by Mike Kraus
A small cornfield, a patch of green beans, plenty of squash and other assorted odds and ends would add another month or two to the stockpile, but Dianne got the feeling that she needed to be thinking long term when it came to planning. With it already being mid-September, she didn’t expect that they could grow anything else in the fields, but she started thinking about a project she and Rick had talked about a few years back.
Rick had always been a proponent of hydroponic gardening ever since he set up his first in their basement using a rubber tote container, an air pump, some grow lights and a few plastic nets and artificial dirt. The idea behind hydroponic gardening is that plants don’t need soil to grow—they only need light, food and water. By allowing their roots to grow in water that’s infused with nutrients and giving them plenty of light it’s possible to grow a lot of plants in a very small amount of space pretty much anywhere.
Dianne remembered Rick talking about commercial vegetable growing operations in places like warehouses in Manhattan and how he wanted to try and replicate something similar in their house or out in the barns so that they could give the soil a year or two off. He had purchased all of the necessary equipment and supplies but had never pursued it beyond that due to a lack of time.
“If he’s still got all the nutrients and everything out there I bet we can run the lights off the solar panels during the day and get a sizeable grow setup going in the basement.” Dianne furiously wrote down as much as she could remember about what Rick had described and set the idea aside for later perusal.
By the time she got done planning a few more things to do for the day, the three children came stumbling down the stairs and into the kitchen. Mark, the oldest, was still half-asleep though Josie was bouncing off of the walls while Jacob tried not to be annoyed by how much energy she had. “Mom, when is she going to stop waking up so early?”
“NEVER!” Josie yelled at Jacob as she raced around the table and collided into Dianne who was wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.
“Sorry, Jacob. She’s got a couple more years before she turns into the sleepy-headed monsters that are you and your brother.”
“Ugh.” Jacob’s response was echoed by Mark though they soon perked up once they started eating. Halfway through their meal Dianne laid out the day’s plans for them, adding on a few extra reminders at the end.
“Kids, I don’t want you to worry or panic about what’s going on. We’re going to be just fine and your dad’s going to be fine too, okay? I want you to remember, though, that there will be a lot of people who are really scared right now. They’re scared, they don’t know what to do and when they’re like that they can do things that aren’t so nice. We need to be extra careful and stick close to each other and watch out for each other. That means if we go out, we stick together and you guys do exactly what I tell you. And if we’re at home and you see anyone around the house I want you to come running to find me even if you know the person, okay? Mark, I’ll have more to talk about with you later, but for now you and Jacob need to get going and take care of your first assignments.”
The two boys nodded and ran out the back door of the house down towards the animals, already fighting over which assignments they were going to take for themselves. Josie was still munching on her food when Dianne raised her eyebrows and spoke to her. “As for you, I want you sticking to my side like glue. Got it?”
Josie nodded and grinned. “Like glue on your butt, mom!”
Dianne rolled her eyes and snorted. “Gee, I wonder who taught you that one. Come on, kiddo; let’s get the dishes done and then get the truck ready to go.”
As Josie got changed and ready to go, Dianne went upstairs and unlocked the gun vault in the master bedroom and pulled out a pair of rifles and several magazines of ammunition. She looked at the smaller of the two rifles hesitantly, not wanting to do what she was planning, but knowing that given the circumstances she would need to, despite the dangers involved.
Chapter 3
Las Vegas, NV
Rick Waters had never been to Las Vegas before, but he had read a few articles about it over the years that detailed the changes it had undergone. As the economy in the city shifted and the casinos began to see less and less business the famous strip had shrunk down to less than half of its size. The casinos and other companies that went out of business were demolished and turned into public parks as the city government tried to attract different types of tourists than those just looking to gamble their money away.
The lush green parks around the strip did their job though the increase in tourists never reached the levels it had been when the casinos were at their peak. The result was that, within ten years, the strip and the nearby University of Nevada were the only two places in the city that had any cash flowing to them. Most of the rest of the city devolved into low income areas dominated by gang activity and drug manufacturing, the latter of which helped to partially fuel the influx of tourists due to the state’s lax new drug enforcement laws.
The end result of the changes was that the city became more like something out of a movie about a dystopian wasteland than an actual American city. Driving through the city—unless you were coming directly from the airport or going directly back—was heavily discouraged and would easily result in an armed holdup or worse.
As the train of six school buses passed through the city, Rick’s nose was glued to the window as he watched the scenery pass by outside. If he hadn’t known a bit about the city he would have thought that he had gone to sleep and awakened a month later due to how bad the place looked. It’s like the end of the world’s already come for these people. Holy hell, how do they live like this? It looks like a favela in South America or something.
A pair of Humvees drove ahead of the buses and a single Humvee brought up the rear. All three had fifty caliber machine guns mounted on top and gunners swiveled the weapons in all directions, looking for any potential incoming threats. The rear Humvee was directly behind the bus that Rick was in and every time the guns pointed in his direction he flinched, wondering if they would misfire and send a hailstorm of lead through the back of the bus.
With only a handful of people in the bus, Rick left his two bags near the back and walked up to the front. He clung to one of the railings near the front of the bus and spoke to the driver who was a young man dressed in a military uniform.
“Hey, how long will the ride through the city take?”
The soldier glanced over at Rick before replying. “About half an hour, sir. I’m going to have to ask you to stay behind the yellow line, though, and remain seated.”
“Sure thing.” Rick sat down in the front row, put his arms on the railing in front of him and rested his chin on his forearms. “How many people have you brought through to Nellis?”
The soldier glanced at Rick again to make sure he was following the previous request before responding. “This is our third run.”
“Wow, that many already?”
“A lot of people have been coming out of the Los Angeles area.”
“I’ll bet. It was like a warzone there when I left. Can’t believe how bad it’s gotten.”
The soldier snorted and shook his head. “It’s worse in other places. It’s all that damned virus.”
Rick felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and he leaned forward in his seat. “Virus? An infection?”
“No, no.” The soldier laughed. “No zombies. I mean a computer virus. It was some kind of super virus. Wiped out the stock exchange, destroyed everyone’s cars. I heard that a few nukes blew up in their bunkers, too. That might be just rumor, though.”
“A computer virus did… all of this?” Rick shook his head. “That shouldn’t be possible for a virus to cause this level of damage. These are all systems running on different platforms with different code bases… there’s no way.”
The soldier shrugged and continued talking, warming up to Rick the more he spoke. “I’m just telling you what I’ve heard. It doesn�
�t seem possible to me, either, but that’s what they’ve told us.”
Rick was lost in thought and shook his head as he tried to wrap his mind around what the soldier was telling him. If it was true—and it was a big “if” in his opinion—then he was having a hard time imagining how such a virus could be created.
Rick was lost in his own thoughts when the bus lurched forward as the soldier hit the brakes. “What happened?” Rick barely caught himself from falling over and pulled himself up to his feet to see what was going on.
The soldier, meanwhile, was completely ignoring Rick and was instead speaking into a walkie-talkie he had pulled from his hip. “Three o’clock and nine o’clock? Roger that. We’ll follow you through on route Golf. Out.”
The buses ahead began turning off to the right, heading down a side street. Rick held on tightly to the railing in front of him as his bus did the same, and he questioned the soldier again. “What’s going on? Are we in trouble?”
“Sir, I’m going to need you to return to your seat.” The soldier’s voice was rigid again and Rick sensed that their few moments of casual conversation were over.
“Sure thing. Sorry about that.” Rick got up and walked to his seat in the back. The few people who were with him on the bus were all looking out the windows and their expressions ranged from exhaustion to fear. When Rick reached his seat the bus lurched again, taking a left down a side street without any warning. Rick was flung to the side and hit his head on the window before he managed to get back into his seat.
He gripped the metal bar on the seat in front of him as he glanced at his bags. Everything was still there aside from a few bottles of water that he had been forced to leave behind in the SUV, though he was worried about the rifle and shotgun in the gun case. The pistol he figured he could hide at the bottom of his backpack, but the long guns would be tough to get into the military base.
“Not that I really want to, mind you.” Rick mumbled to himself as he dug through his backpack and stuffed the pistol down inside. He had just finished sealing the bag again when the bus swung to the right, and the soldier driving the vehicle shouted from the front.
“Everyone, please get down onto the floor!” Gunfire from outside the vehicle punctuated the soldier’s words and everyone on the bus except Rick obeyed, ducking down onto the floor in front of their seats. Rick, on the other hand, kept turning his head around, trying to identify the source of the gunfire. As he did so he swung the backpack onto his back and strapped it on. He pulled the gun case onto his lap afterwards and checked to make sure that the hunting rifle was loaded.
Another turn and the gun case nearly slipped out of Rick’s hands, but he caught it before it hit the floor. Outside, behind the bus, the Humvee driving behind them swiveled its mounted machine gun off to the side and fired a burst at the edge of a building. Brick and mortar turned to dust as the bullets tore apart the building’s façade, though Rick couldn’t make out who or what they were firing at.
“Get your heads down!” The soldier screamed again and the bus lurched one more time. Instead of steadying and straightening out, though, it continued tipping over to the side. Screams came from the other passengers in the bus as it tipped over, slammed into the ground and proceeded to roll two full times. Rick did his best to hold on to the back of the seat in front of him but without any sort of a seatbelt in place there was little he could do to keep from tumbling along with the bus.
Rick yelped in pain as his chest, legs and arms hit the floor, side, ceiling and seats in the bus as it rolled. His backpack took the brunt of the abuse though, and he could hear the cracking and snapping of the food and water bottles as they broke open. The gun case slipped out of his hand on the last roll and went skidding down the bus which came to rest on its side.
Groans of pain came from down the length of the bus as Rick tried to pull himself up onto his hands and knees. Pain shot through both of his palms as he pressed them against the glass and twisted metal below him and he quickly stood to his feet. Pain shot through his chest and back as he stood, making him instantly regret the movement, and he doubled over, grabbing onto one of the seats next to him for support.
“Help…” The voice from behind Rick was soft and full of agony. He turned to see the soldier trying to pull himself along through the broken glass. Blood poured from wounds on his face and neck, and though Rick was no doctor he could see that the soldier was in rough shape. He hobbled along through the bus, cringing as he passed two of the other passengers whose necks were twisted into odd positions. When he reached the soldier he helped the man to his knees and looked him over.
“Where does it hurt?” Rick pulled off his backpack and dug through it. Pain lanced through his hands from cuts he suffered and blood stained the clothing and supplies, but he pushed through and grabbed a first aid kit. He had just pulled it out of his backpack when the sound of gunfire came from outside the bus. He instinctively ducked down, pushing the soldier backwards and falling on top of him.
“Where are you hurt?” Rick whispered to the man as the gunfire raged outside the bus. The soldier’s lips were white and his face pale. Though there was a lot of blood on his face and chest, Rick didn’t see any obvious arterial damage until he glanced down at the man’s pants. A jagged piece of metal broken off of the steering column of the bus was embedded in the man’s inner thigh and his entire pant leg was soaked with blood.
“Oh shit!” Rick fumbled with the first aid kit, his fingers bloody and slipping against the clasp. “Come on, dammit!” Gunfire continued to echo outside the bus from multiple directions as Rick pulled out a wad of gauze from the first aid kit and prepared to try and stop the bleeding.
“Get… moving.” The soldier grabbed Rick’s jacket and pulled him close. “Nellis is…northeast. Stay off… the strip.”
The soldier’s breath became rapid and Rick froze with the gauze in one hand, watching as the soldier’s life slipped away and he fell backwards, his body landing with a thud against the side of the bus.
“Is he dead?” A woman crawling out of the corner where she was lodged spoke softly as she watched Rick and the soldier. Rick turned and got up, stuffing the gauze and first aid kit back into his backpack. He held out a hand and helped the woman up before looking her over from head to toe for any obvious signs of injury.
“I think so. Are you okay, though?”
The woman felt her body, wincing as she pushed on her stomach. “It hurts some here. I hit the back of the seats pretty hard but I think I’m okay.” The woman pulled up her shirt and Rick could see the bruising already starting to appear on her abdomen. It was bad enough that Rick suspected she had suffered some internal bleeding, but it was impossible for him to know how bad it was.
“I think you’ll be fine.” Rick was lying through his teeth but he didn’t want to worry the woman. He was about to suggest that she stay still in the bus while he went out to look for help when a hailstorm of bullets tore through the bus, filling the interior with streams of light.
“What was that?” The woman’s eyes were wide and she clung to Rick’s arm, trying to get away from where the bullets had entered the bus.
“We need to get out of here right now!” Rick grabbed his backpack and put it on, then laboriously worked his way to the back of the bus and away from where the gunfire was coming from. As he went along he checked under every seat until, finally, he spotted what he was looking for. “There you are!” Rick leaned down and stretched, feeling the pain in his shoulder and upper arm as he grabbed his gun case and pulled it out from behind a seat where one of the straps was caught.
“Come on.” Rick looked back at the woman who was caught between looking at the bullet holes and the body of one of the other passengers who had died in the impact. “Come on, leave them. They’re already gone. We need to go. Maybe one of the Humvees is out there, or one of the buses.”
The woman didn’t respond until Rick tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and looked at him with wide, terrifie
d eyes and nodded slowly. Rick grabbed her hand and pulled her to the back of the bus as another burst of gunfire echoed from near the front of the bus. “I’m going to open the back door, then as soon as we get out we need to find some cover, okay?”
The woman nodded again. “Okay.” She whispered in response, her voice cracking as she struggled to cope with what was happening.
Rick turned the handle to the back of the bus and steeled himself for whatever was waiting outside. “Ready?” He whispered to the woman and held on to her hand. She nodded and he started his countdown.
“Three… two… one…”
Chapter 4
The Waters’ Homestead
Ellisville, VA
“Jacob, help your sister get in the car, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am. Wait… is that rifle for Mark?”
Dianne sighed as she looked at the gun in her left hand. Jacob had always been jealous that Mark was the first to learn how to shoot and she worried about Jacob’s overenthusiasm about weapons whenever they were out. “Sure is, kiddo. I’ll make sure you get a turn at some practice shooting in the next couple of days. Right now, though, this isn’t practice.”
“Is Mark gonna kill somebody?”
“No. I just need him to help protect us. With your dad gone on his trip and all of this crazy stuff going on all of you kids are having to pitch in more than ever. For you, that means I need your help with your sister and taking care of our animals. For Mark, that means today I need him to be like a grownup and help me out with some stuff.” Dianne smiled and ruffled Jacob’s hair. “You’ll be there before you know it, buddy. But please trust me—everything I’m asking you to do is stuff that we need done. Okay?”
