Solar Fury

by E A Chance

  She was about to call out to her when she heard her giggle coming from Coop’s room.

  She frowned and wondered if she’d slept on the top bunk or with him. It was gross to think of her mom and Coop that way, but once she got over being creeped out, she was glad they were together.

  Her mom had acted weird toward Coop since they got to the cabin, and Julia was afraid he’d get fed up and leave. She was relieved her mom finally remembered she loved him and was lucky to have Coop in their lives. It meant they could be a real family, minus the whole wedding thing since it wasn’t like her mom and Coop could run to city hall. All that mattered to Julia was that her mom had found someone who made her happy.

  As she reached for the crutches to go to the bathroom, Coop came out of his room and saluted her.

  “I’ll build up the fire, and we’ll start on your sled after breakfast.”

  “Sounds good,” she said as he hurried down the hall to the living room.

  She shuffled to the bathroom, imagining how good it would feel like to take a hot shower.

  Her mom tapped on the bathroom door a few minutes later. “Need any help in there?”

  “I’m good. How are you this morning?” she asked in a singsong voice.

  Her mom hesitated a full ten seconds before saying, “Doing great. Thanks for asking. I’ll be in the kitchen, so call if you need me.”

  Julia laughed and finished washing her face with the ice-cold water from the bowl on the counter. When she was done, she went to the kitchen and caught her mom blushing but didn’t tease her, afraid it would scare her off from being with Coop.

  She took one of the two kitchen chairs and leaned her crutches against the table. “What’s for breakfast? Let me guess. MREs and canned peaches.”

  Coop pulled up the other chair and sat next to her. “Be glad you have that much. Our stores are getting pitiful. If we get another stormless day tomorrow, I might venture out to see if there are any food sources within walking distance. If not, I’ll have to try hunting. I’ve seen rabbit and deer tracks. It won’t be easy with the range of the Glock, but it’s the best we have.”

  Riley set a bowl of peaches in front of Julia and dried her hands on a raggedy dishtowel. “As long as you don’t run into a bear. Are there bears in Virginia?”

  Julia shoveled a spoonful of peaches into her mouth and said, “Who knows? I forgot to Google local wildlife before the CME.”

  Coop mussed her hair. “Snarky. Black bears live around here, but they’re hunkered down this time of year, especially with the cold temperatures. Even if they are out, they usually stay clear of humans. Nothing to worry about.”

  Riley finished her protein bar and tossed the wrapper in the bin. “Good to know. I’ve had venison but never rabbit. How do they taste?”

  “I make a mean rabbit stew.”

  Julia crinkled her nose. “Sounds disgusting.”

  “You’ll be grateful when it’s all you have to eat.”

  They cleaned up the few dirty dishes and got to work on Julia’s sled. It was a simple design but wasn’t simple to build without the right tools. Julia watched from the couch has they pulled the legs off the coffee table, making sure to save the nails and screws. With that done, Coop brought in the extra pair of skis to use as runners.

  The table was wider than the snow shovel, so he trimmed off three inches with a dull, rusty saw he found in the shed. While he worked, Riley poked holes in the shovel with some medical instruments. They made matching holes in the table after Coop finished trimming it.

  “What are those for?” Julia asked.

  “We’re going to lash a rope through the holes to hold the shovel to the table edge so it won’t cause friction in the snow. If we only used nails or screws, they’d tear through the plastic, so we’ll use both.”

  Before they added the shovel, they nailed the skis to what used to be the top of the table, then wove a rope through the holes.

  Coop pounded the rest of the nails they’d scavenged through the shovel and stood back to admire their work. “Not bad. Won’t win any prizes, but it’ll work for Julia and for carrying supplies.”

  “Hope that table wasn’t a family heirloom,” Riley said.

  Coop chuckled. “Couldn’t be too precious if they stuck it away in this cabin.”

  Julia clapped and got up to give the sled a try. Riley and Coop lowered her onto it in a sitting position with her back toward the shovel. “Perfect fit! When can we take it for a test run?”

  “How about right now?” Coop said, seeming as excited to try it out as she was. He turned the door handle, and a gust of wind tore it from his hand and sent snow blowing into the room. He shoved the door closed and turned to face her with a frown. “We’ll have to wait until after the blizzard.”

  Her mom groaned and covered her face with her hands. “It’s like living in the Rockies backcountry. Is much snow normal for this area?”

  Coop shook his head. “Not for at least a hundred years.”

  Her mom helped her off the sled and said, “Adrian Landry said he suspected the CME might affect weather patterns.”

  Julia reluctantly crutched back to the couch and lowered herself onto the cushions. “Who’s Adrian?”

  Coop glanced at her mom, then back at her. “We didn’t tell you about Dr. Landry?” Julia shook her head. “You aren’t going to like this.”

  She listened in shock while Coop and her mom told her about the physicist they met at the compound and what he’d said about the CME. She felt sick by the time they finished.

  “The whole world is like this, even at home? Do you think Emily and Jared are okay with Nana and Papa?”

  Her mom sat next to her and put an arm around her. “I’m sure they’re fine. Papa has everything they need at the farmhouse, and he and Nana are very resourceful. I’m not worried about them.”

  “Now, I know you’re lying. You worry about everything.”

  “I’m telling the truth. I trust Nana and Papa, and I bet your Aunt Lily and Uncle Kevin are with them, and Miles, too. They have everything they need to survive comfortably.”

  Julia wiped the tears dripping off her chin. “Not my friends, though. I bet they’re all dead.”

  “We’re not dead. Why would your friends be?” Coop asked.

  “That’s true,” she said, encouraged by the thought. “Except for Hannah, we’re still alive after all the horrible stuff we’ve been through.”

  “And you even got shot,” her mom said. “That’ll be an awesome story to tell your friends when we get home.”

  “Home,” Julia whispered. “How will we get home? It’s taken a month to go a few hundred miles.”

  “We’ll stay at the ranch until you’re recovered and the weather improves. Uncle Mitch has trucks we can use and horses. Plus, the chaos will have died down by then. People will start to rebuild their communities.”

  “Like on The Walking Dead,” Coop said. “But we don’t have to deal with zombies.”

  Julia crossed her arms. “Mom doesn’t let me watch that show.”

  “Smart woman. Let’s just say they had it way worse than we do, and they were able to start rebuilding their communities.”

  Her mom kissed the top of her head. “We shouldn’t have told you.”

  Julia turned to face her. “I’m glad you did. I had to find out some time and I don’t like it when you keep secrets from me. Now, we all know what we’re facing, and we’ll do it together.”

  “Are you sure about this?” Riley asked as she watched Coop pull on his snowshoes two days later. “There’s at least a foot of fresh powder and it’s still snowing.”

  “It’s just flurries, and what choice do I have? The food’s almost gone, and who knows how long we have before the next blizzard? It’s too bad the owners of this place didn’t think to leave a Farmer’s Almanac. It’s surprising how accurate their forecasts are.”

  “Promise to stop and head straight back if the storm gets worse. We can ration for a few day
s if we have to and can give trapping rabbits another go. The ones you cooked weren’t that bad.”

  “You looked like you were trying not to throw up while you ate that stew. I give my word that I’ll turn around if the storm gets worse. I’ll be back before dark, if not sooner.”

  Riley hugged him for a full minute before reluctantly letting go.

  Julia gave a half-hearted wave as he went out into the cold. “I don’t like this, Mom. I can eat this couch leather if it’ll stop him from going.”

  Riley was glad her back was to Julia so she wouldn’t see she felt the same way. Their food stock was low, but not gone, and the snow had to stop sometime. She’d warned Coop when they were alone that it was reckless for him to venture out when it was already snowing. She shouldn’t have wasted her breath. He was too impetuous and stubborn. She watched him snowshoe down the slope until the top of his hood disappeared below the drifts, then pushed the door closed and pasted on a smile.

  “Coop’s smart and has that freaky sense of direction he’s always bragging about. How many times were we sure he wasn’t coming back just to have him pop up at the last second?”

  “Say whatever you want, Mom. I see in your face how worried you are.”

  “That proves nothing. I’m always worried, remember. Let’s play chess. I’m leading in the tournament and want to see if you can catch me. Or are you chicken to take me on?” Julia mumbled something under her breath. “I didn’t catch that.”

  Julia gave an equally fake smile. “Nothing. I’d love a game of chess.”

  Julia silently watched Riley while she set up the board. She’d been in a funk since they told her about Adrian and the global-CME, and Riley wished they hadn’t. She’d promised not to keep secrets from Julia, but maybe she was too young to hear some truths.

  She perked up some as they got into their game. Riley was doing her best to let Julia win without her knowing. They played for hours to distract themselves, only stopping to eat the last of the MREs and for Julia to take her hourly five-minute walks around the cabin. Neither mentioned the howling wind, the rapidly falling snow, or the fact that Coop had failed to return.

  Riley’s panic began rising as the hours passed and she felt powerless against it. She’d taken her last Xanax the previous day and had no other sedatives. If a blizzard hadn’t been raging outside, she would have gone for a vigorous hike, which usually worked to calm her. By sunset, she was suffering a full-blown panic attack. Julia did her best to help calm her, and she tried yoga and deep breathing, but nothing worked.

  The worse her attack got, the more agitated Julia became, and the more furious Riley was with herself for not being able to stay in control. The attacks weren’t her fault, but she’d done so well keeping them at bay since the day they got the alert about the CME. She couldn’t figure out why this one was overwhelming her.

  By eight, Julia was in tears, and Riley was relentlessly pacing the room. Her legs ached, and her head pounded, but she couldn’t stop.

  Julia was lying on the couch, weeping with her arms covering her face. “Coop’s never coming back, is he, Mom?”

  Riley was so out of breath that it was a chore to talk, but she managed to say, “We don’t know that. Maybe he’s holed up somewhere until the storm passes.”

  Julia sat up and blew her nose on her sweatshirt. “How could he abandon us? We needed him more than food. If he comes back, I’ll never forgive him.”

  Riley knew that wasn’t true but didn’t bother contradicting her. “I don’t want to talk about Coop. Read to me. It’ll help both of us.”

  “I can’t stop crying. How do you expect me to read?”

  “Julia, I’m begging. Please, help me.”

  She stared at Riley before getting her crutches and going to the stack of books in the corner.

  “Fine, but I want a different book. The one I was reading is boring.” She flipped through the stack before Riley could stop her and picked up Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. She brushed the smooth cover with her fingers before raising her eyes to Riley. “Why did you hide this from me?”

  Riley paused her pacing. “I thought it would be too painful for you to see it. I should have thrown it out into the snow.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t. I want to read it. I love this book, and it makes me feel like Hannah’s with us. That comforts me.”

  Riley nodded and started moving again. “Go ahead.”

  Julia read until eleven when she started to yawn and Riley’s legs finally refused to take another step.

  “Let’s go to bed. We’ll pick up where you stopped in the morning.”

  Julia followed her down the hall. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep.”

  “Me either, but we need to try. Even resting will be good for our bodies, and my body is screaming for rest.”

  They climbed into their beds, fully clothed. Despite her worry, Julia was sleeping soundly thirty minutes later. Riley rested against the wall with her knees pulled to her chest as she listened to the wind. She forced herself to imagine Coop safe and warm in an abandoned cabin like the one they’d found. It didn’t stop her panic, but it helped her stay still. She stoked the fire every few hours and waited for the blessed light of dawn.

  The storm quieted sometime around sunrise and they woke to a brilliant, cloudless sky. Riley’s anxiety had also calmed to a dull roar. She was exhausted but hopeful that Coop would make it back before nightfall.

  She got up to stoke the fire but discovered they were out of wood. When she opened the back door to bring in a load from the woodpile, a mound of snow spilled into the cabin. The doorway was covered by a drift that reached halfway up the frame. At least three new feet of snow had fallen in the past twenty-four hours.

  Since they’d used their only shovel for Julia’s sled, she dumped the trash out of the kitchen garbage can and used it to dig a trail. It took three hours of backbreaking work to reach the wood stacked against the shed and another two to carry in enough wood to last three days. Julia woke up just as she’d finished filling most of the kitchen and half the living room with logs.

  The exertion had burned off her anxiety and blocked her mind from obsessing about Coop. She changed the subject whenever Julia brought him up to stay in control, so she soon got the hint. At noon, they ate the last two protein bars. That left them with a jar of canned beef and a few cans of peaches and green beans. If Coop didn’t come back with food, they might be forced to eat the couch after all.

  They passed the time as they had the day before by playing chess and reading. When they grew tired of that, they played twenty-questions, I Spy, and tic-tac-toe. At three, Julia begged Riley to take her for a sled ride until Riley relented and opened the front door. Julia went to the doorway and peeked over the top of her head.

  “How deep do you think that is?”

  “I’d guess close to seven feet. We measured it last week, and it was five. Some melted, then we got this. No sled ride today.”

  Julia sank onto the couch and crossed her arms. “What did people in the olden days do to keep from going out of their minds in the winter?”

  “They did chores, like shoveling, chopping wood, drawing water, and cooking. At night, they sang, read, and played games like we’ve been doing. They had to take care of livestock, too. They went to bed early and got up early to work hard all day. Once we get settled, that’s what our lives will be until someone figures out how to get electricity running.”

  “At least there won’t be pollution. What about solar and wind power?”

  “I’m sure the world that emerges from the ashes won’t look much like the one that existed six weeks ago.”

  “As long as someone figures out cell phones and the internet, I’ll be happy.”

  “People are going to be far more concerned with the food at first. The rest will come later, but not for years or decades. It’ll be your generation that grows up in this new world and finds ways to innovate. It’s exciting to think about.”

&nbs
p; “That’s if we survive. It’ll be a miracle if we make it out of this cabin.”

  “We will, sweetheart.”

  They sat lost in their private thoughts for several minutes until Julia said, “I’m hungry, Mom.”

  “Me, too, but we have to ration. It’ll take a few days for our stomachs to shrink.”

  “If mine shrinks any more, it’ll disappear.”

  “I could slice you a piece of couch.”

  Julia rolled her eyes. “I’ll pass.”

  “Ready for another game of chess?”

  Riley slept for seven hours after her day of digging, hauling wood, and gathering snow for water. When she woke to another cloudless day, every muscle ached, but she felt refreshed. To distract Julia from her hunger and Coop, she cleared the snow from the porch and dug a short path in the snow so that she could pull Julia on the sled. It took her until two to finish, but it was worth it to see the happiness on her daughter’s face for the first time in days.

  She pulled Julia past the shed to a little break in the trees above a frozen creek with a waterfall. It was fascinating to see the falls frozen in place.

  “That’s beautiful,” Julia said softly. “Wish I had my phone to take a picture.”

  “We’ll have to take pictures with our minds.” She was about to turn the sled and return to the cabin when she spotted movement in the woods. “Quick, hand me the binocs.”

  Julia dug through the emergency supplies they’d put in the sled and handed the binoculars to Riley. She raised them to her eyes and searched the woods, hoping to see Coop, but there was nothing. She lowered the binoculars and sighed.

  “I must have been imaging it.”

  “No, Mom, look. It’s a deer.”

  Riley shifted her gaze to where Julia pointed and saw a huge buck step out between two trees. “Wish we had the gun, but Coop took it,” she whispered.