AFTER THE DUST SETTLED (Countdown to Armageddon Book 2) (16 page)

     “No. She works at a hospital. At least she did. When the lights went out we were afraid to leave our girls at home alone, so she stopped going in. She felt real bad about that at first, because there were so many shot and injured that the medical people were being run ragged. But she had to put her priority on people she knew and loved, instead of on strangers she’d never see again. So she stays at home with a loaded gun and watches out for bandits. And she makes damn sure that Rachel and Misty stay safe.”

     “Scott’s here now, so I’m going to step aside. He’s talked about you and the situation in
San Antonio a lot lately. It’s nice to finally get a chance to talk to you.”

     “Same here, Joyce. You take good care of everybody there, okay?”

     “Okay, John. And we’ll continue to pray for you all.”

     “Thank you.”

     “John, this is Scott. I heard you tell Joyce that the hospitals were run ragged. It sounded like you meant past tense. Does that mean things are getting better?”

     “Yes, I think so. At least from that perspective. I mean, it’s still a very hard life. And people are continuing to commit suicide. But the violence against others has gotten a lot better over the last few weeks. I don’t know if it’s because the bad guys have given up stealing, or have moved on to other cities, or have realized there’s not much left to steal. One of the guys I work with thinks that once the pickings got slim, they started shooting themselves. That the reason they stole their food from others was because they were too lazy to scavenge for it themselves. And that when they started going through ten people just to find a single meal, it was too much work for them. And the same laziness that drove them to steal drove them to just give up and end it all. It’s as good a theory as any, I guess. But I’m still skeptical.”

     “Are people still leaving the city in search of easier places? We haven’t seen any sign of them where we’re at. Maybe we’ve just been lucky. Or they’re not here yet.”

     “Well, they’re still leaving. I know because the trucks are still collecting bodies by the hundreds, on all the outbound highways. I think most of them don’t get very far before they collapse and die. That may be why you haven’t seen any. You have to remember that nobody wants to have to walk fifty or a hundred miles to look for food unless they’re really desperate. And by desperate I mean really hungry. And when people are starving they have no strength. I’ve seen estimates that as many as ninety percent of the people who leave the city on foot won’t make it twenty miles.”

     “Are you still getting help from the government?”

     “Well, I was telling Joyce that FEMA has abandoned us. They were doing a real good job of handing out MREs and food kits for awhile, but they finally said we were doing better than some of the other cities, so they were refocusing their efforts elsewhere. They brought in several truckloads of MREs and planting seeds and turned them over to the National Guard. They’re trying to do a good job of distributing them, but they’re not as experienced as FEMA was. Some days they show up at the distribution centers, some days they don’t. I suppose they’ll get better at it over time, but so many people are surviving just on that food. So it’s disheartening when they’re hungry and the truck doesn’t show up.”

     “What about the community gardens? Are they helping feed the neighborhoods?”

     “Yes, they help tremendously. But there aren’t enough
to go around, unfortunately. And I know it’s maddening for these folks who are starving to have to look at these crops each and every day waiting for them to mature.”

     “Have I told you
much about my friend Tom?”

     “No, I don’t believe so.”

     “He’s the one who helped you guys get your cars working again. I think I’d be lost without his knowledge. He’s a farmer and a rancher, old school. And he’s been teaching us a lot about farming. One of the things he taught me that I didn’t know is that if you plant early enough you can bring in two harvests in the same year.”

     “Well, I didn’t know that either.”

     “You might spread the word to the neighborhood gardeners to save some of their seeds and plant a second crop right away. If San Antonio doesn’t get a freeze until late October or November, they should be able to get a second crop for their efforts.”

     “Well that’s definitely worth knowing about, and we’ll for sure get the word out to the block supervisors. Hannah’s heading up the garden for our block, by the way. She’s doing a great job. She’s got wheat planted on one side of the street and corn on the other. Prettiest plants you ever saw.”

     “I hope it feeds you and your neighbors for a long time. We’ve planted an acre of wheat as a second crop. It wasn’t something we planned to do, and can get by without it for our own use. Tom and I are planning on bringing it down your way if we can figure out a safe way to do it. And I think I know a way.”

     “Oh, wow, Scott. That would be great. And it would be good to finally meet you, too. What’s your plan?”

     “I don’t want to say my last name over the air. I don’t know who else is listening in. But I told you my last name in one of our first radio calls. Do you remember it?”

     “Yes. Don’t you remember? I told you it was my Aunt Millie’s maiden name, and asked if you two might be related.”

     Scott smiled. He had forgotten that.

     “That’s right. So you know my full name. I know you cops relied on big computer systems that don’t work any more. Is there an old fashioned way you can find out my address in
San Antonio without your computers?”

     “You had a telephone, right? Were you in the phone book?”

     “Yes! But there were two or three other guys with the same name, as I remember. The first two digits on my house number were 64. That’ll help you find the right address.”

     “Okay. Got it.”

     “When you’re on duty again and have some time, go by my old house and check it out. We left the front door unlocked, so it’s almost certainly been looted of all its food. But if you go through the house and into the back yard, look closely at the back fence. There’s a section I cut out, and it’s being held into place by six slide bolts. It can be removed in about ten seconds. On the other side of that fence is a big grassy field that connects with a long line of Southwest Electric’s power lines.”

     “Okay, I’m writing all of this down, and I’ll check out the house tomorrow so I’m familiar with it.”

     “I’ll let you know in advance when we’re coming. Our crop will be ready in about four weeks, and it’ll take a week or so to harvest it. Then we’re going to put it in the back of a big Walmart truck and drive it down there. We’ll back it right up to that back fence and leave it there, if you can get some volunteers to unload and distribute it.”

     “Volunteers are no problem. I can borrow half a dozen soldiers from the National Guard. They’ll be happy to help, because it’ll get them off the body gathering detail for a couple of days.”

     “Sounds good. I’ll let you know at least a day in advance when we’re coming.”

     “That’s great news, Scott, and thank you. I’m signing off, now, my generator’s almost out of fuel and getting ready to cut out.”

     “Okay. Take care and be safe, my friend. Scott out.”

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      “Mom, Dad, Joyce, after dinner can we all get together out in the garden? Sara and I have something important we want to tell you about.”

     Linda said, “Well, sure, honey.” She looked questioningly at Scott, and then Joyce. They just shrugged.

     Zachary, ever the smart ass, said “What are you going to do, tell them you want to get married? We all know that already. We can tell by the way you’re always looking goo-goo eyed at each other.”

    
Jordan said to Zachary, “Shut up, twerp.”

     Then Linda, in a show of support for her oldest son, looked at Zach and said, “Yeah. Shut up
, twerp.”

     Everyone at the table laughed. Except Zach. He sulked, but he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.

     Tom was pulling security duty, and called over from the console.

     “Hey, little man. We don’t want to hear any old mushy secrets anyway. You hang out with me and help me watch
the monitors, and I’ll teach you how to tie some fishing knots.”

     “All right! That’s more fun anyways.”  

     After they’d cleaned their plates and placed them in the sink, Jordan and Sara waited outside. Sara sat on a lawn chair that he carried over to the tomato patch for her. He chose to stand next to her and hold her hand.

     One by one, the others came out. If any of them saw Sara sitting down resting next to Jordan as a clue, none of them let on.

     “Mom, Dad, Joyce. I have to apologize to you all. I feel that you all trusted me. And I let all of you down.”

     He looked at Sara, who had tears in her eyes.

     Linda’s hand went to her mouth, but she said not a word.

     Joyce’s mouth dropped open. She said, “Oh, my…”

     Scott, perhaps because he wasn’t a woman, was still clueless. He looked puzzled at Jordan and Sara, expecting
Jordan to finish explaining exactly what he was sorry about.

     Then Sara stood, and without saying a word, lifted up her loose fitting blouse as high as the bottom of her bra. All three saw the baby bump, which was becoming quite prominent.

     Linda sighed and went to hug Sara. Joyce was right behind her to do the same. Neither of them could find words yet.

     Scott seemed in shock.

     “But how…”

     Joyce gave him a certain look.

     “I mean, not how, but… I mean, we thought we were watching you like hawks.”

     “You did at first, Dad. But then you began to trust me. And you eased up a little. And I took advantage of your trust, and I’m so sorry.”

     Sara squeezed his hand and looked at him. Then to the others.

     “It’s not just
Jordan’s fault. I kind of played a role in it too. And I’m sorry too.”

     Linda held her.

     “How far are you, honey?”

     “I honestly don’t know. Four months, I think. Maybe four and a half.”

     Scott finally found more words. And he meant them sincerely, to both of them.

     “It’s okay. It would have happened sooner or later. The
timing isn’t the best, but we’ll deal with it, just like we’ve dealt with everything else.”

    
Jordan audibly breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t that he expected rage from his father. It was just that he needed so much for his father to forgive him. It was the biggest betrayal he’d ever made to either of his parents, the biggest secret he’d ever kept.

     Joyce said, “Well, you certainly did a good job of keeping it a secret. I for one didn’t have a clue.”

     Sara smiled through her tears and said, “The secret was getting harder and harder to keep. This is the last pair of jeans I can get into.”

     Joyce smiled and wiped her tears. Come on into the house and take those off. I’ve got an elastic panel I can sew across the front of them. Should get you through your last few months.”

     She looked at Jordan and said, “And you, Mister. I know you’ve got a couple of pairs of gym shorts you can loan your wife, now don’t you?”

     “My… wife?”

     “Well, there aren’t any preachers around to say the pretty words and sign the papers, but I’d say that baby in there makes it pretty official, under the circumstances.”

     She began to tear up too, and Linda was struggling. Scott went over and hugged his son and Sara at the same time. He looked at Sara and held her tiny face in his hands.

     “Don’t you worry, honey. We’re going to take good care of you and make sure that you and this baby are as healthy as can be.”

     At the end of it all, the day that Sara had been dreading for so long wasn’t traumatic at all. It was joyful. And she was happy. Because this was the last secret she’d had. Her last bit of deception. And she’d sleep better at night now, knowing that everything was out in the open. She’d never again have to worry about someone finding something out and sending her away.

     She’d finally found a family and a home.

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