tears of Chaos

by Tippins, Rick

  Tears of Chaos

  The Jared Chronicles - Book Two

  Rick Tippins

  Copyright ©2020 Rick Tippins

  Published by: Doomsday Press, a division of Beyond The Fray, LLC

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  All rights reserved.

  Printed in the United States of America

  ISBN 13: 978-1-953462-08-4

  Doomsday Press, a division of Beyond The Fray, LLC, San Diego, CA

  www.doomsdaybooks.com

  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

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  About the Author

  To Dennis -

  A fine example of a man

  Chapter 1

  Jared stood in front of the small group who were eating breakfast, his chest heaving with emotion. All four heads turned and stared, but no one reacted. John was the first to speak.

  “We need to give the man a proper burial before we do anything,” John somberly suggested.

  Jared stood staring at the former Special Missions operator, his breathing beginning to slow as he realized John was right. There was no way, after all Bart had done for Jared, he could simply leave his body to rot on some mattress inside the house.

  Shannon motioned to a full bowl of what appeared to be oatmeal. “Come, sit and eat something.”

  Seven-year-old Essie gawked wide eyed at Jared as he relaxed his shoulders, allowing them to sag slightly as he stepped forward before sitting with the rest of the group. No one spoke as Jared took his spoon and began shoveling the warm oatmeal into his mouth. He ate with a different purpose than he had before the event that stripped the world of mostly everything run off electricity. He no longer chose a meal out of desire, cravings, curiosity or convenience. A meal was reduced to nothing more than refueling his chassis, like gassing up his car had been before the event. The faster he finished eating, the more time he would have to complete daily tasks needed for survival.

  Jared had worked for one of the largest tech companies in Silicon Valley before a massive solar flare tore through the western hemisphere, destroying America’s electronic infrastructure. Jared was your typical hoodie-wearing twenty-eight-year-old computer engineer before the solar flare, but was unable to remain cast in that mold after the solar flare. In order to survive, he began to evolve into more of a survivor and less of a dependent with the help of Bart an older man, who now lay dead in the next room.

  A short time after the world began its slide back towards 1800s living, Bart took Jared in, making sure the young computer engineer had the basic yet essential skills necessary to survive in the new world with all its hardships. Bart was much older than Jared; even so, the two formed an odd but special relationship. Now Bart was gone, and Jared knew he would have to manage on his own from this day forward.

  Essie sat across from Jared, studying the man who rescued her after tragedy struck her family. Jared showed up at her house after her father was shot to death in the family’s living room and her mother had been dragged from their home to the house next door. One day earlier Jared had been in the neighborhood and noticed Essie’s family was living next to a house that had been taken over by a gang of criminals. After foraging for food the following day, he stopped by to leave food on the family’s back porch.

  When he found the door kicked in, Jared investigated and found Essie hiding in a cabinet, with her father lying dead not even ten feet away. Something came over the young computer engineer in that house. What he did next was something he would never have thought he was capable of doing.

  After that, Essie came with him, and he did his best to provide for the little orphan. Between Bart and him, they hadn’t done too bad, in Jared’s opinion. The girl was fed, clothed and even bathed whenever it was possible considering their lifestyle of constant tension and fear. Jared made sure Essie brushed her teeth and hair before and after bed each and every day.

  Sitting next to Essie was Shannon, a woman who was a schoolteacher before the lights went out. She was a country girl at heart and preferred to live in the hills outside the San Jose area. Before the event, she would spend her winters commuting long hours to teach before transitioning into a much more relaxed summer routine. During her summer break, Shannon rarely left her home in the hills and spent most of her time reading on her front porch.

  When the world began to come apart at the seams, she met Calvin, a neighbor in his seventies, who talked her out of going to town due to the dangers the lawless city posed. The two banded together, since they were alone at the time, and shortly thereafter, the two caught Bart and Jared coming up the road. After a short and nearly disastrous exchange, the four shook hands and formed a tribe, which included Essie.

  Essie immediately took a liking to Shannon, who began caring for the little girl in ways Jared lacked. Shannon was not only a teacher; she had a nurturing side to her as well. This tender, loving side was exactly what Essie needed after what she had been through.

  Then there was John, who was a Marine before making a move to the Army’s most elite unit known by many as Delta Force or Detachment Delta. John had been in the States when the solar flare hit, and had a front-row seat to the aftermath that ensued. Governments lashed out at each other with electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons all around the world. The war was short and devastating as it drove technology backwards two hundred years in less than forty-eight hours.

  When the dust began to settle, what remained of the government leadership crawled out of their holes, grasping at what little power was left. John’s unit was tasked with retrieving national assets, specifically people who were vital to rebuilding the country’s decimated infrastructure. After a botched mission in a San Jose suburb, John’s helicopter crashed near where Jared and his friends had holed up in the hills near Mount Hamilton.

  After experiencing how the so-called government was only interested in securing its own future while doing nothing for citizens who were dying by the tens of thousands, John decided to join forces with Jared and the rest of his group.

  Finally, there was Calvin, who at the time was at the little group’s observation post (OP), watching all th
e avenues of ingress into the property. The group took turns manning the OP in order to avoid any unwanted visitors walking up to the house and surprising them. Jared and his friends had food and a working vehicle, which made their circumstances even more vulnerable since both items were extremely challenging to obtain. Calvin lived alone on a small ranch with a couple of horses and a dozen head of cattle. He was comfortable with a shotgun, but hadn’t spent his life using firearms as anything other than a way to rid his property of rattlesnakes and coyotes.

  Calvin proved his worth the first day Jared met him when an old VW Beetle loaded with gang members ransacked Calvin’s ranch house. He and Bart made their way to Calvin’s home and shot every last one of the gang members, with a little help from Jared. Calvin never spoke about the incident after it happened, so Jared never knew how the violent encounter impacted the man. One thing Jared did know on a very personal level was every time he unwillingly participated in a violent conflict, the following barbarous event seemed a little easier.

  Everyone eating breakfast was mostly silent and remained that way as Jared joined them. Everyone knew how close Jared and the old man had been, and were affected by Bart’s death in their own way. No one knew quite what to say to Jared; therefore they all ate in mute silence. After finishing his oatmeal, Jared got to his feet.

  “Thanks for the oatmeal,” he obliged, looking at Shannon before turning to John. “You mind helping me get him out of the house?”

  “I’ll do more than that. I’ll help you dig a proper grave,” John returned, his face painted in empathy for Jared’s loss.

  Jared shook his head. “No, I need to do that myself. I owe him that much and a lot more.”

  John dipped his chin in acknowledgment and went back to eating. Jared stood for a moment longer, then grabbed his rifle and stepped out onto the front porch. The cool morning air washed over his still-warm face, doing more for him than a cup of coffee ever could. Jared took a deep breath and headed to the back of the house, where he found a wheelbarrow, a pick and an old shovel inside a shed. Next, Jared wheeled all the equipment to the front of the ranch house and left it. He moved off into the countryside, in search of a proper burial spot for a man he had only known for a couple of months, but whose death left a gigantic void in Jared’s life.

  Jared knew he wanted to leave the ranch house, but was also aware deep down that it was a safe haven with plenty of food for the winter. Wanting to leave was most likely a visceral and emotional reaction to the loss of his old friend. As he scoured the surrounding area for a burial site, he did this with the thought that, if they stayed, he did not want to see the grave from the house or OP. He did want to be able to visit his old friend’s grave without too much effort, so he hiked a couple of hundred yards out before seriously starting his site search.

  Three hundred yards from the ranch house and over a small rise, Jared found what he was looking for: a large oak tree in a flat grassy area, to serve as Bart’s final resting place. Jared kicked at the ground’s surface where he thought he would start digging, and found the ground nearly as hard as stone. Nothing was easy anymore, and he hadn’t expected this to be any different, but the presence of soft earth would have been a welcome find.

  When Jared returned to the ranch house, John was standing beside a wheelbarrow in which Bart’s frail body lay covered with a sheet, and the tools were laid on the ground next to the wheelbarrow. When Jared had left to scout a burial site, John went out front, saw the wheelbarrow, and decided to spare Jared the pain of dragging his friend through the house. John had easily lifted the dead man onto a shoulder, walked to the rear of the house so Essie didn’t have to witness the corpse, and gently positioned Bart in the wheelbarrow. He’d covered Bart and waited for Jared to return.

  Jared nodded by way of thanking John and grabbed both wheelbarrow handles, hefting the load up off the ground as he pushed forward towards the oak tree.

  “You mind bringing those tools?” Jared asked without looking back.

  John collected the pick and shovel and followed Jared away from the ranch house. The trip out to the burial site went aggravatingly slowly as Jared struggled over the uneven terrain using every ounce of strength he possessed not to lose control of the wheelbarrow and allow Bart’s body to be dropped onto the hard and rocky ground. It wasn’t easy, but John never once offered to help, knowing full well what Jared was experiencing.

  John had gone through similar undertakings when a mate fell on the battlefield. Through hardship, Jared was atoning for what Bart had done for him over the past couple of months, and John wasn’t about to interfere. John remained the silent tool sherpa, knowing Jared was not in any sort of mood for conversation.

  After thirty-five minutes, Jared stopped beneath the giant oak tree and turned to John. John held out both tools, and Jared took the shovel. John stepped back as Jared drove the shovel down onto the hard-packed soil with not much effect.

  “Want some help? Grave digging is not an easy task, man.”

  Jared dropped the shovel and shook his head as he grabbed the pick and began swinging at the stubborn earth. John watched for a few seconds before turning and heading back toward the ranch house. John would come back in an hour with some water for the kid; Jared was going to need it. John had dug holes all over the world and knew all too well how difficult it was to fashion a hole of any significant size by hand.

  One of John’s old squadron leaders always said, “There are losers and then there are college-educated ditchdiggers. Now those are a whole different level of loser.” John never forgot that and was reminded of the saying every time he found himself digging a hole in the ground. He also knew hard physical labor was great therapy, and Jared was getting a man-sized dose out under the oak tree.

  An hour before John was set to relieve Calvin on the OP, he walked to the oak tree with a gallon jug of water. Jared had a six-foot-by-two-foot rectangular hole dug down about eighteen inches deep. John could see Jared was on the verge of dehydration and offered the water. Jared stopped digging long enough to suck down a portion of the jug before he wordlessly got back to work.

  John studied the hole, estimating Jared would be done sometime in the late afternoon. He pursed his lips, watching Jared tear away at the hard ground. John thought it would be good for Jared to be completely exhausted when it came time to lower Bart’s body in, cover him up, and deliver a eulogy. The fatigue would help with the grief factor. John watched a little longer, then turned and trudged back towards the OP.

  Shannon prepared dinner for the group, having it cooked and ready to be served by late afternoon. She would eat and take her watch from 1700 hours till 2200 hours, at which time the men would pull the night shifts. They alternated so one man was off every other night in order to avoid getting burned out. It was 2130 hours before Jared dragged himself through the front door, dirty and haggard looking. Calvin flicked his chin toward an empty seat, where a bowl of stew sat on the table.

  Jared dropped into the seat and slowly began shoveling the stew into his mouth. Calvin, John and Essie sat in silence as Jared methodically consumed the meal. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast and only drank the gallon of water John provided him. Once he finished the grave, he’d placed Bart at the bottom and covered him with a sheet before filling in the hole. Once the grave was filled, Jared had found several large rocks and placed them on top of the grave in order to discourage any animals from digging up Bart’s corpse.

  There wasn’t much else Jared could do in the dark, so he had returned to the ranch house. When he was finished with the bowl of stew, he looked up at the other two men.

  “I’ll relieve Shannon.”

  John chuckled softly. “No, you won’t,” he said. “You’re going to bed and taking the night off.”

  Jared shook his head. “Naw, I’ll go out after I clean up.”

  “Not up for debate, friend,” John said, keeping his voice soft yet firm. “We don’t need you out there after the day you’ve had. We need someone who
is fresh. You fall asleep and we are jeopardized, and it would be Calvin’s and my fault for letting you go out in your condition.” John finished with a warm smile meant to let Jared know he wasn’t slacking by taking the night off.

  Chapter 2

  The following morning, Shannon went outside and relieved Calvin, who came back and ate with John and Jared. Essie got up a short time later and came to join the group of men, who ate without conversation. When the youngster took a seat at the table, Jared got up and prepared her a bowl of Cheerios with water. Once she dove into the cereal, Jared returned to his seat and finished his breakfast.

  “If you’d like, I can say a few words this morning—make it final and send the ole guy off right proper,” Calvin offered.

  Jared looked up and then, to John’s surprise, looked to him as if seeking approval.

  “I ain’t no preacher, but I did go to church every Sunday before all this. I know my way around the good book and promise not to do Bart a disservice,” Calvin added.

  John glanced at Jared and nodded his head, indicating he was good with Calvin leading the service as long as it was amenable to Jared.