“That’s better,” Connie said as she started to push the cart. “We have a freezer out back that we store extra food in,” she told Nathan. They rolled the cart out and dumped the body and headed back inside as the sun was setting.
“What are you guys going to do now?” Nathan asked.
“We were talking about that and most of us are staying here. It’s not much of a job but it’s the only one we have, and I’m sure they are fixing to get real hard to come by,” Connie told him.
“Don’t open until daylight,” Nathan told her as they dropped off the dolly and headed back into the store. The others had mops out, cleaning up the blood, and were done in minutes. Nathan grabbed the statements and photographed each one as Connie brought over Allie, Fred’s wife, for a formal introduction. Grabbing a memory card from behind the counter, Nathan put it in the camera and saw it was working, then moved everything to the memory card.
Lenore walked over and looked at him. “You’re a mess. Those clothes must have cost a fortune and they’re ruined. And you did it working on our truck,” she said.
Nathan laughed as he walked to the side door and opened it up. “Ares, guard the trucks!” he yelled and Ares took off out the door. “Lenore, I helped some good people today so it’s all good,” he told her.
“What are you going to do?” Connie asked.
“First I’m going to get cleaned up, then I’m going to remind Lenore she owes me a meal. Then I’m going to eat and watch the sky. When I have my fill of that, I’m going to crawl in my truck and go to sleep,” he told her.
“Watch the sky?” she asked.
“Yep, if they were right about the CME this will be a night that will not be soon forgotten,” he told her.
“Well, go get you some clothes and come back and take a shower. Then how about you sleep in here?” she asked.
“Hell yeah, I want that,” Monica said.
“Guys, I have a lot of stuff in my truck I can’t leave. Some of my gear is dangerous and I can’t let Ares stay out there alone,” he told them.
“You can put it in my office and I’ll give you the keys,” Connie offered.
Nathan looked at the group and groaned.
“Please Nathan,” Renee pleaded.
“Okay, I’ll put my gear in your office but please don’t mess with it. I have a lot of weapons that can hurt you,” Nathan told them. “If you want to see some of it, that’s fine, as long as I show you,” he added.
“I don’t care if you move Jimmy Hoffa in here as long as you stay,” Lenore told him.
“Aren’t you and Jessie going home?” he asked.
“Not tonight. One of the grandkids rode up here on a bike and told us everyone had made it to our house. Two of our kids live on our farm with their families and the other three brought in their families so everyone is safe,” she said.
“Okay, let me go and get a load,” Nathan said, heading to the side door.
“Hold on, I need to get something out of my truck,” Jessie told him, following him out.
“Ares, come here!” Nathan called out. Ares ran over and started running around them. “Ares, this is Jessie. Say hi,” Nathan said, and Ares moved over beside Jessie.
“That is one smart dog,” Jessie said, scratching Ares’ head.
“Sometimes,” Nathan said.
“Think I can see if the truck will start up?” Jessie asked.
Nathan looked around and didn’t see anyone. “Yeah, but pull it into the open bay in the garage and close the door. That way if someone comes for it we’ll know and can talk them out of it,” Nathan told him.
Jessie nodded and climbed in his truck. He looked at Nathan, held up crossed fingers, then turned the key. The engine chugged and died out. Jessie pumped the gas pedal and turned the key again and the truck fired up. Jessie closed his door and drove around the other side of the store into the shop.
Nathan grabbed his backpack and sat it on the ground. Then he looked at all the crap he had bought. Shaking his head, he heard Ares bark and take off running toward the store. Turning around, he saw Connie, Renee, and Monica walking toward him with empty boxes. Ares started jumping around them wanting to know what was in the boxes.
“You know I have a lot of crap,” Nathan said.
“Well we carried a lot of it out,” Renee told him, holding out a box. Grabbing the box, he started loading it up. “Why did you take the wrapping off of everything?” she asked.
“To save space and weight. I’m going to have to carry this out of here,” he said.
“Nathan, that’s over fifty pounds of stuff,” she told him.
“Pretty close, and with the rest of my gear I’m figuring close to one hundred and ten pounds of gear,” he said, handing her the full box back.
“And you’re carrying it to Idaho?” she asked.
“Unless I can find a bus going that way,” he said, taking Connie’s box.
Connie shook her head. “You can stay here,” she offered as he filled the box up.
“No, I have to get home,” he said.
“You have to get back to your family?” she asked with a quizzical look.
“In a way, they are my family,” he said, handing her the full box.
“You’re not married?” she asked.
“I’ve never even been engaged,” he said, smiling.
“I find that hard to believe,” she told him as he took Monica’s box and started filling it up.
Letting out a chuckle, he turned to Connie and said, “My last girlfriend told me I’m pretty difficult to live with.”
Connie looked at him with a faint grin. “Hell, anyone is difficult to live with,” she told him.
“You may be right there,” he said, handing the full box back to Monica.
“We’ll put these in my office stacked in the corner,” Connie told him as they headed back to the store. Before they made it to the door, Jessie walked back out, heading toward Nathan. He was wearing a western gun belt around his waist.
“I like what you got out of your truck,” Nathan told him.
“It’s a modified .357. I used to shoot cowboy competition,” Jessie said proudly.
“Cool. I shoot three-gun and open class,” Nathan told him, setting the last of his bags on the ground. Walking around to the passenger door, he grabbed the stuff off the seat and floorboard, stuffing it in his tote bag. Then he went around to the back, took out his keys and stuck one in a lock on the floor of the cargo area. When he turned it, a drawer popped out.
“Damn, that’s some James Bond stuff,” Jessie said with raised eyebrows.
“Not really, it’s just a cargo storage drawer. I had it installed then had the original carpet placed over it. Since the drawer’s only four inches deep it doesn’t look like much, especially with how big this damn thing is,” Nathan said, pulling out the drawer.
Jessie just stood in amazement watching Nathan pull out equipment. “How many guns do you have in there?” he asked.
Nathan pulled out an AR-15 with a fourteen-inch barrel, a suppressor, and an ACOG scope on the flat-top upper. A single-point sling hung down and Nathan slipped it on. Reaching back into the truck, he pulled out his tactical vest with ballistic plates and drop platforms on each side. Sliding his arms in the vest, he let it hang down. Next, he pulled out a Springfield XD 45 with a tactical light and laser. Emptying the drawer, Nathan threw the rest of the stuff in his tote bag. “There’s a Glock 21 in the glove box, it’s a .45 caliber, and a Glock 19 under the backseat on the driver’s side, it’s a 9mm. Then I have a .38 strapped to my ankle.” Nathan picked up a box and handed it to Jessie. “I just bought that pistol today. It is a beauty,” Nathan told Jessie, who was speechless. “I want to make sure I have a weapon I can get to,” he admitted.
“No shit!” Jessie agreed. “Is that your service rifle for the police department?” he asked.
“I wish,” Nathan said, picking up his keys and unlocking a panel behind the passenger wheel well. “If it was, I wou
ldn’t need this,” he said, pulling out a plastic box.
“Why, what’s it do?” Jessie asked.
“Evens the playing field,” Nathan said, grabbing up stuff.
“What’s this?” Jessie asked, holding up what looked like a weird suitcase.
“That’s Ares’ backpack,” Nathan told him.
“You’re kidding,” Jessie said.
“Nope. Ares can carry twenty-five pounds on it. We go hiking a lot and he has to tote his own food and woobie,” Nathan replied.
“Woobie?” Jessie asked.
Reaching down, Nathan picked up a camouflaged poncho liner. “His woobie. I won’t let him use mine,” Nathan said. Jessie let out a laugh and grabbed two armfuls. The girls returned and helped with the last of the stuff and Nathan’s two suitcases.
They stacked everything around Connie’s office and Nathan laid out the vest and weapons on her desk. Connie handed him the keys as he headed out into the store. He grabbed several packs of chemlites and opened them up. “Don’t get any lights around the windows. I don’t want people to know where we are in case they start shooting inside. Let’s all sleep in the casino area since it’s in the center of the store. Someone put a sign on the door saying armed guard and attack dog inside,” Nathan said, heading back to Connie’s office.
As he cracked a chemlite, the room was lit up with a soft red light. Grabbing a pair of tan tactical pants, an UnderArmor base shirt and a t-shirt with ‘Sheriff’ across the front and back, he laid them in a pile. Digging out a pair of suspenders he picked up his shaving kit and flip flops. Locking the door, he headed to the showers and scrubbed what felt like a year’s worth of worry and grime off of him.
Throwing his old clothes and his penny loafers away, he walked back to Connie’s office with his flip flops just a popping. Pulling his hair up into a tassel, he opened the box with his new boots, then opened a bag and pulled out some boot socks he’d bought as well. All he had packed in his suitcase were the half bitch socks. Making sure his gear was on tight, he left the office and headed to the diner.
He found Ares sitting by a plate that was laid in the floor with everyone telling him to eat. Ares just looked at them. “Ares, eat,” Nathan told him. Ares lowered his head and dove down on the food.
Everyone looked back at Nathan and Renee asked, “You have him trained to only eat when you say?”
“Well yeah, what good is an attack dog if he eats when he wants?” Nathan asked.
Lenore set down a plate with a steak and baked potato. “I cooked it medium,” she said, putting down some silverware.
“Perfect,” Nathan said as he started wolfing down his food. He noticed everyone staring the front window. Gazing past them, he saw colors rippling across the sky. “Get some chairs and let’s sit outside and watch the show. We won’t see something like this again for a long time, hopefully,” he added.
Brian turned around. “I want the gun you took off the man you shot,” he told Nathan.
“Let me think about that,” Nathan said, then put his hand on his chin. After a second, he looked at Brian. “Ah, no,” he said.
“I saw you carry in a machine gun. I want a gun,” he said.
“So you can shoot yourself or someone in here?” Nathan asked.
“I can have a gun if I want,” Brian snapped.
“Sure you can, but not one of mine,” Nathan responded.
Connie stepped over beside Nathan. “Ah, Brian, you aren’t allowed to have a firearm,” she reminded him.
“I can now,” he said.
“You’re a convicted felon,” she said, and Brian looked around at his other co-workers.
“You can’t let them know that!” he shouted.
Monica looked at him like he was totally stupid, which wasn’t far from the truth. “Everyone in fifty miles knows that, Brian,” she said.
“That was a long time ago,” he whined.
“Yeah, two years is a long time ago,” Allie smirked.
“If I don’t get a gun, I leave,” Brian challenged.
“Fine, the door is right there,” Connie said, pointing at the door.
“I’m the security here!” Brian shouted.
“No, you were hired to lower the insurance premium,” Connie told him.
Grabbing a bag, he walked over to the door. “I’m serious, I’ll leave,” he said, looking around at them. It was obvious he was hoping that they’d beg him to stay, but they just waited on him to leave. Nathan knew Brian couldn’t believe nobody was arguing for him to stay; perhaps they didn’t think he was really serious. Grabbing the handle, Brian looked at Renee like he expected her to run over and hug him, begging him to stop and not leave.
“You just have to pull it to open it, Brian,” Lenore told him.
Brian looked at Monica. “Don’t you want me to stay?” he asked.
“Not really,” she told him honestly.
He turned to Renee. “Aren’t you going to stop me?” he asked.
“Ah no, I’m sick of you staring at my tits and trying to look down my shirt,” she answered. Brian let out a huff, threw the bolt and walked out. Monica ran over to the door and locked it.
“That man has always given me the creeps,” she said, watching him walk across the parking lot.
Renee let out a shudder. “He’s so weird,” she said, turning to Nathan. “My husband Mark has had to talk to him several times.”
Connie looked away from the window. “Don’t you want to know what he did?” she asked.
“My guess is stalking and stolen property,” Nathan said. Everyone gawked at him. “What? I’m a cop,” he said matter-of-factly.
“But stolen property?” Jessie asked.
“Yeah, he was stealing every time I saw him today from the aisles,” Nathan said.
“You didn’t say anything?” Connie asked.
“Hell, I know you saw him once so I figured you guys let the retard take little things,” he told her.
Everyone laughed as Monica came over. “He stole a car and went to stalk a girl that moved away just to get away from him,” she told him.
“You think he’ll come back?” Allie asked.
“Not here, but if he knows where you guys live, he’ll show up there in a few days,” Nathan told her.
“You think he’s dangerous?” Connie asked.
“He will be in time, because the law of the land is going to be violence of action,” Nathan advised. “Let’s get some chairs and sit out back and watch the show.” Nathan turned and headed toward the office.
“Why the back?” Renee asked.
“The light you see off to the east is Atlanta burning, and it will take away from some of the colors,” Nathan said. Opening the door, he went inside and grabbed the pistol from the man he’d shot. Picking up the holster and two magazines, he stuffed them in his belt and relocked the door. Everyone was waiting on him at the side door. “Connie, can I have a key to the outside doors?” he asked.
“You have one, it’s on the key chain with my office key,” she said and showed it to him.
“I’m putting it under the driver’s side floor mat of my Suburban in case any of us gets locked out by accident,” he told them, and they all nodded. Each carried out a chair and sat watching the colors ripple across the sky. It was so bright there was enough light to read by. Nathan took out his camera and started taking pictures and several video shots, then he just leaned back and took in the beauty with the others. The group stared in awe at the shimmering colors.
“It may be pretty but this still sucks,” Nathan commented.
“No shit,” Connie said, tilting her head up and looking at the sky. They fell silent.
Chapter 5
Day 2
It was after midnight before the first one spoke. They were all mesmerized by the lights.
“How long will they last?” Allie asked.
“Don’t know, we might see some tomorrow even up to a week out,” Nathan told her.
“I’ve never s
een anything like this,” Renee said.
Nathan leaned forward and looked down the row. “Does anyone in any of your families have any health conditions?” he asked.
Jessie sat up suddenly, along with Lenore. “Oh my God, my granddaughter has diabetes! We keep about two months’ supply, but with the power out it’s going to go bad!” Jessie shouted.
“Don’t be so loud, Jessie,” Nathan told him. “Do you have a camper?”
Jessie gave him a bizarre look. “Yeah, a thirty-footer, but what good is that going to do me?” he asked.
“It has a refrigerator in it—” Nathan started to say.
“And it runs off propane,” Jessie finished. “But I need to leave tomorrow to see if I can find her more insulin,” he said.
“Let’s talk about that tomorrow,” Nathan said. “Anyone else?” he asked.
“My brother has asthma real bad. He gets put in the hospital at least twice a year,” Monica told him.
“How much medicine does he have?” Nathan asked.
“We have to get it filled every month.”
When no one else spoke up, Nathan started talking. “Okay guys, you all see this is going to be bad. If any of you live in the city or town, get out. Live with someone in the country. You need to get in groups of around twenty to forty. Any smaller and you are an easy target, and much bigger is hard to provide for unless you have a farm established. Your primary focus is food and water after protection and shelter. There’s more, but those are what you focus on. Always have a bag packed with three days of supplies that you can grab and leave. That is called a ‘go bag.’ Only bring in people you can trust, and don’t hesitate to throw people out that will hurt the group. You need to choose a leader that will listen to others but will make decisions and live with them. Each of you can survive this. I can see the strength in all of you.”
Renee looked over at him. “How long do you think this will last?” she asked.
“Forever. It will never be the same,” he answered.
“I saw a show on this one time and it said half the world would die if it happened,” Allie told them.
“I put it at seventy-five to ninety percent,” Nathan replied, and everyone sat up. “It’s not that hard to see, guys. Two percent of the population grows the food for the rest. Tractors have to harvest it and trucks have to carry that food to the cities. It’s planting time now. Even if the tractors are running, the refineries aren’t producing the diesel to move the produce.”
Dark Titan Journey Book 1 Page 5