EMP:The Storm: A Post Apocalyptic Survival Story (The Fall Book 2)

by Mark Mathews

  Wren had a teasing quality to her voice, and it made Garrett smile. Even if the world was going to hell, she still had the mentality of a mother hen who wanted to take care of everyone. It was a quality that he admired in her.

  “I’m alright, I promise. I just want to sit out here a little longer.”

  Wren put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him. In that pose, she looked more like she was his daughter’s age than a grown woman, but it was still enough to make him have to bite the insides of his cheeks to keep from smiling. Garrett met her gaze evenly. Smirking at him, she hooked her arm under his shoulder and pulled him to his feet. Garrett finally relented and let Wren walk him into the house. Garrett’s first stop was the girls’ room. Brooke and Jenny had their own beds, but when Garrett looked in on them, they were curled up together in Brooke’s bed, fast asleep. Smiling, he walked in and pulled the covers up to their chins before giving the both of them a kiss on the forehead. Closing the door behind him, he came face to face with Wren, who apparently had followed him up the stairs. She smiled at him, and he could feel his cheeks redden.

  “You’re such a wonderful father. Those girls are lucky to have you, just the way you are. Even with your craziness.”

  He could see she was teasing him, so he let it blow over easily. The fact that she’d commented on him being a wonderful father made him hope it might actually be true. The fact that Brooke didn’t trust him, or even seem to like him, had given him doubts. With a start, he realized that was the first time he’d allowed someone to tease him about his prepping and actually let it go. Was there something about this woman that was just different? He put it out of his mind quickly and decided to just thank her.

  “That means a lot. I always thought I embarrassed them more than anything.”

  He gave a little chuckle, but Wren could see that it bothered him to embarrass his kids. Without thinking, she stepped forward to give him a hug. Garrett hadn’t realized how much such a simple gesture undid him. He fell into her arms, doing his best not to let the floodgates of emotion open up.

  “You really have no idea how long it took me to get there. Brooke resented me for years because of my survivalist prepping. It’s now that something’s actually happened that she’s realizing that I’m the one who knows what’s going on.”

  Thinking about it, he realized that, in a way, he had this fiasco to thank for getting him and his daughter closer together. Although he wished it wouldn’t have happened while Alice was pregnant, he was still thankful that it had happened at all.

  “I can understand that. I basically had to raise my younger sister myself. It can be a bit of a challenge, let me tell you.” She chuckled at her words. “Okay, so it’s a lot of a challenge, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

  Garrett could understand that completely. It was just as he felt. Maybe fate had brought Wren to him to give him a kindred spirit during this hard time. Granted, yes, he had his army friends, but they were each so different that he couldn’t really relate to anything that wasn’t military with them. And Wren was…attractive. The two of them headed to the stairs so they could sit and chat in the living room. They stopped before they took the first step down, leaning against the bannisters instead.

  “If you don’t mind my asking, what happened to your parents?” He watched as she bit her lip. Tears began to well in her eyes, and he was torn between trying to comfort her and take it back. He felt guilty for asking, but there was nothing that could be done about it now. She swallowed hard before taking a deep breath and answering him.

  “My mom left right after my sister was born. I guess it just got to be too much for her to raise five kids on her own with an abusive husband thrown into the mix. I can’t say I blame her, but I missed her so much growing up that I think I built up resentment toward her.” With a pang, Garrett realized that was what had happened between himself and Brooke to land them where they were before the EMP attack happened. “It wasn’t all bad, though. I remembering being out after dark, playing with my brothers and just wreaking havoc. On the softer side of life, I loved to tuck my sister into bed at night and read her bedtime stories. I found that I’m pretty good at doing all the voices in a story.”

  “It sounds like it was pretty good.” He smiled at her reassuringly. He was trying to make the guilt go away, but he wasn’t sure it was working.

  “It was never all bad. There was a lot of good in it.” She grinned at some memory and it caught on Garret’s face, too. He wanted to take her hand, but he refrained. Wren’s eyes grew a little misty, and Garrett’s heart went out to her. “I just wish I knew where my sister was. Most of all, that’s what I want right now.” Garrett saw that Wren’s shoulders were shaking with emotion, and he opened his arms wide. Wren looked from his face to his open arms, then back again. Silently, she was asking for permission to go into his arms. He gave her a smile, and that was all it took. Wren darted into his arms and he closed them behind her. The two of them were caught up in an embrace, and neither one of them heard the bedroom door open behind them. Alice emerged, stopping dead in her tracks at the sight of the two of them in each other’s arms. Her gasp of shock got the attention of them both, and they quickly jumped away from each other with guilty expressions.

  “Sorry! I just was going to get a glass of water!”

  Garrett could tell by Alice’s voice that she was upset. Her voice also was wavering, meaning she was going to cry soon. He wanted to go after her and explain, but she was down the stairs and gone in the blink of an eye. He looked at Wren, trying to gauge what she was feeling, but the stone wall was up, and the curtains of iron and chainmail were firmly in place. She went down the stairs as well, making a beeline for the living room, where she slept. Garrett felt like he was caught between the two women, and for the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to do. Wren had her own bedroom, but she wanted to get as far away from him right now as possible, so the living room was it. Part of him wanted to run after her because he didn’t know exactly what he was feeling for her. He didn’t know what to do, so he went to be by himself. Maybe some alone time would help him figure it all out.

  CHAPTER THREE

  A NEW DAY HAD DAWNED, and Garrett thought that it was time to do something. He found Brooke, who was, astonishingly, reading a book. That sight stopped him dead in his tracks. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her reading. She must have been Jenny’s age or younger. It melted his heart.

  “Hey, Brooke? Are you busy?”

  At first she didn’t even acknowledge him. She had that tendency to lose herself in a world she was reading about, and sometimes it took a little while to pull herself back out. He sat down next to her and gently nudged her elbow. She turned her head toward him, making it look like she was paying attention, but he could see that her eyes were still on the book, finishing that last paragraph before she gave him her full attention.

  “What’s up, Dad?” He was caught up by her beauty. It was hard to remember how soft her face was when it was constantly scowling at him.

  “Think we can go out in the backyard and have a chat?”

  She raised her eyebrow at him like he was crazy, but she put a bookmark in and laid the book on the coffee table. He could tell she was reluctant to leave her story, and that gave him hope that she would go back to the sweet little angel she’d been when she was younger. The two of them passed through the kitchen and went out into the warm sunshine. Nat and Kayleigh were out in the backyard, fortifying the walls. Nat looked up. Seeing that it was Brooke, he smiled at her. Garrett couldn’t help but smile at the exchange, because he knew Nat was sweet on Brooke. He followed Nat’s gaze to Brooke’s face, and saw that Brooke was glaring back at Nat. It would take a while before she let his betrayal go. The two of them got a little farther away from Nat and Kayleigh, and now it was Garrett’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

  “You’re not going to let that grudge go, huh?” Brooke rounded on him, and Garrett remembered immediately w
hat it felt like to have her furious eyes on him. He thanked his lucky stars that he’d gotten the glimpse of her soft, happy face earlier. He’d been afraid that it hadn’t existed anymore.

  “I can’t forgive him! He’s one of the reasons Mom got hurt. I can’t forgive him for that as long as I live. I don’t care what his dad made him do, I have no sympathy for him. He was supposed to be my friend, the person who was going to help me get through this and protect me.”

  She cut herself off, and her face grew red. She hadn’t meant to let that part slip. She’d wanted Nat to be her knight in shining armor to get her through this instead of her crazy dad, but now that had changed completely. Her romantic notions had been completely ripped to shreds, and now she was getting thrown into the real world where chivalry was dead and everyone was out for themselves. Garrett nodded, letting her know it was okay, and she continued.

  “And then he did the complete opposite. He got her hurt. She could have gone into labor. She could have lost her baby. That’s my baby brother or sister, and that is unacceptable.” Garrett bit his lip. Only Austin and he knew that Alice actually had started going into premature labor when she was hurt, but he’d been able to stop it.

  “But don’t you think that you would follow in my…” He trailed off. That wasn’t a good example. “If your mom did something, wouldn’t you follow in her footsteps if it was important to her?” Brooke looked at him with a hard stare, but he could tell that she was thinking.

  “No. Not if I didn’t agree with it. I couldn’t go against myself. This might sound crazy, but I do have my own code, you know? And there is nothing and no one that I would break it for.” Garrett was surprised.

  He actually hadn’t known that she’d had her own code that she lived by, and he was amazed that his daughter was showing more maturity than he’d ever imagined. She wasn’t just the spoiled, movie-loving, starlet wannabe. She was actually a great person deep down, and he’d never realized it because all he could see around her was the angry and embarrassed exterior that she’d shown him. He felt like a failure as a parent because he couldn’t get past that at all.

  “I do have a brain, you know? And I intend to use it all the time.” She defiantly crossed her arms over her chest, daring him to contradict her. “What did you want to talk about?”

  “First, I want to tell you I am extremely proud of you. I love that you are so fierce and independent.” Brooke gave him a shy smile, but he could tell that the praise meant something to her.

  “What I wanted to talk about is that things have changed. It’s hard to know who to trust anymore, and I just want to make sure you can tell the difference.”

  “Are you talking about Austin?”

  Garrett stared at her for a second. She was sharp as a tack, and that was indeed what he’d been thinking about in the back of his mind. She was either psychic, or more like him than she’d wanted him to know. Either way, he was proud of the young woman she was turning into.

  “Yes, that’s partially who I was talking about.” Garrett sighed heavily, then reached for his holster and pulled out his pistol, giving it to Brooke. She instinctively reached for it, then realized what it was in her hand, and tried giving it back. Garrett wouldn’t take it.

  “I think it’s time I taught you how to shoot, so you can take care of yourself if anything ever were to happen when I’m not there.” Brooke looked over at Nat, and caught him watching her for a second before he turned his attention back to his mother and the task at hand.

  “No. I don’t want this. I’m not ready. I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Her face paled, and she looked like she might throw up at the mere mention of having to shoot someone, even if it was in defense of herself and her own family.

  “I know you don’t want to, but I’d rather you know how if you ever should have to. I’m not going to be there to protect you forever, and it might be a life or death situation. I just want you to be prepared for anything…like I am.” He wasn’t sure if that last part was helping his case or hurting it, because he still didn’t quite know where he stood with her after everything that had happened.

  “It’s different! You go overboard on everything! If I was more like you, I would be embarrassed of myself!” That barb hurt, but he knew what she meant. He took a deep breath and gave her the hole in her theory.

  “It helped when this EMP attack happened, didn’t it?” The two of them stared at each other for a little while, looking for all the world like they were in the middle of a Western-style shootout.

  “I know I can be difficult and I have a penchant to go over the top sometimes…” Brooke glared at him. Garrett put up his hands in surrender.

  “Okay, all the time. But I want you to know I’m only trying to take care of you because I love you.”

  Brooke’s face softened again, and she came to give him a hug. Garrett was startled by the display of affection, but he immediately wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her for all he was worth. He was pleased that she clung to him, too. Maybe there was something that still was bothering her, and she was trying to get it out, but he wasn’t going to question it. He was going to take the hug and any others that he could get, and run with it.

  “Please, Brooke. I just want to you to trust me again like you used to do.”

  “I know, Dad. It’s not that I don’t trust you. Look, I’ll think about it, okay?”

  She stared down at the gun in her hands, then turned it over and over again before walking into the house. Garrett heaved a sigh. To be honest, that conversation had gone better than he’d expected it to go. He moved to the bench that he’d had since he’d moved in and let himself sink onto it. Putting his head in his hands, he didn’t see that Kayleigh had got up from the fence she was fortifying and had come to sit with him.

  “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it looks like you and Brooke are getting along much better recently.”

  Her voice was bright and cheery, and he could tell right away she was trying to make him feel better about everything that was going on. Since he’d saved her, she’d been doing her best to fit into the family, to pull her own weight, and essentially to mother everyone in the house.

  “I guess I haven’t had the time to notice it as much as I would like, but at least it’s going much more smoothly than it had been. With everything we’ve been through together, I have to say it’s a relief that things are going better now.” He was looking at her now, and he saw that she was crestfallen.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Nat still isn’t talking to me much, and I’m afraid that I’ve lost him.”

  Kayleigh burst into tears, and Garrett put an arm around her, trying to comfort her. He’d felt that way about Brooke for years now, but he’d never had the courage to ask anyone for help. He just couldn’t bring himself to admit to anyone else that he’d failed at being a father. Now needed help to get his daughter to welcome him back into her life.

  “Listen, it was a tough situation in any event, but with all the things that have happened recently, it just made it so much worse. Give him some time, and he’ll come around.” Garrett let out a humorless laugh, and Kayleigh glanced up at him.

  “I never thought I would be the one to say something like that to anyone, but I firmly believe that it’s true. You just have to give him some time.”

  “I know that that’s the best thing, but it’s just hard for me to be trapped in the house with him, knowing he hates me for what I did. I don’t have anyone else to talk to, and I’m just afraid this will be something we can’t come back from.” Her hands were trembling, and Garrett wanted to help her, but the scene he’d been in the night before had him being very hesitant.

  “Sometimes I get flashbacks of what happened with John, and it tears me apart inside. I know I deserve to be punished for what I did, but I still can’t help but feel like I did the right thing. I protected myself and Nat from him, but I still feel like I can’t say for sure if it was the right thing or not. I’m torn. An
d it doesn’t help that Nat looks at me like I’m the evilest person he knows.” Kayleigh broke out in fresh sobs. Garrett’s heart went out to her, and he took her hand, squeezing it gently.

  “I know that it’s hard, but you’re wrong. You do have someone else. Anything that I can do to make you feel better, you let me know. I’m here for you whenever you need to talk.”

  She looked up at him, tear streaks evident on her face. She looked like a lost little puppy, and he couldn’t help it. He pulled her in for a hug. He found himself thinking that he was hugging a lot of people lately. Yet, he’d never thought of himself as an overly affectionate person. He usually thought he was the prickly type who no one wanted to touch. That was being turned around now, and he couldn’t help but think that maybe all these women, Brooke excluded, had it wrong. Max was the single one, the muscular one, the one who should be the best choice for male companionship.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  THE LIVING ROOM had a cozy feel to it as Garret sat with Wren, Ben and Athena, diagramming a plan for their raid on an old gas station with a garage attached to it. It had been a little mom and pop place where they actually came out to pump the gas for you and chat with you while they did it. It was tucked away a little out of the way, and Garrett wasn’t sure many people knew about it. It was worth a look, anyway, and they were planning on going later that night. Alice was standing in the corner of the room like a mother hen, listening in and shaking her head with a grim expression on her face. Of course she hadn’t been invited to strategize, since she couldn’t go. It really made her feel useless that she couldn’t sit down with them and be a part of providing for the family.

  “I think we should go as it gets dark, but not too late, so it’s not the worst part of the night.”

  Athena was scrutinizing the layout that Garrett had drawn from memory, and was looking at the best way to attack the building, if they had to clear it. Garrett was nodding, agreeing with her suggestions.