After the Event (2 page)

              The quiet was the first thing he was going to have to get used to. It was never quiet before everything went dark. There was always a TV in the background, music playing, cars zooming past, sound was a constant. Now it seemed so quiet it was deafening.

             
Alec sat out on the porch of their new home. The cool wind gently blew his hair back as the rays of the sun warmed his skin. His father hadn’t been lying when he said the house was in the middle of nowhere. He was the one who had decided this was the safest place for them, and that it wasn't safe to be in the city anymore.

             
Alec leaned back against the warm wooden bench and closed his eyes. The quiet seemed to disappear and gradually he could hear sounds again. He heard the wind rustling through the leaves, he heard the birds as they let out their morning sounds. It wasn't TV but at least it was something.

             
He watched as his brother Ben fought an imaginary swordsman with his stick. To him the only thing his brother’s swings were doing was cutting empty air, but he knew his brother was convinced he was taking down zombies, or pirates, or any other number of bad guys. His brother had only just turned 11 years old but his imagination was as strong as it had ever been.

             
His youngest brother Joseph sat in the grass caught up in his own little world. His gaze, partially obscured by his ever growing bangs, appeared to be focused on a nearby anthill which wasn't a good thing for the ants. 8 years old yet still caught in the terrible-two mindset.

             
Meanwhile his 6 year old sister, Alya, continued to do what she always did, refuse to be a girl. She was rolling around in the dirt with an action figure they had found in the house. Her face and hair were indistinguishable from the dirt and she couldn't have looked happier.

             
Alec took in a deep breath and focused on the horizon. It was obvious that things were going to change and probably not for the better. They now found themselves alone in the middle of the country with only their father to watch after them. Alec was the oldest and only he seemed to remember how unreliable the man was. Most of his memories of his father revolved around alcohol, and the destruction the man caused when he had too much of it. If his mother was still alive they wouldn't be in this position. It was up to Alec now. He would protect his family. If his father turned back to alcohol it wouldn't matter because he would be what his family needed.

  Alec didn't trust him. He could see it in the kid's eyes, not that he could blame him. The rest where too young to remember, but Alec had been there for the worst. One year sober didn't mean shit to a kid that had spent the majority of his life with an absentee father.

             
His late father's old place seemed like their only option at the time, now he wasn't so sure it was the best choice. They barely had any food, they were out in the middle of the country, and they didn't have much to protect themselves with. Grant had managed to find his father's old .22 rifle in an old gun case but with only a handful of bullets, and the fact the barrel had a slight curve, he didn't think it was going to protect them from much. The main need was for water and luckily his father still had an operating well on the property.

             
He stared out at the sea of green in front of him. The fields stretched as far as the eye could see, only being interrupted by the trees sprinkled throughout the land. The house sat on 40 acres of land broken up by only fence lines in the distance, beyond that were more fields that had once been used for farming and feeding livestock. A couple of miles north was another house, Grant no longer knew who lived there but that place was the nearest. The only other house was 4 miles west of them, but again Grant had no idea who lived there.

             
The nearest town, Centralia, was over 30 miles away and used to have a population of around five thousand. Grant made a point to drive around the town in order to get to this house. When they had left the city it was on the cusp of falling into chaos and he didn't want to be in any heavily populated areas when that occurred.

             
“You leaving?”

             
Grant had been so lost in his own head that he didn't hear Alec walk up behind him. The boy had grown so much since he last saw him. The baby smoothness his face once reflected was replaced by a spattering of acne and tufts of hair sprouting from his upper lip. The boy’s face had also hardened; Grant believed he was more responsible for that then age. “I'm going to try and see if there is anyone in the old house just north of us.” Alec had the same wary look that had been on his face since Grant had come back in his life. “Can you watch everyone while I'm gone? I should be back before it starts getting dark.”

             
“We will be good without you.” Alec's eyes met his without flinching. Not reassurance, a statement.

             
Grant let out a small breath. “Alright, I'll be back soon.” With that said he turned around and began walking towards where the old house was. He was going to have to work out the issues that Alec had with him sooner or later, he just preferred for it to be later. It was no longer about trying to simply make up for lost time with his son, it was about survival. Alec was the oldest but he was still only a child, a child that because of what happened was going to have to become a man much sooner than Grant wanted. The world was descending into chaos and Grant couldn't protect his family alone.

             
The green plains soon became populated with heavy brush and trees that blocked out the sun. As he made his way in and around the various shrubbery he realized he was in horrible shape. By the time he had finally caught sight of an old white house seemingly placed in the middle of nowhere the back of his shirt was nearly soaked through.

             
He had left the gun back at the house. The last thing he wanted was for whoever lived in the house to think he was trying to rob them or worse. He took a wide berth around the house in order to come up to the front door, again to convince anyone inside that he wasn't a threat. The yard appeared to have been recently mowed and Grant noticed the nearby bird feeders were full. Almost as if the world had never gone black.

             
“Not another step.” Came a voice from behind him.

             
Grant froze and raised his hands in the air.

             
“Keep your hands in the air and turn around slowly, make a wrong move and I will end you.”

             
Grant's mind raced. This was a stupid idea he never should have left, once again he was going to leave them but this time they would be all alone. He slowly turned around and the only thing he noticed was the gun barrel pointed at his face.

             
“Who are you and what do you want?”

             
He managed to pull his attention away from the gun and look at who was holding it. The man had to of been in his mid-60's with a head full of grey hair and a face that was worn with age. Besides the enormous gun in his hands the rest of the man's dress suggested he was planning on spending an afternoon gardening.

             
“I'm not going to ask you again.”

             
Grant found his voice, “Sorry, my name's Grant.” The man was rigid and Grant fully believed he was willing to pull the trigger but the man didn't look like a criminal or someone who would shoot him for no reason, and he wasn't about to give him a reason. “I have four kids, I live in the old Irving place. I was just trying to see if there were other people around here.”

             
The man lowered his gun slightly and slowly looked him up and down. “What do you know about the Irving’ss?”

             
“That they were good people. Good people who deserved a better son then the one they got.”

             
The man lowered his gun completely. “You're Pat Irving's son?”

             
“Yes sir.”

             
The man let out a breath. “Pretty damn stupid to be walking up to people's property, even without all the shit that's going on. The name's Jack by the way.”

             
Grant slowly let his arms down and let his ass un-pucker. “Nice to meet you Jack, and yes in retrospect this probably wasn't my brightest idea.”

             
For a moment the only sound was the cool breeze blowing through the trees. Finally Jack took his eyes off him and stared back towards his house. “I take it you were looking for more then just company.”             

             
“Yes sir. We have a well, so we have plenty of water that we are willing to share, but don't have a lot else. I was hoping to find other neighbors here that might help us make it through until the government gets everything back under control.”

             
Jack let out a laugh and shook his head. “Son, things aren't ever going back to the way they were. Best thing you can start doing to stop thinking you need to survive until, and just plan on trying to survive.”

             
Grant wasn't exactly sure what that meant. “Ok. We are willing to share our well water.”

             
Jack nodded. “A reliable source of water that doesn’t need to be boiled would be nice, what would you need in return?”

             
“Anything that you are willing and able, to part with.”

             
Jack gave him a long look. “Just on the other side of my house is my fishing pond. It's 9 acres, fully stocked with bass and the biggest catfish you've ever seen. If you're willing to share your water, I'll allow you and yours to fish there. But you only catch what you need, not a fish more, and don't expect me to clean and cook them, you gotta do that on your own.”

             
It felt like a couple of pounds had been lifted off his back and Grant let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you Jack, that helps more than you know.” The man nodded back. “Do you know if there are other's still around here?”

             
“There are a couple of houses a few miles west of your place, fairly new. One of them the bank foreclosed on a couple of months back. The young couple who owned the place moved about a year before that. It was still for sale last time I drove past there. The other has been empty for as long as I can remember.”

             
So they were basically all alone in the middle of nowhere. From what Grant had seen in the last couple of weeks he was relieved.

             
“So you have your family with you?” Jack asked.

             
“Yeah, three sons and a daughter.”

             
“Surprised you don’t have grey up there,” Jack pointed at Grant’s hair. “No wife?”

             
“No.”

             
Jack read his face. “I’m sorry. If you don’t mind me asking was it pre or post?”

             
“I don’t understa-“

             
“Before or after the world went dark?”

             
“Oh, pre. She…she died of cancer.”

             
Jack shook his head in dismay. “Sorry to hear that. I lost the love of my life a few years ago to the same thing. Seems like it’s only a matter of time before it takes us all out.” The old man thought for a second and let out a soft laugh. “Course that was before everything went dark. I doubt many of us will live long enough to be taken out by cancer now.”

             
Grant didn’t say anything. The conversation was bringing up feelings he wasn’t ready to deal with yet.

             
Jack noticed. “Care for a drink?”

             
Thirsty.

             
“No, no I’m okay.” He had paused a second longer then he cared to admit. “I, uh, I’m an alcoholic.”

             
“Ah, I see.”

             
Once again it was only the breeze going through the trees. Grant ran a hand through his hair. “Thanks again Jack. Can you wait until tomorrow for some water?” The man nodded. “I'll bring a couple of gallons tomorrow sometime along with my son. If there is anything else I can help you with let me know.”

             
“Do you have yourself a gun Grant?” It wasn't an accusation just a question.

             
“Yes.”

             
“You got plenty of ammo?”

             
Grant shrugged his shoulders. “I think I have enough.”

             
Jack shook his head sadly and looked out at the horizon. “I'm afraid that's not possible son. I truly hope I'm wrong but I think there is a storm coming. How big and how bad I don't really know, but probably worse than anything either of us has ever seen before.”