Worst Case Scenario Read Free Page B

one of those?
    Ian had been convinced that a ‘dirty’ bomb or EMP would be the most likely way that terrorists could do the most damage against the country.  But every time they started planning for such an event, they ran into the problem of location and logistics.  In order for their family to survive, they would always have to be together and ready, and in today’s society, with each one of them having individual lives, that was not an option.
    Ian was on the road a lot with his job and Grace was about to go to college.  Even Leah traveled internationally several times a year for the international charity she worked for.  So, at the end of the day, they had decided to plan as best as they could for as much as possible. 
    The hardest decision they had agreed to as a couple was the likelihood that both Leah and Ian would not make it out alive in the first 72 hours if one of their worst case scenarios were to happen.  So they agreed between themselves that they would never both be out of town at the same time and leave Grace behind.  They knew that one of them would need to survive in order to help Grace survive. It was not an acceptable risk, it was just reality.
     
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    “Tardis Blue this is Momma B, what’s your location? Over.”  She looked down at the radio.  It was on channel 25 and the batteries were strong.
    “Okay Daisy,” she said talking to the dog in an attempt to drive down her own rising anxiety about the evolving situation.  She felt lost without information of the greater situation or the whereabouts of her family.  “What do we know, girl?”  She walked herself through a situational analysis.
    The dog stared at her, her tail wagging gently at the attention.
    “We’ve heard Grace’s voice so we don’t know exactly where she is, but we know she’s close.”  Leah looked at the city map again.  There was a blue ring drawn around part of the city.  Her house was at the center of the blue circle and the line represented the range of her two-way radio.
    “So, she’s at least within 20 miles.  But, knowing that she was going out with Anna and that she has found the radio, I bet she’s at Anna’s house.”  She put her finger on a pushpin on the map representing Anna’s house.  There were other pushpins on the map, each one representing a place of significance to someone in the family.  Each pushpin was color coded to a particular family member.  Grace’s were blue, Ian’s were red and Leah’s were yellow.
    The pushpin on Anna’s house had a number written on the head of the pin, it said, “8,” representing the number of miles from their house.
    “Okay Daisy, she’s most likely 8 miles away.  That’s good, I think,” she said having a sudden thought and wanted to confirm all of the information that was swirling around in her head.  She wanted to convince herself that she was over reacting. This is not the worst case scenario. The last thing she wanted to do was confirm that her suspicions were right.
    She grabbed the spare key for her SUV hanging in the room and went into the garage to see if it would start.  She opened the door and noticed that the dome light didn’t come on.
    “That’s not good.”
    She stuck the key into the ignition and closed her eyes for a second.  A small prayer passed her lips as she turned the key over.  Nothing.  She tried again.  Nothing.
    “Damn it! It’s real,” she said to herself.  Realization hit her like the airbag of her car that would never work.  A wave of fear coursed through her body and she sat back in the seat feeling her breath falling short and the water of tears forming along the rims of her eyes.
    “Damn it!  Damn it!” she said again, and pounded the steering wheel with her fists.  She put her head on her hands and rested on the wheel.  It was quiet in the car except for one small ticking sound.  “Son of a…” her eyes went to the analog watch on her wrist. It was still working.  It was