Jerry D Young
03-20-2010, 07:07 PM
Only Fourteen
Joshua Livingsdale was only fourteen. He was tired of hearing it. Things would be so much better when he turned fifteen. And eventually eighteen. That’s when he would join one of the military services. Probably the Army. US Army Combat Engineers, to be precise. His grandfather and father had both served in the Combat Engineers when they were in service and had long careers in civil engineering afterwards. It sounded like a good plan to him.
But his mother didn’t want him to. She just wanted him to stay home and be a momma’s boy. Oh, he didn’t mind helping around the house. It was good experience for when he was on his own. But she wanted him to stay home all the time. She was terrified he would be shot by a gang member.
Yeah, there were some gangs around, but he knew their haunts and stayed well away from them. Didn’t give any of the members any reason to target him specifically. If there was a random shooting, yes, he was at risk. But so was everyone else in school.
He wanted to go out and do things. Have some fun, but that wasn’t the main reason. He wanted to learn things. How to survive in the wilderness. And how to survive the bad times that the people on the prep and survival forums he read every day said were coming.
Since he was twelve he’d been interested in survival and had begun saving money for gear and supplies. Joshua was saving all the money he got for birthdays and Christmases from his maternal grandparents, aunts and uncles, and from the one thing his mother encouraged, his grass mowing business. Plus he got a generous allowance from his absent father. Joshua had never met him, but he did pay Joshua’s mother more child support than he had to, plus gave money as birthday and Christmas presents, in addition to the allowance.
He had quite a bit of money saved up, but he wasn’t going to spend any until he was sure just what he wanted. Where he and his mom lived was a nice neighborhood, but it was part of the city and the city was going downhill fast, in Joshua’s opinion.
It wasn’t just the gangs. City services were already getting cut because of the economy. And if there was a disaster, power, water, sewer, and probably cell phone service would probably go out. Joshua had checked it out. If the power went, water and sewer would too, as the system was dependent on electrical pumps. The cell towers had battery backups, but were overloaded sometimes on normal days and would probably not be useable in a crisis.
And that was just normal emergencies like storms. If one of the mega disasters, like those the Weather Channel and History Channel showed were possible, things would be hundreds of times worse. Particularly the one that could really be big trouble where Joshua lived. He lived within the New Madrid Seismic Zone.
Sure that his mother wouldn’t approve of many of the things he wanted to get, Joshua decided to start slow, with some things that didn’t scream out survivalist. Something that would have dual purpose.
He’d pretty much outgrown his old bicycle, and had been hinting around for another. Sure he had the money to buy one himself, but if he could get his mother or father to help pay for one, so much the better.
“Mom,” Joshua said, “What do you and Father think about me getting a new bike?” It was Saturday and Joshua had just returned from mowing five large yards in the development that day.
“You’ve really been working hard, haven’t you?” Shelley asked her son. “Let me talk to your father and see what we can do. You deserve a new bike.” She smiled. “One of those fancy mountain bikes, I bet.”
“Well,” Joshua said slowly, surprised that his mother had brought it up. “Yes. I do kind of have my eye on one particular bike. And it is a mountain bike. Can’t get it locally. Have to order it on the Internet.”
“Your father is out of the country at the moment. As soon as he is back, I’ll talk to him. You go ahead and order the bike you want. Here’s my credit card.” Shelley was digging in her purse for the card.
“That’s okay, Mom,” Joshua hurriedly said. “I’ll just put it on my debit card and put the money in the bank when you and Father give it to me.”
“Oh! You sure you want to do that? Do you have enough? I know the good mountain bikes must be expensive. Oh. Be sure to get a new helmet, too. I noticed you couldn’t wear your old one the last time you rode.”
“I’m okay for the money. And I’ll get a new helmet. Thanks, Mom.” Joshua gave his mother a big hug, feeling a little guilty at not telling her the full story. But he kept silent and went to his bedroom to get on the computer and order the bike. The helmet he would pick up at a local bike shop.
The bike he ordered was a Montague Paratrooper Folding bike. Not the most expensive bike, but one of the toughest, and that was what Joshua wanted. While he was on the Internet he checked again on the trailer he wanted to get for it.
Actually, it wasn’t a trailer. It was a game cart he wanted to convert so it could be used as a trailer for the bike while still maintaining the original capability. Depending on just how much money his parents were willing to give him on the purchase of the bike, he’d order it, or wait a while.
Joshua shut down the computer and leaned back in the chair. He wondered for a moment what his friend Keith Rodenour would think of the bike. Keith was sixteen, but he and Joshua had been friends since both had been volunteered by their mothers to model tuxedos in a fund raiser for the civic center.
Neither had particularly been looking forward to it, but upon seeing how the girls reacted to Keith, fourteen at the time, Joshua decided it wasn’t so bad. Keith finally admitted to Joshua that it had been fun. Keith’s family was already into prepping, though it was some time before he admitted it to Joshua. His family preferred it be kept a secret.
But it wasn’t long before their conversations went from sports to camping out, and then to discussions of the Mega-Disasters shows on television. When Joshua said he was worried about the New Madrid Seismic Zone, Keith told him that his family was prepared for it.
Now that they both went to the same school system, they were able to pal around more than the occasional meetings at the civic center when their mothers were involved in something. Keith was two years ahead of Joshua, but it didn’t seem to bother the Junior to let a Freshman hang out with him. Neither one had many friends, and none of the ones they did have had any interest in prepping.
Joshua had talked to Keith about getting a bike and the game cart. Keith said he could help with adding a hitch arm to the cart so it could be connected to the bike with a suitable hitch, since he was taking metal shop that year.
On Monday, the two boys met in the gym to shoot hoops with a bunch of other guys, as they often did before the first bell rang. “Got the bike ordered, Keith,” Joshua told his friend as he threw him the basketball. Keith took a shot before he answered.
“The good one? The Paratrooper?”
Joshua was grinning. He caught the ball that one of the others tossed to him and took a shot. He wasn’t nearly as good as Keith, but he managed to sink one now and again. “Yep. And my parents are paying for at least part of it. Don’t know how much yet. If it’s enough, I’ll get the Super Mag game cart with dual wheels from Cabela’s.
“Sweet! You still want me to rig a hitch?”
The two both took shots before Joshua answered. “Absolutely. I wish the teacher would let me in to help.”
“It’s okay. I’ll get one of the guys to help if I need it. Bunch of them owe me. I’ve been helping almost everyone in class with their projects. I almost always get mine done first and have time to help them. And boy, do some of them need it.” Keith made a jump shot that swished through the net just as the bell rang.
Racking the basketballs in the cart the two joined the others headed for classes. But they met up again at lunch. Careful to never discuss preps where someone might hear them, the two talked about school work. It wasn’t until after school, as they walked toward the spot they had to take different directions, that Keith asked Joshua if he wanted to go to the range the coming Saturday. “My Dad bought a couple of M1 .30 Carbines for Jessie and Sandy. Going to try them out.”
“Wow! That would be cool. You sure your parents don’t mind? I know the ammo can be expensive.”
“It’s okay. He bought a bunch just for practice. I already asked him if I could ask you. He’s always looking to get someone new into the shooting sports. Oh. My mother is going to bring a picnic lunch, so you don’t have to worry about food.”
“Then I’m in. I’ll figure out something to keep my mother happy.”
“Okay. Good. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Keith turned up his street and Joshua continued until he came to the street on which he lived with his mother.
She was still at work, as usual, and Joshua made himself a snack and started in on his homework. The sooner it was done, the sooner he could get on the forums and see if anyone had posted any fiction or good information posts.
When he heard the kitchen door open and close he hurried to help his mother bring in the groceries she bought nearly every day. One of the things that Joshua wanted to change was the way they stocked food in the house.
They basically didn’t now, except for sometimes getting enough for a weekend during bad weather so she didn’t have to drive in it. Joshua wanted a full pantry. But his encouragement of buying in bulk was still falling on deaf ears. His mother just didn’t see the need. The market was between work and home and it was easy for her to pick something fresh up every day.
“Chicken sound okay for supper, Joshua?”
“Sure, Mom. Sounds great.” He went out to the car and brought in the two plastic grocery bags. “Can I talk to you a minute?”
“Sure, Honey. Oh. Did you get the bike ordered? Your Father happened to call today and I brought up getting you a new bike. He’s sending a check tomorrow. I’ll give you one when it gets here to go with it.” She smiled. “I think you’ll like how much. But you’ll just have to wait until your Father’s check gets here.”
“That’s great, Mom! Thanks. But that wasn’t what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh?” she asked, intent on preparing the chicken.
“Well, Keith’s family is going…” Joshua almost slipped up and said ‘shooting’, but quickly said, “On a picnic Saturday. Keith asked if I wanted to come along.”
Shelley grinned over at her son. “Keith’s sisters going to be there? You know they both have a crush on you.”
“Aw, Mom!”
“Come on now, Joshua. You might as well admit it. Because they do, you’re going to have to be careful not to hurt either one’s feelings.”
“You mean I can go?”
“Yes. I have some things to do this Saturday, so I don’t need your help around the house. Are you caught up on lawns?”
“Yes ma’am. Or I will be. Mrs. Hutchenson doesn’t want me to mow hers again until Thursday. That will be the cycle until it starts over next Monday.”
“Very good then. Your homework done?”
“Of course,” Joshua replied. He always did his homework as soon as he got home.
“That’s a good boy. You can start the potatoes and then set the table.”
Joshua didn’t mind at all. He was going shooting Saturday. And Sandy was going to be there. Jessie was only twelve, but Sandy was the same age as Joshua. If she really had a crush on him… Wow. “Boy. I sure hope I do okay shooting,” he mused. “I’d hate to embarrass myself in front of Sandy.” But what to do about Jessie… He’d ask Keith the next day what he recommended.
It turned out it was pretty simple. In theory, at least. “Jessie’s got a new hunk in her sights, Sport,” Keith told Joshua with a laugh. “But you’d better watch out for Sandy. I think she may actually have her sights set on you.”
Keith laughed when Joshua blushed. “Yeah. I don’t get it either. But you know how girls are.”
“I wish!” Joshua muttered and Keith laughed again.
But come Saturday, things worked out just fine. Joshua wasn’t the only person to have been invited to go shooting at the range. It was one of Mr. Rodenour’s business associates. A young one. Very good looking. Just back from a tour in the Sandbox. Even Sandy was giving him doe eyed looks from time to time, though she spent most of her time close to Joshua.
He had a blast shooting the light carbine, after a lengthy gun safety class with Mr. Rodenour. He did as well as Sandy, which was all he cared about. After the shooting, the family plus two went to the park for the picnic. It was a fun day and Joshua was in a good mood when he got home.
His mother noticed and grinned at him. “It went all right, then?”
“Yes. No trouble with the Rodenour sisters. Jessie has a new hero.”
“Oh. I see. So that left it wide open for Sandy.”
“Aw, Mom!”
Shelley laughed. “You go on to your room and get showered and changed. We’re going out to eat tonight. I don’t feel like cooking.”
It was automatic with Joshua now. “You want me to fix something?”
“That’s sweet of you, Joshua. But I didn’t stop to get anything. We’ll just go out.”
Joshua nodded. It was just one more example of not having a pantry.
It was several days later that Joshua found the FEDEX note on the door that they’d tried to deliver a package, but no one had been at home. Joshua did his homework in record time and then waited anxiously for his mother to get home.
He helped her put away the groceries and then she took him to the FEDEX depot to get the bike. They stopped at the bike shop and Joshua got the helmet and cable lock, along with a tool kit that he wanted.
While Shelley made supper, Joshua set up the folding bike and took it for a test ride to get everything adjusted to fit him. He was grinning when he went back into the house.
“What you were expecting?” his mother asked him.
“Sure is, Mom. It’s great.”
“The check from your Father should be in tomorrow. I’ll take you down to the bank after school and you can deposit it and mine.”
“Sounds good, Mom. Thanks.” Joshua didn’t ask how much the checks would be. It didn’t matter too much. He had the bike and was going to order the Cabela’s game cart no matter what he got from his parents. It was getting close to the end of school and Keith didn’t have access to a welder to convert the cart to a trailer, except at school.
He ordered it that evening, with a Saturday delivery date. It came in that Saturday while his mother was out, and Joshua had it put together before she returned. It, like the bike, was just as advertised. Once he had the hitch made, he’d have the means to move a great deal of equipment and supplies if the need ever arose.
“What do you think, Keith?” Joshua asked. He’d ridden over to Keith’s house, pulling the cart along with one hand Sunday after church.
“Think you have a winner,” Keith said, looking over the bike and cart. He got a tape measure from the garage and made some measurements. “I’ll draw it up on the computer tonight and get started on it Monday. Timing is perfect. We get to do one last project of our choice before school is out.”
“Thanks, Keith. You’re a good friend.”
“Yeah. For a Freshman, you aren’t too bad, either. Hey. There’s Sandy. She made some cookies today after church. Pretty good. Come on in.”
After some cookies and milk, Joshua went home on the bike, leaving the cart behind. He would ride the bike to school the next day and Keith’s father would take Keith and the folded up cart in to the shop building.
Keith was as good as his word. He had the drawing ready and showed it and the bike and cart to the shop teacher, who checked some dimensions and then gave the go ahead for Keith to do the work.
Not particularly fast, since he was still learning and wanted to do a good job, Keith took the full week to make the adapter to turn the cart into a bike trailer and the hitch to connect it to the bike. When not connected to the bike, the trailer tongue part folded under so as not to interfere with pulling the cart manually. He got an A+ on the project and a big thank you from Keith.
“Will you bring it over to the house?” Keith asked on Friday when the two went to the shop building so Joshua could pick up the bike and cart. “I’d like my dad to see the work, and see the combination. I think we might want to go with something the same or similar. Right now, if we can’t use the truck, we’d be on foot. Sandy and Jessie have bikes but they’ve both grown out of them. And you know what happened to mine.”
Joshua managed not to laugh at his friend. Keith had run over his bike the very first time his dad gave him a driving lesson. Joshua thought Keith had a pretty good reason. Even his dad admitted that the clutch on their truck was very stiff and a bit hard to control.
Keith’s dad looked the rig over without saying much until the end. “Good job, Son, he told Keith. “You do good work. You’ve got a fine rig there, Joshua. Take care of it and it will take care of you.”
“Thanks Mr. Rodenour. It’s going to be my bug out vehicle if we can’t take the car for some reason.”
“Good thinking. You’ll be a fully fledged prepper one of these days.”
“Yes, Sir. I’m planning on it. Keith is a lot of help there. And thank you again for letting me go shooting with you.”
“No problem. Excuse us, Joshua. Keith and I have some work to do before supper.”
“Sure,” Joshua said. “I need to get home, anyway. My mother will be there soon and she worries if I’m not there.”
Joshua almost winced, wishing he hadn’t said what he did. It did make him sound like a Momma’s boy. But neither Keith nor his father said anything. They just waved as he rode off on the bicycle.
He had the bike and trailer disconnected and folded up, stored out of the way, when his mother pulled the car into the garage.
“Where’s your bike?” Shelley asked.
“In the garden shed,” Joshua said. “I didn’t want to take up too much room in the garage.”
“That’s sweet of you, Joshua! Always thinking about others. You are such a good boy. I hope what we gave you for the bike was enough.”
“Enough,” Joshua said. “And enough to pay for the helmet, lock, and tools, too. Thanks, Mom.” Joshua didn’t admit that he needed the room for the cart.
“I’ll tell your father you were pleased. Help me with the groceries and I’ll get supper started.”
With school now out and summer well on the way, Joshua’s mowing business kicked into high gear. He discovered an unanticipated use for the bicycle and cart. Normally he just pushed the lawnmower, with the other yard tools strapped on it, from yard to yard with one hand while carrying a fuel can in his other. It wasn’t too bad as most of the yards he did were close to his house.
But with a bit of lumber and some woodwork, over at Keith’s and with his help, Joshua was able to set the cart up so he could load the mower, along with a fuel container and his other yard service tools. It made it a great deal easier, and he was able to expand his mowing route further out, since it was so much easier to get to those locations.
When Shelley first saw the cart with Joshua’s mowing equipment on she asked about it and Joshua explained that he’d ordered it at the same time. And since it was going to be used for his lawn mowing business he bought it using those funds. “I don’t think it’s right for me to expect you to pay for something that is making me money.”
“I see. You’re becoming quite the entrepreneur! That’s very adult of you to think of things like that.”
Joshua wasn’t sure his mother quite liked the fact that he was growing up to be a man on his own.
While they were making the platform for the mower, Keith and Joshua made a lightweight wooden cargo box for the cart so it would be easy to load with bug-out supplies if the time ever came they would be needed. It even included a stand so it could be stored loaded and the cart backed under it, where upon it would be lowered and fastened securely to the cart frame.
Joshua set it up in the garden shed where he kept his yard tools, the cart, and the bike. Now he just needed to fill it. It would be a slow process.
He managed to get quite a few pieces of equipment and many supplies over the summer. His newly expanded grass mowing route was paying well, despite the economy. The city required lawns to be maintained and many people simply couldn’t do it themselves.
The drawback was the fact that he had very little time for anything else except watching the news, studying on the internet about prepping, and searching for the best deals on equipment and supplies. Some he picked up locally, others he ordered on-line.
He even had to turn down a chance to try out some of the new gear on a camping trip that Keith invited him to go on with his family. The camping gear items were some of his first purchases. He wanted the ability to have a decent camp not only for camping, but in case the house was damaged in a big earthquake, which was highly possible. It wasn’t built to any type of earthquake building code having been built before the dangers of the New Madrid Seismic Zone became well known.
Three days before his fifteenth birthday his preparations became known to his mother. Shelley was just coming into the house, with Joshua carrying the grocery bag for her when the house began to shake.
Joshua tossed the bag of groceries to the counter and grabbed his mother. “Down, Mom! Get down! Here by the counter!”
Shelley let out a scream when the kitchen window broke, and the house shifted on the foundation. But Joshua managed to get her into a crouch and finally, all in the space of seconds, into a fetal position with her hands protecting her head. Joshua took up the same position, hoping the counter would support the ceiling if it collapsed.
The shaking seemed to last forever, and the house made many strange noises as the ground undulated under it. The total time was only fifty-three seconds, but it felt like hours. The shaking finally stopped and Joshua helped his mother to her feet.
“Outside, Mom! Careful! There’s glass all over.”
Shelley, without a clue as what to do followed Joshua as he checked the garage door into the kitchen. It hadn’t swung shut when they’d entered and the shaking had locked it into the open position when the walls warped.
“This way,” Joshua said, pulling the small flashlight he always carried from his pocket and turning it on to see in the darkness of the closed up garage. There was water spraying from the pipes to the hot water heater that had been thrown off its stand in the garage.
The back door of the garage was stuck and Joshua had to kick it several times to get it open enough for them to slip through.
“What do we do, Joshua?” Shelley asked. “Oh. FEMA will be here soon. Don’t worry, Joshua, between FEMA and Red Cross, we’ll be okay.”
“Yeah. Sure, Mom,” Joshua replied. He was thinking fast and hard. “But until they get here, there are some things we need to do.”
“What? No. We wait,” Shelley insisted.
“We can’t wait! Look!” Joshua pointed a house down the street. It was burning. “I’ve got to turn the gas and water off. Stay here.”
Shelley watched in surprise as Joshua ran to the garden shed. She saw him yank on the door and heave it open. The small building had warped out of plumb almost as badly as the house.
Joshua came running back, carrying a couple of metal items. He ran to the gas meter and quickly had it shut off. Then he ran to the alley and opened the cover for the water meter. Kneeling down, he shut the water feed off.
The electrical meter was on the outside wall of the garage and when Joshua went over to it his mother objected. “What are you going to do, Joshua? Don’t mess with the electricity! You could get killed!”
“Mom, I’m pulling the meter to cut off the power to the house. There could be shorts in the circuits and with the water that’s leaked from broken pipes it could be too dangerous to go back into the house and cut it off at the breaker panel.”
“You are not going back into the house until help gets here!” Shelley, Joshua saw, was bordering on hysterical. “Okay, Mom. I’ll wait a bit before I go inside. But I have to pull this meter for safety sake. I don’t know how much gas might have leaked and a spark from an electrical short could set it off.”
Shelley stood silently, arms across her chest. At least she wasn’t too cold. She and Joshua both still had on their jackets they’d been wearing when they got home from the store. Joshua broke the seal on the electrical meter and used his Swiss Army Knife screwdriver blade to open the sealing band. When it was free he gripped the meter carefully and gave it a sharp pull. Joshua almost fell backwards when the meter suddenly came free, but he caught himself before he did.
Setting the meter down, Joshua went back to the shed. Afraid it might come down with an aftershock, which was almost certain to occur, he quickly emptied the shed of all of his accumulated preps.
Shelley walked over. “What is all this?”
“My preps. I’m a fledgling prepper.”
“What do you mean? Prepper?”
“I prepare for disasters, natural and human caused.”
“You’re a survivalist?” Shelley sounded stunned.
“No, Mom. Not like the media portrays them. I believe in the power of the vote and want the government to continue. I just want to survive whatever might happen. Like this earthquake. I have the equipment and supplies to make it easier to get by until the help gets here. If it does.”
“Of course it will!” Shelley said. “Don’t say things like that. There will be someone here soon.”
Joshua wanted to go back into the house and get some more things out, but the fire down the street took priority. “Mom, I’m going to go see if I can help at the house on fire.”
“No, Joshua! Please? Stay here with me?”
“Mom, I have to try to help. You’ll be okay. Just stay away from the house.” Joshua carried over one of the totes containing his supplies. “Here. Sit down and keep an eye on things. If you see any signs of smoke or fire in the house you come get me.”
Shelley was glad she was sitting down as Joshua started to turn toward the street and the ground again began to shake. But this one lasted only a few seconds and as soon as it stopped Joshua took off at a run down the street.
He didn’t stay long at the house. There was simply nothing he could do. There were half a dozen people standing around, watching the fire. The people on either side of the burning house had hoses connected, but even as he watched, the streams they were spraying on their houses to keep them from catching fire slowly slowed until they were just a trickle.
None of the people standing around were the occupants of the house. Apparently no one was home when the first quake occurred. Joshua hurried back to check on his mother. She was using her cell phone. Or trying too. Joshua saw the look on her face and knew she wasn’t getting through.
“I’m trying to call 911. It rang twice and then I lost all my bars of signal. Why isn’t the fire department at the fire? It’s been almost twenty minutes. They never take this long.”
“Mom, listen to me,” Joshua said, going to one knee so he could look at her face to face. “This is probably happening all over the area. There are more fires than the department could ever hope to fight, even if they can travel very far from their stations, which I doubt. Look down the street. See how the pavement buckled? That’s just a little one. There could be much bigger ones around. People are not going to be able to travel very far, if at all, in vehicles.”
Shelley’s face had slowly turned white. “But FEMA… Red Cross… What about them? What do we do?”
“It’s okay, Mom,” Joshua assured his mother, putting one hand comfortably onto her shoulder. “I have what we need to get by for some time. Right now I’m going into the house to bring out more things that can help in that.”
“But you said there would be other earthquakes! We’ve already had two.”
“I know, Mom. But I’ll be careful. I want to do it before there are any more shakes.”
“But Joshua,” Shelley pleaded.
“I’ll be careful, Mom. You sit here and wait for me. Is there anything you want from the house? Anything I can grab and carry easily? This may be the only chance I have.”
Shelley looked startled. “But…”
Joshua just looked at her.
“My jewelry! The picture albums! Oh, Joshua! There is so much!”
“I’ll get everything I can, Mom. You keep thinking what you just have to have, in case the house catches fire or collapses completely.”
Shelley’s lower lip was trembling as she watched her son go back toward the house. She couldn’t bear to watch, in case the house did fall on him.
Knowing the risk he was taking, Joshua moved quickly but carefully. Out of respect for his mother, he went into his mother’s bedroom and scooped up her jewelry box from the dresser top. He hesitated but then opened the drawers and took out several sets of underwear, and then went to the closet and got what sturdy clothing she had. A quick trip through the living room and he added the three big family photo albums to the pile he was barely able to handle.
He simply dumped everything on the ground beside his mother and ran to get one of the still empty totes he’d bought on sale to fill later. “Here, Mom. You can put your stuff in here.”
Shelley was staring at the pile of clothing. “I didn’t think of clothing…”
“I know, Mom. I know. It’s scary. Is there anything else you really want?”
Shelley suddenly looked up at her son. “Oh, Joshua! What will we eat? Water? What if I have to go to the bathroom?”
“Got it covered, Mom. Now don’t worry. I’m going to make another trip through the house.” This time Shelley watched Joshua head for the house, seeing him in an entirely different light than she had perceived him before this crisis.
Joshua actually made five more trips, and was headed toward the house again when another aftershock hit. This one was even worse than the first quake. Joshua went to his knees and watched the house collapse some more. He looked around him.
He could actually see the ground undulating in waves. Suddenly, almost directly across from their house a huge sand blow erupted, spraying sand and water high into the air. Three people were nearby and before Joshua or anyone else could do anything they were buried alive.
Joshua tried to rise to go help, but he couldn’t get up and the sand blow continued, with the occasional massive tree trunk being ejected along with the sand. When the eruption finally ceased, the mound of sand was over the roof of the house across from theirs, and encroached on the edge of their yard.
Joshua got up when the shaking stopped and made a move toward the huge mound of sand. But there was nothing he could do. “Those poor people!” Shelley said.
Joshua looked around. His mother was crying. “That was Gwendolyn, Vance, and Bree! I can’t believe they are gone.”
“It could have been us,” Joshua said softly as he looked at the pile of sand, the water from it running down the street and into storm drain. At least at first. In moments the water just pooled over the drain opening in the curb. The drains were filled, or more likely broken. That meant the sewer system was, too.
But Joshua was ready a couple of minutes later when Shelley touched his arm, and looking even more distressed, told him, “Joshua. I need to go to the bathroom…”
“Okay, Mom. Just give me a couple of minutes.” Joshua hurried to the gear he’d retrieved from the now heavily leaning garden shed. Pulling one large bag free of the pile he quickly erected a privacy shelter and set the chemical toilet inside, along with a roll of tissue.
“Okay, Mom,” Joshua called. He was getting a bottle of water and a tube of camper’s soap when Shelley hurried over.”
“Oh, Joshua! I don’t know…”
“Mom, it’s this or do it out in the open in a pit.”
Shelley finally nodded and stepped inside the enclosure and zipped the door closed. Joshua moved away, leaving the water, soap, and a camper’s towel where his mother could find it when she came out.
It was already beginning to get dark. Joshua began to set up the tent he took from the cargo box that was now mounted on the cart. His mother came over and looked inside. Joshua was setting up two sleep mats and sleeping bags. A windup LED flashlight was hanging from a fabric loop in the top of the tent, providing light.
“When did you get all this, Joshua?” Shelley asked as she looked at the gear in the cart and on the ground.
“The last few months, Mom,” Joshua replied. “I’ve been getting ready in case something like this happened.”
“I had no idea. All with your own money, too.”
Joshua nodded. Shelley moved back as Joshua exited the tent. “I don’t want to start a fire to cook with now. I’ve got some ration bars and other things we can eat unheated.”
Shelley watched, rather in awe, as Joshua went to one of the totes and came back with several items in his hands. He handed her a vacuum zip-lock bag of jerky, one of gorp, and what looked like a candy bar.
“The jerky is for protein,” Joshua said. The gorp for protein, fats, and sugar. And the Millennium Bars are to fill in the general nutritional needs plus some additional calories.”
Shelley watched as Joshua began to chew on a piece of jerky he took from the bag in her hand. She slowly followed suit. A look of distaste crossed her face in the darkness, but it faded as she chewed the jerky. She was hungrier than she’d thought.
Joshua sat down on another tote and handed Shelley a water bottle. She took a long drink, and then another, before going back to the jerky.
“Thank you, Joshua,” she said softly. “I don’t think I would have made it this far without your help.”
“It’s okay, Mom. I set this up for the two of us, for just such a situation.”
Another aftershock, a light one, completed the destruction of the house and the garden shed. The other shocks, as they came, just bounced the remains into a slightly more compact pile. Just before full dark, Joshua gathered up everything and put it away into the extra totes, which he stacked near the side of the tent away from the street. Better that people not know what he had available.
Though the temperature dropped significantly, Shelley and Joshua both slept warmly in the sleeping bags that had been one of Joshua’s more costly purchases. The tent had been a tough decision, but he decided that night he’d made the right one in getting the three person, four season tent.
Both woke several times during the night as the ground moved under them. But finally, emotionally drained and tired from the interruptions in their sleep, both fell into deep sleep that even the additional small temblors didn’t disturb.
Joshua came awake quickly in the early dawn light of the morning. Something had wakened him. Moving quickly he got out of the sleeping bag and unzipped the tent front door. There were two people by the tent, in the process of opening one of the totes.
“Hey! What are you doing?” he said, fists clenched, ready to do battle to protect the supplies.
“Just checking what you got here, Sonny. Don’t get steamed. We in a pickle here and have to share and share alike.”
“Oh, yeah? What do you have to share with us?”
“Joshua?” Shelley asked, her head in the tent door. “Abraham? What are you doing here?” She asked when she got a look at one of the men.”
“Nothing, Shelley. Nothing. Just out looking for some water. Thought you might have some to share.”
“Joshua?” Shelley asked again.
“I do have some,” he replied, stressing the ‘some’ firmly. “Wait here and I’ll get you a couple of bottles.”
Still in his boxer briefs, goose bumps rising on his skin in the chill air, went over near the downed shed and shifted a couple of things around, his back to the tent and the men. He retrieved four bottles of water he had stashed and returned to the men. He gave each one a bottle.
“The other two?” asked Abraham.
“One for me and one for Mother,” Joshua said evenly.
“You might want to watch about being on that high horse of yours, boy,” said the other man.
“Please leave, Abraham,” Shelley said. She was still kneeling in the door of the tent.
“Okay. But you think about what could happen after an event like this.”
“Hey!” Joshua said, his hands clenched again. Abraham’s words had sounded like a threat against his mother to him.
“Watch your Ps & Qs with me, boy,” growled the second man.
“Come on, Breverton,” Abraham said, walking away toward the street as the sun peaked over the horizon.
Copyright 2010
Joshua Livingsdale was only fourteen. He was tired of hearing it. Things would be so much better when he turned fifteen. And eventually eighteen. That’s when he would join one of the military services. Probably the Army. US Army Combat Engineers, to be precise. His grandfather and father had both served in the Combat Engineers when they were in service and had long careers in civil engineering afterwards. It sounded like a good plan to him.
But his mother didn’t want him to. She just wanted him to stay home and be a momma’s boy. Oh, he didn’t mind helping around the house. It was good experience for when he was on his own. But she wanted him to stay home all the time. She was terrified he would be shot by a gang member.
Yeah, there were some gangs around, but he knew their haunts and stayed well away from them. Didn’t give any of the members any reason to target him specifically. If there was a random shooting, yes, he was at risk. But so was everyone else in school.
He wanted to go out and do things. Have some fun, but that wasn’t the main reason. He wanted to learn things. How to survive in the wilderness. And how to survive the bad times that the people on the prep and survival forums he read every day said were coming.
Since he was twelve he’d been interested in survival and had begun saving money for gear and supplies. Joshua was saving all the money he got for birthdays and Christmases from his maternal grandparents, aunts and uncles, and from the one thing his mother encouraged, his grass mowing business. Plus he got a generous allowance from his absent father. Joshua had never met him, but he did pay Joshua’s mother more child support than he had to, plus gave money as birthday and Christmas presents, in addition to the allowance.
He had quite a bit of money saved up, but he wasn’t going to spend any until he was sure just what he wanted. Where he and his mom lived was a nice neighborhood, but it was part of the city and the city was going downhill fast, in Joshua’s opinion.
It wasn’t just the gangs. City services were already getting cut because of the economy. And if there was a disaster, power, water, sewer, and probably cell phone service would probably go out. Joshua had checked it out. If the power went, water and sewer would too, as the system was dependent on electrical pumps. The cell towers had battery backups, but were overloaded sometimes on normal days and would probably not be useable in a crisis.
And that was just normal emergencies like storms. If one of the mega disasters, like those the Weather Channel and History Channel showed were possible, things would be hundreds of times worse. Particularly the one that could really be big trouble where Joshua lived. He lived within the New Madrid Seismic Zone.
Sure that his mother wouldn’t approve of many of the things he wanted to get, Joshua decided to start slow, with some things that didn’t scream out survivalist. Something that would have dual purpose.
He’d pretty much outgrown his old bicycle, and had been hinting around for another. Sure he had the money to buy one himself, but if he could get his mother or father to help pay for one, so much the better.
“Mom,” Joshua said, “What do you and Father think about me getting a new bike?” It was Saturday and Joshua had just returned from mowing five large yards in the development that day.
“You’ve really been working hard, haven’t you?” Shelley asked her son. “Let me talk to your father and see what we can do. You deserve a new bike.” She smiled. “One of those fancy mountain bikes, I bet.”
“Well,” Joshua said slowly, surprised that his mother had brought it up. “Yes. I do kind of have my eye on one particular bike. And it is a mountain bike. Can’t get it locally. Have to order it on the Internet.”
“Your father is out of the country at the moment. As soon as he is back, I’ll talk to him. You go ahead and order the bike you want. Here’s my credit card.” Shelley was digging in her purse for the card.
“That’s okay, Mom,” Joshua hurriedly said. “I’ll just put it on my debit card and put the money in the bank when you and Father give it to me.”
“Oh! You sure you want to do that? Do you have enough? I know the good mountain bikes must be expensive. Oh. Be sure to get a new helmet, too. I noticed you couldn’t wear your old one the last time you rode.”
“I’m okay for the money. And I’ll get a new helmet. Thanks, Mom.” Joshua gave his mother a big hug, feeling a little guilty at not telling her the full story. But he kept silent and went to his bedroom to get on the computer and order the bike. The helmet he would pick up at a local bike shop.
The bike he ordered was a Montague Paratrooper Folding bike. Not the most expensive bike, but one of the toughest, and that was what Joshua wanted. While he was on the Internet he checked again on the trailer he wanted to get for it.
Actually, it wasn’t a trailer. It was a game cart he wanted to convert so it could be used as a trailer for the bike while still maintaining the original capability. Depending on just how much money his parents were willing to give him on the purchase of the bike, he’d order it, or wait a while.
Joshua shut down the computer and leaned back in the chair. He wondered for a moment what his friend Keith Rodenour would think of the bike. Keith was sixteen, but he and Joshua had been friends since both had been volunteered by their mothers to model tuxedos in a fund raiser for the civic center.
Neither had particularly been looking forward to it, but upon seeing how the girls reacted to Keith, fourteen at the time, Joshua decided it wasn’t so bad. Keith finally admitted to Joshua that it had been fun. Keith’s family was already into prepping, though it was some time before he admitted it to Joshua. His family preferred it be kept a secret.
But it wasn’t long before their conversations went from sports to camping out, and then to discussions of the Mega-Disasters shows on television. When Joshua said he was worried about the New Madrid Seismic Zone, Keith told him that his family was prepared for it.
Now that they both went to the same school system, they were able to pal around more than the occasional meetings at the civic center when their mothers were involved in something. Keith was two years ahead of Joshua, but it didn’t seem to bother the Junior to let a Freshman hang out with him. Neither one had many friends, and none of the ones they did have had any interest in prepping.
Joshua had talked to Keith about getting a bike and the game cart. Keith said he could help with adding a hitch arm to the cart so it could be connected to the bike with a suitable hitch, since he was taking metal shop that year.
On Monday, the two boys met in the gym to shoot hoops with a bunch of other guys, as they often did before the first bell rang. “Got the bike ordered, Keith,” Joshua told his friend as he threw him the basketball. Keith took a shot before he answered.
“The good one? The Paratrooper?”
Joshua was grinning. He caught the ball that one of the others tossed to him and took a shot. He wasn’t nearly as good as Keith, but he managed to sink one now and again. “Yep. And my parents are paying for at least part of it. Don’t know how much yet. If it’s enough, I’ll get the Super Mag game cart with dual wheels from Cabela’s.
“Sweet! You still want me to rig a hitch?”
The two both took shots before Joshua answered. “Absolutely. I wish the teacher would let me in to help.”
“It’s okay. I’ll get one of the guys to help if I need it. Bunch of them owe me. I’ve been helping almost everyone in class with their projects. I almost always get mine done first and have time to help them. And boy, do some of them need it.” Keith made a jump shot that swished through the net just as the bell rang.
Racking the basketballs in the cart the two joined the others headed for classes. But they met up again at lunch. Careful to never discuss preps where someone might hear them, the two talked about school work. It wasn’t until after school, as they walked toward the spot they had to take different directions, that Keith asked Joshua if he wanted to go to the range the coming Saturday. “My Dad bought a couple of M1 .30 Carbines for Jessie and Sandy. Going to try them out.”
“Wow! That would be cool. You sure your parents don’t mind? I know the ammo can be expensive.”
“It’s okay. He bought a bunch just for practice. I already asked him if I could ask you. He’s always looking to get someone new into the shooting sports. Oh. My mother is going to bring a picnic lunch, so you don’t have to worry about food.”
“Then I’m in. I’ll figure out something to keep my mother happy.”
“Okay. Good. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Keith turned up his street and Joshua continued until he came to the street on which he lived with his mother.
She was still at work, as usual, and Joshua made himself a snack and started in on his homework. The sooner it was done, the sooner he could get on the forums and see if anyone had posted any fiction or good information posts.
When he heard the kitchen door open and close he hurried to help his mother bring in the groceries she bought nearly every day. One of the things that Joshua wanted to change was the way they stocked food in the house.
They basically didn’t now, except for sometimes getting enough for a weekend during bad weather so she didn’t have to drive in it. Joshua wanted a full pantry. But his encouragement of buying in bulk was still falling on deaf ears. His mother just didn’t see the need. The market was between work and home and it was easy for her to pick something fresh up every day.
“Chicken sound okay for supper, Joshua?”
“Sure, Mom. Sounds great.” He went out to the car and brought in the two plastic grocery bags. “Can I talk to you a minute?”
“Sure, Honey. Oh. Did you get the bike ordered? Your Father happened to call today and I brought up getting you a new bike. He’s sending a check tomorrow. I’ll give you one when it gets here to go with it.” She smiled. “I think you’ll like how much. But you’ll just have to wait until your Father’s check gets here.”
“That’s great, Mom! Thanks. But that wasn’t what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh?” she asked, intent on preparing the chicken.
“Well, Keith’s family is going…” Joshua almost slipped up and said ‘shooting’, but quickly said, “On a picnic Saturday. Keith asked if I wanted to come along.”
Shelley grinned over at her son. “Keith’s sisters going to be there? You know they both have a crush on you.”
“Aw, Mom!”
“Come on now, Joshua. You might as well admit it. Because they do, you’re going to have to be careful not to hurt either one’s feelings.”
“You mean I can go?”
“Yes. I have some things to do this Saturday, so I don’t need your help around the house. Are you caught up on lawns?”
“Yes ma’am. Or I will be. Mrs. Hutchenson doesn’t want me to mow hers again until Thursday. That will be the cycle until it starts over next Monday.”
“Very good then. Your homework done?”
“Of course,” Joshua replied. He always did his homework as soon as he got home.
“That’s a good boy. You can start the potatoes and then set the table.”
Joshua didn’t mind at all. He was going shooting Saturday. And Sandy was going to be there. Jessie was only twelve, but Sandy was the same age as Joshua. If she really had a crush on him… Wow. “Boy. I sure hope I do okay shooting,” he mused. “I’d hate to embarrass myself in front of Sandy.” But what to do about Jessie… He’d ask Keith the next day what he recommended.
It turned out it was pretty simple. In theory, at least. “Jessie’s got a new hunk in her sights, Sport,” Keith told Joshua with a laugh. “But you’d better watch out for Sandy. I think she may actually have her sights set on you.”
Keith laughed when Joshua blushed. “Yeah. I don’t get it either. But you know how girls are.”
“I wish!” Joshua muttered and Keith laughed again.
But come Saturday, things worked out just fine. Joshua wasn’t the only person to have been invited to go shooting at the range. It was one of Mr. Rodenour’s business associates. A young one. Very good looking. Just back from a tour in the Sandbox. Even Sandy was giving him doe eyed looks from time to time, though she spent most of her time close to Joshua.
He had a blast shooting the light carbine, after a lengthy gun safety class with Mr. Rodenour. He did as well as Sandy, which was all he cared about. After the shooting, the family plus two went to the park for the picnic. It was a fun day and Joshua was in a good mood when he got home.
His mother noticed and grinned at him. “It went all right, then?”
“Yes. No trouble with the Rodenour sisters. Jessie has a new hero.”
“Oh. I see. So that left it wide open for Sandy.”
“Aw, Mom!”
Shelley laughed. “You go on to your room and get showered and changed. We’re going out to eat tonight. I don’t feel like cooking.”
It was automatic with Joshua now. “You want me to fix something?”
“That’s sweet of you, Joshua. But I didn’t stop to get anything. We’ll just go out.”
Joshua nodded. It was just one more example of not having a pantry.
It was several days later that Joshua found the FEDEX note on the door that they’d tried to deliver a package, but no one had been at home. Joshua did his homework in record time and then waited anxiously for his mother to get home.
He helped her put away the groceries and then she took him to the FEDEX depot to get the bike. They stopped at the bike shop and Joshua got the helmet and cable lock, along with a tool kit that he wanted.
While Shelley made supper, Joshua set up the folding bike and took it for a test ride to get everything adjusted to fit him. He was grinning when he went back into the house.
“What you were expecting?” his mother asked him.
“Sure is, Mom. It’s great.”
“The check from your Father should be in tomorrow. I’ll take you down to the bank after school and you can deposit it and mine.”
“Sounds good, Mom. Thanks.” Joshua didn’t ask how much the checks would be. It didn’t matter too much. He had the bike and was going to order the Cabela’s game cart no matter what he got from his parents. It was getting close to the end of school and Keith didn’t have access to a welder to convert the cart to a trailer, except at school.
He ordered it that evening, with a Saturday delivery date. It came in that Saturday while his mother was out, and Joshua had it put together before she returned. It, like the bike, was just as advertised. Once he had the hitch made, he’d have the means to move a great deal of equipment and supplies if the need ever arose.
“What do you think, Keith?” Joshua asked. He’d ridden over to Keith’s house, pulling the cart along with one hand Sunday after church.
“Think you have a winner,” Keith said, looking over the bike and cart. He got a tape measure from the garage and made some measurements. “I’ll draw it up on the computer tonight and get started on it Monday. Timing is perfect. We get to do one last project of our choice before school is out.”
“Thanks, Keith. You’re a good friend.”
“Yeah. For a Freshman, you aren’t too bad, either. Hey. There’s Sandy. She made some cookies today after church. Pretty good. Come on in.”
After some cookies and milk, Joshua went home on the bike, leaving the cart behind. He would ride the bike to school the next day and Keith’s father would take Keith and the folded up cart in to the shop building.
Keith was as good as his word. He had the drawing ready and showed it and the bike and cart to the shop teacher, who checked some dimensions and then gave the go ahead for Keith to do the work.
Not particularly fast, since he was still learning and wanted to do a good job, Keith took the full week to make the adapter to turn the cart into a bike trailer and the hitch to connect it to the bike. When not connected to the bike, the trailer tongue part folded under so as not to interfere with pulling the cart manually. He got an A+ on the project and a big thank you from Keith.
“Will you bring it over to the house?” Keith asked on Friday when the two went to the shop building so Joshua could pick up the bike and cart. “I’d like my dad to see the work, and see the combination. I think we might want to go with something the same or similar. Right now, if we can’t use the truck, we’d be on foot. Sandy and Jessie have bikes but they’ve both grown out of them. And you know what happened to mine.”
Joshua managed not to laugh at his friend. Keith had run over his bike the very first time his dad gave him a driving lesson. Joshua thought Keith had a pretty good reason. Even his dad admitted that the clutch on their truck was very stiff and a bit hard to control.
Keith’s dad looked the rig over without saying much until the end. “Good job, Son, he told Keith. “You do good work. You’ve got a fine rig there, Joshua. Take care of it and it will take care of you.”
“Thanks Mr. Rodenour. It’s going to be my bug out vehicle if we can’t take the car for some reason.”
“Good thinking. You’ll be a fully fledged prepper one of these days.”
“Yes, Sir. I’m planning on it. Keith is a lot of help there. And thank you again for letting me go shooting with you.”
“No problem. Excuse us, Joshua. Keith and I have some work to do before supper.”
“Sure,” Joshua said. “I need to get home, anyway. My mother will be there soon and she worries if I’m not there.”
Joshua almost winced, wishing he hadn’t said what he did. It did make him sound like a Momma’s boy. But neither Keith nor his father said anything. They just waved as he rode off on the bicycle.
He had the bike and trailer disconnected and folded up, stored out of the way, when his mother pulled the car into the garage.
“Where’s your bike?” Shelley asked.
“In the garden shed,” Joshua said. “I didn’t want to take up too much room in the garage.”
“That’s sweet of you, Joshua! Always thinking about others. You are such a good boy. I hope what we gave you for the bike was enough.”
“Enough,” Joshua said. “And enough to pay for the helmet, lock, and tools, too. Thanks, Mom.” Joshua didn’t admit that he needed the room for the cart.
“I’ll tell your father you were pleased. Help me with the groceries and I’ll get supper started.”
With school now out and summer well on the way, Joshua’s mowing business kicked into high gear. He discovered an unanticipated use for the bicycle and cart. Normally he just pushed the lawnmower, with the other yard tools strapped on it, from yard to yard with one hand while carrying a fuel can in his other. It wasn’t too bad as most of the yards he did were close to his house.
But with a bit of lumber and some woodwork, over at Keith’s and with his help, Joshua was able to set the cart up so he could load the mower, along with a fuel container and his other yard service tools. It made it a great deal easier, and he was able to expand his mowing route further out, since it was so much easier to get to those locations.
When Shelley first saw the cart with Joshua’s mowing equipment on she asked about it and Joshua explained that he’d ordered it at the same time. And since it was going to be used for his lawn mowing business he bought it using those funds. “I don’t think it’s right for me to expect you to pay for something that is making me money.”
“I see. You’re becoming quite the entrepreneur! That’s very adult of you to think of things like that.”
Joshua wasn’t sure his mother quite liked the fact that he was growing up to be a man on his own.
While they were making the platform for the mower, Keith and Joshua made a lightweight wooden cargo box for the cart so it would be easy to load with bug-out supplies if the time ever came they would be needed. It even included a stand so it could be stored loaded and the cart backed under it, where upon it would be lowered and fastened securely to the cart frame.
Joshua set it up in the garden shed where he kept his yard tools, the cart, and the bike. Now he just needed to fill it. It would be a slow process.
He managed to get quite a few pieces of equipment and many supplies over the summer. His newly expanded grass mowing route was paying well, despite the economy. The city required lawns to be maintained and many people simply couldn’t do it themselves.
The drawback was the fact that he had very little time for anything else except watching the news, studying on the internet about prepping, and searching for the best deals on equipment and supplies. Some he picked up locally, others he ordered on-line.
He even had to turn down a chance to try out some of the new gear on a camping trip that Keith invited him to go on with his family. The camping gear items were some of his first purchases. He wanted the ability to have a decent camp not only for camping, but in case the house was damaged in a big earthquake, which was highly possible. It wasn’t built to any type of earthquake building code having been built before the dangers of the New Madrid Seismic Zone became well known.
Three days before his fifteenth birthday his preparations became known to his mother. Shelley was just coming into the house, with Joshua carrying the grocery bag for her when the house began to shake.
Joshua tossed the bag of groceries to the counter and grabbed his mother. “Down, Mom! Get down! Here by the counter!”
Shelley let out a scream when the kitchen window broke, and the house shifted on the foundation. But Joshua managed to get her into a crouch and finally, all in the space of seconds, into a fetal position with her hands protecting her head. Joshua took up the same position, hoping the counter would support the ceiling if it collapsed.
The shaking seemed to last forever, and the house made many strange noises as the ground undulated under it. The total time was only fifty-three seconds, but it felt like hours. The shaking finally stopped and Joshua helped his mother to her feet.
“Outside, Mom! Careful! There’s glass all over.”
Shelley, without a clue as what to do followed Joshua as he checked the garage door into the kitchen. It hadn’t swung shut when they’d entered and the shaking had locked it into the open position when the walls warped.
“This way,” Joshua said, pulling the small flashlight he always carried from his pocket and turning it on to see in the darkness of the closed up garage. There was water spraying from the pipes to the hot water heater that had been thrown off its stand in the garage.
The back door of the garage was stuck and Joshua had to kick it several times to get it open enough for them to slip through.
“What do we do, Joshua?” Shelley asked. “Oh. FEMA will be here soon. Don’t worry, Joshua, between FEMA and Red Cross, we’ll be okay.”
“Yeah. Sure, Mom,” Joshua replied. He was thinking fast and hard. “But until they get here, there are some things we need to do.”
“What? No. We wait,” Shelley insisted.
“We can’t wait! Look!” Joshua pointed a house down the street. It was burning. “I’ve got to turn the gas and water off. Stay here.”
Shelley watched in surprise as Joshua ran to the garden shed. She saw him yank on the door and heave it open. The small building had warped out of plumb almost as badly as the house.
Joshua came running back, carrying a couple of metal items. He ran to the gas meter and quickly had it shut off. Then he ran to the alley and opened the cover for the water meter. Kneeling down, he shut the water feed off.
The electrical meter was on the outside wall of the garage and when Joshua went over to it his mother objected. “What are you going to do, Joshua? Don’t mess with the electricity! You could get killed!”
“Mom, I’m pulling the meter to cut off the power to the house. There could be shorts in the circuits and with the water that’s leaked from broken pipes it could be too dangerous to go back into the house and cut it off at the breaker panel.”
“You are not going back into the house until help gets here!” Shelley, Joshua saw, was bordering on hysterical. “Okay, Mom. I’ll wait a bit before I go inside. But I have to pull this meter for safety sake. I don’t know how much gas might have leaked and a spark from an electrical short could set it off.”
Shelley stood silently, arms across her chest. At least she wasn’t too cold. She and Joshua both still had on their jackets they’d been wearing when they got home from the store. Joshua broke the seal on the electrical meter and used his Swiss Army Knife screwdriver blade to open the sealing band. When it was free he gripped the meter carefully and gave it a sharp pull. Joshua almost fell backwards when the meter suddenly came free, but he caught himself before he did.
Setting the meter down, Joshua went back to the shed. Afraid it might come down with an aftershock, which was almost certain to occur, he quickly emptied the shed of all of his accumulated preps.
Shelley walked over. “What is all this?”
“My preps. I’m a fledgling prepper.”
“What do you mean? Prepper?”
“I prepare for disasters, natural and human caused.”
“You’re a survivalist?” Shelley sounded stunned.
“No, Mom. Not like the media portrays them. I believe in the power of the vote and want the government to continue. I just want to survive whatever might happen. Like this earthquake. I have the equipment and supplies to make it easier to get by until the help gets here. If it does.”
“Of course it will!” Shelley said. “Don’t say things like that. There will be someone here soon.”
Joshua wanted to go back into the house and get some more things out, but the fire down the street took priority. “Mom, I’m going to go see if I can help at the house on fire.”
“No, Joshua! Please? Stay here with me?”
“Mom, I have to try to help. You’ll be okay. Just stay away from the house.” Joshua carried over one of the totes containing his supplies. “Here. Sit down and keep an eye on things. If you see any signs of smoke or fire in the house you come get me.”
Shelley was glad she was sitting down as Joshua started to turn toward the street and the ground again began to shake. But this one lasted only a few seconds and as soon as it stopped Joshua took off at a run down the street.
He didn’t stay long at the house. There was simply nothing he could do. There were half a dozen people standing around, watching the fire. The people on either side of the burning house had hoses connected, but even as he watched, the streams they were spraying on their houses to keep them from catching fire slowly slowed until they were just a trickle.
None of the people standing around were the occupants of the house. Apparently no one was home when the first quake occurred. Joshua hurried back to check on his mother. She was using her cell phone. Or trying too. Joshua saw the look on her face and knew she wasn’t getting through.
“I’m trying to call 911. It rang twice and then I lost all my bars of signal. Why isn’t the fire department at the fire? It’s been almost twenty minutes. They never take this long.”
“Mom, listen to me,” Joshua said, going to one knee so he could look at her face to face. “This is probably happening all over the area. There are more fires than the department could ever hope to fight, even if they can travel very far from their stations, which I doubt. Look down the street. See how the pavement buckled? That’s just a little one. There could be much bigger ones around. People are not going to be able to travel very far, if at all, in vehicles.”
Shelley’s face had slowly turned white. “But FEMA… Red Cross… What about them? What do we do?”
“It’s okay, Mom,” Joshua assured his mother, putting one hand comfortably onto her shoulder. “I have what we need to get by for some time. Right now I’m going into the house to bring out more things that can help in that.”
“But you said there would be other earthquakes! We’ve already had two.”
“I know, Mom. But I’ll be careful. I want to do it before there are any more shakes.”
“But Joshua,” Shelley pleaded.
“I’ll be careful, Mom. You sit here and wait for me. Is there anything you want from the house? Anything I can grab and carry easily? This may be the only chance I have.”
Shelley looked startled. “But…”
Joshua just looked at her.
“My jewelry! The picture albums! Oh, Joshua! There is so much!”
“I’ll get everything I can, Mom. You keep thinking what you just have to have, in case the house catches fire or collapses completely.”
Shelley’s lower lip was trembling as she watched her son go back toward the house. She couldn’t bear to watch, in case the house did fall on him.
Knowing the risk he was taking, Joshua moved quickly but carefully. Out of respect for his mother, he went into his mother’s bedroom and scooped up her jewelry box from the dresser top. He hesitated but then opened the drawers and took out several sets of underwear, and then went to the closet and got what sturdy clothing she had. A quick trip through the living room and he added the three big family photo albums to the pile he was barely able to handle.
He simply dumped everything on the ground beside his mother and ran to get one of the still empty totes he’d bought on sale to fill later. “Here, Mom. You can put your stuff in here.”
Shelley was staring at the pile of clothing. “I didn’t think of clothing…”
“I know, Mom. I know. It’s scary. Is there anything else you really want?”
Shelley suddenly looked up at her son. “Oh, Joshua! What will we eat? Water? What if I have to go to the bathroom?”
“Got it covered, Mom. Now don’t worry. I’m going to make another trip through the house.” This time Shelley watched Joshua head for the house, seeing him in an entirely different light than she had perceived him before this crisis.
Joshua actually made five more trips, and was headed toward the house again when another aftershock hit. This one was even worse than the first quake. Joshua went to his knees and watched the house collapse some more. He looked around him.
He could actually see the ground undulating in waves. Suddenly, almost directly across from their house a huge sand blow erupted, spraying sand and water high into the air. Three people were nearby and before Joshua or anyone else could do anything they were buried alive.
Joshua tried to rise to go help, but he couldn’t get up and the sand blow continued, with the occasional massive tree trunk being ejected along with the sand. When the eruption finally ceased, the mound of sand was over the roof of the house across from theirs, and encroached on the edge of their yard.
Joshua got up when the shaking stopped and made a move toward the huge mound of sand. But there was nothing he could do. “Those poor people!” Shelley said.
Joshua looked around. His mother was crying. “That was Gwendolyn, Vance, and Bree! I can’t believe they are gone.”
“It could have been us,” Joshua said softly as he looked at the pile of sand, the water from it running down the street and into storm drain. At least at first. In moments the water just pooled over the drain opening in the curb. The drains were filled, or more likely broken. That meant the sewer system was, too.
But Joshua was ready a couple of minutes later when Shelley touched his arm, and looking even more distressed, told him, “Joshua. I need to go to the bathroom…”
“Okay, Mom. Just give me a couple of minutes.” Joshua hurried to the gear he’d retrieved from the now heavily leaning garden shed. Pulling one large bag free of the pile he quickly erected a privacy shelter and set the chemical toilet inside, along with a roll of tissue.
“Okay, Mom,” Joshua called. He was getting a bottle of water and a tube of camper’s soap when Shelley hurried over.”
“Oh, Joshua! I don’t know…”
“Mom, it’s this or do it out in the open in a pit.”
Shelley finally nodded and stepped inside the enclosure and zipped the door closed. Joshua moved away, leaving the water, soap, and a camper’s towel where his mother could find it when she came out.
It was already beginning to get dark. Joshua began to set up the tent he took from the cargo box that was now mounted on the cart. His mother came over and looked inside. Joshua was setting up two sleep mats and sleeping bags. A windup LED flashlight was hanging from a fabric loop in the top of the tent, providing light.
“When did you get all this, Joshua?” Shelley asked as she looked at the gear in the cart and on the ground.
“The last few months, Mom,” Joshua replied. “I’ve been getting ready in case something like this happened.”
“I had no idea. All with your own money, too.”
Joshua nodded. Shelley moved back as Joshua exited the tent. “I don’t want to start a fire to cook with now. I’ve got some ration bars and other things we can eat unheated.”
Shelley watched, rather in awe, as Joshua went to one of the totes and came back with several items in his hands. He handed her a vacuum zip-lock bag of jerky, one of gorp, and what looked like a candy bar.
“The jerky is for protein,” Joshua said. The gorp for protein, fats, and sugar. And the Millennium Bars are to fill in the general nutritional needs plus some additional calories.”
Shelley watched as Joshua began to chew on a piece of jerky he took from the bag in her hand. She slowly followed suit. A look of distaste crossed her face in the darkness, but it faded as she chewed the jerky. She was hungrier than she’d thought.
Joshua sat down on another tote and handed Shelley a water bottle. She took a long drink, and then another, before going back to the jerky.
“Thank you, Joshua,” she said softly. “I don’t think I would have made it this far without your help.”
“It’s okay, Mom. I set this up for the two of us, for just such a situation.”
Another aftershock, a light one, completed the destruction of the house and the garden shed. The other shocks, as they came, just bounced the remains into a slightly more compact pile. Just before full dark, Joshua gathered up everything and put it away into the extra totes, which he stacked near the side of the tent away from the street. Better that people not know what he had available.
Though the temperature dropped significantly, Shelley and Joshua both slept warmly in the sleeping bags that had been one of Joshua’s more costly purchases. The tent had been a tough decision, but he decided that night he’d made the right one in getting the three person, four season tent.
Both woke several times during the night as the ground moved under them. But finally, emotionally drained and tired from the interruptions in their sleep, both fell into deep sleep that even the additional small temblors didn’t disturb.
Joshua came awake quickly in the early dawn light of the morning. Something had wakened him. Moving quickly he got out of the sleeping bag and unzipped the tent front door. There were two people by the tent, in the process of opening one of the totes.
“Hey! What are you doing?” he said, fists clenched, ready to do battle to protect the supplies.
“Just checking what you got here, Sonny. Don’t get steamed. We in a pickle here and have to share and share alike.”
“Oh, yeah? What do you have to share with us?”
“Joshua?” Shelley asked, her head in the tent door. “Abraham? What are you doing here?” She asked when she got a look at one of the men.”
“Nothing, Shelley. Nothing. Just out looking for some water. Thought you might have some to share.”
“Joshua?” Shelley asked again.
“I do have some,” he replied, stressing the ‘some’ firmly. “Wait here and I’ll get you a couple of bottles.”
Still in his boxer briefs, goose bumps rising on his skin in the chill air, went over near the downed shed and shifted a couple of things around, his back to the tent and the men. He retrieved four bottles of water he had stashed and returned to the men. He gave each one a bottle.
“The other two?” asked Abraham.
“One for me and one for Mother,” Joshua said evenly.
“You might want to watch about being on that high horse of yours, boy,” said the other man.
“Please leave, Abraham,” Shelley said. She was still kneeling in the door of the tent.
“Okay. But you think about what could happen after an event like this.”
“Hey!” Joshua said, his hands clenched again. Abraham’s words had sounded like a threat against his mother to him.
“Watch your Ps & Qs with me, boy,” growled the second man.
“Come on, Breverton,” Abraham said, walking away toward the street as the sun peaked over the horizon.
Copyright 2010