The Gathering Storm (Surviving the Fall 2)

“Yeah, of sorts.”

“Any idea what’s going on?”

“I’ve heard bits and pieces on the radio. It sounds like an advanced computer virus.”

“A virus?” Jane sounded incredulous. “How would a virus make cars blow up?”

“It’s a lot easier than you might think. Everything in cars is computerized today to help improve safety and increase efficiency and all that jazz. If someone came up with a virus that could infect the systems on a vehicle they could easily override the safety systems and cause something like that to happen.”

“That doesn’t seem like an increase in safety at all.”

“Nope.” Rick shook his head. “Not at all. But that’s what we get when a bunch of manufacturers are rushing to be the first to market with the latest and greatest bells and whistles. Nobody thinks about security until it’s too late.”

“That’s terrible!”

“No kidding.”

Silence fell once again as the pair continued their slow, trudging walk through the Vegas streets. As they wound their way to the northeast, Rick saw signs that they were getting closer to both Nellis and to a place that stirred feelings of fear inside of him: the Strip. One of the dying words of the solder who was driving the bus was to stay away from the Strip, though he had no idea why.

As Rick and Jane drew closer to the Strip the concentration of smoke and dust in the air started to rise to the point where they were both holding their shirts over their mouths and noses to try and keep it out. Every time the wind changed direction they either lowered their shirts and breathed a sigh of relief or raised them back up and began coughing as waves of smoke were blown towards them.

Nearly three hours after leaving the lumberyard as the sun was getting close to its highest point in the sky, Rick and Jane were walking down a narrow one-way street in between two tall casinos. Shielded from much of the smoke and sun, their shirts were off of their faces and they were chatting quietly as they walked. They were distracted enough that they didn’t realize when the one-way street came to an end and they emerged from between the buildings out into the open.

Smoke filled their lungs and they both coughed heavily as they tried to cover their faces against the strong wind. Rick blinked against the dust and smoke several times before managing to clear his eyes enough to see what was before him. He stopped walking and held out a hand to keep Jane from going any farther and she too tried to clear her eyes to see what he was pointing out.

Out in front of them lay the southern end of the famous Las Vegas Strip. The road was several lanes wide on both sides with a wide median in the center and tall, imposing buildings stretching up to the sky on both sides of the road. Off to the left, just a short walk away were the famous Fountains of Bellagio while the Planet Hollywood resort and casino towered directly across the street.

While the scene might have been pleasant at any other point, the condition of the Strip made Rick realize why the soldier had warned them to stay away. The smo

ke and dust that had been choking Rick and Jane was coming primarily from the buildings on the Strip, many of which were still burning. The shops in front of Planet Hollywood were a pile of twisted metal, plastic and bricks on the ground. The fountains to their left had lost power days prior and while the water was gone there were wrecks of several trucks and cars inside the fountain area from vehicles that had rammed into the bollards and flipped over into where the water had previously been flowing.

Down the street to the left and right Rick could see that every major and minor building in the area had suffered heavy damages. Much of it was related to fires that were still burning inside the wreckage and shells of the buildings but some of it looked like it had been caused from vehicles and an airplane or two that had crashed into them and then exploded. Two days hadn’t been nearly enough time for the fuel feeding the fires to be exhausted and the flames licked at the air, sending black smoke billowing into great clouds that drifted on the wind.

Jane leaned in close to Rick and whispered as she stared wide-eyed at the destruction, blinking every few seconds to clear the smoke and dust from her eyes. “What now?”

Chapter 14

Ellisville, VA

After leaving the Carson’s house, Dianne drove to the Statler’s, where everything was as they had left it a week ago. The chickens were nearly out of feed, though, and Dianne mused about whether they should take them back home or not.

“You think we can get that cage strapped onto the back of the truck, Mark?” Dianne scratched her chin as she watched the chickens moving about in the cage attached to the outside of the barn.

“I think so, if we strap it down.” Mark pulled on the cage, lifting it a couple inches off the ground before releasing it. “Don’t we have enough chickens already, though?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to have to keep using gas to come out here and take care of them. We can keep them at our place until the Statlers get back.”

Mark groaned. “I guess this means we’ll be eating even more eggs.”

Dianne laughed. The last week had featured more than a few egg-based meals thanks to the chickens they already had at the house. “You’ll learn to love them soon enough! Now come on and help me get this lifted onto the back. Jacob, you too! Let’s go, boys!”

After closing the small wire mesh door around the narrow portion of the cage that attached to the barn, Dianne unlatched the cage from the barn and picked up one side. Mark and Jacob took the other side and together the three of them walked the cage full of extremely unhappy chickens over to the truck. After making sure everything in the back of the truck was secure, Dianne unfolded a tarp from the storage box in the back of the truck and spread it out over the supplies beneath the cage. She and her sons then lifted the cage onto the back and positioned it as best as they could. With no solid ground under their feet the birds’ legs were falling through the narrow holes in the wire, though they eventually settled down into seated positions to try and get comfortable.

With the cage on the back of the truck, Dianne gave Mark and Jacob the job of doing the initial tie-downs while she went with Josie to leave a note for the Statlers.

Sarah – Picked up your chickens to watch out for them. Let us know when you’re back. –D

Dianne stuffed the note through the crack between the back door and the doorframe before heading back out to the truck. After getting Josie situated in her seat, Dianne finished helping Mark and Jacob get the cage tied down. “Try not to crap on everything, all right?” Dianne poked at one of the chickens through the wire cage before jumping back into the truck.