The End The Beginning (Humanity's New Dawn Book 1)

by Ryan Horvath

“I know Blaze. At least I hope I know, that is. It’s just my stupid nature to worry,” Karen said. “There’s something else that’s bothering me though.”

  “What’s that?” Blaze chuffed.

  “Well, you know about the visions Amanda and I have had relating to her capture but I’ve seen something else too,” Karen stated.

  “What’s that?” Blaze repeated.

  “My husband. Well, my husband as he would have looked before we met,” Karen said. “I’ve seen pictures of my husband when he was in his early twenties. This man, I’ve… envisioned him twice now, looks exactly like my husband did.”

  “That’s strange,” Blaze woofed.

  “I know it is. What’s stranger is that this man I’ve seen… well… he makes me feel safe. I don’t know why,” Karen admitted. “It can’t be my husband. He’s dead.” Images of her husband’s throat opening up as the bullet that took his life tore through it flashed before her eyes.

  “Maybe it’s someone we’ll meet,” Blaze suggested.

  “Maybe. The second time I saw him he was with others. But both times I saw him, he was with a cat,” Karen continued.

  “A cat?” Blaze’s ears perked.

  “Yeah. A real looker of a cat too.” She looked at Blaze. “Do you like cats, Blaze?”

  “I don’t know many cats. They can be kind of nutty,” Blazed barked softly. “What else do you know about these people? This vision?” he questioned.

  “You were there. Amanda was there. And I think the bad smelling man was after all of us,” Karen said.

  “Then it has to be people we’re going to meet,” Blaze reasoned. “Hey, did you and your husband have kids? It this man your son perhaps?”

  Karen smiled at the dog’s understanding of genetics. “No, Blaze, we never had any kids. And Jack was an only child so it couldn’t be a nephew.” Karen suddenly realized that Jack’s death had also ended his family line and she felt a pang of guilt for not catching that sooner.

  “Well, I guess we’ll figure it out,” Blaze woofed.

  “I guess we will,” Karen said and then she moved her hands to Blaze’s ears and gave him a good scratch which resulted in a flurry of tail wagging that made brushing sounds across the patio.

  Ralph appeared on the patio and said, “Mrs. Thomas? I’m going to lock up for the night. Do you have your key or would you like to come in now?”

  “We’ll come in now. Thank you, Ralph. C’mon Blaze. Let’s get some rest. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day,” Karen said and she led Blaze into the house.

  As she ascended the stairs to her room and Ralph locked the front door she heard him say, “G’night Mrs. Thomas.” And then “I’m sure looking forward to the eclipse tomorrow.”

  I sure am not Karen thought to herself.

  52

  JACK AND SIMON

  After Ian and Simon had returned with the fuel, camping gear, and bottled water, the four men had worked quickly to finish dividing up their supplies. When the sun had dipped below the horizon and painted the sky a stunning shade of orange, Jack had said his stomach was rumbling and suggested that, since they knew his home well, Brian and Ian go and make them all some dinner. Ian had promised a wicked last meal. River had joined Ian and Brian in the house. Jack had said he and Simon would work on loading the cars.

  Alone with Jack, Simon wondered how to bring up the subject of his suspicions and decided to get Jack talking about some other things before delving into what Ian had indicated was a virtually unspoken subject. About to speak, Simon found Jack beat him to it.

  “So that thing up there, you have no idea where it came from?” Jack asked.

  “None. It’s covered in stuff we’ve never seen before as well. Deep space is the obvious answer but that doesn’t exactly narrow it down,” Simon answered.

  “What do you think is going to happen?” Jack queried.

  Simon thought about this for a minute while he carried an armload of canned goods to Jack, who was in his SUV.

  “I don’t know. Maybe nothing will happen. Maybe those of us who have changed will be studied.” Simon thought back to the survival of the fittest aspect to evolution.

  “Maybe the ones who don’t change will see us who did as a mistake and try to kill us,” Jack said cryptically.

  Simon stopped and looked at Jack. “Is that why we’re leaving, Jack?”

  “We’re leaving as a precaution. Brian is right. People are going to see that thing tomorrow regardless of the fact that you say it’s invisible to the naked eye. People are not going to like it, to say the least. It’s best not to be around the masses when they are roiling,” Jack said.

  Simon smiled at the way Jack said that last part.

  “Why do you think this is happening?” Jack continued.

  Simon sighed and said, “I can’t say for sure. If I had to venture a guess taking the environmental changes into consideration, I’d say we fucked up the planet.”

  “Wha-? We?” Jack said.

  “Humans,” Simon clarified. “We overtaxed the planet. Polluted it. Overpopulated it. Stripped it of its natural resources. Caused countless species to go extinct. Consider this:” Simon walked over and picked up a can of Coke Brian had been drinking. “This can, if tossed out into the soil like so many millions are by Americans alone in a year, will take a minimum of ten years to break down and could take as many as one hundred. Toss this same can in the ocean you’d be able to find it five hundred years later. Now, take that into consideration when you look say, one hundred years into the future. How many people were there on the planet when you were born twenty-four years ago, Jack?”

  “I’m not sure. Four billion?” Jack guessed.

  “Actually, just over five. The world reached five billion human beings around 1987. Thirteen years before, the population was four billion. Twelve years later in 1999 the population crossed six billion. And, depending on who you ask, we crossed the seven billion mark in early 2011. See how we cross that billion point a little sooner each time? By 2050, there could very well be an additional nearly four billion people on the planet. That’s more than half the current population on top of what we already have in a mere thirty-seven years,” Simon relayed.

  Jack was trying to wrap his brain around such a ridiculous number. He couldn’t conceive what the freeways, schools, and country sides would be like filled with so many people.

  “Back to the can now,” Simon said wiggling it at Jack. “It’s a simple can,” he said looking at it. “It’s made of aluminum right? Now think about how many of these cans are in existence today; collectively, meaning ready to be opened and used, as well as laying on the ground or floating in the ocean as un-recycled trash.”

  Jack thought about his previous trips earlier in the week to Target to get River’s litter and the supplies. The store had a whole aisle of cases and cases of sodas. Then Jack thought of all the Target stores; then the Wal-Marts; then every other grocery chain and gas station and vending machine across nation. Then the world.

  “That’s a lot of aluminum, right?” Simon asked, noticing that Jack was struggling to conceive of a number to assign to the total number of soda cans in the world. “So the aluminum we have on the planet, it’s the same amount the planet started with and it’s not a renewable resource. Once it’s gone, it’s gone, barring us getting hit from something with aluminum in its composition from outer space, and if we did, the size of such an object bringing usable aluminum to the Earth would also destroy us. Now, let’s say in 2040 the population is around nine billion, which is probably a low estimate. There are now two billion more people relying on that same amount of aluminum for their soda cans. Do you follow me?”

  Jack nodded, a look of stunned understanding came across his face.

  “Now, what do the good people of 2040 do when they run out of aluminum and can’t have their soda? And soda cans aren’t the only things we use aluminum for.” Simon asked.

  “Makes me wish I woulda bought a Soda Stream,” Jack sa
id faintly.

  Simon burst out laughing at this. A moment later, after he had composed himself he said, “You kind of just made my point. We should be making changes for the benefit of the 2040 people, as they should be for the 2060 people and as the people of the nineties should have done for us.” He set the can back down where he found it and continued to carry supplies to Jack.

  “But there have been changes made to protect the environment for as long as I can remember,” Jack said.

  “True,” Simon said, “but whatever we do to protect the environment doesn’t make two shits of difference if nothing is done to correct the real root of the problem.”

  Jack puzzled over this for a moment before a look of astonishment came over him. “Us. Humans. Human overpopulation. We’re the problem?”

  Simon nodded. “For years, there have been debates about birth control laws but not one country has set a stipulation on the number of children a couple can have.”

  “But I thought China had some kind of law against having more than one child,” Jack said.

  “The Chinese government only discourages families from having more than one child,” Simon began. “In some cases they may impose a fine on these families that have more than one child. Besides, nearly half of China’s population, which is more than twice the United States, I might add, is in rural areas which, I’m sure makes it far more difficult for the government to regulate and enforce. And India’s rural population is far greater than its urban population so if they were to enact any laws, it would be even harder for them to enforce. We could probably regulate births fairly easy here in the States where the rural population is small but no one wants to put a damper on the freedom of the American people so we just preach contraception and hope for the best. An American biologist once opined two decades ago that unless something serious was done about the population of humanity, then we wouldn’t last long into the twenty-second century because it’s not just aluminum that could run out. It could be oil. It could be beef. Hell, it could be clean air or fresh water.”

  Jack had gone white as a sheet. He was speechless as his mind tried to think what life would be like if you couldn’t simply turn on your tap and get a drink of water. Then he thought of what it would be like if ten billion humans couldn’t get a drink from their own taps. It would be chaos. It would be utter bedlam in the streets as humans slaughtered and stole the basic needs for survival from one another.

  “I can’t believe it,” Jack finally said.

  “Like I said,” Simon said, “there are some who believe it’s been too late for humans to save ourselves for some time so if I had to guess, I’d say that’s why the object is here. I think it’s here to save the planet. I think it’s here to save us from ourselves.”

  “Jesus,” Jack whispered. “I just can’t believe it.”

  “Far too many people have that mentality, Jack. Too many people have had their heads buried in the sand about this.” Simon handed Jack the last item, a case of bottled water, for the interior of the SUV. “There’s a reason why that phrase is so terrible. It’s because no matter how much you try to hide from something you don’t want to deal with, there’s no escaping the fact that said something can still come up behind you and bite you in the ass.”

  Jack stepped out of the SUV. His brow was misted with perspiration and damp circles had formed on his shirt under his arms and over his sternum. He wiped his hands on the knees of his jeans. Both men were silent for a few moments while the SUV creaked a little, adjusting to the weight again.

  “You know,” Jack finally said. “Just before you guys got back with the gas, Brian said he had no idea there was even a problem. I knew a little about it but your explanation really brings it all into perspective. We agreed it was fucking scary but now, I think it’s beyond fucking scary.”

  Simon chuckled at this. “But you seemed to feel we’re on the positive side of this so try think positively about it. I’d trust your and River’s gut feelings on that, strange as that sounds.” He smiled. “Maybe after this is all said and done, population crises will never be an issue.”

  “I sure as hell hope so,” Jack said.

  Simon sensed that his and Jack’s relationship had evolved during this exchange and he decided to turn the conversation in a different direction.

  “So Ian told me some stuff about you all this afternoon. I was sorry to hear you lost your mom and step-father. That must have been tough,” Simon said.

  “It wasn’t easy. Especially losing them both so close together but being a nurse, I know how to deal with death,” Jack replied.

  “I lost my parents about four years ago,” Simon revealed. “They died together in a train derailment. I never even got to bury them.”

  “That’s terrible,” Jack said. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay. We weren’t that close of a family but I still miss them sometimes,” Simon said.

  “I would think so,” Jack stated.

  “Looks like we’re done with the inside of the SUV,” Simon said.

  “Yeah, Hang on a sec,” Jack said. He grabbed two sets of car keys off his work bench and opened the garage door with the button by the door leading into the house. The door slid up and Jack walked outside. “C’mon,” he motioned for Simon to follow him. When they reached Ian’s car’s driver’s door Jack handed one of the sets of keys to Simon.

  “Back Ian’s car out. I’m going to back the SUV out and you pull Ian’s car into the garage. Pull it in all the way over to this side.” Jack pointed to the side of the large garage where he wanted the smaller vehicle to go. “Then I’ll back the SUV back in and we can hitch the trailer to it, load it, then load the car. We can leave the SUV in the driveway for the night. The windows are tinted enough no one will be able to see inside. We’ll leave the loaded car in the garage for the night. We’ll load the roof cargo box with the lighter hygiene and first aid supplies and the four of us should be able to lift and secure it to the roof of the SUV in the morning.”

  “Let’s do it,” Simon said and slid into Ian’s car. The men made the appropriate changes and within three minutes, the task was completed and they were loading the trailer. Cool autumn air surrounded them through the open garage door and Jack quickly found his sweat ceasing and drying from his clothes.

  “So,” Simon asked. “Mom and step-dad. What about your biological father? Ian didn’t know anything.”

  Jack had never talked much about his biological father with Ian and Brian because he didn’t know very much and that embarrassed him to a degree.

  “I never knew him. My step-dad, who actually adopted me, was the only father I ever knew.” Jack hesitated before going on. “My mother told me some stuff… when I was eighteen.”

  “Like what?” Simon queried, trying not to seem too eager.

  “Well, she told me my biological father never knew about me,” Jack said.

  “What!?” Simon asked.

  “I guess they had a brief relationship around twenty-five years ago,” Jack continued. “Mom told me that they broke up before she even knew she was carrying me.”

  “Did you ever try to find him?” Simon inquired.

  “Well, no, I mean, I thought about it but, well, Mom said I shouldn’t,” Jack said.

  “What? Why?” Simon questioned.

  “All she would tell me is that he was a good man. A very good man who had since taken a position working with the public. She said she didn’t want the press destroying his reputation by reveling he had an illegitimate child,” Jack answered.

  “So he was probably famous,” Simon posited.

  “Probably. But not so much that I didn’t ever see him and say ’Gee, he looks like he could be my dad,’” Jack said with a smile.

  Simon couldn’t believe Jack had not seen a newspaper article or something online about the congressman’s death and it suddenly occurred to him that he hadn’t either but Simon also didn’t know that CIA Director Hayes and his mousy haired analyst had made sure th
ere was not one thing in the media about the late congressman.

  “Did your mother tell you anything else?” Simon questioned.

  “Yeah, one more thing,” Jack replied.

  “What?” Simon could barely contain his excitement.

  “She told me she named me after him,” Jack responded. He put the last item, a case of water, in the trailer, closed it, and affixed a large padlock to it. “But there’s got to be a few million Jacks out there, right?”

  Simon didn’t know what to say. He watched Jack walk to the driver’s door of the SUV, climb behind the wheel and turn over the engine. Simon didn’t know whether he should tell Jack that he believed he had known Jack’s biological father only a week ago and that now his father was dead. Would it do any good? Did it mean something? Simon stared as Jack pulled the SUV forward in the long driveway so that both it and the attached trailer were both fully outside the garage and in the night. When Jack returned to the garage Simon was just about to tell him when Jack spoke.

  “Smells like dinner’s ready. Let’s eat. I’m starved.”

  Simon, who could only smell garage mustiness covered in exhaust from the SUV, said, “How could you possibly know that?”

  Jack pointed at his nose and smiled as he passed Simon and said, “Better than a dog. Bet-ter than a dog. C’mon.” And with that, he pressed the button for the garage door and stepped into the house.

  “That’s awesome,” Simon said and followed Jack inside.

  53

  FRIDAY MORNING

  Karen woke up just before 7:00 AM on Friday morning. Her night had been plagued by bad dreams and images of her, Amanda, and Blaze being chased by the green eyed bad smelling man and she did not feel very well rested.

  The day was bright and the thin curtains in her room did little to keep the sunlight from prying its way in. Karen rubbed fists in her eyes in an effort to clear them of the gunk that had accumulated there during her thin sleep.

  Blaze was curled at the foot of the bed. He was awake but had been resting his head on his forepaws. When he noticed Karen was awake he woofed, “Good morning, Master Karen. You did not do sleep well.”