“Obviously it’s not such a bad idea,” Bobby said, looking around the crowd. “It looks to me like there have been a couple of smart ones who’ve jumped ship already. Where are Tommy and David this mornin’?”
“Tommy went huntin’ to find more meat to help feed everyone here,” Ellen said. She was getting a little steamed. “That includes you; you lazy old bastard.”
“And David did leave last night,” Jake added. “But don’t you dare insinuate that he left because he was afraid of another attack or that he wasn’t wanted here. David has more strength and integrity than you could ever wish for. He left here because he wanted to go out and help others who aren’t as fortunate as we are here.”
“Well I hope Super Dave washed his cape before he left,” Bobby said sarcastically. Jake wasn’t amused at that. He took a couple of steps in the older man’s direction before Kenneth stood and stepped between them.
“Jake,” Allie shouted. “Come over here and leave that old man alone. He ain’t worth it.”
“You better listen to your little wife, boy,” Bobby snarled.
“And you better shut your mouth before it gets your butt where it doesn’t want to be,” Kenneth said as he turned around and looked at Bobby with a cold gaze. Bobby knew that he didn’t want to tangle with the stocky man. He’d watched him lugging steel around like it was nothing.
“Is there anyone else who believes this isn’t a safe place to be anymore?” Arlene asked. “Now’s the time to say so.”
“Why are you bringin’ this up durin’ breakfast?” Bobby asked. “Ain’t nobody gonna say how they really feel while everybody else is around.”
“You think it’s better to go behind everyone’s back to talk crap?” Ray Lynn said, joining in on the fray. “I’ll be happy to walk out in the road with you and show you how I feel. Twistin’ off on a female ain’t gonna’ cut it here, buddy. C’mon over here and talk to a man like that.”
All eyes turned toward Ray Lynn. He was usually a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. Nobody expected him to speak up.
But, then again, Ray Lynn was raised with manners and taught to respect women. He didn’t cotton to men being disrespectful to a lady in his presence.
“I ain’t got no beef with you,” Bobby said. “I was just askin’ the woman …”
“You better watch how you talk to a lady here or you’re gonna get this bull all over you,” Ray Lynn stressed.
Tension filled the air.
“Can I say something?” a small, meek voice asked. The attention turned to Kay. She sat there with her cup of coffee in her hand.
“I know the stress level is pretty high right now,” Kay began. “The past couple of days have pushed us all to our limit. We’ve lost some pretty great people and I know that ya’ll are probably missin’ them as much as I do.”
Roxie walked closer to her friend and laid her hand on her shoulder.
“Yesterday I thought my entire world had come to an end,” Kay continued. “Burying my husband was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It was hard when I lost my mom, but it was different with Harold. We were supposed to grow old together. He was supposed to be with me for the rest of my life. But he won’t. He’s gone.
“One thing about him was that he had enough vision to prepare this place for me, just in case anything was to ever happen. He knew that I couldn’t travel and run away from danger like other people. He knew that taking care of me meant digging in right here. And that’s what he did. He even buried a dang bus for me and made sure I had my stupid movies to watch.
“I depended on him for more than I ever realized. But now that he’s not here anymore, I have to depend on others. I have to depend on the people I love. I have to depend on ya’ll.”
A lonely tear rolled down her cheek.
“I have to depend on you, Jake, Abe and Whisper, to keep the spirit of your Daddy alive. I have to depend on ya’ll to let me share the love we all had for Harold and make sure that it carries on into the next generation. We have to teach Josi about her Grandpa’s legacy.”
Whisper, who was already sitting next to her, leaned over and hugged Kay, “You know we’ll make sure that happens,” she said softly.
“I have to depend on my best friend,” Kay continued, raising her hand up to grab Roxies. “You’ve helped take care of me for the past 10 years. I’m going to have to rely on you more than ever now that I don’t have my man to tuck me in at night.”
Roxie leaned over and kissed her friend’s hand. “You know we ain’t goin’ anywhere,” she said. “This is out home now. We’ll be here as long as you need us to be. Right, Kenneth?” She turned her glare toward her husband, who was standing a few feet away.
“Yep,” he answered, “I’m just getting’ my new workshop set up like I want it.” He winked at his wife.
He actually winked; at Roxie.
“We’re not going anywhere, either,” Arlene said, holding onto Jerry’s hand. “You guys are probably going to need somewhere to take care of all those cuts and bruises that are sure to happen. I’ve kinda’ grown attached to this place.” She looked over to her daughters, who were both nodding in agreement.
“I ain’t goin’ anywhere as long as you’re here,” Jerry added, looking lovingly into Arlene’s eyes. “What God has joined together, let no man tear asunder.” With that, he kissed her for the first time publicly.
“People have come to depend on us for water, food and other things that are in short supply,” Kay said. I can’t keep that going without help. I admit it. I need help.”
Turning to look at Ray Lynn and Bruce, Kay continued: “I need you two to carry on with the water wagons and the trips to town. I need ya’ll to take the water where it’s needed. I can’t do that. Can I count on ya’ll?”
Ray Lynn spoke first. “You know I’m in it for the long haul,” he said. “This is as good a place as any to lay my head at night. And it is nice to be needed by someone I weren’t raised with.”
“I ain’t had a home in years,” Bruce added. “Ya’ll gonna have to run me off to get rid of me. I like it here.”
“I need help with the gardens,” Kay said. “Harold loved working in the garden and eatin’ the things he grew there. He always said that the best tastin’ food came from the dirt he plowed. He was right. But now I need someone else to do the plowing. I need someone else to harvest the honey from the hives and to pick the fruit from the trees.”
“You know that’s our job now,” Shiela Mae said. “I ain’t too old to run the rows and sow the seeds. It’d be my pleasure ta’ hang around for a while an see what we can grow next spring.”
“I need that school to open,” Kay said. “I need the cows milked and the pigs and goats fed. I need a couple of beautiful young girls to be the awesome scouts they are and go out in the world to find the things we need that don’t find us first. I need people to hunt for fresh meat and someone to watch over us through the cameras that we have. I need all of ya’ll to stay together to continue to build out Landing and to keep it safe.”
Kay turned her attention to Bobby, who was sitting there listening to everything going on around him. “The one thing I don’t need,” she said, “is someone trying to tear us apart from the inside. For the past month you’ve been moping around here moanin’ and groanin’ while you tried to heal up. We all understood that and didn’t expect a whole lot from you. That was exactly what we got.
“Everyone has to earn their place here; that was one thing that Harold insisted on. But he let you stay because you were healing and because Jerry worked twice as hard to compensate for what you didn’t do. Harold saw that and kept saying that one day you would start pitching in. He’s gone and you’re still here. The only way you seem to want to start pitching in is by working your mouth and freaking everybody out.
“From where I sit, that is something that I don’t need. We don’t need it. We don’t need you. I really can’t imagine how it would be any worse around here without you. What would we lose? N
egativity? A foul attitude?”
Everyone looked at Bobby as he sat there in silence. Never had he felt like he had been put in his place before; especially by a woman. He felt pretty deflated.
Josi yelped.
“There is our future,” Kay said as she turned toward her granddaughter. “It’s up to me to protect that little girl. It’s up to her parents, her aunt, and her many friends and family. She needs all the help, love and encouragement she can get. God knows there will be enough negativity from the outside world. Here, she needs to be surround by nothing but positive. That’s what she needs. That’s what I need.
“I really don’t want to sound rude, but if you don’t want to be a part of that vision, that dream, then I don’t really want you here anyway. Harold and I opened our home, our supplies and our hearts to every one of you with open arms. Ya’ll are our guests, not our employees or our prisoners. If you want to leave; go. You can take enough food to last a week – two if you want. I need you guys, but I won’t beg anyone to do what they don’t want to.”
Everybody sat in silence, listening for what was coming next.
Bobby stood up and looked at his son. “You gonna stay here and be bossed around by a woman?” He snarled.
Jerry looked at his dad. He looked at Kay. Then he looked at Arlene. He smiled.
“Yes, sir,” he said. “Can’t think of any better place to be.” He kissed his lover again.
Kenneth turned around and looked the flustered man in the eyes. “You need any help packin’, Bobby?” he asked with a slight grin on his face.
“I’ll go grab you a box of MRE’s,” Ray Lynn offered. “That should last you a couple of weeks; as long as you ration yourself.”
“Have ya’ll all lost your minds?” Bobby shouted. “You’re really gonna’ let that cripple woman …”
When Kenneth’s fist made contact with Bobby’s nose several things happened all at once. First, the bone over the bridge of his nose fractured in four different places. Second, Bobby saw a white light and didn’t feel a thing when he fell backwards and landed solidly on his back on the soft grass beneath him. Third, both of his eyes immediately swelled and dark bruising appeared beneath them. And fourth, his formerly straight nose became crooked and swelled to about twice its normal size.
It took a couple of minutes for him to come too, but once he did, Bobby didn’t really want to say anything else to anyone. All he wanted to do was find the Mack truck that had run over him.
Ray Lynn and Kenneth helped him to his feet and sat him on the tailgate of the truck. While Ray Lynn went and grabbed the MRE’s, Arlene went inside and put a few pain pills in a bottle with some ibuprofen tablets. She gave Bobby a couple of each and a cup of water to wash them down with. She then made sure he was alert enough to see her put the bottle with the other medicine in his shirt pocket and button the flap over it.
Jerry really did hate to see his father leave the Landing, but he knew it was for his own good and for the good of the community. Ray Lynn offered to carry him into town and drop him off over by Tent City. The girl scouts rode along, just to make sure nothing else happened to Bobby on the way.
Inside the Main House, sitting in the living room, were five happy children singing along to the Banana song with the Minions. They were so full of joy. This was the life.
Chapter 20
Epilogue
This is not the end of the story for Lindsey Landing; quite the contrary. This was just the beginning. There were many more surprises and adventures for the people of the Landing over the next days, weeks and months to come. Some of them good, others not so much. Nonetheless, the story carried on.
The electromagnetic pulse was devastating to the entire planet. Those who lived in technologically advanced countries were the ones who were the most affected, for they had become used to a lifestyle of dependency on their luxuries and gadgets. Once those things were taken away, people, in general, didn’t know how to cope. They didn’t know how to depend on themselves.
There was an insurmountable loss of life. The first to go were the weak; the sick; the infirmed. Without medical devices and a steady supply of medicine, there was no way to keep them alive.
The second wave was brought on by greed. People were so focused on getting what the wanted and thought they needed, that the rule of law flew out the window. It was scary, almost imitating the Purge. Lawlessness ruled, leaving a horde of innocent victims in its wake. This was the greatest and most senseless loss of life brought on by the natural disaster.
After the failure of nuclear facilities (only three of the 99 in the country, which really was fortunate), there was an immediate impact on the population. The lasting impact, though, caused many more victims. Those who died quickly were the fortunate ones. A lingering death from radiation poisoning is brutal.
Disease, starvation and the inability to fight of common diseases (like the flu) took a large toll also. A very large part of the population of the Earth was wiped out by a single solar event. It’s hard to imagine, but it could have been worse.
Since scientists from the United States were able to detect the event and give President Trump enough advance warning, his government was able to gather and store a surprising amount of equipment and supplies in locations safe from the emp. That, alone, put the country well ahead of all others in the recovery effort.
He had been condemned and laughed at by so many of the people he served, but the actions he took ahead of the pulse turned out to be the best-case-scenario for the country and the world.
As this chapter comes to a close, the only questions left to ask are:
Are you prepared?
Would you survive?
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