“Pop, it is good to see you. Some crazy shit is going on.”
Cal just nodded calmly, looking around the store. It was as if there were nothing unusual about the day. Kyle never ceased to be shocked at his dad’s ability to remain calm under stress. He assumed that is what had made his dad such a great soldier. Calm under fire is what people always told him about his dad. Cal turned toward those following him.
“Kyle, you know Adam.” Kyle reached forward and shook each hand in turn. “These young ladies are Erica and Ellen. They have decided to come with us, as this thing, whatever it is, seems to call for people to stay together.” Kyle agreed and let his Dad know. “Do you have anyone else here with you, son?”
Kyle was pretty surprised that he had suddenly forgot his friend. “Oh, yeah, sorry.” Turning toward the back he yelled out, “It’s okay, it’s my dad.” The young brunette with big blue eyes came out from her hiding place behind some shelves. She was obviously terrified. “Dad, this is my friend Jessica, she works here.” Turning back to the group he said, “This is my Dad, Cal. This is Adam, and, I am sorry…”
The taller, skinny lady with long blonde hair said, “Erica.”
He shorter, fit woman with short blonde hair said, “Ellen.”
Everyone shook hands and Kyle stepped close, “Dad, my boss is tied up back there, he tried to shoot us. I disarmed him and took him down.” Cal just nodded and put his hand behind his son’s neck, pulling him close into another hug.
“Show me to him. Adam, just in case, will you come with me? Ladies, if you don’t mind keeping Jessica company? She looks like she could use some.” Cal followed his son back to the corner, where Jeff was being held. “What happened?” he asked.
“When the power went out, we all sort of hunkered down to wait it out. I mean, it happens, right?” Adam and his dad both agreed that it did sometimes happen. “But, then the phones didn’t work. Our cell phones didn’t work. We saw all of the cars stop, some crashing like their brakes didn’t work. We locked up, because it is policy in these types of situations, if there are these types of situations. We had locked the front, and pulled the gate down, we were watching people act weirdly out the window and we see these people get in a fight right outside. A cop ran up to stop it, he must have been right there, and he pulled his gun at some point. The guy beat him up and sent him running back that way. It was crazy. But, Jeff…he just went wild. He ran to the back and pulled a shotgun and a pistol out of their cases and began loading them. Jess and I ran back to see what was up and he pointed the gun at me and told us to get out. He said it was the ‘beginning of the end.’ I told him to calm down, it was okay, this was just a power outage and the power would be back soon. He pulled the shotgun on me and pulled the trigger, twice. I was so shocked, I just stood there, and then he pulled the pistol and I had to act. I disarmed him and knocked him out cold. Then Jess helped me tie him up, and we have sat here for the whole time since that. She is really freaked out.”
Cal nodded. “Adam, would you check on this man, and make sure he is okay? Kyle, take me to the gun case.”
Leading his dad to the case, he unlocked it and his dad took out various weapons and ammunition, loaded them and pulled the triggers. The first two times he did this, Kyle recoiled, waiting for the inevitable sound of the guns discharging. But, they just made clicking noises. His dad repeated this with about ten different weapons and then stared off in deep thought.
“This isn’t just a power outage, is it?” Kyle asked. His dad was the smartest, and most deductive person he knew. If anyone could figure this out, he could. But his Dad just looked at him and shook his head.
“No.” is all he said and then he headed back to where Adam and Jeff were. Arriving, he bent over Jeff and removed the gag from his mouth. “You told my son this was the beginning of the end. What did you mean?”
The man looked up wide-eyed and whispered a single word, “Armageddon.”
Adam let out a little chuckle and Cal shook his head, as if to say “don’t make fun of the crazy guy”, but Kyle wasn’t sure it was that easy to dismiss the guy’s ideas.
“Dad,” he started, “what if he isn’t far from the mark?”
Cal looked at his son with a very reassuring smile. It was the first time since the lights went out that Kyle had felt that everything was going to be okay. His Dad clapped him on the shoulder, “I don’t know what this is, but I am pretty sure it isn’t any kind of apocalypse.”
The three men walked back up to the front, and Cal gathered the six of them together. It would be seven with Jeff, but Cal had left him bound up in the back of the store. “Okay,” he began, “we won’t be able to figure this out from here, but I think it is safe to say that we will be without power for a while. We have some decisions to make.”
The skinny girl, Erica, spoke up, “Mr. Ward? Why do you think the power won’t be on soon?”
Cal seemed to consider her question for a moment, not like he didn’t know, but like he didn’t know how to communicate it. “There are a lot of reasons. I will be more than happy to elaborate later, but we have to get to the rest of my family. You two have to decide if you are coming with us, or if you want to venture out on your own. You are both more than welcome, and I would strongly advise staying in numbers, but I have no hold over you if you want to go.”
The women looked at each other, but it was Jessica who spoke up. “I don’t have anyone in this area. Can I come with you? I would rather stay with Kyle; he is the only person I know…except Jeff.”
Kyle really hadn’t thought about Jeff. “What are we going to do with him?”
“We can’t leave him inside. At some point he will figure out there are more than guns in this store. We can give him the option of joining us too, but that will mean continued restraint. My guess is he will head in the direction of his own home. We will keep his keys to keep everyone safe.”
“I want to go with you also.” Ellen offered “My family is all the way in Walsenburg. If the cars don’t work, I can’t get to them. Friends are important; I would rather stay with you guys.”
“Me too, I guess.” Erica added, “I didn’t really think about that, but I am here for school. My family lives in Nebraska.”
Cal nodded again, as if accepting that what he thought would happen is just what happened. Kyle had seen his Dad do this before. He allowed people their own choices, but always seemed to know what those choices would be. “Then we come to the harder choices. I believe we have a long haul ahead of us. I would not normally suggest this, but I think we need to take some items from the store.”
Cal’s head jerked up and his dad was staring right at him. “Pop, I am responsible for this stuff, for the store. I can’t just take things.”
Cal sighed, but not with dismissal, more with the knowledge that his son was going to have to make a hard choice. “I know, bud. You are a responsible and honest young man, and I am very proud of you for it. Maybe I am wrong, and we won’t need anything. But, if I am right, we will need some help with survival and I don’t want to have to come back without a car to try to get stuff. Does that make sense? If I am wrong, I will pay for everything we take when the power comes back up. But, if I am right, it really won’t be an issue.”
Adam stepped in this time. “What do you think is happening?”
Cal looked at Kyle and Adam, from one to the other multiple times before answering. “I will explain it all when we get somewhere settled. For now, I need to ask you to trust me.”
Adam just nodded like that was all he needed. Kyle just said, “Of course.”
Cal then broke down what they needed to take and assigned each person to grab specific items. He listed backpacks, dried trail food, compound bows and arrows, and some clothing items. He told each person to go to the shoe area and pick out the best, most comfortable, hiking shoes. He also picked some out for family members in sizes he knew they wore. He had the group grab assorted camping gear, climbing gear and other items which made no se
nse to Kyle. But he trusted his Dad. When Cal had checked everything was there, and they had all packed backpacks for themselves, he brought Kyle back to where Jeff was.
Cal knelt down by Jeff’s side. “I understand that you have beliefs about our current surroundings. I may not believe the same things, but I do believe we are in a perilous circumstance. I am offering you the chance to come with us. We are going to meet up with my family in Black Forest. There will be room for you. Do you want to go with us?”
The man looked back at Cal with suspicion. “If I say no?”
“We will let you go, outside. We will keep your keys to make sure you cannot access the firearms, but you can leave of your own free will.”
“Then I choose go.” Jeff looked like he had fooled Cal, but Cal just looked resigned and sad. He rose, and lifted Jeff to his feet. “Kyle, let’s take him out front.”
They walked back up front. The day was turning to dusk and the light was growing dim outside, but it was considerably brighter out there than it was in the store. They all filed out the front and Kyle locked the gate behind them, and then did the same with the front door.
Cal turned around to Jeff. “Kyle, cut him loose. Jeff I wish you the best of luck.” Cal stuck out his hand to shake and Jeff just looked at it before walking off to the south, not even giving the inch that would be a friendly handshake. Cal grinned over at Adam at some inside joke that Kyle assumed related to their time serving together in the army. “Alright, we have a little light. Let’s walk.”
They walked up the back road that passed the police station and they could see no movement inside, no lights, and no people. Just on the edge of turning to night, they came up to the main regional hospital. There they saw a few people crying on the front drive, where the emergency vehicles normally would be. Kyle’s group walked right up to them.
“Ma’am?” Adam asked as they came close to what they could now see were nurses. “Is everything alright?”
“No.” the woman responded bitterly, as she looked up to Adam’s face, “We lost so many. So many.”
Cal walked up and tried to comfort the woman, “May we ask what happened?”
The woman just sobbed, so one of her companions answered. “Nothing. Nothing happened. The generators didn’t come on. The pain meds didn’t work, none of them. Our patients just died, all of them. I don’t understand what is happening.”
Cal said, “I am sorry for your loss”, and waved everyone on to follow him. The clouds built up in the afternoon, and shortly after passing the hospital, it began to rain. This was not unusual on the front range in the summer. It being July, they were just thrilled it wasn’t thunderstorms. Within a mile of walking, though, it just began to pour. The rain and wind pelted them, stinging their skin and drenching them. This was unusual, and the group knew they needed shelter. Additionally, the clouds were blocking moonlight and it was close to pitch dark out here. They trudged on ahead until Kyle remembered a place nearby.
“The pool house.” He shouted out and everyone just looked at him, peering in the deepening darkness to see if he had perhaps gone insane. “Dad, the pool house is just up here. The neighborhood rec area.” His dad nodded and they picked up the pace, finding their way in the darkness to the pool house of the neighborhood homeowner’s association. As they approached, they found the place unlocked. It was fortuitous, and unusual. The best bet was that someone must have left it when the power went out. The six of them filed in, wet to the bone and cold, even in the warm afternoon. They searched through the small building, finding no other occupants.
The night continued to be warm and their clothes mostly dried out quickly. None of them were prepared for the walk and everyone except the two recent soldiers did not have the stamina yet for the excessive trek. The result was that the group was exhausted and most of them fell right to sleep. Having done their very best to lock up the pool house, they had some semblance of security, but there were no guarantees. Kyle had the impression that his father was sleeping lightly, ready to jump up if the situation called for it. Luckily, it did not. They all got a great night’s sleep, or as great a sleep as one can have with no blankets or pillows, on a hard rec room floor, with the sound of torrents of rain beating down on the roof of the building.
CHAPTER 12
Jenny looked up and down the road. It was absolutely pouring down rain. She didn’t know if she had ever seen it rain like this in Colorado Springs. Can things get any weirder? She thought to herself. She peered across the street at the martial arts studio. There had been a steady stream of the studio’s students coming and going all day. Now that the heavy rain was coming down, they all huddled inside the door and looked outside, much as she was doing now. It was so dark, and the rain so thick, that she only could see them when they moved.
She hadn’t eaten much for most of the day, so Jenny was beginning to feel the pangs of hunger and occasionally her stomach let her know it was empty rather audibly. Having finished the lunch she brought with her, which wasn’t much, Jenny was now out of food. The only way Jenny knew to calm her physical discomfort was yoga or simple meditation. She decided to do a mixture of both.
As she settled into the lotus position, Jenny concentrated on her breath, making it slow and steady. She was very intentional with her intake and the expressing of her breath. She focused on the pit of her stomach, centering all thought, and the strangest thing happened. In her mind, she saw a small light in the area she was focusing on. As she concentrated, it grew in both brightness and size. She continued until the light settled into place, a perfect view of chakras, just as she had seen in every book she had read on the subject. She felt a low throbbing of heat emanating from her entire body and then could see in her mind, this heat turn to a bright golden aura. Knowing what she had seen before, she opened her eyes and looked around. She could still see her aura, but nothing else, then she realized it was because she could see no people.
Jenny rose from her pose and walked to the window. Peering between the blinds, she looked up and down the street. Through the rain and the dark, she could see colors and shapes. She looked to the door of the martial arts studio. There, in the doorway and in the windows, she saw many brown shapes of various shades. But, there was something in the midst of the group that greatly concerned her. There was a black figure, darker than even this awful night’s darkness. It was like a void; it was so dark. It was surrounded by and outline of silver and red. She could see the brown shapes go to it, and go away. She looked away from the window, somewhat concerned that anyone else could see her aura. Turning her gaze inward, to look at her own aura, it was a mixture of bright gold and violet. She didn’t know what the colors meant, but she knew they meant something.
There were magazines and books that might illuminate the issue for her, but books don’t have auras and her aura did not provide anything that would allow her to read in the dark. Well, she thought, I have nothing else to do, let’s practice with the meditative approach and the sight. From that point on, Jenny Martinez began working on bringing the sight into her control. She played with what caused it to appear, what caused it to stop and then worked on making both happen at will. She sat on that floor for hours, learning to control this new gift. She was so interested in the meditation, that at some point, she fell asleep. It was a deep sleep, a good sleep.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Ted looked at his sister-in-law, sitting next to the front window, staring out into the darkness. Everyone else had long since gone to sleep, Natalee and Max sharing Max’s room, Kayla passed out in their bed and the pastor, Rich, asleep in a corner of the kitchen underneath the dining table. Ted liked the new friend they had made. He was a much more easy-going guy than any of the chaplains he had met in the service, and certainly more of a normal guy than the bible-thumpers Ted had met over the years. But, Ted was still prejudiced. He had grown up in a Jewish home, but had seen his own mother give up all of her money to a preacher in Los Angeles in the hopes of a miracle cure for her cance
r, and none had come. Reason didn’t work with his Mom and Ted had become so embittered when his Mom had passed away and he found out how much money she had donated to this scam-artist. He vowed to give this guy, Rich, a chance, but at the same moment, he was not going to let his family be taken advantage of again.
Right now, he was concerned about Kate. When everyone else had gone to sleep, she had sat next to that window, waiting for her husband. Kate had said, “He knows we are here. He will come for us.” Ted had no reason to doubt that. In fact, Ted had counted on the steadfast nature of Calvin Ward since they were both eight years old. If Cal could get here, he would be here for his wife and daughter. Hell, Cal would be here for Ted, and Kayla, and Maxine too. It was just the kind of guy he was, he was the perfect person to bring into battle, he never left anyone behind, no matter what.
Ted thought back to a tour in Iraq, where Ted’s squad was pinned down under enemy fire. A Humvee had come to rescue them and had hit an IUD, blowing all the way into the air and toppling over four or five times. There was no chance that anyone had survived. There wasn’t even much left of the Humvee. Cal’s squad had been sent in to recover Ted’s squad, and as soon as he got there, Ted could see on his brother-in-law’s face that there was no chance he was leaving without getting to the damaged vehicle. Ted didn’t even try to talk him out of the rescue, even though the Major was screaming over the radio to pull out. Ted would only find out later that Cal had violated a direct order to come save Ted and his men. Cal told all of the men except Ted and Cal’s medic, PFC Cross, to pull back and then the three of them charged into open fire to see if anyone was there. There had been four men in that Humvee, and three of them were in pieces. The fourth was badly injured and they got him out. All three of the rescuers were injured. Cross even received a Silver Star and Ted received a Bronze Star for their actions. But the man who refused to leave a fellow soldier behind intentionally took the blame for refusing a direct order. The Major went after him with a passion. SFC Ward and Major Fine had never got along, there was no doubt. But, Calvin Ward had defied that order to save a brother in arms, and it had worked. The rest of them got medals, and Cal got a discharge. After twenty-six years in the army, Cal was drummed out by a vindictive prick who wasn’t half the soldier that Ward was. It took a Brigade Commander stepping in, just to get Cal an honorable discharge.
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