The snap of a twig breaking made Stephan and Cord sprint for cover behind a large rock outcrop. Soon, scuffling feet on the loose rocks could be heard. Both men peered through their rifle sites in the direction of the sound but saw nothing. Maybe it was an animal.
“Hello,” a woman’s voice called from behind a boulder some fifty feet away. She stepped out, her hands in the air. “Please don’t shoot! We have no weapons, and we need help. My husband has a broken leg, and our four children are with us. Can you please help us?”
“All of you, show yourself, with your hands over your heads,” Stephan shouted.
Rising from behind the boulders a black lady walked out with two young girls, perhaps ten to twelve years of age. They looked frightened, visibly trembling, and tears cascaded down their faces as they walked toward the guns pointed at them. “Please don’t shoot,” the mother pleaded. Then a groan of pain came from behind the boulder, and twin boys, maybe age sixteen, struggled to help their father walk. He definitely had a broken leg.
“Who are you? Where are you from?” Stephan demanded. He still had the rifle ready to fire but pointed down now.
“We’re the Williams family. I’m Irma. The girls are Hope and Candy. My husband’s name is Ralph. The boy’s are Dan and Don. We’re from Centertown. The place was in chaos with people fighting one another over weapons, food, vehicles. We grabbed some food and water and headed into the mountains. All we wanted to do was get away from the killing and violence. We’ve been hiding in a small cave until this morning. Ralph broke his leg a few hours ago after we decided to climb over the mountain.” Her body shook, and her voice trembled with fear.
Cord walked over to inspect the man’s leg. “That’s pretty bad, Mr. Williams. I do have some morphine if you’re not allergic to it.”
“Please,” Ralph pleaded between clinched teeth.
“Mrs. Williams, have you seen or heard anyone else up here?” Stephan asked.
“No, sir. You two are the first. We’ve kept a good lookout, because we’re scared to death of the soldiers. We listened to you talking and knew you weren’t mean like they were.”
Stephan looked at his watch. “Damn! It’s after five. We have to hurry if we want to get over the top before dark. Boys, take these knives and cut a couple of branches about six feet long.”
The youngsters promptly obeyed, and ten minutes later Stephan had fashioned a pair of crutches of sorts for the man. Helping him up to the peak, then down the mountain wasn’t going to be easy. “Let’s move. We’re running out of daylight.” Stephan turned and led the way, trying to find the easiest paths. The twin sons walked on either side of their dad, helping him as much as possible. Ralph was overweight, and the climb was hard on him. He perspired heavily from the exertion and had to stop often to catch his breath.
It was nearly midnight. After a harrowing trip down the dark mountainside, Stephan and Cord arrived at their compound. Cord saw Susan and Alice waiting in the kitchen of the cave, and from the expressions on their faces, he guessed they were worried sick he and Stephan had been captured or killed.
~~~
Stephan and Cord were exhausted from the climb and from helping carry Mr. Williams off the mountain to the compound. The crutches were of little use coming down some of the steep areas they had to traverse.
“No chatter on the short wave and nothing has shown on the monitors,” Mike reported to Stephan. He was dead on his feet and his eyes red from staring at the monitors all day. Mike had been told to man the control room, and he carried out the order as well as any military man.
“Mike, I want you to meet the Williams twins. How about they bunk in with you?” Cord asked.
Mike simply motioned for Don and Dan to follow him to his room. All three boys were asleep immediately after laying their heads on their pillows.
Mr. and Mrs. Williams, along with Candy and Hope, were given the bunks in the empty bedroom between Alice and Cord.
Susan immediately did what she could for Mr. Williams’ broken leg. It was a clean break, and Susan only had to wrap it in splints. He slowly drifted off to sleep in a cloud of Demerol.
The following morning, Stephan didn’t play the stereo to awaken the children. He started to do it automatically but realized what a start it would be for the Williams family. Perhaps it would be a good day to let everyone sleep in.
Cord recovered a set of crutches from one of the storerooms and leaned them against the wall outside the injured man’s bedroom door.
By ten a.m., the Williams family had taken baths, donned clean clothes, rounded up by Alice and Susan, and sat down to a hearty breakfast. Mr. Williams wasn’t a pro on crutches and soon was the brunt of many a joke from all the children. Everyone sat drinking coffee and getting acquainted in the main room.
“My name’s Stephan and this is Cord. We’re . . . uh, that is, we were Special Forces. Don’t know if there’s still an Army to be a part of right now. Anyway, we’ll do everything in our power to keep everyone safe and this place up and running. My wife, Susan, is our resident doctor and surgeon. Alice is our schoolteacher and seamstress. Both have been doing the cooking. The kids do as they are told and will not shirk their tasks. Our lives may depend on one of them, and they know it. Quite frankly, Ralph, I expect the same from your children. How about filling us in on what you do and any skills you have.”
Ralph leaned forward. “I’m an electronics engineer and part-time grease monkey. I’ll do anything around here I can handle for you.” He pointed to his wife. “Wife’s name is Irma, and she is a fantastic cook. In fact, she studied in Paris and is a Master Chef. My sons there are Don and Dan. Don’t let their large size fool you. They’re only sixteen years old, and I gotta brag on them a bit. They’re smart as a whip, and they know how to take orders. Both are computer whizzes, quite good swimmers, and accomplished musicians. The girls are Hope and Candy, ages 12 and 10, and they know how to clean, do dishes, and can help with the laundry. They also play piano and wind instruments. That’s about it for us unless you think of something you want to ask.”
Stephan smiled and answered, “Well, as a matter of fact, there is another question. Do you know anything about firearms?”
Now Ralph Williams chuckled and said, “Just a bit. Truth is I was in the Tenth Mountain Division. Yep, I can take apart, repair, reassemble, and shoot quite a few weapons. The boys are pretty darned good shots, too. I’ve spent quite a bit of time with them at the firing range. They know how to maintain weapons real well. Sorry to say, Irma and the girls are afraid of guns and have never touched one.”
“Well, that’s three more to help with our security,” Stephan said. “I have to be honest with you. We’re pretty well fortified and pretty much hidden here, but there’s always the chance we’ll be discovered. No way will we be captured.”
Ralph Williams stared him straight in the eyes for a moment before nodding his head in understanding.
Stephan turned to the twins. “You boys will help monitor the control room. Rotating shifts would be a large plus for all. Mike will show you how to sound an alarm and how to use the intercom.”
By two in the afternoon, Irma helped Alice and Susan prepare lunch. “How about this idea?” Susan asked. “Lunch will be the main meal of the day. Breakfast will be hearty only if the men are expected to be topside all day. A lighter meal is prepared for around seven in the evening.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” Irma said.
“Yeah, sounds great. The kids can do chores of a morning and have schooling in the afternoons,” Alice responded.
The girls had been busy switching bedrooms. Brittany had invited Candy to share hers, and Laurie welcomed Hope into hers. It was only then that Brittany and Laurie admitted they had been scared to sleep in the rooms alone.
Stephan and Cord explained the control room to Ralph and his sons. Rifles, side arms and ammo were also issued to them, along with a crash course on the escape routes.
“I guess we’ll know in less tha
n 48 hours if we have an asteroid or the biggest hoax in history,” Ralph said after listening to the men’s theories. “I agree there are forces out there who could and would pull off a hoax to create devastation like this without even blinking an eye.”
“What was it like out there before you fled to the mountain?” Stephan asked.
Ralph shook his head slowly, staring off into the distance. “Man, you wouldn’t believe it. It was like everyone completely lost their minds. I suppose thinking they were going to die in a couple weeks; they didn’t give a damn what they did to themselves or others. No one went to work, so nothing was open . . . no gas stations, grocery stores, banks, nothing. Someone cut off the electricity and water, which caused plenty of havoc. After about a week, folks tried to find food, which led to killings over a loaf of bread or a jug of water. After the grocery stores were cleaned out, they started breaking into homes and apartments, robbing the residents. Right after the President’s announcement, the so-called militants and doomers hit the road to their places of safety. Those folks who had generators were hit real fast. The noise brought in thugs who had enough sense to know these people were probably well stocked on supplies. We thought we were going to be okay, because we lived on the outskirts of town and had a water well. We also had enough food stocked up for six months. But when I noticed the blue hats and the white buses moving in, that was my cue to haul ass. We grabbed backpacks and stuffed them with food and water and took off up the mountain. Luckily, we found the cave before those hurricane winds hit. Man, those were a living nightmare. We didn’t think they would ever end.”
~ 19 ~
“Hey guys. Come here, and look at this.” Don had the large screen TV on in the main room. “I found a station that works, and it’s showing the asteroid.”
The entire population of the cave ran into the room to stare at the white fiery object heading to earth. A male announcer wearing a military uniform was speaking in German, on a split screen.
“What’s he saying, Irma?” Ralph asked. Her grandmother was from Germany, and Irma was quite fluent in the language.
“He is telling where it’s going to impact. The calculations are for North America,” Irma replied.
“Well if that sucker is that big and that close, we should be able to see it,” Cord said. “I’m going topside and see if I can locate the SOB. Stephan, do you remember where the telescope is stored?”
“I do. Come on, guys,” Mike yelled as he bolted from the room with the twins in hot pursuit.
“I’m going to raise the periscope,” Cord told Stephan. “Need to see if it will work, anyhow. This is as good a time as any for a check.”
Laughing, Stephan just shook his head. “Yep. You of all people trying to find a bogus rock.”
“The periscope does clear the top of the mountain, and we should have a clear view of the heavens. Sure hope it works. You comin'?” Cord was already in the control room, heading for the panel to hit the button.
By the time Stephan and Ralph entered the room, the device was down from the ceiling, and Cord’s eyes were glued to the viewer. He walked slowly around a complete 360 and was grinning. “Beautiful out there . . . and no sign of a rock.”
Alice walked up with a book in her hand. “You won’t see a ‘white fiery rock’ because asteroids are just a chunk of rock until they hit our atmosphere. This picture and text proves the video on the TV is a pure fake.”
“Aw shucks, does that mean we can’t take the telescope out tonight?” Mike asked from the door.
“No, we’ll go out for a bit and try it out,” Stephan answered, reaching out and slapping Mike on the back.
“I’ll watch the monitors and listen to the static on the short wave. You all go out and enjoy the night air,” Ralph stated as he maneuvered over to the chair and clumsily sat down using one foot. He propped his crutches against the console in arms reach. “One of you guys better take a radio in case I see or hear something.”
An hour passed before the kids set the telescope up in a clear area on the south side of the pasture. There, they had 180-degrees of viewing, if not more. The mountain blocked the other area. “Sure wish we had this up on top of the peak,” Don said. “Bet we could really see from up there.”
The rest of the kids and the three women came out of the cave but stayed near the porch of the house. At least they were out of the cave and enjoying the evening and the stars. Crickets and other night insects sang their songs.
“Get that torn down, and everyone get back inside. I forgot about the satellites spotting us. I was so excited it slipped my mind,” Stephan ordered.
“Well we got to be out for a few glorious minutes,” Susan sighed as she re-entered the tunnel.
~~~
The thirteenth day arrived, and the earth shook. The German announcer said several large earthquakes with a magnitude of 10+ had occurred on the Ring of Fire, and reports of other major quakes were still coming in from other areas of the world.
~~~
In the Chalet, Abdul Mohammad basked in glory as his fellow cohorts saluted him for a job well done. “The tectonic plates needed a good shake,” he announced. “By God, the equipment worked just as it was supposed to!”
“The fun is over for now, my friends. We shall enjoy the sunsets out on the terrace, and let the world recover as best it can.” Jarmain boasted. “And hopefully, three quarters of the population is dead. The survivors will be filled with fear, waiting for tomorrow”
~~~
“Stephan clicked on the stereo and blasted the kids out of bed with Robin Williams shouting out, “Good Morning Viet Nam.”
“You’re going to have them gang up on you in your sleep yet,” Cord chuckled. “Remember, Don and Dan are pretty damned big guys.”
Ralph laughed loudly. It was the first time he’d witnessed the morning ritual of waking the kids with the intercom. “That’s better than reveille,” he managed to blurt out between fits of laughter.
“Someone is dead meat,” shouted a male voice in a bedroom. Soon the kids began straggling out of their rooms, heading to the bathroom and giving drop-dead looks at the three men laughing in the doorway of the control room.
The men bowed back to them and retreated behind a quickly closed door as the kids grabbed pillows from the sofas to hurl at them.
“Ah yes, so nice to be loved and appreciated,” Stephan chuckled.
They were still chuckling a few minutes later when the mountain shook. The lights blinked and swung back and forth from the ceiling. The earth rumbled and growled as it tossed the cave dwellers to the floor. Everyone screamed, praying the ceiling wouldn’t collapse. The quake lasted but 30 seconds, yet it was the longest 30 seconds of their lives.
“Is everyone okay?” shouted the men in unison.
Linda screamed. She’d removed her hand from her head, and it was covered with blood. Susan ran to her, parting the hair, and discovered a long gash, which would need stitches. She’d fallen and hit her head on the sharp corner of a table next to the sofa. Susan hustled Linda to the kitchen table and picked up an overturned folding chair for Linda to sit on, then ran for the first aid supply box. No one else seemed to be hurt other than scrapes and bruises.
Cord shouted to Stephan and Ralph, “We’d better check out all the escape tunnels and the lower levels.”
Ralph, hobbled toward the panels in the control room. “I’ll check the equipment and see if everything still works.”
“All you gals check every nook and cranny on this floor. Mike, you take Simon and Phillip, check out the lower level, and make sure everything is okay. Don, you come with me, and Dan, you go with Cord. We’ll split up and inspect the tunnels. I’ll look at the one with the vent. Cord, you check the long one in the opposite direction. When we return, we’ll inspect the escape tunnels to the house and barn. Make sure you take radios, high beam flashlights, and rope. We don’t know what’s happened, so be prepared. Sing out if you see anything that needs our immediate attention.”
/> Within an hour, all the scouts had returned. “Well, the mouth is completely caved in. Probably a landslide covered it,” Cord reported. “Other than that, the main tunnel is fine. What did you find, Stephan?”
“The tunnel is fine and open. The hot water has disappeared from the pool, so I’d say the vent has either been closed off, or shifted to another area. Mike, how’s the second level?”
“It’s okay, I guess. But it’s a big mess. Boxes and stuff scattered around, but I didn’t see any cracks or cave-ins.”
“Great. Susan, Alice, Irma, anything to report on this level,” Stephan asked. “Oh, yeah, how is Linda’s noggin?”
“Everything seems fine here. Linda received eight stitches. She’ll be fine,” Susan answered. “All the girls are pretty shook up, though. Scared to death, actually.”
“My chickens lost a few feathers and probably won’t lay eggs for a month,” Alice commented. “Brittany has Sweet Pea in her room with her.”
“Ralph, how’s the equipment?”
“It all checks out. Thank God, no problems showing up yet,” he answered. “The periscope’s working just fine, but man, there’s a lot of landslides out there, and trees down all over the place.”
“Thanks. Okay guys, split up. Let’s look at the other two tunnels.” Stephan ordered.
“Wow, what a mess,” Stephan stated a few minutes later when he opened the door from the tunnel leading into the house. “The entire house is in the basement.” He and the boys managed to move enough timber to make a clear path to the stairs. There they could crawl up and out. Once in the open, Stephan said, “Not good, but it’s better than no route at all.”
Patriots Awakening Page 22
