“Well, there was no preventing this,” said Jack. “The best we could have done was mitigate the effects to some extent. I can’t even count the number of arguments I’ve witnessed on whether government stockpiling is a good thing or not. I will say it’s not a simple problem. It’s horribly complicated, which is one reason it was glossed over. It would have been a political nightmare for anyone who tried to address it. I wish we’d had the courage, as a nation, to look at these types of problems squarely. Tell people—we can do this much as a nation—the rest is up to the individual. But we didn’t even do that.”
“Mom, how come we didn’t stockpile anything?”
Rachael kissed Lexi’s forehead. “I was too busy making a life for us even to know there was a problem. I didn’t pay much attention to politics outside of medical issues and education. I don’t think most people, single parents anyway, have time to hunt down things like this. It would be different if they’d given us a list of recommended supplies and told us why we should have them. I never got anything like that.”
“You had to look for it. My wake-up was Katrina,” said Marty. “In any case, the Okanogan is pretty well stabilized. There are a few groups who have started raiding outliers, and we’ll have to deal with that before long. Omak is a mess. There are several groups that just can’t seem to cooperate, and it occasionally turns violent. We had one group try to raid our livestock about six weeks back. That was a bloody mess, two of Denny’s guys got wounded, and we lost one of the kids.”
“Oh hell. You never told me about that.”
“No, there was nothing you could do, and he was no one you’d ever met. Dumping bad news on you just didn’t seem like a good idea.”
“Still…damn. No, you’re probably right.”
“I never got around to asking,” said Rachael, “how are we set up for medical supplies?”
“Better, now that you’re here. We have two folks who have been through EMT training, one is advanced. I guess that includes IV’s, airways, and I’m not sure what else. I know she’s done transfusions. She worked part-time in a lab, and we got everyone’s blood type. Henry had everyone get copies of their medical records from their local doctors, so we have that. There are a couple of folks that should be on medication we can’t get any more. Ray for one.”
“That’s a start. Actually, that’s a good start.”
“Is it serious with Ray?” asked Jack.
“Doesn’t seem to affect him. It was a blood pressure med, but we’ve been checking, and he seems fine.”
“I picked up a few things from the hospital in John Day. I’ll review his records and give him as much of a checkup as I can manage I guess.”
Marty laughed, “Wait till you see your infirmary, and God help you if you make a mess of it, Annie put a lot of effort into getting it organized.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry about it, she knew someone would reorganize. Mostly it’s a detailed inventory, color coded, and everything is organized alphabetically.”
Jack laughed, “Yep, that sounds about right. Oh, don’t look that way babe, I guarantee it’ll be easy to find anything and everything we’ve got. It’s probably all in Tupperware to keep it safe from whatever might befall it.”
“I don’t want to step on any toes, but…”
Marty shook his head, “Nope, not a problem. As long as you leave the kitchen alone and keep the inventory up to date, I think you and Annie will get along fine.”
“The kitchen?”
“We’re using the Inn for all meals, much more efficient and with Annie being a professional chef, it gives her a private domain that she has total control over.”
“So you’re saying she’s a little obsessive and a bit of a control freak?”
“Hmm probably more than a bit, but she also knows she’s that way and has learned when to butt out… mostly. Anyway, we have a few pressing issues, working freezers for one, some way to get or make biodiesel for another. Oh, Frank from down in Adin says we’ve got the first signs of fallout from the nukes. Nothing to worry about yet as long as we wash all the food.”
“Crap we’ve been eating outside all this time. I sort of stopped worrying about it.”
“Not to worry, this was just two nights ago, and it hasn’t reached Adin, the report came from Mendocino. The Army’s been keeping an eye out, but they’ve seen nothing from just north of Portland up as far as Anacortes. Besides, the levels are really low.”
“Okay, so how are the greenhouse projects coming?”
“Well, if you look that way, you can just make out the two newest.”
Jack spun in his seat, eyes searching. “Oh.” He stared at the sunlight glinting off the glass of the two large greenhouses, the roofs just barely visible through the trees. They rode in silence for a few minutes, Jack scanning the fields and trees for more signs of home. Quite suddenly the Inn appeared between the trees. He spotted the reddish gold of the logs stacked one atop another, covered by the green metal roof.
“There it is.”
Lexi crawled out from under the blankets, ignoring the throb in her calf and struggled to stand, holding onto the seat back for support and leverage. Rachael moved to help her.
“Where? Oh wow, it’s like a log house.”
Jack chuckled, “It is a log house. A gigantic log house.”
It was another twenty minutes before they pulled to a stop in front of the Quail’s Nest Inn. There on the porch were all the people Jack had lived and worked with for the last ten years, friends from as far back as college. Standing in the middle, Henry and Ray, surrounded by Annie, Ashley, and a few of the kids Jack knew from the early days of prepping. There were a lot of faces he didn’t recognize. He spotted Russ Morgan, the cowboy Marty had hired when they were still in the planning stages of the Inn, and waved. He and Allan, a kindred spirit if ever there was one, were planning how they would deal with the extra horses. Jack climbed down from the sleigh, and both Ash and Annie ran forward to hug him. Ray and Henry came down the stairs moving with more assurance than Jack remembered. If anything they both looked younger than when he left.
Jack was swarmed by old friends, Denny, Judy, Annie, and Ash. Steve and Marty helped Lexi and Rachael down from the back of the converted wagon. Henry took Lexi by the hands, looking at her injured leg.
“Sparks, didn’t I tell you to stay out of trouble?”
Lexi recognized the voice and now had a face to go with it. Her face lit up with a smile, and she reached forward to hug the old man. “Hey gramps, it’s just a scratch. I figured it was the easiest way to get a few days of rest.”
Henry laughed, gave her another squeeze then released her, making sure she had her balance. He turned to see Rachael smiling, with tears running down her face, blotting at her eyes with her sleeve. He gave her a crooked smile and held out his hand. Rachael wiped her face one more time and then stepped past his extended hand and hugged the man who’d helped save their lives.
Jack came over and gave Henry a hug, then Ray. He introduced Miguel and then asked him to round up Doug, Allan, and the Garretts so he could make introductions. The Garretts looked overwhelmed, so he turned them over to Judy. She’d have no problem making them feel right at home. Allan and Doug went to unpack the horses. Miguel excused himself and left with Denny, probably to get a quick tour and discuss security.
“So, it’s good to be home. This is home now?” he asked pointing to the Inn.
“Yep. For several of us. Both Ray and I moved in down here. We’ve moved some of the younger folks who have security shifts out to my place and yours, and a few are staying in Ray’s guesthouse. The two families who joined us are in Ray’s big house. All of us who built houses here are now living at the Inn. There are advantages. Annie and her crew handle all the meals and some of the little ones do a fair bit of cleaning. Although, I’m not sure it makes up for the messes they make.”
Jack smiled as a young girl, not more than five years old, wandered over and tugged on H
enry’s hand. Henry bent down to listen while she whispered in his ear.
“Sure honey, you can help. Go ask Judy to find something for you to carry inside.” The little girl smiled then ran across the packed snow of the big parking loop to where the sleigh waited.
Jack watched as Allan and Doug unpacked the horses, organizing bundles by person or family. Judy was busy giving instructions to the kids as they picked up whatever they could carry and headed off to deliver it to the proper place. At the rate they were moving, it would be only minutes before they were done.
“You’ve got a couple rooms down at the end of the upstairs. Ray and I are downstairs along with Marty and Annie. Steve and Ashley took one cabin. We’ll put Allan and the Rangers in another cabin. I think we’ll put the Garretts in one of the large cabins, at least for now. Judy may have other plans…”
Jack nodded, “No argument from me.”
“So you’re okay with us moving you without asking?”
“Yeah, sure. My place wasn’t designed with a family in mind.” He reached out and put an arm around Rachael. “I just need to get used to thinking about it that way. Been a little preoccupied for the last few months.”
Henry nodded. “Just leave everything, Ashley and Judy will get it all moved inside. I’ve got a few nice comfy chairs by the big fireplace where you can take a load off. No point making you stand around out here in the cold. We’ve got some snacks and hot cider that should take the edge off.”
“Perfect.”
Henry smiled. “All right people, let’s get these folks settled in, we still have work to do before Annie can serve up Christmas Dinner.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This book is my first in what I hope will be a series of books exploring how people might react to a major disaster or The End Of The World As We Know It. If there is enough interest, I may continue exploring the world created in Solar Storm, but for now, I have several other characters who are looking at their world coming down around their ears.
The goal is twofold. First, I want to explore how people from various walks of life think about the future, what motivates them to either ignore or prepare for potential life altering changes, whether those changes are economic, natural, or political. Second, I find it fascinating to build alternate futures where self-reliance is not something people can opt out of. How some people, even in the midst of disaster, continue to expect some outside force to take care of them, and why I think that’s the wrong approach.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
An unrepentant bookworm, Vincent loves science fiction, fantasy, thrillers, mysteries, historical fiction, nonfiction science and technology, political philosophy and economics. He’ll even admit to reading a few historical romance novels.
Vincent is also an avid photographer, gamer, and shooter. He has competed in both IPSC and IDPA shooting events and has taken part in several firearms training courses. Over the years, Vincent has taught numerous people shooting and safe gun handling.
Learn more about forthcoming books at
Keith Writes
If you enjoyed this book, please help make the next one possible by writing a brief review. And be sure to tell your friends.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Prologue
1. Lights Out
2. Gearing Up
3. Strays and Bad Men
4. Campfire Stories
5. Shifting Perspectives
6. A Fork in the Road
7. Road Trip
8. Shared Reality
9. Survival School
10. Going to Town
11. Nothing but Bad News
12. Northward Bound
13. Making Tracks
14. Goose Down Inn
15. Friendship and More
16. Old Friends
17. School Again
18. Crashed
19. A Whole New Life
20. Missed Connections
21. High Desert
22. Small Towns
23. Descent
24. Pendleton
25. Restoring History
26. Good News, Bad News
27. Waking Up
28. Back to Work
29. Plans
30. Volunteer Army
31. The Battle of Pendleton
32. Picking Up the Pieces
33. Grand Opening
34. A Good Man
35. Gift Horses
36. Unexpected Company
37. Threading the Needle
38. Crossing the Bridge
39. Cannibals? Are You Sure?
40. Rescue Mission
41. Hazardous Waste
42. Strangers in the Night
43. Breaking Trail
44. Grand Coulee
45. Refugees
46. Delays
47. Surprises Suck
48. Regrouping
49. The Cavalry
50. Home Again, Home Again
Author’s Note
About the Author
Solar Storm: Homeward Bound Page 54