It was during those first few months after Del had left when Emma started searching for a hobby to keep her mind occupied. That’s when she discovered about the super volcano in Yellowstone. From there on, knowing it was fifty thousand years overdue for an eruption, she became obsessed with how she would beat it.
She ended up going to college, night school, studying agriculture. Stew was thrilled. Then he found out her motive was to become an expert in hydroponics.
Which she was.
In a room of the hole, she had a huge hydroponics field set up.
In twelve years, Emma had put over thirty thousand dollars into her ‘hole’ and other survival extensions to the house. She learned all that she could of what would occur if the eruption took place, and in her mind, she was going to survive.
And so were her children, and now, especially, Cody. She was Emma’s primary focus.
She had taken Cody down in the hole to do an inventory of supplies, to see what needed to be rotated. After noticing she’d been down there for several hours, and not wanting to have the police force show up again to haul her out, Emma took the lift up top, her two-year-old granddaughter on her hip.
She sealed up the entrance, using Cody’s tiny fingers to turn the lock.
“Good girl. Now, we have to go inside. Gam’s gonna see if Uncle Richie will watch you so I can get my hair all cut off.”
Cody’s hair was wavy and brown, but when the sun hit it, little bits of blonde shone through. She looked a lot like her father, Roman. Despite the fact that her father lived in Hartworth, forty miles away, she actually saw him often.
“Think I’ll go short.” Emma grabbed Cody’s hand and walked with her. “Yeah, short hair will be much easier to keep in the apocalypse. Don’t you think?”
Cody nodded. Not that she knew exactly what she was agreeing to.
Once inside, it was quiet, and Emma spotted Richie on the couch playing a handheld game. She tapped him on the head to get his attention. When he turned around, Emma signed to him, “Can you watch Cody for a little bit?”
He signed in return, “Where’s Heather?”
“She isn’t back yet. I have to get my hair cut. I won’t be long.”
Richie nodded.
“I mean it.” Emma gave a stern expression then brought her fingers to her eyes. “Watch her. Do not get distracted.”
“Ok.” Richie nodded “Ok.”
Richie wasn’t born deaf. He passed the infant hearing test. And even when he wasn’t speaking by two, he passed a second hearing test. It wasn’t until he was almost four that they discovered that an undetected ear infection years earlier ruined what he could hear, not the ability to hear. He could hear some, mainly sounds and tones. But they weren’t distinguishable. It was once described to Emma by the audiologist that when she spoke to Richie she sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher. Hence why he was speaking like that.
Other than a hearing disability, Richie was a normal teenager. This was why Emma reiterated for him to keep an eye out on Cody. Watch her.
After kissing Cody and Richie, Emma walked to the door. She opened it to find Heather getting ready to enter. “Oh, good, you’re home. I was just leaving.”
“Where you headed?” Heather asked.
“Hair cut. You know, wanna go short again in case the volcano blows. Easier for me if that happens.”
Heather nodded. “Sensible decision.”
Emma smiled. “Thanks! I won’t be long.”
“Oh, Mom,” Heather called out as Emma readied to leave. “I accidently told Pap that you had Cody in the hole. So, stay away from the diner. He’s down there people watching.”
“Thanks for the heads up, I’ll avoid him.” And Emma would, or at least would try. She was having a pretty good day, and the last thing she wanted was to deal with an interrogation from her father who seemed to think every time she worked on her project, she had to be institutionalized.
Really that was only once, and Emma was smart enough to know she couldn’t let that happen again.
<><><><>
Roman smiled when he opened the message from Heather and saw the picture of his daughter, Cody. His phone was full of pictures, and it wasn’t as if he didn’t see Cody; he did, all the time, even though she was a good distance away. He would have preferred to live in the same town as Heather and Cody, but it wasn’t feasible. He grew up in Lincoln, and when the Hartworth town doctor passed away three years earlier, Roman moved there with his father. His father became the new town doctor. His father was all he had, his only family. Roman’s mother passed away when he was young. Any other relatives didn’t live in America.
At the time of the move, Heather was pregnant and Roman worked for his father at the clinic. He had to keep his job. It was a means of support for his daughter; plus, he and Heather had no plans on marrying or even breaking up. Their relationship was fine with the distance between them. She didn’t want to leave her mom. Roman understood that. Heather’s mother wasn’t always the sanest of human beings.
Emma and Roman’s father, Val, didn’t get along. Not at all. Emma never trusted his father, and Val believed Emma judged him on the fact that he was an immigrant to America. That she was prejudiced.
They went back and forth all the time. So keeping peace between Heather and Roman entailed keeping distance between Emma and Val.
Another picture came through, and as Roman chuckled at it, he heard a ‘thump’ in the basement of the clinic. The clinic was the first floor of a big old house, and Roman and his father lived above it.
Roman set his phone down on the counter. He was the only one in the clinic; there were a few emergency appointments in the morning, but he was mainly manning the phones.
He walked to the basement door and hollered down. “Dad, that you?”
“Yes. Yes, it is.” His father spoke with a Russian accent.
Roman descended the steps. He stopped near the bottom when he saw the boxes; the oddest were two old big, metal trunks. His father, not a young man, was half bent over, catching his breath. “What’s all this?”
“Oh.” Val waved out his hand. “The storage facility I have been using for twenty years has closed and I just viewed the notice two days ago. I should check my post office box more frequently.”
“Why not get another?”
“I will. I will. But for now, for a few weeks, these will be fine here.” Val dusted off his hands and walked to the stairs.
“What is it? I never saw this stuff.”
“Some things I brought from Russia, no concern. Just things.”
Roman paused in walking up the steps. “Anything cool in there that I can see?”
“Nothing. Just ... just junk.” Val looked over his shoulder at the items, reached up, and pulled the string on the light.
Chapter Three
Lincoln, Montana
November 28th
She was beautiful, and Andy watched her walk into the beauty shop on Main Street. How long had he carried a torch for Emma Burton, since the eighth grade, maybe?
Andy was pretty certain that no matter what she did, Emma would always look beautiful. It wasn’t a creeper or stalker type of ‘torch’; they were friends. They often went to see movies together, had a drink. Andy worked for her father as well as for the town. But even though Emma was basically single for a decade, he never got the nerve to ask her for a real date.
Several factors played into that. He was afraid she’d say no. After all, Andy was viewed as the town idiot because of the way he talked. He wasn’t an idiot, not at all. He knew what he wanted to say, he heard it in his mind, but as it came from his head to his mouth, somehow it got lost, and he stuttered. Sometimes horribly. It was so frustrating for him that he wanted to hit his head to maybe jar it, but then he’d look even more dopey.
He heard people talk as if he didn’t understand what they were saying. When they made fun of him, calling him a ‘retard’ or Lenny from Of Mice and Men, Andy was still polite, despite how
many times he wanted to haul off and deck someone and say, “Heck with you, I’m not an idiot.’ But he knew darn well that his mouth would stumble on the ‘H’ and it would make matters worse. So, he just smiled and nodded.
He related to Emma more than she realized; maybe she did, and that was why she’d go to the movies or shoot pool with him, because she related. They were both viewed as fools. His for intelligence, hers for behavior.
She wasn’t any crazier than he was an idiot. It was just the way people perceived them.
Then again, Emma had this thing with him. Unlike others who nodded and waited for him to stutter through his sentence, Emma finished his sentences for him, often calling him funny, witty, or insightful, and believing she knew what he meant because they had a connection. More often than not, she wasn’t just wrong, she was way off base.
Like the time he was pruning Mr. Bellow’s tree away from the lines. While he was on the ladder, he spotted Mr. Bellow’s missing cat on the neighbors back porch roof. But that wasn’t the story that Emma walked away with.
“I got .. I got a c … c … cool st st …”
“Story?” Emma said. “You have a cool story to tell? Sweet. I can use a smile, go on.”
“I was trim … trim …trimming Mr. Bellows’ tr … tr …”
“You were trimming Mr. Bellows’ tree?” She questioned and Andy nodded. “Oh, you were on a ladder weren’t you?”
Andy nodded.
“This is gonna be good, what did you see?”
“Mr. … B …”
“You saw Mr. Bellows in his window?” Emma shrieked. “Oh my God, was he naked?”
Andy tried to shake his head, but he was so used to nodding, he nodded first. The he finally shook his head, held up his hand, and tried to say he didn’t see him naked, but all he got out was, “D …”
“He was in a dress?” Emma laughed loudly. “I knew it. He is so homophobic, that’s because he’s a cross dresser. This is so good. Did he know you saw him? He did, didn’t he? What did you say?”
In his mind, Andy said, “Please let me tell the story,” but when the ‘P’ for please came out, Emma jumped on it.
“You said he was pretty. Oh, God, Andy, you are so funny. Bet he avoids you forever, that is such a funny story, and it’ll be our secret.”
Andy just smiled. It was a better story than the cat, and who cared if Emma thought Mr. Bellows was a cross dresser.
If anyone else did that to him, Andy would have been frustrated and insulted, but not Emma. He supposed it was his way of keeping her his friend.
He was making his way back up toward the diner when Emma came from the hair place. Her hair was a lot shorter, and it looked really good. He wanted to tell her that and waved as he made his way back down the ladder. She stopped and waited for him to come down.
“Hey, Andy!”
Andy waved.
“You seen my dad? I want to avoid him.”
Andy pointed in the diner.
“Jeez, still? It’s been hours. Thanks.”
“W … wait.” Andy held up a finger then reached out and touched her hair. “B …. Be … nice.” Then he gave a double thumbs up.
“You really think?” Emma played with the ends of her hair that came just to below her collar. “I wanted to go shorter, but she wouldn’t cut it shorter. Said I’d get shell-shocked or something. Uh, hello, the apocalypse is gonna take my mind off of that. Now it’s gonna get caught in the collar and I’ll be flipping it out. But it looks good.”
“Aw … Awesome.”
“Aw,” she reached up and patted his cheek. “You’re so sweet.”
Andy cleared his throat.
“What?” Emma asked.
“What the hell did you do to all your hair?” Stew walked up behind her. “If you’re gonna cut it short, then go short. Not bobbing along.”
Emma gasped. “That’s so wrong.”
“And so is taking that baby in the hole.”
“I did no such thing.” Emma folded her arms.
“You’re lying,” Stew said. “I heard about it.”
“Whoever told you that is lying.”
“Your daughter told me that.”
“There you have it.” Emma held out her hand. “She’s a liar.”
Stew grimaced and then all expression fell from his face. “You gotta be shitting me.”
Andy looked and winced.
“What?” Emma asked.
Andy tried to say, “D … De …”
“There’s a deer?” Emma asked. “Where?”
Andy shook his head.
“Walk … w … “
“Walk away,” Emma nodded. “Oh, good advice. Walk away from my dad.”
Stew snapped. “What the hell is the matter with you? Quit putting words in this man’s mouth and turn around.”
Andy got the word out at the same time Emma turned and looked over her shoulder.
“Del,” Andy said.
Del’s car was parked a little down the street, and he stepped out with a wave. He was thin, his hair a little longer and blonde. He grinned a wide, perfect smile that could be seen even at a distance.
“Wow, he’s still hot,” Emma whispered.
Stew nudged her in the arm. “He is not. Please. And he’s too old for his hair to be longer than yours.”
Del picked up his pace and trotted to her. “Em.” With one arm extended, he reached out, wrapped it around her, and embraced her like an old friend.
“Hey … uh, Del.” Emma reluctantly returned the embrace.
“Wow, I saw you when I was coming down the street,” Del said. “I had to stop before I went to the house.” He turned to Stew. “Hey, Dad.”
“Um, haven’t seen ya in nearly a decade, you lost that right.” Stew said. “Stew will work.”
Del smiled as if he took it in stride. “And Andy, wow, you look good. Good to see you.” He extended his hand.
“D .. Del.”
“Still have the stutter, I see.”
Emma’s mouth dropped open. “You are such an asshole.”
Del waved out his hand. “He don’t know.”
“He does too. And I didn’t know you were coming,” Emma said.
“Wanted it to be a surprise. I got this great toy dinosaur; I got for Richie, mind if I give it to him before Christmas?” Del asked.
“He’s fifteen now,” Emma said. “I don’t know if he’ll play with it. Your granddaughter might.”
Del cocked back. “I have a granddaughter? Holy shit. I didn’t know that.”
Stew interjected. “You might if you called once a year. Are you passing through?”
“No, actually, my tour is on break until after Christmas, so I’m in town,” Del said. “Can I stay at the house, Em?”
“No, that wouldn’t be a good idea,” Emma answered.
“Why not?” Del asked.
“Because it would totally interfere with my … with my …”
Stew finished the sentence. “Not good for a relationship to have an ex-husband staying at the house.”
Del laughed. “Yeah, right, I know you, Em. Who can deal with your eccentricities?”
“As a matter of fact … Andy.” Emma backed into Andy. “We’ve been together for a while. We are quite the couple.”
“Oh, that makes sense.” Del smirked.
Emma spun to Andy. “Can you just deck him? You are much bigger.”
Andy shook his head and smiled. “F … f .. it’s fine.”
Another laugh and Del backed up. “Ok, well, I’m gonna swing by the house, then go and stay with Bill. But, uh, I’ll be back tonight. We can hang out.”
“I won’t be there,” Emma said. “Andy and I go out on Fridays. Big date night.”
“Then I’ll hang with the kids and get to know my granddaughter.” Del turned, walked a few steps, and then stopped. “Oh, before I go. Does ... uh, Richie still do sign language?”
“Yes, Del, your son is still deaf.”
“Just
checking.” Another turn and Del walked to his car.
Stew grumbled. “What an asshole. And we gotta deal with him for almost a month. I’ll kill him before that.”
“Thank you, I’d appreciate that,” Emma said.
“I gotta go.” Stew looked at his watch. “And you have that big date tonight, so do something with that hair.” He pointed, kissed his daughter on the cheek and, after shaking hands with Andy, walked away.
With a humbled look, Emma faced Andy. “I’m sorry. It just slipped out that we’re dating. It’s not all that much of a lie, we do go out once in a while, right?”
Andy nodded. “Yep.”
“Do you wanna go out tonight?” Emma asked.
“De … De …” Andy tilted his head.
“A date, yes. Good.” Emma tiptoed up and kissed him on the cheek. “Bout time you asked me out officially.” She started to go then stopped. “And my hair will look better, I promise.”
Emma walked away. She didn’t see the huge smile that stayed on Andy’s face as she left him.
FLASH FORWARD
Ground Zero – 2
December 23rd
Hartworth, Montana
Edward had been in town only a few hours but already felt as if he had been there for days. Not that he had done all that much work, but he kept thinking about it all.
While he prepared the lab to test the first sample, his team was out and about. They were to count bodies, canvas for survivors, and then collect bodies.
The location of town worked in their favor; they could hold the news of the town’s demise from the media. But for how long? Surely the people in Hartworth knew others outside. It was Christmas, and that told Edward he had two days before he had to release something about Hartworth.
Family and friends would wonder what became of their loved ones on the holiday.
He would have to provide answers.
It saddened and scared him.
The cold front that had moved in caused snow and isolation. A combination of wind mixed with the continuous Christmas music caused it to be just too scary. It very well could be a glimpse of the extinction of mankind if they didn’t discover what had wiped out Hartworth, Montana.
Sealed In Page 2
