Tim Washburn: The Day After Oblivion

“You’re probably right. But we’ll try one more time. What’s on your agenda today?”

“We need food. I thought we’d look for abandoned properties to scavenge.”

“I don’t know. That could be dangerous.”

“I don’t think we have any other options. You’re not going to like this, but I’m thinking of starting at the Hatcher house.”

Lauren’s eyes open wide. “Oh, Stan, that’s wrong on so many levels.” She looks away, then back. “Really?”

“I’ll give you a moment to process, but think it through.”

Lauren stands and retreats to the kitchen to retrieve a glass of water. She stands at the counter, her arms crossed and her mind in overdrive. After several moments, she takes down a glass, pours some water, and returns to her seat. “It makes me ill to think about it, but you’re right. We know for sure that house is empty. Unless squatters have moved in. But it’s worth a trip.”

McDowell nods, leaving well enough alone. “I thought we’d check some of the rural properties. Anything in town has probably already been ransacked.” A majority of Lubbock remains intact, structure-wise, having dodged the wildfires. But the stores and businesses were looted long ago.

“Then I guess we’ll come home and I’ll finish up on the outhouse.”

“Joy,” Lauren says. Although her house uses well water, it’s hooked into the city sewer. “Can’t we just keep adding water to the toilet tanks and flushing?”

“We can, for a while. But if they can’t move sewage through the system, it’ll be only be a matter of time before everything backs up.”

“My Mr. Handyman.” She leans forward and takes both of his hands in hers. “Have I told you how happy I am you agreed to come with me?”

“Sure. Who else is going to build you an outhouse?”

Lauren laughs. “And don’t forget that contraption you built to retrieve water.” She frees a hand and traces a vein in his arm with her finger. “Or all that firewood you cut?” She stops at his bicep and starts her way back down, tracing the tendon in his arm. “Or that you used your ingenuity to find a path in a world swirling with madness?”

McDowell squirms in his seat.

She moves to the top of his hand. “Or that you risked your life to protect us?” She turns his hand over and caresses his palm. “Or that you’re an incredibly brave man who brought a group of wayward strangers home?” Lauren looks up and moves her hand to his face, caressing his cheek. “Or how astonishingly lucky I am?” Lauren stands, pulling him to his feet. She tiptoes up and kisses him on the lips. Her voice now silent, she leads him into the bedroom.

Weatherford

Afew of the power grid transformers survived and now about a third of the town has power. Not consistent power, but a steady stream of power when there’s a breeze, which of late, has been often. Henry, ever the engineer, gathered up a bunch of car batteries and built a backup system that powers the house through the night. As of now, none of Gage’s initial fears have materialized. There have been no struggles, violent or otherwise, over who has power and who doesn’t. Instead, a transformation is occurring where families without power move in with other families who do, or choose to congregate in some of the public buildings where the lights are on.

Once power was partially restored a sense of normalcy began to develop. The police chief organized a committee of volunteers to round up any remaining food from businesses and abandoned homes across the community. They hit a gold mine at the college, and the haul was impressive. Things aren’t so normal they would think to leave such a pile of food unprotected— it’s now locked in the city jail and items get distributed once a week. There’s been some grumbling, but that appears to have died down some. The food’s not going to last forever so they’re trying to develop some sort of chit system for those who do their fair share of the work to make it stretch further. Gage assumes that’s when the problems will begin. He pulls on his boots, kisses his sleeping daughter, and slips out of the bedroom. The baby formula Alyx arrived with was a lifesaver—literally. Two days after Alyx and Zane’s arrival, Holly’s milk came in. Zane walks down the hall to the living room and finds Susan and Henry at the dining room table.

“Good morning, Gage,” Susan says. “Did Olivia sleep last night?”

“Morning. I think Holly had to get up twice, but she ate and went right back to sleep.”

“She’s a different baby now that she has something to eat,” Susan says.

“That she is. Henry, are we working today?” Henry, Zane, Alyx, and Gage have been working to get more turbines up and running.

“We’ve been hitting it pretty hard. I say we take a day to rest up. Plus my arm needs a rest.”

“Oh, blame it on the arm, huh?” Gage says, smiling.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can still work circles around you three. Where you headed?”

“I told my mom I’d help her move the things she wants to keep into the garage.”

Henry leans back in his chair and crosses his legs. “That’s a noble thing your mother’s doing. I don’t think I’d want to give up my house.”

“It makes sense for her to move in with my brother and his family, since both homes have power. She won’t admit it, but I think living there without my dad is hard on her. Too many memories.”

“Who’s moving into her house?” Susan asks.

“A couple of younger families. I can’t recall their names, but I think there’s a total of four children who will be living there.”

“Give your mother our love,” Susan says. “If things get crowded at your brother’s house, tell her she’s always welcome here.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that. I think they’ll do fine together, but I’ll tell her. See you later.” Gage exits the house and walks to the truck. He glances up to see Zane and Alyx cuddling on a bench beside the barn and walks over. “What are you lovebirds doing up so early?”

“That’s a good question, Gage,” Alyx says. “I guess we just woke up. How’s Olivia?”

“She slept a good portion of the night, finally.” Zane and Alyx made their nest in the apartment above the barn and Gage has been outside late a couple of times during the week and heard the bed banging against the wall. He smiles at the thought. “Henry says we have the day off.”

“Woo-hoo! And here I was questioning my decision to come home,” Alyx says. “Where are you headed?”

“To help my mom move some stuff.”

“Need help?” Zane asks.

“Nah, Garrett and Juliet are around, but thanks for asking.”

“You’re welcome,” Zane says. “Anytime I can help, you just let me know.”

Gage nods. “I will. You two enjoy your day off.” Gage turns and walks back to the truck. He really, really likes Zane. And Zane’s strong enough to stand up to Alyx when he needs to. Gage fires up the truck and drops it into gear, easing down the driveway, thinking how much Alyx has changed. He doesn’t know if it’s everything they endured on the way home or if it’s the fact that she finally found a man she clicked with. They’ve shared some of what happened with him and Holly, but certainly not all. They all have stories they don’t want to tell and probably never will. Gage and Garrett had spent a day earlier in the week burying the remains of the Marston family—a gruesome job, but one that Gage thought needed doing. As for the Mustang, it’s still parked on the road, the killers rotting inside.

At the main road, Gage hooks a left and rolls down the window. Ash still lingers on the ground from the fires down south, but the smoky smell has dissipated. A good rain would really clear the air, yet no one knows when that might occur. Apparently, from what Henry said, all the dust and debris in the stratosphere plays havoc on the normal weather patterns. So it’ll either rain or it won’t and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it. Gage slows at the intersection and looks both ways just in case there’s another vehicle on the road. There are probably a dozen autos in town that are operable, but most are hardly ever driven. Not really anywhere to go unless you live out on one of the farms.