Radioactive and The Decay Dystopian Super Boxset- A Dirty Bomb and Nuclear Blast Prepper Tale of Survival (20 page)

Chapter Two

“It just won’t hold a charge. Don’t know what the hell’s wrong with it,” the elderly customer said.

From behind the counter, Paul held the man’s iPad and scrolled through its various settings. “This isn’t all too uncommon with these models. You might need a new battery,” he said.

“A new battery?” the old man replied. “I’ve only had the thing for two months. It was a gift. My daughter’s idea of a joke. I barely know how to use the thing.”

Paul checked the battery usage, as well as the screen display options. Everything was set to its normal factory settings. However, it was low on power, just as the old man said. “I’ll need to reset the tablet first. If the problem persists, then my next suggestion would be to send it back to the manufacturer for a replacement model.”

The old man wasn’t pleased.

“I don’t want to ship it back. That’s why I came to you. Can’t you fix it? Can’t you do anything?”

Paul took a calm breath.

“Of course I can, sir. I’m going to do a system reset and then—”

“I’m a seventy-seven year old man. I don’t have time to be messing around with this nonsense.”

“I understand. It’s hard to say exactly what the problem is, but if you would like I could order a new battery or send it back to the manufacturer for you myself.”

The old man tapped the glass counter with his index finger. “I don’t know. Seems expensive. How long would it take?”

“Two to three weeks,” Paul answered.

“I could be dead by then! Why don’t you just put a new battery in there and we’ll call it even?”

“I’m afraid it’s not that easy. It could be a problem with the battery. Or it could be several internal issues.”

The old man leaned forward and placed his hands on the iPad. “You’re just not speaking my language, son. I’ll give it back to my daughter. Maybe she can fix it.”

He took the iPad from Paul with little resistance. It was almost time to close up shop for the day and Paul didn’t feel like haggling. He liked to choose his battles carefully. There was no doubt in his mind that he could have convinced the old man to leave the tablet, but he wanted to close shop. He would make up for it tomorrow. It seemed that the clientele of Beech Creek were similar in both age and frustration with technology, but who could blame them?

“Tell her to bring it in to me if she needs any help,” Paul said.

“Sure, I’ll tell her,” the old man said sarcastically. “She lives in the UK so you might be waiting a while. Maybe she can have the Queen of England drop it off.”

The old man laughed.

“She moved there to be with her new husband. He’s a funny looking kid. Can’t believe she married a Brit. My daughter, marrying a Brit.”

Paul nodded politely. His customer snapped out of his thoughts for a moment.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Thanks for your time.”

He grabbed his green cap resting on the counter and walked away with the iPad.

“Not a problem, sir. Feel free to bring it back anytime,” Paul said.

The old man swung the glass door open, sounding a chime from a small bell dangling on its frame. He shuffled outside towards his Cadillac parked on the side of the road. Paul looked at the clock on the wall. It was five ‘till four. He had lost track of time, which often happened at the end of the day when his mind wandered. He walked to the door and flipped the hanging sign to read “Closed.”

The “Tech Stop” was a small building tucked between other small buildings along Beech Creek’s downtown business district. The shop had two employees, Paul and the owner, Bill. Paul more-or-less ran the store as Bill’s presence became less frequent throughout the months. Bill’s wife was struggling with breast cancer. She needed round-the-clock care, which had gotten quite expensive. As a result, Bill became his wife’s surrogate caretaker and Paul the surrogate owner. He assured Bill that the store was in good hands, but could not--in good conscience--guarantee that the business would remain solvent financially. That remained to be seen. Their prospects were linked to the good people of Beech Creek and their faulty electronics.

Paul closed the blinds and turned off the lights, not before nearly forgetting his cell phone and jacket. He was a little behind schedule and certain that Julie would be waiting for him at school, noticeably irritated. Even with the pressing time, Paul took a moment to observe the empty store. He did this usually at the end of the work week. On any given day, things were quiet. Customers would bring in their broken laptops, cell phones, tablets, or other electronics and Paul would do his best to fix them. Technology was always changing, and Paul, an educated man in his thirties, had to do his best to keep up with it.

The front counter had a glass display stocked with cell phone covers, chargers, and accessories. The corner room behind the counter was used for repairs. It was also a handy break room. To the left of the counter were a couple of waiting chairs, some magazines, and a gum ball machine. Paul wasn’t sure how old the gum was, but he found himself digging for a quarter every now and then.

“And
this
is my life now,” Paul said, taking a final look around the shop before leaving. Saying those words had also become a weekly routine. He picked up his cell phone from its resting spot near the cash register and read the display.

1 Missed Call

Paul worried at the thought of it being Julie, but shrugged it off. “She’s just a kid,” he thought. The missed call was from his wife, Samantha, identified in his phone as “Sam.” His thumb slid across its touch screen and redialed the number. Samantha answered.

“Hey, ‘bout time you called me back,” she said.

“Sorry about that, it’s been a mad house. Fridays are no joke,” Paul said, pacing around the store in a circle.

“Oh yeah? I bet,” Samantha said with a laugh.

“So what’s up? How’s the convention?” Paul asked.

“It’s good. We’ve been here all day. I’m really tired. Can’t wait to call it a day,” Samantha said. She held the phone tightly to her ear walking along the inside of the vast and bustling convention center. She turned from a crowd of people and entered a nearby hall to better hear Paul.

“I’m glad things are going well out there,” Paul said.

“It sounds like you have something on your mind,” Samantha said.

“No, not really. I mean you get a weekend in Denver, and I get, you know, a weekend here.”

“Did you remember to pick up Julie?”

“I’m about to do that now,” Paul said grabbing his jacket.

“Better hurry, you don’t want to keep her waiting too long. She’ll never let you live it down.”

“That’s not funny, Sam, because that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

“Just take it easy and I’ll be back on Monday,” Samantha said. A co-worker signaled to her from in front of their expo booth. She straightened her company polo shirt and took a quick look at her Motorola employee badge that hung around her neck.

Paul held open the entrance door, ready to lock up.

“I was just thinking earlier, you know, about what we had talked about.” Paul paused.

He didn’t hear anything on the other line.

“You still there?” he asked.

“Sorry, I’m still here,” Samantha said, distracted. “They’re just calling me back to our booth.”

“I was just saying that I’ve been thinking about it, and if it’s something you want to do--if it’s something you’re ready for--then I’m ready for it too.”

A bright smile came to Samantha’s face. “Do you mean it?” she asked.

“Of course I mean it,” Paul said.

“I’m so glad to hear that. You have no idea how relieved I am.”

“I mean, it’s a big step, but you’re right, it’s now or never.”

A man at the Motorola booth waved Samantha over again.

“Listen, honey, I’ve got to go.”

“That’s fine. I know you’re busy. Don’t worry about us this weekend, we’ll be fine.”

“Okay. Gotta go, I love you.”

“Love you too,” Paul said.

Samantha hung up and strolled back to her expo booth. A small team of college kids in their twenties wearing Motorola shirts gathered around her.

“Alright everyone,” she said. “We have an hour remaining. Let’s give it our best. Don’t forget about the contact information.”

The team, all holding clipboards, nodded and listened attentively.

“After we’re done, we can all grab a drink afterwards.”

The team smiled.

“You buying?” a boy who looked to be a freshman in college asked.

“The first round, sure,” Samantha said.

The group dispersed in different directions in their quest to spread the benefits of Motorola’s latest technology. Samantha brushed her dark shoulder-length hair back behind her ears. She had recently got it cut, and wasn’t used to the shorter length. Her hair was a dark brown, nearly black. Her Japanese American features were alluring to the casual eye, and it was hard for some to place a specific ethnicity by her appearance alone.

Paul said that she was beautiful, though he had said it less and less as the years went by. He insisted that the compliment wasn’t hyperbole, but scientific fact. The first time was on their date, and it was evident through the times that she caught Paul staring at her in wonder, even after their marriage. Throughout the years, she had to admit that he constantly made her feel special. Now there was the notion of having another child; a thought both exalting and terrifying.

“He’s okay with it,” she said with a breath of relief.

Paul locked the front door to the shop from the outside. He zipped his jacket up. Though sunny, it was chilly for September. The other neighboring shops were closing for the day, as they generally did on Friday afternoons. While shop owners closed their doors, local pubs opened theirs. It was the time of day where they set up tables and chairs on the patio areas outside, in anticipation of happy hour. The roads through town were moderately busy; full of tired commuters trying to get home. Paul’s four-door Volkswagen Passat was parked in a nearby lot designated for the local shops. Paul walked down the sidewalk feeling oddly content with the day, as if a good mood had momentarily passed through him. Maybe it was because it was the weekend. Of course, he would be working tomorrow, probably the busiest day of the week, but he could never feel bad about a Saturday--working or not. It was just a good day of the week.

For the past year, the old town had meant doom to him. He hated having to come back there. To live there. To raise a family there. But this weekend, he thought, all of those thoughts were going to go away. It could have had something to do with the interview he had earlier in the week with an out-of-state IT firm, or it could have had something to do with his and Samantha’s decision to have another child. Their first child. True, there was Julie, but she was Samantha’s daughter from her last relationship. Their next child would be his own, if everything worked out okay. He worried about the complications Samantha had told him she had with Julie.

From across the street, two men dressed in dark, three-piece suits sat on the front patio of a coffee shop sipping lattes. They appeared glaringly out-of-state to any resident of Beech Creek. One of the men donned a silver goatee, sunglasses, and fedora hat. He watched Paul walk down the sidewalk to his car. He then signaled his associate--a built and stocky man wearing a similar suit, minus the hat.

“I think that’s our boy,” he said, nodding his head towards Paul’s direction.

“Ready whenever you are,” the big associate said back.

“Just remember, it’s a tightly-knit town. Everyone knows everyone around here.”

With that, the two men sipped their lattes, set their cups down, and stood up. Goatee man tossed a few bucks on the table and they were off.

Paul pushed the button on his key to remotely unlock the driver’s side door. He heard the “click” of the automatic locks. As he opened the door, he sensed someone standing behind him, and turned to be met by the goatee man and his large associate standing by. Paul jumped.

“Wow, you scared the crap out of me. Can I help you?” Paul asked, with a tinge of annoyance to his tone.

“Sorry there, friend, didn’t mean to startle you,” goatee man said with a smile. His eyes were concealed by the dark lenses of his sunglasses. “Maybe you can help us. Are you William Hoffman?”

Paul examined the two men carefully. Maybe they were friends of Bill’s. Maybe even family. They looked to Paul as if they were going to a funeral. Regardless, he didn’t like the air of shadiness they exuded.

“Who wants to know?” he asked.

Goatee man offered Paul a handshake to which he mildly reciprocated.

“Where are my manners?” the man asked. “I’m Edwin, this is my associate, Greg.”

“What can I do for you gentlemen?” Paul asked.

“We’re looking for William Hoffman,” Edwin answered.

Paul rested his arm against the driver’s side door, ready to enter the car. “Bill Hoffman? That’s my boss. He’s not here right now.”