2020: Emergency Exit Read Free Page B

would be on the move, coming from everywhere, to anywhere Americans might be. It wasn’t enough to cripple us with the chemicals. They wanted to wipe us out completely. Why didn’t our military fight back? Or did they and it didn’t matter? The message had emphasized we had no forces left. Maybe they were caught with their pants down like everyone else in America. If the decimation we’d seen on a small scale in Ely was what it was like nationwide—which we figured was likely the case—it wouldn’t take much to finish the country off now. In our case, it didn’t make sense to sit and wait for what might happen. We had the same chance of dying, stay or go, so we might as well go. And go now. One problem—I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to lose Sophie again.

THREE: “Last Supper”
     
    I couldn’t imagine going back to sleep. Didn’t seem anyone else could either.  Everywhere I looked someone was busy doing something to distract from the elephant in the room. The problem was, the more we talked and thought about the many challenges we were facing, the more elephants seemed to occupy the room. The more elephants the more stress. The more stress, the shorter the nerves. Eventually there were too many elephants in the room.
    “I can’t just leave,” a male voice said loudly, snapping me out of my own haze. “And I don’t understand how you can expect me to.”
    It was Cameron and he was talking to Danny. Jenna and Kate were standing by them, looking back and forth between their faces.
    “It’s not about that,” Danny replied. “Jeez. Don’t you get it?”
    “Get what? We don’t know for sure this is real. We don’t know everyone else is dead. Just because our phones don’t work doesn’t mean anything,” Cameron retorted.
    “Come on, Cam. Don’t be stupid,” Danny said, and I saw him roll his eyes.
    Apparently Cameron noticed it too, and he definitely objected to Danny’s choice of words. “Oh, so I’m being stupid?” His voice got louder.
    “Boys,” my dad called out to them across the room.
    Cameron ignored him. “You’re willing to just jet off and assume my family is dead. What if it were your family? Oh, that’s right…but it’s not. And you wouldn’t even care if it was your dad. But what if it were Hayley?”
    Ouch! That was a low blow . I looked to Danny to see if he’d protest, and he did immediately.
    “Hey!” Danny was riled up now and took a step towards Cameron. Cameron didn’t back down. Kate quickly stepped between them, and Jenna grabbed Cameron’s arm, but he shrugged her off. “I would care if it was my dad. I do care that it is your family. And I definitely would love to go down and get them.”
    Cameron shook his head and laughed. Danny pointed his finger at him. “But I would understand that I don’t have a choice. I can’t risk everyone’s life by taking us all down there—”
    “It’s not your call, dumbass,” Cameron fired back. “Who the hell put you in charge?”
    “Boys!” Dad yelled louder, getting up from his chair and approaching them.
    “Tell him, Kate. Tell him what you told me. Tell him you agree with me,” Cameron urged.
    Danny was looking at Kate now. Kate glanced up at him but then looked away. “What’s he talking about?” Danny asked her.
    “Nothing,” she replied quietly. “He’s not speaking for me.”
    Dad was between the boys now. “Right,” Cameron muttered, shaking his head and turning away. “She’s just afraid to say it to your face. Just as much of a coward as you are.” Cameron headed towards a door leading out of the room. “Shit!” he yelled in anger, and shoved a stack of pans off the counter. As they crashed to the floor everyone jumped.
    Jenna scurried to help Mom pick them up. “Sorry,” she said.
    “It’s okay,” Mom replied. “Go make sure he’s okay. I can get this.” Jenna apologized again, tears pouring down her face, then stood and ran out of the room after Cameron. The rest of us