“What did this?”
“We’re not sure yet but it wasn’t a nuclear attack or biological one. All the readings have been normal except for UV radiation. It has been almost nonexistent until the last two days and now it is rising rapidly. We don’t have a clue as to why,” he told her.
“Can I take a hot shower there?”
“Indeed you can.”
“Then lead the way. Oh, and one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“What about the men I shot? Am I in trouble for that?”
“Only for not shooting the other bastard,” he said and smiled.
“I could go back,” she said laughing.
“Let’s just leave it like it is. I’ll send a few of my men to check out the others and see if anyone is still around. Eventually we will round them all up and take the proper measures. For now, getting the nation back on its feet is more than enough to keep us busy. Now, if you will follow me, I’ll take you to NORAD.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Somerset, Kentucky
“Hey, hey, hey. Someone is coming,” the man yelled, running toward the main building.
“What the hell are you talking about?” KC Reynolds asked.
“I hear a car coming. It is just down the road. I was just out walking and I heard a car. It’s headed this way.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah. A car. It’s coming I tell you.”
“All right. Get everyone over to the mess hall pronto. I’ll go tell Mike,” KC said, taking off in a run to the company supervisor's office.
He burst through the door and found Mike going over the inventory of medical supplies.
“What the hell?” he said, jumping up like he had been shot.
“A car. Charlie said he heard a car coming and it’s headed our way,” KC said excitedly.
“Charlie? Hell he thought he heard an airplane a week ago. I wouldn’t put much stock in Charlie’s hearing,” Mike said, sitting back down and returning to his list.
The light was fading and the room smelled musty and damp. Usually Mike kept the place spotless but now everything had fallen into disarray. KC could see that Mike was giving up a little more each day. He had lived for his family and now, with the realization that they were all gone, he was giving up. The thought that he would never see them again was too much and now he just no longer cared about going on.
“Come on Mike. If he is right it means others have survived as well.”
“Not around here.”
“Still. It’s important. Come on.”
“I’ll be along.”
“Damn it Mike. You’ve got to focus on now. Whatever happened is over. We can’t do a damn thing about it. We all lost family and all feel confused but we have to think about the future too. I miss my wife too, I would give anything to have her back but that ain’t gonna happen. Now we have to make decisions about what is going to happen in the upcoming days. If someone is coming, it could change everything.”
“I ain’t stopping you. Go. You can be in charge from now on. I don’t care. Being the boss of a non-operating mine and no one to need coal ain’t much of a job. You want to make the decisions, be my guest.”
“Ah shit Mike. No one is saying that. I just think you need to quit dwelling on the past so much,” KC said.
“Yeah, well that might be what you’re able to do but not me. I don’t want to quit thinking about my family.”
“Mike, I’m not saying you shouldn’t think about them but we need to take care of those of us that are left,” KC said, becoming more exasperated.
“Go. Leave me out of this,” was all Mike said.
KC stood there looking at Mike as the last rays of sun glimmered off his face. He seemed to have aged ten years in the past few days. His clothes were dirty, hair uncombed and he had lost a good seven to ten pounds, KC figured.
“Okay Mike. I’ll go talk to them but I really think it would be good for you to get out of here.”
“Just leave me alone. That’s the best thing you can do for me.”
“Have it your way but if you decide to join the living, you will still be the boss,” KC said.
KC was worried. Mike had been such a robust guy. Always knew what was going on and what steps to take. Now he had given up on life. If he couldn’t find a way to get him back on track it would just be a matter of time before Mike fell into such a state of depression that it would eventually kill him.
KC started toward the mess hall when he heard the car. It had to be near the main gate from the sound. He decided to just wait and see what happened. He didn’t have to wait long. A dusty Jeep came down the main road. It stopped a few yards from him but no one climbed out.
“Hey,” KC yelled.
“You gonna’ shoot at us?” a voice came back.
“Shoot at you? Why would I do that?”
“It’s happened before,” came the reply.
“Not going to happen here,” KC said, starting toward the Jeep.
The driver got out but the others stayed in the Jeep. KC did something totally out of character for him when they finally closed the distance. Instead of extending his hand he grabbed the man and hugged him, holding on for a few seconds.
“Christ, you are real,” KC finally said, letting go and stepping back.
He was slightly embarrassed by his own behavior.
“In the flesh. I’m Randy. Billy and Eric are with me in the Jeep. Sorry to be so hesitant but we have been shot at a couple of times. People are spooky.”
“People? How many people?”
“We have been traveling for nine days and have run into a total of two hundred and eighty-two so far. How many are with you?”
“Twenty-six now. We had a couple more but they left.”
“All men?”
“Nine women, the rest men.”
“No kidding. That’s good to hear. Not many women left it seems. Only a few have been working in mines as far as we can tell.”
“I can believe that. A lot of places still won’t use them in the mines. Only a few are starting to use them now. Oh, sorry, I’m KC. That’s what people call me.”
“KC, it’s a pleasure to meet you. How are your people holding up?”
“Fair. We are starting to get low on some things but we have plenty of water and no one is injured. We are hanging in there.”
Randy looked around and then said, “You are on par with most of the others. Most seem to be getting by for now but what happens in six months? A year?”
“Hell, I don’t know. I’m mostly worrying about today. I mean long range plans are okay but who knows if tomorrow will even come?”
“I understand your feelings. Honestly I do. Everyone is in the same boat but eventually we are all going to have to face the fact that whatever happens long term will only happen by those of us left. We have to start at least considering the future.”
“Where did you guys come from?” KC suddenly asked.
“I was in Indiana when it happened and Billy and Eric were in a coal mine called Waynesburg Mining Company.”
“Never heard of it,” KC replied.
“No particular reason you should have. It’s in Pennsylvania.”
“No shit? You guys came from Pennsylvania and have only found a two hundred or so survivors?” KC said amazed.
“I’m afraid so. All were either in mines or protected by deep cover. It appears everyone above ground was killed.”
“Yeah, the green stuff left behind. We figured that was people at one time. It’s mostly gone now. Soaked into the ground or evaporated or whatever the hell that stuff does.”
“We’ve noticed it too. It seems like since the sun is starting to try to burn off these clouds it has diminished a great deal,” Randy agreed.
“What are you doing here? I mean what do you hope to accomplish?”
“Look, I know you have a thousand questions. I would imagine everyone does. Why don’t you take us to where they are and let us
introduce ourselves and tell them what we have learned.”
KC thought for a minute. What would Mike say in a situation like this? What if they were a scouting party for someone looking to take advantage of their isolation? What if they were the ones that caused all of this and now they were just eliminating any survivors?
“What?” Randy said finally, breaking the silence.
“Just figuring my options. I mean, how do I know you’re not some enemy that has come to probe our resources?”
“Your point is well taken. I can’t prove it. If you want us to turn around and leave, so be it. You wouldn’t be the first. All we are doing is trying to get enough people together to help get the country back on its feet. Everyone that believes the same way we do is one more opportunity to have a say in the future,” Randy replied.
KC thought for another moment then said, “Okay. Come on. They are all over at the mess hall. It’s just up the road a few hundred yards.”
Randy turned and waved to Eric and Billy to follow him as he walked along with KC.
“I’ll bet you have had your share of adventures,” KC said as they walked to the largest building in the compound.
“You could say that. Some welcome us with open arms and others have tried to shoot us or at least shot at us. Some place along the line we almost ran into a roving band of marauders that had been attacking other mines and taking their food and water. We managed to avoid them but it did make us wonder what else we might run into,” Randy told him.
“I guess it’s kind of crazy.”
“It’s all over the board. Most people want to know what happened and what’s the government doing about it.”
“I guess I would like to know that as well,” KC said as he opened the door to the mess hall.
Eric parked the Jeep facing out in case they had to make a quick exit then joined Billy and Randy inside. Twenty-four faces stared at them. KC glanced around and noticed that Mike had not joined them.
“I know you all have questions,” Randy began, “But let me tell you right up front, we have few answers as to how or what happened. I was in Indiana when it happened and Eric here,” he said indicating who he was talking about, “and Billy were in the mines in Pennsylvania. So far from what we can tell, the common denominator for survival was a combination of luck and sufficient coverage overhead to protect us from whatever caused this event. We are not scientists so we know no more than you do. We climbed out of our protective covering to find the world had changed.”
“Why are you here?” one man shouted.
“Please. Let us tell you what we know and as the gentleman asked, why we are here. It will go much faster if we just tell you rather than trying to answer questions randomly.”
Slowly everyone quieted down enough for Randy to continue. He could see the mixed emotions as he looked out over the room. Most of the women sat apart from the men; only a few were sitting by men.
“When I got out of the cavern back in Indiana, it was apparent that something had changed the world as I knew it. After getting over the initial shock, I realized that if I was going to survive over the long haul I needed to take some sort of action. I spent a few days gathering provisions and making a place to live in some semblance of comfort. After a few days of that I realized the only way I was going to find out if others survived was to leave and look for them. I decided that I had survived because I happened to be underground. I believe that is what saved me. Anyway, I decided the best place to look would be in the coal mine areas of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. As I made my way across Indiana and Ohio I realized how devastating the destruction was. I didn’t see another living soul. I stumbled on to the Waynesburg Mine and found others alive. It helped confirm my belief that it was the ground that saved me. Fortunately the Waynesburg Mine is a big operation that has a first class medical facility and is near enough to a larger city to gather an abundant amount of food.”
“That still don’t explain why you’re here,” the same man said.
“I’m getting there. At some point we decided that if we survived, others may have too. We sent out three teams to locate others and to try to convince them to join us at the Waynesburg Mine. Once we get enough people in one place we can start to try to rebuild a city that will offer us greater protection and a better chance for survival over the long haul,” Randy said.
It was totally quiet in the room. No one spoke up for several seconds.
Finally KC said, “And you want us to leave here and go to this other mine?”
“It makes the most sense. They are not far from Pittsburg which has unlimited stores of food and medical supplies. With enough people, we can even get started on rebuilding,” Randy said.
“Leave our homes?” one of the women asked.
“Without trying to be rude, what homes? What is here that is so valuable? What are you all going to do when winter comes? Do you want to stay huddled like this for the rest of your lives?”
“I ain’t leaving and you can’t make me.”
“We aren’t here to make anyone do anything. We are just locating people and letting them know that there is a place for those that want to start building a new society. It gives survivors another option. A place that they can come to and be a part of it. The more people that are together the better the chances of our survival. It’s that simple.”
“We can’t all get there. We only have one truck that runs and it just barely makes it up the hill.”
“That’s one of the reasons Billy and Eric are here. They have been keeping the old Jeep running and have helped other places we have stopped to get their cars working.”
“How many others have you found?”
“Around three hundred and ninety all total. Not many, but it’s a start. We can get a lot of work done that will make all of our lives better.”
A babble went through the group. Then someone asked, “What about the government?”
“I don’t know. So far we have seen no signs of any government. I would stay that it isn’t too much of a stretch to think they suffered the same fate as the others.”
“But you don’t know for sure.”
“No, we don’t.”
“Then we might be better off staying where we are.”
“Maybe. That’s a decision only you can make,” Randy replied.
“Then I think you should just leave us alone,” the man said angrily.
“Easy Tom. They are just trying to help. No need to get all worked up over it. That will accomplish nothing,” KC said.
“Damn right I’m angry. My life has been turned upside down and these guys come waltzing in here without knowing one damn thing for sure. They expect me to just get up and follow them? I don’t think so.”
“No Tom, they are not telling you that you have to follow them. They are simply giving us options. Ones that we haven’t had until now. No one is going to make any of us do anything we don’t want to do,” KC explained, measuring each word carefully.
Tom just sat back and folded his arms across his chest. An awkward silence followed.
Finally Randy picked back up, “Anyway, that’s what we have been up to and that’s why we are here. We will stay a day or so to talk to anyone that wants to ask us questions and to help with getting cars to run. Unfortunately we can only work on older models, ones made before all the electronic gizmos were added,” Randy said.
“Anything else?’ KC asked.
“That’s about it. We will be around for rest of today and then we will head to the next mine and start all over.”
Randy turned back to the people seated and said, “Thank you for listening. If you want to ask us anything, we will do our best to tell you what we know. Just grab any one of us and we will try to answer questions.”
“Where did you plan on staying?” KC asked.
“We have tents.”
“No need for that. We have a bunch of spare beds you can rack out in. No use sleeping in a tent.”
“That would
be greatly appreciated,” Eric said.
“Any chance of a shower?” Billy asked.
“Just a cold one. We don’t have hot water.”
“That’s still got to be better than the one I had in the stream last time.”
Like in the past, a single person or small groups would approach one of the men and ask some questions. Mostly they were concerned with how they would find the place and how would they be accepted. The acceptance was the biggest issue by far.
All three of them did their best to assure each person that they would be treated equally. It didn’t matter where they were from. As long as they were willing to contribute to the overall goals, they would be accepted without reservation.
Some wanted to know what kind of work they would have to do and that was harder to answer. It would simply boil down to what they were good at or had an interest in. So much needed to be accomplished, they were told, that no one would be without meaningful work. Early the next morning Eric and Billy started seeing which cars they could get running. Every once in a while, someone would approach Randy and ask how they would get food if they moved. As with every place they had visited, the fear was always the same. How would they be provided for and more importantly, would they be provided for? It seemed that even though he had told countless people by this time, each person or group needed to hear it for themselves.
“Dinner is on, why don’t you guys join us?” KC said as Billy was closing the hood on another car.
“We have plenty of food; you should hang on to everything you can. Some will definitely not join us and soon food will become critical,” Randy replied.
“Three more isn’t going to matter much,” KC replied.
“It may at some point. Thanks for the offer but really, we will be just fine. We will join you in the mess hall after you have eaten. We can field any last questions. Right now it looks like we will be leaving first thing tomorrow,” Randy told him.
“You don’t have to rush off. It’s been kind of nice to have new blood around here,” KC said, “Look, if you change your mind about eating, come on over to the hall.”
THE END - Book I - Of THE EVENT SERIES Page 24
