Lamp Black: Second Edition, Disaster, Preparedness, Survival, Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 2)
Authors: Kenneth Cary
Tags: #Christian Books & Bibles, #Literature & Fiction, #Mystery & Suspense, #Religion & Spirituality, #New Age & Spirituality, #Angels & Spirit Guides, #Christian Fiction, #Spirituality, #Angels
Copyright © 2014 Kenneth Cary (Second Edition)
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 1500341002
ISBN 13: 9781500341008
Other titles by Kenneth Cary
Curtain Fall, The Gatekeeper, Book One
Email:
[email protected]
Website:
www.cerberusap.com
Facebook:
Curtain Fall, the Gatekeeper & Cerberus Preparedness
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are a product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Credit
Amazon CreateSpace
Dedication
To my Father, my wife, and all my children, may our time together stand for something greater than the seemingly insignificant and individually disconnected parts of our lives. Indeed, the sum is greater than the parts.
AUTHOR’S FOREWORD
T
his is a continuation of one man’s survival story. In book one,
Curtain Fall
, John Anderson, a retired army colonel, recalls a distant prophetic dream following news that there is increased seismic activity around the Yellowstone Caldera. At first, John is only mildly troubled by the news reports, but when he remembers his dream of more than eight years ago, one of ash and destruction, he jumps into overdrive. He adds more food to his larder, and takes additional steps to prepare his family for the approaching disaster.
Where
Curtain Fall
covered the first three days of John’s preparedness efforts, this story covers the next three days of the cataclysmic natural disaster as it is seen from John’s perspective. It begins with ash fall, with the disaster effecting John and his growing band of survivors as they struggle together to exist on the outer fringe of the ash boundary. But this is much more than a simple disaster story. It’s a story of human nature, of how people might respond to such an unexpected, and unimaginably hostile and dramatic, environmental change.
I have read countless apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic works of fiction, written by authors dating back to the early forties. There are much earlier examples to reference, but in our dispensation, having endured two world wars, several regional wars, and a nuclear themed cold war, there seemed to emerge a great interest in writing about man’s self-destructive patterns of behavior and his ultimate will to survive. This not only continues, but it has escalated in recent years. There are many independent authors who strive to enlighten and entertain readers with their stories of disaster preparedness and survival. In fact, practically every reputable preparedness advocate has taken advantage of the growing interest in the genre to sell related products, or write a story or two about a disaster. Clearly, I am no exception, but there are several important differences in my story.
The first difference is that I applied a catastrophic natural disaster as a catalyst for change, and not one of the more popular man-made disasters of the day. Indeed, a collapsed economy, nuclear war, the release of a deadly chemical or biological agent, a celestial impact, or even the loss of electrical power - due to an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) or coronal mass ejection (CME) - are certainly possible, but few authors have dared to address the greater potency of Mother Nature. We tend to ignore her ability to render everything we know about life on earth as obsolete.
When we consider the implications of natural disasters, namely that we haven’t experienced one that turned our modern world upside down, especially here in America, it’s not hard to see why so many writers focus on the more popular disasters of change. Yet it’s important to remember that, especially among the natural disaster possibilities, eruptions of the Yellowstone supervolcano have occurred in the past. And because eruptions have occurred in the past, it is therefore safe to assume that they will occur again. For us, the question is not one of if, but rather when such an eruption will occur.
In
Lamp Black
, I continued John’s survival story as a way to highlight the wide range of human responses that will most assuredly manifest during such a large scale natural disaster. Regardless of the degree, disasters that release people from their established social responsibilities, namely the rule of law, will add to the change. Once free of control, people will begin to act for themselves in ways that will seem contrary to what we consider civilized behavior. Some will quickly identify with the change and move to protect themselves, while others will never fully adapt, and continue to consider the disaster a mere interruption in their daily routine. To get a glimpse of how quickly people can turn on each other in response to a disaster, read about the New York City blackout riot of 1977, or the more popular natural disaster called Hurricane Katrina.
Everybody possesses a natural inclination to survive, but for most people the “survival instinct” doesn’t kick in until death is knocking
at their door. However, for some, the survival instinct precedes the disaster. It extends well ahead of an imminent threat of death and begins when everyone around them is living a normal and uninterrupted life. People who act on their survival instincts when no one else does are clearly a minority. In fact it’s estimated through various regional and national surveys, that less than ten-percent of American’s think they’re actually prepared for a disaster. And of those who think they’re prepared, ninety percent of them don’t store an adequate supply of food and water.
Preparedness is a counter-balance to desperate survival, but so few people prepare that those who do will stand out and become likely targets for the unprepared. No matter how careful a “prepper” is, if he or she lives near other people, they will eventually be discovered. And the longer and more serious the disaster, the more they will stand out. That doesn’t mean preparedness should be abandoned. Indeed, food and water will always be necessary. But being prepared means having options, and having options means survival. But being aware of the consequences of preparedness are equally as important. Also, preparedness is no guarantee of survival, as any number of events can change a prepper’s plans.
Lastly, another unique element of
The Gatekeeper
series is that it will continue to develop John’s spiritual experiences (SE) as a sub-plot that will eventually mesh with the main plot, and add an entirely new dimension, a cross-genre dimension, to his survival story. Indeed, from
Curtain Fall
forward, the source of John’s preparedness, his very will to survive, stems from his awakening to the understanding that there’s more to his life than the physical.
There are many things that serve to motivate individuals to prepare, but for John it was his first dream. The dream provided substance. It awoke something within him that transcended the typical preparedness and survival motivation, and thus the story-line. Essentially, the spiritual element of the story literally gave John purpose. John’s spiritual awakening is the center-piece of
Lamp Black
, and
it will set into motion a series of events that will shape the upcoming stories, and present you, the reader, with an entirely different perspective on preparedness and survival.
Though a work of fiction, I personally know people who have experienced similar spiritual events like the ones I credit to John, but they are reluctant to come forward with their stories for fear of being judged and ridiculed. As is often the case, people who have not experienced something as unique as ‘visions” or “out-of-body experiences” are doubtful, and can be quick to judge the sanity of such accounts. Be that as it may, I have opted to integrate spiritual experiences into my storyline for the purpose of entertainment and awareness. And in true to life form, John will face many of the same challenges as his abilities become apparent to family, friends, and strangers alike. He will struggle with his knowledge, about how to share it with family and friends, and then do it in a way that will assuage their concerns about the future.
In closing, the near real time story continues in
Lamp Black
, as John Anderson enters the disaster period following the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. This story begins where
Curtain Fall
ended, but you will find this story to be much more polarizing, much more dramatic, and much more action packed than the first. People will either love it or hate it, but there’s something for the survivalist and spiritualist alike. In this series, the two elements are co-dependent, and meant only to entertain.
Where the first book focused primarily on prepper ideology and philosophy, this one deals with the human reaction in response to the disaster, rather than the disaster itself. It was not my intent to frighten, only to inform, and present preparedness, survival and spiritualism in a uniquely collaborative style. Please enjoy.
Respectfully,
KC
Lamp Black
The Gatekeeper
Book Two
(Second Edition)
CHAPTER INDEX
