THE DAY: A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series)

by John Price

  Thad was not a religious person, but he finally came to the realization that he needed some divine wisdom. What to do with a warehouse three-quarters full of food? He whispered, ‘God….I’m not on a first name basis with you….so you’re probably wondering why I’m bothering you, but I’ve got a problem…I’ve got all this food out there….you know….out in the warehouse. But, because of the nuking of America it’s pretty obvious that there won’t be much food available to people….real soon. I don’t know what to do with it….I can haul a few cases home in the car….But there’s no way I can store enough to keep us fed for as long as it will take before food supplies are restored….I know the food biz….so I know that we’re toast as a country….So, God, what should I do?

  While Thad’s head was in his hands, a soft knock came on his office door. Wondering who it could be, Thad said, "Who’s there? Come on in."

  The door opened and Nick, one of the two employees who showed up for work this morning after The Day, opened the door slightly and stuck his head in, saying, "Sorry to bother you, boss, but I wondered if we could pray together?"

  Thad wondered why Nick would even ask, as they had never discussed anything religious and he didn’t know Nick all that well. But Thad was struck by what he thought was a coincidence that Nick would ask right after Thad finished stumbling through his prayer. "Uh, yeah, uh, Nick….have a seat. Uh….is Jim still here?….You want him to join us?….Uh….I guess prayer is a good idea….what with everything that’s happened."

  "Yeah, Boss. Jim went home, but I was in the break room praying….and….uh….you know I just felt like I should come up here and ask you if you were interested in praying together?"

  "Funny you should ask, Nick. I’m not much into religion, but right before you knocked I was asking….you know….like….asking God….for help. We’ve got a warehouse out there mostly full of food, but I don’t know what to do about it. We’ve got just enough fuel, I think, to get it all delivered. But….well….just to be honest with you, I was just thinking about trading the food out there to people who have silver coins or some gold or whatever."

  "Really? How would that work? What would you do with the…."

  "Already been there, Nick. Trading food for assets that could later best be used to trade for food is….kind of….not too smart. Once I figured that out I realized I needed help. Wisdom. You know. God and I aren’t too tight….know what I mean? But I didn’t know what else to do. I guess I didn’t know you were a religious man."

  "Oh, boss, I’m not….I’m not a religious man. Nope, I’m just a Jesus man."

  "Hunh, Nick? I thought Jesus was a religion. What am I missing?"

  "Jesus is my savior. He gave His life for a really good reason….to cover my sins….and everyone else who accepts Him as their savior."

  "I’m not sure I’m getting what you’re saying….Slow up a little bit. Why did you need….what did you call Jesus? A savior? Saved you….from what?"

  Nick, realizing that he was sharing with a man who had almost no foundation in Biblical truth, took a deep breath and slowed up, saying, "OK, boss, here’s the deal. When we’re born we have a genetic flaw. We not only sin, we do things God doesn’t want us to do, we also want to sin. It’s in our nature. Adam and Eve. You know. The fall. We all have the nature now to sin. And, we’re all going to die, someday. But, God had a plan to handle the sin problem and the death issue."

  "Really? I’ve never heard any of this….at least….not like that. What’s the plan?"

  "God sent part of Himself, His son, Jesus, to the world. He came as a man, who was also God. He lived a sinless life. He did tons of miracles. All to prove who He was."

  "OK, I get that, Nick….But how does that get rid of the sin and death problems you mentioned?"

  "As you can imagine, His message went against the prevailing religious and political grain. He irritated the powers, to say the least. Neither the religious leaders or the Romans thought much of Him. Eventually, when it was time, God allowed the forces in control to execute the trouble-maker.

  "I’m with you, now. I know that they….what’s it called….they crucified Him?’

  "Right. If that had been the end of it, then we wouldn’t be having this discussion. But it wasn’t the end of it. Jesus told His followers that He would be in the grave for three days, then He would come back to life….And He did it, just as He said. The proof of His divine nature was not only His many miracles, but also His resurrection. He walked the earth for several days after He had been killed and put in the tomb. That’s pretty impressive, and frankly, boss, that’s what led me to do it."

  "Do what?"

  "Oh, sorry, Jesus coming out of that tomb of death is what led me to ask Him to be my savior, to cover my sins and make sure that when I’m no longer walking around that I will be alive with Him, in heaven. That was a little over six years ago. It’s been a much better life since I turned it over to Jesus, I’ll tell you that."

  "Nick, you don’t know how much I appreciate you telling me what you did. What would I have to do….to….you know….to do the same thing? I know I won’t be around forever….what with the effect of the nukes and all….I don’t know if any of us will be around a year from now?

  "Boss, just pray with me. Lord Jesus, I confess my sins. I know I need a savior. I thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I invite you to come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. I thank you that no matter what happens in the days ahead, that I know that at the end of my life, I’ll be with you in heaven. Thank you Jesus. That’s it, boss. From now on you’ll find that you look at this world and what’s in it a lot differently. Do you have a Bible?"

  "Unh….probably….yeah, I think so. Somewhere. Pam’ll know where it is."

  "I suggest that you start in the book of John, that’s in the New Testament, in the back part of the Bible. After you read John, then read the rest of the New Testament and then the whole Bible. If you’re right about our not being around in a year," Nick said with a slight chuckle, "you might want to read several chapters a day."

  Thad smiled, replying, "Probably a good idea. Thanks again Nick. You’ve been very helpful."

  "One more thing boss. You said you were praying earlier for wisdom on what to do about the food in the warehouse. I’ve got an idea, since hauling it to stores isn’t a real practical idea. Why not call in the employees, while the phones are still working, and give each one a few cases of food?"

  Thad’s eyes lit up as he saw an answer to his dilemma. He picked up his calculator again, punched in some numbers and said, "Nick, great idea. Let’s give ten cases of food to each employee who’s single. Twenty to each married employee and a couple cases for each child. Let’s see, that will still leave us about forty percent of what’s in the warehouse, that is if every employee shows up to pick up the food."

  "They’ll show up. Why not call some of the churches around this area and offer them a few cases each to help them with their church members who will soon run out of something to eat."

  "Do you have any contacts with the local churches?"

  "Sure do, boss, I’ll give you a list of phone numbers."

  "Nick, as soon as you get the list, come back in and help me call the employees and the churches. I want to get the food out of here before somebody figures out what we have here and they break in and loot the place. And….let’s not forget our own families while we’re passing out food. Be sure and get your cases, Nick. Let’s get to work."

  49

  Stone River Refinery

  Roxana, Illinois

  Frank Talbot was finally home asleep, well deserved after his several non-stop hours shutting down the refinery. He was so dead asleep that when his phone rang, he tried to integrate the incessant sound with what his mind was dreaming. By the fifth ring, however, the extraneous sound won over the fitful dream. Reluctantly, he reached his night stand to stop the noise. As he did he saw that the orange fluorescent numbers on his alarm clock showed 3:28 AM.

  "
Hello. Who is this?....What time is it? What the…."

  "Is this Mister Talbot? Frank Talbot?"

  "Yeah….who wants to know? Why are you calling so early in…."

  "Sorry, Mister Talbot. This is Sheriff Bolton. Are you the Frank Talbot who is an officer at the refinery? Stone River? Your name is on our emergency contact list. That’s you, right?"

  "Yeah….Yeah. That’s me. What’s the emergency? If you guys need some gasoline for your cruisers, I can’t help you. We’re totally shut down. I can explain why, but we don’t have fuel that we can give…."

  "No, Mister Talbot, nothing to do with that. We’ve got a few gallons left in the supply tank down at the office. I’m calling to tell you that the refinery’s on fire."

  Frank shot straight up in bed, his attention now fully on the early morning call. "Say that again, Sheriff. Did you say that the refinery’s on fire? When did it….how did it…."

  "Here’s all I know, sir. Somebody, actually it looks like several somebodies, cut through the security fence on the back side of the refinery. Had to happen sometime in the last couple hours, maybe earlier, but after it got dark. It looks like they broke in to steal fuel, based on the two gas cans that they must have dropped when they started the fire."

  "How did they start it? Does it look like arson?"

  "No. Don’t think so. They used some heavy metal tools to break the lock on the exit valve on a large fuel tank, at least that’s the way it’s marked. You’ll have to tell us. They broke off the valve, but the sparks from slamming the tools against the metal valve set the fuel on fire. That’s apparently when they dropped their gas cans and boogied out, leaving the fire to spread, which it really has, in spades. You better get over here, sir. Of course, with the fire department guys mostly not around since The Day, I don’t know that there’s much you can do."

  "So the fire department is AWOL? Why are you still working? In Katrina the police almost all went home to protect their families giving up their law enforcement duties. Can’t say as I blame ‘em."

  "That’s what my wife keeps asking me. I’m the only one in the Sheriff’s office that’s still around. All the deputies are now off duty. That’s what I like to call it, it sounds better, but in reality they’re done. They won’t be back to work….Sir, can you come down to the refinery? I’m sure that there a number of people in your operation that you will need to notify. I don’t expect you to grab a fire extinguisher and start spraying, it’s way too far gone, even if we had a fire department. It’s gonna’ burn to the ground, Mister Talbot, sorry to have to say."

  "I hate to see it burn, but we were out of business, in any case. I’ll explain why when I see you. We supply fuel for a 150 mile area in Illinois and Missouri. Better save whatever gas you have in that supply tank you mentioned at your office. There won’t be anyone driving in this part of the world, very soon. I don’t know if you have any food stored up, but you might want to go buy some."

  "Are you serious? I guess you’ve been busy on other things, Mister Talbot, but every grocery store in Roxana has been cleaned out. Totally. Some people threw some money at the cashiers when they ran out with their carts or their arms full, but most didn’t. They just took what they could. There’s not a can of soup available anyplace in town. I truly don’t know what folks are going to do in say a week or two. Winter’s only a couple, three months away. We’ll have a lot of starving people, that’s for sure."

  "Sheriff, you’re a good man…I’ll be right over."

  50

  Home of Pastor Mick Kirkland

  Sammamish, Washington

  Pastor Kirkland’s kitchen contained a comfortable amount of food, but since neighboring Seattle was nuked, he consumed only some soup and two crackers. His appetite was gone. He knew what would happen as soon as he Googled radiation poisoning. The Pastor managed to bottle up several containers of water on The Day, which turned out to be good timing, as his electricity went out that evening. With the termination of electric power went any further news from his television’s snowy Vancouver channel. He had never met most of his neighbors, so none had come to his home to check on him.

  Eventually his Church’s Associate Pastor knocked on his door, inquiring as to his well-being. "Pastor Mick, are you okay? I couldn’t call you, of course, so I walked over to see you. Can I come in?"

  "Kerry, thanks for your thoughtfulness, but I’m not feeling well."

  "I know, everybody’s just terrified over the nukes, and we still don’t know how many there were….or even really….who did this to us….I think that…."

  "No, Kerry, I mean I am physically sick. I’m….umh…."

  "Can I get you some medicine? We have all kinds of pills. Do you have the flu, or what do…."

  "I was exposed to the fall out. I was outdoors, and the wind carried it. I was covered with the radioactive ash…..Kerry, I’m a goner….I won’t make it to the end of the week…..I….won’t…." Pastor Kirkland chocked up and couldn’t continue speaking.

  "Now, now, Pastor Mick, you don’t know how long you have….for sure….we could walk over to the regional medical clinic and see what they have. They must be prepared for emergencies like this, don’t you…."

  "They’ll be overrun with people in better shape than I am, whom they can actually still help….that is….if there’s even anyone still there. Look, Kerry, look at my arms."

  The Pastor pushed his screen door fully open, braced it with his foot and pulled back his long sleeves, baring his arms.

  "Oh….oh no….Holy….yuck….you’ve….oh, Pastor Mick."

  "I know, the skin was just red at first. But late yesterday I tried to wash my arms with some water I saved before the power went out….and….that’s when the skin starting sloughing off. If I just touch the skin, it comes off. I’ve been bleeding like this all day. I’m wearing this Seahawk cap because most of my hair is gone, and the skin and the hair from my scalp is in the trash. Look here, Kerry, under the cap, look, it’s a bloody mess….I just don’t know how I can…."

  Associate Pastor Kerry grabbed his mouth, couldn’t hold it and wretched into the bushes in front of Pastor Mick’s home.

  At about 11 PM on the third day after The Day Pastor Mick was sitting in his reclining chair, slowly bleeding from his arms and head. He coughed twice, spitting up blood from his irradiated lungs, breathing his last breath. He then succumbed to the destructive effects of radiation on his human body.

  51

  Rancho McDonald

  North of Durango, Colorado

  Larry and Mary McDonald had first seen the light several years ago as they were watching television on a warm night at their home in western Ohio. Larry watched two back-to-back bank advertisements promoting home mortgages. The first ad said that new customers could borrow up to 110% of the cost of the home, Larry yelled at his TV, "What? You don’t require any down payment and now you’re loaning out more than the cost of the home? Are you kidding? That’s voodoo economics. It’s…."

  "Now, Larry," Mary said from the kitchen, "you’re getting all steamed again. Calm down. It’s just an ad.

  "An ad? Just an ad? Don’t you remember not so long ago we had to make a down payment of 20% in order to buy this house? Now, they give you 10% to sign up for a mortgage, 110% of the purchase price? That’s insane. It’s unsustainable….it’s….wait, Mary look at that. There’s another ad from a bank, pushing no down payment, up to 15% on top of the purchase price and no proof of income documents required. Have they lost their minds?"

  Larry had previously worked in the finance industry and Mary was employed at a bank in western Ohio. They talked late into the night about what they had been seeing in America. Both knew that lending practices like what they had heard about and now seen with their own eyes would lead, inevitably, to widespread insolvency, mortgage foreclosures and bankruptcies, accelerating as soon as the bubble burst. The next morning they listed their home for sale. They priced it to sell, which it promptly did, allowing them to store their p
ossessions and head west. Larry and Mary decided that when the bubble burst someday that they didn’t want to be anywhere near an urban center.

  Larry and Mary’s search for a safe retreat led them to locate a forty acre abandoned farm north of Durango and near the San Juan National Forest. It looked to them to be about as remote and safe as one could expect, but still allowed them access to retail stores forty minutes away in Durango. They fixed up the old farmhouse and moved in with their son, Zach, their daughter, Melanie and two dogs. By the September, 2008 economic downturn, which Larry referred to as ‘the beginning of the end’, they had raised a barn, a stable, planted fruit trees and learned to raise animals. They also constructed an underground storage unit in which they regularly laid up canned goods, beans, rice and other food that would sustain them when, as Larry said, "things get really, really bad" Against that future day Larry had acquired three rifles, two shotguns and four pistols of varying makes. Before ammo supplies began to dry up, Larry purchased and hid away a considerable supply. Larry and Mary were ready for what they sensed would be coming bad days.

  When the Lawrence McAlister Hate Speech and Hate Weapons Elimination Act became law Larry and Mary decided that they would rather face criminal charges than to give up their firearms, which the new law required. They told their children never to reveal to any of their friends in town that they retained their weapons. The McDonalds loved their remote ‘prepper’ home. They felt safe in a world which was becoming less so.