by S A Ison
“It may never come back. If it does, it will be years, decades. Again, I don’t know the extent of the EMP, if there were multiple targets, I just don’t know and there is no way of finding out.” He said, sorrow heavy in his voice.
“What does that mean for us?” Yuma said softly, his voice trembling.
“It means you’re stuck here. There is no going home, unless you can walk it. Seattle is more than four months away on foot. There won’t be any gas stations pumping gas, there aren’t any more trains, or planes or any transportation, other than on foot, on horseback or an old vehicle, like the jeep or Jael’s truck. That may be why those men were chasing us, in town.” Miles said, looking at each of them. Lydia began crying in earnest and Phoenix put his arm around her. Phoenix’s eyes were filling with tears. His parents, he wondered if his parents and siblings were okay.
“Jesus, who did this?” Julian muttered, wiping away the tears. Jael handed him a paper towel, and Julian took it and blew his nose. Jael’s face was ashen and tears were streaming down her face as well.
“I thought something was wrong when the power didn’t come back on. I thought at first it might have been a storm somewhere that knocked something out. Then, those men showed up. I knew something was bad wrong.” Jael said, picking her coffee cup up with trembling hands and took a long drink of her coffee.
“That means thousands of people died, killed in plane crashes all over.” Lydia breathed. Phoenix knew what she meant; it was one of the busiest traveling times of the years. Thousands stranded on the road, far from home in cold weather. Phoenix shivered, thinking of all the children, lost on the road with their parents, trying to find their way home. Then, it struck him, all the hospitals, with patients depending on machines to keep them alive. Now, long dead. His head felt light and he found himself breathing hard, like a panic attack. He blinked rapidly and shook his head.
“What are we going to do? Where are we going to go?” Phoenix asked in a low voice.
Yuma was frozen in place. He understood the words, but his brain was having difficulty processing it. He was stranded, stranded a world away from home. He might as well be on Mars. There was no way to find his way to his beloved land of the rising sun. He would never see him parents or friends. He would never hear his native tongue, nor eat his native food. He was trapped, in a violent land with violent people.
Today, he was nearly killed twice, in less than an hour. Crazy men with guns, shooting at him, at his friends. He blinked, feeling pain in his chest and his brain. He wanted to scream in denial, but it would do no good. He was now adrift in a vast and violent sea.
EIGHT
Calkins, MT
Miles looked at the faces around him. He saw their fear and confusion, but mostly, he saw their trust, in him. Was this because of him? Pythagoras? Was it Pythagoras Falls? Or was it Pythagoras Fail? Did the scientist get the thing up and working and then tried to test it? Had it all gone horribly wrong? Or, was this something else? Had North Korea finally launched a nuclear weapon at the United States? It was like a beehive in his brain, all the questions buzzing and stinging.
He had been so careful to distort and obliterate vital information before he had left, all those years ago. His hope was that the project would be scrapped. He had taken all his work and had destroyed it. Telling these people about his possible part in the project would do no good. He thought of himself as an honest man, but telling them about what he thought, wouldn’t do any good. Because he had done his best to wreck the project and because he truly didn’t know if this had anything to do with Pythagoras. He did feel that he had to help them, however. They were good people with no place to go and no hope unless he did help them. They would stay with him.
“You’ll stay here.” Jael said, causing everyone to look at her, surprised stamped on their collective faces.
“You don’t know us.” Lydia said and the others in the group nodded.
“That’s too much for us to ask of you.” Phoenix argued, looking around. Julian and Yuma nodded agreement.
“Where else are you going to go? Lydia said you were all heading to Seattle. You’d never make it there, at least not in winter, and honestly, so far, the fall has been mild. There are four more months of harsh weather heading our way. I have six bedrooms in this big place. Plenty of room for all of you. And, if as Miles says, nothing works, then that means no more food at stores out there. Maybe that was why those two jackasses came here, to rob me.”
“We would be a burden.” Julian said, shaking his head.
“You wouldn’t. Look. I’ve lived here alone since my husband died. I’ve had to make a life for myself here and I’ve done pretty good. But that’s going to be taken away, if there are more bad people out there, like those two. Montana is a big place, but there aren’t many people here. I’m hoping that we won’t have more trouble like that, but you said you were attacked in White Sulphur Springs. That isn’t that far up the road from me. You stay here and help me protect my place; you won’t be a burden.” Jael said flatly.
“I don’t know how to use or handle a gun.” Phoenix said.
“I’ll teach you. I’ll teach you all. I’ve got weapons, back at my place.” Miles volunteered. He wanted Jael safe, and these young people as well.
“About that, I want you here too, Miles.” Jael said, a crimson tide growing up from her chest to her cheeks. Miles felt his own cheeks begin to flush and his heart flipped in his chest. He saw a knowing smile on Phoenix and then Lydia. How had they known? He had only mentioned her the one time. He’d been so careful about his feelings for Jael, he’d not wanted to endanger her. But maybe he had. Maybe he hadn’t. He didn’t know.
“But…” He started to protest and she held up a hand.
“I won’t take no and I won’t argue about it. This is a big house, and there is no reason for you to be alone. Besides, once that gas runs out, you won’t be able to come back, unless you spend a whole day walking. Albert will be happy here and I think together, we can do it. We can protect this place. I have the greenhouse, the orchard, tons of canned food in the storm cellar. I have the chickens, the cow and goats. We have what we need Miles and truth be told, it will be nice to have the company and the help.” Jael smiled at the group.
“Are you sure?” Lydia asked, tears shimmering in her eyes. Miles’ eyes stung with tears, he’d not expected this, none of this. Jael was kindness itself. Jael came around the counter and drew Lydia into her arms and hugged her.
“I’m sure. I’m tired of being alone, and now that I have city slickers to educate, I think life will get just a little more interesting.” She laughed and both women wiped their faces. Yuma got up from his chair and walked over to Jael and bowed deeply to her.
“Thank you, Jael san. I hope that I will be worthy to protect you and your home. Thank you for your kindness.” Yuma said with earnest formality.
“I guess I had better go back home and start loading up my things.” Miles said, still somewhat stunned.
“Phoenix, here are the keys to my truck. Help him please.” Jael said, smiling and handing over a set of truck keys. Phoenix nodded, Miles thought he too looked stunned. He turned to leave the house, and could hear Julian and Phoenix talking. Jael was kind of bossy, he thought, then grinned his head doing a little wobble. Suddenly, he felt light as air.
Jael watched the men leave and looked over at Lydia. The poor young woman looked like hell. They were about the same height, though Jael was quite a bit rounder now, middle age and menopause are not kind to women, Jael thought.
“Lydia, if you’re up for a look around in the attic, I think I might have clothes that might fit you. Believe it or not, I was once just as tiny as you.” Jael laughed, her cornflower eyes crinkling at the side. She looked at Yuma and he looked dazed and she walked over and patted him on his shoulder.
“Why don’t you go into the den and relax. Don’t mind the cats, they won’t bother you. I hope you aren’t allergic?”
“Thank y
ou, that would be very good. My mind has much in it.” Yuma smiled wanly, and didn’t resist as she pulled him along.
Jael walked down the long hallway, and pointed into a light filled room. There was a soft leather sofa, a small desk by a large picture window. One wall was lined with a floor to ceiling bookcase. There were books of all kinds and there was a small potbelly stove in one corner. Jael walked over and opened the small stove. There was already kindling inside and she struck a long match and lit the tender within. The paper and kindling caught quickly and after a few minutes, the flame was good and hot. She added a few small logs.
She noted that Lydia was looking at the array of books on the bookshelf. Yuma was beside her, both scanning. She laughed when she watched her two cats, Pip and Pop, wind themselves around Yuma’s legs. His hand absently hung down to scratch behind the cat’s tufted ears. Their backs arched up, receiving the love they so craved. Yuma picked up Pip and was nuzzling the cat, while he picked up an old copy of National Geographic, it looked to be one of the 1960s copies. There were hundreds of them in the attic.
“There’s about anything you’d care to read. My husband, Richard, loved to read. I do as well, you know mushy gushy stuff. But I’ve been expanding my reading over the last few years. There is also a lot on botanicals and also just fun things, like National Geographic. Please feel free to enjoy them.”
“This is wonderful. Thank you so much Jael, really. You don’t know us from Adam, but we are really good people.” Lydia said, her eyes tearing up. Jael walked over and hugged the younger woman. Jael had older brothers, but had never had a sister. It would be nice to have another woman in the house. She’d been so busy over the last years, since Richard had died. Trying to get her business going, trying to keep up with the farm, the animals. It had been hard. She had felt isolated and alone.
When she had first met Miles, he’d seemed an odd bird. He was intelligent, but very socially awkward. The more they spoke; she could tell that he was a kind soul. One of those very smart people with no people skills. He had made a few suggestions for her online business and it had helped. She looked forward to his visits. Her nearest neighbors, Bob and Marian Tisk, were kind but they were busy themselves. Bob was a traveling veterinarian, and visited ranches and farms that peppered Montana. Marian was a veterinarian tech; she took care of animals that were brought to their farm, either by Bob, or clients. Jael had bumped around the large farmhouse, like a bumblebee in a jar. She had been lonely and lonesome.
She had been toying around with the idea of selling the place for the last year. It was getting to be too much for her to do alone. She didn’t make enough from her business to hire help. Some projects had been neglected.
“You relax and you can use the quilt on the back of the sofa if you need it, Yuma. It gets a bit cold in the house. I don’t mind it so much myself, but please use it if you need it.” Jael smiled as she towed Lydia from the room. The women climbed the stairs to the second story. The second floor was warm, the combined heat from the kitchen stove and the wood stove in the living room, wafted into the upper rooms of the house. Jael reached up and pulled a cord from the ceiling. The attic door screeched and protested on its way down. She pulled the folded steps down.
“Oh, wait, let me get a couple of flashlights. I forgot, no power for the light up there.” Jael said and turned to go into a bedroom. There was a flashlight in her bedroom, on the nightstand. She grinned and waved the flashlight. She led the way up and the ladder creaked and groaned as she ascended. She moved the light around the large expanse of the attic. There were scores of boxes, stacked neatly throughout.
“Wow, this place is huge.” Lydia gasped.
“It is, they really knew how to build homes in the old days. This was Rich’s family home. His great grandfather built it, at the turn of the century. He used to own a lot of land around it. Over the years, most of that land was sold off. The house sits on about forty-five acres now, nothing to what it had been. Over the last thirty years or better, the back half of the property has grown into forest land. Rich had sold some for timber, twenty years ago. I have my small orchard and of course the garden.”
“It is really a beautiful home. You can feel the history here.” Lydia smiled, her head pivoting around.
“It really has. In this attic is nearly a hundred years of Wilson family history. Rich and I used to come up here and pick an old box and explore it. Really cool stuff. Some things I took down and decorated the house. We rarely threw anything away. It just seemed like a crime to do so. Over here are my old clothes. I hope you don’t mind?”
“Oh, no. Please. I’ve been wearing these clothes for about a week now. I can’t believe it has almost been a week since the crash. It seems like a lifetime.” Lydia said softly, her voice heavy with awe and sorrow.
“I just can’t believe this whole thing has happened. And those two men. It is like the world went topsy turvy. I can’t promise they’ll fit, or be in fashion, but they are clean. I’ll also bring some of Rich’s clothes down for the men. Poor Phoenix is so tall, I don’t think much will fit him. But we can see. I have one of those old fashion sewing machines, you know the pedal driven kind. It was Rich’s great grandmother’s sewing machine.”
Lydia was amazed at the boxes. The home was filled with a mixture of old and new. Her head was spinning with the turn of event, that were happening so rapidly. First the incredible violence, and then finding out what had brought their plane down. The event had essentially changed all of their lives. Lydia felt she was in some kind of altered reality.
Jael was an anchor, her kindness and common sense and down to earth personality. Had she not offered her home, Lydia didn’t know what they would have done, or where they would have gone. Her hands ran over some of the clothing, that were neatly folded. She thought of her new friends and she thought of Phoenix and smiled.
“Phoenix has been a blessing. He saved all of us. We were unconscious, strapped in our seats and he carried us all down. I wish you could have met Taya; she was a sweet girl.” Lydia choked and began to cry. Jael reached for Lydia’s hand and squeezed. Lydia and Jael froze. Jael turned her head and looked at Lydia. Someone was yelling downstairs. She and Jael climbed down the stairs of the attic. She could hear the voice clearer now; it was a man and he was angry.
“Where in the hell is my brother?” A man screamed. Jael and Lydia moved to the stairs and began a slow and cautious descent. Pip and Pop shot past the women. In the living room, the front door was open and a man stood with a gun pointed at Yuma, whose hands were up, one hand holding a magazine. Yuma was shaking his head and saying something, but Lydia couldn’t hear him. The stranger’s face was red and a large vein stood out on his forehead.
“I saw blood out there in the snow. Where is my brother?” Tendons stood out along the man’s neck and spittle flew from his mouth. He held the gun awkwardly, his other arm hanging limp by his side. It was then that Lydia saw blood dripping on the floor, coming from the man’s hand. The stair tread squeaked and the stranger looked up, his eyes wild. He started to raise his weapon up, when Yuma lunged forward. The stranger pulled the trigger.
Ω
Castle Town, MT
Miles turned to look over his shoulder, Phoenix was helping him unload the gun safe. The gun safe didn’t look like a gun safe at all, it looked like the headboard to his bed. He had never seen anything like it. Yet, inside were four rifles, three handguns and something that looked like an assault rifle.
“What kind of gun is that?” Phoenix asked, surprise lacing his voice.
“That is an AR15. You would be surprised at all the local gun shows, private sales and so on. I never knew that people had so many weapons, until I started collecting them myself. One man had over three hundred rifles, of every make. Kind of scary, but at least I know the second amendment is well and good. I have a feeling; people are going to need their firearms now.” Miles said, holding up the AR15.
“What are those other weapons?” Julian as
ked, coming into the bedroom. Phoenix grinned, Julian’s eyes were big as saucers.
“This beauty is a Remington Sendero, it’s heavy, but great for deer hunting. This one, is a Weatherby Vanguard, I like to use it for hunting, either large or smaller game. It’s a pretty handy rifle. This one is a Ruger American and this one, this is a Springfield M1A Tanker. It is kind of like the old M14, but quite bit more superior.” Miles smiled lovingly at the weapon. Phoenix grunted. He’d never handled rifles or handguns. Julian reached for the Springfield and held it gingerly, like it would explode in his hands.
“You can teach me how to use this? This is amazing.” He grinned, his blue eye shinning with adoration. Miles laughed and nodded.
“Sure can. I’ve got plenty of ammo. If things have really gone to hell, we’re all going to need to be proficient with all of these weapons.”
“What kinds are those?” Phoenix pointed at three handguns that hung on pegs. The room now smelled of gun oil, and he wiped at his nose.
“This is a Glock 19, heavy and has a bit of a kick. This one is a Sig Sauer 226. I think Lydia could use this one, it has a low recoil to it and is small enough for her hands. This one is my favorite, but I keep her locked away, this is the Colt 1911. It has great stopping power.”
Phoenix was amazed. The fact that others had far more weapons than Miles, made Phoenix wonder about the government trying to take away the people’s rights to bear arms. Certainly, there were plenty of bad people out there with weapons, and now it would seem that no police, government or military were coming to their aid. At least not here in the middle of Montana. Guns had always made Phoenix nervous, but after the last few hours, not having a weapon made him scared as hell.
Miles went to his closet and pulled out a folded canvas cloth. He unfolded it on his bed and began to lay the rifles on it and rolled them up.
“Take these on up and put them in the truck. I’m going to pack my clothes and then we can go to the storage sheds and unload them. We’ll have to make a few trips; I’ve got a lot of food stores. But this will be a good start.” Miles grinned and Phoenix lifted the heavy weapons, carrying across his arms. He knew that Miles also carried a Glock on his person. Jesus, two of the weapons. How many Glocks would a person need? But now, he could not fault the man’s logic. The weapon had come in very handy. Phoenix made his way up the stairs, sideways, moving slowly. The sun was edging westward, it was midafternoon and he thought they’d have to start again early tomorrow morning. By the time they got back to Jael’s house and unloaded and sorted everything, it would be late afternoon and it got dark early.