Solar Fury
Page 30
Julia stared in awe at the elegant decor and said, “This reminds me of the hotel.”
Riley was subdued and bewildered as she thought how close she’d come to dying and the odd coincidence that had led her to that particular road just as Bryce was passing. Logic and science told her that hearing Zach’s voice had been nothing more than delirium, but she couldn’t discount the possibility that it could have been something more. Julia would have whole-heartedly believed it was. But whether hallucination or intervention from the great beyond, Riley was just grateful she was alive to wonder.
After eighteen hours of the best sleep Riley had enjoyed in years, she took a warm shower using lavender soap in her sparkling bathroom and dressed in the cleanest of the three outfits she’d been able to rescue from the cabin. Satisfied that she was presentable, she twisted her hair into a tidy knot and went in search of Julia.
Riley wound her way through various corridors until she found the hallway leading to the lobby. The room was empty, but she found a map of the facility and located the main dining room. Marvelous smells of bacon and bread grew stronger as she moved through the halls to the dining room. The growling in her stomach transformed into a roar. She’d eaten next to nothing for the past three days and hoped they’d have enough food to satisfy her.
She found Julia talking to a dark-haired boy and a blond girl who looked to be about her age. When Julia spotted her, she smiled and waved her over.
“I thought you were never going to wake up. You missed dinner. I thought you’d miss breakfast, too, but Laura said to let you sleep. Isn’t this place totally amazing? This is Mallory and that’s Dane. They’ve been here with their families since a few days after the CME. Can you believe that? They have no idea how terrible it is out there. I told them about getting shot and how we almost died yesterday, but I don’t think they believe me.”
Dane gave a small wave and Mallory smiled. “Nice to meet you, Dr. Poole. Is what Julia said true?”
“Unfortunately, yes. Have you eaten, Julia?”
“Yes. They have a ration system here, but Bryce said we could eat as much as we want today. I had ten pancakes. I think that’s a family record.”
“No doubt it is,” Riley said and looked around the busy dining room. “Where is Bryce? I need to speak to him after I eat.”
“He said to tell you he’d be busy all day, but he’ll meet you here for dinner at six.”
“Trays are over there,” Dane said and pointed at the serving area.
Riley thanked him and made her way to the counter, worrying she’d faint before she reached it. A bright-faced young woman smiled and served her food. Riley carried her tray to an empty table and took a spoonful of oatmeal with brown sugar, savoring the warm ambrosia. She dumped her cup of chopped almonds and raisins into the oatmeal and shoveled the food in as fast as she could swallow. When the bowl was empty, she wolfed down five pancakes.
Just as she finished, Laura came in and offered to give her and Julia a tour of the facility. The tour ended at what was named the Community Exchange, where residents shared what they didn’t need and took what they did. She and Julia each found a few changes of clothes and other necessities.
After the tour, Laura and Mallory took Julia to the makeshift schoolroom while Riley did their laundry and unpacked their few belongings. With her chores out of the way, she took the time to relish her peaceful solitude.
She marveled that less than a day earlier, she’d been on the verge of death but now was living in luxury. While it was an effort to trust these new acquaintances, her gut told her she had nothing to fear. This community would be a temporary stopping place, but there couldn’t have been a better one left in the world. All that was missing to make it perfect was Coop.
Riley and Julia were getting ready to go to dinner when Mallory stopped by their apartment to invite them to eat with her family.
Julia looked at Riley and grinned. “Can we, Mom? We should get to know the people here.”
“Thank you, Mallory, but I have a meeting with Bryce. You go ahead, Julia. I’ll stop by and meet your family later, Mallory.”
Julia went off as fast as her crutches would carry her. Riley followed at a slower pace to have time to gather her thoughts. While she knew Bryce wanted to talk about the clinic, Riley was anxious to question him about Zach.
Bryce rose out of his chair when she walked into the dining room and hurried to his table. He took her outstretched hand in both of his and shook it enthusiastically before pointing to the table covered with food.
“I wasn’t sure what you like, so I got a little of everything.”
As he said it, her thoughts raced back to her first breakfast with Coop when he’d done the same. The meal that morning had been a banquet, but compared to the meager fare Riley had been consuming lately, the food Bryce offered was a feast. There were bowls of tomato soup with crackers, tuna sandwiches with actual bread, oatmeal raisin cookies, but it was the fresh apples that caught her attention. She hadn’t seen fresh fruit since leaving the hotel.
She took her seat and smiled. “This is unbelievable. Two days ago, Julia and I were considering eating the sofa.”
He laughed a deep, genuine laugh that melted her cares. She understood why Zach had gravitated toward him.
“I’m glad we spared you that.” He gestured at the food. “Please, eat first, then business.”
Riley watched him as they ate. He was at least six-three, Zach’s height, with fair skin and broad, confident shoulders used to bearing responsibility. He wore his light-brown hair clipped short but longer than a military cut. His most striking feature was his blue eyes, the color of calm Caribbean seas. He had open, easy manners and was oblivious to how attractive he was. She wondered if he’d ever been married or had children.
When her hunger was satisfied, she sat back, watching the residents eating and chatting in happy contentment, ignorant to the whirlwind of chaos raging beyond their walls. If they’d had Wi-Fi and cell phones, life wouldn’t have been much different than before the CME.
“You’re shocked that a place like this exists, aren’t you?” Bryce asked, drawing her out of her thoughts.
She nodded. “How is this place possible? Where are you getting power, food, water? Who’s in charge?”
“I’ve spent time on the road. I understand your bewilderment. This facility belongs to a chain of ‘green’ senior centers around the country. The owners built them with hardened, off-grid solar power so that they won’t be dependent on local power companies. It’s a massive investment upfront, but they make it back in savings on electric bills. The well water pumps are solar powered as well, so we have clean water.”
Riley stared at him in wonder and said, “Incredible.”
“The facility was well stocked with food when the CME hit. Our stores are running low, but we’ve been augmenting with what we find on supply runs. That’s what we were doing when we found you.”
“And we’re infinitely grateful you did. I wouldn’t have lasted another hour. It’s a tragedy more people don’t have access to conditions like this.”
“We bring in anyone we find who’s willing to come, but not many are left out in the open these days. What few there were, the snowstorms took care of.” Riley nodded in understanding. “Having you here is a boon for us. I wanted to ask if you’ll serve as our medical clinic director.”
“I’m more than willing to help in any way I can while we’re here, but this is a temporary stop for us. Once the snow melts and Julia is stronger, we’ll be moving on to my Uncle’s ranch about an hour’s drive south of here. I was hoping you’d be willing to return our Humvee.”
He crossed his arms and frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that you’re planning to go. You’ll be the first wanting to leave. Is there any way I can change your mind?”
She shook her head. “We’ve been making our way to Wytheville from D.C. almost since the CME hit. What you have here is a miracle, but we need to be with family.”
“Not likely, but you have a deal. Until we leave, I’ll run your clinic.” She held out her hand to shake on it.
“With that settled, do you mind if ask what you’re doing here? Aren’t you from Colorado?”
She told him about the conference and a few of their harrowing experiences. She mentioned Coop but left out the personal details.
After telling him about Branson’s compound and how Julia got shot, she said, “I feel terrible about the people trapped there and wish we could have rescued them. Maybe when the snow melts, you can take a group to free them.”
“I’ll mention it to the council, but that would expend a lot of resources. People are suffering all around us. As much as we want to help, we can’t save them all, especially in an armed compound of that size.”
Coop had told her the same more than once. It made logical sense but broke her heart, especially when she remembered Angie.
“I appreciate your willingness to ask. Now, I have some questions for you. Why are you here? Were you stationed in the area?”
He gave a slight nod. “At Andrews with Laura, Tyson and Lance. We were in convoy escorting VIPs out of DC. With the chaos in the CME aftermath and breakdown of communications, it all went to hell. We kept it together as long as we could, but this scientist we were babysitting told us the CME was global.”
“An astrophysicist? Dr. Adrian Landry?”
Bryce’s eyes narrowed, and his jaw muscles tightened for an instant as he tried to contain his shock. “You know Landry?”
“He’s in Branson’s compound if he’s still alive. He told me the whole story about the CME. Unfortunately, he told everyone in the camp, too. They didn’t take the news well. I treated his wounds from the beating he got as a result.”
“Small world,” he mumbled. “After Landry’s bombshell, it was every man for himself. When the good doctor gave us the slip, and the rest of our unit scattered, the four of us considered returning to Andrews but figured there wouldn’t be anything to return to. We went in search of a place to call home for the winter and found Blue Ridge Meadows.”
“I should be stunned that your unit deserted, but after what we’ve seen, nothing shocks me anymore. It does break my heart, though. I’m glad you’ve found another way to serve.” She took a breath for the courage to ask her most burning question. “How do you know Zach?”
“Ah, I wondered when you’d get around to asking that. Let’s go somewhere more private.”
She walked beside him as they wound the hallways to what could only be described as an old-fashioned game room. The room was deserted, so she and Bryce took the wing chairs in front of the wood-burning fireplace.
“I feel like we’ve transported into a nineteenth-century novel. My grandfather would have loved this.”
“Suitable for the previous clientele. The youngest one here is seventy-eight. We have four residents in their nineties. There’s a group that meets here to play bridge every afternoon.”
They watched the flames in silence for several minutes, until Riley turned to him and said, “Please, tell me about Zach.”
He kept his eyes on the fire and stroked the stubble on his chin. “Still hard for me to talk about even after all this time. He was one of the best men that ever lived.”
Riley’s eyes glistened as she said, “Yes, he was.”
“We were at the academy together. We kept in touch and crossed paths over the years until we were stationed together at Bagram.”
She studied him for a moment. “I think he told me about you. Didn’t give your name, of course. He was excited to be stationed with one of his oldest friends.”
The corner of his mouth curled. “That would have been me.”
“He told me about some of your extra-curricular activities. Was there anyone that didn’t fall victim to your pranks?”
“Just the CO. We used the pranks as a way to keep up morale. It was rough over there.” He took a breath and slowly released it. “I was with him that morning before he left on his final mission. He’d just gotten off a video chat with you and the kids. It was all he could talk about, how much he missed the family. He thought the world of you.”
Riley wiped her cheeks and wondered if she’d been wrong to ask him about Zach after getting her grief to a manageable level. Why re-open the wound? But it was nice to hear about him from a new perspective. Bryce was the only person she’d spoken to who knew him on a personal level before that fatal mission.
Bryce leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. “I’m sorry. I’ll stop if this is too difficult.”
“No, please, go on.”
“Zach was flying troop transport in a Chinook near the Pakistan border when the enemy fired on them. All hands lost. It was a tremendous blow for everyone on the base. We dealt with death and violence every day in the field, but I took the news hard. I’d lost a brother.” He hesitated before saying, “I tried to get leave for the funeral, but the Air Force had other plans.”
Riley placed her hand on his arm. “Thank you for telling me. I know it wasn’t easy.”
“Glad I got the chance. Finding you and Julia on that snowdrift was a miracle. Sure I can’t talk you into staying?”
She leaned back in her chair and sighed. “We can’t. I need to get Julia to my family. There’s something you should know. Wytheville isn’t my last stop. I’m going to leave Julia there and ask my uncle to lend me a few ranch hands and horses to take me to Colorado. I need to know if Emily, Jared and my parents are alive. Then, I’ll find a way to come back for Julia.”
“You’re going to travel across the entire continent after it took you weeks to get this far, almost dying multiple times? Forgive me, but that’s downright insane.”
Riley chuckled. “Don’t hold back. Give me your honest opinion.” Growing serious, she said, “You joined the Air Force and risked your life for the benefit of others. How is this different? Because I’m a woman?”
“How can you ask that? Some of the bravest people I’ve served alongside are women. Women like Laura. She has a warrior’s heart.”
Riley smiled at how his eyes brightened when he said Laura’s name. She put her hand over her heart and bowed her head. “My apologies for making assumptions. Do you have children, Bryce?”
“Never had the chance. I’d always hoped to be a father, but now? Who could think of bringing children into this world?”
“Then, you can’t understand why I have to get back to mine. They’re my whole life, my reason for fighting to stay alive. I’m painfully aware of conditions out there, but I’m holding out hope that life will self-correct given enough time. Look what you’ve built here in such a short time. Others will do the same.”
“Zach was right about you. He said you were the pluckiest person he’d ever met. Speaking of children, we have a resident due to give birth any day. I told her you’d examine her.”
“Gladly,” she said, happy to change the subject. “Laura gave me a tour of the clinic. It’s impressive. I’ll start work in the morning.” She stood and took his hand in both of hers. “You can’t know how much hearing about Zach meant to me. He was lucky to have you as a friend.”
“I was the lucky one. I hope I’ll be able to call you a friend, too.”
“It would be my honor.”
Chapter Eighteen
The storms and snow left as quickly as they came. The snow had melted within three weeks of Riley and Julia arriving at Blue Ridge Meadows, or BRM as they affectionately called it, and temperatures had risen to the low sixties. The first week after the thaw, the grounds were a swamp, but the sun soon dried the excess water, and shoots of grass and flowers broke through. With the first signs of spring, Riley�
��s hope for the world’s renewal soared.
She’d asked Julia to meet her in the enclosed garden one Saturday after lunch. They stretched out on lounge chairs and soaked up the sunshine.
Riley sighed and closed her eyes. “Isn’t this glorious? Hard to believe that we almost died in a blizzard three weeks ago.”
Julia pulled the Nationals cap Bryce had given her over her eyes. “Some days, I forget the cabin ever happened.”
Wish I could, Riley thought. She hadn’t seen Coop for nearly four weeks, but he was always in her thoughts. Not knowing his fate tore at her heart.
One consolation was that Julia was thriving and her leg was getting stronger by the day. Riley estimated she’d be walking without crutches in a week. But she had mixed feelings about how well Julia was settling in at the center. She and Mallory had become inseparable, and Riley caught the way her eyes lit up whenever Dane walked into the room. All of that made the conversation she needed to have with her more difficult, but she couldn’t postpone it any longer.
She swung her legs to the ground and sat up facing Julia. “We need to talk.”
“I knew this was coming,” Julia said, without looking at her. “You want to leave BRM.”
“It’s more than wanting. We are leaving. Bryce and Laura are driving us to the ranch on Tuesday. That gives you three days to say goodbye to your friends.”
Julia pushed the cap up and glared at her. “Go if you want. I’m staying.”
“You can fight me or come willingly, but you’re coming either way.”
“I don’t get a say in my own future? That’s not fair.”
“You’ll have plenty of years to decide your own future. Until then, I get the final say in what’s best for you. This is what’s best.”
“Like leaving the hotel was best? Like breaking out of the compound and abandoning Angie was best? Like going to the cabin was best? Every choice you make almost gets us killed.”