Total pages in book: 163
Estimated words: 150878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 754(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 754(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
We were all quiet for a moment before Tuck asked, “What’s the long-term goal?”
“That changes day to day. It’s a fluid situation. But for now, other than collecting necessities, we’re focused on picking up kids who were left behind for one reason or another—parents never came home from work, got separated… You know how it goes. There are already predators out trolling. Hell, some of them escaped the same place I did.”
Oh, we knew about predators. We’d learned plenty about them in the past week. But we’d also learned how many generous people there were too. I stuck the last bite of bread in my mouth and then licked my fingers.
“We’re getting a medical tent set up too, but right now, don’t have any medical staff. Like I said, it’s fluid.”
“You’re doing good work,” I said, glancing back at the cots where several teenagers were sitting and reading or chatting. God, how many people had been stranded alone in all this? How many children and teens, and heck, women like me? What if Tuck and Charlie had died in that plane crash along with Russell and I’d found myself out in the middle of a cold field with no idea what to do or where to go? I wrapped my arms around myself to ward off the growing chill, even though it was warm enough inside because of all the body heat, and I had a full belly.
“Thanks,” Hosea said. “It feels good to be useful.” He smiled. “And you wanna know something funny? It feels good to be one of the good guys. Never thought I’d say that. Never thought I’d be given an opportunity to say that.”
Tuck squeezed Hosea’s shoulder. “They’re lucky to have you.”
“Do you have intel about what’s going on? What caused all this?” Charlie asked. “Everything we’ve heard so far is just speculation.”
Hosea took a swig from the water bottle he’d set down on the table next to him. “The military, at least what’s left of it, is saying it was a massive solar flare that took out our grid.” He looked from Charlie to Tuck. “Apparently, it wasn’t only one. Several hit, and over the span of about a day.”
“A solar flare,” I murmured. I remembered that Sheriff Goodfellow had said a professor in town had guessed that too. “So, we’re not at war.” Which was a relief and one I’d take. Because while this had obviously created a colossal disaster, it was one that could be fixed soon. Right?
“We are at war,” Hosea said, dashing my hopes. “In some ways anyway. But not from an outside army, at least not yet.”
“Are there repairs being made?” Charlie asked, and I detected that note of shrill panic in his tone that made me worry he was about to have another meltdown.
But the truth was, I felt a little shrill as well. “Can the grid be repaired?” I asked, thinking of the college kid who’d said an electronic system ran most of society, even dams. “It can be, right?”
Tuck was staring off behind me, his brows knitted. Hosea’s steady gaze hung on me as he answered, “Eventually, yes.”
Eventually. The word rang in my head, an ominous echo.
“Some of the parts needed aren’t even made in America anymore,” he continued.
“That seems like a recipe for disaster,” Tuck said.
“You think?” Hosea met each of our eyes in turn. “We all just got a crash course in how vulnerable we were to the system. Too bad it came too late. Hasn’t quite been a week and already so many have died. Plane and automobile accidents. Fires. Floods. Those who needed life-saving machines or medicine are gone or will be very soon. Elderly living alone and kids who got abandoned are next. Disease might wipe people out in large numbers. There’s already a cholera situation in Topeka. Sicknesses that have been all but eradicated for decades will start to return. Violence is going to erupt everywhere.”
My God. I stood up. “Can I go use one of those Porta Pottis?” I asked. I needed a second. I needed air. Plus, I’d been squatting in the woods as of late. A Porta Potti was going to feel positively luxurious. I almost laughed but held it back, worried it’d come out sharp and crazed. My, how a handful of days could alter a person’s perception.
“Is that water over there?” Charlie asked, perhaps needing a moment too.
“Yup to you both.” Hosea turned. “Kelvin, do you want to escort the lady to the powder room?” The man named Kelvin wearing military fatigues nodded and gestured for me to follow him.
“And help yourself to a bottle of water. It’s been boiled and filtered.”
Charlie stood and headed toward the water, and I followed Kelvin out the back door and around the building to the row of toilets. I did my business, deciding that despite the appreciation for the toilet paper, I preferred the outdoors to a smelly, windowless cube.