Tipping Point (Book 2): Ground Zero

by Rain Stickland

  “Cam, this is Geraldine. Gerry’s mother.” Cam turned rigid. She really, really wanted to back away when Geraldine took a step toward her. In fact, she wanted to bolt right back to the truck and drive away. Instead she stood her ground.

  Suddenly she was enveloped in the woman’s arms, and she didn’t know what to do with herself. She was not a hugger, and this was just frightening.

  “It’s okay,” Geraldine whispered to her. “We’ll talk about it a little more later, but I just wanted you to know that it’s okay.” Much to her horror, Cam felt the sobs coming out of her before she could do a single thing to stop them.

  “It’s okay,” Geraldine whispered again, and just rocked her until she was done crying. When she finally pulled back, Geraldine held her at arm’s length. Cam could barely see through her swollen eyelids, but she could still see the apparent warmth on the other woman’s face.

  “I’m sorry,” she started to say, but Geraldine interrupted her.

  “There’s no need for that. Brian was right when he told you that you did what you had to do. There’s more that you don’t know about our son, but for now let me just say you’ve probably saved a lot more lives than you realize. It’s not easy to lose a child, but I think it might have been harder for me to live with him being responsible for someone else losing their child. Your mother brought you here so we could talk to you a bit. From what your mother told us, you’ve been carrying around a lot of pain, and I wanted to ease some of that if I could.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” Cam said in a croak through her tight throat.

  “There’s nothing you have to say. I’m just sorry you’re suffering because you did what you had to do to protect your family. My husband knows a little something about the guilt from all that, but then so does your mother. They might be able to help you if you let them. All I can do is tell you that nobody blames you for it. It’s not much.”

  “It’s kind of everything, actually,” Cam corrected. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone, much less kill someone. You should be blaming me for it.”

  “You prevented others from being hurt or killed, and we’ll explain shortly the other reasons we’re not blaming you for it. We recognized our son for what he was, and what he was becoming. We tried to stop it, but that didn’t work out so well. If you want to come inside for a bit, we can tell you the rest.”

  “Okay. Thank you,” Cameron responded quietly. Geraldine just smiled and then headed over to her husband’s side. Cam looked at her mother in confusion. She didn’t know what to make of these people. Especially Geraldine. From all appearances she seemed to be very understanding and forgiving, and it didn’t sit right with Cam for some reason.

  Maybe it was guilt. Or maybe she just couldn’t understand a parent whose first loyalty wasn’t to their own child, whatever the circumstances. She knew her own mother might kick her ass for doing stupid things, but she’d never abandon her or take sides against her when push came to shove. Then again, she wasn’t a wannabe rapist or outright murderer. Maybe that changed things.

  Cam followed them into the house, and by the time Geraldine was finished explaining things about her son, she felt a little bit better about the unprecedented level of understanding from Gerry’s parents. She was still wary of too much kindness coming from anyone, but at least she could sort of see why they felt the way they did. Or the way they said they felt anyway.

  “Man, that had to be so hard for you.” It was all Cam could think to say at first. “I mean, mom has a fascination with pretty much everything, and is always reading books about a lot of stuff, and she went through this phase where she studied serial killers. I was in high school at the time, and borrowed some of her books for a class project. I know about the signs and all that.

  “I don’t know what I would do if I saw my kid doing those things. I guess exactly what you did. Then again, there doesn’t seem to be a cure for it, since they don’t know why it happens. It’s kind of like a disease or a mutation maybe. These things just happen. Some kids are born with Autism. Some have eyes that are two different colours. Some are sociopaths or even psychopaths. And it’s not like there’s a way to stop it, so obviously it’s not the parents’ fault, whatever the difference is.

  “I understand now why you say he might have hurt other women. He tried to hurt you, and then he tried to hurt my mother. It wasn’t a one-time thing with him. I still can’t feel great about it, but it doesn’t feel as selfish as it did before. Does that make any sense?”

  “It makes perfect sense,” Geraldine replied, as she patted Cam’s hand. “You believed you were protecting people you know, and to find out it wasn’t just for your own benefit means it wasn’t all about you or your loved ones. I keep going over things, trying to pick apart every little decision I made when he was growing up. If I had done this, would he be any different? Or, if I had done that, maybe.”

  “I’ve been doing the same thing for about seven months now. I kept wondering if I had taken away any chance he had to get beyond what he was doing. From what you’ve told me, it doesn’t sound like it, but I’ll never know for sure.”

  “I’m really glad we had this chance to talk, Cam. If you ever feel up to coming to visit us, you’ll be welcome at this house.”

  Cam could only nod, because her throat was a little tight again. She had such a hard time with kindness, understanding, or sympathy. They seemed to trigger her emotions when she was feeling vulnerable, instead of soothing her. Geraldine squeezed her shoulder.

  It seemed like the right time to say goodbye, so Cam thanked them and headed back to the truck. Her mother stayed behind for a moment, presumably to explain that Gerry’s body was on its way. It was not a conversation Cam wanted to be a part of, so she was relieved her mother waited until she was at a discreet distance before saying anything.

  On the ride back to the farm, silence filled the cab of the truck until they were rolling to a stop in front of the tree that housed the hidden fingerprint scanner for the concealed gate. She was suddenly very grateful for the extra layers of concealment and security her mother had implemented. Not to mention the new cameras they had already installed to fill in the gaps. Cameron was also having major second thoughts about her mother and Neil sailing away to Cleveland in the next few weeks. This really didn’t seem like the time for it.

  Her dad wasn’t exactly reliable companionship or security these days either. She’d tried to talk to him about it, but he would only say he wanted to live out in the bush for a bit. Cam couldn’t argue that it seemed to do him some good, because he usually came back pretty content, but she needed him right now, just like she needed her mother.

  “Mom, is there any way you could postpone your trip? It’s dangerous. You have no idea what’s out there on the water or in the cities or towns along the way. You have no idea what you’re doing when it comes to sailing, and it could take a lot more than the few weeks you were planning on. Do you even know which way the current flows, or how to sail against it? What if you can only go one way?”

  “We’ve been over this, Cam,” her mother said, more than a little exasperated. “If Kirk was going to die without insulin, would you say we shouldn’t do everything we can to get him some? I’ve been planning for the need to make insulin since long before this all happened. You know that. I made sure I had the instructions printed out from how it was made by the guy who discovered it, just so I could be sure I’d be able to help Ian. He’s my best friend. I’m not letting him die when I can do something to prevent it.”

  Cam didn’t want to worry her mother, since she understood she felt she had no choice, so Cameron kept quiet about all the things that were picking at her peace of mind. Besides, it was just a feeling, which was nowhere near enough to convince anyone, not even herself, that there was any kind of problem. She would just have to take steps while they were gone to ensure her own safety, along with everyone else’s. No more making impulsive decisions, either.

  “We’re going to try to
convert the motors on one of the boats to operate on vegetable oil, Cam, like we’re planning with at least one truck. Gilles is looking into it, and if anyone can make it work, he can. If he can, that means a much easier trip, and potentially a faster one. Particularly if we have to go against current or wind.”

  “If he can. Is that the brainstorm you were referring to before?”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t know if it was possible. It wouldn’t be if Gilles hadn’t already looked into it years ago for his own vehicle. He at least knows the principles behind making it work, which is a lot more than I know. He’s a much more able mechanic than I am, and I know dick about diesels,” her mother finished.

  “That’s a first! Don’t you know something about everything?”

  “Not quite, though it would be nice if it were true. I really wish humanity had made it to the point of having the ability to upload knowledge and information directly into the brain. I’d have gotten my doctorate in everything.”

  “Then you’d have nothing left to learn. What on earth would you do with yourself?”

  “Very funny. What I’d do is use the knowledge, of course. Like they say though, ‘If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.’ Not every dream can come true, and I’m grateful enough to be alive for the moment, and have everyone I care about still alive, too. That’s more than a lot of people can say now,” her mother said, and Cam could hear the sadness in her voice.

  “I figure, if those people were stupid enough to believe nothing bad was happening, and that they didn’t need to prepare, the world is probably better off without them in the gene pool. Granted, without you as my mother, I probably wouldn’t be here either.”

  “The problem is, it wasn’t just smart people preparing for this, even if it was the smart thing to do. There were paranoid and violent people, too, training in survivalist camps. Most of those were probably a joke, unless they had someone with actual military experience doing the teaching. Thankfully we haven’t run into any of those types. Just some ordinary, run-of-the-mill cannibals,” her mother said, with a twist to her mouth.

  “Well, I certainly feel better about you leaving now. Thanks for reminding me.”

  “You really think they’re going to walk in exactly this direction for about thirty or forty kilometres? Please. Besides, you’ve got the extra cameras now, and plenty of firepower. We already had enough of that before Gilles showed up, but he added tremendously to our stockpile, as did Chuck. We’ve got at least five handguns between us, in addition to all the long guns.

  “Seriously, Cam, we’re not going to be gone that long, and we’re sure as hell not telling anyone outside the farm that we’re going. We’ll be back before you know it. Once you start getting some training from Gilles in hunting and bush tactics, you’ll probably feel a lot better. Once Ian’s here, we can work on our little handicap when it comes to close-quarters combat. Ian would be the first to tell you that a gun is a lot more helpful in most cases, but everything you have in your arsenal is a worthwhile tool.”

  Now that her mother had reminded her of that one advantage of having Ian on the farm for a while, Cam stopped feeling so whiny about the whole thing. She’d wanted to take martial arts lessons for as long as she could remember, and if she could take them from someone who was an actual master of his style, so much the better.

  They walked into the back door of the house to find Billy and Neil sitting with Lisa at the serving counter. Billy was holding Jake while Lisa spoon-fed him an unidentifiable mush. He seemed to like it, though. He was smacking his lips and giggling after every bite.

  Cam had to smile. Jake was still at a stage where she found him cute. In a couple of years, though, she’d probably find herself prying him off her leg. For some inexplicable reason, kids loved her. She couldn’t understand it, because for the most part she really didn’t like being around them. She didn’t have the heart to be mean to them, or shout and chase them away, but she avoided them if possible.

  In the short time Lisa and Jake had been staying in the house, however, Billy seemed to have become really attached to Jake. Apparently he loved kids, which made Cam very grateful he’d eased off on the hero-worship and puppy-love looks he’d given her for most of the time she’d known him. She wasn’t sure if she would ever love someone enough to want to raise even one kid with them, let alone multiples, and Billy just didn’t do it for her that way. She could handle thinking of him as a step-brother or something, but that was it.

  It really was depressing to think that she would probably never find anyone at all now. If decent partners hadn’t been thick on the ground before the world went to shit, they were truly verging on extinction now. Watching Billy with Jake and Lisa was also giving her the sneaking suspicion that at some point even Billy was going to be out of the running. So much for any sort of back-up plan. And although she considered the thought crass and selfish, and felt guilty for it, it was nothing less than the truth. It had been some comfort to think there was at least that possibility, whether he was someone she really wanted or not.

  Cam shook her head at her aggravating thoughts. The fact remained that she really had no interest in him beyond a potential fuck-buddy should things get desperate, and so she didn’t deserve to have that comfort from him. He was too decent of a human being for her to treat him that way.

  She went past everyone and headed into the kitchen. It had been a really emotional day, especially for someone like her. Cameron wasn’t interested in having emotional days. She liked hers to be as drama-free as possible. If things kept going the way they were, however, she might seriously consider doing some container-gardening in her room, so she could live off those vegetables and never run into another human being as long as she lived. If it weren’t for the lure of eggs, cheese, and mushrooms, it sounded pretty reasonable to her.

  Grabbing a container of the latest batch of cheesecake cookies her mother had made, and some milk, Cam decided she was taking her hoard up to her room where she could play non-stop computer games. It was a good thing they had hundreds of them stored on the server, because she was finally getting weary of her self-appointed guard duty. Let someone else hold down the fort for a while, she thought.

  As she passed by everyone again on the way to the wide, straight staircase, Billy asked where she was going.

  “Nunya,” she answered, smirking visibly.

  “What the hell is ‘nunya’ supposed to mean?” His frown echoed the confusion in his voice. Neil and her mother were both laughing, though.

  “It means, ‘Nunya’ business,” she retorted snappily, and headed on her way.

  “Finally,” she heard her mother say, relief in her voice.

  “Finally what?” Billy was really confused now.

  “Finally she’s getting back to her old self.”

  7 ~ EMBARKATION

  “Did Brian and Geraldine seem shifty to you?” Mac’s question was asked to the truck cabin at large. “Maybe we shouldn’t go right now. And what about this year’s crops? We just got those in the ground.”

  “For the hundredth time, Mac,” Gilles replied in exasperation, “Brian and Geraldine don’t even know you’re not going to be there. Seeing as we’ve managed to find a motorsailer, and convert the two engines to run on vegetable oil, you’re probably only going to be gone for a couple of weeks. If you do ten or twelve hours a day, it should take less than a week to get down there. It’s not bloody likely we’ll get any frost, since we barely had any during what was supposed to be winter, and it’s now past the beginning of April. That’s why we planted early, remember? It’s not like it was when we were growing up, and our parents had to wait until May long weekend to plant. We’ve got a really long growing season now.

  “You’ve got plenty of oil, already filtered, both in the main boat and the dinghy. Just remember to switch back to the diesel tank for a few minutes if you’re planning to shut down the engine for more than a few minutes. The oil needs to be run through completely. Then wait a few minutes b
efore switching back to oil when you start up again.

  “You’ve got a radio so you’ll know exactly what’s going on here, too, which means you can still nag us to death. Every single house on the farm has weapons of some sort, in addition to the usual assortment of firearms, and you’ve also got your own. The dinghy is loaded with everything you need in case your boat sinks, including some diving gear we grabbed from another boat. The gauges show that the tanks are full, so if there’s anything you need to check underwater, you’ll be fine. Does that sum it all up for you, or are you determined to rant and fret and worry until you drive us all nuts?”

  “Damn it, Gilles!”

  “Damn it, Mac,” he returned.

  “Mom, I’m going to be fine, the farm is going to be fine, and the ferrets are going to be fine. It’s two weeks, if that. You can probably get there in five days. You said so yourself. By the time anyone even knows you’re gone, if anyone knows, you’ll already be back with Ian.”

  “The ferrets,” Mac whimpered. “They’ve never been without me for so long.”

  “Yeah, and for the first few days they won’t even notice that you’re not there. It’s you that’s going to miss them, not the other way around.” Cam was getting just as irritated with her as everyone else.

  “So what? If they could swim for hours on end, or at least had life vests of some kind, I’d probably bring them with us. I’m just worried, and I don’t want to leave the farm. There are too many things that could go wrong, with no support services there to back you up.”

  “Honey,” Neil began, showing his own annoyance now. “In case you’re forgetting, Gilles and Chuck were both part of the support services. Then there’s Annette. She certainly did a great job with me, and that was a gunshot wound. I doubt they’re going to encounter anything as dangerous as that.”