Steven Konkoly - The Perseid Collapse

“I didn’t have a choice! He threatened the girls! He’s a piece of shit!” she screamed.

“Throw the Glock into the street and walk back into the house, Jamie!” yelled Alex.

“Is he dead?” she said, her voice breaking.

“He’s dead. Time’s up, Jamie. Toss the pistol and get inside.”

Jamie reached behind her back, causing him to tense and press into the SUV’s rear tire. He knew she would have to do this to comply with his demand, but it still made him nervous. Alex just hoped that Charlie didn’t get any panicky ideas.

“You okay over there?” he whispered.

“Yep. Finger’s off the trigger,” said Charlie.

“As soon as she turns around, you head out and get the pistol.”

“Got it.”

Jamie raised the pistol over her head and threw it as far as she could. She stood her ground on the driveway, facing the open garage bay.

“He never found it. Can you believe that? I should have put it up to his head while he was dead drunk and pulled the trigger. He had enough reasons to kill himself.”

“You should have warned me,” said Alex. “We would have helped you.”

“I did warn you. Route 26? He was listening to the whole conversation through one of the radios. That was all I could do.”

Alex stepped out of the shadows. “Shit. I’m sorry, Jamie. I just found out about what was going on with you tonight. We didn’t put it together.”

“I got pretty good at hiding it. We’ll be fine now. Completely fine. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get the shotgun back—after you’re gone.”

“We’ll leave it in the garage. Back door will be unlocked—not that you can’t just walk through the sliding door,” he said, causing her to briefly laugh.

“Good luck getting your kids back from Boston. I figured you were splitting up between the bikes and the Jeep,” said Jamie.

“Help yourself to anything you can salvage. There’s a ton of food in our basement if you don’t mind snorkeling. Firearms too. Need to get to those quick, before the bores start to rust. I have a cord of wet firewood in my garage,” he said.

“Thanks, Alex. I’ll take you up on that, and I’ll keep an eye on the houses. Can I take the pistol?”

“Yeah. Clean it really well. There’s a lot of sand mixed into this mess,” said Alex.

“See you around,” she said.

“Good luck, Jamie. Hopefully we’ll see you shortly.”

“Somehow I think this is more of a permanent situation. We’re ready.”

Alex called Ed down to the mudroom, and helped Charlie secure the garage. They locked the bay door in place and barricaded the back door. Ed met them in the garage.

“I’m thinking we should leave right now,” said Ed.

“We can’t ride bikes in the dark,” said Kate, following him.

“The sun will be up in three hours. 5:50. We should at least start rolling out of here at five, before the neighborhood wakes up. By the time we get everyone to Route 1, they should have enough light to travel safely,” said Ed.

Kate nodded and rubbed her eyes.

“All right. We’ll let everyone sleep for another hour and a half, then get out of here. I don’t think she’s a threat, but who knows what she’s capable of with kids to protect?” said Alex.

“Why don’t you and Charlie get some sleep? I’ll take the next shift down here,” said Ed.

Alex handed Ed the muddied shotgun and patted him on the shoulder. “It’s all yours, Ed. I’m going to take a shower, if you don’t mind.”

“Use the bathroom at the top of the stairs, and uh—try not to make a mess,” he joked.

“Funny man for three in the morning,” said Alex.

“More like slap happy.”

“This is just the beginning of our fun. Wait until tomorrow night,” said Alex.

“Can’t wait. Charlie, I got this covered,” said Ed.

“You sure, amigo? I’m kind of amped up right now. I don’t mind holding down the fort,” said Charlie, stepping back into the kitchen.

“All the more reason for you to take a nap. Seriously, we’re all going to need as much rest as possible for tomorrow. Don’t make me wake up Linda to haul your ass upstairs,” said Alex.

Kate slipped into the upstairs bathroom after Alex and locked the door. She needed a moment with him alone, and this looked like it might be her last opportunity for a long time. Even when they reunited at the farm, they would be living on top of each other with nine additional people, bringing the total at the 2,200-square-foot contemporary farmhouse to seventeen. Alone time would become a premium, which was important for their relationship. Important on several levels, one of which was Alex’s mental health. The mental and physical rigors of their pandemic experience had worsened his post-traumatic distress symptoms, his nightmares, and had surfaced subtle changes to his behavior.

The changes were barely noticeable, but Alex seemed more prone to bouts of melancholy and a negative outlook. He’d always had the nightmares, pretending to wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, when Kate knew he was changing a sweat-soaked shirt and wiping his face. He hadn’t been the only one pretending. She would lay there breathing slowly, faking a deep sleep, grateful that he’d returned. Her deep, undisturbed sleep had become a joke in their family over the years, but it was a twisted façade. She slept so lightly at night, constantly waking up to Alex’s murmurs and sounds, that she could barely lift herself out of bed in the morning.

She’d kept this a secret from him for years, just like he’d tried to keep the nightmares from her. The onset of depression after the pandemic worried her the most, forcing her to suggest he seek PTSD-related counseling. The treatment had been marginally effective at combating his mood swings, and Kate relied on constant, close observation to guide him through tougher spells of darkness. Prior to the tsunami, Alex had been on one of the longest upward swings she could remember. She suspected that he’d started taking the medication he’d been prescribed, which he’d long been against. The current situation had the potential to send him in the opposite direction, and Kate needed to stay on top of it.

“I don’t think this is the right time,” he said, leaning his rifle against the wall next to the toilet.

“You wish. They ran out of hot water this afternoon. A cold shower with a stinky man isn’t at the top of my romantic encounters list. I just wanted to talk with you in private.”

“And I had been led to believe that I was irresistible under any circumstances,” he joked.

“I’m not sure a shower will do you any good.”

“Sadly, I don’t even notice anymore,” Alex said. “I know why you’re here, by the way.”

“That obvious?”

“I’m fine. Pretty clear-cut situation out there.”

He lit one of the candles on the marble bathroom counter and started to undress.

“It won’t always be that clear cut,” she said.

“Anything standing in the way of getting Ryan and Chloe back is a clear-cut threat. We know exactly what’s going to happen out there. What people are capable of. No second guessing on my end.”

“I know you’ll get them back. Tomorrow morning we’ll be together again. I’ll make a huge pancake breakfast for the entire crew. We’ll swim in the lake, kick back and enjoy the hard work we’ve put into the farm,” she said, barely believing her own words.

Alex didn’t fully believe it either. He never spoke a word of pessimism about their chances of rescuing Ryan and Chloe, but she could see it in his eyes. See him calculating the odds. They had no idea where the asteroid hit, if it had really been an asteroid. Alex didn’t seem convinced. None of them could reconcile the EMP effects with the government’s version of what had transpired this morning. The only data point that gave them all hope that it hadn’t been a hostile nuclear detonation came from Alex’s early-morning observation.