by Hunt, Jack
Jill must have assumed they were having sex, but that wasn’t the case. She didn’t want to ruin her relationship with Jill by telling her that her husband was coming on to her. How would that have made her feel? Would she have even believed it? Then again there was the fact that he was a cop. People in the town held them to a higher standard. Rayna also didn’t want to jeopardize his career, so she tried to remain friendly but firm, making it clear that she wasn’t interested.
She watched her kids run ahead. Kong bounded alongside them.
They were another reason why she didn’t step over the line. Both of them adored their father, and it had cut deep when he left. If they’d seen her with Gary in an intimate exchange, they would have blamed her, and felt that she had played a role in Elliot leaving. She couldn’t have that.
“Stay close,” she called out as they ran ahead and veered off into the driveway. All the way home she’d noticed small groups were gathered discussing the problem and how to deal with it. Near her home there were some crowded around a lamp post that had a flyer attached to it. She stopped to read it. It was about the city hall meeting that night. The flyer, and the crowd distracted her as Lily emerged from their driveway yelling at the top of her voice.
“Mom! Come quick.”
Chapter 20
“It cost you how much?” Damon asked as Elliot weaved the truck around stalled vehicles. The vehicle had drawn a lot of attention over the past half an hour. They’d had to get out a few times to push vehicles out of the way. There were all makes and models, trucks, SUVs, sedans and even motorbikes clogging up the road. Not an easy job at all, and one that had already nearly lost them their vehicle after a group of three men tried to take it. Then on top of that, they had to deal with desperate people trying to flag them down. For Maggie it was hard to drive by them, but Elliot knew that stopping for anyone could get them killed.
“Just a little over eighty thousand.”
“For a shelter? And what’s that give you?”
“The bare basics. You can actually get different ones for a lot cheaper. There are small ones that cost around ten grand and give you a unit that bolts into a garage or your house. It provides two beds, a toilet and an air system. But that’s bottom of the line and is only meant to protect you from fallout or a tornado. It would do the job but when you have kids, you’re gonna need something bigger, especially if you are going to be in there a while,” he said.
They’d got on the topic of how Elliot knew so much about EMPs and what steps he’d taken to protect his family. At first he’d considered not telling them, as he had a general rule of keeping everything hush-hush, but after all they’d been through together and the fact they’d probably come in handy to protect his family, he thought he could make an exception. Besides, right now he had no idea how long this was going to play out for. If it was a nuclear attack, fallout intensity would drop within the first two weeks. It was best to stay in a shelter for a month but if push came to shove, two weeks would suffice.
“So you have a Geiger counter at the house?”
“Yeah, it’s in the shelter.”
It was normal for people to be concerned about a nuke dropping, however, there were a lot of variables that came into play. Did it hit the ground or detonate in the air? How far away was it? What size was the nuke? What was the weather and wind patterns at the time?
“Although fallout decays rapidly in the first two weeks, the closer a person is to the blast region, the more dangerous it is. Now my guess is that it occurred farther inland, and don’t hold me to this but I’m assuming that it was a high-altitude detonation. Now again, I might be completely wrong. It might have been a solar flare that caused this.”
“So how can we know for sure?” Jesse asked.
“I’ll get on the ham radio once we get back and hopefully someone like FEMA is broadcasting a message.”
“And if it’s closer?”
“Well we might have radiation poisoning.”
Jesse blew out his cheeks. “Great. And how would we know?”
“Depends.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it does, Jesse. This isn’t some event that is black and white here. There are a lot of variables that come into play. Radiation symptoms will vary based on the dosage of radiation and the amount of time you are exposed to it. Everyone in the world is exposed to what they class as natural and artificial radiation through medical treatment, what we consume, and so on. The body can handle a certain amount a year but it’s those large doses that we need to be concerned about.”
“Okay, so let’s say we have been exposed to it, what then?”
“Usually you will feel nausea, experience vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and fever, and that can happen anywhere from an hour to twenty-four hours after you’ve been exposed.”
“So we might have been exposed to it and won’t know until later today.”
“That about sums it up. Obviously later you might start to feel dizzy, disoriented, weak and fatigued, all the way through to losing your hair, noticing blood in your vomit and having wounds that are unable to heal.”
“Sounds wonderful,” Damon said before chuckling.
“Again, it can take two to four weeks before those kinds of symptoms show up.”
“And you know this because?”
“Learned about some of it in the army but take a look at Fukushima. They evacuated everyone within a 30-kilometer radius and said there was no threat in Tokyo which was around four hours away from the radiation. But remember that wasn’t a bomb, it depends what has been dropped.”
Damon sat there running his hand over his gun. “Eighty thousand? That’s a lot of money to slap down on an underground shelter.”
“It’s what was available at the time. Like I said, there are cheaper ones. I think the last time I looked there was one priced at nineteen thousand and that was a multi-functional space under the house that could protect you from a bomb. It provided space so you could store food and water, a gun rack, bunk beds and give you a living space but again it’s the bare basics.”
“So what’s in yours?” Damon asked.
“It’s made from galvanized corrugated pipe, they install it for you. It has a primary hatch that is blast proof with an escape hatch on the other end. I had it built under my shed about twenty feet below the surface. There is a decontamination room that consists of a shower, then beyond that is a washroom with a marine-grade toilet that works on a hand pump, though I can have it gravity fed out. Beyond that are four bunk beds, a living area with a fully functional kitchen, then beyond that a double bed and below the floor is a storage area. It also uses a Swiss-made air filtration system to make sure the air is clean.”
“You thought of everything.”
“No, someone else did, and I just bought it.”
Damon was just about to respond to that when Elliot eased off the gas. They’d been traveling north on Valentine Avenue. They had only seen three other older vehicles in operation and all of them were driving at a fair clip to avoid being stopped.
Up ahead on the left side of the street was a blockade being run by cops from the 46th Precinct. They’d blocked off East 181st and appeared to be randomly stopping pedestrians and checking them. On a street with no other vehicles moving, they were immediately spotted. They probably heard them long before they came into view.
“Shit,” he said. Unregistered weapons, a stolen vehicle, yeah, they weren’t going to get off lightly. Elliot jammed the gear into reverse, looked back and floored it. The tires squealed as the truck slalomed around stalled vehicles.
“Elliot, what are you doing?” Damon asked.
“You want to go back to jail?” he asked. He spun the wheel, and the truck slammed into a minivan. Coming down the road, three police officers were sprinting. Elliot gave it some gas and headed west on East 180th Street. No doubt they would have taken custody of any vehicle that was operational, but a stolen one? Spending time in a cell was the l
ast thing he needed. The truck bounced as he took it up onto the sidewalk because the road was too clogged and they didn’t have time to clear it. They headed down past Ryer Avenue heading for Anthony Avenue but that’s when they saw another roadblock.
“Oh you have got to be kidding me!”
Elliot slammed the brakes on. Maggie looked over her shoulder and he eyed his mirrors. The cops were still coming after them on foot.
“We need to bail. Now!” Damon said pushing the door open and hopping out. “Come on.”
Elliot gritted his teeth and slammed a fist against the wheel. He wished he’d taken a different route, headed over to Manhattan and tried heading north that way. There was nothing he could do about it now. All four of them bolted heading north up Anthony Avenue and then ducking into an alley down the side of a five-story apartment block. They entered the apartments and double-timed it up the staircase and into one of the floors, then waited for ten minutes until they knew the cops weren’t following.
“They won’t follow. They just wanted the truck,” Damon said.
“So did we.”
Elliot slammed his fist against the wall. At this rate he would never get home. He didn’t think it would be this hard to leave the city but with society beginning to unravel, it was only a matter of time before police and the National Guard tried to keep the peace. That meant confiscating any vehicles that were operating, arresting those looting and making sure that gangs didn’t take advantage of the weak.
Damon turned to Maggie. “You remember what you said about us showing up with bicycles? I guess that’s plan B.”
Chapter 21
The front door was wide open. Rayna knew damn well that she’d locked the place before leaving. That was one thing she was a bit finicky about. Many times she’d get into her vehicle only to return and give the door handle another shake. It didn’t look as if someone had forced the door open. The door, the handle, the frame looked fine.
“Lily, Evan. I want you to go over to Mr. Thompson’s house. Tell him to come quickly or contact the police.” She groaned. No phones were working and while Lake Placid was a small town, it was still spread out. Chances were they wouldn’t see an officer around their part for some time if they were watching over the grocery stores.
“But Mom, what about you?”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve got Kong. Just go.”
The two of them clasped hands and sprinted off down the driveway, only pausing for a few seconds at the bottom to check on her. She waved them on before turning her attention to the house.
“Here boy,” she said to Kong. He trotted up, and she kept her hand out. Her mind was racing as she started to think about the two men. If they were armed, she wouldn’t be able to do anything. She’d returned the rifle to the cabinet before they left that morning. She scanned the windows and contemplated backing away, heading over to Mr. Thompson’s and joining the kids. Elliot would have wanted her to do that, perhaps that’s why she went inside. She couldn’t rely on him now. This was her home, and no one was going to drive her from it. Quietly she got closer, keeping a firm grip on Kong’s leather collar. Now she wished she’d had Kong trained to attack. Instinctively it was hard-wired in German shepherds to protect, but training would have made him even more responsive.
She pushed the door open, and it creaked a little. As soon as she stepped inside, she could see where they’d gained entry. The back window in the kitchen had been smashed in. There were shards of glass all over the floor. She had only one agenda as she stepped inside and that was to get to her rifle, but that was located in the basement.
Kong growled and pulled a little.
“Steady, boy,” she said. Upon entering the foyer, the living room was to her left, a flight of steps to her right, and the kitchen ahead. She glanced up the staircase. “If there is anyone in the house. You better leave now. I have a vicious dog and I will set him on you.”
There was no response.
“I’ve already had someone go get the police. Again, if you are in the house, I advise you to make yourself known and leave now!”
She hurried down the hall and made a beeline for the basement. Not wasting a second she made her way down. As she got to the bottom, she noticed that some of the cupboards had been opened, and the drawers were on the floor. She stepped into the laundry room where the cabinet was and thankfully it was still intact. She pulled out the key and stuck it into the lock and yanked it open. As soon as she had the gun in her hand, and had checked that it was still loaded from the previous night, she felt relief. A quick check of each of the rooms in the basement and she was satisfied. Kong shot up the stairs and she followed as he went about sniffing the floor. He dashed into her bedroom, then into the kids’ as if he was tracking a rabbit. Rayna followed a few seconds after and held the gun out as she kicked open the closet doors and made sure that no one was inside. As she was finishing her search, she heard footsteps downstairs and then Evan’s voice calling out. “Mom. We’re back.”
She called out to them to come up. Lily was talking rapidly to someone, telling them about the visitation they’d had in the night and that they were worried about being attacked.
“I bet you are,” a male voice replied. As they rounded the corner and came up onto the landing she was greeted by Mr. Thompson who was red in the cheeks and looking out of breath. He was a tall, wiry man in his mid-sixties. Gray hair at the sides, bald on top, and he wore a thick pair of glasses. He was wearing a pair of black slacks, brown shoes and a thick coat because of the cold weather. He and his wife, Ivy, lived just one door down from them. All the houses were spread out so the chances of him actually seeing anyone break in would have been slim. Their home was surrounded by woodland. In fact all the homes along Mirror Lake Drive had been built on small plots of land that had been scooped out of the forest.
“Rayna, everything okay, dear?”
She exhaled hard. “Yeah. I’m sorry. It’s a bit unnerving to come home and find out that someone has broken in.”
“I bet. Well, you’re not the first. Three houses were hit today.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “We were home, thankfully.” He looked around. “Did they take anything?”
“Doesn’t appear so but I’m sure they got away with something.”
She thought back to the two men, Austin and Trent, who’d visited in the night. Had they planned on hitting the house at midnight? Had they broken into the other homes?
He nodded and sniffed, leaning a hand against the wall. “You going to the town hall meeting tonight?”
“We’ll be there.”
He smiled and looked at her gun. “Good to see you’re packing.”
“It’s Elliot’s.”
He eyed her and studied her face. “I don’t mean to pry, Rayna, but have you heard from him?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
“That’s unfortunate. He was a good man.”
“That he was. Is, I mean.” She corrected herself noting that she was speaking about him in the past tense.
He thumbed over his shoulder. “Well, I should head back. You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’ve searched the house.”
Mr. Thompson headed down a few of the steps before turning back. “You be sure to let me know if there is anything I can do. We need to stick together as a community. We’ll get through this.” She smiled, and he headed on out. “See you later, kids.”
Just as he was going out she hurried down the stairs. “Mr. Thompson.”
“Yes, my dear?”
“Do you have a generator to stay warm?”
“We sure do. You?”
She nodded. He waved and headed off down the driveway. With the power out, she knew it was going to affect the older generation first. With no heat, it wouldn’t take long for some of the weak to get hyperthermia, especially those in nursing homes. Her own father had passed away several years ago from cancer and her mother had followed a year after that from surge
ry complications. If they’d still been alive, perhaps she wouldn’t have found the whole ordeal with Elliot so hard to cope with, but now she was alone, except for her brother and sister and well…
She thought back to that night. The blood. The phone call. Gary showing up and the visit to the hospital. She pushed the event from her mind as it hurt too much to think about it.
Back inside the home she went about having the kids check to see if anything had been taken. Rayna entered the kitchen and began taking stock of what she remembered was inside the cabinets. She soon discovered that some food and water had been taken from the kitchen but that appeared to be it. Nothing else. They hadn’t even stolen the generator. There was something very odd about the break-in. Why would someone break in and only steal a few items?
The TV was still there, so was some loose cash she’d left in a bowl on a side table. There was at least twenty-six dollars there. If they were druggies, they would have snatched it. She checked the medicine cabinet. That was all there.
It didn’t make sense.
She glanced outside towards the shed and that’s when she saw that the lock had been broken off. “No, no,” she muttered bursting out the back door and hurrying across the yard.
“Mom, what is it?” Lily asked chasing after her. The padlock was on the floor, someone had taken a bolt cutter to it. She swung the door open, and the mat had been lifted up. A smile flickered on her face. They’d attempted to get inside but had failed. She could tell they had tried shooting at the flat lock as the only damage was to the paint which had chipped off the blast-proof hatch. Still, it wasn’t good news. They might have failed, but they now knew she had a shelter and that meant there was a chance they would return.
Chapter 22
It was early afternoon before they ventured down from that apartment. They’d remained there for the better part of an hour until Elliot was sure that it was safe to move on. Minutes earlier, Damon and Elliot had gone up onto the roof of the building and scouted out the maze of roads. From the roof of the six-story building it afforded them a good view of the concrete jungle and where the cops had created blockades. So far they hadn’t seen any military presence, but there were a few buildings on fire, according to Damon.