stuffed bear from side to side and she spoke in what a little girl would consider a ‘deep’ voice:
“I’m Ronald Bear and I wants to know what should we do?”
Ronald’s question hit all of us like a brick, there were things we could do, of course there was.
“Water.” Mom said, “Lucy you and Ronald go and fill every bottle with water that you can find and fill the tubs too.”
Lucy ran off, happy to have something to do.
“Johnny, go out to the garage and find all the camping equipment and set it out where Daddy parks. Make sure it’s all in good shape and then find all the hand tools that you think we might need. Find a saw, hammer, screw drivers all that kind of stuff but only hand tools, can you do that?”
I smiled at Mom. “Sure I can!” and I ran down the stairs into the garage.
Mom and Elaine went through everything in the house all the canned food and things that would keep were arranged out in the garage by the camping things. Then I could hear them talking and I knew they talked about cooking anything that might spoil first. Anything that would keep, we would keep. Anything else was open season. I found the big plastic water cooler inside of the matching Coleman ice chest. I took it into the kitchen and set it on the counter next to a couple of dozen other bottles and jars. Lucy had been busy, everything from 2 liter bottles to jelly jars. Most of them had come from the recycling bin out back. There was also a full case of Lakeland spring water that Elaine always insisted on and for the first time I was happy for it. Lucy came into the kitchen and clapped when she saw the water cooler and she quickly filled it too. She really liked the little spigot thingy and I saw her getting herself and Ronald several drinks but she always refilled the cooler after.
The power came back on for a while that evening; the news channels had degenerated. Gone were the slick suited, always calm anchor-people with their practiced Midwest accents. Now, fear and exhaustion marred them, easily read by all who cared to look.
There were scenes of tanks advancing through suburban neighborhoods, entire city blocks were on fire, but the worst was the panic: people who packed themselves into a car in an attempt to escape suddenly found one of them, perhaps a child or husband or grandmother, had changed into a killer. No one was immune: police stations, army units, fire departments, hospitals, schools and even churches hid serpents in their midst. Airplanes fell from the sky when someone, the pilot or some passengers, changed. Soldiers couldn’t count on the person next to them. I could only imagine what it was like for a soldier in a tank to find out he was trapped in a metal coffin with 3 or 4 monsters who wanted only to kill and eat him. In our town, not far from us, rifle and machinegun fire echoed through the night. Sirens and screams punctuated by explosions. The four of us huddled on the couch together, Lucy trying to get her teddy to go to sleep, Elaine sobbing quietly, while my mother just stared at the TV as the scenes of the end of the world displayed in high definition for us. Around 3 AM, the power went out for the last time and I wondered if the monsters would come for us in the dark. But they didn’t- not that night.
Day 3
The morning came and we all moved around the house like mice. We were afraid to make any sounds even though we could still hear sporadic gunfire in the distance. We ate breakfast, I guess it was breakfast, Mom cooked us steaks from the freezer and eggs and toaster waffles. We all forced it down; we knew it was going to go bad if we didn’t. Mom and Elaine were talking in the kitchen while I was playing with Lucy, supposedly trying to keep her mind off of things, but the truth was I needed just as much of that as she did. We just about jumped out of our socks when there was a loud knock at the door. Elaine ran to look out the peep and saw Mr. Caulfield and Mr. and Mrs. Franks on
“I’m Ronald Bear and I wants to know what should we do?”
Ronald’s question hit all of us like a brick, there were things we could do, of course there was.
“Water.” Mom said, “Lucy you and Ronald go and fill every bottle with water that you can find and fill the tubs too.”
Lucy ran off, happy to have something to do.
“Johnny, go out to the garage and find all the camping equipment and set it out where Daddy parks. Make sure it’s all in good shape and then find all the hand tools that you think we might need. Find a saw, hammer, screw drivers all that kind of stuff but only hand tools, can you do that?”
I smiled at Mom. “Sure I can!” and I ran down the stairs into the garage.
Mom and Elaine went through everything in the house all the canned food and things that would keep were arranged out in the garage by the camping things. Then I could hear them talking and I knew they talked about cooking anything that might spoil first. Anything that would keep, we would keep. Anything else was open season. I found the big plastic water cooler inside of the matching Coleman ice chest. I took it into the kitchen and set it on the counter next to a couple of dozen other bottles and jars. Lucy had been busy, everything from 2 liter bottles to jelly jars. Most of them had come from the recycling bin out back. There was also a full case of Lakeland spring water that Elaine always insisted on and for the first time I was happy for it. Lucy came into the kitchen and clapped when she saw the water cooler and she quickly filled it too. She really liked the little spigot thingy and I saw her getting herself and Ronald several drinks but she always refilled the cooler after.
The power came back on for a while that evening; the news channels had degenerated. Gone were the slick suited, always calm anchor-people with their practiced Midwest accents. Now, fear and exhaustion marred them, easily read by all who cared to look.
There were scenes of tanks advancing through suburban neighborhoods, entire city blocks were on fire, but the worst was the panic: people who packed themselves into a car in an attempt to escape suddenly found one of them, perhaps a child or husband or grandmother, had changed into a killer. No one was immune: police stations, army units, fire departments, hospitals, schools and even churches hid serpents in their midst. Airplanes fell from the sky when someone, the pilot or some passengers, changed. Soldiers couldn’t count on the person next to them. I could only imagine what it was like for a soldier in a tank to find out he was trapped in a metal coffin with 3 or 4 monsters who wanted only to kill and eat him. In our town, not far from us, rifle and machinegun fire echoed through the night. Sirens and screams punctuated by explosions. The four of us huddled on the couch together, Lucy trying to get her teddy to go to sleep, Elaine sobbing quietly, while my mother just stared at the TV as the scenes of the end of the world displayed in high definition for us. Around 3 AM, the power went out for the last time and I wondered if the monsters would come for us in the dark. But they didn’t- not that night.
Day 3
The morning came and we all moved around the house like mice. We were afraid to make any sounds even though we could still hear sporadic gunfire in the distance. We ate breakfast, I guess it was breakfast, Mom cooked us steaks from the freezer and eggs and toaster waffles. We all forced it down; we knew it was going to go bad if we didn’t. Mom and Elaine were talking in the kitchen while I was playing with Lucy, supposedly trying to keep her mind off of things, but the truth was I needed just as much of that as she did. We just about jumped out of our socks when there was a loud knock at the door. Elaine ran to look out the peep and saw Mr. Caulfield and Mr. and Mrs. Franks on
Similar Books
Touch the Wind
Janet Dailey
Seduced by a Spy
Andrea Pickens
Cat on the Fence
Tatiana Caldwell
A Fairytale Christmas
Susan Meier
Frightful Fairy Tales
Dame Darcy
Finity's End - a Union-Alliance Novel
C. J. Cherryh
South By Java Head
Alistair MacLean
With This Ring
Amanda Quick