The Fall (Book 1) Page 4

  A whistle cut through the din, making everyone shut up. The sheriff switched on the bullhorn again so everyone could hear him. His voice blared from the speaker, telling everyone to remain calm, and that they would figure out what was going on. He promised he would let them know what he planned on doing as soon as they came up with enough information to make an action plan. Judging from the looks on some of the men’s faces, that answer wasn’t exactly what they’d been hoping for. In a gesture of good faith, the little mob dispersed and everyone went back to their respective homes. The sheriff looked relieved that he was now alone, and Garrett couldn’t say he blamed the poor man. This was a huge chunk of why Garrett had refused to become part of the sheriff’s team and associate himself in any way with the authority that eventually would fail. He didn’t want the repercussions of broken promises bringing people to his door looking for revenge.

  “I knew this had something to do with you.”

  John was walking back up his sidewalk to join his wife on the porch, but he spit the words at Garrett as soon as he was within earshot.

  “The sheriff told us you’re the one who suggested the theory they’re now trying to prove.” Garrett’s heart sank. “Everyone went back home, but they all are asking themselves if you’re right. I don’t want to believe it because I think you should be in a padded room.” This was why Garrett hadn’t told anyone but those closest to him about his preparations and theories. Not everyone would welcome them.

  “Everyone thinks the sheriff is completely incompetent. I guess, in a way, that’s your fault, too. He doesn’t know how to handle your crazy theory and if you hadn’t given it to him, he might have used his team to investigate this and find out what really was going on.” That was the last straw. Garrett ran over to the sheriff.

  “You handled this all wrong! You shouldn’t have told the public what you thought was going on because they don’t know how to handle something like this.” Now it was Garrett’s turn to be angry.

  “You’re worrying everyone, and riots will break out now because everyone is going to go around making doomsday preparations. There won’t be enough supplies around for everyone to feel they have enough for themselves and their loved ones. You should have kept it all to yourself. You’ve lost a large chunk of how long the town would have listened to you and deferred to your authority. Now the lawlessness I was talking about is going to come about much more quickly because they feel like this is the end of the world and laws shouldn’t apply to them anymore.” Now it was Sheriff Ramsay’s turn to blurt out how he felt.

  “If you recall, you were the one who refused to help me and my team, so I’m doing the best I can by myself. I think they have a right to know, and if they start preparing now, we might be able to ride out this thingt! I have no idea how far this reaches, and I have men trying to find out, but without electricity it’s pretty damn hard. If you feel like joining the efforts, please, feel free and help us out. You seem to be the expert on this. So it’s up to you, I guess, if you want to share any more thoughts or suggestions, but until then, I’m doing the best I can. I have morals and standards, and they will dictate what I do until utter lawlessness occurs. I took my oath to serve and protect very seriously, and I intend to do just that for as long as I can. I’ll be down at the station if you change your mind.”

  With that, the sheriff got back into his cruiser and slowly rolled away down the street. Garrett shook his head and went back home. He relayed the details of the conversation in hushed tones to Alice and Austin so no one else would overhear.

  “I think we should go inside and lock all the doors and windows. I think we should take turns keeping watch, and Austin and I might want to start carrying pistols.”

  He looked over to Austin to see how he felt about the situation. Austin looked at Alice’s very pregnant belly and swallowed hard, but nodded in the affirmative. Pistols would be for protection, not war, so he would protect his family by carrying one. The three went back inside, and Austin went upstairs to start locking windows, while Garrett went around the downstairs doing the same. Alice went to the girls and filled them in on what she thought they could handle, then sat down heavily on the couch. Garrett went down to the basement and carefully checked his inventory to make sure nothing was unaccounted for, then set about putting the storm locks on all the windows. Even though this wasn’t a coastal town, he’d invested in a set just in case. These heavy planks were enough to keep out the storms of the coastline, but they were also a pretty good safety net against other dangers, too.

  He regretted saying anything at all to the sheriff, and while he checked over two pistols and counted out bullets for each, he wished he could go back in time to that moment when he said anything and take it all back. Part of him wished Alice wasn’t pregnant right now because it would make things easier, but he couldn’t help that. He glanced over at the dark corner where he’d locked up all of the preparations for her current situation. He hoped they could make it to a hospital when the time came and that things would go as smoothly as they would have even a month ago, but if this was the lot he’d been given, he knew he could deliver her baby safely and make sure both mother and child survived the ordeal. He went back up the stairs and gave Austin the extra magazines and the pistol.

  Chapter Six

  As Garrett reached the top of the stairs, he was met by Alice, who stood there with her hands on her hips. He’d been married to her long enough to know that something was going on and that she was gearing up for an argument she wouldn’t leave alone until she won.

  “Dare I ask what we’re going to fight over now?”

  His voice came out sounding tired, and it was enough to soften her eyes a little. She took her hands off her hips. Sighing heavily, she called Austin into the alcove. He came immediately, thinking something was wrong.

  “I want to go back to the house and pick up a few things, since we’re all going to be living here now for a while.”

  Austin opened his mouth to say something, but she held up a hand. Garrett couldn’t help but think Austin should know by now he shouldn’t speak until she was finished. Amateur.

  “I want you to stay with the kids, Austin. Garrett will come with me and we’ll be back in a little while.” Her tone brooked no argument, so Garrett handed over the things he’d taken from the basement. Austin took them, giving him a wary look.

  “I have no problem going with you, but I think we should cycle over there to save fuel. I still have your bicycle in the garage.”

  Alice nodded and the two of them went out to check the air in the tires and get going. Austin watched them from the window, glowering the whole time while Garrett got the bikes ready.

  “I don’t know if this is such a good idea for you. Isn’t it going to hurt you to cycle in your condition?” Alice glared at him, and he threw his hands up in surrender.

  “Okay, just worried about you.” The two of them got on the bicycles, and Alice waved to Austin through the window.

  The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and it seemed like all was right with the world, except nobody was outside enjoying it. Looking over at Alice, Garrett couldn’t help thinking back to the rides they had taken as a family. He missed those days and something made him want to know if she remembered as well.

  “You look lost in your own mind. Penny for your thoughts?” Alice always could read him like an open book. He smiled at her, thinking she was more beautiful every time he saw her.

  “I was just thinking about all of the long bike rides we used to go on as a family. The places we’ve visited, the camping we’ve done, just to bike certain trails. That is something I miss. I know it’s in the past, but it’s something I wouldn’t mind doing again.”

  Alice felt a pang. She’d forgotten about those rides. It seemed like almost everything prior to Austin had left her mind, and she’d simply started over. Guilt washed over her and she let her hair hang down over the side of her face to hide it.

  “Those were some good t
imes. I think the girls would like to do that again.”

  Her tone of voice had changed, and he tried to ascertain what was going through her head, but it was a steel trap he couldn’t crack. The rest of the ride was spent in silence, and Garrett couldn’t help thinking he’d pushed her away somehow in the short span of this ride. When they arrived at the house, they both parked their bikes by the front porch and Alice took her keys out of her pocket to unlock the door. Garrett really only had come along to protect her while she gathered what she wanted, so he decided to stand watch at the door until she told him she needed him.

  “Can you pack up all the food? I want to grab a couple things from the attic.”

  Garrett nodded and went to work in the kitchen with one of the backpacks they’d brought. Alice watched him for a second or two, then went up the stairs to gather some things. How much time passed, Garrett didn’t know, but eventually he heard her footsteps on the stairs. When he turned around, he saw she had a stack of photo albums in her hands. One of them jumped out at him. It was white, bound in satin, and shimmered in the dull light from the window.

  “Is that our wedding album?” His voice was carefully controlled. She looked down at the stack in her arms and saw the one he meant. She smiled weakly at him and nodded.

  “Why did you bother keeping that one? I thought you were so done with me you wanted nothing but the kids to remind you of me.” Alice winced at the words she’d hurled at him angrily before their divorce, and it instantly made Garrett regret letting them come back to his lips now.

  “No matter what happened between us, we still had some good memories. This was one of the happiest days of my life. Even though things didn’t work out between us, that won’t change.” Her words warmed his heart, and he turned around to cram some more food into the backpack.

  “I feel the need to remind you it wasn’t my choice or decision to split up.”

  A heavy silence fell between them, and Alice finally broke it by walking away. Once Garrett had finished his job, he came to look for her. She’d thrown a few more sentimental items into her bag, then put in something that raised Garrett’s eyebrows. He hadn’t even known she’d owned a gun, and yet here she was packing it. He turned his head and pretended not to notice.

  “I’m ready to go, I guess.” He didn’t say a word until they were outside on their bicycles again.

  “Let’s go by the supermarket. Maybe we can get a couple of more things to pad our supplies.” She nodded, then turned her bike to follow him.

  The ride now had an uncomfortable silence to it, whereas the one they had taken there had been warm and friendly. As the supermarket loomed into the distance, Garrett let out a whistle. Queues of people were going into the store, and people were leaving with shopping carts crammed as full as they could get. A few police officers were standing around, keeping order as people came and went.

  “Do you really want to get into those lines?” Alice seemed skeptical anything even would be left when they got in there.

  “No. I don’t want to waste any more time away from the house if we don’t need to do so. I know I can keep everyone safe there, but only I know where everything is. I’d rather be home protecting all of you.”

  “You were right. The sheriff just made it worse by telling everyone what we thought was going on. This is going to lead to riots and insanity, and I know people are going to get hurt. I think they should have listened to you and kept it quiet for as long as they could.” Garrett’s eyebrow shot up in amazement. He didn’t want to ruin the cordial tone by pointing out she left him because of his ideas.

  “There’s nothing we can do about it now, but something tells me it’s going to get much worse in a very short amount of time. Let’s get home. I want to make sure things are still okay and the street hasn’t exploded in violence while we were gone.”

  Alice nodded and turned her bike for home again. The ride now seemed somewhat warmer, but Garrett didn’t want to start a conversation that could ruin the companionable silence.

  Riding down their street, Garrett saw Brooke was sitting on the front porch, talking and laughing with Nat, the stocky rounded face kid with copper colored hair. It made Garrett smile to see her so happy, because he hadn’t seen genuine happiness in his daughter since he started his doomsday prepping. Thinking he might be able to ride the wave of happiness and talk to Brooke himself, Garrett went to park his bike, and when he looked up, he saw Brooke and Nat were gone. Panic set in until he looked around and saw they had gone across the street to Nat’s house to sit on the porch. Garrett didn’t cry as a rule, but this cut him deeply, and he could feel a slight moisture in his eyes.

  Alice caught the look of pain on Garrett’s face and laid a reassuring hand on his arm. He inhaled deeply and busied himself making sure the bikes were hidden in the garage before closing the door so no one would get in to take them.

  “She’s just being an emotional teenager. Don’t take it to heart. She’s been moody for so long now she doesn’t know how to be anything else.”

  Garrett barely even heard her words. He wanted to believe them because it would hurt less than the truth, but he knew he couldn’t. In the end, it was his fault. He’d lost Alice because of his crazy ideas, and now his daughter as well. She was here because she had to be but he knew, deep down inside, she rather would have been home with her mother and Austin. That cut him to the quick, but he just would have to do his best to hide that. Alice could see the stoniness of his face, so she took her backpack and went into the house. She’d learned by now that when he got like this there was nothing she could do to penetrate the walls he threw up around himself. The only thing she could do was wait for him to pull himself out and come talk.

  Garrett stood there for a few more minutes, watching Brooke. She and Nat were having a great time talking and laughing, and in the end, he realized this was the best thing for her. With the craziness he knew was coming, it was good she had someone her own age to talk to and relieve some of the stress and the pent-up anger he knew she carried inside of her. He hoped he could at least provide that service to his younger daughter, but she was more like him, so he wasn’t too worried she would shut him out.

  It took everything in him just to turn around and walk into the house. He took his backpack and went straight down to the basement, letting himself get lost in cataloguing the new supplies with the system he’d already worked out. Garrett was in the groove, lost in his own little world, when he felt the tug at his elbow. He jumped about a foot in the air and spun around, hands up in a protective stance.

  “Hi, Daddy. I thought you might need some help.” Unfazed, Jenny just stood there, unflinching, smiling up at him with a light shining in her eyes.

  “Hey, Honey. What’s going on? Do you guys need me upstairs?” Jenny just shook her head and reached into the backpack that was on the ground at his feet.

  “Just wanted to come see if you were okay and needed help. Mom said you looked a little sad when you came home.” Garrett’s heart swelled.

  This little girl was so amazing. He couldn’t believe he had helped to make her. He got down onto her level and opened his arms. She ran into his embrace without a second thought. Holding her tightly anchored him back into the world of normalcy…at least as much as he could be.

  “Thanks, Jenny. If you want you can hand me stuff from the backpack and I’ll show you how I have everything sorted.” Her smile brightened the dingy basement, and worked as a balm to heal the hurt caused by Brooke’s indifference.

  Chapter Seven

  Bang! Bang! A sharp knocking woke Garrett the next morning, and he instantly reached for the pistol he had kept within arm’s reach. He’d stayed on the couch keeping watch, and that was where he apparently had fallen asleep. He waited to hear if anyone from upstairs had heard the incessant knocking, but no sound reached his ears from that direction. Getting stiffly to his feet and stretching, Garrett made his way to the front door, listening to every joint creak as he moved. When he ope
ned the door, the first thing he saw was a fist close to his face. Immediately he backed up. Once he was far enough away to focus on every part of the person at his door, he saw it was John. Somehow, that didn’t make him feel any better. He put the pistol down on the table behind the door where John couldn’t reach it, and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Can I help you with something?” Garrett’s tone was frigid, and he kept his stance loose in case he had to make any quick movements.

  “Just wanted to be neighborly and see how you folks were doing.” Garrett raised an eyebrow but didn’t offer any information about his family.

  “Weather’s holding up nicely. This is the kind of day where everyone would be at the beach or at the pool having a grand time.” Garrett didn’t know what exactly was on John’s mind, but obviously the man was trying to work himself up to a point.

  “Yeah, it would be. Too bad the kids have to suffer right now.”

  Garrett didn’t feel like making it any easier for the man, but he at last gave him something. John looked down at his hands and sighed heavily. Garrett had to force his face to stay neutral because he really wanted to smile at the man’s discomfort. It served him right for being such an ass earlier. He really had to admit he was enjoying this.

  “Okay, I guess there’s no other way around it. I came over here to try talking to you. I’ve been keeping an eye on the things happening around town and, as much as I don’t want to admit it, I think you’re right. This is going to get worse, and I need to start thinking about my family. Kayleigh and Nat are my whole world, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for them. I came over here to tell you I am willing to buy some of the extra food from the large stock of supplies you have.”