After the Solar Flare (Book 1): Alone in the Apocalypse

by AJ Newman

  “Damn, the pilot went outside and started the engine again.”

  I replied, “I heard him and it makes me nervous. You don’t think it’s a ruse to take off without us, do you?”

  “No, because everyone else is sound asleep.”

  At the end of my watch, I heard a whine coming from the fuel pump room at the far end of the bunker. It took a minute to realize that fuel was being pumped into the helicopter and it was only 3:00am. I turned a light on in the hallway and was certain I heard someone sneaking around in their quarters. I alerted Mary and checked on our guests with a flashlight. They appeared to be asleep.

  I turned the lights out and crept up the stairs and out towards the copter. The pilot was closing the fuel door with his back to me.

  I coughed to get his attention; he turned and whispered, “Bill is everyone ready.”

  I pretended I didn’t hear him and replied, “It’s a bit early to be topping off the tanks isn’t it?”

  “Oh, sorry, um, I didn’t mean to wake you. I’m just nervous and want to be prepared for anything that happens. Almost running out of fuel scared the crap out of me the other day.”

  “I wasn’t asleep. I was on guard duty watching for threats. Not much gets by us since The Flare.”

  I followed him back to the house and went into the monitor room with the others.

  “Mary, no question, they were going to leave without us.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking. Keep your guns handy. Go wake Patty and get a bit of rest. I’ll babysit our visitors.”

  “You need some sleep too.”

  “I can’t sleep and I don’t trust these people.”

  “Well, I don’t trust them either. I’ll keep you company.”

  We talked for the next two hours and took turns watching the monitors and checking on the pilot as he started the engine twice more. Finally, the sky was getting lighter above the mountains as the sun came up

  Mary went into the kitchen and placed sandwiches on the table along with bottles of water. I woke everyone up, told them to grab their sandwich, water and gear and said, “Let’s hit the road.”

  After they started loading up, I went through the shutdown list for my home heating system and drained the water lines.

  I ran across the back yard with my gear as the helicopter engine fired up and began its high-pitched whine. I shoved my gear into the cargo department, and then took my 9mm from a shoulder harness to be ready to go. Just as I stepped up to get in the helicopter, the pilot took off as I hung on for dear life. I heard the girls yelling and then saw the end of a pistol pointed at me.

  “You missed one, Matt, no hard feelins’.” Bill pulled the trigger on a .25 caliber pistol and shot me in the chest. I fell backwards five feet to the ground and saw a figure being shoved out of the door. Mary landed a few feet from me as the helicopter roared off and away.

  Mary got up, hobbled over to me and placed my head on her lap as she ripped my parka open to find my wound, “Matt are you okay? Where did he hit you?”

  I was wheezing, huffing and puffing, but finally looked up at her and replied, “The asshole shot me in the chest. I’ll be sore for several days, but I’m not hurt at all.”

  Son of a bitch but that hurt.

  Mary looked at me as if I was crazy and had a dumb look on her face.

  I reached around, lifted my sweater to reveal my body armor as I said, “I never trusted those bastards and took out an insurance policy. Where’s Patty?”

  “Oh, shit, she’s still on the helicopter! They took her with them. We have to rescue her.”

  “Mary, we’ll try, but they will be over a hundred miles away in an hour and 400 miles away looking for more fuel in about three hours. It will take several days to get a truck ready to travel south.”

  Mary took me in her arms, hugged me and said, “Then get off your lazy ass big boy and let’s get moving.”

  “You know I just got shot and it hurts like hell, right?”

  “Yep, two Tylenol then rub some dirt on it and you’ll be good as new.”

  “Oh, I see how this works. You get the good stuff and I get Tylenol. Thanks for the sympathy.”

  “Matt, seriously, one, you are not hurt badly enough for the good stuff, and two, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  She helped me up and we went back in the house. I restarted the heat and turned the water back on before Mary corralled me to make me take a pain pill. Then she made me take off my shirt and rubbed some pain relief cream on my chest. It felt good and I was having thoughts that I hadn’t had in months.

  Mary said, “Now don’t get too excited, that was for pain. You’re still Patty’s man. I just need to keep you alive long enough to get you two back together again.”

  “Yeah, like that will ever happen. Let’s get to work,” I said as I buttoned up my shirt.

  I put my cold weather gear on and started out the door when Mary said, “Do we have a plan?”

  “Why, funny thing you should ask, yes we do have a plan, a very good plan. I’m getting your 4X4 ready to pull a trailer all the way to Brazil. I’ll load it with as much fuel as possible, add weapons, ammo, MREs, a cold weather tent, subzero sleeping bags and whatever else we think of while, we’re packing. You pack several meals from our perishable food stock to eat right away, get clothes for both of us and start thinking about anything I missed.”

  “Like a First Aid kit, survival gear, a snow shovel, a snow mobile etc. etc.”

  “Yep, that about sums it up. Let’s get the gear out in the barn by the truck and we’ll see what we can stuff in, and onto the truck and trailer without flipping them over.”

  “Why don’t we take theF350 as far as possible and then acquire a smaller 4X4 for the rest of the trip. It’s a 4X4 and yeah, I know, loaded down like this it’ll only get around 10 mpg, but it will haul a bunch more than the small truck. We’ll be travelling very slowly until we get out of the snow and the dual back wheels and front winch could come in handy.”

  “You’re right, I like the idea. How large are the fuel tanks?”

  “It has two 50 gallon tanks and there’s a 50 gallon reserve tank installed behind the cab. At 1o mpg, that gives us a 1,500 mile range and even if we only get 5 mpg, that’s a 750 mile range. I’d really like to add some of the 55 gallon drums on the trailer and fill them, but I’m afraid it would just add too much weight. If we get really lucky, and don’t get killed on the way, we might only have to find diesel once during the entire trip. The truck is older, but Frank had it totally rebuilt and it’s in perfect condition.”

  “I like the idea even better. Let’s not put the camper on to save weight. Maybe our luck will be about to change and we’ll be able to get at least one drum of diesel on board.

  We will take turns driving and sleeping until we get close to the border. We can sleep in the cab. The back seat is small, but we’ll just have to make it work. Mary, are you up to all this? I’m worried about you.”

  “Well, let’s see, am I up to freezing to death, no, definitely not. Am I up to getting this done so we get somewhere where it’s warm? Uh, yeah, with a little help from my friends, I’ll get through it.”

  “All right, then, I’ll check the fluids, grab an extra battery and an extra spare tire.”

  Mary looked over at me and said, “We have to warn the town.”

  “Yes we do. They helped destroy Steele’s army. I’ll make a quick trip in to town in the morning.”

  Mary insisted on going with me the next morning. We drove my old Ford and stopped at the Sheriff’s office. I was knocking on the door when Jim came up behind me and greeted us. The new mayor was with him.

  “Jim, we only have a few minutes here and need to get the word out to everyone that they must pack up and head much further south. The heavy snow and artic temperatures are not going to go away. In fact, they are going to get worse, much worse!”

  Mary told him her husband’s story and what we heard from the helicopter people.
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br />   The mayor replied, “If that were true the President would tell us. I don’t believe you.”

  Mary replied, “Then freeze to death. Come on Matt; we told them. Our job is done.”

  I added, “Jim, we’re heading south later this week. You will die if you stay here. Good bye.”

  We got in my truck and drove back to my home. I never found out if any of them survived.

  I stayed busy loading and unloading gear to get the most on the truck bed and trailer while the pile of items Mary brought from the house grew larger and larger.

  “What’s in that bag?”

  “My jewelry collection, feminine hygiene supplies and a small amount of makeup. I have to have all of it.”

  “What’s in that box?”

  “Whiskey, vodka, tequila and rum.”

  “Moving along, is there anything in your pile that we don’t need?”

  “Well a lot of it is clothes. A naked lady would be safe around you, so we could cut back on clothes.”

  “Funny. We only need two changes of clothes, five pair of underwear and 10 pair of socks.”

  “So we’ll stink up the cab of the truck and the banditos will puke when they smell us and let us go across the border unchallenged rather than smell our funk.”

  “Yeah, that sums it up rather well!”

  “You didn’t mention bras. I have a need for them. Can I take five?”

  Mary’s face was getting red and I’d never seen her mad before now so I thought quickly and replied, “Sorry, I didn’t think you wore them.”

  “I don’t know if that is a compliment or you are just bullshitting me. I’m taking five and you can go…”

  I interrupted with, “Mind my own business and throw something out so you can make sure we both have adequate clothes.”

  “Works for me, thanks, handsome.”

  Later that day I saw Mary inspecting the pile of things I needed for the trip and she called me over and pointed at a book in her hand and two 50 pound bags of dog food.

  Mary said, “I’m not eating dog food. We have plenty of those Meals Rejected by Ethiopians and won’t need this stuff. And why the hell are you bringing several books on how to fly an airplane?”

  I pointed over at Tina and Gus and said, “Surely you don’t want them to become pupsicles and I brought the books to keep me busy while you drive.”

  “No, but there went sleeping on the back seat with the dogs along.”

  “You can still sleep on the back seat. They will come up front with me or lay on the floorboard.”

  “I was just messing with you, but don’t think I’m flying with a self-taught pilot either. I wonder how many house pets are dying because of this nightmare.”

  “Tens of millions. Let’s save these two if we can.”

  Mary produced two ice-cold bottles of Blue Moon beer and said, “Let’s toast to our upcoming trip that will lock us in the cab of this truck for about a month.”

  I raised my bottle, clinked it against hers and laughed before I said, “Here’s to fair weather, good luck on the road of life and great friendship.”

  Mary laughed and added, “Here’s to fresh air, cold meals and great friendship!”

  “Are you hinting at something by that comment about fresh air?”

  “I was just thinking about being cooped up in the cab of that truck with two dogs and a man that fart constantly.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh when I replied, “It’s the dogs.”

  ✪✪✪

  ✪

  Chapter 14

  Heading South to Warmer Weather

  The Ranch

  Wyoming

  I thought of Patty being held by those thievin’ maggots every minute of the day. I also realized that the odds of finding her, freeing her, and making her fall in love with me were probably similar to winning the Power Ball Lottery twice, so I kept busy loading the truck and tried to keep my mind off her plight, and on my own. Still, my mind kept wandering back to what might be happening to her.

  With only two people to pull guard duty, we split the night into three-hour shifts and took turns with the hand held alarm box during the daylight hours. I was on duty the next morning and watched the mountains around us take on their beautifully bright, glittering shapes from the rising sun. I wondered how long, if ever, other human eyes would again behold such a wondrous Wyoming sunrise.

  The morning promised to be, yet another sunny day with no additional snow. I knew that our luck could not continue to hold, and promised myself that today was the day to leave our beloved stronghold.

  I went to the great room to wake Mary and found her up and in the kitchen preparing sandwiches for our trip, along with several thermoses of coffee. We ate a quick meal, fed the dogs and let them out to take their morning toilette before heading for the barn.

  The sight before us was of a big Ford truck and trailer that looked like something out of a Mad Max movie, or maybe The Beverly Hillbillies. It had stuff sticking out everywhere and both truck and trailer were piled disconcertingly high.

  “Do you think the engine can pull all of this weight?”

  Mary replied, “Oh, sure, three times that much. What worries me is whether the trailer can handle the load without busting a spring, or breaking an axle, shoot, the floor may collapse. Other than that, the biggest concern is the gas mileage. We only have to get to the border without issues and then we bulldoze our way through Mexico.”

  “Uh, Mary, did I just hear you say the biggest concern is the gas mileage?”

  “No, Matt, you did not hear me say that poor gas mileage was my biggest concern. What you did hear me say was that after a busted spring, a broken axle, or a floorboard collapse, the gas situation would the next biggest thing to concern me.”

  “Oh, yeah, well, that makes all the difference. OMG!”

  Mary smiled her Mary smile, and said, “Yes, well, what else can we do other than try, and hope for the best. If it breaks, it breaks, and we dump it, nuff said.

  Now Matt, this is serious, let’s get something straight so we understand each other, no riders and no involvement in other people’s problems. Stay focused because we have our own fair damsel to rescue.”

  “Roger dodger, we are completely agreed on riders, and strangers. Come on Mary, you know I never insert myself into the problems of others.”

  “Matt, you really are a shit, you know that?”

  “Yep, it’s just a part of my undeniable charm.”

  “Oh, dear God in Heaven.”

  Changing the subject she said, “I can’t imagine why they kept Patty. The men and women were pared up and it’s not like they need to import a woman into a region that will soon be flooded with people from the U.S. and Canada.”

  “Yeah, I agree, it makes no sense. I can’t keep my mind from thinking about several different scenarios on why they kept her. None of them seems to offer a good outcome. I know she doesn’t care for me, but I still count her as a close friend and want to help her.”

  “Come on Matt, it’s time, let’s stop talking and get on the road, Brazil or bust!”

  We offered up a sad farewell to our home. We drank several toasts and got ready to leave.

  At 7:00 am, I pulled out of the driveway, and onto the road in 19 inches of dry blowing snow, and as we thought, the truck drove like there was no trailer behind it. I started out in two-wheel drive thinking I would save gas, but Mary told me there was very little savings of gas and the extra traction might save our lives. I quickly shifted into four-wheel drive and kept it there as long as we were on snow for the rest of our trip.

  Our plan was to take Hwy 191 southwest, turn east on 80 and head to Denver where we’d drive south on Highway 25. This was not exactly the shortest, and definitely not the safest route, but thought it would be quickest.

  At first, we felt it would be best to get through Colorado as quickly as possible, and hoped to make it into New Mexico before the passes were clogged with 20’ snowdrifts. Still, I was worried abou
t going down those steep Colorado mountains. I was scared shitless thinking about the possibilities.

  Did I share my concern with Mary? Nope.

  Once into New Mexico we hoped to make it unscathed into Texas, and cross over into Mexico at Nuevo Laredo. That would put us in Mexico for the fewest miles.

  Since the solar flares had started out on the weak side before culminating in the monster CME when Alpha Omega hit the sun there weren’t quite as many cars abandoned on the highways as expected, but there were still way too many. There were enough to keep us on our toes and the bad news was they were covered in snow so they were hard to see in the daytime and much harder to see at night, right up to the point of being dangerously close to crashing into one.

  The upside was there were many dead semis providing us with a good source of diesel fuel that fortunately had not, as yet gelled. We brought five gallons of the anti-gelling additive and hoped it would be enough.

  The point of this was that we had to drive slow in the daytime and crawl at night. Hitting a stalled car could kill us, or at a minimum end our trip south and leave us freezing. The cold seemed to be getting worse by the hour, and we were crawling along. I do not think I have ever felt so vulnerable in my entire life.

  Traffic was nearly nonexistent. The few vehicles we did see were filled with people on a mission. Their eyes were straight ahead focused on the task at hand.

  We only hoped to get to Rock Springs by the end of the first day, but even at 25 miles an hour, we found ourselves north of the town in less than four hours.

  I stopped about a mile north of town, stood on top of the truck and scanned the town with my binoculars. I did not see any movement, but there were numerous columns of smoke coming from chimneys scattered around the town, tragically there were just too many to count. By the time the fireplaces had no more fuel, it would be too late to escape.