S Ison - Russian Doomsday

He loved her enough to put his feelings on the backburner. He would never forgive himself if something did happen and they weren’t ready for it because he’d not been on task. That was what drove him. Kept him going in the right direction.

The door opened and Alice Reynolds, their agent stepped out. “If you want to come on back in. I’ve got the seller’s agent on the line,” she said.

Pike’s heart slammed against his ribcage. He placed his hand on Margo’s back and let her precede him. He followed the two women into Alice’s office.

“Please have a seat. I have just finished speaking with both the sellers and their realtor. The offer you made of $10,000 below asking price has been accepted. Apparently the other interested party couldn’t make as good an offer. The property and cabin are yours.” Alice smiled.

Margo and Pike looked at each other with happy grins, whooped and hugged each other.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it.” Margo said.

“Wow, I’m so relieved. Thank you, Alice, really, thank you so much,” Pike said.

“No problem, guys. Now, let’s go over the paperwork. Get things signed and set up, and we’ll have you choose a closing date. How does that sound?”

“That sounds great,” Pike said, and grinned foolishly at Margo. He wanted to kiss her, but tamped down that urge.

An hour later, they were heading back to the apartment. As Pike drove, his mind was on the new cabin and what they needed to do.

“You know, I have no idea how to grow things. I’ve never planted a garden. Have you?” Margo asked.

“No, I haven’t at all. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Maybe we should get some books. Maybe we should also get some seeds. I can also ask the guys at work… they know a lot of things about almost everything,” he suggested.

“I’ve been reading that we should get the non-GMO seeds, maybe put them away. I was looking on the bidding sites and you can get them pretty cheap,” Margo said, grinning.

“That is good. Maybe we can stockpile the seeds, in case we really suck at growing things. We’ll at least have backup seeds.”

“That is a good idea. They have seeds that are in airtight packets. I think I might buy those along with the regular heirloom seeds.”

“I’ve also been thinking about the radiation, if it hits us. The ground is going to be irradiated, and I have no idea what that will do to whatever we grow. I can’t really ask Ned or Blake about it. I don’t even think they’d know. Will it kill the soil? I’m pretty sure it will contaminate it. Maybe we should get some thirty-gallon plastic containers and fill them with dirt and worms. We can get the worms from the bait shop. We can put the containers in the woods, behind the cabin. Out of sight.”

“Hey, why don’t we swing by the store and pick up some containers now? We can load those up with our stuff that we’ll move to the cabin, and then we can use them for soil later. Also, I want to check their books. If I can’t find what I want, I’ll go onto Amazon.”

“Good idea. You think maybe if we swing by the library, we could look some things up?”

“Sure, but let’s get the containers first. That way, if I can’t find the books I want, then when we go to the library. I can check some out, maybe do some research on farming or planting gardens,” she said excitedly.

He looked over and grinned at her. Her face was glowing.

Several hours later, they brought their purchases into the house. Margo had checked out two books from the library. Old books, they were about gardening and soil preparation for gardening. He’d found a book on survival medical procedures at the library as well. He’d read over that one later.

“I think I’ll order a couple books from online,” he said as he put the three large plastic containers on the kitchen counter. “This is good reading, but I’d like something here at the house for medical procedures.”

“You might want to add a book or two on DIY projects,” Margo said, and grinned at him.

He laughed. “Already going to have a honey-do list. That way, I can also see what other tools I’ll need.”

“I’m so glad they had a sale on dried beans and canned beans. I can’t believe how much we got.”

“I know. I feel like I can breathe now. And now that we have the cabin, it is like a huge weight has been taken off my shoulders. I can’t wait until we move in. Oh, did you see the extra pasta I picked up. It’s orzo pasta, and I want to try it. From what I understand, you don’t need to use a lot, but it makes quite a bit. That, I think, will help stretch our food supplies.”

His room was by now filled with boxes of dried beans and bags of rice, and boxes of pasta were stacked neatly in his closet. There wasn’t a whole lot of room for water, that took up a lot of space, but he’d gotten some and shoved it under the daybed. Margo had done the same under her bed.

“God, I know. I almost feel rubbery with relief. I was so afraid those other people might take it from us. Geez, we need to move for sure. Where are we going to put all of this?” she laughed.

“In my room, I guess. It’s starting to resemble a supermarket in there. But I won’t complain. We are building our supplies.”

“I’m glad you got the case of MREs. If we need it bad enough, at least we’ll have the high calories. But also high blood pressure,” she said.

He laughed. “We can eat those only in extreme emergencies. How about that?”

“Yeah, sounds good. Let’s get this stuff sorted and I’ll make some dinner.”

They were making long term plans and moving forward, not stagnating. There was nothing else for them to do but keep doing everything they could to prepare for whatever came their way. Each day forward without a disaster was a good day.

Once he met with Sayer, he’d figure out more things to do to move them forward. He planned on picking Sayer’s brain. He’d been reading about smoking meat the old-fashioned way. He’d have to study up on that, as they could easily be poisoned if he messed that up. There would be no doctors if everything went to hell.

“Hey, did you get the box of medical supplies? I ordered liquid stitches, and also a staple gun that is used to put stitches in. I also got quick clot, in case there’s a big accident,” he asked from the bedroom.

“Not yet. Maybe tomorrow,” she called back.

“Hey, do you have enough of your girly girl products? You know, feminine products?” he asked. He felt his face suffuse with heat, and was glad he was in his room. He jerked when she popped her head around the corner, a huge grin on her face.

“Yes, and thank you for thinking about me, Pike.” She giggled, her own cheeks pink.

“Just trying to think ahead,” he mumbled, and turned away from her, digging in some boxes to disguise his embarrassment. He heard her laughing as she went back to the kitchen. Once there, she banged the pots and pans around, and he let out a sigh.

He’d also ordered a tourniquet and an old-fashioned thermometer. He’d picked up sterile gloves, sterile gauze, and pads. Each day brought new thoughts to add to the ever-growing list of things they needed.

But they had the cabin. It was theirs. He sat on the bed for a moment and closed his eyes. Breathe .

Dina lay in bed, watching Alexei buttoning his shirt. She smiled lazily at him. He was a fast lover, all business except when he had a little vodka in him. Then, he lingered. They’d been intimate for nearly two weeks now, and he came to her apartment every few days.

He was married, so he kept it discrete. She wasn’t pushing him to talk, but she was confident his need to brag would bring him around to spilling secrets. Men always did that. She simply had to rub his ego, fuss and gasp over his accomplishments. It was easily done. She walked the fine line of not too much. He’d smell bullshit on that. Subtle.