“Now, it’s time to go and get your sister,” Mike said.
“Do we have to?” Freddy asked.
Mike’s daughter seemed less pleased to see him. When Malory’s mother, Genie, came to the door and called her name, letting Kalen know that her father was here for her, she trudged downstairs, marched out of the house without looking at him, and walked down the street.
“I hope she didn’t break anything while she was here,” Mike said.
“Oh, Mike, she’s fine. She’s just a teenager. No worse than mine,” Genie replied.
She bit her lower lip looking at Mike.
“You know, if you ever need any advice or anything you can always come over,” she said.
Freddy’s eyes opened wide. Mike smiled awkwardly.
“Have a good night, Genie,” he said.
“You too,” she replied.
Mike shook his head and Freddy mimicked him.
“I think she’s crazy, Dad.”
“Me too, bud. Me too.”
Ulysses had made the best argument he could, but by the time Mike and the kids got back to the house Anne had already set him up in the spare bedroom downstairs.
“Your daughter was thrilled to see me,” Mike said.
“My daughter?” Anne asked.
“She’s got you written all over her.”
“If by that you mean she’s smart, independent, and beautiful, then yes. Those little gems were mine. The stubbornness, well let’s just say I almost had to get violent with your father before he agreed to sleep in the guest room.”
Anne kissed his cheek and headed into the living room and plopped on the couch. Mike took Freddy upstairs and tucked him in. On his way back down to the living room he passed his daughter’s room and knocked on the door.
“Yeah?”
Mike opened it up and his daughter was on the floor flipping through the pages of a magazine.
“Hey” Mike said.
She didn’t look up at him.
“Hey,” she said.
“Everything all right?”
“I can’t use my phone, laptop, car, or listen to music, so no, everything is not all right.”
“Kalen, I just wanted to- “
“I’m going to bed, Dad.”
She glanced up at him and walked to the door.
“Goodnight,” he said.
A burst of air hit Mike as Kalen slammed the door shut. He lingered there for a moment, and then headed back downstairs.
Mike lay down across the couch and rested his head in Anne’s lap. She ran her hands through his hair and circled the small bald spot on the top of his head.
“Just because it’s there doesn’t mean you have to point it out,” Mike said.
“What? It makes you look tough.”
“It makes me look old.”
“Hey, if you’re old, then what does that make me?”
“If the boot fits.”
Anne smacked his chest. Mike winced and snatched her hand in his. He ran his fingers along her soft hands, gently rubbing them, and then he brought them to his lips and kissed them.
“What’s wrong?” Anne asked.
“It’s going to get worse,” Mike said.
“Aren’t there measures for stuff like this?”
“Not on a scale this large. I don’t think there’s a single piece of technology left in the country that’s still working. If it had a computer chip in it, then it’s toast.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I’m going to start getting everything ready in the Jeep tomorrow, but we’ll stay here as long as we can. We have enough food and water to last us a while, but we won’t be able to take all of it with us.”
“The cabin?”
“Yeah.”
The two of them glanced around the living room. Pictures of holidays, vacations, the kids’ sport events, snapshots of the history of their lives, all here in this house. He got up from her lap and put his arm around her. She leaned her head onto his shoulder and they sat there in silence, holding each other while the candles in the room flickered, casting their shadows on the walls around them.
The Second Day
There really wasn’t a breeze, but Mike had opened the windows of the house anyway. The heat was intense. Even Freddy, who never complained about anything, was starting to feel it.
“Is the power ever going to come back on?” Freddy asked.
Kalen was still on her ‘not speaking to anyone’ strike, unless it was asking when the next time food would be served.
Mike spent most of his morning in the cellar. The walls were lined with shelves of canned goods. He had bags scattered along the floor, half-filled with food.
A tall grey safe sat in the corner. Mike unlocked the door and revealed two twelve-gauge shotguns, a .223 lever-action rifle, a 9mm Smith & Wesson, and a .45 Colt revolver. Boxes of ammo for each lined the sides and bottom of the safe.
He heard a knock from upstairs and Mike grabbed the 9mm and tucked it behind his shirt. He closed and locked the safe and headed upstairs.
When Mike opened the door he was greeted with Nelson flashing a neighborly grin.
“Hey, Mike, how are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m fine, Nelson. What can I do for you?”
“Well, since it’s been about a day since the power’s gone out and we’re not sure when it’s coming back on we all thought we’d get the neighborhood together for a grill out. It was Bessie Beachum’s idea. The food won’t last much longer and she figured it’d be a nice way to get everyone together.”
“I don’t think that’s something we can be a part of today. We’ve got a lot of chores around the house to do.”
“Oh, come on, Mike. We already have the grills going. It’ll be fun. Oh, hi, Anne.”
Mike felt Anne come up behind him.
“Nelson, how are you?” she asked.
“Well, I’d be better if you could convince Mike to join the barbeque today.”
“Barbeque?” she asked.
“Yeah, we’re getting the whole neighborhood involved.”
“Sounds great. What time?”
“In about an hour.”
“I’ll bring some patties out of the freezer.”
“That’d be great! I’ll see you guys in a bit.”
Nelson trotted off to the other neighbors and Mike shut the door. Anne stood there grinning at him.
“It’s going to get worse, huh? Armageddon’s barbeque. How will we survive?” she asked.
Mike waited until she was out of earshot before he said anything.
“And you think our daughter gets the attitude from me.”
The turnout for the barbeque was huge. Bessie Beachum had gathered the whole neighborhood and had coordinated anything and everything people could want. Burgers, ribs, hot dogs, beers, liquor, ice cream, popsicles, anything that wasn’t going to last in the freezers and fridges was on the menu.
The whole setup was a makeshift combination of picnic tables, lawn chairs, and card tables. Everything was parked at the end of the cul-de-sac.
Ray Gears even had an old record player he brought out. Everyone munched on their hamburgers while listening to the sounds of the Beach Boys.
It almost felt like a normal Saturday during the summer. Mike allowed himself a moment to actually enjoy himself and even managed to get a smile out of his daughter by drawing a smiley face on Freddy’s forehead with the tip of his fudge pop.
Nothing felt as if the city behind them was being ravaged with violence and despair. Here they seemed out of its reach, but Mike knew what would eventually come, and the momentary joy he felt slowly disappeared.
The lower the sun sank in the sky the drunker most of the parents became. With the party winding down, Mike helped organize the cleanup. He was clearing one of the tables when Bessie Beachum started walking toward him.