“Yeah, I heard. It’s the only thing on the telly. On every channel. I think it’s the last newscast any of us will see. No more Andy Griffith, but at least there’s one good thing that’ll come from all of this. No more bloody reality television.”
The sadness in his eyes made Cassie wonder if she’d misjudged this man all along. Maybe he was far more harmless than she’d ever believed.
She swallowed hard around the lump in her throat. “I’ll miss Andy Griffith.”
Dougray chuckled softly. “I wasn’t supposed to fly home for another two weeks. I just tried calling my family in Scotland. My old dad and my brother. Couldn’t get through. Too many calls being made now.”
Cassie couldn’t argue with his pessimism. She remembered her family, her father and mother. Would she get to talk with them again? The lump floating around in her throat grew larger until she heaved a huge breath.
Before she could speak, Dougray continued with, “Where’s your hero?”
Although she had an idea who he meant, Cassie didn’t like his sarcasm. “Who?”
Dougray leaned against the door jam and crossed his arms. “The marine. Smart ass and know-it-all.”
Griff appeared around the corner not far from the Scot.
Smiling, Penny chuckled. “Right behind you, sport.”
Dougray’s eyes popped with surprise as he swung around and met Griff head on. Griff’s expression said he’d heard a good part of the discussion.
“I suppose you heard that,” McPhee said.
“I did. And I don’t give a rat’s ass, McPhee. What I want to know is if you can stick around and be of any help.”
McPhee’s eyes narrowed as he stood taller. “Help with what?”
“You know anything about surviving in the wilderness? If and when the grid goes down, we’ll be in a world of hurt.”
Dougray snapped a nod. “Yeah. But I’m not staying here.”
“You can’t get back to Scotland now. The airlines will shut down. Nothing’s going to be moving much even before the EMP hits,” Griff said.
“I’m not trying to return to Scotland. I’m going to the house on the hill.” Dougray lowered his voice. “You know. The one you keep going to because you’re curious.”
“That place we were talking about the other day?” Penny asked, her gaze swinging to Griff and Cassie. “You’ve all visited it?”
Cassie confirmed for the woman. “Yes.”
Alarmed entered Penny’s eyes. “Do you know how dangerous that is?”
“Initially we didn’t.” Griff moved farther into the room and came to stand by Cassie. “But we’ve started to.”
“I’ve heard all the stories. It’s not a concern to me because I will find out what happened to my sister.” Dougray didn’t look worried.
As much as she didn’t like Dougray, she had to admire his loyalty to finding his sister. “We’ve got some new information you’ll want.” In quick fashion she told Penny and Dougray what the mechanic had told Griff and the other things that had happened to them in the house.
“Stay away, Dougray.” Cassie made an emphatic gesture. “It isn’t safe. We aren’t going there again.”
“Everything she say true?” Dougray asked Griff in a gruff voice.
Cassie wanted to punch him in the mouth for asking Griff.
“Yes.” Griff glanced at Cassie. “Every damn bit of it.”
“Wow.” Penny’s mouth dropped open, the dazed look on her face signaling her shock.
Dougray didn’t seem surprised. “Thanks for letting me know. But it isn’t going to deter me from my goal.”
Griff said, “You didn’t answer my earlier question. Do you have survival training, or was that all bullshit you used to get laid?”
Dougray planted his hands on his hips. “A little of both. I was in the Royal Marines. So yeah. I learned survival. I’m still not staying.”
Cassie was caught between exasperation and amazement. “Penny will need help. We can’t leave her alone to face this.”
Tears shimmered in Penny’s eyes. “Don’t you all worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
McPhee moved toward the back door where everyone else had left. “I’ve gotta go. Hope to see you all later. But I have things to do.”
“Putz.” Griff grunted the insult after the other man was out of earshot.
Cassie laughed, knowing there wasn’t really any humor to find in the situation.
“Come on,” Griff said. “We’ve got plans to make.”
“What do we do first?” Penny asked.
“Unplug everything electronic we can find. Is anyone left in the hotel?”
Penny leaned against a stainless steel counter, her face filled with apprehension and exhaustion. “Other than the ones who haven’t come back to the hotel yet, no. That’s only three individuals.”
“Okay. Let’s get cracking then. We have a hell of a lot to do. After that we’ll head to Mr. Tracy’s for a visit.”
Penny’s face eased into resolve. “I’ll start by going room to room and unplugging everything.”
After Penny left, Griff reached for the cell phone in his pocket. “We need to try and call our families. Right now before we can’t get through.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.” Her voice rushed out, suddenly breathless as she took off her backpack laid it on the counter. She rummaged and found her cell phone.
She tried but couldn’t get through to her parents. The numbers always busy. Disappointment and fear strangled her words. She couldn’t even speak for the moment, afraid she’d cry.
“It’s okay.” Griff rubbed her back again, his own phone held up to his ear. His expression eased into relief as he made contact with someone. “Diane. Hey. Yeah I’ve heard. You guys okay? He’s there? Good. You guys already know what to do to stay safe, don’t you?” Griff’s often stern face softened. His eyes closed. “Yeah. I know. Hey, it’s all right. It’s going to be all right. No, I’m staying here. I won’t be able to make it out there in time. Yeah, my car could make it but there’s the danger that everything will go to shit and being out on the road right now isn’t a good idea. We’ll be safe here.” He opened his eyes and caught Cassie’s gaze. “Yeah. There’s some people here that might need my help.” He listened for a moment and then snorted a soft laugh. “I guess not everything Dad taught us was shit, eh? I’d better go.” His voice went rougher, deeper with emotion. “Yeah. Love you, too, sis. I’ll talk to you again as soon as I can. If the cell phone service and land lines go down and I can’t contact you for a while, there’s something I want you to know. I’ll get to you guys eventually. When I think it’s safe. Yeah. Okay. Bye.”
When his eyes caught hers again, Cassie saw the deep concern there. That he’d admitted concern and love to his sister and family touched her deeply. Maybe there was more emotional possibility to Neal Griffin than she’d guessed.
“Is your family all right?” she asked.
“Yeah. They’re holding it together. Diane knows what she needs to do. Her husband will work to try and keep the peace and that’s worrying her more than anything.”
“So your sister knows about survival? Just like you do?”
“Yeah.”
She tried her cell again but no luck. “Lines are busy. Everyone in California and Aspen has a cell phone. They’re probably all making appointments with their therapists.” He grinned but she continued. “As for survival techniques, I don’t think my parents will be any better at this than I am.” Her stomach felt tight with nausea and fear. “I’m a babe in the woods and the vultures are circling.”
“Bull,” he said sharply. “The woman I know has a lot of guts. Where is this doubt coming from?”
A little pissed at herself for showing vulnerability, she gestured with both hands. “In case you haven’t heard, the world is going to hell.”
“Nah.” One side of his mouth tipped up. “It’s going to be a friggin’ mess for a long time if this all flushes into the toi
let. But it isn’t the end of the world.” Griff cupped her face in one hand. “Listen to me. We’re going to be all right. From this point forward, we’re stuck like glue to each other.”
She twisted her fingers in his shirt. She flooded with a safe feeling, momentarily forgetting the danger that lurked outside in the world.
The other part of her needed to know why he wanted her this close. “Why?”
“People do weird assed things when disasters strike, and this one has the potential to go south fast. Every woman will be vulnerable to predator types. I want you safe.” Before she could agree to his assertion, he pressed a quick, hard kiss on her lips and released her. “Come on. We have a lot of work to do.”
Cassie wondered if his sister Diane’s knowledge of surviving when the world threatened to come to an end had something to do with the past he wouldn’t reveal. Although curiosity ate her alive, he was right. Before shit hit the fan, they had more preparations to make.
* * *
Cassie wasn’t surprised by Mr. Tracy’s automobile business—it looked like others she’d known growing up. It was old-fashioned and greasy but from the conversation Mr. Tracy was having with Griff, it was plain the older man knew his stuff. They stood in the actual garage area where Mr. Tracy had an old station wagon with the hood up. They’d driven through town and already seen the edge of panic in the way people moved through the streets. Grocery stores already packed to overflowing. It looked like that was where most people had gone first when they heard about the solar event. Dozens of cars had parked in front of the usually calm and quiet sheriff’s department building. Nothing had happened to their world yet, but people already caused danger, despair and chaos preparing for what might happen.
Cassie’s nerves pinged and jumped, as if her instincts told her something would happen soon enough, and she didn’t know if she’d be ready for it.
The old man was rattling on, and Cassie guessed that Griff already knew at least half of what the mechanic told him.
“If this thing comes to pass,” the old man said, “They say most cars and light trucks will still move, steer and stop. Ten percent might stall but would restart just by recycling the ignition key. There will probably be weird things happen to the dashboard.” The old guy patted the hood of the Charger. “The points on this would probably fry, so you’ll want a new set that you keep in a shielded container. You’d probably need a new ignition coil as well as starter, alternator and generator. Best case, you have new points, condenser, coil, starter, alternator and battery in an EMP proof container and just take a couple of hours to install them. Oh, and I can’t believe I forgot. It makes sense to unplug the battery.”
Griff rubbed his chin, obviously in full planning mode. “Let’s do it before this event happens. If you’ve got all that, I’ll take it. The fun part is going to be finding some place to put it and keep it safe from the EMP.”
“I’m using a big ol’ metal trash can. You got anything like that around the resort?”
Griff nodded. “Yeah. I’ll see what I can do with some trash cans.”
After they’d paid the old mechanic and piled the stuff in the trunk, Mr. Tracy looked at them both with sad eyes. “What the all Billy hell is the world coming to?”
“Nothing that it hasn’t come to before,” Griff said. “Just different players, different times. This has happened in the past. Just not when we relied on so many electronics to keep us afloat.” Cassie and Griff got back into the Charger, and Griff asked, “You going to be all right here?”
Mr. Tracy almost looked affronted by the question. “Hell yes. My wife and I built a bunker a long time ago out back with everything we need. You’re welcome to come here and wait it out with us if you like. We made sure we have room for several friends. They’re coming over today. We can fit in at least two more.”
“That’s a very nice offer,” Cassie said, half wondering if it wasn’t a good idea.
“We’ll be fine.” Griff’s voice sounded sure and firm.
As they headed back through town, Cassie glanced over at Griff and saw grim determination lined into his face. “Maybe the bunker is a good idea.”
“Not necessarily. Mr. Tracy seems like good people, but I’ve run into quite a few guys like him. Sometimes they have a few too many back-asswards ideas for me.”
Her eyebrows went up. She knew what he meant. “You don’t trust that everyone in his bunker will be good people.”
“Yep.”
“So we should rely on our own wits.”
“Yes.”
On the way through the small town they encountered a big traffic jam.
“Crap. I should have gone down a side street.” Griff shifted his hands on the steering wheel, his gaze darting from here to there almost as if he expected a particular threat.
“I’ll be all right,” she said.
Wow, here I am reassuring him when I’m not certain it’s going to be all right.
It took them a while to wend their way through a few side streets before they reached the road back to the resort. Once they parked in the back, he transferred the parts to a huge metal trash can they discovered at the back of the resort. He kept the trash can in a secluded area and rigged it as a large Faraday cage which would hopefully deflect EMP. After she’d helped him, they pushed the trash can into an alcove away from the Charger. They didn’t want anyone to know what was in the trash can or for someone to try to use it.
They met up with Penny in the lobby, telling her what they had planned with the Charger.
Cassie quickly discovered that preparing for an EMP took a lot knowledge. Griff explained both to Cassie and Penny the different methods they might need in the near future to make sure they had a fresh supply of water. The amount of information Griff had was staggering. How to purify the water and store it became a priority. Chemicals, in some case, could be used to make safe water, as well as other strange methods Cassie found fascinating such as making a beer can into a water purification device or making your own solar water distiller.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that,” Griff had said.
Making fire in case they needed it for cooking food, sterilizing water and other possibilities was discussed next. Without heat the next few days, they’d be in a world of hurt unless they wore a lot of clothing all the time.
Evening came and Griff, Cassie and Penny carried flashlights with them everywhere. Penny stayed at the front desk in case the three individuals who remained paying guests returned to the hotel. A few of the guests who’d left earlier in the day hadn’t paid when they’d rushed away in panic. Cassie had already moved into his room. She held on to her phone in case her parents called. They hadn’t. Every time she tried to contact them, she’d received a busy signal. Griff managed to get an email through to his office telling them he’d be at the hotel beyond his normal vacation time to help out local law enforcement if he was needed.
As she stood at the front door of the hotel, she didn’t hear one sound except for trees rustling in the wind. Very little traffic moved on the street. The world had gone a bit quiet. Waiting. Waiting for things to change.
She took a deep breath and tried to calm her stomach. This wasn’t the same thing as the tsunami. Then there had been no warning. But as she was disappointed in herself. She’d battled that week in Thailand when she’d wondered if she’d ever leave the country alive. She’d survived, and now this disaster was coming. In Thailand she’d escaped the water, but this time she couldn’t escape the solar flare. No one could.
In the background that damned television rattled on about the end of the world. She hated it, but she didn’t feel right telling Penny to turn it off. If any useful information came from the news media it would be unusual. Even when the world already fell into panic mode, they couldn’t seem to stick to the facts and help people. They still tried to get ratings when soon they might not even be on the air again.
“There should have been a way to foresee this,” Penny said.
Cassie wasn’t sure she’d heard the woman correctly. “What?”
“The authorities. They could have thought of something to stop this.”
Cassie’s mouth popped open. Even though she’d heard Penny say few odd things, this statement gave Cassie pause. “How could they have done that? It’s the sun.”
Penny placed her hands on her hips and put on a stubborn look. “The government had to know this was coming beforehand.”
Cassie didn’t want to deal with irrationality, and her ability to feel compassion for oddity was running low. “Our technology gives us a little time to know this is coming but not much. But we can’t control what the sun does. The sun does what it wants when it wants.”
“The government is there to protect us. To make sure something horrible like this is taken care of.”
Cassie’s eyebrows went up as she tried to remind herself the woman might be cracking a little under the strain. “The government couldn’t tell that far ahead when this would happen. Like they said, it could be three days. At least that’s given us some time.”
Cassie thought about explaining to Penny that things could be worse, but Penny continued her doom-laden scenario.
“Mr. Dranage from the fire department was here earlier talking to Griff. Griff seemed to know more about surviving Armageddon than Mr. Dranage. Why do you suppose that is?” Penny asked.
Cassie wondered at the woman’s odd line of questioning but answered anyway. “Griff was a marine and he’s law enforcement. They learn a lot about that sort of thing.”
Penny’s frown grew deeper. “I suppose.” She sighed. “I’m sorry I brought it up. You seem angry.”
Cassie turned back to the star-filled sky. “I’m just a bit on edge. We all are.”
Penny stood next to her and watched the night sky as well. “Me, too.”
“You haven’t heard from your son?”
“Not a word.” Penny stuffed her hands into the pockets of her khaki pants. “I’m trying not to worry but it’s hard.” Penny’s face lightened up considerably. “Griff was so nice making that report for me to the sheriff’s department. I mean, I know he couldn’t make it official and Benson could turn up any time. Griff is just so nice.”
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