Desolation
- Автор: Akart Bobby
- Серия: Nuclear Winter #5
- Год: 2021
- Язык: английский
- Год: Crown Publishers Inc.
- Жанр: Пост-апокалипсис
Электронная книга - «Desolation». Краткое содержание книги:
In order to survive, some became territorial, shunning outsiders.
Those in positions of leadership wielded it like a club.
While others resisted.
This is how the world ends. Not with a bang, but with many nuclear bombs detonated around the planet. It was no longer a topic of conversation around the dinner table as in years past.
Nuclear winter enveloped the planet with its relentless barrage of dark, sooty air. With each passing day, more and more people died. In a desperate attempt to give people a chance to survive, some government leaders chose to marshal the assets of their community. It was a polite way of saying take from those who have and give to those who have not.
Hank Albright and his family were not selfish people. However, they were survivors and they’d prepared for the worst.
What happens when an all-powerful government sets its sights on what you own? Will you willingly give away the food and necessary to keep your family alive? Or, will you fight for what is yours?
For the Albright’s, they stood shoulder to shoulder and declared, I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees.
This is more than the story of nuclear conflict. It’s about the devastating effects wrought by Nuclear Winter. Our possible future is seen through the eyes of the Albright family whose roots stretch back to the early settlement of the Florida Keys.
While they fight for survival, they trek across a rapidly deteriorating landscape wrought with danger from both the elements and their fellow man.
It was not our fight, but it became our problem.
Erin continued with the full-court press. “Are you aware that the Coast Guard has been sent to cordon off any boat traffic in and out of the Keys?”
“I’ve heard about that.”
“And you do know that the next logical step is to send in a couple of Marine battalions to finish what the National Guard was authorized to do, right?”
Lindsey leaned back in her chair and clasped her fingers together in front of her. “I suppose he could do that, but the world wouldn’t stand for it. He’d generate a political firestorm and an unparalleled boondoggle in modern American history.”
Erin glanced at Hank, who remained stoic. He was aware of the time constraints placed upon Erin to act on behalf of the president. Accordingly, she had to play hardball.
“Do you think he’s bluffing? I would not underestimate him. He sees your actions as fostering discontent in other parts of the country. He might just make an example of you.”
Lindsey laughed. If she was threatened by Erin’s straight talk, she didn’t show it. She abruptly stood, catching Hank and Erin off guard. “Well, I’ve got a county to run, and this conversation isn’t very productive for me to continue. I get the sense the president is taking my actions to protect Monroe County’s citizens a little too personally. When you speak to him, may I suggest he focus on his own shit?”
And with that, the conversation was over, and the two of them were summarily dismissed.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Wednesday, November 13
Key West
They had barely left the administration building when Erin issued her opinion of Mayor Lindsey Free. “She certainly chose the right career. That woman is a vulture who belongs in the halls of Congress.”
Hank let out a nervous laugh. He was not a confrontational person by nature, so the toe-to-toe exchange between the two politicians had made him somewhat uneasy.
“She’s always been stubborn and righteous, too. There’s no way she’ll leave office willingly. We’ve got a helluva fight on our hands.”
“Sadly, you’re right. If anything, she’ll set her sights on us as soon as she can.”
Hank glanced at his watch. He hadn’t worn it in the nearly four weeks since the nuclear missiles began flying. There were no appointments to be kept or places to be. Today, however, Mike had given them a precise time when he planned to return to the administration building to pick them up. It was more than two and a half hours from now, which gave them plenty of time to start walking along Truman Avenue toward the sheriff’s department.
“Are you up for a walk?” asked Hank.
“Yeah. I’d like to see more of Key West.”
Hank broached the subject carefully without doing anything to offend Erin for the approach she’d taken with Lindsey. There was no good way to talk to the mayor, so he couldn’t fault Erin for trying to make her points.
“Is there a chance the president is bluffing? I mean, would he really send in the Marines?”
She raised her eyebrows and shrugged. After rolling her head around her neck to relieve some tension, she replied, “I could answer that question better if I’d been in the room with the president when he issued his instructions to Chandler. I don’t trust Chandler, and the subtle threat may have been his own doing. That said, the president can be flighty. Oftentimes making decisions ruled by his emotional state at the time. Even if he didn’t say it, Chandler spoke for him, so I have to assume it to be his directive.”
“Would we have better luck by staying out of everybody’s way and allowing the military the opportunity to take care of Lindsey?” he asked.
“If it goes that far, the president will want to install one of his political cronies. Most likely someone who’d receive the blessing of the governor. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t. Especially when you consider the law enforcement duties could be taken over by the U.S. military instead of your sheriff and those serving beneath him.”
Hank grimaced. Lindsey had put them all in an untenable situation, and now they had to move quickly before the president lost patience or confidence in Erin’s ability to deliver a peaceful resolution.
As they walked up Truman Avenue to the point where it became Roosevelt Avenue, they both pointed out the looted buildings and the number of people who were sleeping in makeshift tents. Several businesses had been burned out, and most had their windows broken. The town looked like a war zone, and it was just a matter of time before every business was stripped of anything of value.
Even the car dealerships across from the marina weren’t spared. People desperate for gasoline had attempted to siphon what little fuel the dealership’s vehicles had in them. A row of three Jeep Rubicons had caught on fire, likely because someone had attempted to drill a hole in the underside of a gas tank, creating sparks that ignited the fuel.
Up the street, the scooter rental store was being pillaged as they walked by. Hank quickly pulled Erin with him to cross the street so they didn’t come into contact with the looters. The scooters weren’t the target of the thieves. They wanted the bicycles that had been shackled together in front of the store. One man tried to hold a bike on his back as he pedaled away on another one he’d stolen. He could barely control the handlebars as he pedaled.
“It will go on like this, Hank, until somebody steps in and stops it,” said Erin. “Every retail store followed by residences of all types will be looted.”
They walked another ten minutes, pointing out damage to property and the occasional dead body that had been covered with palm fronds. It was a disturbing and depressing scene that started to weigh heavily on Hank.
Then they came upon the Gordon’s Food Service location. The aftermath of the sheriff’s office raid and the ensuing gun battle shocked them both. Bloodstains filled the parking lot. Torn sheets and bedding were used to cover the dead, held in place by small coquina boulders. People were still filing in and out of the building, desperate to find any morsel of food to sustain them for another day. While Hank and Erin paused to take in the scene, a man approached them.
“Say, do you have anything to eat that you can spare?”
“No, sir, we don’t,” replied Hank. “I’m sorry. Can you tell me what happened here?”
“Sheriff’s department came in like stormtroopers. The store had been boarded up, and all of us who live around here knew it was being guarded. That’s why we never messed with ’em.”
“Who?” asked Erin.
“Hired guns,” he replied. “Some were ex-military. Others were just tough guys who were good with a weapon. Anyway, the SWAT team showed up in their military trucks and began to peel off the plywood. That’s when the bullets started flyin’.”
Hank pointed at the dead bodies and the pools of blood that had soaked into the asphalt. “The SWAT team was all the way out here?”
“No, sir. That’s what I’m sayin’. The bullets were flyin’. Most of these dead people are my neighbors. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. You know what I mean?”
Hank closed his eyes and shook his head. Erin reached over and squeezed his hand.
She looked to the old man. “Did you hear the sheriff’s deputies say anything about what they were doing?”
“I didn’t, but my buddy over there did,” he replied and pointed toward the shaded areas in front of Centennial Bank, where several newly homeless people gathered around. “He said the mayor ordered these raids to feed everyone. When we asked for food, they said we had to wait for the distributions in a week or so.”