15 Miles From Home (Perilous Miles Book 2) Read online

  Joel chuckled. "I think we might have given him an idea for another way to travel. By the way, honey, I cut you off before you could tell him about the generator. We don't want to spread that around."

  "Oh, okay, sorry. I didn't know it was a secret. I mean, it's not exactly quiet, right? People who live around you are going to hear it running."

  Her dad replied, "No, it isn't quiet, but we'll have enough people hearing it on our street. No reason to add your neighbors to that mix. Now, let's see what else we can take back to the house. Since we have the trailer now, we can haul some heavier stuff. What do you have in the pantry?"

  Carly shrugged her shoulders. "Not much. I was planning a big grocery shopping trip yesterday. Memphis Snowmageddon screwed that up. A couple of cans of tuna and soup, half a loaf of bread, PB & J, some cheese, and most of a twelve pack of beer." She opened the freezer side of the refrigerator. "What about fridge and freezer stuff? I've got some pizza rolls, toaster pastries, a few frozen entrees … oh, and a sweet rolling ice chest we can put it in!" She opened the door to the refrigerator and peered into the darkness. "I also have a drawer full of condiment packs. Think we'll need those?"

  "Why do you have a drawer full of condiment packs?" Joel asked.

  Carly replied, "We eat out too much, apparently."

  Joel nodded. "So it would seem. Go ahead and pack it in there, plus any ice you have in the ice maker. Maybe your mother can figure out how to cook microwave food without a microwave." He looked around the kitchen. "Any bottled water?"

  "Part of a case, plus I have some small juices and sodas."

  "Okay, put all that in your cooler if it will fit. I guess you can put all those cup things you use for coffee in a bag, since you figured out how to use them," he said. "Sugar and creamer, tea bags, hot chocolate, any of that stuff. If there's no more food than that, we should be able to get some more of yours and the boys winter clothes and finish it with this trip."

  "Dad, I still don't understand why we're taking all this stuff to your house, and so fast. Couldn't we wait a couple of days? It's supposed to warm up. The house isn't going anywhere."

  With an earnest look, he replied, "No, but the things inside it might."

  "Huh?" she responded, clearly confused again.

  Joel took her by the hand and led her to the dining room table. "Let's sit down for a minute, honey. I'll try to explain it to you."

  They sat at the table and Joel looked into his daughter's eyes. "Carly, think about any time there's been a natural disaster. What did you see on the news?"

  Carly thought for a minute. "What kind of disaster? Flood? Tornado?"

  "Any kind. What happens to the businesses in the area?"

  "They get looted. People take electronics, clothes, expensive shoes, that kind of thing."

  Joel smiled. "Exactly. Now, think about what we are experiencing right now. No electricity, cars don't run, electronics don't work … what do you think is going to happen in a few days after the stores have been looted and the food is gone? I'm pretty sure nobody shopped for groceries for the next year or more. In a few days, maybe a week, people are going to be looking for other sources for food and water. Hell, there might be some of them who have already figured out this isn't going to be over soon and are already doing that. If the stores are empty, where's the next logical place to look for food?"

  Shocked, she replied, "Houses. Most people have food in their houses. Most of them probably have a whole lot more than I do. Oh wow. You think people would really break in here to steal food … which I have very little of anyway?"

  Sadly, Joel nodded. "I do. What would you do, if Aaron and Cameron were here, and you had no food for them?"

  "We'd walk to your house."

  He chuckled. "Okay. What if we didn't live so close? What if we were as far away as Elliott lives?"

  Carly started to cry. "Please don't tell me we can't get to them, Dad. We have to get there. Elliott told me if anything ever happened, to get to his place, all of us; to use a back way through Arlington. Maybe he meant up Highway 14. I don't know, but I have to be with my boys!"

  Joel reached over and pulled her into his arms. "We will get there, honey. It won't be today, it may not be for a few days. But we'll get there, I promise. In the meantime, Elliott will watch out for them. You know he will."

  Carly cried on her dad's shoulder for a good five minutes. Her boys were thirty minutes away driving time. How long would it take her to walk that far? Could she walk that far? Yes, for her kids, she'd do it or die trying. She leaned back, wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve, and took a deep breath. "Okay, Dad. I still don't understand all of this, but I trust you. Tell me what we need to do."

  He smiled and said, "Let's load up the wagon."

  The run back to Joel and Lauri's was much different. Many of the neighbors had jumped on the bandwagon and had their riding mowers out and fired up to verify that those would indeed work. They received waves and thumbs up from everyone who was out with their own riding mower. Carly and Joel laughed and waved back. They again pulled into the garage and unloaded their supplies. Once they were done, Joel wanted to put the mower back in the shed. He and Carly were arguing as he drove the mower into the backyard.

  "Carly, you don't need your work clothes," Joel said as he was putting the lawn tractor back in the shed. She wanted to go back for one more load that consisted of the things she wore to work. The majority of their winter wear was at his house now. She had even grabbed the Christmas presents from under the tree and her briefcase and brought them along as well.

  "But what if someone breaks in and steals them? You said that could happen, people breaking in. What would I wear to work then?"

  "You won't be going to work anymore, honey. At least not for quite a while."

  "What? If I don't go to work, how am I going to get paid?" she asked incredulously.

  Joel sighed, then calmly said, "Okay, how are you going to get to work?"

  Carly started to reply, paused, then didn't answer. Joel went on. "Right, you can't get there. If you could get there, what would you do?"

  "Well, I could …" She stopped. Everything she did was computerized. "Oh."

  "Uh huh. And since everything is direct deposit and done electronically, how are you, or me, or anyone else going to get paid?"

  She stood there dumbfounded. "What about my house payment? If I can't get paid, there won't be money in my account to send in my house payment, and I'll lose my house!"

  Joel shook his head. "You're just not grasping the situation, honey. Everything electronic is gone. No more deposits. Unfortunately, no access to checking or savings accounts. All that money we had in savings is unavailable, maybe just gone."

  "What do you mean it's gone? It's still there — we just can't get to it right now. Oh, and I have five hundred dollars cash on me. Will told me to get some out of the bank. Boy, am I glad I listened to him."

  "It's there for now. Who knows what the situation will be in a few years if they get everything back on? Will the records or the files still be there? Will it have just vanished into cyberspace? I guess we'll just have to make it till then to find out. I have my cash stash as well. We may need it soon. Let's go inside and see how your mother's soup is coming along. I think I worked up an appetite."

  Dejectedly, Carly followed her dad up to the house. No job? No paycheck, no promotion, no profit sharing. I wonder what Marcus is doing right now? I don't think I'd want to be stuck in the Colorado mountains for something like this. What am I going to do? What are we going to do, everybody? All of this was running through her mind as they walked in the house through the back door. Once inside, they could hear Lauri talking to someone, a male. They came around the corner into the living room and saw a young couple standing in the foyer with her. It was their new neighbors from across the street, Chris and Julie Jackson. They had only been living there about a month. Lauri took them a batch of cookies as a welcome gift the day they were moving in. Chris was talki
ng.

  "Oh, hi, Joel. Carly, right? Your mom and dad told us about you." Chris was stepping forward to shake Joel's hand as he addressed Carly.

  "Morning, Chris, Julie. What's up?"

  Lauri turned to her husband. "They were wondering if we could spare some firewood."

  Chris chimed in. "We haven't had a chance to go out and get any wood what with the unpacking and getting settled. That wasn't a problem as long as we had electricity. It'd just be until we get through this cold snap. I'd be more than happy to replace it when everything comes back on. It's really cold in the house now."

  Joel looked at the young couple then his wife. He could tell by the look in her eye that she wanted to help them. He turned back to Chris with a small smile. "We can probably spare some. Not a lot, but enough to warm your living room up at least. Do you have a chain saw?"

  Chris shook his head. "No, this is our first house. I've never even used a chain saw before. I'd probably cut an arm or leg off." He laughed, Julie giggled, while Lauri and Carly smiled.

  "I think I have an old one in the shed I can let you use," Joel said. "It's not big, but it will cut logs or trees no bigger than a foot across. It should work on those trees in your backyard."

  "What? You want us to cut down our trees?" Julie exclaimed. "Why in the world would we do that? Some of those ornamentals are worth hundreds of dollars."

  Joel replied matter-of-factly, "So you don't freeze to death."

  Julie looked from Joel to Chris. Chris said, "Uh, we just wanted to borrow some firewood. We just need to get through today, maybe tomorrow. I don't think we need to go cutting down our trees."

  Joel shrugged. "Suit yourself. One sec." He went to the hearth and picked up half a dozen split logs of the dozen or so that were stacked there. He took them and handed them to Chris. "These will probably last you an hour, maybe two. When they're gone, I don't know what y'all are going to do. We don't have a lot ourselves, and I'll likely be cutting down a tree here soon. It'll be green, but if the fire is hot enough, it'll burn; slow, but it'll do the job. If you change your mind about cutting your own, let me know. I'll lend you the saw and show you how to use it."

  Chris took the wood and smiled at them. "I don't think that will be necessary but thank you for the offer. I'll let you all get back to your day. Something smells wonderful, by the way."

  "Oh, let me get you both some soup to take with you," Lauri said. She hurried to the kitchen and in just a minute came back with a large plastic container of her homemade vegetable soup. She also had something wrapped in paper towels, as well as a small egg carton. She handed it to Julie. "There's some cornbread there as well. Tricky making it in a camping oven but I figured it out. I also put a half-dozen eggs in from my chickens."

  "Oh, thank you, Lauri! This is wonderful!" Julie replied. "I didn't know what we were going to do about cooking. We have an electric stove, too. Oh, and thank you for the eggs, but I just can't bring myself to eat them if they don't come from the grocery store. I just feel safer when they've passed all the governmental requirements." She handed the small carton back to Lauri.

  Lauri took the carton from her and smiled at them. "Alrighty then. Well, you should eat it while it's hot. I don't think it will stay that way for long in this weather."

  Chris nodded. "We're going to do that right now. Thank you again, for everything!"

  Joel held the door as they left. When he had closed it behind them, he turned to his family. "I think we need to talk. Let's eat and we'll talk over lunch."

  Carly and Lauri looked at each other. Carly shrugged as they followed Joel into the kitchen.

  Chapter 7

  Elliott woke with a start. He sat up in bed, trying to figure out what woke him. It didn't dawn on him at first — not until he looked at the alarm clock to see what time it was. The display was blank. Huh. Power must be out. Probably ice on the lines. He got up to relieve himself and check things out. With no power, his well was off, which meant the toilet had one flush. He decided to take care of his business outside.

  He donned coat, hat, and boots over his long underwear and stepped out the back door. His ranch-style house had a front and back porch the length of the house. Part of the back porch was closed in as a utility room, which held a large chest freezer, among other things.

  Still a few hours from sunrise, it was pitch black outside with the cloud cover from the winter storm. It didn't matter. He knew his way around the place like the back of his hand. He walked to the end of the porch and emptied his bladder. By the time he was done, his eyes had adjusted to the darkness. He could make out the small pole barn that housed his goats and chickens. He could hear some rustling coming from inside. Perhaps he had disturbed them when he came out and let the screen door slam shut. He walked over to the steps and found they were indeed covered in a layer of ice and snow. Have to get some rock salt on that when the sun comes up, he thought.

  Going back inside, he went to the living room and stoked the fire in the wood-burning stove. Once it was going well, he took a kerosene lamp from the mantle and lit it. The soft glow filled the dark room. He went to his bedroom and dug into the top drawer of his dresser. His father's old pocket watch was wrapped lovingly in a handkerchief that had also belonged to the man. Elliott wound it a few times and it started ticking. He wound the watch the rest of the way, then slipped on a pair of pants and a flannel shirt as he headed to the kitchen, picking up the lantern on the way and sticking the watch in his pocket.

  The table in the corner of the large farm-style kitchen had belonged to his grandmother. It was very old and had been used to feed many people, many times. It was made of plank wood that had been scoured so much it was shiny. Elliott kept a tablecloth on it to protect the wood. The added bonus was the storage space underneath. He pulled the tablecloth up and pulled out a five-gallon water jug from under it. There were five more just like it under the table, all filled with water from his well. He set the jug on the counter, then turned it on its side so the spout was accessible. He opened the cabinet next to the stove and pulled out a stove-top percolator. He filled the pot with water from the jug, added coffee to the basket, and placed it on the gas stove. He turned the burner on under the pot then went to the dining table and sat down to wait. He pulled the watch out of his pocket and set it to the battery-operated clock above the stove, which read four thirty.

  He was on his third cup when Aaron shuffled into the kitchen. It was still dark out, but he could see the sky lightening slightly through the window over the sink. Aaron rubbed his eyes as he sat down at the table with his grandfather. Elliott smiled at the memory of his son, Ethan, doing the same thing years ago. They looked so much alike it was like stepping back in time for him. Elliott got up and took another coffee cup from the hanger beside the sink.

  "Morning, son. You want some coffee?"

  Aaron nodded. "Morning. Sure, thanks, Pap. You have sugar and creamer?"

  Elliott snorted. "Yeah, I got sugar, but you'll have to settle for goat's milk for your cream. I don't taint my coffee with any fixins'. Straight black for me."

  Aaron rolled his eyes and motioned with his head to the lantern on the table. "That's fine. What's up with the lights? Is the power out?"

  "Yep. I've been up for a couple of hours and it was off then. Probably ice on the lines or a tree fell over on them or something." Elliott handed him the cup of steaming coffee. "Sugar is on the counter, milk in the fridge. Make it quick, don't want to let too much cold out."

  Aaron stood up. "Okay, I'm gonna go to the bathroom first."

  "Hold up, Aaron. We're gonna have to go outside to pee until the power comes back on. Remember, I'm on a well. If the power goes out, we have no water in the house. No water, no toilet flushing. You can go off the porch until the sun comes up. We'll find a spot a bit away from the house if the power doesn't come back on here in a bit. Best grab your coat. It's cold out there."

  "Um … okay. Peeing outside. Haven't done that since I was a kid out here," Aaron sa
id, grinning.

  "One of those times it's good to be a guy, huh?" Elliott laughed as he sat back down.

  "If you say so, Pap. If there were girls here, they wouldn't have to go outside to pee."

  Elliott looked at his grandson for a moment, then replied, "You've got a point there, kiddo. Maybe we got the short end of that stick after all."

  Aaron chuckled as he got up to go get his coat. "I better get Cam up and let him know not to use the toilet either. Be back in a sec."

  Elliott stood up again. "Guess we should get some breakfast going, too. We'll need to haul in more wood and probably get some more water hauled in here. Just in case." He went over to the pantry and started pulling things out.

  Aaron walked down the hall and into the room he shared with his brother when they stayed with their grandfather. He leaned over and shook Cameron. "Cam. Wake up."

  Cameron groaned and pulled the blanket over his head. "Go away. It's too early."

  "You don't even know what time it is," Aaron replied.

  Cameron uncovered one eye and peered at his brother. "Since I can barely see you, it's still dark, which means it's too early." He covered his head back up.

  Aaron picked up his coat and slipped it on. "Fine. Just don't pee in the bathroom. The power's off. You have to pee out back, off the porch." He reached for his cell phone on the night stand.

  "What? What does the power have to do with the toilet?" Cameron asked, uncovering his whole head to look at Aaron.

  "The well is electric. No water." Aaron was peering at his phone, pushing buttons and tapping the screen. "Huh. That's weird. I could have sworn I charged my cell before we left the house. Great. My battery is crapping out now."

  "Here, use mine," Cameron said as he picked his own up from the bedside. "No way! Mine's dead, too! I just charged it last night. What the hell?"

  Aaron shrugged. "No idea. I gotta take a leak. Pap's getting breakfast going. C'mon, you're awake now, you might as well get up."