The Vanishing (The End of Time Chronicles Book 1)

by Heath Jannusch

  “You did?” Sam stepped closer to Ian and sniffed the air near his mouth, searching for the scent of booze. He was surprised that Ian seemed to be completely sober. “What happened to Luke? As Deputy Mayor, to be sure it was he who was left in charge during me absence.”

  “He’s here,” said Ian, “although he doesn’t hold much authority in the minds of the townsfolk.”

  “I think the road blocks and warning systems are a great idea,” offered Lex, as he and Cole climbed out of the dune buggy.

  “Thanks,” smiled Ian. “Who are you?”

  “How rude of me,” Apologized Sam. “Ian this is Lex. To be sure it was he who saved our lives out there. Lex, this here is Ian.” The two men nodded at one another. “Say lad, how long has it been since you’ve had a drink?”

  “Oh it’s been awhile, I guess,” smiled Ian. “I’m too busy for that.”

  “Aye lad, ya don’t know how good it does me heart to hear ya say those words. It’s right proud of ya that I am. So if Luke’s no longer in charge, who’s been given the orders round here?”

  “Well I don’t know if everyone would agree with me, but most folks look to Shiloh Evans for guidance. I’m not sure that even he would agree, but they seem to trust him and listen to what he has to say.”

  “My how things have changed round here in just a wee bit of time,” said Sam, shaking his head. He turned around, to address the men in his scouting party. “Alright lads you’ve been gone from home for quite some time. Go get some rest and tend to your loved ones. Take me to Shiloh, will ya boy-oh,” Sam asked Ian.

  “Of course,” replied Ian, turning and leading the way.

  Sam, Lex, Kassie and Cole all followed behind, as the rest of the men spread out heading toward their homes. When they entered the library, they found Shiloh sitting alone reading a book on solar and wind power. As the men entered, Shiloh glanced up and a smile flashed across his face.

  “Sam, Cole, welcome back,” he said, as he put down the book and stood up. “It’s good to see you both.”

  “And you dude,” agreed Cole, shaking Shiloh’s hand and half hugging him at the same time.

  “How have ya been lad?” asked Sam.

  “As good as can be expected under the circumstances,” replied Shiloh. “It’s good to have you back.”

  “Ah to be sure, we’ve missed everyone here. Oh, this here fella is Lex. He saved our lives out there and he’ll be staying with us for a wee bit.”

  “Nice to meet you,” said Shiloh, shaking Lex’s hand.

  “It’s my pleasure,” smiled Lex.

  “Any friend of Sam and Cole is welcome to stay with us as long as they like.”

  “Thanks,” replied Lex, “but I won’t stay too long. I’m headed for California.”

  “Well then, we’ll be sorry to see you leave,” smiled Shiloh.

  “Why hello gentlemen, I don’t believe that I’ve had the pleasure,” greeted Savannah, entering the room in a cooking apron. Her hair was wrapped up in a bun and her hands and cheeks were covered in flour. “I’m Savannah Mason,” she said, introducing herself while wiping her hands on her apron. “If this is a homecoming, then I suggest we celebrate with a party!”

  “That sounds like a fine idea Miss Mason,” agreed Sam.

  “Oh please, call me Savannah. How does tomorrow night sound for everyone?” she asked.

  “Sounds great to me,” smiled Cole. “We could all use a good time.”

  “Well then, tomorrow night it is,” said Savannah. “Oh my goodness, I’ve so many things to do.”

  “Ya want some help?” offered Cole.

  “Why, thank you young man, that’s very sweet of you. I most certainly could use some help. What’s your name?”

  “My name’s Cole, ma’am.”

  “Wonderful! Come with me Cole.” Savannah took the young man by the arm and led him toward the kitchen. Before they were even out of earshot, she began listing all of the things that must be done.

  Shiloh, Lex and Sam spent the next two hours smoking cigars and talking. Shiloh filled them in on what the town had been up to during the scouting party’s absence. Then, Sam told the story of how Lex had saved them from the raiders. Lex shared with them his travels and all of the damage and destruction that he’d seen. There were many areas that weren’t destroyed, but they were still having problems with power and water.

  “What’s the government doing about all of this?” asked Shiloh.

  “I haven’t seen any sign of them since all of this happened,” answered Lex. “They couldn’t have planned for something like this. I would imagine it will take them a while to regroup.”

  “Some o’ the larger cities were able to depend on their locally elected officials,” added Sam. “Mind ya; these were the cities that still have functioning hospitals, fire stations and police departments to prevent chaos. Towns and cities that were crippled by the meteors and resulting blast waves are dealing with looters and raiding parties.”

  “It’s true,” agreed Lex. “Half of the country resembles the old wild west, while the other half has remained civilized. In the absence of law and order, evil men have taken over and have been preying on the weak.”

  “Aye lad, it’s a brave new world,” mumbled Sam, as he shook his head.

  “As I made my way here from Illinois,” continued Lex, “I had several encounters with a gang of thugs who call themselves the Enlightened Ones. They’ve been raiding smaller and less defended towns, all along the Mississippi River. They wear red sashes around their arms and have been recruited every criminal in the area. They seem to thrive on the pain and suffering of others. We need to warn the people of your town not to get near these men. In fact, they might not want to venture too far away from town, just to be safe.”

  “Thanks for the warning,” said Shiloh, thinking hard on the information that he’d just been given. “Have you seen your wife and daughter yet Sam?”

  “Not yet lad, I thought it wise to have a sit down first and fill ya in. But now that I’ve done that,” he said, standing up and stretching, “I suppose I’d best be getting home. Goodnight gent’s, I’ll be seeing ya tomorrow at the festivities.”

  “Goodnight,” replied Lex.

  “Goodnight Sam, get some rest,” said Shiloh, as the large Irishman sauntered toward the door. When Sam had left the library, Shiloh turned to Lex and asked, “Have ya got a place to stay yet?”

  “Nope, not yet,” replied Lex. “I’ve been sleeping in a sleeping bag on the side of the road.”

  “Well there’s no need for that here, how does sleeping in a real bed sound? I’ve got plenty of room at my ranch,” offered Shiloh.

  “Sounds great!”

  “Good, then it’s settled. Consider my home yours and stay as long as ya like.”

  “That’s kind of you,” smiled Lex, as he scratched Kassie behind her ear.

  “Of course she’s welcome as well,” laughed Shiloh, as he stood up and pat the dog on the head a couple of times. “Come on, let’s go get ya settled. My ranch is a few miles north of town.”

  The following day was sunny and beautiful, with clear skies and a scattering of small, white, puffy clouds. During the day, Savannah, Rupert, Cole and a few others, were able to organize a homecoming party at the town fairgrounds. Most of the women in town had banded together to cook and bake enough food to feed a small army. They used the food that was delivered in the crates, after being distributed by Luke Slater and Sheriff Garrett, who assured everyone that it was not poisoned.

  The men put together the town’s dance floor and an area for the band to play. Then they strung up colorful lights all around the fairgrounds, which they hooked up to the brand new wind turbines, built by Christopher Sampson. The delicious aroma of food could be detected a mile away, attracting the townsfolk to the fairgrounds, before it was even time for the celebration to begin.

  The party officially started shortly before dusk, as the music began to play, but by then the whole town was already
there. Everyone needed this party to forget their troubles and be happy, if only for the moment. The citizens of Clearview were filled with hope and joy, by the safe return of their Mayor and the scouting party. Everyone was eating, drinking, and dancing the night away.

  Shiloh, Lex, Alfonso and Kassie all drove into town together from the Evan’s ranch. Shiloh parked the truck and Alfonso immediately excused himself. He disappeared into the crowd, headed in the direction of the temporary bar, setup and serviced by Chelsea. Without saying a word, Shiloh and Lex, followed by Kassie, turned and walked in the same direction. The bar offered several different types of beer to choose from and for the first time in a long time, the beer was cold.

  From the bar, Shiloh could see Ian scanning the area around the fairgrounds, keeping the crowd safe while they enjoyed the festivities. He was proud of Ian. The responsibility was turning him back into the friend he remembered. After everything he’d been through, it must be hard to give up drinking, especially with everyone else around him having a great time. Alfonso walked up to Shiloh and Lex, with a beer for each of them. Kassie sat down next to Lex and looked around at all of the interesting things going on around her.

  “We need to remember to thank Christopher,” said Shiloh, as he took his first refreshingly cold drink of beer in weeks. The three men stood there talking and laughing for a while, enjoying the cold beer and the fresh night air.

  All of a sudden, Lex noticed an attractive woman making her way through the crowd toward them. She was staring at Shiloh, but he didn’t seem to notice her. “Nice,” whispered Lex, letting out a soft whistle, which only Shiloh and Alfonso could hear. “Look at this beauty!”

  Shiloh and Alfonso turned to look, almost out of instinct. “Oh no,” mumbled Shiloh, “here comes trouble.”

  “What do you mean by that?” asked Lex, with a chuckle.

  “She likes him,” laughed Alfonso, nodding toward Shiloh. “But he doesn’t feel the same about her.”

  “Are you serious?” asked Lex. “What’s not to like?”

  “He still loves his wife,” answered Alfonso, the smile falling off of his face.

  “Oh, I see,” nodded Lex, quick to read the situation. “Well friend, if that’s what ya call trouble, then feel free to call on me whenever you find yourself neck deep in it!”

  “Yeah I’ll do that,” laughed Shiloh.

  “Why hello,” said Jessie, walking up with her hand outstretched, “you must be the Mr. Lex Mancini that everyone is talking about and you must be Kassie.” Jessie bent down and rubbed Kassie behind the ears, before returning her attention to Lex. “The word on the street is that you’re both heroes,” smiled Jessie, with the subtle look of flirtation in her eyes.

  “Why yes ma’am,” grinned Lex. “However, I’m far from a hero. I think someone has been telling you tall tales,” he winked. “But Kassie is definitely a hero! She saved my neck more than once.” Kassie looked up and wagged her tail, almost as if she knew what they were saying about her.

  “Oh, I’m sure you’re just being modest. My name is Jessica Hunt, but my friends call me Jessie. Welcome to our small town.”

  “Why thank you ma’am, it’s nice to be here and a true pleasure to meet you. Now,” Lex glanced at Shiloh, with a mischievous grin, “if you’ll excuse me for just a moment, Kassie could use something cool to drink and warm to eat. Would you mind giving me a hand Alfonso?”

  “Si Señor Lex,” nodded Alfonso. The two men walked off together with Kassie trotting along between them, leaving Shiloh alone with Jessie.

  “Nice party,” said Jessie, trying to break the awkward silence left by Lex’s departure. “I haven’t seen you in a while Shiloh. How have you been?”

  “Oh, I’ve just been keeping busy, working on my ranch, taking it one day at a time,” answered Shiloh.

  “I see,” smiled Jessie. “I’d love to see your ranch sometime.”

  “Well, maybe you will,” Shiloh cleared his throat, “sometime.”

  “I love parties,” continued Jessie, “it seems like years since I’ve been to one. Hey do you wanna dance?”

  “Well,” Shiloh hesitated, “I’m not really much of a dancer.” Jessie’s eyes dropped to the ground. “But you know who loves to dance?” he quickly added, trying to soften the blow.

  “Who?” Asked Jessie, mildly curious.

  “Ian,” smiled Shiloh.

  “Oh,” she mumbled, slightly disappointed that he didn’t suggest Lex. “Well, he’s good looking, but he kind of scares me to be honest.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” she hesitated, while thinking about it. “Maybe it’s because he always carries a gun and of course there’s that deep scar across the right side of his face.”

  “You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” suggested Shiloh. “He got a medal for the things he did when he got that scar. He’s a good man Jessie. I’m carrying a gun too.” He pulled back his coat, showing her the gun tucked behind his belt. “He’s been protecting the town for the past few weeks and before that, he served his country for twelve years. Would a dangerous man do that for other people? He’s been my best friend for as long as I can remember and there’s no other person that I would want around to protect all of us.”

  “I don’t know,” said Jessie, “he’s always checking up on me.”

  “That’s because he cares so much about you,” explained Shiloh. “All of the women in town should be so lucky as to have a man like Ian looking out for them.”

  “But, he drinks a lot,” pointed out Jessie.

  “I’ll agree that he used to, but has he been drinking lately? He looks sober to me and I think that started shortly after he met you. I think he just needed a reason to kick the habit, a purpose to come into his life.”

  “Well, I’ll think about it. How are you doing?”

  “I’ve been okay,” he grinned, “things are so different now. I lost my wife and children not too long ago and I haven’t healed from the wounds. As if that wasn’t enough to deal with and now this. I’m just doing the best I can, like everyone I guess.”

  “Is there anything I can do?” asked Jessie.

  “I don’t know,” Shiloh shook his head. “I think we all just need time to adjust. We need more of this,” he said, indicating the party, “more laughter and celebration. It will all get back to normal eventually.”

  “I guess… I hope so,” she said, with a glimmer of hope behind the words.

  “Stop worrying about everything! Go have some fun! Why don’t you ask Ian to dance and I can offer to patrol for a little while? You’ve both earned a little fun.”

  “Okay,” said Jessie, with a little more cheer in her voice. “But if he turns me down, you’re dancing with me.”

  “He won’t say no,” said Shiloh, noticing the doubt on Jessie’s face. “Tell ya what, if I’m wrong, I’ll dance with you as long as your heart desires, deal?”

  “You promise?” she asked, with a little more cheer.

  “Yes of course,” he smiled. “Now go and ask him to dance. Someday you may thank me for this.”

  “Alright,” she managed a smile, “I’ll give it a try. Wish me luck!” And with that she weaved across the dance floor, keeping the rhythm as she moved.

  Shiloh watched Jessie as she walked up to Ian, who immediately smiled when he realized she was headed for him. He watched as the two of them stood talking and laughing for a moment, before proceeding out onto the dance floor. As they began dancing, Jessie caught Shiloh’s eye and flashed a smile with a thumbs up. Shiloh chuckled as he smiled and gave her a thumps up in return.

  “So how did it go?” Asked Lex, as he and Alfonso walked up with fresh beers in their hands. Kassie followed close behind, wagging her tail.

  “Better than I thought it would,” admitted Shiloh. He glanced at Lex and noticed that he was staring at something. Realizing he was supposed to be on guard, Shiloh quickly followed his gaze, hoping it was nothing. He was concerned when he saw a set of hea
dlights coming down the road into town. He watched, as the vehicle drew closer and then came to a stop under a street lamp. It was a large, black Hummer with dark tinted windows. “What now?” he mumbled.

  “Should I get Señor Ian?” asked Alfonso.

  “Not yet,” answered Shiloh, “let him have some fun tonight. He deserves a break. I’ll go check it out. He’ll know if I need him.”

  “Ya mind if I tag along?” asked Lex.

  “Please do.”

  The two men set down their beers and began walking toward the mysterious vehicle, with Kassie walking next to Lex the whole way. Alfonso stood there for a moment, drank the remainder of his beer and then set off following Shiloh, Lex and Kassie.

  Love at First Sight

  The Vanishing – Day 12

  Clearview, Nevada

  They were only ten feet away from the Hummer, when the driver and passenger doors swung open. Shiloh and Lex stopped where they were and put their hands on their guns. Kassie also stopped and sat down next to Lex, with her ears perked up and her body tense with anticipation.

  A tall, dark skinned stranger stepped out of the passenger side and began stretching as a yawn escaped his mouth. At the same time, an exotic young woman with dark hair and creamy brown skin exited the vehicle from the driver’s side. She tossed her long curly hair over her shoulder and closed the door behind her. Lex and Shiloh relaxed a little, taking their hands off of their guns.

  As Cleo turned around and Lex saw her, he almost tripped over his own feet, and that’s hard to do when you’re standing still. He’d never before seen such a vision of beauty. The woman was truly gorgeous, but it was more than that. He could read people really well, it was his job, and this woman was not your average woman. Lex knew that she’d be the best kind of trouble, before she’d even opened her mouth.

  “Hello,” greeted Shiloh, as he stepped around a speechless Lex and offered his hand. “My name’s Shiloh Evans and this is Lex Mancini and his dog Kassie.”

  “Hi,” smiled Mason, accepting Shiloh’s hand, “I’m Mason and this is Cleo.”