The Event Trilogy (Book 1): Life After the Meteor

by Larson, Thomas

  Nick is anxious to start seeing some milk from the sheep; he seems to think that this will open up an entirely new line of cooking and foods for the crew. I am a little squeamish about the idea of sheep milk, and the unpasteurized aspect of it.

  Asuna has been good the last few days, and sleeping well.

  Jan 11th

  Snow day, but just a light one. We have been maintaining about a 36 inch ground cover for the last couple of weeks.

  As we were walking to the dining hall this morning, I saw the coyote, the female I think as she seemed smaller than the one Biter had gotten into with. She was just standing there, staring at Biter. I wondered where the male was. He had been pretty chewed up, so I am not sure. She wasn’t doing anything, she just stared.

  After breakfast she was gone, or should I say moved to our refuse pile. She was eating. Biter seemed not to pay her any mind, he was good with her being where she was.

  The balance of the day was spent being bored.

  Jan 12th

  Church morning and it was a brisk and quick walk to services by many. The temperature has dropped into the ‘real friggin’ cold range. The upside is that it is a real dinner type of day so the deer pot roast and gravy was well appreciated.

  Most of the day was spent in the dining hall with games and chatter. We actually did a movie this afternoon, it was an old John Hughes film, “Breakfast Club” and by halfway through it we were all adding comments and snippets which turned out to be more entertaining than the film itself. We tend to watch these types of films more than apocalyptic pieces like The Postman, or the Resident Evil series.

  I noticed it is starting to stay light a little later as Asuna and I returned to our cabin and even though it was colder than a witch’s tit in a brass bra, Asuna stopped halfway back and just stared at the twinkling planet. She just stared, then seemed to snap out of a trance and we continued on. I was curious, what did she see or think, but I did not ask.

  Jan 13th

  The mood in the camp seems a little down, it is a nasty blustery cold day, this just sucks, no one is moving much, cabin to dining hall and it is being done in quick steps. I think that we have not considered the boredom factor into this surviving winter thing. I recall that some people, my MPD friend Langley for one had real issues this time of year because of the lack of sunlight. It causes a kind of depression thing.

  Joseph flipped out a little about the lunch pot, and began complaining loudly about how tired he was of the same old slop. Personally, I kind of liked the slop, especially today, it was a kind of curry based mystery meat meal.

  Jan 14th

  Asuna and I grabbed a table at lunch time and while we were sitting there Lance and Delany come over. Ethan also joined us. This was odd.

  “Have you noticed that planet for the last week or so?” asked Lance

  “Yeah, it has been kind of neat I think.” I answered.

  Ethan snapped back just a little too loud, “It is not right!”

  Asuna looked at him and then said; “What do you mean?”

  He kind of sank down and quietly said, “It is still where it was, same time, same pass, night after night, that does not make sense, I don’t think it is a planet.”

  “Okay, then a comet?” I asked.

  “No tail, a comet would have a tail, I think that big meteor is on its way back in for another shot at us.”

  “It is possible, it would make sense to a certain degree, and really there is not much we can do about it.” Said Lance.

  “So it would be like the dinosaur die-off?”

  “Yes Asuna, it could be like that, or it could be worse.” Lance exclaimed.

  How can it be worse?” she responded.

  “Well, if it is big enough, it could shatter the mantle and the earth could just explode.”

  “Great, how long?” I asked.

  “I am thinking that it might be a couple of weeks.” Said Ethan.

  “Have you given the information to The Three?”

  “Yes, and they said, ‘well, what can we do?’” Ethan was glaring at me.

  I kind of shrugged, “Well that is a good question, what can we do?

  “I, I, well, we can prepare!”

  Asuna looked at him and simply said, “How”

  “We need to hide, find a bunker, and move to the Arsenal!”

  “Whoa, slow down, first this is all guessing, and secondly, we have time to see if it gets closer.” I tried to calm him down.

  Lance jumped in, “Ethan has a point in being ready, but he may be out in front of this a little further than he should be. But realistically, how long would it take to move us all?”

  I looked at Asuna, “What do you figure, 3 hours from bug out to burrow?”

  “I think that would be a conservative guess, if everyone was ready, we could be buttoned down in about an hour or so.” She replied

  “See Ethan, we are not all that bad off, assuming that the strike is not right on top of us. I mean then we are screwed, bunker or not.” I was still trying to calm him down.

  “Ethan, Tom and Asuna are right, you need to chill a little, this will all be okay, and what we don’t want to do is get everyone worked up over what might be.” Said Delaney.

  “Well I…” started Ethan

  “Need to shut up and calm down” said the Major, who having overheard part of the conversation, had walked over. “The last thing we need is a Chicken Little running around.”

  At that Ethan stormed out of the dining hall.

  “Lance, see if you and Delaney can calm him down and try to keep him from ranting about this too much, we will just have to deal with this if and when the time comes. Better to do it without everyone in panic mode,” said Charlene, who had also walked over and joined us.

  “I will do what I can” said Lance as they got up and left.

  After they left, the four of us had a talk about the “planet” and what it might mean. We were all pretty much convinced that we really were going to be okay but we would need to watch, and if it looked like it may be a problem we would be packed and ready. Of course what exactly we would be looking for was another issue.

  After lunch, Asuna and I talked a little bit but really as far as the supposed pending catastrophe, there was not much to discuss.

  Ethan did not make dinner so we dodged a bullet there.

  That evening, after dark, Asuna and I sat outside our cabin and just watched the small sparkle in the sky. It was pretty, and it twinkled and well that was about it.

  Jan 15th

  Up early this morning, I just could not sleep after about 5:00 a.m. or so. Asuna slept well and did not have any night terrors. I just sat for a little while and stared at her sleeping peacefully. I remembered that I would do that with Anne sometimes. I would just soak up the beauty and the happiness that was given to me.

  I poked my nose outside and checked the “planet”. It was in its usual position and doing what it always does. It did not seem to be any closer or different.

  Ethan and Chelsea were at breakfast this morning. He came over to where Asuna and I were sitting.

  “Tom, Asuna, I am sorry about the other day, I was a little over the top, and I know there is not much we can do about that, that thing out there.” He offered.

  “No sweat Ethan, I can understand, it has been a bitch of a year, and well, with all that has happened, well, let’s just say I understand.” I answered.

  Head down in almost a whisper Asuna said, “It is okay, we don’t have to worry about it, it will pass us by.”

  We all kind of looked at her.

  “How do you know?” asked Chelsea.

  “I just know, I feel it. It is the big meteor from last year, the one that passed by. I know it, but I don’t know why or how I know it.”

  Ethan looked at her hard, “How do you know?”

  Asuna, quietly, “I just know, my dreams I guess, I just know, I cannot say any more.”

  It got real quiet at the table for what seemed an ho
ur, then “So how about those Cowboys?” I said in an effort to bring things back to center. It worked.

  After breakfast, yummy oatmeal, with sheep milk and sugar, ok, mine just had sugar, Asuna and I started back to the cabin. I know I was loaded with questions and hoped to ask them.

  On the way we saw the female coyote was still hanging in the area and was staring at Biter. Biter seemed relaxed and not on “guard” duty but rather was just looking back.

  “Did you mean what you said about it being safe, with the meteor that is?” I asked when we got into the cabin.

  “Yes, it is what the dreams have been telling me. But there is more, it is not just a meteor, there is more. But I haven’t gotten all of that part yet. Something on the meteor is reaching out to me.”

  “You mean there is some alien or something?”

  “I am not sure, yes, I mean, there is something, it is touchingt he edges of my mind, but is just keeps telling me we are okay, don’t worry.”

  “I…”

  “Stop, I have told you all I know and…. I’m sorry, it is just a creepy load to bear, and right now it is all mine.”

  “I’m sorry babe, I…. I’m sorry, no more twenty questions.”

  It was a quiet rest of the day, not a bad quiet, just a quiet.

  Jan 16th

  Looks like love is in the air, got up this morning and Biter and the female coyote are chasing each other around and playing.

  It was quiet at breakfast and Asuna and I were left alone. But we could see the furtive looks and the whispering among the various tablemates. They knew something, word was out. We just did not know what the word was.

  “Asuna, maybe we should go to The Three, tell them what we, you know and maybe we can put an end to this speculation and buzz-buzz.”

  “No, I have a better idea,” she said as she stood up and cleared her throat loudly.

  “Folks, look, here is what I know. Almost a year ago we had a big meteor make a close pass by the Earth. Well it is back, it is on some kind of orbit. In my dreams there is something, some intelligence that is telling me that we are safe, the meteor is not going to hit the Earth. I have no reason to know it is true but I believe that little voice. I don’t know the meaning of it all but I believe. If I knew more I would share it. And I will if I have more. But please, PLEASE, don’t get all freaky on me. I am one of you….don’t treat me like a leper.”

  Then she sat down.

  Over the next little bit a number of people, Teckla, Charlene, Nick and others came over and apologized for the buzz-buzz and the looks. It was a relief to us all that the information was out, and so was the reaction of the group.

  The last one to come over was Heather, she seemed very nervous. “Can we sit down a little later and talk Asuna?”

  “Sure, what is up?”

  “No, not here, but it is important!” she said and after a moment of awkward silence left us.

  “That was odd.” I said.

  “I think she is concerned about the baby, maybe.” answered Asuna.

  As we walked back toward out cabin after breakfast, we saw Biter and the coyote play fighting near the pen. Yep, love is in the air.

  Heather knocked on the door at about 11:00. I decided to take a walk and visit Lance.

  As I entered the surveillance room, Lance and Ethan were in a serious discussion about the meteor. They seemed to be of like mind that the whole meteor thing made sense and that the close pass last year did not mean it would crash into the Earth this year.

  Lance looked at me and said, “Tom, in your scavenging runs have you ever come upon any telescopes?”

  I was taken off guard and had to think for a minute, “Ah, no, but then we were never really looking for any. I think there were some hobby shops in the Pittsfield Mall, they might have some.”

  “Can you and Asuna go up there and find us a couple? It could help us look at the meteor. Maybe we can see something interesting on it.” asked Ethan. He was clearly excited about the prospect of looking at this rock in space.

  “We can do that, I am guessing the most powerful we can find is what we are hunting for.”

  “Size does matter,” tossed out Delany with a funny smile at Lance.

  “Okay, we will make the run this afternoon. Anything else you can think of to look for.”

  “No, not really.” said Lance.

  I headed over to the dining hall and hung out drinking coffee as lunch approached. Shortly before noon Asuna and Heather came in. They were laughing and clearly Heather was relieved. Heather found Steven and they were talking, while Asuna sat down with me.

  “Well?” I asked.

  “I will give you the full details later when we are alone, but it appears that I am not the only one who has had some dreams.”

  “Ah”

  As we started back after lunch, I grabbed a few little pieces of stew meat. As we walked we took a detour toward the sheep pen. Biter and the coyote were both there, she became nervous as we approached but held her ground. I tossed each of them a couple of the chunks of stew meat then turned and walked away.

  “What was that about?” asked Asuna.

  “Well, think of it as either the beginnings of taming the coyote or ‘Daddy’ giving approval to Biter’s girlfriend.”

  We laughed and headed to the cabin. I told Asuna about the request from the Science Boys for a telescope. She was good with the trip and told me that she could fill me in on the chat with Heather on the way.

  We left camp about 2:00 p.m. That would give us an hour and a half to scope out the hobby stores and then head back before dark.

  After a few minutes on the road Asuna began. It appears that Heather has also been troubled, or visited with dreams. They were almost identical to those that Asuna has been having, the voice coming from the misty background telling her that everything would be fine. But where it got weird was that the voice knew about the baby, although the voice referred to it as an ‘Eggling’.

  “Interesting, but why just you two?” I asked, “You’re not….”

  “No, I’m not, and that is the question that I keep asking, I just don’t know.”

  I dodged the bullet by not making a stupid comment about the pregnancy issue, “Well, remember you said that you felt that story about the alien abduction was true, could they have some link that way?”

  “Well,” she said; “That makes sense for me, but what is the link to Heather?”

  “Yea, that is a question.”

  We got to Pittsfield by about 2:45 and found a couple of pretty good sized reflector telescopes. We grabbed them, and while we were at it we also grabbed a microscope, why not.

  In the mall we were surprised to have an encounter with two Zoms, they were actually fairly mobile. They looked to be about 12 years old, so that was consistent with Anne’s research. But I would have figured they should have frozen or fallen apart by now.

  Back at camp for 4:00 p.m. and the science boys were very happy with our selection. I have a feeling that they will be up all night just watching.

  After dinner there was another knock on the door. It was Jan.

  “Asuna, can we talk about the dreams?”

  “Sure, come in”

  I looked at the two of them as they stared at me. “Ah yea, I will be going to get a cup of coffee and hang out with the telescope crowd.”

  Jan 17

  When Asuna filled me in on the particulars of the visit by Jan, it was not what I had expected. I had figured that she (Jan) was also having dreams and that she and Fred were going to have a baby. But it was not that. Jan was curious about the dreams and what Asuna had seen in her dreams. It was merely an “I am curious” visit.

  Lance and Ethan have been staring at the fly rock for a couple of nights now and they have determined that “Yep, it is a meteor”…..great.

  There is still some question about whether there will be a meteor strike or not. I think everyone wants to believe Asuna but there is still some with a nagging doubt. And o
n a side note, this whole mess was related to a different meteor crashing into the atmosphere. We could see that again.

  Beyond the chatter about the thing up there in space life is still pretty much as it has been for a while, cold, boring and mundane.

  Jan 18th

  Over the summer, and even now, we have often watched the sky. We have learned, as I have mentioned before that cloud patterns could give us weather predictions. We have stared at the raw beauty of the universe and the Milky Way at night. We have watched the meteor showers that fall periodically during the year. The brighter geostationary satellites that circle the earth are all known to us.