Bracing The Storm: An EMP Survival Story (Survival Series Book 3)

by Kip Nelson

  “Anyway, continuing with the lesson, when these mountain lions hunt, they attack from the back. Then after they’ve killed their prey, they bury it to save it for later,” Darren said.

  Michelle and Tara nodded with interest, although he doubted they could properly understand. Darren looked out toward the mountain lion and her cubs. They seemed so harmless sitting there, but he knew they were some of the deadliest creatures known to man. The same could be said about him, however.

  “Are you sure we can’t keep one?” Michelle said.

  “I’m sure, Sweetie. We couldn’t feed it anyway. It needs more food than we can get for it, and it’ll need to be outside. But we might see them grow, and in time the mommy lion might let you play with them, although you’ll have to be careful,” Darren said, and he wished he hadn’t suggested that.

  Sometimes, as a parent, he would say something and immediately regret it. This was one of those times. The last thing he wanted was for Michelle and Tara to be getting close to those mountain lions. Even though they were cubs, their claws still would be sharp enough to cause damage, and he didn’t want the girls to take any risks.

  “But that doesn’t mean you can go up close to them,” he warned. “I don’t want you getting close to them. They’re not like the cats we’re used to. Although they might seem peaceful right now that, all could change. So, for the time, being we must be quite and behave nicely so we don’t scare them.”

  Michelle and Tara nodded with understanding.

  “I still don’t like this,” Brent said.

  “I know,” Darren replied, “but there’s not much else we can do at the moment.”

  Once that was settled and they all had calmed down, Darren and Brent finally could get dried off. Their clothes were clinging to them uncomfortably, and the sooner they changed into dry ones, the better. However, they were unable to change because there was simply no available privacy. So, they would have to remain in these clothes for the time being, and hope that the fire did its trick. Darren and Brent continually were looking over their shoulder toward the mountain lion as they huddled around the fire and replenished the wood. The fire sparked into life and the warmth spread out, but it did not go unnoticed by the mother lion.

  “Go easy,” Darren said, putting his hand on Brent’s arm, warning him against making any sudden movements.

  “Oh, don’t you worry about me, I’m going to go as easy as I can,” Brent replied.

  The fight-or-flight response was a strange thing. It was a gift from their ancestors and, despite not having been a hunter-gatherer species for thousands of years, this ingrained mechanism still was something that informed much of their lives. Some people were more prone to fighting, while some were more likely to flee. Now, in the presence of the mountain lion, Darren could feel the adrenalin surging through his body, every fiber of his being telling him that he must run away from this threat. It took a tremendous amount of energy to will his body to stay, and he could well imagine how difficult it was for the children to do the same.

  “The mountain lion might take this fire as a threat. So, for our safety we must be careful to keep it lit,” Darren said. Brent nodded.

  They stoked the fire and watched as the smoke rose and wafted outside, disappearing among the thick sheets of rain. The downpour was relentless and the water splashed onto the ground. Even after the storm had passed, the ground was going to be difficult to traverse. Darren had worked out that they had been in the eye of the storm, and it seemed as though the rest of it was coming. He estimated they had a few hours at least before the storm passed, perhaps even a day or two, if they decided to linger. Knowing their luck, they would decide to stay for the entire winter.

  Darren and Brent rubbed their hands together and turned around, letting the warmth cloak them. Their clothes hissed as the heat caused the dampness to turn into steam.

  The mountain lion, at the moment, had perked its head up with curiosity, but it hadn’t made any sudden movements.

  “We need to talk about Betsy,” Darren said.

  “She didn’t mean anything by it, Dad. She just was scared,” Brent said, immediately leaping to the girl’s defense.

  Darren allowed himself a small smile. The boy clearly was fond of Betsy, and Darren couldn’t blame him. Brent had been through a lot this past year. Darren had needed him to take on the responsibility of looking after Michelle, so Brent had had to sacrifice his social life. When he should have been with his friends he was sitting at home looking after his sister. That wasn’t as damaging as it would have been in Darren’s day, because Brent still could socialize with his friends over the Internet, but Darren had taken a lot from Brent. It was only natural that Brent wanted to explore these feelings.

  “I know, Brent. I didn’t mean anything bad by it. I just wanted to say that she’s obviously going through a rough time and you’re going to have to be there for her. It’s not always going to be easy. She’s dealing with a lot.”

  “I know what she’s going through, Dad. We’ve talked about it some. We’ve both lost parents. I know it’s not exactly the same, but we have a lot in common.”

  “I’m glad to see you have things under control. She’s a nice girl.”

  “Yes, she is.”

  “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” Darren said.

  “I know, Dad,” Brent replied.

  They’d spoken a little about the mechanics of sex, but had yet to have the discussion about the responsibilities of entering into a relationship. Darren wanted to be there for his son. His own father never had had that talk with him. Darren had had to muddle through himself, which wasn’t the best way to go about things. But it was so hard to know what to say.

  “If you ever need any advice--”

  “I know,” Brent said, rolling his eyes.

  Darren decided to leave the subject alone for now. It’s not like he wouldn’t know if anything untoward happened, and Brent and Betsy were responsible enough to not do anything in front of Tara and Michelle.

  It was hard enough to be a parent in the best of times, let alone now. And he was going to have this conversation all over again if Michelle got to that age. When she got to that age, he reminded himself. He didn’t like to think of the future too much. There were so many variables that made it an anxious exercise. The mountain lions’ was a prime example of that. Never would he have predicted that he would have returned to find dangerous wild animals nesting in his cave.

  “Dad, what are we going to do if they don’t leave?” Brent asked. Darren had been hoping nobody was going to ask him that question. He simply didn’t know.

  “We’ll think of something. But if I know mountain lions as well as I think I do, they won’t stay here for long. They’ve got all of nature to choose from. I don’t see why they’d want to stay in this little cave. I’m sure they’re only here because of sheer happenstance. Once the storm clears they’ll be back on their way.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Brent said, and then his breath caught in his mouth.

  He backed away as much against the wall as he could, and his eyes looked past Darren. Darren followed his son’s gaze and saw that the mother mountain lion was standing upright, looking fearsome, illuminated by the amber glow of the fire. Darren swallowed his fear and tried to act as nonchalantly as possible, rubbing his hands, enjoying the warmth. The mountain lion’s shadow loomed large over the walls and fear rippled through him. For a moment he thought he had made a grim mistake and that he should have let Betsy do what she wanted to do.

  But he saw the mother mountain lion pick up one of her cubs in her mouth and carry it over to the fire. She may well have been afraid of it, but she wasn’t so scared that she couldn’t see the warmth it offered.

  Darren and Brent stood as still as statues as the mother mountain lion brought her cubs to the fire, one by one. They mewed as they felt the warmth sweep over them. The mother had done as well as she could to keep them warm, but like Brent and Darren they
had been utterly drenched by the storm outside. The fire would help them get dry again. Then they soon would be right as rain.

  The mother laid down and rested her head on the ground. Darren’s heart went out to her because only he, of all of them, knew how exhausted she must have been. The two were kindred spirits, linked by a need to protect their children, and at the moment they were sharing the same warmth and the same fire. How long would that last? Darren wasn’t sure, but he hoped the mountain lion had the ability to take note of his kindness and would take that into consideration whenever hunger started gnawing at her and her cubs.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Darren glanced at Brent, arching his eyebrows. The cubs were cute, their faces scrunched up much like Michelle’s did whenever she was thinking too hard. They looked so harmless, writhing on the ground, reaching out to the heat. It was hard to believe they would grow up into such fearsome predators.

  It made Darren think about his own children and the role he played in raising them, in forming what type of people they became. He glanced over at Betsy and Tara. They weren’t his children, and while he didn’t usually like to think bad things about other fathers, it was clear their father hadn’t done a good job with them. He never would admit to thinking this, but he wondered if it was a blessing that their father had been killed. Betsy and Tara were certainly better off with Darren.

  Darren always would argue for a father’s right to be with their children. It didn’t seem right that in so many cases the fathers always were an afterthought. It was so natural for everyone to believe that kids had to be with their mother no matter what. He’d been lucky with Stacie. She hadn’t challenged his bond with his children. But he knew the bond he had with Brent and Michelle was far stronger than the bond Stacie had with them.

  In the case of Betsy and Tara it seemed as though their father didn’t quite have what it took to make it through this world. They didn’t really talk about that period of their lives, but from what Darren had learned from them, , Bill had taught them what they needed to know about survival. Thinking about that made him wonder if the genetic bond really was that important when it came to raising children, or if anyone could be a parent, given the right circumstance.

  “You know, I don’t think Michelle’s idea was that bad,” Brent said. He spoke softly so as not to disturb the mother mountain lion which, judging from its breathing, was asleep.

  Darren took this as a good sign. She trusted Darren enough to fall asleep in front of him and let her cubs enjoy the warmth completely at Darren’s mercy. Of course, that might be because she was confident in her ability to avenge her cubs if a dark fate befell them. Darren knew that nothing was stronger than a parent’s love for their children. She wouldn’t have done anything to put her cubs in danger.

  The mother mountain lion’s fur was slightly speckled, allowing it to blend in with the mountain landscape. It was more gray than tawny, and up in the mountains it would have been hard to tell apart from its surroundings. As Darren stared at it he wondered what trials and tribulations it had been through, and what had brought it down from the mountains to the forest floor.

  “You really want to try taking one of those cubs away from its mother?” Darren asked.

  “No, I just mean in theory. Sure, it might be hard to train it at first, but it couldn’t hurt to have a mountain lion on our side. Can you imagine the look on people’s faces when we go outside and have a mountain lion walking beside us? Nobody would mess with us,” Brent said with an excited smile on his face.

  Darren found it impossible not to be swayed by his son’s enthusiasm.

  “It would be pretty cool. Who knows, maybe eventually we’ll find a stray who needs a home. I like to think we’re pretty welcoming to all newcomers. But I have a feeling this particular family is going to be together for a long time. She doesn’t seem the type to let anything happen to her cubs.”

  “Sounds like someone I know,” Brent said, smiling.

  The two of them stayed around the fire for a while longer until they felt drier. The rain continued slashing down outside, and it was easy to turn their backs to it. They left the cubs by the fire, which crackled nicely, and went back to be with their family. It was nice to be able to walk a little more freely while the mother mountain lion was asleep.

  “Daddy, are any other animals going to come here?” Michelle asked.

  “I don’t think so, but you never know. Right now, I think it’s going to be difficult for anyone to come in because of the rain. But you never know what could happen when the rain stops,” Darren said.

  “Are we going to let all of them stay like the mountain lions?” Tara asked.

  “I don’t know, perhaps. It would be rude of us to turn everyone away, wouldn’t it? We always should be kind to our neighbors, even when they’re animals,” Darren said.

  “Unless we want to eat them,” Brent said. Darren glared at his son. Michelle gasped in horror.

  “You wouldn’t eat them, would you? They’re just babies,” she said.

  “We’re not going to eat the lion cubs, or the Mommy lion,” Darren explained. “And I’m not going to hurt them either. Once this storm has ended I’m sure they’ll move along. They’re safe here, and we’re safe with them,” he said, hoping that he wasn’t lying to them.

  “Good. I don’t think I want to eat mountain lion,” Michelle said.

  “Me neither,” Tara said.

  Darren didn’t say it, but he was thinking that if they got hungry enough, they would start wanting to eat anything. Still, he could think of more appetizing things than mountain lions. They would take a lot of effort to skin. He didn’t like the thought of skinning the cubs, even though he was desperately hungry.

  “Daddy, I was thinking earlier. If it was my birthday, then that means Christmas is soon, yes?” Michelle asked.

  Tara hissed with excitement. It must have been something the two of them had been talking about with each other. Some things were so ingrained into their psyches they were impossible to forget, even though so much of their old lives had been consigned to the past.

  “Well, yes, I suppose it is,” Darren said warily. He glanced toward Betsy and Brent. Both of them were old enough to know the truth about Father Christmas, but he didn’t want Michelle and Tara’s lives to be spoiled now.

  “How is Santa going to deliver our presents when there’s no chimney? And are the mountain lions going to get presents if they’re here with us?”

  “Well, I don’t really know,” Darren said. “But Santa is magical, and he’s been delivering presents to people without chimneys for many years now. So, I imagine he’ll find a way,” Darren said, hoping he wasn’t making a promise he couldn’t.”

  “But don’t forget that a lot has happened in the world, Michelle. We don’t really know if Santa is still out there,” Brent said. Darren knew that Brent only was trying to help, but he couldn’t have said a worse thing if he had tried. Darren would rather have had him say the truth; that Santa didn’t exist.

  “Do you mean Santa died?” Michelle asked, her eyes wide.

  Her lower lip trembled and her eyes glistened with tears. Tara clung to her, and then started wailing. She buried her head in Betsy, and Betsy glared at Brent, who looked incredibly guilty and remorseful. He stammered, trying to explain that he didn’t mean that. Darren nodded toward him, making sure Brent understood that Darren wasn’t upset with him. Often in life you say something that was meant to be taken one way and was misinterpreted, especially when it came to children. Brent only had been trying to help.

  “Of course your brother didn’t mean that. How could he when we all know that Santa is magical, and he can’t die?” At this, Betsy and Brent nodded along with him.

  “All Brent meant was that Santa has a lot of people to help now. While we’re here it might not be as easy for him to find us as it has been in the past. But don’t forget that Santa is magical, and he always rewards good boys and girls.

  I’m sure he’
ll get a present to you. But it’s also important not to forget that presents don’t always have to be wrapped, and they don’t always have to be toys. Presents can come in many different shapes and sizes. So maybe the present Santa gets for you this year isn’t going to be something you’re used to getting, and that’s okay. You just have to look at things a little differently, okay? But Santa is most definitely out there. He always will be. Because his magic protects him from the things that cause us harm,” Darren said.

  He was relieved to see the two girls accepted his explanation. Tara wiped her eyes and sat up.

  “What did you two used to do for Christmas?” Darren asked, trying to get them talking about something a little happier.

  “Our grandparents used to come over Christmas Eve,” Betsy began.

  “Grandma always used to see Santa riding his sleigh!” Tara added. Betsy smiled.

  “Our parents got us these huge sacks that were filled with presents. We had so many in those and under the tree that opening them spilled over to the day after Christmas.”

  “And we’d leave milk and cookies out for Santa, and a carrot for Rudolph,” Tara added.

  “We did the same!” Michelle added excitedly.

  “We didn’t have sacks, though. We added stockings over the mantelpiece and they filled up overnight. They were easy for Santa to reach, you see,” Darren said, winking at Betsy. “What did you do on Christmas Day?”

  “We’d always wake up and Mom would make us breakfast. We’d open presents and then get ready for the day. We’d see our grandparents again for a big lunch, play games. It was really fun. I guess we’re not going to be doing that this year,” she said, her voice turning despondent. Darren suddenly realized that he may have made a big misjudgment.