The Reversion (Stonemont Book 1) Read online

  He stepped out of the truck and saw Kelly standing in the doorway. “Looks like we're in good shape,” he said, following her back into the kitchen.

  He opened the tactical pack and started pulling out the ribs, beans, slaw and remaining sandwiches, placing them on the counter. “Here, I brought dinner.” He stopped and leaned back against the counter, looking at Kelly and putting out his arms. “Come here.”

  Kelly walked into his arms and rested her hands on his arms as he rested his on her hips. “You think we have time for that?” she smiled.

  Jim chuckled. “I wish.” Then he looked at her seriously. “There's no way to know how serious this is yet. We'll be fine, but we need to make a few changes starting right now.”

  Kelly looked up at Jim's face. Ever since they had started dating he had made her feel safe. He knew things that most people didn't, at least in her circle, and he always seemed to be in control of his world. At first, a lot of it had seemed weird to her, even paranoid, and she had teased him about it, even argued a bit. But little by little she had learned more about him and the life he had led, though she knew he hadn't told her everything. She had never known anyone like him, and others had said the same thing about him to her. If there was a problem, Jim knew what to do. “Okay. What do you want me to do?”

  “First, get your gun and keep it on you. Always. I don't think it will get bad quite yet, but no use taking chances. We'll keep the driveway gate locked and the kids close to the house where we can always see them. I'm going to add some lights and additional alarms around the place. The dogs will let us know if anyone comes around, but we'll bring Max inside at night.” He paused, looking at her with a smile. “But the main thing I want you to do is to meet me upstairs after we tuck the kids in tonight.”

  She giggled and stretched up to kiss him. “Mmmm, I think I might like this emergency.”

  2

  Christian Bell lay motionless under the low hanging branches of a large pine tree, watching the road below him. The day before yesterday had been a hell of a day and this one was shaping up to be just as interesting.

  He had been watching his coffee cup filling from the machine in the ER galley when the lights and everything else went off. The emergency room had been slow, and most of the doctors and nurses had been chatting or browsing the internet, so the sudden blackout was greeted with laughter and jokes, an almost welcome break in an otherwise boring day.

  It hadn't taken him long to have a pretty good idea about what had happened. His radio and pager had both blacked out, as had both his personal and security cell phones, and, from what he had heard around him, so had everything else. The standby generators had not kicked on, and, checking the Jeep, he found it to be dead too. He had walked through the hospital, followed by people attracted to his flashlight, until he found the other officer. Together, they had checked the elevators, extracted several visitors who had been trapped, and returned to the security office where they found the safety manager waiting for them and pacing nervously inside the ambulance bay.

  "Where have you two been?" the manager had demanded. "All the electrical systems are down and the emergency generators didn't come on."

  Christian walked past the manager into the security office and started unbuttoning his shirt. "Getting people out of elevators and yes, we know."

  "We need you posted at the entrances."

  Christian looked at him. "Why?"

  The manager started getting flustered, not liking having his authority questioned. "We're not sure what's going on. We can't raise anybody outside the hospital. We need to secure the facility."

  Christian checked the shirt pockets for anything he wanted to take with him and hung it on a hook. Then he turned to the manager. "Jeff, look outside." He put his hand on the manager's shoulder and turned him toward the windows. "Do you see any cars moving?"

  Jeff looked out at the normally busy street below them. "No. So what?"

  "Did they ever talk about EMP at any of those seminars and conferences you were always going to?"

  Jeff started to look less confused and more concerned. "Yeah."

  "Well, I think that's what we've got."

  "Then we need to secure the hospital!"

  "Why?"

  "In case people try to get in here!"

  "Well, Jeff, if people are hurt or sick I hope they do get in here. Maybe they can get some help, at least for a while. And if a big bunch of bad guys try to get in here, what would you like us to keep them out with, our personalities and these cute little Tasers you let us carry?"

  "You're an ex-cop. Don't you have a gun in your car?"

  Christian scoffed. "You mean the gun you would have fired me for having if I'd brought it in an hour ago?"

  Jeff chewed on his lip, not knowing what to say. Then, "This is different. This is an emergency!"

  Christian shook his head. He had tried to get the hospital to allow the security officers to carry firearms for several years, with no success. The answer was always cost and liability, the last refuge of the corporate administrator. "And, of course, it wouldn't have been an emergency if someone had walked in yesterday and pointed a gun at us, right?"

  He turned away. "You better get your head around this, Jeff. Anyone who was on life support upstairs is either already dead or soon will be. You have no lights, no air conditioning, no refrigeration for food or meds and a whole bunch of people in the building whose cars won't get them away from here. You're the big emergency management guy, so I hope you can find something in one of your manuals to tell you what to do. I can't do anything here, so I'm going somewhere I can. Good luck."

  With that, he had turned around and walked out to his truck.

  It had only taken him a few minutes to change out of his duty boots and into some hikers, throw a lightweight field jacket over his t-shirt and put his gun belt on. He had taken to wearing a separate gun belt several years before because it allowed him more versatility than hanging holsters, mag pouches and other things directly onto his regular belt. Plus, it was more comfortable. His uncle Jim had introduced the concept to him and he thought about Jim now.

  Pulling his AR out from behind the seat, he laid it in the bed, then hauled his rucksack out of the truck box. He was strapping it on when he saw a paramedic walking toward him, also wearing a backpack and carrying a rifle. The man looked to be in his mid-twenties, several years younger than Christian's thirty-two.

  Christian nodded at the paramedic and chuckled. "I feel like I'm looking in a mirror."

  The paramedic smiled as he walked up and stuck out his hand. "I'm Mike. I thought I was the only one like me around here."

  Christian shook his hand and nodded. "Secret's out, I guess. Where you headed?"

  Mike looked around slowly. "Not really sure yet. How about you?"

  Christian tightened the waist belt and chest straps of his pack. "My uncle lives down in Miami County. We always said that if anything like this happened I'd go there." He looked at Mike. "You have family around here?"

  Mike shook his head. "Nope. My folks are in South Carolina. My sister's at school in Georgia. An ex-girlfriend is all I have here." He laughed. "Or had."

  "What do you have there?" Christian looked at the rifle Mike carried in his right hand. It was a bolt action with a camo stock and a serious scope.

  ".308".

  "You a hunter?"

  “Sort of. Sniper."

  "Army?"

  "Marines."

  Christian nodded, locking his door and picking up his rifle "Well, you're welcome to come along with me if you want."

  Mike nodded and smiled, slinging his rifle over his shoulder. "May as well."

  They had walked until dusk, making good time and taking only normal precautions when meeting others along the way. The situation was still new and most people were shocked and confused, not yet understanding the full scope or ramifications of what had happened.

  The walk had given them a chance to get to know each other a bit.


  Mike had left college out of boredom after his sophomore year and joined the Marines. His natural athletic ability and attraction to challenge had taken him into Recon, but he had soon become disillusioned with how the military was being used and didn't re-up when the time came. He had followed a nurse from California to Leavenworth, Kansas and become a paramedic, which appealed to his desire to help people. The girl didn't last, but the job did, and he found himself in the Midwest just marking time until he decided what he wanted to do next.

  Christian shared a brief synopsis of his history, saying little more than he had been a cop and wasn't anymore.

  At dusk, they had found a stand of pine trees overlooking an interchange of secondary highways and slid in under the lower branches, making themselves comfortable and taking turns on watch through the night.

  The following day was a repeat of the first, with bright Kansas sunshine and miles of highways littered with increasingly confused and worried people. By sundown, they had reached the intersection of highways 7 and 10, which Christian explained was getting close to the outskirts of Olathe and still a couple of days walk to his uncle's.

  There was a collection of people at the intersection who had come together out of their mutual fear, so they pushed on a couple more miles to find a more easily concealed and defensible position. Having made do with protein and candy bars from their go bags the night before and through the day, they built a small fire and cooked up several packets of instant oatmeal from Christian's bag and an Asian noodle Knorr's side packet from Mike's. After eating, they cleaned their stainless steel bowls, drank their evening ration of water, put out the fire, then, after it got dark, moved several hundred yards farther on in order to throw off anyone who might have been watching them. Again, they rotated watches throughout the night.

  Christian was on watch at daybreak. Within a few minutes, the rear door of an SUV on the highway below him opened and a man got out. The man walked a short distance behind the vehicle and into the ditch, then stood there for a couple of minutes, obviously answering nature's morning call. The man then returned to the vehicle and several minutes later two women got out of the SUV and walked across the ditch and into a stand of trees. After a few minutes, they emerged and returned to the vehicle where the man was now removing things from the rear cargo area and an attached rental trailer.

  Christian lay motionless under the pine tree with just his eyes above the crest of the small hill, watching the road. The man and two women were removing boxes and plastic tubs from the vehicle, going through some and setting others aside on the shoulder of the highway.

  The sound of breaking glass drew his attention to the east, where he saw several men milling around a car about a quarter of a mile away on the opposite side of the divided highway, leaning into the car and throwing things out onto the ground. He watched as the men finished with the car and started walking in the direction of the SUV, whose occupants were still going through various boxes.

  Without turning, he spoke quietly to Mike. "You awake?"

  "Am now."

  "We have some activity on the road."

  Mike rolled smoothly from his back to his stomach, bringing his rifle up as he looked through the scope. "Looks like mom and dad and daughter. Daughter's cute."

  "Look down the road to the right."

  Mike swept the road with his scope until he acquired the three men walking toward them. "Uh huh. Three fine citizens."

  He studied them for a minute. "The big guy in the white t-shirt looks like a prison tat map. The one in the red shirt is drinking from a bottle and has a pistol stuck in his belt, Mexican style. The third guy's wearing a camo t-shirt and looks fairly clean. I make tats as the leader."

  Christian watched the family as they continued going through their boxes, pulling out things and setting them aside. "They'll get here in a few minutes. Let's wait and see how this plays out. Are you ready to go?"

  "When you are."

  It took about five minutes for the looters to realize there were people at the SUV and another ten for them to begin approaching them from across the median. The family was oblivious to the trio's approach, since they were on the ditch side of their vehicle and intent on sorting out their things. Tats and camo came around the front of the SUV and red shirt came around the back. By the time the family realized they were in the pincers of the three, it was too late.

  Christian and Mike watched as the three looters approached the family. The father placed himself between his family and tats and camo, who he obviously felt were the greater threat. Tats was talking while red shirt moved up closer to the women. Christian had seen this cat and mouse act a hundred times. The bullies always liked to make their victims squirm before they struck, the only variable being how serious the attack would be.

  The situation was obviously escalating between tats and the father when tats kicked the father in the groin and followed up with a hard punch to the side of the head. As the father collapsed, tats mounted him, holding him down.

  The mother and daughter rushed to defend the father but were grabbed by the others, red shirt grabbing the mother by her hair and pulling her into a choke hold and camo throwing the daughter to the ground, straddling her and pinning her wrists to the ground above her head with one hand as he put the other on her throat.

  The girl was screaming, trying to squirm loose and kneeing camo in the back, while the mother was kicking in the air and trying to scratch at the face of the man holding her.

  Christian got to his feet. "Let's go."

  The screams and crying of the women combined with the muffled struggles of the father covered the noise of Christian and Mike's footsteps, and the attackers were unaware of their approach until they heard Christian say, "Good morning."

  The thugs jerked away from their victims, the two on the ground standing up, and each starting to reach for a weapon until they saw the rifles pointed at them.

  The women took the opportunity to break free of their attackers, the daughter delivering a kick to camo's leg as she got up.

  "Sorry we're late," said Christian. "Is this the before-breakfast dance?

  He looked at the group. "You idiots - that would be you, you and you," Christian indicated each thug with the muzzle of his rifle, "real slowly, lace your fingers behind your heads and get away from these nice people."

  As the thugs slowly complied, the women quickly rushed over to the father, helping him up.

  Christian glanced at the family, confident that Mike was watching the thugs. "Are you folks okay, I mean considering you've just been knocked around by these ass-hats?"

  The women nodded, though each was trembling. The father managed a feeble "Yeah."

  Christian returned his attention to the thugs, who were now standing with their hands behind their heads. He stepped closer. "Let's see if you assholes can follow a few simple instructions. Get on your knees."

  Camo glared at him. "Who the he'll are you? You ain't no cops!"

  The muzzle of Christian's rifle struck camo in the solar plexus before camo could react. The stock of the AR didn't lend itself to a butt stroke, but Christian's brutal kick to the groin collapsed camo to the ground gagging.

  "I'm the guy helping you get on your knees," said Christian. Then he looked at the other two. "Anyone else need help?"

  Tats and red shirt got on their knees, watching Christian closely.

  "Very good," said Christian. "You two must be the smart ones." He motioned with the muzzle of his rifle, "Now, everyone on their stomachs, hands behind your heads, eating dirt and ankles crossed." He jabbed camo with his rifle. "You too, tough guy."

  All three lowered themselves to the position Christian had told them to, camo with some difficulty.

  "Very good. I think you guys have done this before. Now, I think you were all reaching to give my friend and me something when we interrupted you. I think I'll just see what it was while you boys lay real still, just like you were dead, if you get my meaning."

&nbs
p; Mike moved around to cover the three prone thugs while Christian let his AR hang, drew his pistol with his right hand and approached camo. "You first, princess. Lay there just like sleeping beauty."

  Christian searched camo, coming up with a Glock 9mm, then searched the other two, finding a .38 revolver and a large hunting knife. Putting these in his waistband and pockets, he took three cable ties from his pack and secured the thugs' wrists behind their backs. He then took a length of paracord and, cutting it into three sections, tied the crossed ankles of each. Tats tried to kick, which earned him an extra length of cord tying his ankles to his wrists.

  Christian straightened up. "Okay, boys, you just lay there for a while and think about what you've done wrong, and what might happen next."

  With that, he turned back to the family, who were beginning to calm down. A large lump was forming on the left side of the father's face, and the daughter was attempting to hold the front of her blouse closed where it had been torn open. The mother seemed okay, though disheveled. He extended his hand to the father. "I'm Christian Bell. This is Mike ..." He turned toward Mike and paused, realizing he didn't know his last named,

  "Mike Carpenter," Mike said, nodding to the family and smiling.

  The father accepted Christian's hand. "Bill Garner. This is my wife, Ann, and our daughter, Tracy. Thank you," he paused, taking a deep breath, "for what you did."

  Christian and Mike both nodded to the women, who nodded back. "Believe me, it was our pleasure. You all get stuck out here while traveling?"

  Bill nodded. "We came out to pick Tracy up from school. She just graduated from law school and we were headed back to Ohio when our vehicle went dead."

  "So, you've been sitting here since the day before yesterday?"

  Bill nodded again. "Yeah. There were other people around here who stalled out too, but they all started walking after the first night. I guess they lived closer around here, or at least had an idea where to go.” He looked down the highway. “We're a long way from anywhere we know, so we decided to wait and see if help came along. This morning we decided we'd better get some things together and start walking." He looked at the three men on the ground. "Then they showed up."