by Eric Vall
“How do we know the size exactly?” Anna asked, her voice confused.
“Come here,” Tara sighed, and we all gathered around the platinum blonde.
She had the girls each hold out their fingers, then she told them which of their fingers were a size six and to make sure that the rings fit on those in order for them to fit on Betty’s ring finger.
“You’re incredibly good at this,” Bailey said after Tara had finished.
“Thanks,” the platinum blonde said with a grin.
I went to stand guard by the door while the girls looked through the jewelry, but every so often I’d look back to check on them, and I found each of them at their own station with rings set out in front of them. They all were taking this incredibly seriously, it seemed. I saw them try on the rings, look at them from all angles, and compare some together to determine which was better. I knew all of them loved Betty, but I didn’t think the old woman would care too much either way. Marriage was more about the person you were entering it with than it was about the ring itself. But then again, I’d never been married so I couldn’t exactly testify to anything specific about it.
Along with telling the girls which fingers to use as a size guard, Tara had limited them each to three options, which was why everyone was being so incredibly picky. She said that too many choices would make it impossible, they needed to have just enough.
Her logic made sense. A lot of times when people were pressured by looking through a bunch of choices it took them forever to decide if they were even able to. I’d found that having just a few choices was the easiest way to make a decision. I always thought that was the reason why men took less time to shop than women. Men went into the store with a purpose. If I needed jeans I would go to the jeans aisle, find my size, look through the options, and grab the one I liked. I didn’t dally and look at the khakis or the shorts. I got what I went there for. Women, though, I’d often seen them say they needed a shirt or skirt for an event, but once in the store they saw a dress they liked instead, or they’d need to find the right shoes after they found a top that didn’t match any shoes they had at home. I was always sure that there were plenty of shirts to choose from that would match a pair of shoes they already had, but I figured it was just an excuse to buy shoes, and who was I to stop them?
“Ready,” Paige said, and she came over to stand by me.
“Me too,” Kimmy agreed.
“You two have yours picked out?” I asked, surprised at how quick they’d been.
“Yup,” the brunette said, and she held out her palm so I could see the rings. They were all very classic diamond wedding rings, and they were all incredibly beautiful.
Kimmy held out her choices as well, and I was surprised to see that hers were a bit more modern looking. They had more square shaped diamonds whereas Paige’s were more oval or round. Both sets were gorgeous, and they each showed different aspects of the girls’ personalities.
“Got mine, too,” Bailey said as she walked over and held out her hand.
Bailey’s diamonds were exactly what I expected from Bailey. There was one that was a true diamond, then another that was yellow, and one that was a bright blue color. They were equally as lovely as the ones the other girls had picked out, and I smiled at my hippie girl and her unique choices.
Anna and Tara walked up then, and Tara looked over the rings that all the girls held out and nodded.
“Good job, ladies,” the platinum blonde said.
“Let’s see yours,” Bailey said with a smile.
Tara held out her palm to reveal three incredibly intricate and dainty diamond rings. They had more details on the bands than any of the others had so far, and the diamonds were a bit larger than some of the others, but they were absolutely stunning.
“Wow,” Kimmy breathed. “They’re beautiful.”
“Thanks,” Tara said, and she turned to Anna. “Let’s see.”
“Alright,” Anna said with an eye roll, and she held her hand out.
In the redhead’s hand were a beautiful diamond encrusted ruby, a dark banded white diamond, and a large diamond with a gold band.
“I’m impressed,” Tara said, and she looked at Anna with a show of respect.
“Um, thanks,” the redhead chuckled.
“Are we all done?” I asked.
“Almost,” Tara said, and she held out a velvet jewelry pouch and had all the girls drop their rings in. “Now we’re done.”
“Good,” I said with a smile.
We hurried back to the jeep and piled in, then we continued on our way to the radio station. The girls were obviously happy to have the rings picked out. They all sat with small smiles on their faces as they looked out the windows.
The day had definitely heated up by then, and I felt a bead of sweat form on my forehead. I was glad that I had chosen shorts and a tank top to wear. I couldn’t deal with shirts with sleeves on them, not in this kind of weather. And honestly, if we didn’t have to worry about using the water from Otter Creek or the stream to keep the water going to the dorms and the farm, then I’d have suggested we go swimming when we got home. As it was, that was definitely not an option, so we would just have to make do with the heat for a while.
As we drove, I contemplated what we’d say on the broadcast. It needed to be just right so that we could see how these people would react. It was strange to think that there might be a group of people close enough to reach us through the radio without us knowing about them.
I didn’t like the idea of it, but without modern communication there really was no way to know if anybody was around unless you went looking for them. We had no idea that there were hillbillies in the woods until they brought themselves to our attention, but otherwise we could have all lived that close to each other without ever running into one another.
“Turn right up here,” Paige directed, and I turned down a small road in a little town that led up a hill toward the mountain. Through the trees, I could see some metal poking out, and it looked like there was a roof of a building as well.
“I think I see it,” I said.
“Yeah, it’s just up here,” the brunette agreed. “Not too far.”
“So are we going to have to leave the solar panel here?” Anna asked.
“We might,” Kimmy said. “It depends on if I can take some of the equipment with us or not.”
“What do you mean?” Paige asked.
“If I can take the equipment to broadcast, then we should be able to broadcast from home as long as I can get everything set up correctly,” Kimmy said. “But sometimes it’s more easily said than done. Especially in a place like this that was built to broadcast.”
“Oh, so some of the equipment might be, like, built into the building?” Paige questioned.
“Right,” the dark skinned beauty agreed. “We’ll see when we get there.”
“It’d be nice if we could broadcast from home,” Anna said.
“Yes, it would,” Kimmy agreed. “I’m hoping they have all the right equipment and it’s available. But we brought the solar panel to hook things up and make sure they work. There’s no point in bringing home faulty equipment.”
“Good call,” I told her. I didn’t know anything about this kind of stuff. I could use a radio, but other than splicing wires I wasn’t really educated about electronics and how they worked. I’d always focused more on tactical things like guns and knives. I could explain how a shotgun was able to fire, but I had no idea how a TV displayed a picture.
I saw a worn down sign up ahead that said ‘96.7 BYMW - The Flash’, and I turned down the road that it sat in front of. It wasn’t long until we arrived at a brick building with a large tower behind it, and several others that sat on top of the building itself.
“I’m supposing this is it,” I said as we all stepped out of the jeep.
“Yup,” Paige agreed as she looked around.
The grass and shrubs were overgrown. Even in the parking lot area some random weeds had managed
to get through the concrete, and the place looked dingy and dusty as if nobody had been there in years.
“None of the windows look busted,” Anna remarked.
“You’re right,” I agreed. “That might be a good sign.”
“Let’s see if the door is unlocked,” Tara said, and she walked up the small sidewalk to the double glass doors at the front of the building. The platinum blonde yanked on one, then the other, but neither budged.
“Alright,” I said. “Let’s get in there and clear the place.”
Even though the doors were locked, I wasn’t willing to take the chance that nobody was in there when we could easily be sure with a quick sweep of the area. You never knew who might be hiding someplace, and this would be a good place to shack up if danger hit suddenly. There wasn’t much in the way of sleeping quarters and food, I was sure, but there would be running water, and the place probably even had its own well and septic system since it was a ways away from town. You could easily hunt in the woods, and if you were careful, you could find a way to heat the inside without smoking yourself out.
Besides, who knew if there had been a janitor or something stuck up here when the EMP hit. They’d have no way to get home without walking, and if they knew how to trap or hunt, then they could stay here indefinitely as long as they were able to get water. I wouldn’t risk finding out the hard way that someone lived here.
I grabbed my rifle from the back of the jeep, and all the girls lined up behind me as I stood in front of the doors. I used the butt end of my gun to break the glass on one of them, then I swung my rifle back over my shoulder and used my pistol to lead the way into the building.
The girls followed quickly behind, and since we’d cleared buildings so many times, I didn’t instruct them on which way to go. I flanked left and Anna went right behind me, there was no need for any sort of verbal communication, I just held my hand up in a fist when we were about to stop, or nodded in whichever direction I was headed.
The building had a huge open area when you first walked in with a reception desk and several chairs and couches for people to wait in. Further down there were several doors. Some of them were utility closets, but at the end of the hallway was an obvious broadcast room and two adjoining rooms with plexiglass between them. I assumed they were for guests, but I honestly couldn’t be sure.
After I was sure the place was clear, I hollered to the girls, and we all met in the large broadcast room.
“I’m guessing this is where you need to be?” I asked Kimmy.
“You’d be guessing right,” she replied with a smile.
“I’ll stay and help her with whatever she needs,” Paige offered.
“Great,” I agreed. “The rest of us will stand guard, but please come get us if you need help with anything.”
“We will,” Kimmy assured me. “There shouldn’t be anything too heavy, though.”
“Alright,” I said.
“I saw a ladder to the roof on the side of the building,” Bailey said.
“Of course you did,” Anna chuckled.
“What?” Bailey asked with a frown.
“Oh, nothing,” the redhead said, and she held up her hands, disappointed that she had hurt Bailey’s feelings. “I just meant that you’d be the first to spot the high ground since you’re our resident sniper.”
“Oh,” the blonde deadeye laughed. “I get it.”
“Let’s go,” I told them, and I started back toward the entrance of the building.
Once we were back outside we followed Bailey to the side of the building to an old ladder that led to the roof of the station. It was metal and seemed rather sturdy, far sturdier than some of the ones we’d seen in the past, and I felt confident as I followed the blonde’s cute butt all the way up to the top.
The roof was flat so that it was easily accessed considering there were a couple of little towers on it. I had no idea what any of the equipment was specifically used for, but I presumed it was all necessary in order to reach such a huge audience as radio stations did.
“I didn’t realize how high up we were until now,” Anna said as she looked out around us.
The redhead was right, we were definitely at a high elevation. The drive hadn’t been filled with too many hills, so I hadn’t realized just how much we’d climbed. But now that I looked out to the landscape around us it was clear that we were high up in the mountains, which made sense. We were here to visit a radio station after all.
I did a quick scan of the area nearest us, but I didn’t see any signs of anyone having been there.
“Hey, I wonder if we can see the campus,” Tara said, and she looked over the western edge of the wall.
“If we can, it won’t be over there,” Anna chuckled. “We need to look south.”
“Oops,” Tara giggled and followed Anna over to the south facing side of the building.
I walked over as well and peered out in that direction. I could see some of the small towns we’d passed through on the way, though they were shrouded by forest on all sides. The main road was fairly visible, though, and if I followed it down far enough I figured we might be able to see some of the campus, or at least the surrounding area.
“I don’t see it,” Tara pouted.
“Hang on,” Anna said, and she squinted as she looked forward. “Sometimes you have to really look.”
“Uh, hey guys,” Bailey’s voice came from behind us, and something about the way she spoke told me that she was unsure of something.
“What is it?” I asked, and I spun around to stare at the blonde.
“I think there’s a fire over there,” she said, and she pointed further north.
“What?” Anna asked, and she abandoned her mission to find the campus and followed me over to Bailey.
“Yeah, right over there,” the sniper said, and she pointed once more.
I squinted and followed her finger until a small black cloud in the distance came into sight. It was nearly hidden behind some trees, but it was clearly there, and just under it was a faint orange glow that was partially hidden by the sun. The thing was incredibly difficult to see from the distance we were at, but Bailey was nothing if not good at spotting far away targets.
“Where?” Tara asked.
“Right there,” I instructed with a point, but my mind was already racing with a slight panic at the fact that there was a forest fire so close to us.
“That little thing?” the blonde asked. “It’s tiny.”
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “It’s not.”
“What do you mean ‘no, it’s not’?” Anna asked, and she looked at me with emerald eyes filled with concern and hesitation.
“It’s quite a ways out,” I explained. “But it’s a lot larger than it looks from out here.”
“How far away do you think it is?” Tara asked.
“I can’t say for sure,” I answered.
“At least twenty miles, right?” Bailey asked, and she looked to me for affirmation.
“I’d say at least,” I agreed. The blonde was right. It wasn’t within a five mile radius, or even ten it looked like, but if we were able to see it from this far in the distance then that meant that it was much too large for comfort.
Fires were unpredictable, and with the way the heat was this summer, there was no way that it would let up on its own. It hadn’t rained in well over a month and there were no signs that it would anytime soon, especially with the rivers drying up.
I thought for a moment and wiped some sweat off my brow, but when I looked up I noticed a flock of birds headed south. If animals were fleeing the area then this was bad, really bad.
“We need to check this out,” I said.
“You think it’s that serious?” Anna asked in a low voice.
“I do,” I said, and I nodded up to the birds as they raced across the sky toward sanctuary.
Chapter 6
“The birds are fleeing from the fire?” Anna asked, and her eyes narrowed as she looked ou
t to them. “Are you sure?”
“It’s not the time of year for them to migrate south,” Bailey said, and she bit her lip. “They must be running from something.”
“We need to go check this out,” I repeated. “And we need to go soon.”
“Shit, okay,” Anna breathed. “Let’s go get Paige and Kimmy.”
I followed the redhead to the ladder, and we all hurried down, then back into the small building and to the back room where Paige and Kimmy were working.
“How close are you two to being done?” I asked as soon as I walked through the door.
“Uh, we’re pretty close,” Kimmy said, and she looked at me with round, panicked eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s a fire up north,” I explained. “We need to go check it out.”
“Can you give me five minutes?” the dark skinned beauty asked.
“You got it,” I agreed.
“We’ll be out soon,” Kimmy said, and she immediately went back to the strange box and the wires that sat in her lap.
I was almost surprised that she hadn’t questioned me further, but I suppose the authority and distress in my voice had been enough to make her see how serious of a situation this was.
If this fire was as large as I suspected, then we could be in serious danger, and not just us personally, but our home and our livelihoods. The fire could move toward us quickly depending on how the wind blew, and with the amount of forest that surrounded us, there was nothing in the way to stop the fire from raging and growing even larger.
Most fire trucks were newer models as well, and even if there was a way to fix one so that we could possibly attempt to put the thing out, there would be no time to get it done. We were on our own here, and that was a scary thought.
It wasn’t until something like this happened that you really saw the breakdown in society. Whenever you saw a large fire before, you would automatically assume that the firefighters were already there. If you waited long enough, you could probably see a chopper, plane, and engines head that way, but with everything as it was, that just wasn’t an option anymore. Your first thought had to be about yourself and your home and what to do to handle the situation. There was nobody else to rely on.
