Reckoning ~ Indian Hill 2 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (16 page)

Although the president survived in an underground bunker in Maryland, nothing that even closely resembled the United States government survived. Most of the Senate and House members had been in Washington debating about how the troops should be dispersed. Few had been outside of the city limits when the barrage began. For days, news stations desperately tried to get back on the air. Radio was first, and the news was not good. The devastation had been as widespread globally as it had been locally. Those with short wave radios contacted every corner of the globe to discover all the grisly facts.

Russia had been the last country to check in, suffering the most damage. Short wave radios had been banned for decades in that country. News that filtered out had been of the nineteenth century type, refugees fleeing on horseback. The bombing of Japan had been particularly crippling. The bombs not only raining their devastation from above, they also weakened the already unstable tectonic plates that lay beneath Japan’s islands. Nationwide earthquakes measuring in the sevens and eights paralyzed any type of rescue effort by what remained of the local authorities.

China had attempted to send some rescue boats over to their ailing neighbor but they were lost in port to one of the many tsunamis that were spawned from the shifting globe. What remained of Oahu after its numerous military bases were permanently disabled was completely obliterated to the incoming walls of water. Most of the islands in the Pacific rim suffered similar fates.

Another ten percent of the global population lost their lives in those chaotic first days after the aerial invasion. Some from shock, especially the elderly and the young who suffered with no one to care for them. A lot died in the ensuing panic that arose from the chaos of not knowing what was happening and not having anybody in charge.

Most people began to look out only for themselves. Altruism was at an all time low. People shot each other for fresh produce. It was the lawless, wild west of the 1800s again, only on a much wider scale. Communities raced to establish some sort of control, before the human condition degenerated any further. National governments had quickly become neighborhood principalities. Governments were established on a street-by-street basis. Each street became responsible for its own borders. Neighbors who lived just one street over were now unwelcome in what had once been their community mere days previous. Supermarkets became forts. Whole towns moved into
them, sleeping and living in the aisles.

Outsiders who strayed too close were usually welcomed with a warning shot; but if they persisted, they became casualties. There had even been organized attacks by the have-nots on the haves. Previous friends and neighbors savagely fought for Ding Dongs and Rice Krispies. But it was a matter of survival. Those in the store might survive, while those outside would probably starve. Better to die quickly by the bullet, than to slowly starve to death.

Chapter 26

And through it all, the aliens watched and waited. They had witnessed this countless times on all sorts of worlds. The initial collapses of the governments inevitably led to the downward spiral of the entire civilization. The inhabitants would become so disillusioned with life that they almost wept in relief when the conquerors reappeared. At least, these invaders might be able to restore order to their world. It was a tactic that had been employed for millennia with unprecedented results and Interim Supreme Commander Kuvlar saw no reason to change his tactics now.

Just a few more weeks, the ISC thought to himself. He wanted to make sure that the little infestations would be soft and ripe for the picking. He could not afford to have the same casualty rate on the ground troops that he had suffered in the air raids. If he lost troops at that rate, he would have to launch his planet-killing agents, which would do his career no good at all. The powers that be did not like having to wait before they could inhabit a planet. Not to mention, rebuilding a planet without slave labor would make colonizing that much more difficult.

Chapter 27

“Girls, we’re going to have to leave here soon,” Deb’s father reiterated. It was something that he had been vocalizing more often over the past few days. They all knew the arguments for leaving, but nobody desired to abandon their safe refuge and check on the brave new world. “We’ve only got enough food for another week, and even with some serious rationing, we only have enough water for half that.”

“Hon, we know that,” Deb’s mother chimed in. She seemed to be suffering the most from this assault. The constant shivering from the cold and shock were wasting her already thin frame away.

“Dad, where will we go?” Deb asked meekly. Beth, for once, remained neutral. She also saw the need to leave but had become mighty comfortable in her new confines.

“Well, the supermarket first, and possibly a sporting goods store for some outdoor gear and rifles.” With the last word, he looked over at his wife of twenty-three years. She had been anti-gun from the day he met her. Now, however, she didn’t so much as bat an eye when he spoke of getting some firearms. “That is, of course, if there is anything left.”

Deb was about to ask what he meant by that, and then figured that there probably had been a serious run on all types of commodities. She could even picture people looting Best Buy for televisions. Not that they would do anybody any good right now. She knew, from poking her head out the hatch from time to time, that nobody had power, at least as far as she could see. If it weren’t for her father’s generator, they wouldn’t even have the single hundred watt bulb in the center of the ceiling lit. It didn’t matter to her that the thing flickered like a far-off star. It was still light, and it did wonders to calm her soul. The things we humans take for granted, she thought. More than once she had to remind herself that that her favorite television show wasn’t on, and more than likely, never would be again.

Suddenly, Beth rose from the shadows of the far wall. She looked like she had steeled her resolve or at least tin-foiled it.

“Your dad’s right, Deb, we have to get out of here; if only to see what is going on with the world. We might be able to help some people. At the very least, we’ll be able to help ourselves. I’m with you, Mr. Carody.”

Mr. Carody smiled. “I don’t mean you girls, not right away anyway. I want to go out and get a feel for what is going on.” At that, Mrs. Carody leaped to her feet.

“You can’t leave us here alone, James!” Her voice was quavering.

“Hon, I wouldn’t feel right taking all of you out. It might be dangerous,” he said tenderly.

“All the more reason to take us,” she begged. “We could help you.” He looked at her, wondering what she could possibly do. She looked like she would faint if a dog farted too close to her.

“I appreciate the sentiment, I really do. But I think it would be best if I went out and checked on things first.”

“James, we’ve been married for twenty-three years. If you go out that hatch, I’m going with you.” James had seen that look and stance in his wife only twice. Once, when she wanted to have a baby and he disagreed. The second time was when she told him that she wanted him to start attending church. He had always been adamantly against both, but she stood her ground and ultimately wore him down. Deb and his devout faith in Christianity were proof of that.

He didn’t feel it prudent to be worn down this time. She would stick to her guns like a pit-bull on a mailman’s genitalia. Who knows? Maybe she could help. He didn’t think so but it helped him ease his mind.

“Alright we’ll leave in the morning.” He told her, she looked more like a kid that was promised a trip to the toy store than a woman who may have just signed her own death warrant. Deb had been about to raise her protests at staying when her father threw up one finger.

“Don’t even start, Deborah Anne. I’m already risking enough taking your mother along. I have no desire to put your life in danger also.” Deb knew better than to argue when her father pulled out the middle name. He rarely used it and when he did, he generally meant business. Fine, she thought to herself, there are ways around that. Beth stood meekly, not really knowing what to say, for one of the rare occasions in her life.

The night went by fairly uneventful except for the occasional far-off explosion. Deb could see the worry that lined her father’s face, but her mother still appeared to be reveling in her recent victory, if that’s what you’d call it.

James woke up early just as the sun began its ascent over the horizon. While everyone slept, he had contemplated taking off. But in all his years of marriage, he had never backed out of doing something once he told his wife he was going to do it. And the stubborn woman would probably try to follow him anyway. And the idea of her being alone out there sent shivers down his spine. He didn’t feel good about this upcoming adventure; it was more out of necessity than desire, and he would do everything in his power to protect his present family, Beth included.

James began to reflect on his father. Oh, how he wished that man were still alive. He was the type of man to tackle problems head on. No indecisiveness, whatsoever. He probably would have stuck the womenfolk in the storm cellar the first night and taken his shotgun to see what all the fuss was about. Yeah, Dad but these aren’t some crazy radicals with pistols, he thought before he gently awoke his wife who appeared to be a little confused as to her whereabouts.

“Hon, it’s time to go.”

“Uh?” his wife responded as she desperately tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes. “The girls?”

“Still asleep. I want to get out of here before they wake up. Maybe we’ll be back with potato chips before they even know we left.” James leaned over both girls and gave both of them a small kiss on the tops of their heads. As quietly as they could, they left their shelter, their home. James hoped that this wasn’t the last time he’d see it, but something in his gut just wasn’t sitting right. When the hatch latched shut, Deb’s eyes opened.

“Beth, you awake?” she whispered.

“I am now. What time is it?”

“It’s time to leave.”

“What? Your dad said that we should wait here for them to return.”

“Beth, I’ll go crazy if I have to sit in here waiting for them.”

“But won’t he be pissed if we just show up strolling next to him?”

“Yeah, he would. That’s why we’re going to follow them.”

“You’re crazy. But I’ll do it just to see if we can get some decent shampoo, and some feminine products.”

“I know what you mean. My dad stocked everything in here; but he was severely lacking when it came to women’s needs.” They laughed a little bit, but it was more of a nervous titter. Deb lifted the hatch door a fraction of an inch. She feared that her father might realize this ploy and wait for them to poke their heads out to chastise them. But her dad wasn’t there and neither was the 1979 Vista Cruiser station wagon. Her father preferred his small Toyota, but if he planned to get supplies, he would need something a little bigger.

“The generator must have drowned out the noise,” Deb said, a little louder than their previous whispering.

“Must have drowned out what noise?” Beth asked, two steps below Deb, and now starting to feel a little claustrophobic. That was crazy though, two people had left the small confine so it should now feel more spacious. The lack of souls was having the opposite effect.

“The car, they took the car.”

“How are we going to follow them now?” Beth asked. She felt conflicted between being relieved she didn’t have to leave; but desperate to escape the ever confining shelter. She would have bowled Deb over to get out, Deb, however, was already on the move, leaving the sanctity of their hovel. Beth was expecting the air to be immensely fresh when she made her first venture into the outdoors after more than a week. But the opposite was true.