“Who?” I asked as I took my seat.
He lowered his head. “My family. I just moved them here. I’m on the road a lot. Figured my wife and kids should be with her mom. I was on the road when it happened.
Callie sat down. “How long have you been camping out here?”
“Three days, maybe four.” Delvin scratched his head. “I lost count.”
“Can I ask why?” Callie questioned.
“Why not? That’s my family. My wife. My three kids. Mother in law. All I have. I figured I would just stay here until I joined them. Where else am I gonna go?”
“South,” Callie said.
Delvin waved out his hand. “I had my chance to go south. I missed that boat. I had to come home. I had to find them.”
I knew exactly what he meant, how he felt.
“Where were you?” I asked. “You said you work out of town.”
“I’m on the road a lot. I’m a sales rep. Ever see the movie Tommy Boy. That’s me. I go to businesses and try to get them to stock our product. I was in Cleveland when it happened.”
I gasped. “Cleveland is not far from my home or my mom. How is it? What’s going on out east?”
“Not what’s going on here, that’s for sure,” he added a chuckle of disbelief while he spoke. “Sun’s blocked, so it’s cold. Getting colder by the day. At first everyone kind of just… hung tight. Tried to get word on what happened, find out about loved ones out west. But most people were told that chance of survival for those close to the coast was unlikely. And the area was volatile so they weren’t sending crews yet, if at all.”
“Who told?” Callie asked. “I mean, I know our base works on a message relay system. No long range communication.”
Delvin nodded. “Same way, back there. There’s no power, so they have generators running. Forget solar generators. Not enough light for that. It took only a half day for the eastern skies to get gray. We knew it was coming.”
“What did you hear happened?” I asked.
“The Ring of Fire just blew. I heard not all four hundred and fifty volcanoes, but a lot of them. I don’t believe it. But without a doubt, volcanoes blew. Multiple. Notice the days, if that’s what you call them, are getting shorter. Pretty soon, another three weeks, it will barely be lighter than dusk.”
“We heard,” Callie said, “that a planetary body caused it. Did you hear anything about that?”
Again, Delvin nodded. “Yeah. I heard it came too close causing things to go crazy. Others said it hit the other side of the moon, nipped it, sending pieces flying to earth and that’s what started it. I’d wager on the later. I mean, I felt that earthquake. It knocked the power out everywhere. I saw things fall from the sky. Like a daylight falling star.”
“Doug told us he saw things falling, too,” I said. “Doug was a pilot we met.”
Delvin shrugged. “No one is gonna know, really, until things get up and running again. If they get up and running.” He glanced up to Madison. “You can sit down. Please don’t be afraid.”
“I’m not,” Madison said. “I’m sorry, I was just listening.” Finally she held out her hand as she took a seat. “Madison Hollister. Nice to meet you.”
He tilted his head. “Well that is a sign.”
“What is?” Madison asked.
“Your last name, Delvin said. “The last person I saw, before heading out here, was one of my favorite clients. His last name is Hollister.”
“What do you sell?” Madison asked.
“Safety features for cars.”
I saw Madison’s face. Her expression dropped. “Where… where was this guy?”
“Mt. Carmel.”
“Oh my God,” Madison gasped. “Bruce?”
Delvin’s eyes widened. “Yes. Holy shit. Yes. Bruce Hollister. Big guy. Best mechanic in the world. Owns Body Savers.”
Madison shrieked. “He’s okay? The boys?”
“Fine. They’re great. I stayed the night at your house,” Delvin said. “I had been traveling. Hitching a ride here and there. Trying to get home. There was a military set up outside of Mt. Carmel. When I got there, I looked for Bruce. He’s the one that got me a vehicle that got me close enough to walk the last forty miles. He’s a great guy.”
“Wait… Delvin. Del. You’re Del?” Madison asked.
“I am.”
As if she just met him, Madison jumped up and embraced him. “I heard so much about you. You met with Bruce before I left for California. You were selling those, Forget me Nots.”
“I was. Bruce ordered some,” Del said. “Even though he wasn’t sure he’d sell them.”
“What are Forget me Nots?” I asked.
Delvin stood, walked into the tent, came out a few seconds later and handed me a plastic button about two inches around. It looked like a flower. “That is a Forget me Not. It runs on a button cell battery, so it lasts a long time. It’s got Bluetooth. Hooks on to the fastener on a baby car seat, connects automatically to an app on your phone. Get farther than ten feet from it, alarm goes off.”
Callie reached for it. “Amazing. No more forgotten babies.”
“That was the theory,” Delvin said. “It had downfalls. I mean if someone forgot their phone in the car too. Everything has a downside.”
“You said Bruce and the boys are fine,” Madison said. “Were they heading south?”
Delvin nodded. “They planned on it. Bruce though, was waiting on you. He didn’t believe for a second you were dead. Told me he knew you so well, he could feel it, you were alive and coming home. He was just gonna wait a little longer with the boys and head out. Trust me, that man has it together. He has a survival plan.”
“My family is alive. They’re alive,” Madison gushed. “They’re alive Lacey and waiting on me.”
I reached over and hugged her.
Excitedly, she grasped my hand. “All we have to do is get to my house, if Bruce is there, we’ll go ahead to get your family. If not, I bet he left word at the house.” She looked at Delvin. “Would he leave word, a note maybe?”
“I wouldn’t doubt it.”
Madison was thrilled and I was thrilled for her. She not only received confirmation that her family was well, but also they didn’t doubt for one second, she wasn’t alive. I hoped my family was the same that they believed in my survival, because I believed so much in theirs.
<><><><><>
Del, as I started to call him, invited us to camp with him. Madison immediately accepted, forming an instant bond that made me just a little envious.
What were the odds? She knew him. Half a country from home, the world falling apart and she finds someone that is a friend and a business associate of her husband.
Somehow though, knowing Madison, that didn’t surprise me.
I wanted to write in my journal, and though Del had a campfire, there wasn’t as much protection from the dust and elements as the Humvee.
It was half a mile away from Del’s house.
Callie declined without hesitation. “I really don’t feel comfortable with everything we have being left in that truck.”
“I can promise you I haven’t seen a person in hundreds of miles,” he said.
“Yeah, well, we did,” Callie said. “And they weren’t good people.”
“I understand,” he said.
“Plus, I have a friend still at the truck,” Callie said.
She was referring to Stone. Callie didn’t elaborate on that friend, but when I walked back to the Humvee with her, I guessed that Madison would fill him in.
It was cold, really cold. My fingers were tingling from it, and I just wanted to get warm.
When we arrived at the Humvee, Callie checked the back and Stone’s body.