When she returns, it seems like she has not even been gone long enough to get to the lab, let alone take care of other business. I’ve had to slow down a little bit, working both sides of the device, but my progress has been steady. I can take a bio break in the bushes nearby, and when I get back we will be ready to install the electron gate and the plasma converter.
Thinking about the plasma converter gives me pause. It is simple but elegant. Cassandra conceived of the device and built it so quickly. I better remember this next time I feel so superior to her. It is a critical element and without her it would not be available to me.
“My turn for a bio break,” I say to her as we pass at the gate. I hurry over to the bushes and turn my back to the substation. I don’t think she can see me, but she probably doesn’t need to hear it either.
“Do you want to install the electron gate controller? I’ll connect the plasma converter and complete the bridge.” She’s yelling so I can hear her from my crude “men’s room.” It’s not really a question, as Cassandra is already working on the plasma converter.
“Have you ever wondered about how you could have invented a plasma converter and that happens to be exactly what is needed to connect my reactor to the grid?” I ask her, thinking to myself that it is a huge coincidence.
“Nope,” is all I get in return.
The next time I look up from the reactor, I see the Escalade approaching. It parks what seems like too far away and I see Dad, Mom, Grace, Sofie, Liam and Remmie climb out. Jane is not with them. I’m not sure why they have come now, but their timing is perfect. We are so close to initiating the reaction. I can remember my dad referring to the book The Secret when things went well. He said that if you visualize everything working out just right, the universe would make sure that everything worked out just right.
I finish up my last bit of work and take a step back to survey the device. To me, it looks amazingly cool. As I admire my work, Cassandra steps away as well and walks over to my side. We are like two proud parents admiring our baby. I feel like I should put my arm around her and say “thank you” or “great work,” but that feels like it would come across as patronizing.
“Let’s take a step back before we begin the safety check.” I say out loud.
We both turn and leave the fenced in area. I bend over and grab a soda and one of the sandwiches. Cassandra produces a bottle of water and grabs a bag of chips. My family is standing by quietly, ready to witness this feat of human ingenuity. Nothing could make this more perfect.
“Has anyone seen my mother?” Cassandra has identified something that could make it better, at least for her.
As if on cue, Jane’s car appears on the runway and eventually comes to a stop beside the Escalade. She is elegant in the way she exits the vehicle. With no urgency or hint of intent, she walks over to us and surveys the reactor.
“Have you completed the safety check?” Her voice is icy cool.
“I was hoping you would do it,” Cassandra answers. We had not discussed this, but it may be the right thing to do.
“Very well.” Jane is through the gate with no ceremony and begins poring over the reactor. She is more thorough than speedy, but I expect she will be fair. There is not going to be a concern unless it is valid.
After what seems like forever, Jane exits the gate. “All appears secure. Who will be flipping the switch to initiate the reaction?”
How can that be a question? Me, of course. If there is a problem or my concept is flawed, I want to be blown up with it. I have no interest in watching my creation fall apart from a distance or to have someone die doing what I should do.
“I apologize for my poor attempt at levity.” Jane is looking at me squarely. “Seamus, I am honored to be here for this historic moment. Please initiate the reaction when you are ready.”
I look over at my dad. None of this would be possible without him. He gives me a big smile and thumbs up. He has his arm around Mom and they are both beaming as I walk through the gate.
Standing next to the bridge I take my signature deep breath. I can’t believe that I didn’t write something down to say, but now I can’t wait. “Here goes,” is all I get out. I flip the switch.
There is nothing but silence. After a short delay, a soft blue glow emits from the reactor. Cassandra rushes in and begins to look at the gauges and meters. I walk around and check on the plasma converter, and it is functioning as designed. Then I head over to the meters downstream from my reactor on the grid. They are all pegged at their maximum readings.
I turn to everyone watching from behind the fence. With a smile so big it hurts, I tell them, “We have power!”
The elation doesn’t last long. The power will ensure that we have the vaccination for another year or so. It will help us keep food longer, have lights and computers, but it cannot reverse the annihilation of the human race. My invention is not world-changing; in fact, it barely maintains the status quo.
Before walking over to join my family, I look down at the ground. I think about all I have learned in the last few weeks. A shiver goes down my spine as I think of the possibility of surviving the virus without my family. My days of wanting to be left alone so I can pursue my work are over.
I look up and survey my Dad and Mom standing together. Grace is holding Remmie in her arms and Sofie is right next to her. Liam is ducking behind Sofie, playing hide-and-seek with Remmie. This is my future. These are the reasons I will get up every morning and try to make life better.
My signature deep breath is all that’s left before walking over to join most of what’s left of the human race.
Author Note
Thank you for reading. The Seamus Chronicles is a very personal story; the Robinson family is modeled after my own. My wife and I have a daughter adopted from China, a biological son and a son adopted from Ethiopia. My kids are still younger than the characters in the story but with the exception of the apocalypse and the genius this is how I imagine them as teenagers. Writing the character of Donna was a struggle. If I wrote her the way that I see my wife she would have been too perfect to be believable. Believable characters are always my goal, even if their situation is fiction.
I have been helped and humbled by the support, feedback and encouragement of so many people. To share your thoughts with me directly please send a note to [email protected]. Engaging with readers is a true joy and influences my writing and my stories.
If you have time to write a review it is greatly appreciated. Your input will be read and taken seriously, it is the best way for me to improve my prose and plot. Reviews are important for writers and readers in that they help people to connect with the books and authors they will enjoy.
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The Seamus Chronicles
Annihilation – Book 1
Evacuation – Book 2
Colonization – Book 3
Confrontation – Book 4
Connect with K. D. McAdams online:
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Also by K. D. McAdams
The Metropolitan Zombie Survivors Series
MZS: Boston - Book 1 Pat-O awakes to find that zombies have taken over Boston. He needs to get across town to meet his friends and escape before the government destroys the undead and everything else in the city.
MZS: New York - Book 2 The Boston survivors meet up with McLean in New York where she is trying to cope with the reality of the zombie apocalypse. Trying to rescue three kids from an apartment forces them to deal with an entire building of flesh eaters.
MZS: Philadelphia - Book 3 Parker is in Philadelphia adjusting to life after his wife’s death. The Boston and New York crew arrive at Liberty Bell square in search of a survivors r
ally. When they are attacked by the living Parker helps them to safety and they make him one of their own.
MZS: D. C. - Book 4 The survivors want to be done with cities. The detours and roadblocks around D. C. leave them no choice but to drive into the heart of the capital. Once there a power-hungry Senator shows them a new hell.
MZS: North East - The Novel Follow Pat-O from Boston to New York, Philadelphia and Washington D. C. all in one book.
About the author
K. D. McAdams is a write at home dad of three and happy husband of one. K. D. writes stories about people who rely on their instincts as well as their intellect. The goal of his writing and publishing efforts is to inspire others to pursue things that they find interesting.
Now available
Evacuation
Book 2
The Seamus Chronicles
Chapter 1
It has been a little more than seven months since the apocalypse. The specter of the killer cold has been held at bay but I’m afraid of what else those who unleashed it on our planet are capable of.
Our small but growing group of survivors has fallen into a comfortable, even pleasant routine. Except for me. I am aware that there are secrets, but I have no proof and no way to uncover them. My instincts tell me the secrets are related to the “killer cold” virus that destroyed most of the human race. My brain tells me that there is no way I could have instincts to catch that type of secret.
Life at NASA Ames Research Center is just what a soon-to-be-seventeen year-old physics genius would want. I roll out of bed around ten, make my way to the lab and conduct experiments with dark energy and solar sail technology. At night I spend time with my family and our new friends. Except for the fact that my mom and dad are here it feels much like I had imagined college would.
In addition to Mom and Dad the other “adult” here is Jane Crenshaw. She and her daughter Cassandra worked at Ames before the apocalypse hit. In what still seems like a shady set of coincidence the Crenshaw’s met up with mom in California while the virus was ravaging the rest of the planet. Because of that meeting the five of us; Dad, me, my sister Grace, my brother Liam and Sofie Lange, traveled here from New Hampshire. After what we went through on the cross-country road trip and how well she fits, Sofie has become a part of the family. Joining us a little later in the trip was Remmie who we picked up in Wyoming even though he is from Colorado. His parent succumbed to the virus, for unknown reasons he was spared.
Just after my dark energy reactor went live Dad took the girls to San Francisco for the day and then left to retrieve two scientists, Randy and William, that had been in the vaccination program and survived. One was in Louisiana the other in Texas. On his way back the three men found a set of twins, Derek and Alex, in New Mexico. Finding the twins was another surprise but yet more proof that there are people who survived without the vaccine.
At seven years old Derek and Alex were old enough to understand their parents death. They did not stay in the house with corpses. Dad found them leaving a store with a grocery cart full of food. Both boys insisted they were okay and could take care of themselves. There was no way dad would leave survivors let alone two children but it had taken some persuading to get them to go with strangers.
Dad has never spoken of what else occurred on that trip but it seems to have affected him. Shortly after arriving home he told mom and Jane that he would not be driving anywhere else to rescue scientists. Within days he was studying flight manuals and eventually taxiing around the runway in a single engine Cessna. Learning to fly became an obsession with him and I soon saw that perhaps some of my drive was inherited from him.
We have plenty of food and water, we get to sleep in nice beds and generally there is little conflict. I should be happy. Instead the Crenshaw’s work has me scared and confused. This may be how it was before the apocalypse but I don’t think so. Speaking from experience, obsession is one thing this is something else. Their approach gives the distinct impression that they are working for their lives. When I push to understand they shrug it off as a drive to understand and learn. If that were true, implementation, one of my specialties, would not be such a priority.
My dark energy reactor, the obsession of most of my teen years is done and functioning. I no longer want to doggedly pursue anything. But the truth is that without the Crenshaw’s help my reactor never would have been completed. I give them my work and attention in an effort to repay my debt. In a strange way I have grown to like them and I want to help. Just not at the expense of things that interest me.
I know they want to go to space but that is not a goal I share. At some point my debt will be repaid and I can pursue things that interest me. In five months with the Crenshaw’s I have learned more than I would have in a lifetime of schooling.
Cassandra is a fellow child prodigy so we have that, and the weird feelings it creates, in common. She had the bonus of a Mom with access to government labs and her own following in certain high-profile circles. A year ago I would have been insanely jealous of the “special” opportunity she was given. Today I am grateful for the opportunity I was given to be a typical American teenager.
I walk over to the coffee machine to pour another cup. Out the window I see Grace and Sofie playing with Remmie, Derek and Alex. It must be “recess” time. In the real world Remmie would still be too young for school. But in the post apocalypse-world boredom is a real problem. Not so much for Remmie and the twins but for the two young women with them.
I never thought of my older sister as a young woman. Even at eighteen she was a girl to me. But after what we have survived she’s matured in reality and in my mind. Sofie has been mature since the day we met her in the Wal-Mart parking lot. I haven’t spent as much time with Sofie lately as I would like. Between my experiments and her helping with kids, food, water and cleaning, we never seem to be free at the same time. Odd since our passing discussions always cover how boring it is here, but we’re always busy.
“Seamus have you completed the tests on that vectoring controller?” Jane is in some kind of a rush as usual. Never one to simply enter a room, she storms in, like a tornado.
“No. I thought I would start it tonight. It should take about eight hours to reach a baseline before it starts yielding good data. I kind of want to watch the test play out. It might be fun to see.” There is partial truth in my answer.
When we were working on the reactor Jane insisted on working a nine-to-five schedule. The last few months she has been insisting that we put in twelve-hour days. Sure she and Cassandra were driven and successful NASA physicists, but that was before the apocalypse. Now they are survivors, like the rest of my family and me. Mom keeps telling me not to fight it, “Remember what they did for you and us.” She reminds me.
It still gnaws at me the way Mom seems to side with them. It’s not even the big things, those I can understand. It’s the little things. Cassandra and Jane skip most of the inventory sessions where we check the food we have. They never help with unloading the truck when Dad and Liam come back from a provision trip and they barely even clean up after themselves. I hate to think that Mom knows something we don’t but it sure seems that way.
Neither Crenshaw is a medical doctor nor do they know the first thing about growing or catching food. They are useless scientists doing random experiments about space travel. I realize that I’m a useless scientist as well but at least my work generates electricity for us.
“Seamus!” Jane is trying to snap me back to the task at hand. “I would really like the experiment to be done today.”
“Why?” I feel like Remmie for a second. Thinking about the three year old we found on the swing set in Wyoming distracts me even further.
I sense a speech coming. She is about to tell me how important our work is. We have to keep going with scientific study and the growth of knowledge. If we give up, if we even take one day off future generations may suffer ignorance.
“You know what? You’re right, it doesn’t need t
o be done right now. Go outside and relax. Would you run the test first thing in the morning for me though?” She’s so fake and sickeningly sweet I want to barf.
“Great, see ya,” and I’m out the door. I wonder if she expected more of a discussion from me?
As I walk down the hall I think how odd it is the way she treats me. While there are no tests for it, evidence shows that I am intellectually superior to her. In fact, over a wide range of topics I have proven to be intellectually superior to all of the scientists here with us. Yet Jane is the only one who treats me like I’m twelve.
When I get out the door I see Mom getting ready next to her bike. For fitness and fuel conservation reasons we’ve taken to riding bikes around campus. I actually prefer walking places but I know Mom loves to ride in the warm California sun.
“Hi Seamus, what are you doing out of the lab?” Mom is glad to see me, but she makes me feel like I cut school.
“We decided to knock off early, I wasn’t really being productive,” basically an honest answer. “Where are you headed?”
“I’m heading off to check on some plants I spotted at the end of the runway, will you come with me?” She’s got a notebook, scissors and a few plastic containers in her basket.
“Sure” I’m going to go with her and I’m going to make sure we talk about Jane and Cassandra. I didn’t realize it this morning, but I guess today is the day that things are going to change. I’m going to resolve my suspicions and then I’m going to start spending time on the things I want to do. Probably not what Mom’s expecting from my company.
The bike ride takes a while, but it is nice to feel the warm sun and get my blood pumping. At the end of the runway there are some plants that have gone to seed. In New Hampshire, where we used to live, March is when plants start blooming, nothing is going to seed, so Mom is interested in this California winter growth specimen. She has been focusing her intellect on gardening and growing food. Not only does she enjoy it, but also it is immensely helpful to the rest of us.
Annihilation (The Seamus Chronicles Book 1) Page 19
