by Akart, Bobby
Levi was breathing heavily and barely opened his mouth as he spoke. “This damned guy jumped you.”
“I know. I know. But it’s over. Let him go.”
Levi gave one final squeeze and then slung the man face-first onto the wet gravel. Several people moved in to assist the man, but Levi took a step toward them with fire in his eyes. They immediately retreated and continued walking away from the hospital.
With Isabella guarding the truck, they topped off the tank and Levi strapped the empty can to the roof rack with bungee cords. Chapman took the wheel and Levi rode shotgun, wielding the AR-10 like one might use a car horn to warn off anyone who got close to their truck.
Slowly at first, Chapman pushed his way through the pedestrians to make his way out of Fort Wayne. People tried to stop the truck, begging for a ride as the driving rain made their walk all the more difficult. Several times, the truck was surrounded, and Levi was tempted to open the sunroof, rain notwithstanding, and shoot until the mass of humanity parted a path for their vehicle.
It took an hour to move five miles from where they’d parked to reach the outskirts of Fort Wayne. Once they passed the Fort Wayne Airport, they found County Road 1, which led due south toward Louisville. The tension in the truck eased, and the trio was able to breathe a collective sigh of relief, but still, none of them spoke as the reality of Squire’s death hit them once again.
For an hour, in a steady stream of traffic and continued heavy rainfall, they traveled along the back roads of Indiana. Chapman made a series of westerly turns and then returned to his route toward Corydon in order to avoid traffic buildup. He remarked about the amount of vehicular traffic on the road since gasoline was such a precious commodity, but it didn’t stimulate any conversation to take their minds off Squire.
Finally, Isabella touched on a subject to pique Chapman’s interest—the sudden outburst of rain. “Chapman, there were no conditions to generate this heavy rain. Do you agree?”
As was his habit, he leaned forward and studied the skies for the tenth time since they’d left the hospital. “I agree. This makes no sense. Unless…” His voice trailed off.
Even Levi, who’d been mourning and staring out the passenger window, mindlessly counting the power poles as Chapman drove, became interested in the conversation. He turned in his seat to face Chapman.
“The solar radiation?” said Isabella inquisitively.
“Yes.” Chapman loosened his grip on the steering wheel and exhaled. The opportunity to discuss weather and climate science took his mind off his father’s death for a moment, which was exactly what Isabella hoped for. The brothers needed a respite from their grief. Chapman continued and addressed Levi, discussing the science in layman’s terms.
“We all know about solar rays and the powerful impact they have on Earth. People don’t really think about cosmic rays, extremely fast-flying particles that travel throughout the cosmos, oftentimes originating from dying supernovae.
“These particles strike Earth’s atmosphere all the time and affect the cloud cover on our planet. By increasing cloud cover, sometimes in areas where clouds don’t usually gather, like deserts, the planet’s climate is directly affected.”
“Yeah, but it rains in Indiana,” said Levi. “We’re just long overdue.”
“That’s true, but storm systems develop, and in the Midwest, they are often brought to us by the jet stream. The problem is none of the conditions for this type of weather existed when we walked into that hospital.”
“Kinda like the freak blizzard that pounded our airplane in Canada before we crashed.”
Chapman snapped his head over to Levi. “What? You were in a plane crash?”
Levi nodded and dropped his chin to his chest. “Yeah. With all that’s happened, I haven’t been able to tell you what happened.”
Chapman closed his eyes and shook his head. He felt terrible. With his entire focus being on his father, he’d never bothered to ask Levi what had happened to him.
Levi recalled the events for Chapman and Isabella. Without going into gory detail, he took them through the weeklong hunting trip of horror in which the guys became the hunted. The three shed tears again as they mourned the loss of Karl and Eddie, and bawled as he explained why he’d saved the mother wolf’s family.
They turned their attention back to the rain, which was falling so hard that Chapman had to pull over to the side of the road several times because he couldn’t see. It was dark now and the traffic had dissipated. With no power, there was no ambient light or streetlights to guide him, and the lack of visibility was dangerous. The windshield wipers simply couldn’t keep up with the volumes of rain.
Unfortunately, the doctor’s words rang in Chapman’s head concerning the rapid decay of his father’s body. They weren’t in a position to stop for the night, so they pressed on. Slowly but surely.
Chapman explained further. “There is a direct correlation worldwide between solar activity and climate cycles, too. The sun plays a role as well as these cosmic rays in the cloud-seeding process.”
Isabella added, “When the cosmic rays are high, the climate gets colder. With the atmosphere weakened in some places, the cosmic rays will develop low cloud cover with heavy moisture content.”
“And not necessarily thunderstorms,” added Chapman. “Have you guys seen any lightning or heard thunder?”
“No,” replied Levi.
“Certainly, it can rain without lightning and thunder. However, this precipitation event built so quickly, it would result from a cold front, which almost always is associated with lightning activity at this time of year.”
“What does it all mean?” asked Levi.
Chapman responded, “You experienced it in Canada. A freak summer blizzard came about from the sudden drop in temperatures coupled with the low cloud cover filled with moisture. The combination of lack of visibility plus the pilot’s instruments being off-kilter due to the pole shift caused the crash.”
Isabella added, “The sudden rain will be seen elsewhere around the world. If the theories of Professor Svensmark are correct, the solar radiation and increased cloud cover will produce rains for an extended period of time.”
“Well, we need the rain,” quipped Levi, once again turning away to stare out his window into the darkness.
“Not like this, we don’t,” said Chapman with an ominous tone.
Chapter 18
Riverfront Farms
Southeast Indiana
Kristi and Tommy had taken the overnight watch again, alternating between riding the perimeter of Riverfront Farms and seeking cover from the torrents of water falling from the heavens. There was no escaping the moisture, and despite the fact they were dressed in hunting clothes provided by Carly, the two were shivering, as an unusual early September chill had settled in over the Ohio River.
Despite the rain pounding on the home’s metal roof, Sarah heard the four-wheeler’s approach. After a quick glance through the front windows, she scrambled to fix two insulated tumblers full of black coffee. She greeted them on the front porch just as the sun rose somewhere above the low cloud cover.
“Come on in!” she hollered as she raised the two tumblers. “Coffee and hot oatmeal awaits!”
Sarah had woken up in a jovial mood. The rain was ordinarily a godsend for farmers, and the Boones certainly prayed for it daily, especially during the drought.
“Good morning, Mom,” greeted Kristi, who bent forward to kiss her mother on the cheek.
Tommy helped Kristi remove her camouflage jacket, and then she shook off the rain. He did the same and hung them over a porch swing that faced the front yard. He accepted his coffee and a morning kiss on the cheek as well.
The two members of the night watch, soaked to the core, entered the Boones’ home to a fire and candles lit around the living area. Carly heard their arrival and offered them both towels to dry off. After the group topped off their coffees, they sat around the living room. Tommy and Kristi chose the hearth bot
h to warm up and dry off.
“The rain’s glorious, isn’t it?’ began Sarah. “I’m sure Squire will be relieved that it’s happening. We can replenish our groundwater while giving our fall plantings a nice start.”
Kristi sighed and made eye contact with Tommy. She reported what they’d learned overnight. “Mom, we’ve gotten a lot of rain, almost monsoonal. It never let up all night, and because the ground is so hard, there’s no place for it to go. Indian Creek has overflowed its banks, causing water to rush through the orchards. The river has gained, um, I don’t know, several feet since what I remember from the summer before last.”
Kristi paused and allowed Tommy to speak. “It’s been fourteen hours since the first drops fell and it’s shown no signs of letting up. I remember when this happened in Nebraska several years ago. It was months before the waters receded, and farmers lost a whole year of crops.”
Kristi added, “The creek is bringing with it lots of silt and mud into the area around the barnyard and those vegetable gardens. I think we’re gonna have to move the chickens, goats, and cows.”
Sarah began to nervously laugh. “Well, aren’t you two full of doom and gloom. We finally get some rain and y’all wanna let it rain on the party.”
“Mom, we just wanted to tell you—” Kristi tried to defend her report, but Sarah cut her off.
“Honey, I know. Listen, we’ve dealt with flooding before. Carly and I know what to do with the farm critters. As for the orchard, our bread and butter, it’s flooded before, and the waters always go down, eventually making their way to the river.”
Tommy stood as he finished his oatmeal. “I’m already wet, so let’s get started. Where do you want to move the chickens and other animals to?”
Sarah stood and took his bowl. “You two have been out all night. I want you to get some sleep, and don’t worry about a thing. Carly and I’ve got this, right, honey?”
“Yes, ma’am. Do you remember the year Levi and I got married? We were supposed to go on a honeymoon in the Ozarks and we had those spring floods.”
“Yep. Instead of consummatin’ your marriage, you helped me haul critters to higher ground.”
Carly laughed as she took Kristi’s empty bowl. “Oh, we consummated, don’t you worry about that!”
“Yeah, that beautiful young boy asleep in the other room is a testament to that. Now, let’s get to work, dear. I could use the fresh air and look forward to being sopping wet.”
Kristi and Tommy protested to no avail. Thirty minutes later, Sarah and Carly were sloshing through water puddles and laughing as they spewed mud in the air behind the side-by-side Polaris.
They gathered the eggs from the hens and then systematically loaded the chickens first since their pens were in the lowest-lying area. The Boones had several barns scattered about the farm. Some were better suited for the goats and cows, so the two women saved that more difficult task for later.
Sarah and Carly worked the farm every day, handling the same chores that Squire and Levi performed. There never was a division of responsibilities based upon gender, although the Boone women took on the additional task of managing the family’s pantry and cooking meals. They didn’t want to starve, after all.
Using calf halters, which fit their goats loosely, Sarah and Carly managed to transport their Nigerian Dwarf goats. Like the Alpine goats, they were one of the most prevalent dairy goats in Indiana.
Moving their Holstein dairy cows to higher ground would prove to be more of a challenge. The rain continued throughout the day, making it increasingly difficult to move the farm truck through the fields. On their last trip with half a dozen heifers in the transport trailer, they got stuck and were forced to lead the young female cows up the hill to an enclosure one at a time.
Once again employing the calf halters to lead the nearly eight-hundred-pound calves, the Boone women ignored their exhaustion and trudged through the muck created by their several trips with the livestock. Footing was becoming unstable, and at one point, Carly fell, allowing her calf to bound away.
Sarah noticed the mishap. “Do you need my help?” She paused to wait for Carly’s response. Her calf, the largest of the group, got confused. She suddenly turned toward the galloping young heifer and gave chase.
“Arrgggh!” shouted Sarah as she was pulled to the ground. The heifer ran, using her eight hundred pounds to drag the lightweight Sarah behind her. Sarah tried to stand, only to fall again. The rope twisted around her wrist, and as the heifer ran through the mud, it twisted Sarah’s arm back and forth.
Carly gave chase in an attempt to intercept the heifer as it headed toward the open field.
“Heeyah!” she shouted, forcing the heifer up an incline toward the cross-fencing that created a pen around the barn.
“I’m hung up!” shouted Sarah, desperately trying to pull herself up to regain her footing.
Carly slipped and then stood, racing as fast as she could after the galloping heifer. She was finally able to reach for the young cow’s halter and grab it, convincing her to halt.
The heifer immediately stopped to eat the wet grass while Sarah writhed in pain on the ground, covered in mud and grass. She pulled herself loose and sat up, holding her wrist, which bore deep red welts from where the rope had dug into her skin. She slowly rolled her wrist and wiggled it.
“Is it broken?” asked Carly, out of breath.
“No. Thank goodness it’s still attached.” Sarah looked over at the heifer, who was casually chewing her cud. “She was gonna drag me plum down to the river.”
Carly reached out to Sarah’s left hand and helped her off the ground. “Meet me at the barn. I’ll bring these last two and we’ll call it a day.”
“No arguments here,” said the sixty-year-old Sarah.
She trudged through the rain to the barn and awaited Carly. A few minutes later, all of the calves were accounted for and secured in the pen.
Once they were finished, they stood under the roof overhang against the side of the barn and looked down the gentle slope toward the Ohio River.
“That sounded like fun at first, right?” asked Sarah, who was panting in an attempt to catch her breath.
Carly was bent over at the waist, leaning with both hands on her knees. “Yeah. Maybe we should’ve taken them up on their offer to help.”
“They were exhausted and cold. We got it done.” Sarah stared toward the water and the county road that terminated near the edge. She raised her arm to point at it.
Carly nodded. “Yeah, I see it, too. The river’s almost up to the dead-end barrier.”
Sarah shook her head side to side. “No, that’s not what I mean. That’s a sheriff’s deputy again. Do you see the car parked near the clearing? What’s he doin’ there?”
Chapter 19
Mount Ascutney
South of Woodstock, Vermont
The Earth was a very different planet a few hundred million years ago, and Mount Ascutney, a thirty-two-hundred-foot-high monadnock in southern Vermont just south of the idyllic town of Woodstock, was far from the scenic destination it was now. A monadnock is an isolated hill or mountain of erosion-resistant granite rising above a relatively flat plain. The majority of these mountains located in the area of southern Vermont, western New Hampshire, and western Massachusetts had been formed during massive volcanic upheavals.
Mount Ascutney had withered over the millennia, but it still stood proud above the landscape and was a favorite destination of hikers, explorers, and geologists. It was not, however, your average mountain.
Over hundreds of thousands of years, a vast mass of hot rock had been building underneath this part of Vermont and extending into the subterranean regions below parts of New England. Prior to the intentional powering down of the nation’s electric supply and the revelation of the pole shift’s impact on the planet, geologists and volcanologists had descended upon this sparsely populated wilderness.
Working with the resources of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pas
adena, the USGS had installed a network of thousands of seismic measurement devices for many miles around Mount Ascutney. Their findings were conclusive—an enormous blob of molten lava was upwelling beneath the surface like a hot air balloon, rising from the deepest part of the planet.
There were no active volcano designations in New England, so when the buildup was first discovered a decade prior, it immediately grabbed the attention of the USGS volcanologists. The conclusion they reached was that the rise of the magma was a recent occurrence, which ordinarily meant it could have been steadily growing over hundreds of thousands of years, if not longer.
During their studies, however, the focus of the scientific community was the ground underneath Mount Ascutney and not the overall makeup of the planet’s tectonic plates as the pole shift manifested itself.
Over the last several years, geologists noted a thermal anomaly that was hundreds of degrees hotter than its surroundings in the upper mantle just a hundred miles below the surface. While Mount Ascutney and its surroundings were still considered to be a relatively stable region, the irregular pattern seemed to suggest rather abrupt changes were taking place.
Three months ago, new readings of seismic waves travelling through the planet’s crust confirmed that the magma blob was welling directly under Central Vermont but had grown into Western New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Some suggested the temperature recordings confirmed the mass had traveled beyond these states.
To be sure, the volcanic activity at Mount Ascutney was nothing in comparison to the massive potential of the Yellowstone caldera, but it certainly had the potential to be devastating to the New England region.
When the power grid was shut down in an attempt to save it for future use, the scientific teams from around the world pulled out of New England and stopped their studies of Mount Ascutney. The equipment left behind was largely solar powered, and much of it was shielded from the devastating effects of a geostorm. The scientists could rely upon the devices to continue recording seismic activity and magma chamber temperatures, so when the solar threat was over, they could return to their work.