The Gathering Storm (Surviving the Fall 2)

Dianne felt terrible about talking to her son like she was. She felt as though she was pulling away precious moments of his childhood innocence, but she dearly hoped that her talk with him was the only thing that would have to take place. If situations worsened, though, she knew that he would step up and be there to help—though she hoped and prayed that wouldn’t happen.

“Yeah, I got it. You want me to put it in the truck now?”

“Yep, thanks. Here’re the mags.”

Mark took the rifle and ammunition and piled them carefully in a narrow box bolted in the back of the truck. As he did that, Dianne quickly double checked her rifle and tucked two magazines into the vest she was wearing. She slapped one into the rifle but didn’t pull the bolt back, preferring to keep a round out of the chamber for the time being.

We’re just going to check on the neighbors. Not to war. Repeating the facts of the situation didn’t seem to help and she found herself continuing to worry as she got into the car and glanced back to check on Jacob and Josie.

“Everybody buckled?”

“Good to go, mom.”

Dianne glanced at Mark before starting the truck up. “Let’s go see if the Statlers are home. Then we’ll check and see if the Carsons are there.”

The truck started without a hitch and Dianne threw it into gear and began the slow, plodding ride down the driveway and onto the road. Instead of turning right towards Ellisville, though, she turned left and headed farther into the woods and fields of southern Virginia. The thick walls and roof of trees suddenly gave way to a burst of sunlight as the wooded area abruptly ended and wide fields stretched for a good half mile in either direction of the road. Off in the distance, to the left, was the home of Tina and Dave Carson. Ten minutes later, on the right side of the road, Dianne pulled off onto a gravel drive that stretched through field and then through woods as it approached the home of Sarah and Jason Statler.

Sarah and Jason liked to stay close to home just like Dianne did, and though the two families only visited in person occasionally, Dianne and Sarah spoke on the phone nearly every other day. Despite their age and Jason’s health, he and Sarah both were aggressive in their work on their land and had some sort of project going on all the time. It was for that particular reason that, as Dianne pulled up to the house and slowed to a stop, she frowned at the lack of apparent activity going on.

“Huh. Usually they’re outside working. Did you boys see them when we were driving up?”

Mark shook his head. “No… I saw one of their tractors parked outside the barn but that was it.”

“Hm.” Dianne furrowed her brow. “All right, let’s go see if they’re home. Jacob, I want you and Josie to stay right next to each other and follow me. Mark, hang by the truck and if you see anyone give a shout and come running for us, got it?”

Mark nodded and clambered out of the truck with Josie and Jacob following. Dianne grabbed her rifle, stepped out and headed for the front door of the house with Jacob and Josie behind her. She rapped on the front door several times and rang the doorbell twice, then slung the rifle across her back and waited on the porch for an answer.

When none came after a few minutes of waiting, Dianne motioned to Jacob and Josie. “Hang out at the truck with your brother, you two. I’m going to check out back.”

Dianne headed around the side of the house to the back and opened the screen door that led onto the large enclosed patio off of the back of the house. The area was open to the air but entirely enclosed with a roof and screen walls, making it the perfect place to sit in the evenings without having to worry about insects getting in.

After rapping on the first set of sliding glass doors and receiving no response, Dianne headed to the other side of the patio and was about to knock on those when she saw a sheet of paper taped to the inside of the glass door.

Dianne/Tina/Judith/Rachel – If any of you stop by, we’ve gone away for a few days. We’ll be back by the weekend, though. If you need us for anything just call us on our mobile phone.

-Sarah & Jason

“Great.” Dianne mumbled to herself. “Why on earth did they go out of town?” She shook her head and sighed before heading back around to the front of the house. Josie was sitting down on the rocks in front of the truck playing while Mark and Jacob were leaning up against the side talking when Dianne walked up to them.

“Nobody’s home.”

“Where did they go?” Mark asked.

Dianne shrugged. “There was a note on the back porch saying they left for a few days. Hopefully they make it back soon, but if they flew anywhere…”

“They might be dead?” Jacob was at that stage in his life where morbid and taboo topics were ones he wanted to discuss more than anything else.

Dianne sighed and shook her head, not wanting to either encourage or antagonize him too much since a neutral approach was usually the one required to get him onto another subject. “No, I’m sure they’re fine. It is odd that they would go away without letting anyone know. Maybe if Tina and Dave are home they’ll have some more info about it. Let’s go check on them.”

“What about the animals?” Josie looked up at Dianne from her play at the front of the truck.

“Hey. Good question, kiddo. Let’s go take a look. Mark, can you run on ahead and see if they’re loose or if Sarah penned them before they left?”

Sarah and Jason hadn’t pursued the self-sufficiency and prepper lifestyle as much as Rick and Dianne, but thanks to Dianne’s constant encouragement Sarah had eventually persuaded Jason to buy a flock of chickens and start on a small vegetable garden. It wasn’t much, but it was enough that Dianne was suddenly worried about what might happen to the chickens if Sarah and Jason had left in a hurry.

As Dianne, Jacob and Josie walked back along a dirt path toward the barn and fenced-in area where the chickens were kept, Mark came racing back toward them.

“They’re all locked up inside and the automatic feeder’s full.”