by Pamela Davis
Jessica nodded, and asked in a bewildered tone, "Why her? She was always a normal person, no mental instabilities, no emotional problems. Growing up, I remember her being a great mom, always there for Nathan and me and Dad. She seemed to like her life, seemed happy with things. What makes a person like her suddenly start to lose it?"
"All these changes, all this death," Alex began, but then stopped to look at Mark. He motioned for her to continue. After their talk at the library, he was impressed by Alexandra and her clarity when describing their situation.
She continued, "We are living in a time of tremendous upheaval and crisis. One disaster after another, sometimes on top of each other. People dying--not just here, but around the world. People are dying in huge numbers. At first, when anyone like your mother saw news reports about it on television, they didn't realize how big it was. Then, later, I think they couldn't accept so many people had died. Nathan and I were surprised when we got back to this country at the lack of any sense of a crisis. It was like people were just ignoring it. I think that's due to the deaths being caused by natural disasters. Remember 9/11? Those deaths were devastating, the event so shocking to all of us. But that wasn't a natural disaster, but an attack on us. There was someone, however well-hidden, there was someone responsible for it that we could go after. That's not the case now. And for people like Abby, whose lives were always normal and happy, this is a great shock."
Dr. Shapiro said, "I think Alex is probably right. On top of that, I would imagine that those who have some small emotional problems may find those problems are magnified under the stress. In your mother's case, Clay has told me how she was always a worrier."
Jessica nodded slowly. "Yeah, she always was a worrier, but not in any way that kept her from enjoying life! She still seemed happy and normal. Her worrying about things was part of who she was, that's all."
"When your life doesn't present you with huge problems to stress out about and worry over, then the tendency to have anxiety about the small things, to worry a lot, that would be manageable. She had a stable life without any major stressors or traumas to aggravate her minor condition. This, however, is a major trauma. So she retreats back into that normal world you're describing, whenever her fears and anxiety overwhelm her," Mark explained.
Alex asked, "Can medication help her?"
Mark replied, "I've started her on Buspar for the anxiety, but it will take time. We have to hope she can find a way to cope. As concerned as I am, Jessica, I'm also optimistic. She has a loving husband and family around to support her. It's about the best we can do in these unusual circumstances."
"Should we move her back in with us at our house?" Jessica asked.
Both Alex and Mark shook their heads negatively.
"No, definitely not," Mark said. "For one thing, your house has become our headquarters. New people will be coming there, more animal-talking people will be there, news from the outside will most likely be heard there first. She doesn't need to be around that. The atmosphere here at the farm will be busy, but also much less stressful for her."
Alex wondered if Jessica suspected what he was not saying. That being around Samantha might not be the best medicine for Abby. Someone would need to talk to Sam. Or, maybe not. Maybe Sam already knew. Alex determined right then that she would talk to Sam herself. That little girl needed all the support she could get.
Power Station, Table Rock Lake Dam
Andy stood outside on top of the dam and stared at the clouds. Definitely more rain this evening. The radar report on his computer showed the outlines of the huge storm parked over the central portion of the U.S. with the edges just brushing the Cape Fair area. Andy didn't know what they would do once the internet and communications crashed across the country. He was hopeful that the program he'd just installed would help him to connect to the satellite, but who knew how much about the satellites was controlled by the government...and what would happen when the government broke down, as surely it would. He might end up doing weather forecasts for the community by staring at the clouds and a barometer. The animals seemed aware of what was coming in terms of weather. Andy wasn't sure if that was an innate ability, or if they were somehow connected to the earth in a way that let them know about the weather. He'd have to talk to Waldo about it.
"So, are you just gonna stand around here, or did you come to help out?" he heard Sergeant Wachowski saying as the big man walked up to him.
"As long as the water is flowing, I guess I can be part of your electrical team," Andy replied. "Nathan and I figure we can help out with other things and only spend time on the water situation when there's a problem. He's going to keep a regular check on things at the pumping station, but I'm pretty much ready to sign on with you."
"We could use you, and that's a fact. Mostly I'd just have you watching some dials and gauges. Then if there's a problem, you'd call me." Wachowski shifted his cigar to the other side of his mouth. "But I wanna know right now if you and Lisanne can work together or not."
"Lisanne?" Andy asked, startled.
"It's plain as the nose on your face how you feel about her. Do I need to put you two on separate shifts, or can you behave yourself?" Wachowski said, looking at him shrewdly.
Andy blushed a deep red. Stammering, he replied, "Uh...uh, we're not...that is, we haven't...I mean, we probably will...oh, dadgummit!"
Sergeant Wachowski laughed loudly. "You got it bad, boy. Okay, I figure you two will work things out between you and it's not my business. But I don't want any shenanigans going on while you are on duty."
"Yes, sir!" Andy said, grinning.
"And you bring that dog of yours with you because Lisanne says that dang cat of hers doesn't like the sound of the turbines. That way, if anything happens and your cell phones don't work, you can send the dog to get me."
"Do you expect any problems?"
"Not yet, but Black came up today and said he doesn't have the people to patrol here on a regular basis. So they're relying on some birds and animals, and that little girl, to tell them when trouble is coming. The last thing we need is some idiot to try and wreck this place."
Andy nodded thoughtfully. There were always crazies out there. And certainly if people got into a back-to-nature kind of fanaticism, they might want to get rid of technology. The power plant could be an attractive target to those types.
"Be thankful you don't have a nuclear power plant here, Sarge." Andy pointed out to the forest that started near the banks of the lake. "Plus, we're somewhat hidden here, and that may protect us."
"Can you shoot? Carry a gun?"
"No," Andy replied with a shudder. "I'm not very good around guns."
"Well, that Lisanne of yours is gonna be carrying a pistol with her on duty, so you'll have some protection." Wachowski grinned widely. "That one's a fireball, for sure! But she's damned smart, more than you'd think, looking at her black hair sticking out everywhere and those crazy clothes she wears."
"The day Lisanne stops wearing purple and black clothing is the day we all have to worry," Andy said. "That's the day the world really is coming to an end!"
The Farm
Nathan turned the water off in the kitchen sink. "All set, Gracie. No more water problem," he assured her with a satisfied tone of voice. "We were very lucky we only had the one break to deal with. Otherwise Andy and I might have had a serious problem fixing it."
"You guys did great," Gracie replied. "Did you see your mother? She was out in the garden."
"Yes, I did," Nathan answered, his smile fading. "Talked to the doctor and Jess too. They don't think I should move in here, even though I wanted to be near her. They say she's not used to seeing much of me, what with me being in school and then in Africa. They think it might be disturbing for her to see me around all the time--make her think things are stranger than they are. So I'll just be stopping by for visits."
"Try not to worry too much. We'll keep an eye on her and take good care of her."
"Thanks, I know she'll
do okay here. She loves to cook. Let her help out with the meals and I'm sure that will help ground her."
"That's what we plan to do. So, what are you going to do now that you have the water fixed?"
Nathan laughed. "Are you looking for potential farmers, Gracie?"
"Well, yes!"
"I'll be more than happy to help you out when I can, but John has asked me to help with clearing out the grocery stores first. Seems he forgot about the refrigeration going out, so we have some food spoiling. Some of it, some of the produce is okay, although I think we're going to have a few meals of grilled veggies over the next several days. But some of it has got to be thrown out, and the canned goods need to be stored. Black doesn't want to have to patrol every little grocery store in town."
"Where will they put all of it? Do they need some room in one of the barns?" Gracie asked, thinking that almost all her space was used up now by horses and guns, let alone farm equipment.
"No, there's a basement at the library. From what Alex has figured out, they planned to move their children's section down there, but hadn't gotten to it. So we'll use that area. It's pretty big. And the bookshelves will work nicely as grocery shelves." Nathan paused and then looked directly at Gracie. "So, what's the story with Rachel? How'd she end up being good with guns?"
Gracie's eyes widened a bit at the question, understanding now why Nathan seemed content to hang around the kitchen with her when he had a job to do. "That's right, you never got to know Rachel before now, did you? I remember seeing you at John and Jessica's wedding, but then you were always off somewhere, at college, or later in Africa."
He nodded, "Yes, that's right. But what about this thing she has for guns? When I saw Black today he was all excited about how good a shot she is. What's the deal?"
Gracie explained, "While they were growing up, John and Rachel's father favored John in everything. He took John out hunting, camping, but never took Rachel with them. He didn't see how much she wanted to go." She sighed, thinking about it. "He wasn't a bad father, but he was so distant from Rachel. And she felt rejected by him. We had a neighbor who had a girl Rachel's age and he used to take them both out camping. I'll bet that's when she first learned to shoot. Of course, eventually, we moved to the city and I never knew she was going to shooting ranges later on when she grew up. But I can see why she would have done it. She was always trying to prove to her father she was just as good as John at things. Then her father died suddenly of a heart attack a few years ago and I think it hit her hard. She never did get the approval she'd been looking for from him."
"Well, that explains it. It just seemed odd to me that a New Yorker like Rachel, an ad exec of all things, would end up in the new Gaian Army," Nathan said, grinning.
Gracie smiled back at him and said, "Living in New York City could well be the best preparation! Rachel is tough--tougher than she looks anyway, and now that I'm over the shock of it, I think she'll do great."
Gracie stood up and pointed to a flat of pepper plants. "Since you're here...and have time to ask about Rachel...I think you have an hour or so to help me plant peppers."
Nathan sighed and laughed. "Lead on, oh, Queen of the Farm. Just consider me your hired hand for the rest of the day."
Chapter 16
Washington State
They streamed down off the mountain, a few at first, and then in larger clumps, heading north to Canada, and some to the east--but none to the south or west. They knew better. Black bears lumbered along next to scampering squirrels and raccoons. Cougars ignored, for the moment, the grouse they would normally chase for food. Gray Jays, Mountain Chickadees, and even the rarely seen Black-headed Grosbeak, filled the sky above. Field mice scurried to avoid being trampled by herds of deer, while shrews, coyotes and the elusive red fox made their way off the slopes. One amazed camper, hearing noise from inside his tent, looked out to see a mass of wildlife trampling through his camp site. So the news reports were right, he thought. There's going to be an eruption. But didn't they say Mount Rainier on TV? Why were all the animals leaving Mount Baker?
The Samuels' House
John woke to the sound of Samantha's screams. He leaped out of bed and ran down the hall to her room, colliding with Black at the doorway.
"No! No, no, no, please no," Sam screamed. Her eyes were shut tight and her little face was as pale as the white cotton blanket on her bed. John flicked on the light and went to her side, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her.
"Wake up! Wake up, Sam, come on, wake up!" he commanded.
She shuddered and opened her eyes. "Oh, Daddy!" she wailed. "It's gonna be so--so--" She burst into tears.
John sat on her bed and gathered his sobbing daughter into his lap, hugging her and talking to her quietly. "It'll be okay, honey, it'll be okay. Shhh...."
Black stood in the doorway as Jessica pushed past him into the room.
"A dream," she asked, walking to the bed and kneeling down in front of her husband and Sam.
John nodded. "Think so, she was asleep."
"Did you have it? The dream?" she asked John.
He shook his head. "Not that I remember. But when I fell asleep tonight, my head was so full of lists and plans that I may not have been open to it."
Jessica turned to Black. "What about you?"
"Just vague images, not really anything that I could describe. More a feeling, a sense of horror," Black responded, speaking slowly. "Yeah, that's it, a feeling of shock and of horror. Then I heard Sam's screams and I woke up."
"Come on," John said, standing up and handing Sam over to her mother. "Let's go check on Rachel and Max." Black nodded and they headed down the hall to the stairs.
"Sam? Sam, honey, can you hear me?" Jessica asked, smoothing the damp hair back from the shaking little girl's forehead. "Mommy's here, I've got you. You're safe now."
"Ohhhh, Mommy, I don't wanna dream no more."
"Oh, Samantha, sweetie," Jessica whispered, hugging her. "I wish I could make it stop, make it all go away. But I don't know how!"
Jessica thought she'd never felt so helpless in all her life. Wiping tears from Sam's face, she felt angry too. Angry at whatever was doing this to her child.
"Honey, do you think you'd like a drink? We could go downstairs and turn on all the lights and maybe that way you could start to forget."
Sam shook her head. Standing up on her own, she sighed deeply. "No, Mommy. I gotta tell you and Daddy what I saw in the dream. I can't forget about it." She looked at her mother's concerned face and smiled briefly. A very small smile. "But maybe I could have some milk and cookies."
Jessica's eyes had tears in them as she took hold of Sam's hand and walked with her out of the room.
"Of course, you can have milk and cookies. See how smart we were to make cookies earlier--and not eat them all up? Now we can pig out on snickerdoodles and milk and--" She stopped abruptly and leaned down to hug Sam fiercely, saying, "I am so sorry, Sam, so sorry this is happening. I really would stop it if I could."
"I know, Mommy," Sam said, patting her mother on her back. "I know."
*****
Black and John walked to the other end of the house, toward the left side where two guest bedrooms had been set up for Rachel and Max. As they neared Max's door they could hear whimpering from the Irish Setter pup, Ruby. Black opened the door and motioned John on down the short hall to Rachel's room.
"I'll take care of Max. You go see about Rachel," Black said.
"Right."
John opened the door to Rachel's room just as she sat up in bed. He stopped short when he saw she had a gun in her hand. A really big gun.
"Who's there?" she barked.
"John. Your brother. Who doesn't want to get shot by that thing."
"Oh. John," Rachel said, lowering the gun. "You shouldn't burst in here like that. I thought we were being attacked or something."
"Attacked?"
"Weird dream," Rachel replied. "What's up?" She threw back the covers and yank
ed on a pair of jeans over the boxer-style pajama bottoms she was wearing. Grabbing a sweat shirt to wear over her tank top, she headed out the door. "So? Why did you come down here? What's wrong?"
"You had a weird dream, Rachel?" John asked intently.
"Yeah, I've been having a bunch of whacko dreams the past few weeks."
"Rachel! You've been having dreams? And you didn't tell any of us?"
"Now why should I...oh! Oh no, no, no, no, no, I'm not having the dreams! That's impossible! That's...that's...."
Rachel stood there, dumbfounded as John shook his head at her. "You know, sis, you can be a dope sometimes," he said to her. "All this talk about dreams since you got here and you never realized that your dreams were the dreams?" He started to laugh.
"Hey! I didn't dream about the flood, did I? I didn't dream about the earthquake. How was I supposed to know...and maybe you're wrong! Maybe my dreams aren't like Sam's or anybody's!" she said hotly.
"Rachel, it's good if you're having the dreams, it's helpful. Don't get all bent out of shape."
They walked into Max's room. He was sitting quietly on the floor holding Ruby, who was still shaking.
"Is she going to be okay?" he asked Black.
"Sure she will, just give her some time to wake up all the way. She's scared, that's all," Black replied.
"Everybody, let's go into the den and see if we can sort this one out," John said. As he walked toward the den, he heard the cell phone ringing. It was going to be another long night.
Power People Home, Table Rock Lake
"Oh, my god, oh, my god," Lisanne heard herself saying as she sat up in bed. Merlin was crouched next her, shaking. Gathering him up in her arms, she stumbled from the room, turning on lights as she went.
"Andy? Andy, wake up," she called out approaching his bedroom door. Only to see it yanked open as he barreled through it looking like he was being chased.
"Holy crap!" he said, coming to halt at seeing Lisanne. "You too?"