The Fall (Book 1)

by Mathews, Mark

  “Honey, I know your dad is a little different, but you couldn’t be in a better place if something really does happen. Can you go get him for me? I need to talk to him, please. It’s probably nothing, just a side effect of the plane crashing. Maybe it took out the cell tower, so your phone won’t work, but I’d like to talk to him, please.”

  Brooke waited for minute, just to see if her mom had anything else to say, but when the silence ensued, she told her mother to hold on. She jumped off the bed to find her father. How did her mother know Brooke’s phone wasn’t working? She shrugged it off, thinking it was obvious, since she hadn’t used her cell phone to call. Yes, that was it. She found her dad up in the attic, rooting through old trunks and storage containers. He had a pile of empty gallon water jugs next to him, and Brooke shook her head, exasperated. She wasn’t even going to ask what he was doing with so many empty jugs.

  “Hey, Dad, um, Mom wants to talk to you on the radio.” Garrett spun around to face her, and the flashlight beam went into her eyes.

  “Hey! Turn that off!”

  “Sorry, Brooke. Can you take these down to the kitchen for me? I’ll be right down, I’m just going to go talk to your mom real quick, okay?”

  “Whatever.”

  Brooke grabbed as many jugs as she could carry and disappeared. Garrett gathered up the remainder of them and went down the stairs, depositing them on the floor outside of Brooke’s room, so he could go in and get the radio.

  “Hello? Alice? Are you there?”

  “Yes, I’m here. What’s going on over there? Brooke said a plane went down?” Garrett sighed heavily.

  “It did. Right down the street from us. It’s an EMP attack, I just know it. I would feel a lot better if you and Austin came over to the house. I have provisions enough for all of us, and I’m getting as much fresh water stored as I can.” There was a pause, then Alice finally answered in a sad voice.

  “Garrett, it’s just a freak accident that happened. It probably hit a cell tower, and there’s really nothing going on. I think we’re fine here. I just wanted to check on you and the girls, that’s all.” The condescension in her voice was easy to pick up, and Garrett knew his ideas and preparations were a factor in why Alice had left him.

  “Please, Alice. It’s not going to be safe to travel pretty soon. This isn’t just an isolated incident, I just know it. Please get Austin and come over here. Once people begin finding out what’s happening, there will be riots everywhere. Please come over here so I can protect you.” The pleading in his voice moved her, and Alice finally agreed.

  “Alright. Should I bring anything?”

  “All the bottled water and canned food you can find, and batteries for flashlights, candles…”

  Garrett went down a list of things that could help them and that they would need, hoping Alice was taking him seriously. Garrett took the jugs to the kitchen. He noticed Jenny was sitting on the floor, next to the pile of containers she’d found, arms wrapped around her legs, slowly rocking back and forth. He went to her and put his arms around her, trying wordlessly to reassure her.

  “It’s going to be okay, honey. Your mom is on her way over, and I’ve got a lot of preparations for something like this. We’re going to be fine, I promise.” She nodded, but didn’t get up. Garrett gave her a moment and went to look for Brooke. He found her in the window seat, staring through the curtains at the plane and what was going on around it.

  “Brooke, it’s going to be fine. Your mom’s coming, and I have made preparations for something like this.”

  He waited a moment for a response, but his daughter ignored him. Sighing heavily, he went back into the kitchen to fill the empty containers. After the seventh trip into the basement to store the water, the door opened. Thinking Brooke might be rebelling and going out of the house, he ran back up the stairs to see Alice and Austin coming in. Relief flooded him to see her safe, but he also held a bit of contempt for Austin. Austin like himself, was a muscular guy, yet he was pale in complexion and a bit stocky. He had a dirty blonde hair and what appeared to be a broken nose. This was the man who he felt had replaced him in his family's daily lives.

  “Garrett, what have you told the girls?” Alice spoke in a hushed voice, and Garrett looked around to make sure they were out of earshot before he answered.

  “I only told them it was an EMP attack. I didn’t go into detail or anything, and Brooke currently is ignoring me. Jenny is a little scared, and I think it’s because she can sense how tense I am. They’re just fine, and I’ve stored more water down into the basement.” Alice’s face fell. Yes, she’d come to set his mind at ease, but she didn’t want him to think she believed all of this hype.

  “It can’t be an attack. My car still is working.”

  “Your car is encased in metal, so it probably withstood the attack, but we should limit travel as much as possible since the gas pumps won’t be working.”

  Alice stared at him for a second, then went to find Brooke. Garrett was alone with Austin, and the silence became unbearable.

  “Can I help with anything?”

  It was a peace offering from Austin, but Garrett ignored the man completely, bristling at his very presence. His disdain for the man was obvious. Jenny came out of the kitchen and planted herself squarely in his path.

  “Dad? What’s going to happen now?” Garrett thought for a second, then looked down at her with a smile.

  “We could start fortifying the house. I have a stash of lumber in the shed, and I could board up the outside of the windows with it.” He was thinking out loud as Alice came back into the hallway.

  “Dad, does that mean I can learn to shoot a gun?” Garrett opened his mouth to answer, but Alice cut him off.

  “Absolutely not! Jenny, how could you even think of something like that?!? Go sit with your sister right now.”

  Jenny slunk away from her mother’s anger like a dog going to lick his wounds. Alice rounded on Garrett with a stinging glare. “You’re a bad influence on her! How could you even think of teaching her to use a gun? And don’t you dare tell me you were going to tell her no. I know you, and you’re just mad at yourself that she came up with the idea first.” Guilty as charged. That was true. He was kicking himself for not thinking of that sooner.

  “Hey, hey, hey, let’s all calm down. Why don’t we go into the living room and play a board game or something? It’ll take the edge off,” Austin said, trying to prevent the inevitable argument.

  Alice gave Garrett one last glare, then followed her husband into the living room, ultimately starting a game of cards. Garrett scoffed at the very idea of playing a game right now and instead went to the front entryway to serve as a lookout. Countless rounds of Go Fish later, there was a knock on the door, and Garrett immediately tensed up. He went outside to avoid the staring eyes of his family. The man at the door was of average height and fairly lean with trimmed blonde hair. It was the sheriff, Hunter Ramsay.

  “Hey, Garrett. How are you and your family holding up?”

  “Doing just fine. We’re playing cards, actually.” Garrett had to force his voice to come out evenly.

  “I’m just letting you know there’s a meeting going on tonight in the town hall to discuss this incident. I hope to see you guys there.”

  The sheriff smiled as he turned and walked away, moving on toward the next house. When Garrett tried going back into the house, he barely could get the door open because his whole family was pressed up against it, apparently listening to what was going on.

  “We’re going to the meeting, right?” Alice looked at him, hope in her eyes. Garrett shook his head.

  “No. We need to start watching our backs. With something like this going on, people are going to start changing. You won’t be able to tell at first, but people will change for the worse. We can’t trust anyone but each other. I know this sounds harsh, but with an attack like this, the world is going to riot, and everyone is going to start looking out for themselves. I’m looking out for us. No
one else is going to do that.”

  Chapter Three

  As the time for the town meeting rolled around, Garrett was sticking to his guns about not going. Austin was in the living room, still playing cards with the girls, but Alice had come to find him in the entryway by the front door.

  “I think we should go to this meeting. If nothing else, we can learn a little more about what’s going on. I understand you don’t trust anyone anymore, but can you do this for me? For us?”

  Garrett swore under his breath. That wasn’t fair. Alice knew that was a below the belt move. When they were dating, and then later when they were together, this was the one move she always would use to get him to do something he didn’t want to, and it worked then…like it was working now.

  “Fine. We’ll go. But if, for one second, I think we’re in danger, then we’re getting the hell out of there. Deal?” Alice smiled at him gratefully.

  “Deal.” She turned to the living room.

  “Come on, guys! Let’s get ready to go into town.”

  Brooke looked annoyed, but Jenny looked from one parent to the other questioningly. Austin busied himself with packing away all the cards. They all loaded up in Alice’s car, and went down to the town hall for the meeting. Surprisingly, there weren’t that many cars in the parking lot. That instantly put Garrett on high alert. Part of him wished he’d brought a weapon with him. When they piled out of the car and went into the building, however, Garrett relaxed a little. The town hall was packed. Most people couldn’t use their cars for one reason or another, he decided, and started looking around for a place they all could sit together. In the end, they found a place right by the back door, in the shadowy corner of the building. Garrett tried listening to the conversations going on around him, but there was so much babble he couldn’t separate the distinct topics. Finally, everyone quieted down as the sheriff walked down the center aisle to the podium.

  “Good evening, everyone. I’m Sheriff Ramsay. I know you have a lot of questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them, but I want you to know we aren’t quite sure what’s happened ourselves. For right now, I think everyone should sit tight in their homes until we can get some more information to give everyone.”

  The sheriff stepped down, and a murmur swept over the crowd. The town meeting was a complete waste. They didn’t know anything more than when they’d sat down. Austin was still angry with Garrett for ignoring his offer to help, so he thought he might get back at him.

  “Should we tell them about your EMP attack theory?” his tone was mocking, but Garrett didn’t pick up on it.

  “No. I think we should keep that to ourselves for right now. We don’t want a riot before it has to happen.” Garrett answered him seriously, and didn’t see the scowl that Austin gave him for ruining his fun.

  “Hey! There’s Susan. I’m going to go talk to her. I can let her know what our theory is, so she at least has an idea of what to do.” Alice got heavily to her feet so she could go talk to her neighbor.

  “No. Don’t tell her anything. As a matter of fact, we’re leaving. We’re going to the supermarket to get some supplies before the rioting starts.”

  Garrett began ushering his little group toward the exit, making sure no one saw them. He didn’t want a mob mentality going on, following his every move.

  “No, we aren’t. I want to go home. I refuse to be a part of your theory. This is why we aren’t together anymore. How much more are you willing to lose for your delusions?” Garrett was hurt by Alice’s words, but he hardened his expression and relented.

  “Fine. I’ll take you guys home, then I’ll go by myself. I’m still taking your car, though. Mine is full of gas and we can save it for when we need to go somewhere and there’s no gas.”

  Alice threw up her hands but got back into the car. At home, everyone got out, and Garrett was about to throw the car in reverse when the passenger side door opened. He slammed on the brakes again, and was surprised to see Jenny.

  “Hey, Dad. I’m going with you.”

  That statement, small as it was, melted his heart. He smiled at his younger daughter and let her crawl in and buckle up before heading back to the supermarket. No one seemed to be in any rush, and no one was hoarding anything in their cart, so Garrett relaxed a little. He and Jenny went down each aisle methodically, and he picked up a whole cart worth of food and supplies. The ride home was quiet, and he noticed how she looked out the window at the empty streets. No children played outside. No pets could be seen. People weren’t relaxing outside in the warm sunshine. It was a ghost town.

  “Oh great.” Garrett’s voice turned Jenny’s head in the direction that he was looking, and she saw one of their neighbors sitting on the front porch with her son.

  “Go ahead and take the bags into the house, and I’ll try getting rid of Kaleigh and Nat.” Jenny brooked no argument, and did as she was told.

  “Kaleigh. What can I do for you?”

  The woman looked up at him with her copper colored hair and piercing blue eyes with a shaken look, and he could tell she was on the verge of fresh tears. Old tear tracks were on her face, and it told him she wasn’t that good at holding it together. Her son sat on the stoop, his nose stuck in a comic book, completely ignoring his mother’s conversation.

  “What’s going on, Garrett? No one will tell me anything!” His first instinct was to try getting rid of her.

  “They don’t know for sure, yet, Kaleigh. Did you go to the town meeting?”

  Garrett felt like he was talking to a child, but he could tell she was on the verge of falling apart. He sighed heavily.

  “Why don’t you guys come in for a minute?”

  Kaleigh didn’t say a word, just let herself be shepherded into the house. Alice got to her feet to welcome their neighbor and led her to the couch to sit down.

  “Can you tell me what’s going on, Garrett?”

  Brooke rolled her eyes and snorted. Every eye in the room went to her. She hadn’t expected to be the center of attention, but she used the moment to make her thoughts heard.

  “If you listen to what he has to say, then you’re crazy. Only a delusional person would listen to his conspiracy theories.” Garrett was hurt that his daughter’s opinion of him was so low, but he managed to keep his pain to himself. Alice wasn’t so subtle.

  “Brooke! Come with me right now.”

  Alice’s voice was like steel, and Brooke knew she was about to be told off. Reluctantly, she got to her feet and followed her mother out of the room.

  “I think it’s an EMP attack. I can do my best to guide you and your family through this, but I’ll have to ask you not to bring anyone else into our little circle of knowledge, and I will have to be very stern in saying I won’t give up any of my supplies.”

  Before Kaleigh could answer, Alice came back into the room alone. She sat down where she’d been before, and pursed her lips into a thin line. Kaleigh thanked Garrett and took her son back home. The second the door shut behind her, Alice lit into him.

  “You’re nothing but a hypocrite! You told me I can’t tell Susan about what you think is going on, and here you are letting Kaleigh know everything and even offering to help! Do you have your eyes set on her or something? Is she going to be part of this family, too? What exactly do you think you’re playing at?” Alice’s face was red, and Austin moved to try calming her down, because he didn’t want her going into labor from the excitement of the moment. If looks could kill, he would have leveled Garrett.

  “Calm down! I’m not a hypocrite at all! She’s known about my preparations for a long time. Unlike you, she actually takes my advice in this sort of situation seriously. She’s helped me to organize this place when you were off living your own life, but that doesn’t mean I have any intentions with her. I just wanted to make sure I had a bunker ready if this kind of thing ever happened, and it required two people. She offered to help.”

  Alice growled low in her throat, almost like a feral cat, before stomping away up the s
tairs to where Brooke presumably was being punished in her room. For the moment, the argument was over, but Garrett knew that wasn’t going to be the end of it. He went into the living room and sat down on the couch. Jenny came and sat next to him, putting an arm around his shoulder to try comforting him. Austin was doing his best not to look at Garrett, so he found himself staring off into the corner at nothing. Garrett didn’t know how long the silence stretched out, but eventually he became aware of two sets of footsteps coming down the stairs. Alice emerged, with Brooke on her heels.

  “I’ve decided I’m going to take my husband and my kids and go back home. I’ve had enough of your theories, your bunker, and your preparations. When they figure out what’s going on, they’ll come up with a way to fix it, too. If all we can do is wait it out, then I’m going to do that with my own family, in a place that’s familiar to me and that I actually enjoy being in.”

  The look on her face was dangerous, and Garrett sat frozen. A dozen thoughts raged through his mind. If they left, he couldn’t protect them. If they left, then he couldn’t make sure they were okay. Yes, they had a radio at Alice’s house, so they could call for help if they needed it, but that wasn’t a guarantee.

  “Austin, Jenny, come on, let’s go.” She whirled around and headed for the door, Brooke and Austin followed her.

  “No.”

  The voice belonged to Jenny, and it was soft, but it had strength to it. Alice froze in her tracks and looked over her shoulder.

  “What? You better listen to me right now, young lady.” Jenny folded her arms over her chest and stared down her mother.

  “No. I’m staying with Dad. I believe him.” There was tension in the air, until Alice finally threw up her hands in surrender and flung the door open.

  “Fine! Stay in the nut house. We’re out of here.” She hadn’t gone far, however, when a police car hailed her. It was Sheriff Ramsay.