The return of her uncle was a huge surprise. Honestly, she’d assumed he was dead.
He’d just come into her room again, after having stepped outside with Jim.
“You don’t smell like alcohol,” said Aly, not able to contain the surprise in her voice.
Her uncle Jordan laughed. His open mouth was full of food. He had a couple packets of crackers that he was jamming into his mouth as fast as he could.
“Careful,” said Aly. “We don’t have an endless supply of those, you know.”
“I haven’t eaten in days,” said Jordan. “I’m about to pass out from hunger.”
“Did you quit drinking or something? You don’t sound drunk.”
“Something like that,” said Jordan, shrugging his shoulders. “You know how it goes.”
“I don’t,” said Aly, her voice sounding harsh.
But she didn’t blame herself. Jordan had been nothing but a problem for her family since she could remember. They’d been so many frantic midnight phone calls, so many trips to the emergency room. So many family crises that never seemed to resolve, no matter how much effort her mother and father put in. More than she could count.
Aly watched from her bed as her uncle put his muddy shoes up on the edge of the bed, instantly dirtying the sheets with mud and filth.
“Make yourself comfortable, why don’t you?” said Aly.
“Hey, it’s my house,” said Jordan.
“What, are you going to kick us out?”
“Well, your husband keeps talking about some kind of apocalypse thing. So I don’t think I can in these circumstances.”
“But you would otherwise?”
“What difference does it make?” said Jordan, his mouth still full of crackers.
There were cuts and scrapes on his face. There was dirt in his overgrown hair.
He looked disgusting.
“Why don’t you go take a bath in the lake or something?” said Aly.
“The lake? I think I’ll take a shower, like a normal person.”
“Maybe you didn’t catch on yet, but nothing works.”
“The shower doesn’t work?”
Aly shook her head.
There was silence in the room for a few moments.
“How’s your mother doing?” said Jordan. “I kept meaning to call her…”
“She’s dead,” said Aly.
“Dead?”
Aly said nothing. She’d already told him. She didn’t see the need to keep repeating herself.
“Wow,” said Jordan.
A man appeared in the doorway. He wore a cop uniform.
“You got any more of that beef jerky here?” he said. His mouth was also full. It looked like sardines, maybe.
Aly just looked at her uncle for an explanation.
What was that guy doing, eating all their food? A complete stranger.
If she’d been feeling more like herself, she would have done something about it.
But each new worrying thought seemed to make her feel weaker. She didn’t, after all, think that she could even get out of bed.
“That’s Andy. He’s going to be staying with us,” said Jordan. “I already talked to your husband about it.”
“And he was OK with it?”
Jordan nodded. “Well, not really. But it’s my house.”
“What about the jerky?” said Andy.
Aly shook her head. “We’ve got to save that,” she said. “We’re on tight rations. We don’t just go eating everything in sight when we feel like it. It’s not like we’re going to get that food again.”
“Lighten up,” said Jordan. “We’re both starving. What? You want us to drop dead?”
“Where’s Jim?”
Jordan shrugged. “I don’t know. Went off to talk to some RV people or something.”
“Well,” said Aly, after a long pause. “You know, I didn’t really expect to see you again.”
“I’ve always been the black sheep of the family. Your mother always treated me like dirt.”
“That’s not true…” said Aly, interrupting him.
But he continued. “But keep in mind. This is my house. You’re my guest here. So things are going to go the way I want them to go. And I say that our guest here, this valiant policeman, well, he can eat as much as he wants.”
“But you don’t even understand what’s going on,” said Aly.
She started to explain about the EMP, about how everything was down. All the systems.
“Everything?”
“Yeah,” said Aly. “It was hard for me to believe at first, too. But that’s the way it is.”
“I’m sure it’ll all come back on,” said her uncle.
“That way of thinking is going to get us killed,” said Aly. “If things keep sliding in the direction they’ve been sliding, we’re going to be lucky to be alive. And we can’t expect the power to suddenly come back on.”
“I don’t know,” said Jordan. “Things always have a way of working out.”
“That kind of attitude could be the death of us all.”
“You sound so much like your mother.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing,” said Aly.
“I don’t mean to interrupt this little family drama,” said Andy the cop. “But what’s been going on around here? The lake, I mean. It was crazy back in Rochester. I barely got out alive.”
“Why aren’t you with the force there?” said Aly.
He waved his hand. “It’s a long story,” he said. “For another time. Tell me what’s been going on here.”
Aly told him briefly about the Carpenters, how she’d been shot, and the battle that had taken place with them.
“And nothing else happened? No one else is around here? No gangs? No police?”
Aly shook her head. “We’ve been lucky so far.”
“Hey!” shouted a male voice from outside the bedroom.
Aly heard the front door squeaking on its hinges. It took her a second to realize it was Rob’s voice.
“Rob?” she called out.
Rob appeared in the doorway, sweating from head to toe. His hair, a little longer than he normally kept it, was drenched and plastered against his forehead. In another context, his appearance would have been funny.
But now, it made her heart leap with fear.
“What is it?” she said.
All heads were turned, facing Rob.
“There’s someone out there,” he said. “Someone with a gun.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. Where’s Jim? And Jessica?”
“They’re off to investigate some RV thing.”
“Shit,” muttered Rob.
“Well,” said Jordan, standing up and tapping Andy the cop on the arm. “You’re the cop. Why don’t you get out there and see what’s going on? Give him your gun, Rob.”
Rob shook his head. “No way,” he said.
“Well, how’s he going to defend us without a sidearm? As I understand it, his was taken in the line of duty.”
“Uh, that’s right,” said Andy, looking nervous. “Look, I don’t think going out there in uniform is the best approach. Maybe he’ll just leave.”
“What?” said Jordan. “What happened to bravery and all that? Bravery in the line of fire?”
“Well, it’s just that…”
There was a loud knock at the door.
“Anyone in there?” came a rough, male voice.
“He’s here,” whispered Rob.
Jordan didn’t sound nervous. He wasn’t talking like he was nervous, but when Aly glanced at him, she saw that he was sweating. Beads of perspiration had accumulated on his brow. And his hand, which he was trying to conceal close to his body, was shaking almost violently.
“I’ll deal with this,” said Rob, taking a deep breath and turning back around to head out of the room.
6
Jim
Jim didn’t want to approach them with a gun drawn. For all he knew, they weren’t violen
t people and weren’t armed themselves. And if that was the case, the presence of a gun might cause them to become fretful. And even violent.
No, it was better to try the peaceful approach first.
He knew he was taking a risk approaching them like this. It was just him against a group of an untold number.
But at least he was just risking himself.
Then again, if something happened to him, it’d put the rest of the lake house group, his wife included, at greater risk.
He sighed. Everything seemed wrong, no matter how he looked at it.
He tried not to think about Aly’s uncle and the new cop stranger. It was strange. A strange situation, and the more he thought about it, the more he didn’t like it.
He’d have to do something. Think of something. Come up with some plan.
But he’d worry about that later.
Up ahead, he could see the RV folks more clearly. It looked like they were setting up a grill.
They didn’t look dangerous. One of the men wore shorts and boat shoes. He looked like a guy on vacation.
If there hadn’t been the EMP, it would have looked totally normal. Just some friends with some RVs gathering around a nice lake for a cookout.
But that’s not the way things were.
“Hey there,” shouted Jim, when he was within earshot of the RVs.
He waved his hand. A big wave. Trying to make it look as friendly as he could.
He didn’t want to catch them off guard.
Everyone stopped what they were doing.
Jim held both hands up in the air, trying to show that he wasn’t holding a weapon. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
It took them a long moment to respond. All of the men and women seemed to look to one man who was taller than the rest, as if he was the leader. He had short, close-cropped hair on the sides, and was bald on top. He was clean-shaven, wore flip-flops and a polo shirt along with khaki shorts. He looked like he might have worked at a bank or a credit union, or even in one of the financial institutions on Wall Street.
The tall man stepped away from the grill that he was setting up and beckoned Jim to come over with a wave of his hand.
“What can I do for you?” said the man.
The others parted as Jim approached. They stood around the tall man and Jim in a semi-circle.
It seemed like a strange question, given the circumstances.
“I saw your RVs approaching from my house,” said Jim. “And since it seemed like you were setting up camp, I just thought I’d come by and see…”
“And see what our intentions were?” said the man, with a slight frown.
“Basically,” said Jim. “Don’t take it the wrong way. But you never know who’s going to be peaceful and who isn’t.”
The man nodded, as if he was deep in thought. “Well,” he said. “What can I say? We’re in the same boat as everyone else.”
“Were you on vacation when it happened?” said Jim.
“Yeah, a summer thing for folks with RVs.”
“Where were you?”
“Up in Canada.”
“And what’s happening up there? We haven’t had any news of the outside world at all.”
“It’s the same everywhere, from what we’ve seen. We kept away from the cities. But there are people everywhere, stragglers, wandering the roads. People in distress. People in bad shape. All sorts of injuries. Starvation.”
“Any sign of the police? Of the National Guard? Or whatever Canada’s equivalent is?”
The man shook his head. “Nope,” he said. “Nothing.”
“And what’s your plan?” said Jim.
“Well, basically to stay here. We can fish here and it’s relatively peaceful. I’m assuming that’s why you chose this spot as well.”
“Well, that and we already had a house here.”
“I figure there’s plenty of fish for all of us,” said the man.
“Yeah,” said Jim. “It’s a big lake. The thing I’m worried about is others coming. People who are less friendly. Did you run into anyone like that?”
“Well, we’ve been driving around the country for years. We know the area well, and we stayed out of the trouble spots. But we heard rumors.”
“Rumors of what?”
“Gangs, basically. Criminal organizations taking hold. Controlling the remaining resources.”
Jim nodded. “The cities are going to be a disaster.”
“It’s not just the cities. It’s all over. They’re spreading out.”
“Hey,” said Jim, switching tracks. “I guess you managed to get fuel for your RVs?”
The man nodded. “My friend over there is a very clever engineer. Worked for a top firm in Canada. He rigged up a hand-crank pump that could get the fuel up from the tanks in the ground. But…”
“But what?”
“It was getting too dangerous.”
“Too dangerous just being out there, on the road?”
“Well, that, and the gas stations were getting dangerous. Plenty of people hanging around, either trying to loot the stores or just trying to rob and kill those who came by looking for gas.”
“So there are plenty of vehicles still working on the road?”
“Enough,” said the man. “I’d guess about ten percent.”
Jim nodded.
Things were looking good, as far as Jim was concerned. This man seemed reasonable, and he didn’t seem prone to violence. It seemed like he had a good head on his shoulders. For now, he was a source of good information about the outside world. Maybe later, they could team up and work together to survive.
“I’m Jim, by the way,” said Jim.
“Liam.”
They shook hands.
“So,” said Liam, his tone of voice changing. “Are you here with anyone?”
Jim didn’t know what to make of the question. Had the man spotted Jessica?
Liam seemed to sense his confusion, starting to speak again, to explain further. “I just mean—are you married?”
“Uh,” said Jim. “Yeah.” It seemed like a strange question. “Why are you asking?”
“Well, what I didn’t mention before is that the reason we meet up every summer in Canada is that we’re all members of a special organization.”
“A special organization?”
“Yeah, I won’t bore you with the name. It’s just an acronym for a long-complicated term. But what it boils down to is that we’re all swingers. And we meet up in the summer to swap partners in the wilderness, away from prying eyes.”
“Uh, OK,” said Jim. “I mean, good to know, I guess.”
Swinging wasn’t something Jim was into. It seemed a little strange. But as far as he was concerned, it wasn’t really any of his business how these people managed their love lives.
Jim found himself looking around at all the people who were gathered around himself and Liam. He hadn’t noticed before, but they were an equal number of men and women. The men, for the most part, had their arms possessively draped over the women who were presumably their partners.
They were all attractive individuals, athletically built.
“You see,” said Liam. “I’m a professor. Or I was, I suppose that’s all over with now. And my partner and I don’t get to practice our… hobby… as much as we’d like to during the school year. So every summer we like to let loose and go a little crazy, if you know what I mean...”
“That’s great,” said Jim, cutting him short. “But what does this have to do with me?”
“Oh,” said Liam, attempting to sound like he was making an off-hand comment. “I just thought now that society has collapsed, or is collapsing, or whatever, someone like you might want to join in the fun. You and your wife, I mean.”
“No thanks,” said Jim.
Liam wasn’t paying attention, however. He was looking behind Jim at something else.
Jim turned around to see what it was.
It was Jessica, strolling towards them.
<
br /> Jim wasn’t in the habit of looking at other women. His wife, in his eyes, was the most attractive woman he’d ever seen. And he didn’t buy into the axiom of “looking never hurt anyone.”
But from an objective standpoint, Jessica was an extremely attractive young woman. With the extreme food rationing, she’d slimmed down even more, but still managed to retain her curves.
Her hips were wide and her whole body seemed athletic and purposeful.
“Is this your wife?” said Liam, his voice low and strange sounding. The sound of it alone gave Jim the creeps.
Jim didn’t like the vibes he was getting from Liam.
“No.”
All the men and women surrounding Jim and Liam had turned their attention to Jessica.
“Everything OK?” said Jessica, her rifle in her hands. She came up and stood next to Jim.
“I think so,” said Jim.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” said Liam, reaching out his hand. “I was just inviting your friend here to participate in one of our parties.”
“Parties?” said Jessica, looking at Liam’s hand with a confused look on her face. Eventually, she extended her own hand.
Instead of shaking it, Liam took her hand in both of his, and bent down and kissed it gently.
“Watch it,” said Jessica, pulling her hand away.
“I was just telling your friend Jim here that with the world ending and everything, we’re just looking to have some fun. Worship the bacchanalians while Rome burns in the background.”
Jessica shot Jim a confused look.
“We’ve got to be going,” said Jim.
“Not just yet,” said Liam, taking a couple steps forward so that he stood close to Jessica.
He reached out and put his hand on her thigh, just resting it there awkwardly.
But his hand was only there for mere seconds before Jessica grabbed his wrist. She pushed it off of her leg roughly.
And she didn’t stop there.
Her hand formed into a tight fist, she swung her arm out hard and fast. Her fist collided with Liam’s face.
He stumbled back, but didn’t fall.
“Well, well, you’re a sassy one,” he said, as he fished into his pocket for a handkerchief that he held against his mouth.
Blood appeared on his lip.
Jessica was standing there, her hand inching towards her Glock’s holster. There was fire in her eyes and an intense expression on her face.
Final Panic: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller (Surviving Book 2) Page 3
