The Revelation

Special Announcement!

2012-02-12T19:23:00.000-05:00

Hi, folks! Sorry for the delay -- I've had some interesting events happen this week. I've been in discussions with a publishing company to publish my book in its entirety. The details haven't quite been worked out yet, but I'm super excited about that! Unfortunately, at this point it means that I won't be able to post any additional chapters on the website. But the good news is that I will be able to provide free advance reader copies when it's done, and I will post that here for folks to see when they're available. (So keep me in your RSS feed reader!) Now that I've got a deadline, I'll have to buckle down and write at a more consistent pace. As soon as we have publication date, I'll let you know. Any and all future news about the book will be posted here.

You've all been wonderful! It's not the end, though. (Well, that's a pun if I ever wrote one, LOL) I'll be seeing you soon. Your prayers for a successful project will be appreciated.

Blessings,
~Maria

Sorry folks... I need another day or two!

2012-02-05T20:02:00.000-05:00

Well, it' Superbowl Sunday, and while everyone else was preparing to watch the game of the year, I had expected to spend the day finishing up the next chapter. Only it was sunny and 40 degrees here in Michigan. Unheard of for February! Tomorrow's supposed to be even nicer. So instead of writing, I spent my entire day outside and didn't write a single word. And now I'm too tired and achy to sit in front of a computer. I'm going to take long hot shower and go lie in bed to watch some TV.

Forgive me??? Come back soon... it will be worth it. I promise! =D

Coming in 72 Hours... New Chapter!

2012-02-02T22:58:00.001-05:00

Hi, folks! SO sorry for the delay -- life is just as crazy around here as it ever was. I barely can find time to breathe, let alone write. I'm in the midst of packing, moving, traveling and learning new tasks at work. I appreciate all of the comments! Believe me when I say that value (and consider) each and every one of them. Some of you had some great suggestions for fixes and corrections, and I do plan on implementing them as soon as I come up for water.

In the mean time, my plan is to post the next chapter on Sunday night. Come back now, ya hear? ;o)

God bless!!
~Maria

P.S. I haven't the faintest clue why the post dates aren't showing up (just the times are). Beats the heck out of me. My settings are correct, so something must be funky with my HTML. And I don't have the energy to deal with funky HTML until this weekend. Wish me luck with that one!

An Update...

2012-01-22T10:04:00.000-05:00

Greetings! My sincerest apologies for all those that keep coming back to check for more chapters. I appreciate the comments and emails and messages -- it warms my heart to know that I have such a loyal following, and I appreciate you all.

I just closed on a new home! I'm super excited about that -- it's the first real "home" I've had in many, many years, since most of my life has been spent living out of rentals and apartments. This place is on an acre of land, backing up to miles and miles of national forest. I'm grinning from ear to ear, and very blessed. God has been SO good to me. I also found out that I'll soon be promoted to a manager's position, which is also a huge blessing. But it also means a much bigger work load.

Since I have to move in a month, most of my free time is spent packing. I can't say when I will get the next chapter(s) up. I think at this point, it will probably be a few weeks. I'm going to try to block out a few days in my calendar so I can knock out a chapter or two. I haven't even been chatting it up on various message boards or websites, so thank you for those who checked in to make sure all was alright.

Everything is great -- just extremely busy. I will shout the word out when the next pieces are posted. Thank you!! And God bless...

Sorry for the delay...

2012-01-11T17:11:00.001-05:00

Hi, folks! I'm apologizing for the delay in getting the next chapter(s) out. I just bought a new home and will be consumed with packing and moving over the next month or two. I wish I could pack and write at the same time, but that level of multi-tasking is just not something I've mastered yet. Not to mention I still have my day-job. =)

I appreciate your patience! Please be sure to subscribe to an RSS feed for become a follower, so that you can be immediately notified when those new chapters are up. (I'll do my VERY best to have a new chapter up this weekend.) Thanks ever so much!

Happy New Year!!

Who would play my characters in a movie?

2011-12-31T12:21:00.004-05:00

Well, now that we're knee-deep into the story, I find myself imagining it as a movie. I tend to do that with all the books I read. I search my mind for that particular actor or actress that fits the imagined looks and profile of the character in the novel, and then the rest of the book plays out with my movie-stars in their respective starring roles.

So with my book, I pondered it for only a little while before finding exactly the right celebrities to play the parts of the characters I've imagined. I hope this doesn't ruin your thoughts of my characters. Perhaps it enhances the story for you. In any case, are these close to what you had pictured? If not, share your comments on who you think would be ideal. I picked these actors not only based on looks, but personality, too. I wish I could post pictures, but to err on the side of caution with copyright, I simply posted the links. Feel free to click on each name to be taken to the appropriate photo. Of course, if my book WAS ever to be made into a movie, I'm highly doubting I'd be so privileged as to have all of these fine actors and actresses playing such a spiritual film. And Peyton Hillis isn't an actor, but a pro-football player, but hey... it's all fantasy, right? In my world, he fits Gino to a "T." Of course, I've always loved Kirk Cameron, too -- ever since I was 13 years old. So I'd want to give him a part. If you've read up to Chapter 9, then you've read about Mitch, Carol and Mitch's brother, John, who is an antique car enthusiast. John has a wife and son. I think Kirk would be great for the role of John. To find out more about those characters, you'll have to stay tuned!

ANNALISE (Ginnifer Goodwin)

JUSTIN (Ryan Gosling)

VICKY (Ali Larter)

GINO (Peyton Hillis)

KAYLA (Alison Sweeney)

TRISTAN (John Cena)

JAN (Neve Campbell)

P.S. A reader just emailed me to say that they thought Sandra Bullock would be perfect in the roll of Jan. How fun is that? I agree -- great choice! =D

Chapter 9

2011-12-28T18:10:00.006-05:00

Chapter 9

Later that evening, just as Annalise was putting the finishing touches on the salad, chicken and rice that she had made for dinner, Gino and Justin came walking through the door. Immediately the scent of curry hit their noses.

“Curry? At a time like this?” Justin said frowning.

Annalise shrugged, walking over to him. “Is there any wrong time for curry? I had the sauce, and the chicken and rice were easy to cook on the stove. I just cut up the chicken with a bit of onion and garlic, and simmered it. It should be done in ten minutes or so.

“It smells delicious,” Gino said, looking tired and weary. “Strong, but delicious.” He was holding a Heineken bottle in his hand. Annalise noticed that Justin had one as well. Just as he raised it to his lips to take a large swig, Annalise chastised them. “Gentlemen! What in the heck? I know we live out in the boonies, but you should not be drinking and driving!” She put her hands on her hips and looked genuinely irritated.

Justin and Gino looked at each other. Gino shook his head and Justin put his arm around Annalise. “Hon, I’m guessing that the stress of the day has gotten to you. The only thing we drove were shovels into the ground. No cars work right now… remember? We rode bikes. And I don’t think there’s a law against drinking and riding bikes. At least not on the days when you bury a family member.”

Annalise put her hand to her forehead and looked sheepishly at them. “Geez, I completely forgot. Sorry, guys. I can’t tell you how many times I flicked on the light in the bathroom or went to go grab for my iPhone. The little habits are so engrained!” She looked carefully at their worn-out, grieving faces. Her heart was heavy and sad, and she felt so badly for the task that these two had been forced to do that afternoon. “How did it go?” she asked.

“How’s Kayla?” Justin asked instead, preferring not to answer her question just yet. His eyes felt tired and gritty, and he didn’t want to talk about the burial at the moment. He wrapped Annalise in a big hug and she clung to him tightly. The comfort of his arms made her heart ache, and tears filled her eyes for the hundredth time that day.

“She’s not good,” Annalise said, her voice muffled into Justin’s shirt. “She’s asleep right now. The poor thing cried her eyes out earlier. It just about broke my heart.”

Justin squeezed her tighter. “Oh, man. That poor girl. This freakin’ sucks…” He sighed heavily, burying his nose in her hair. “How is it you smell so good? I’d give anything for a hot shower right now.”

“Amen to that!” Gino said, taking a large gulp of his beer.

“Yeah, well you won’t get that anytime soon,” Annalise said, kissing Justin tenderly on the cheek. She knew it probably wasn’t wise to get so close to her husband, especially after he just spent a few hours at Gino’s place, but she couldn’t help it. She missed him, and at that moment she was so grateful that he was alive and right there beside her.

“Where’s Vicky?” Gino asked.

Annalise pulled away from Justin’s embrace and looked at Gino. “Believe it or not, that girl volunteered to help clean out the root cellar. She’s down there now. Can you go get her and tell her to wash up for dinner?”

Gino nodded, and then headed out the door. He was exhausted. Swigging the last of his beer, he set the empty bottle on the porch and then walked around to the other side of the house. The root cellar was an odd one. The only way into it was via an access panel on the far side of the house. It wasn’t even quite a door, because it came off all the way and had no hinges. He noticed that Vicky had set the cellar door to the side, so that it leaned against the wood siding of the house. He peered in and saw her wielding a broom with the end of it covered with a rag. She was wiping the corners of the ceiling free of cobwebs and spiders, and she was making a face as she did so.

Gino chuckled loudly, and Vicky whirled around. She looked at him with a friendly smile. “Hey you,” she greeted.

Gino ducked his head to step under the doorway and then walked down the stone steps into the cool cellar. The evening sun shone ample light down in there, but he saw there were no lights in the room. The space was decent size, maybe twenty feet by ten feet. All of the walls but one were made of hard packed dirt – the other was made of stone and mortar. The other three walls had some type of thin, cement overlay on the bottom half of them. The floor was dirt, although compacted and aged so that it felt like stone beneath his work boots. The ceiling hung low, less than a foot above his head. There were thick wooden beams and pipes running overhead as well. The place was a good, sturdy cellar, but was definitely dark and damp. He couldn’t believe Vicky was down here cleaning it.

“Hey,” he greeted back in return. “Aren’t you a sight? Where’s my camera? I need to take a pic!”

Vicky was in jeans and Ugg boots, wearing one of Justin’s flannel shirts with the sleeves rolled up. Her hair was up in a messy bun on top of her head and she had a large smear of dirt on her cheek. Gino walked over to her and gently wiped his fingers over her cheek to brush away the dirt.

“Yeah, well…” Vicky said, smiling up at him, warming to the touch of his fingers. “Your camera wouldn’t work anyway, mister.”

Gino’s eyes raked over her face. She was beautiful. More beautiful than he had ever seen her before. Somehow, she appeared sexier in an old flannel shirt and messy hair than she did all dressed up in evening wear. He didn’t know if it was the emotion of the day or simply the fact that they were there together in this strange predicament. It was if something had sparked to life inside of him. Suddenly, he wanted her.

He pulled his hand away from her face in an effort to distance himself from her. “Dinner’s in a few minutes. Annalise sent me to tell you to wash up.”

Vicky’s heart was racing as every nerve tingled from his touch. She tried not to look flustered, but she forced her gaze away anyway. She felt how intensely he was watching her, and it gave her butterflies. She tried to appear nonchalant. “And leave all this?” she said mockingly, sweeping her hand to gesture the dirt cellar in an attempt to distract him. Normally she wasn’t so shy, but at that moment she felt too self-conscious in her dirty, dusty state to openly flirt with him.

Gino laughed softly, and then pulled the broom away from her grasp. She turned to him again. “How did it go earlier?”

Now it was Gino’s turn to look away. Abruptly his demeanor changed and his shoulders slumped a bit. “I’m not gonna lie. It sucked. We cried like babies the entire time. I’ve never done anything like that in my life, and it scared the crap out of me. It still doesn’t seem real. None of this does.”

Vicky nodded in understanding. “I kept thinking about you guys. It took a lot of guts to do what you did. Watching Kayla cry her eyes out sucked, too, though. I hope that’s all the tragedy we see around here for a while.”

Gino wasn’t so sure that would be the case, but he kept quiet. He looked around the cellar. “This is a great space. You’re doing a good job. They’re going to be grateful for this when the heat of summer sets in. Anna is going to need to put that garden in fast, if she wants to have this place filled with a harvest.”

Vicky agreed. “Yeah, she and I talked about it earlier. She said that she’d talk it over with you guys at dinner.”

Gino took her hand and led her up the stone steps. Once again the skin on Vicky’s palm prickled. She was acting like a school girl! What was it about this man that set her heart racing? She was sure he could feel her pulse throbbing through her skin, although he seemed to be perfectly at ease. She followed him up out of the cellar and watched him as he placed the cellar door back in the slotted grooves and moved the slide lock into place. He turned to look at her.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he said, smiling at her again. “I’d hate to think of you down in the city by yourself during this crisis.”

She blushed. Blushed! She could feel her cheeks turning red and inwardly cursed herself for acting like she was fourteen. Since when did Vicky Nowak blush? She felt mortified. Maybe it was the fact that she was up here, out of her element and standing in front of this gorgeous man while wearing old clothes and no make-up, but she didn’t feel confident and brazen like she usually did. Her giddy reaction to his words surprised her, but she did her best to cover it up.

“Well, you don’t know…” she replied, walking with him to the front of the house. “Maybe this CME thing didn’t hit down in the city.”

Gino shook his head. “Nope. We’ve got some things that we want to talk women about over dinner, too. We’ve got an interesting story to tell.”

Vicky looked surprised, but then nodded. “Alright then. I’m going to go wash up, and I’ll meet you at the table.”

Gino and Justin had washed thoroughly in the icy river before making their way back over to the Germaines’ cabin, but both still felt grimy. They decided that they, too, would wash up before dinner and waited in the living room for their turn. Annalise was setting the table. “How in the heck do we wash these dishes after dinner without hot water?” she asked.

“You do it like the old-timers do. You heat up water over the stove,” replied Gino.

Annalise rolled her eyes, but just as she was about to retort, Vicky stepped out from the hallway, holding a hand-towel. “Guys…” she said, frowning. “Something’s happened to the water. It was fine one minute, and then it slowed to a trickle. Now it’s just barely dripping.”

“Oh, no… that’s not good,” Justin groaned, getting up. He went over to the kitchen sink and turned on the faucet. Like Vicky had described, it was only dripping out in large droplets that went “Plunk… plunk… plunk,” into the stainless steel sink. “Crap!” he said, raking his fingers through his hair with an exasperated look. “That’s just great.”

“What are we going to do for water?” Annalise asked.

Justin threw up his hands. “Hell if I know. We haul it up from the creek, I guess.”

Annalise thought for a moment, perplexed. “Why would it go out now?”

“Who knows?” Gino said, coming over to sit down at the dining table, which was visible from the other side of the kitchen counter. The whole space was open, so they were able to talk freely back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room. “I can’t find any rhyme or reason as to why some things work and some don’t. One of my old four-wheelers appears to work just fine – I rode it around this afternoon gathering up rocks to see if it would be alright. But the other one – the one that I bought ten years ago at the exact same time and in the exact same model – doesn’t. My new watch from Cabela’s stopped working, but my old one I bought four years ago works fine. Although my chainsaw works okay, my old flashlights don’t. I can’t seem to figure it out.”

“One of your four-wheelers works?” Vicky asked brightly, sitting down next to him at the kitchen table.

He nodded. “Yeah, for now. It seemed like a miracle. I’m betting we’ll appreciate that more than anything.”

“Well, we’ve got plenty of water. There are twenty two-and-a-half-gallon containers of spring water, and fifteen cases of bottles upstairs. We’ll use that if we have to.”

Gino shook his head emphatically. “No. Save that for emergencies. You need to hold onto that. For now, let’s make some rain barrels, and find some containers for hauling water. Be thankful that your stove works. Based on the make-up of some of the other things that stopped working, I can’t see any legitimate reason why that still works, too.”

“Maybe it will end up going out like the well,” Annalise said, bringing over the steaming pans of rice and chicken, placing them on the table on top of pot-holders.

Gino stared down at the chicken dish. “Sooo… what is that?” he asked politely.

“Chicken tikka masala,” said Annalise, snickering. “It’s Indian. You’ll like it. Basically it’s a creamy tomato sauce with onions, garlic and curry. You ladle the chicken pieces and sauce over the rice.”

As Justin began filling everyone’s plates, Annalise went to check on Kayla. She knocked softly, but heard no reply. She opened the door and saw that the woman was sleeping soundly, snoring ever so slightly. She knew Kayla hadn’t eaten much that day and needed to keep her strength up, but she just didn’t have the heart to wake her. She shut the door softly and walked back down the hall. The sun was low in the sky, casting beautiful orange rays of light in through the side windows. The whole house had a golden, peaceful glow about it. She smiled as she grabbed the pitcher of iced tea off the counter and filled everyone’s glasses with it.

“She okay? Is she coming out to eat?” Justin asked, peering at her curiously. “And why are you smiling?”

“Oh, just admiring the setting sun,” Annalise replied. “Kayla is sleeping, and I didn’t want to disturb her. I’ll make sure she eats something when she wakes up.”

As everyone settled in and picked up their forks to eat, Gino clasped his hands together and bowed his head. The other three saw this and immediately paused, unsure of what to do. As the awkward silence continued, Annalise cleared her throat.

“Um… Gino? Under the circumstances, I think it would be okay if we all prayed together. You know… uh, out loud.”

Gino looked surprised. “Of course,” he agreed, flashing a grateful smile her way. “I think that’s a good idea. I’d ask each of us to take hands, but it’s probably not the most hygienic with the flu and all. For the time being, we’ll bow our heads separately. I’m not good at this sort of thing, but…” he let the end of his sentence trail off as he watched all three of them immediately clasp their own hands and bow their heads. He smiled again, and then closed his eyes.

“Heavenly Father, we thank you for getting us through this tough day. We know that there is a purpose for everything, and we pray that Michael is there in your care, at peace and in no pain. Help us not to doubt or question your will, but simply to follow obediently. We ask for forgiveness for our sins, and we pray for wisdom, strength and guidance as we endure whatever comes next in this saga. Please give Kayla peace and understanding, and help us to comfort her. We are truly blessed, as we sit here together at this table to eat the food that you have provided. Thank you for this meal, Lord. May it nourish us our bodies and fill our stomachs and souls with warmth and gratitude. In Jesus’ name we pray… Amen.”

“Amen,” said the others in unison. The silence was heavy over the next minute as they relaxed and began to eat. Annalise felt very moved by that short, humble prayer, and decided that they would pray before every meal. It gave her a sense of comfort, of peace. She felt encouraged as she sensed it did the same for Vicky and Justin as well.

“So…” she prompted in a quiet voice. “Without getting into too many details, how did it go earlier? Do you think we could have a funeral soon? Kayla is going to need to have closure. She’ll need to say good-bye.” She choked out that last part, trying to keep her voice steady and calm. Her throat tightened, though, and she found it difficult to swallow the forkful of salad that she had just chewed. She did a good job of pushing Michael’s death out of her mind as she stayed busy in the afternoon, but now… now as she sat to eat, it pressed like a vice against her temples and made her want to cry.

Justin sighed heavily as he began to cut up a piece of chicken. “It was the most awful thing I’ve ever had to do. When we got to Gino’s place, we… we wrapped Michael in a sheet. Then we went out onto the property – on the edge of the woods where that big old oak stands, and dug his grave between the oak and the tall pine. It was damn hard work – I haven’t done anything that strenuous in a long time. I wish we had a casket or something to put him in, but the sheet was all we had.” He paused, and then put down his silverware. It was difficult to eat and talk about it at the same time. As he was taking a moment to collect himself, Gino picked up the story.

“It took us a good hour to dig his grave properly. I had no idea how hard it was going to be. Part of it was because we were so emotional. But it was also tough because the ground was so sandy. At first it was easy to shovel, but the dirt kept sliding back in. Anyway, I said a few words once we had the dirt filled back in. We put a pile of rocks there as a marker, and I furnished a simple cross out of two sticks and some twine. Then Justin helped me to clean and disinfect the house.”

Justin, who had managed to resume eating again, nodded in agreement. “Yeah, he handed me a canister of bleach wipes and told me to wipe down everything. He boiled a big tub of water over a fire – pretty ingenious, actually. He made a stand in the firepit out of bricks to hold up the big metal tub. Then we boiled the pillow cases and towels. The sheets he had on the bed were the ones we buried him in.”

“Well, that explains what took you so long. What about the bed itself?” Vicky asked.

Gino finished chewing the last bit of salad that he had devoured in a few large bites, and pushed the bowl to the side. “Well, it probably wasn’t the most holistic, organic thing I could do, but I sprayed the bed down with Lysol. It’ll do the trick.”

Annalise made a face. She hated chemicals like that, and much preferred to use natural products. “I hope you wore a mask when you did that,” she warned. “Gloves, too.” When Gino looked at her apologetically, she scrunched her nose up. “Seriously, if I had known that, I would’ve made you a spray myself. I made a few bottles of homemade Thieves Oil last winter, and brought two of them up here the last time we came up.”

“Thieves Oil?” Vicky asked. “What’s that?”

“I love the stuff,” Annalise said. “It’s a blend of essential oils that are known for their antibacterial properties. Clove oil, lemon oil, eucalyptus. I use it to clean our toothbrushes and to wipe down knobs and handles during flu season.”

“Yeah, word to the wise,” Justin said, making a face. “Don’t ever assume that just because she cleans our toothbrushes with it that it would also be good to use as a mouthwash. Ack! I almost died. It burned my nose hairs and taste buds right off.”

Annalise giggled, remembering the time that Justin had taken a swig of the pure oil mix that she had made in a small glass bottle. His face had turned bright red and he coughed for an hour. Men! Always willing to do a shot of something liquid, without finding out first what it is, she thought humorously.

“Wow,” Gino said, putting a second bite of the chicken into his mouth after swallowing the first. “This is freakin’ amazing! I love this! I wasn’t expecting the mild sweetness of it. I admit I was worried – I’m not much of an exotic cuisine eater, and the thought of curry threw me off. Even though it smelled good, it seemed really strong. But this is fantastic!” He chewed enthusiastically and gave Annalise a thumbs-up.

“Thanks,” she said. “I really wish I knew how to can. I made a bunch of that tikka masala sauce back in the fall with some late summer tomatoes, and I put it in canning jars but freezed it. I’m trying to use up all the perishable stuff. I’m not going to be able to freeze things for a while, I’m guessing.”

Gino stuffed another sauce-laden forkful of rice and chicken into his mouth, chewed thoughtfully and said, “We’ll figure it out. I’ve got several cases of canning jars. Lids, too. I bought them as part of my preps, and I have the Blue Ball canning book. We’re all smart enough that we’ll figure out the water boiling system and make sure we don’t waste our produce.”

He took yet another bite, and said, “Really good! One of my faves.”

Annalise smiled. She loved that Gino had a voracious appetite. Justin was never a big eater, nor one to dole out many compliments on her cooking. She loved feeding people, and was in her element in this new role. “So,” she said, swirling a chunk of chicken around in the sauce. “What do we do about the toilet now that the water is out? How do we go to the bathroom?”

Justin groaned with frustration as he slowly finished up his salad and moved onto the chicken and rice. “I don’t know… I really don’t. We’ll need water to flush it, but I’m pretty sure that the septic needs electricity to pump the sewage from the tank into the drain field. Without it, it all just gets held into the tank. Now, we did have our tank cleaned and emptied last spring, so we’re not in any danger of a back-up just yet, but I really don’t want to take that chance.”

Vicky made a face. “So then what do we do?”

Gino grinned crazily and said in a mock-hillbilly voice, “Why, ma’am… we gonna build you a bee-u-tee-ful outhouse! So you can pee in them-there woods with the bears!”

The mortified look on Vicky’s face was priceless, and Annalise couldn’t help laughing along with the others. At that very moment when all the jeering and teasing gave way to amused guffaws and giggles, Kayla walked into the kitchen. Her face was swollen and puffy, and her eyes were red. Her hair was matted and gnarled, and she looked pale. She stared at all of them, incredulous that they were laughing. Immediately everyone fell silent and the men stared down at their plates.

“Oh, Kayla…” Annalise said, getting up out of her chair.

“Don’t!” Kayla glared, putting her hand out as if to stop her. She looked at all of them with an accusatory stare. “What’s wrong with you all? How can you laugh and joke like that when my husband died today?” She narrowed her eyes at Justin. “YOUR brother-in-law! What kind of unfeeling monsters are you?”

Annalise reached for her but Kayla batted away her hand and turned to walk toward the front door. She opened it, stepped outside and then slammed it shut.

Annalise stood frozen, horrified and ashamed. She turned to look at the group. Everyone sat quiet and unmoving at the table. “Go on…” she said softly. “Keep eating. I’ll go out and talk to her.”

Annalise slipped on a pair of garden clogs and made her way out to the front of the house. She saw Kayla slowly walking toward the road, with her hands bracing her back to support her enormous stomach. “Kayla!” she yelled out, running over toward her. Kayla didn’t stop, nor did she even look toward Annalise.

“Kayla!” she cried out one more time as she ran up upon the woman. “I’m sorry! We’re all sorry. It’s been a hard day for us, and we just kind of lost our heads. Believe me, we’re all torn up over this. I can’t even express…”

Kayla stopped and turned to look at Annalise. Her face was contorted into a look pure pain and anguish. She was obviously about to break down. Annalise flung her arms around her and held onto her tight. The hug proved to be too much for Kayla, and she began sobbing.

“Why?” she asked, wailing. “Why?”

As Annalise tried to think of something comforting to say and her own eyes began to tear up, she felt Kayla pull away from her. Kayla, with tears streaming down her cheeks and nose bright red, looked perplexed as she turned to look curiously down the road.

“Someone’s down there,” she sniffed, rubbing her eyes. “I saw a flash of someone moving in the woods.”

Annalise peered down the road, but didn’t see anything. “Are you sure?”

Kayla squinted. The sun had almost gone down all the way, and it was starting to get chilly. She shivered. “I thought I did…”

Just then both of their eyes caught a flash of white in the woods next to them. They spun around, were shocked to see a dark haired man standing there.

“The angel!” Annalise gasped.

The man in white looked the same as he did previously, only this time he wasn’t smiling with his perfect, gleaming teeth. He strode over toward Kayla and Annalise.

“Who… who are you?” Kayla stammered.

Annalise was incredulous. She turned to Kayla. “You can see him?”

“I chose it to be so,” said the angel, in a soothing voice. He now stood only a few feet away from them. Annalise saw that unlike other times, this time he appeared ethereal. There seemed to be a golden glow around him, as if he were enveloped in a translucent bubble of light.

“What is your name?” Kayla asked in a timid voice, completely dumb-struck. She reached out subconsciously as if to try to touch the angel, but then realized what she was doing and pulled her hand back.

“You may call me Raziel,” the angel said solemnly. He stepped forward and placed a kiss on Kayla’s forehead. Annalise watched in awe, remembering the same gesture that he had given her back in her dream. She saw Kayla’s shoulders relax, and the girl closed her eyes with a soft sigh.

“Please do not fret,” said Raziel. “The Lord is with you. Your husband was a believer. He had strayed a bit as an older man, but when he was a teenager, he had fervor for the Almighty. He never stopped believing, and he is now with Christ. If you too, can find Christ, you will see him again.”

Kayla gasped. “I will? But I believe in God now! We go to church!”

The angel shook his head. “Talk with your friend Gino. He will guide you.” Then he turned to look at Annalise. “Dear one, continue to seek, and stay strong. I am with you. The Lord is with you. Do not falter – you must seek the truth. Do not give up hope. The 70^th week will be upon us shortly. May God’s peace be with you.”

He began to fade, as if he were nothing more than an apparition. “Wait!” Annalise called out, reaching for him. But a second later, he was gone.

They both stood there dumbly, unable to say anything. “Did that just happen?” Kayla asked breathlessly.

Annalise nodded, her heart racing. “I can’t believe you saw him! For months I’ve been suspecting that I’m crazy, because no one saw him but me.”

Kayla turned to look at her and smiled – a real, genuine smile. “Well, we must be pretty special,” she said, her pretty eyes still glistening with tears.

“Yes, we must be.” Annalise returned the smile and then took Kayla’s arm, guiding her back toward the house.

“Wow, a real angel!” Kayla’s grief and anguish from only a few minutes before had vanished. “He was really good-looking!”

“That’s what I kept trying to tell Vicky,” Annalise joked. “I guess everyone looks perfect like that in Heaven.”

“Do you really think Michael is there?” Vicky asked. “Do you really think I’ll be able to see him again?”

“Are you going to doubt the words of Raziel the angel? What a strange name that is, eh?”

“I like it,” Kayla said enthusiastically, although she was still sniffling and wiping her eyes. “Let’s go tell the others!”

When they walked inside, Annalise noticed that the house was getting dimmer and chillier. She shivered, and made a mental note to start a fire in the fireplace after they were done with dinner.

“Come,” she said to Kayla. “Sit and eat. You need to eat something. If this is too spicy, then I can make something else.”

Justin pulled out the extra chair for his sister. She sat down on it gingerly, and then leaned back. “Wow! That was something!” she said, smiling at Annalise. “I still can’t believe how awesome that was!”

Annalise nearly choked with laughter at the looks the others had just shot her way. Justin had a bewildered look on his face, and she could almost see the question he was telepathically shooting over to her: “What on earth did you slip my sister to get her to do a complete 180 like that?” Vicky also had her eyebrow raised in a baffled expression.

Annalise tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ears, smiled broadly and then gestured toward Kayla. “Do you want to tell?”

Kayla immediately clapped her hands together and squealed. “We saw her angel! I saw him, too! His name is Raziel and he kissed my forehead and told me that Michael is in Heaven and that I would see him again!”

The others stopped each of their motions in mid-air. Justin’s fork froze as it was about to enter his mouth. Gino paused, holding his glass to his lips as he was began to take a sip of his iced tea, and Vicky held her napkin poised in her hand. They all looked like they were playing some kind of “freeze frame” game, which made Annalise giggle.

“Oh, crap. Not the crazy act again,” Justin said mockingly, as he put down his fork. “What in the heck is up with you two?”

“No, really!” Kayla said. “He came out from the woods. He talked to us. He told us that we need to become believers and seek out Gino’s help.”

“Me?” Gino asked, disbelievingly.

Kayla and Annalise explained the entire thing, telling their little story from beginning to end. The others were stunned, but they all believed her.

“Finally!” Annalise said, feeling vindicated. “I’m not a freak! Someone else saw the angel!”

“Well,” said Vicky, teasing. “You’re still a freak, but I never doubted you to begin with.”

Annalise made a face at her, while Justin piped up. “Okay, listen up. Kayla, I want to apologize to you. It was wrong that we were laughing earlier on this very somber day. Gino and I had a really tough time today. We buried Michael out at his place, and it was not an easy task.” He paused for a moment, making sure she was okay before he continued. “It was by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’m scared, I’m sad, and I’m going to admit, I’m a little mad. I’ve been questioning God all afternoon why something like this could happen… especially when you’re about to give birth. But I believe that there IS a reason for everything. And if the angel told you that you’re going to see him again, then I think you should definitely hang onto that hope. We all could use that hope. But I want you to know that our hearts ache for Michael.”

Annalise wanted to cry, but she was all out of tears. Justin’s little speech really warmed her heart. Apparently, it affected Kayla, too, because she flung her arms around her brother and buried her face in his neck. He kissed her cheek, and she hugged him hard, thanking him and wiping her eyes before turning to the others.

“Thank you all. I’m sorry about earlier. I was just upset,” she admitted. “Despite what the angel said – which helped a little – I miss him. I miss him so much. I can’t stand it that I didn’t get to say good-bye.” She looked forlornly down at the table.

When no one quite knew what to say in response, Vicky spoke up. “Listen, if you don’t mind, let’s change the subject, unless we want to talk more about Annalise’s hot angel. But Gino mentioned earlier that you guys had some news. What’s that all about?”

Justin gestured to Gino to begin the story, and then got up to light the propane lantern that was sitting on the counter. The sky was light pink and purple outside, and it was getting too dark to see. Once lit, the lantern gave a cozy, warm glow to the kitchen and dining area.

“After we were through disinfecting the house,” Gino began carefully, “we went down to the river to wash up. Man, that water was cold! But at least it was wet. I’ll be happy when it gets warmer, though. While we were cleaning up, a man came canoeing down the river. He paddled up to the shore and chatted with us. His name is Mitch, he’s in his mid-40s, and he and his wife have a place about two miles up the river. He said that his brother has a summer cottage in town on the lake. His brother… what was his name?” He looked over at Justin inquisitively.

“John.”

“Yeah, John. His brother John belongs to some antique car club. He lives in the Bay area, but every spring he and a bunch of other antique car owners drive up to some big cabin up this way – one of the members’ seasonal cottage. John and his wife and son come up to the cottage, and he spends couple of weekends in the spring with his motor buddies getting their cars ready for summer shows. Old cars. You know, really old ones from the thirties and forties, roadsters, classic convertibles, muscle cars, the whole shebang. His brother has this sweet cherry red classic 1935 Studebaker that he rebuilt. He drove it up here to his place from Bay City this morning. Apparently most of those cars are working just fine. John drove over to Mitch’s place late this afternoon and gave him the scoop.”

Everyone exclaimed their surprise at that, realizing that the older cars survived the solar flare and still worked. They waited expectantly to hear more, and Gino took a deep breath. “That damn CME knocked out power across the entire United States. A few parts of Europe, too, from what he understands. John and his son are amateur radio enthusiasts, and they’ve been getting what news they can from all over the country. Now some parts of the country down south still have power – southern Georgia , Florida, parts of Louisiana and Texas. A good portion of southern California seems to have power, but the word is that our entire country is crippled. About 80% of our country’s population is suddenly without power, fuel or transportation.”

“In other words, we’re screwed,” Justin said somberly.

“In other words, we’re screwed,” Gino agreed. “Right now, it appears as if the entire country is frozen in a holding pattern. My guess is that most people don’t know the extent or severity of the issue. They’re probably camping out in the living room with their kids, expecting the power to come back on soon. Mitch told us that there seems to be reports of sporadic places that have power, but not many. I’m guessing some underground bunkers and homes survived okay, but other than government facilities, that kind of protection doesn’t really apply to the average U.S. citizen.”

Annalise was stunned. “What does that mean?” she asked. The peaceful, hopeful glow that she felt from the angel’s visit had faded quickly, and now she felt panic rise again. “What will happen to all those people?”

“Well,” said Justin, chiming in. “My guess is that it’s a huge bit of luck that this happened in the spring. This would be a helluva lot tougher if it was fall or winter. But that being said, people are going to need food and water and sanitation. Without those three things, it’s going to get really ugly.”

“Wow,” said Vicky. “How is it that their radio worked? That would seem to me like it would be fried along with everything else.”

“I asked him that,” Justin replied. “My guess is that they’re preppers. He didn’t go into detail, but said that they kept a back-up radio in some kind of cage – I don’t remember what he called it, but it’s a special cage designed to protect the contents from an EMP. Anyway, they buried the radio and this cage, and I’m guessing other things as well, down deep in the ground. Looks like it worked.”

“Wow,” exclaimed Vicky softly.

“That’s not all,” Gino said, swallowing a mouthful of chicken. “There’s been another big earthquake.”

“What? Where?” asked Kayla. “How bad?”

“Puerto Rico,” said Gino. “And it was pretty bad. Another 8.6. The infrastructure is awful down there, so the entire country is devastated. But with power knocked out to much of the U.S., it sounds like relief and rescue crews are going to be slow to arrive, if they arrive at all. Americans may not be able to help with that disaster.”

Annalise looked at her and shook her head. “You know, I guess this is it. All those preppers. All those years of talking and chatting and posting… it’s now here. The shit has finally hit the fan.”

Gino agreed. “We told Mitch about Kayla, and he promised that he and his brother would help us out by driving over here to look in on her for us. Mitch has lived up here for years, and even though he’s a good twenty miles outside of town, he knows a lot of people. So does his wife. His wife… her name is Carol… she can help out by finding a doctor. Mitch said that she goes to one in town. Anyway, there’s a big gathering at the grocery store tomorrow morning, he told us. Once word spread that it’s a nation-wide outage, the store decided to divide up the food and then shut the doors until further notice. At least the perishable stuff will go for sure. They don’t want it rotting and spoiling.”

“Well, we have plenty of food here,” said Annalise. “We can leave that for the others.”

Gino nodded. “That’s what we told him, but he encouraged us to come on down anyway to hear the news and meet some people. He and Carol will be there, as well as John and his wife and son.”

“What time is this gathering?” Vicky asked.

“Early. 9:00am. Have you tried your four-wheelers yet?” Gino asked, looking at Justin.

Justin shook his head. “Nope. Haven’t had the time.”

“Well, why don’t you guys go out and check those, and bring in some wood from the garage while you’re out there. It’s getting chilly and we’re going to need to build a fire.” Annalise stood up and began clearing the table. “I’ll stay here with Kayla tomorrow, and you three can go scope things out.”

Everyone else stood up too, and Gino took one last gulp of his iced tea. “No need. Mitch said that John is coming to get them in his Studebaker, which would be easier than him and Carol paddling down the river to town. He offered to swing by and pick up Kayla, too.”

Kayla perked up at that. “Really? That’s nice of him! I feel like such an outcast sometimes, unable to do anything. But how are you guys going to get there?”

Gino shrugged. “I’m not worried about it. We’ll ride our bikes, and we’ve got one four wheeler if the others don’t work.”

“Ride bikes?” Vicky exclaimed. “Are you out of your mind? It’s almost twenty miles into town!”

Gino grinned at her. “Then you’d better get up early.”

“It’s not time that I’m worried about. It’s my butt and thighs!”

“Hmmm…” Gino said, glancing down at her. He was about to say that she didn’t have to worry about that either, but with the others in the room he decided to bite his tongue. Vicky caught the appreciative look, though, and raised her eyebrows at him. Annalise noticed the exchange and smiled to herself.

“Ugh, I need to pee,” Kayla said, groaning as she lifted her heavy body off of the chair.

“Wait!” Annalise halted her. She explained to Kayla how they had discovered that the water was no longer working.

“Ahhh, crap…” Justin said. “I totally forgot about the toilet situation. Listen, just go, but don’t flush. After we gather wood, Gino and I will walk down to the creek and haul up some water. I’ve got a couple of clean paint buckets that I never really used for anything, and there’s a five gallon plastic water cooler, too. One way or another, we’ll carry – or drag – some water back here for you ladies. Once we get the water, you can use it to flush. But tomorrow afternoon our top priority is going to be to dig an outhouse.”

“MY top priority is going to be to get the garden plotted out and started. The growing season is short up here, and if I can at least get some seedlings going in the sunnier rooms, that will help give us a head start.”

“Gino, are you going to be okay riding home in the dark? You’re welcome to crash on the couch if you want,” Justin said.

Gino waved that suggestion off. “Nah, I only live two miles away. It’ll only take me a few minutes. I’m good, but thanks. We’ve got a big day tomorrow, so I’m going to head on out of here after we’re through hauling up water.”

When the men left, Annalise cleared the rest of the table off, and scraped the dishes and wiped out the pots and pans as best as she could, waiting until later when she had water to wash some of them. The whole house was dark and chilly except for the lantern, and it made her sleepy. She and the girls decided to get into their pajamas early and curl up in the living room to read or chat.

“Man, being a pioneer is tough,” she said to the others. “Now I know why they all went to bed at sundown and got up at sunrise. What on earth is there to do in the evenings without electricity?

“We could practice our samplers and catch up on our sewing,” Kayla joked half-heartedly. Annalise and Vicky chuckled, happy to see her participating in conversations and joking a little. With the promise of a town gathering and perhaps even securing a doctor for Kayla, tomorrow was shaping up to be a much better day.

Chapter 8

2011-12-23T21:42:00.002-05:00

Chapter 8

“An EMP? What the heck is that?” Justin asked, clearly concerned. The night was lit up enough from the Northern Lights so that Annalise could make out the expression of confusion on his face. Her legs felt weak, and she felt disconcerted by the thought. She made her way over to the wooden porch and sat down on it and took a deep breath.

“Not exactly an EMP,” she said nervously. “I think that’s what they call it when it’s intentionally used as a weapon. A CME is the right term for it, I believe. Uh, I think it stands for… coronal mass ejection. An ejection of gasses and energy from the sun. From what I remember reading, it’s something that a lot of people worried about.” She thought for a moment, and then tried better to explain.

“The sun… it’s a big ball of hot gasses, right? Well, a CME occurs when a big burst of those hot gasses are expelled. It’s kinda like a giant burp. The sun burps, and a big storm of electrically charged gasses blast their way into the solar system. I think, if I’m not mistaken, that they often hit or graze the earth’s atmosphere. It’s what causes bright auroras at the poles.” She paused, trying to steady her voice. “Sometimes those gasses are emitted away from us, or at other planets. Other times they hit directly onto the earth. Some are small, some are big. Others can be huge. I think this one is huge.”

Vicky came over to stand next to where she was sitting. As Annalise looked up at her friend, she continued to marvel at the backdrop of colors displayed so vividly across the sky. It was so bright now, illuminating the night even brighter than if there had been a full moon. “From the looks of these auroras,” she continued on, waving her hand around to indicate the lights around them, “I’m guessing a big one hit. I don’t know much more about them other than what I told you. But they’re bad. One big one hit back in the 1800s and wiped out all communication. Only it wasn’t such a big deal then, because the only form of communication and technology was the telegraph.”

“What does it mean, then?” Kayla asked from across the yard, clearly upset. “What happened? Why are the lights out? Why don’t our phones work?”

Annalise drew her knees up close and put her arms around her legs, shivering. It was chilly outside, and none of them were dressed in more than just nightwear. She tried to remember what she read back on the computer when she was printing out pages for her files, but at the time she had been so overwhelmed by it all. She read everything but remembered very little. “I wish I would’ve paid more attention to what was on the internet, but a CME seemed like the least of my worries at the time,” she said. “But I think that if it’s bad enough, if it’s a big enough storm, then it can knock out power. It can render anything electronic useless. Even cars. Anything that has a chip or wire or I think even battery power in some cases can be fried to a crisp.”

“What?” Justin asked incredulous. “Fried to a crisp? You’ve got to be kidding me! What the hell do you mean? Is it frying us to a crisp? Right now? Should we go inside?”

Annalise didn’t know the answer to that. But before she could really consider the answer, he was off running inside the house.

“Should we get inside too?” Kayla asked. She rubbed her big belly protectively. Annalise was about to stand up and suggest that they at least take that precaution when Justin came back out again. He had the keys to his car in his hand.

“What are you doing?” Vicky wanted to know. Clearly she was frightened as well. All of the magic and beauty of the night had suddenly vanished, and the sense of panic rising was evident. All of them were on edge.

“Hopefully proving my wife wrong,” Justin said curtly. “I don’t know squat about CMEs. I know auroras are caused by them, but I never heard of them frying everything electronic. That’s just insane!”

He attempted to unlock the door with the key fob, and when that didn’t work he used the key. Sitting inside with the door open, he put the key in the ignition and attempted to start the car. Nothing happened. Nothing. Not even the slightest rumbling sound of the ignition trying to turn over. The only thing they heard was a distinct “click.” He pulled the keys out and tried again, with the same result. Then he reached over to flick on the headlights. It was then that Annalise realized that the interior light should’ve came on when he entered the car, but it didn’t. She knew then. She knew. Suddenly she began to freak out.

She stood up and began pacing. “What the hell?” she asked, cursing under her breath. “I don’t get it! I just don’t get it! You said we had until September!” she said, panicking and looking up to the sky.

Kayla looked stricken. “What does that mean? We’re stranded here? That can’t be!”

Justin raced inside the house once again and came back out seconds later with a second set of keys – the keys to the U-Haul. He repeated the same motion with the big truck, only to receive the exact same results. Nothing happened. No engine turned over, no lights came on. After several attempts, he stepped out and slammed the door shut. Annalise walked over to him. She could see his face clearly enough to know that he was completely bewildered.

“Honey,” she said gently, putting her hand on his arm. Her hand was shaking violently, and he noticed. He looked at her queerly then.

“Was it September? Didn’t he tell you to be out by the end of summer? Why do I remember you said August?”

Annalise thought for a moment. In fact, the angel DID say August! She had September in her head all this time, thinking of Rosh Hashanah.

“Okay, so maybe he did! I was thinking of September, because that’s when he said it would start. I’m guessing he wanted us out by then, so he warned me to be away from the city by August. But even still… it’s not August! Not even close! August is still more than three months away! Are we stuck here? Can we get back home?”

She and Justin simply stood there on the gravel driveway, while Vicky and Kayla remained on the front grass. The dazzling display of color grew in intensity, if that was even possible. Every speck of night sky was saturated with rippling banners of light and color. It was truly the most spectacular thing they had ever seen. And also the most frightening.

“Well,” Justin finally said, sounding instantly defeated. He took her hand and lead her back onto the front lawn near the others. “There’s not much we’re going to be able to do about it now. I’m sure we’re not stranded here. Someone will be able to help us out. And if we have to stay up here for a few days, it won’t be the end of the world.”

“Except it will,” Annalise muttered, knowing the truth. “This is it. We’re stuck here. I know it.”

Kayla began to cry softly then, and Justin leaned over into Annalise’s ear. “Don’t!” he chastised her. “Not now. Not in front of her!”

Annalise felt badly for scaring her sister-in-law, but she didn’t see how they could avoid the truth. For whatever reason, the angel appeared to have been wrong in his warning. Instead of having several more months to prepare and stock up, they were stranded.

“Come on,” Justin urged again. “Let’s all go to bed. We’ll figure this out in the morning after we’ve had a good night’s sleep.” He reached for his sister’s hand and led her back into the house.

“Wait,” Vicky said, grabbing Annalise’s elbow. “Can we talk?”

Justin turned around to see if they were coming, and Annalise waved him on. “We’ll be there in a few. Go onto bed without me.”

She turned to Vicky, who didn’t look at her but instead sat down on the porch in the same way that Annalise had a few minutes before. Annalise sat down beside her. Neither woman spoke for several minutes. They remained still as statues, watching the sky in all its glory.

“It’s really stunning,” Vicky finally said at last. “It’s so bright! I’ve never seen anything like it. Have you?”

Annalise shook her head. “No,” she answered softly.

They sat together quietly for a few more minutes, each woman leaning into the other for warmth and comfort.

“Anna, how bad is it going to be?” Vicky asked, her voice quavering just a little.

“I don’t know, Vicks. I really don’t. I wish I did.”

“Isn’t… isn’t there someone that can tell us? Doesn’t it say in the Bible?”

Annalise shrugged. “I suppose. I don’t know where to look for it, though. Maybe Gino can tell us. If I had a computer or my iPad, I could look it up online and find out. But I really don’t know. The Bible is a big book. All I can say is that if it’s the end of the world as we know it, it’s going to be bad. Really bad.”

After a few minutes, Vicky began softly humming the REM song “The End of the World as We Know It.” Annalise turned to her, frowning.

Vicky shrugged her shoulders. “What? I’m scared. And when I’m scared, I make jokes.”

“I’m scared too,” Annalise retorted. “But we can’t let this get the best of us. We have to be strong and stay together. The angel told me to learn about sustainable living and to get supplies. I’m guessing this is one of the reasons. It’s just going to be like camping. Nothing more than that. Just camping.”

Highlighted by dazzling shadows of green and yellow and red, Vicky’s face contorted into an exaggerated smirk. “Oh, yeah. Right. Camping! Ha! Good one. But what happens if the electricity doesn’t come back on? What if we run out of food or kill each other because we’re bored or start looking and smelling like people from the Middle Ages? And, if you’re right, then the bad stuff won’t even start for three months. So now what? In three months’ time if we’re still here, eating cold peas out of cans and washing our clothes in the river waiting for the REALLY bad stuff to begin, I’m going to welcome the end of the earth with open arms and a bouquet of flowers. Bring it on, I say!”

“Vicky! Shhh… don’t forget we have a scared pregnant girl in there whose husband is sick with the flu. Two miles away, I might add. How in the heck is she going to even see him if he starts getting better? She can’t walk two miles.”

“What about bikes?” Vicky suggested.

“Yeah, good for you and me. Not so good for a woman whose center of gravity has been severely altered by a seven-pound fetus swimming in amniotic fluid. But maybe one of the four wheelers will work. Or maybe Gino has an idea.”

“Oh, man… Gino!” Vicky exclaimed. “I totally forgot about him. How will we get him word about what happened?”

“Something tells me that he’ll figure it out soon enough,” Annalise said.

After another moment of silence, Vicky spoke up again. “Hey, have I told you I’m scared? Like, about to pee myself scared?”

Annalise put her arm around Vicky and leaned her head on her shoulder. “Yeah. I’m way more scared than I’m letting on, too. I pray that we wake up in the morning to find this was just a silly mistake, and that the power is back on. I could be wrong about all of this, you know.”

Annalise was not wrong. Shortly after her conversation with Vicky, they both went back inside the house and to bed. When she entered the bedroom, Justin was softly snoring. She had no idea how he could actually fall asleep at a time like this. After crawling back into bed and opening up the blinds so that she could watch the sky, she had lain awake for at least an hour. She wracked her brain and pondered all their options but still came up empty. She finally fell into a shallow, fitful sleep and woke up to find the bright morning sunlight streaming through the window. She stretched, and immediately remembered the events of the night before. Turning, she saw that her husband was not in bed. She sat up and looked at the clock. Blank. Drat! She would have to dig out the watch she had bought herself at Cabela’s. She tried to remember if she put it in her purse or one of the drawers.

Just as she was about to get out of bed, the sound of two men’s voices caught her ear. She pulled on her hiking boots, a pair of grey terry cloth shorts and one of Justin’s flannel shirts. After using the bathroom and discovering they still had running water, she brushed her teeth and then went out into the living room.

Justin and Gino were sitting in the chairs, with Vicky curled up on the couch under the blanket drinking coffee. It was chilly in the room, and Annalise thought about going back into the bedroom and exchanging her shorts for sweatpants. She didn’t know what to comment on first, so she mentioned it all in one big breath. “Gino! How did you get here? And where did the coffee come from? Do you think it was a CME? What are we going to do?”

“Whoa!” Justin chuckled. “Go easy, killer. One thought at a time. What on earth are you wearing?” He reached for her and pulled her onto his lap. Annalise gratefully wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

Gino nodded gravely at her while Justin held her in his protective grasp. “Yeah. I think it was a CME. My car won’t start, my phone is nothing but a dead hunk of plastic, and all the electricity is out. My big Maglight flashlight won’t even work, although I did end up finding one that did.”

At this, Vicky sat up straighter and set her mug down on the coffee table. “What? It even kills flashlights? Good God! What does it do to us? Did we get radiation from this thing or something?”

Gino shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. It’s possible. I really don’t know. A CME is a big burst of solar wind that made up of mostly protons and electrons, and some gasses, too. It was the electrically charged content hitting our magnetosphere that knocked out anything that requires an electrical charge to work. It just fried it all, from what I can tell. Do you guys remember that big solar storm back in the late 80s? 1989, I think. It knocked out power in all of Quebec. So while I’m guessing it probably is somewhat radioactive, my thought is that it’s far more devastating to electronics than people.”

Annalise shook her head, totally stunned. She didn’t remember that at all. “So how do we get everything running again?” she asked.

Gino looked grave. “I don’t know. I really don’t know. I have no idea how widespread this is. We can’t turn on the TV and see if it was just Michigan and Canada, or the whole United States. Maybe even the whole northern hemisphere. I really don’t know. How can work crews get to fixing things if they have no vehicles, no cell phones, no equipment or computers? I’m totally shocked by it all, Anna. I woke up this morning to find that nothing worked. Justin here was telling me about the auroras, but I was asleep all night long. I didn’t even see them.”

“So how did you get here?” she asked, getting up off of Justin’s lap and going over to sit next to Vicky on the couch. She got underneath the fleece blanket that covered up Vicky’s legs. The warmth instantly soothed her chattering teeth.

“I rode my bike,” he answered.

“AND brought coffee!” Vicky declared, picking up her mug again to take a swig.

Annalise spotted the blue speckled campfire carafe on the counter. “You rode your bike with a pot of coffee under your arm? Wow! How did you make coffee without electricity? Oh, and how’s Michael?”

“I made it using a propane stove. And Michael seems to be hanging in there. I can’t stay here long. I want to get back and make sure he’s warm and comfortable. He was coughing a lot and moaning early this morning. But when I left, he had fallen asleep again and seemed to relax a bit. I’m sure the poor guy is going to be miserable when he wakes up, though. At the very least I want to get some meds into him, and maybe some hot broth.”

“Well, so much for getting those supplies over to your place,” Vicky piped up.

Gino shrugged. “I’m good on supplies. Just make room for them here. But I’d get them out of that truck soon, if I were you. Store it in the corners of the house or in the bedrooms, but get it out of your driveway. You don’t want anyone stealing it.”

“Where’s Kayla?” Annalise asked, looking around.

“She’s in the shower,” Vicky replied. “Although there’s no hot water. My guess is that she’s taking a very quick, cold shower.”

“Any idea why our water is still running?” Justin asked Gino. “I know we’re on a well, but I thought it ran on electricity. Is yours still running?”

“Nope,” Gino said. “I’ve already hauled up water once this morning from the river and set it to boil while I had the campstove on. Just for washing. There’s still water in the hot water tank, and I’ve got containers and buckets I can pull out. Consider yourself lucky. You must have some kind of gravity-fed back-up system. I don’t know much about them, to be honest. I have a generator and gasoline, but I couldn’t get that damn genny to fire up for the life of me. I guess the CME got that, too.”

“How are we going to do this? Without power? How are we going to live?” Vicky asked, clearly upset over what Gino just described. “We could be stranded for months! Years, even!”

Annalise spoke up to answer that, turning slightly to look at her. “Vicks, we’ve been planning for this. It sucks, because we weren’t ready. I can’t even think about all the stuff I left back at home, because I’ll start crying. I had plans to pack up personal things, not to mention all the clothes and kitchen items that I have back there. Thankfully, we’re fairly well stocked here. But still... I don’t know what’s going to happen to our house.” She choked back a little sob. She had thought about the house while lying in bed unable to sleep. What if people broke in? What if something happened to the pipes? What will become of their personal belongings? Will she ever see it again? The thought that she might never step foot in their home ever again wrenched her stomach into tight knots.

‘Yeah, I guess your angel didn’t warn you about this part,” Gino said thoughtfully. “I can’t even believe it. Didn’t you say it would start in September?”

Annalise nodded. “Yeah,” she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. “That’s what he said.”

“Well, I don’t know what this is, but we’ll get through it.” Gino stood up. “I should go. Good thing that bike is in good condition. I put new tires on it back in the fall. I don’t want to leave Michael that long, but I’ll ride back over here late tonight.” He nodded towards the coffee carafe. “You guys finish that coffee. I’ll take the pot back with me later.”

With everyone bidding their good-byes and thanking him for taking care of Michael, Gino left. The silence that filled the room after his departure was deafening.

“So what’s the plan?” Vicky said, trying to muster renewed strength and optimism. Annalise could see her brave effort and felt a strong kinship with her friend. She was really glad Vicky was there with them.

Justin stood up, stretched and then said, “Listen, Gino’s right. We need to get the rest of the stuff from the U-Haul into the house. I say we make that our next project. I’m hungry, though. I’m going to have a bowl of cereal and another cup of coffee. Lise? Care to join me? Vicky, there’s plenty for you as well. Might as well use up the perishables.”

Vicky snorted. “We bought gads of powdered milk, too, so don’t worry about running out. It should last us a while.”

An hour later when they were dressed and about to head outside to unload the U-Haul, Annalise realized that she still hadn’t seen Kayla. She noticed that the spare bedroom door was closed. She knocked softly on it. “Kayla? Are you in there? Can I come in?”

“Yes,” a small, meek voice called out from inside. “You can come in.”

Annalise opened the door and spotted Kayla lying on the bed on her side, with a pillow between her legs. Her face was red and puffy. Clearly she had been crying.

“Oh, Kayla. What’s wrong?” Annalise asked, her nurturing instincts immediately kicking in.

Kayla sniffed loudly and squeezed her eyes shut. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Wrong? Where do I start? I haven’t seen my husband in two days, and he’s deathly sick with the flu. I’m due in three and a half weeks and am stranded up here in the boonies. What if I can’t get to a hospital? What if something goes wrong? Who’s going to deliver my baby?”

Annalise sat on the edge of the bed carefully. She hadn’t even thought about the baby and the delivery. For a minute or two, she was completely speechless, taking in the prospect of not having electricity long-term. Who would deliver Kayla’s baby? What would happen if something went wrong? She had none of the answers, and was just as scared as Kayla. She knew she had to be brave and put on a positive face, though. Keeping morale up until they knew more about their situation was going to be critical for this woman who was so clearly frightened.

“Listen, you know we’re not going to let anything happen to you. On the bright side, at least you’re up here with all of us. I’d hate to think of you down in the city all by yourself with a sick husband. There has to be an OB-GYN in town somewhere. One of us will ride down there this weekend to find out who we can talk to. You might have to give birth in their office rather than a hospital, but women have been having babies since the beginning of time. You’re going to be okay. Michael is, too. Gino was just here and told us that Michael’s hanging in there. He’s not getting any worse.”

At this news, Kayla turned over on her back. Her eyes were red-rimmed but held new hope. “Really? Can I see him?”

Annalise smoothed the woman’s damp hair away from her forehead and gave her an encouraging smile. “Not yet – you don’t want to see him until he’s completely out of danger of getting you sick. But soon, I expect. Don’t be scared. I know that’s tough advice to give, but worrying isn’t going to help anything and you don’t want to stress yourself out. Have you eaten?”

Kayla shook her head. “No. I am hungry, though.”

“We’ve got cold cereal, or if you want something more substantial I can make you a sandwich. I’ll have to find that propane stove so that we can heat up water for tea.”

Kayla frowned at that. “Don’t you have a gas stove? Won’t it work as long as you have propane in the tank? We can use our gas stove when the power goes out. You just have to light a match since the pilot won’t work.”

Annalise sat there, her jaw dropping. “Oh, man! I didn’t even think of that! I think you’re right! Unfortunately, our propane tank is only about a third full. I had planned to call the gas company to come out and fill it, but never had the chance. Come on! Come with me to see if we can make a proper pot of tea. And if you want something warm, I can heat up some soup for you.”

Kayla awkwardly rose to a sitting position, rubbing her back. “What about the toilet? I need to pee again, and from what I can tell the tank fills up after I flush. Is that good for a while, you think?”

Annalise shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe we should enforce a few toiletry rules, to conserve water. You know. ‘If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down.’ I don’t know what else to do, but that seems like a start.”

Kayla giggled half-heartedly and wiped at her eyes. She gave Annalise a small smile. “Alright, tea sounds great. It IS chilly in here. Good thing summer will be here soon, eh? That would’ve sucked if this happened in the fall or winter.”

“You’ve got that right!” Annalise agreed, getting up. “Let’s open up the curtains and blinds throughout the house.” She went over and pushed open the decorative curtains and pulled the mini-blinds all the way up. Bright sunlight filled the room. “Letting the sunlight in will help warm the place up. We’ll pull out the propane heaters and gather up some firewood for the fireplace tonight. I don’t know why no one did that this morning. I guess they were too preoccupied.”

With Kayla’s help, Annalise went around the house and opened up all the blinds and curtains to let the sunlight in. Then she made the beds and tidied up a bit. Already the house was feeling much warmer. After that, she put the kettle on for tea using a long-stemmed lighter to light the stove. Justin and Vicky began bringing piles of supplies into the house, and as they did so, Annalise began sorting through it all to create piles.

She made everyone steaming cups of Earl Grey with milk and honey, just the way her mother and grandmother drank it. With her mug in hand, she sat cross-legged on the living room floor. Slowly over the next couple of hours, house became more organized as she sorted, boxed up and put away their supplies. There was so much food! She chuckled every now and then at just how much food she and Vicky had purchased. But a small, tiny voice inside her warned her that they would need every bit of that food, and more. Working together, they all crammed as much of it as they could into the cupboards, and then piled the rest of it up into the loft. Justin had suggested that in the summer, the heat of the loft might not be the best storage option for the food, but Annalise couldn’t think that far ahead. She said that for the moment, that space would do until she could better organize the storage areas and create some form of a pantry. Annalise promised that soon she would explore and clean out the cellar – a task she was not looking forward to.

When she was just about done, she gathered the clan into the living room. “Rule number one!” she declared to Vicky, Justin and Kayla. “And this is important. I have no idea how long we’re going to be without cars or power or grocery stores. We’re going to have to ration the food out. No eating unless it’s at meals. There are lots of snack foods in those boxes, but we can’t just go mindlessly munching away when this stuff may have to last us for months. I might need to get creative and use those snack foods as ingredients for meals. With the girls’ help, I’ll make three meals a day – breakfast, lunch and dinner. Outside of those three meals, no eating. No touching the food, no snacking, no grabbing even the tiniest cracker. I’ll start by using the perishables first, to use that up before it gets bad. Is this understood?”

They all nodded solemnly, although she could see the slight grimace on Justin’s face. He was a snacker, and loved to graze on nuts, trail mix, cheese and crackers in between meals. She knew it was going to be tough for him, but she also knew he would honor and respect her rule.

“Okay, rule number two…” she continued on. “We conserve water, because we have no idea how long it’s going to last. We don’t have the luxury of being right on the river like Gino is. If our water goes out, then we have to haul ourselves two miles – four, round trip – to get some.”

“Wait, what about Carter Creek? That’s right down the road and we could access that a little easier than going down to the river,” Justin suggested.

He was right, Annalise realized. The creek ran through the woods only about a half-mile down the road. The only problem was, she didn’t know if it was private, state or federal land that the creek ran through.

“Well, no pun intended, but I think we should cross that bridge when we come to it. I like the idea of going to the river instead, only because it means not crawling through the woods on someone’s private property. I have no idea who owns that land. The last thing we need is to get shot at for trespassing. We’ll see if we can inquire more about it another day, but for now, let’s focus on conservation. Flush only for number two… don’t leave the water running when you brush your teeth… take only one real shower every other day and then just wash with a rag on the in between days. They’re going to be cold showers, mind you.”

Justin agreed, figuring her plan was a decent one. Thinking about her trespassing comment, he asked, “What about protection ourselves? We don’t even have a gun. In fact, probably the most dangerous weapon we have is that old ax in the garage. That and your knives. We’ll have to get Gino to help us out in that regard.”

Annalise nodded. “Which brings me to rule number three. No one ventures away from this house on their own. Not until we know what’s going on. We’ll need to find a way to get into town to inquire about a doctor who can help deliver Kayla’s baby, if we’re still here in three weeks, that is. Maybe Gino will have some ideas about that. That’s got to be top priority.” She looked over at Kayla, who smiled wanly and thoughtfully rubbed her big belly. “You especially, missy, stay inside and don’t stray far from the cottage. We have some decent neighbors down the road, but we don’t know them that well. Let’s just all be cautious, okay?”

“Okay,” they all agreed in unison.

Then Justin piped up, “So what’s for lunch?” Annalise groaned and playfully picked up a rolled-up pair of thick woolen socks from the remaining piles and threw it at him. He dodged it easily and grinned. “Hey, I’m just asking!”

“NO touching the snacks!” she reprimanded. “I’ll make us some sandwiches for lunch. Give me thirty minutes, though, to clean the rest of this up and put it away.”

Kayla struggled to rise up off of the couch then. “I’m going to take a nap,” she announced. “I didn’t sleep so well last night, and I’m tired. No need to wake me up for lunch. I’ll wait until dinner.”

“Are you sure?” Justin asked her in a concern voice.

Kayla nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.” She made her way down the hallway and into the spare bedroom, where she shut the door behind her. Once she was out of earshot, Vicky spoke to them in a low voice.

“Man, I didn’t think about her delivery. That’s got to be scary! We’re not going to be able to get her to a hospital, will we?”

“Are you kidding?” Justin replied. “The nearest hospital is a good twenty-five miles away. I don’t see how we can.”

“Which is why I suggested we find a local doctor that might be able to come by when the time comes,” Annalise said. “She’s been healthy so far, but given her previous miscarriages she is considered high risk. I say we watch her, make sure she rests often, and get ourselves into town to find someone.”

“Yeah, but town is still a good several miles away. How are we going to get there? Walk? Ride bikes?” Vicky asked.

“I don’t know,” Annalise replied. “We’ll have to give it some thought.”

After putting the rest of the supplies away in the remaining empty spaces of the house, Annalise went outside to make sure the door of the U-Haul was shut and locked. She discovered that while she was able to latch the back door easily enough, the automatic locks on the inside of the truck wouldn’t work. She went back in for the keys and then went out to lock the door manually. When she turned around, Justin was coming up behind her.

“Are you doing okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah, so far. I don’t like not knowing just how long…”

But as before she could finish her sentence, she saw Justin’s eyes shift to look past her. She noticed his eyes widened, and so she turned around. In the distance she saw Gino pedaling toward them at a fast clip on his mountain bike. As he got closer, she saw a grim, frightened look on his face. This alarmed her. Gino was never frightened of anything. She noticed how frantically he was pedaling, and immediately her heart began pounding. She instantly knew something was wrong.

He flew up on them fast and then hopped off of his bike, letting it crash to the ground with a soft “thud.” Annalise looked at the wheels still spinning, and her stomach lurched.

“Gino!” Justin called out. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Gino jogged up to them, but then bent over and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. He was breathing heavily, gulping in large swallows of air.

“Mi.. Michael…” he said, panting. “Michael is dead!”

Annalise gasped. She covered her mouth with her hands and let out a cry. Justin stood dumbly, unable to react. Gino finally stood up straight, with agony in his eyes.

“He’s dead! I was outside in the yard for a couple of hours, thinking that he was sleeping. I was setting up rain barrels and organizing my tools in the barn. When I went in to check on him… he… he was cold. Not breathing. Blue. He wasn’t breathing! He was cold. I couldn’t even do CPR on him. I was scared to, but I knew it wouldn’t help anyway. He’s dead!” Gino repeated, looking shocked, as if he couldn’t believe what he was saying.

Annalise stood frozen. Michael dead? Didn’t Gino just tell them that morning that he was hanging in there? That he seemed to be relaxed and resting? And what about Kayla? “Oh, God… Kayla!” she whispered through her tears.

Justin began pacing, running his hands wildly through his hair. “Are you sure, man?” he asked, looking at Gino.

The look on Gino’s face answered for him. “I’m sorry, Justin…” he said, not knowing what else to say. “I didn’t know what to do. It’s not like I can call 911. There are no ambulances that can run. No EMTs to call out to the place.”

“What about us?” Annalise asked, panicked. “Are we going to get it, too? What about you, Gino? What about Kayla and the baby?”

Gino shook his head, his eyes wracked with pain. “Anna, I don’t know. I don’t honestly know.”

Annalise began to sob then. She went over toward the U-Haul and kicked the tire with a feeble effort to hurt something. She leaned over and rested her forehead on the door of the truck and cried big, gut-wrenching sobs. Justin went over to her and put an arm around her. “Babe, please… don’t cry! You’re killing me.” He turned her around, and she saw that his eyes were red with tears, too.

At that moment, Vicky came out carrying a large cardboard box. “Hey, Gino!” she called cheerfully. “Lise, I’ve got this box of seed packets…” but she stopped when she saw both Annalise and Justin crying. “What happened? What’s wrong?” she asked, alarmed by what she saw.

Annalise tried to speak, but she couldn’t. She just shook her head and wiped at her tears. Bewildered, Vicky looked from them to Gino. “Gino? What happened?”

“It’s Michael,” he said in a low, husky voice. “He passed away this afternoon. The flu got to him.”

Vicky gasped audibly. She almost dropped the box she was carrying. She stood there, frozen in her steps with a look of horror on her face.

“So what now?” Justin asked, wiping away the wetness from his eyes. “What do we do?”

“We can’t tell Kayla!” Annalise cried. “It will kill her, too!”

“We can’t just pretend he’s alive! She’ll know something’s wrong, Anna…” Justin whirled around to look at her again. “He’s her husband. She has a right to know!”

“How are we going to tell her that?” Annalise spat angrily. “How? How are we going to tell her that her husband is dead? She’s about to have a baby, Justin!” A fresh onslaught of tears fell from her eyes, rolling down her cheeks like rain. “Why? I don’t understand it! I thought God would protect us!” she said, sniffling hard. “Why would He let that happen to one of us?”

“Anna,” Gino said softly, coming toward her. “We don’t know why God allows things to happen, but everything has a purpose. We have to trust in that purpose. Did the angel actually tell you that all of us would be protected and safe?” he asked carefully.

She shook her head. “No.”

“Well, then we have to take precautions. We have to do our part, like you said before. I don’t know what the Lord has in store for me… for any of you. But we can’t get angry or feel resentment. Everyone dies. Everything has its season. If we’re really in the End Times, then this is a much, much bigger picture than what we can see right now. We’ve got to trust that this is all going to be okay.”

Annalise looked up at him. Her eyes were glaring, and her heart pounded through her chest. “Then YOU tell that to his pregnant wife,” she said. And with that, she turned and walked around to the backyard.

Gino sighed. He looked over at Justin, who was standing as still as Vicky, who hadn’t moved even a muscle. “Bro… he can’t stay in the bedroom. We’re going to have to dig a grave. I can’t even fathom doing that – it’s like something out of a horror novel. But there’s no one to call. I’d bike to town if I thought it would help, but what are they going to do? They can’t send a car or an ambulance. I thought about it while I rode over here. It freaked me out, but I don’t see any other choice. Do you?”

Justin didn’t say anything for a moment. Then he shook his head. “No. And you’ll need to disinfect your place, Gino. We can’t have you catching it, too.”

“Man, I’ve been around him for hours in the same room. So have you. We’ve already been about as exposed as we’re going to get. I’ll disinfect the place as best as I can, but I think the time of avoiding germs has long passed. We’ll need to keep an eye on each other, and make sure that if either of us show even a hint of being sick, we quarantine ourselves. If you start feeling ill, you get over to my place, quick. Get away from the women. You hear me?”

Justin nodded. He felt fine, other than the intense pain in his chest from the news that Gino just delivered. He couldn’t believe his brother-in-law was dead. Michael. Good ol’ Michael. Justin had spent many happy memories in the company of Michael. The man had been a happy, jolly, fun-loving jokester who adored his wife. He was the life of every party, but also insanely devoted to Kayla. Michael had been in love with the idea of having a son or daughter, and Justin knew he would’ve made a great father. He swiped at his eyes again.

“What about a funeral? We have to have a funeral,” Justin said.

Gino shook his head. “Not now, bro. How? We can’t take the girls over there – not when his germs are all over the place. And Kayla’s not going to walk or ride over there. We’ve got to get him buried. I promise we’ll have some kind of service for him when the coast is clear and the threat of the flu is gone.”

Both men stood there for several seconds, each contemplating the horror of what they had to do. Neither men expected when they set out the day before that they would not only be stranded up north, but also required to bury one of their own. It was too awful to think about.

Justin decided that he had to do something, because the longer he stood there thinking about it, the more upset he’d become. “Do you have shovels?” he asked Gino. When Gino nodded, Justin went into the garage and got out his mountain bike. He checked the tires and the chain to be sure everything was in working order, and then he hopped on. Gino picked his bike up off the ground and got on as well. Before the two men took off, Justin turned around to Vicky, who was still standing on the porch, holding the large box of seed packets in her hand as if she had been turned to stone. She felt dumb, mute, stunned. Her eyes showed fear, and Justin knew immediately how she felt.

“Please,” he croaked, his throat tightening up as his eyes began to sting again. “Can you both find a way to tell her? I can’t. I just can’t. I’ll be back soon – in a couple of hours. Be safe.”

She nodded, but didn’t speak. She continued to stand there as she watched them both pedal off.

Setting the box down, Vicky stepped off the porch and walked around to the back. She saw Annalise sitting on the edge of their cedar deck, which was dirty with broken bits of branches, pine needles and leaves from the winter. She went over and sat down next to her.

“Anna… Justin asked if we could tell Kayla. He’s upset. We’re all upset, but I’ve never seen him like that before. I don’t think he can do it. He wants us to tell her.”

Vicky expected Annalise to protest or debate why Justin should be the one to break the news to his sister, but she only nodded.

“Why is none of this turning out like I had planned?” Annalise asked her bluntly.

Vicky sighed heavily, her stomach turning with a bit of nausea. “I don’t know, love. I remember hearing that old saying that if you want to see God laugh, tell Him your plans. Maybe God just has a different plan.”

“Yeah, well… I’m not doing any of this to make God laugh. I’m trying to do what I thought He wanted me to do. None of this is funny.”

“No,” said Vicky solemnly. “It’s not.”

Annalise looked at her friend. For once the joking, vivacious Vicky had no quip, no slick comment, no witty retort to the situation. A member of their group hadn’t even lived to see the first full day of this strange journey, and technically it hadn’t even begun. What would be next? Would one of them catch the flu? Annalise couldn’t bear the thought of it. Justin and Gino had spent time with Michael, and they had the greatest potential for contracting the disease. Her heart literally ached at the thought of losing Justin. She could not, would not lose him, she vowed. Whether it was part of God’s plan or not.

“You won’t lose him,” Vicky said, reading her mind. “He’s going to be okay. Justin is going to be fine. You won’t lose him.”

Annalise closed her eyes and rubbed the spot between her eyes, which was beginning to ache. “Come on. We need to get this over with. Let’s go tell her.”

Annalise stood up, and reached for Vicky’s hand. As Vicky rose, she embraced Annalise in a big hug. They clung to each other, fear swallowing them up in a way it never had before. Annalise was out of tears, though. She wanted to be strong and brave for Kayla, and if that meant pretending, then she was going to pretend.

They both walked into the house and made their way down the hall. Annalise knocked softly on the spare bedroom door. Assuming that Kayla was asleep, she began to turn the doorknob when she heard Kayla say softly, “Come in.”

Annalise opened the door. She and Vicky were surprised to find Kayla at the window, with her back turned to them, looking out onto the front yard.

“Kayla,” Annalise began nervously. “We need to talk.”

“I know,” Kayla replied dully, not taking her eyes from the yard. “Michael’s dead. I know.”

Vicky couldn’t hide her gasp of surprise. At the noise, Kayla finally turned around. Her eyes were swollen and red, brimming over with tears. On her face was a blank look of stunned pain. Her hand rested on her belly, as if shielding the baby from what she was about to say next.

“I saw you… all of you… I know. I saw the whole thing. I knew without hearing what had happened. Michael’s gone…” she trailed off, her glazed, teary eyes lowering to down at the floor. Slowly, she began to sink down to the ground, as if needing to reach the spot where her eyes were fixed. Annalise rushed over to help support her and they sat down on the hardwood planks together. Kayla began to sob.

“Oh, honey… I’m sorry. So sorry!” Annalise said, stroking Kayla’s hair and putting her arm around her shoulders. Kayla sat awkwardly with her big belly between them, rocking back and forth with the momentum of her anguished cries. She bawled her grief out in aching, mournful wails that tore at Annalise’s heart. She couldn’t help but to cry along with her sister-in-law, and soon Vicky was there right along with them. And there, for what seemed like an eternity, the three women sat huddled on the floor to hold each other and cry sorrowful tears of loss and pain.

New Chapter (#8) will be up Friday night, the 23rd!

2011-12-22T21:54:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the delay -- I really have been hoping to get chapters up faster. But I'm also trying to enjoy the holidays and find a little downtime. Chapter 8 is almost finished, and will be posted Friday night. Thanks for your patience! And Merry Christmas...!!

Chapter 7

2011-12-15T00:09:00.003-05:00

Chapter 7

Annalise went home and found Justin gone, as she had expected. On the kitchen counter was a note from him that read, “Hi, babe. Packed up all of my things and took them with me. Will meet you and Kayla at Vicky’s 9:00am tomorrow with Michael. If you see anything I forgot, please pack it. I’ll call you tonight with an update. I love you!” She smiled at that, but found herself saying a quick prayer aloud.

“Please, God… if you’re real… and I believe you are, please take care of Justin and keep him safe.”

She then changed out of her work clothes and got to work packing her suitcase. She included a few pairs of jeans, some sweatshirts, a couple of t-shirts, some “real” pajamas and her robe since they’d be having company, two pairs of yoga pants, and a pile of socks and underwear. Then she moved onto the toiletries. She left the items she would need in the morning, but put everything else into the large red toiletry bag that they used regularly for their trips to the cottage. Even though they had toiletries up there, it had been several months since they’d been there and she wanted to be sure they weren’t in need of anything. She noticed Justin had already packed most of his toiletries, including his razor and shaving cream. As she was lugging everything out into the living room, she looked up to see Kayla’s car pulling up into the driveway.

Annalise opened the door and immediately embraced her sister-in-law when she stepped through the threshold. “Have you heard anything yet?” Annalise asked her.

Kayla nodded her blond head, shrugging out of her jacket. “Justin called me on my cell about twenty-minutes ago. He said that Michael was sleeping, although he was very listless and feverish. I guess he’s not sleeping deeply. Justin said that he put cold rags on him and gave him some Advil to bring the fever down. He said he’d call us later to give an update. I packed enough for the weekend for me, and also brought some of Michael’s things. But Justin said he’d bring along the medicines and anything else Michael might need.”

Annalise said, “Okay, that’s good. Are you alright with the idea of coming up north with us?”

Kayla nodded, rubbed her cute upturned nose and then sighed. “Yeah, I guess. But Justin said that you guys are going in a caravan, with a U-Haul. He said it’s loaded with stuff, but that you’d tell me all about it. What’s the U-Haul for?”

Annalise took Kayla’s jacket from her and ushered her into the living room. “Have you eaten?”

Kayla shook her head. “No, not really. I had a couple of pieces of licorice on the ride over, but I’ve been too busy packing and taking care of Michael.”

“Well, I’ve got some turkey chili and cornbread that I’m going to warm up for dinner. How about you come help me set the table and I’ll give you the full scoop? Or the full scoop as best as I can.”

As they were finishing up their meal, Annalise told the end of her story, leaving out the part about them seeing the man who died of the flu. During the long, one-sided dinner conversation, Kayla listened with rapt attention. At times she turned a little pale, but clearly she was interested. Occasionally she would interrupt with a question or two, but otherwise she let Annalise tell her tale.

“Wow,” she finally said, pushing her bowl away and wiping her mouth. “What role do you think you play in this? And how bad do you think it’s really going to get?”

Annalise said, “I honestly don’t know the answers to either of those questions. Gino said that the entire last chapter, er… book, I think it’s called, of the Bible tells all about it. He said it’s a bit cryptic, but it clearly tells of some scary things. Plagues. Famines. Fire. I don’t know. Sometimes when I stop and think about it, it all just sounds like some crazy 3-D special effects movie. I can’t really see the world erupting in plagues and fires and famines of Biblical proportions. But then again, look at the recent D.C. earthquake. I guess anything can happen, and we probably shouldn’t underestimate God.”

Annalise laid her spoon in the empty bowl, and sat back. “Are you religious?” she asked Kayla.

“No, not really. I mean, I went to catechism as a kid, and every year we go to mass for Christmas or Easter, but we really don’t do that much anymore. I haven’t a clue what the Bible says about the end of the world. Do you think we should be scared?”

Annalise didn’t want to frighten the girl. She was already scared. She realized that she didn’t get to the part yet about the break-in, and figured it was best to leave that part out, too. But if something that small in scale set her crying and trembling, she couldn’t imagine being in the center of an earthquake or something else of that magnitude. She also couldn’t imagine someone like Kayla being in the center of a catastrophe like that. Kayla was less than a month away from giving birth to her first child. Annalise decided it would be best not to frighten the mild-mannered woman any more than she already had.

“Listen,” Annalise said, reaching over and putting her hand on Kayla’s. “God obviously chose me for a reason. The angel told me I need to do my part, but that they would help. I guess he said “they,” meaning other angels. Or else God, I don’t know. But I’m counting on the fact that if they’re going to help me, they’re going to help my family and loved ones, too. I don’t see how they could let anything bad happen to us. So while it might be scary, we just have to be brave and get through it.”

Kayla thought about that for a moment. “Do you think God will protect Michael and make him better?” she asked.

“Yes, I’m sure of it. And once we get him up north into that fresh pine air, he’ll get better fast. You just wait and see.”

Relieved, Kayla gave her a grateful smile and stood up. “Okay, then. Let’s get these dishes done so we can veg and chat. Don’t be surprised if I fall asleep on you, though. These days my nights are interrupted by frequent trips to the bathroom, so I’m always tired. I might not have much left in me.”

Annalise was so thankful to have her there. Truthfully, even though the two thugs were caught and currently sitting in jail, she would’ve been nervous staying home alone. “No worries. I have the spare bedroom all made up. Come on, I’ll take care of the dishes. We’ll bring your suitcase in there for you, and in twenty-minutes we’ll be on the couch, channel surfing for a good movie to watch. Just relax tonight, okay?”

Kayla nodded, and said, “Thank you for everything. I really appreciate it.”

At around 10:30 that night, Kayla was already sleeping soundly in the guest bedroom. Annalise sat crossed-legged and propped up against pillows on her own bed. She had her notebook in front of her, and was compiling a list of the remaining items she still needed to buy when her cell phone buzzed next to her, set to vibrate so not to wake Kayla. It was Justin.

“Hey, you…” she answered affectionately.

“Hi. It’s not too late, is it?” He sounded weary.

“No, not at all. I’m still awake and in the bedroom. Kayla’s been asleep for about a half-hour now. How’s Michael?”

“I don’t know,” Justin replied. “Not good. Not worse, but not better. He slept most of the day. He’s been coughing and feverish, and the meds don’t seem to be working very well. What was that stuff that Gino talked about in the car on the way to Cabela’s?”

“Oh, elderberry syrup! I had forgotten about that.” Annalise jotted it down in her notebook. “Some people make it from scratch. I believe they make it as a syrup and as a tincture. But you can also buy it at the store.”

“Can you stop and get some tomorrow? Maybe it will help him. If you don’t mind, pick some up on your way to Vicky’s. The hardest part about the way Michael’s feeling is getting him to drink. He’s barely taken a few sips of water all day, and I don’t want him to get dehydrated. Maybe that medicine will perk him up enough to drink.”

Annalise agreed. She told Justin that she’d stop at the drug store before getting coffee for everyone. She was glad that she told Kayla to be ready by 8:30. They would have just enough time to go to the drugstore and Starbucks before meeting the rest of the gang at nine. She reminded Justin to be especially vigilant around Michael’s germs, and then told him that she loved him. When she hung up, she decided to call Vicky.

“Hey, Vicks,” she greeted when she heard her friend say hello.

“Why does it seem like ages since we’ve last chatted? I miss you. Feeling better now that those two guys are in jail?” Vicky asked.

Annalise felt as if the whole burglary incident was months old. So much had happened since then. “Yeah, but the drama continues. You’ll never believe the latest.” She told Vicky all about Michael’s flu and how he and Kayla would be coming up north with them in the morning.

Vicky was silent for a minute. “Honey, are you sure it’s safe to bring Michael up there? I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

“We just don’t have any choice,” Annalise explained. “He has no family around, and neither do Justin and Kayla. Nor do I. We either bring him with us, or we push back the trip. And I think it’s important that we get that truckload of supplies up there. It’s been sitting in your driveway long enough.”

“I suppose,” Vicky said. “I just don’t like the thought of him staying with Gino. Poor Gino. He’s not even related to the guy.”

“I know. But he’ll mostly be confined to one of the spare bedrooms, and I’m sure Justin will be over there helping most of the time. It’s really the only solution. And what’s with you and Gino, anyway? You and I talked only briefly over the last week, and I didn’t get to hear about his visit back over to your house after the robbery. Did he check your house over and make sure everything was good?”

Vicky laughed. “Boy, I sure wish that was an innuendo. He was a perfect gentlemen, though. I was certainly surprised to see him come over. I had just gotten back from a little shopping of my own, and was putting groceries away. After he checked the house, I made us some coffee and we sat and talked for a while.”

This news surprised Annalise. Even though she knew that Gino was softening to the idea of Vicky being around more, she never thought he’d purposely spend any time with her. She was happy to hear it.

“And? So what did you talk about?”

“What do any of us talk about these days?” Vicky asked a bit sarcastically. “The end of the world. The flu. The earthquake. But it was a good talk. I think he was feeling me out to see how seriously I was taking it. I’m guessing he was a little surprised when I told him that I didn’t doubt you for a second and that I’m on board with whatever you feel needs to be done.”

The statement made Annalise sigh with great love for her friend. “Vicky, I just adore you. You’ve been able to do with what my husband is still struggling to do. Thank you for your unconditional support. It means the world to me.”

“Well, you’re welcome. I’ve known you too long to think that you’re going insane. What’s with Justin, anyway? You hinted to something at Cabela’s about things not being right between you two. Everything okay?”

Annalise thought for a moment, then said, “I think so. At least I think it will be. I think he’s just a late bloomer, that’s all. I do think he’s coming around, though. Anyway, I probably should be getting to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow. Kayla and I will be there at nine. We’re stopping at the drug store to get more meds for Michael, and then we’ll be hitting Starbucks, too. Grande or Venti?” she asked.

“Better make it a grande. I don’t want to have to make a dozen pit stops while Gino’s driving that monstrous truck. And I’m guessing the astronaut-diaper look won’t be exactly the right way to impress him.”

That made Annalise laugh. “You dork. Are you excited about the ride up with him?”

“Yeah,” Vicky admitted, sounding like a schoolgirl with a crush. “I am. I thought years ago that I’d be able to move past him, but he’s just embedded himself in my brain. And my heart. I really like him. My plan is to tread lightly and not be pushy or over-zealous. I think he responds better that way.”

“I agree,” Annalise concurred. “I can’t wait to hear all about it afterward. I’ll see you in the morning!”

They said their good-byes, and Annalise hung up the phone. Smiling, she made her way into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. For once she knew she was going to have a pleasant night’s sleep.

In the morning after showering and putting on jeans, a cream-colored cable knit sweater and hiking boots that she had set out the night before, she did her hair and make-up in record time. By 7:45, she was out in the kitchen pulling out the ingredients for omelets and toast. Ten minutes later, Kayla emerged dressed and with slightly damp hair. Annalise could smell the faint scent of her vanilla body wash.

“Good morning!” Annalise greeted her cheerfully. “How did you sleep?”

“Like a rock!” Kayla grinned. “Which is saying something since I got up twice to use the bathroom. But I fell right back asleep both times. That bed is super comfy. Any word on Michael?”

As Annalise cracked the eggs into a bowl, she told Kayla about her conversation with Justin the night before. “So our plan is to stop at the drug store before heading to Starbucks. We’re going to get him some elderberry syrup, which may help him.”

Kayla nodded. “I’m praying he gets better, but I suppose it’s good that he’s not any worse. I thought I’d be up all night worrying about him, but I was just exhausted. My poor guy. I just want him to recover.”

Annalise proceeded to make two omelets with tomatoes, cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon pieces left over from BLT’s that she had made the other night. She buttered the toast and pulled out a carton of orange juice. After setting everything on the table, she said to Kayla, “Dig in! But dig in fast. We need to be out of here in 15 minutes. I wanted to be sure you had a good breakfast, though, and not just some scone from Starbucks. I hope Justin’s able to eat something.”

“I have mini-quiches in the fridge that he can warm up, and all kinds of stuff in the pantry. I left him a note telling him to help himself to anything in our house,” Kayla said, devouring her omelet.

After they finished and Annalise piled the dishes into the dishwasher, they both used the bathroom and gathered up their belongings. Annalise pulled over the large wheeled cooler that she had brought in from the garage the night before, and began filling it with the food from their refrigerator. She didn’t want all the groceries she had bought that week to go bad, so she packed up all of the produce, lunch meat, cheese, bread, milk, juice, coffee creamer, chicken, pork chops, fresh pasta, salsa and condiments. Then she took a cardboard box and filled that with cereal, a few spices, dried fruit, croutons, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oatmeal, dried noodles, hamburger buns, Sunchips, tortilla chips, trail mix and a few other things.

Annalise took one last look around their home to be sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. She was sure going to miss bringing her iPad up north. One of her favorite things to do was to sit by the fireplace at night and read. On impulse, she grabbed a reusable tote bag out from the hall closet and dumped several cookbooks into it, along with a pad of sticky notes.

“What’s all that for?” Kayla asked, curious.

“Well, I usually like to read up at the cottage at night. I figured I’d go through some of my cookbooks and dig out some good, old-fashioned recipes to bookmark and save for later. I might experiment and try some of those in the next few weeks.”

“Well, be sure to invite us over – or bring some by the house!” Kayla remarked enthusiastically. “I’m in love with your cooking.”

Lugging the bag of cookbooks, her suitcase, the toiletry case and her purse, Annalise followed Kayla out the door. Kayla had a rolling suitcase that she could manage quite easily, along with a big tote purse. After making two more trips in for the cooler and box of food, they finally had everything packed. Annalise closed and locked the door tightly, and instructed Kayla to pull the car into the garage. Within a few minutes they were on their way.

At the drug store, Annalise found that there were no bottles of elderberry syrup. She tried another drugstore, and they, too, were out. In fact, the cold and flu aisles of both stores were stark empty. Annalise was surprised. While standing in the medicine aisle of the second store staring at the empty shelves, she overheard a conversation between a pharmacy tech and a customer at the drive-up window.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. But we can’t accept this. This is a photocopy of a prescription and it clearly looks like the name has been whited out. Even if it was real, we’re out of Tamiflu.”

The woman in the mini-van got irate. “I KNOW you’re not out! My friend just got some the other day. This is a real prescription! My daughter has the flu!”

The tech shook her head and put the slip of paper back into the metal box to give back to the woman. “I’m sorry. We did have some three days ago, but now we’re out. You’ll have to call your doctor.”

“I’ve already done that!” the woman argued even louder, sounding desperate and panicked. “What’s wrong with you people? Everything’s all good and fine until the flu starts going around, and then you’re all good for nothing. This is what we pay hundreds of dollars in insurance for? Screw all of you!” And then with screeching tires, she sped away angrily.

Annalise was shocked. Clearly the panic had set in. She made her way back out of the store to where Kayla was waiting in the Honda. When she got in, she looked at her sister-in-law and shook her head.

Kayla looked worried. “Really? What are we going to do? Michael needs that medicine!”

Annalise put her hand on Kayla’s arm. “Honey, we don’t even know if that stuff was going to work. Vicky and I bought a ton of cold and flu medicine that’s now in the U-Haul. I’m sure we have something that will work just as well. Don’t you worry. He’s going to be okay.” Annalise wished that she knew that for sure, but she didn’t see how she could say anything else.

In silence they drove to Starbucks, which unfortunately wasn’t a drive-thru. They got out and stood in the short line. Annalise had already called Justin and Gino to ask what they wanted, so she ordered their drinks along with the lattes that she and Vicky prefer. “Anything for you?” she asked Kayla.

“I haven’t been drinking coffee while pregnant,” she answered. “But I think I’m going to indulge today. How about a peppermint mocha, but made with decaf?”

Annalise nodded and gave the final order. They walked out with all the hot drinks placed carefully in a carrier. Kayla held them all while Annalise drove to Vicky’s. When she pulled into the driveway, it was 9:15am. Justin, Gino and Vicky were all outside, chatting.

“Oooh, coffee! Thank you, thank you,” Vicky said, reaching to help take the trays from Kayla’s hands. “Hey, Kayla! Look at how beautiful you are! You look like you’re about to pop!” She gave her a light hug, careful not to spill the drinks.

Kayla looked at Justin. “Michael? Where’s Michael?” Justin nodded towards his car. Kayla ran over and saw that Michael was lying comfortably in the back seat amongst pillows and blankets. Michael was barely awake, but he seemed to be lucid. He waved weakly at his wife and they chatted through the cracked window.

“He’s talking. That’s a good sign,” Annalise said to the other three. “The drug stores were totally out of elderberry syrup. I went to two of them.”

“I figured as much,” Justin said. “I’d hug and kiss you, babe, but I figured I should wait a few days. You know… in case.”

Annalise nodded gravely, understanding full well how serious this flu bug was. “Well, anyway, that’s why I was a bit late. Are we ready to go?”

Kayla heard her question and straightened up from the car window. “Wait! Sorry, pregnant chick here. I need to use the little girl’s room one more time.”

Justin groaned affectionately. “Oh, man… this is going to be a long trip,” he joked, rolling his eyes.

As Vicky led Kayla into her house, Annalise turned to Justin. “Go ahead and drive as fast as you need to. I’ll stay in the slow lane with Gino and Vicky. But no sense in dragging this out for Michael. If you need to drive on ahead, do it. We’ll just see you at the cottage. There’s no need for you to hang around every time your sister needs to stop and pee.”

He agreed, and five minutes later, they were each in their respective vehicles, pulling out onto the street to begin their journey north.

After almost four long hours of driving carefully behind the Gino and Vicky in the U-Haul, Annalise was relieved to have finally reached the outskirts of their small town. The ride had been pleasant enough. She and Kayla talked about everything under the sun. They chatted about the arrival of the new baby, the latest reports about the earthquake, the contents of the U-Haul, and the most surprising of all, faith. Annalise had asked Kayla all about her Catholic faith. Kayla had admitted that it wasn’t very strong. She didn’t know much about the Bible other than the children’s stories that she had learned as a child. She was intrigued to hear Annalise talk about Gino’s recent conversion to Christianity, and how he had explained some of the events of the Tribulation to them.

When they finally turned down the dirt road toward their cabin, Gino slowed the U-Haul to allow Annalise to pull up alongside him. “Hey, congrats to the pregnant lady for only stopping twice!” he called out, grinning.

Since Annalise had pulled up to his left, that allowed Kayla to stick her head out the passenger window and say, “Yeah, but I’m counting the seconds until we pull into their driveway!”

Gino laughed. “So what do you want me to do? I just talked to Justin on his cell. He’s already at my place, waiting for me so he can put Michael in the spare bedroom. The house is locked up tight, so he can’t get in until I’m there.”

Annalise thought for a moment. “Well, why don’t you back the truck into the driveway, and then take my car to your place? Justin will have his car to drive back, so it’s not like we’ll be without one.”

Just then Gino realized something. “Aw, crap…” he moaned, making a face. “I left my laptop case in my truck at Vicky’s place. I meant to grab that and the cabin garage door opener before I left. Shoot. Oh, well. Not a big deal, I suppose. But I was hoping to do some work while I was up here.”

Annalise smiled teasingly at him. “That sucks. Oh, well. Guess you’re just going to have to be sociable!”

Gino chuckled. “Want me to stick around to help you guys unload some of the stuff?”

Annalise waved him off. “Nah, we can manage it here. Why don’t we plan to come over tomorrow? Justin can drive the U-Haul over so we can bring the rest of the supplies to your place.”

Gino’s face brightened with his signature grin. “Hey, in that case, I’ll make a run up to the store and get us some steaks. We’ll have a barbecue tomorrow, that way we can eat after all that work.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Annalise said. Then she rolled up Kayla’s window half-way and continued slowly down the street about a mile or so to their cottage. When she pulled up into the driveway, she sighed contentedly. She loved their cottage. It was nestled off the road in a deep clearing with pine trees and oaks surrounding the perimeter in a “U” shape. The clouds had thinned as they headed north along Lake Huron, and now the sky was almost all blue. It was a bit cool, but it was a beautiful day. She had missed their cottage, and was happy to be there.

She unlocked the door to let Kayla use the bathroom, and then opened up the blinds and the drapes to let sunlight through. She also cracked the windows to let some fresh air into the stale rooms. Vicky came in shortly afterward.

“Whew! I thought we’d never get here. Driving 60mph on the freeway was torture on my lead foot, you know!” she said.

Annalise laughed. “Doesn’t it feel good to be here? We all needed a vacation in the worst way!” Vicky agreed with an enthusiastic nod of her head.

Gino soon came in, and traded keys with Annalise. “Alright, ladies,” he said. “I’m outta here. If you need anything, just call. I imagine Justin will be back here in an hour or so. Make your way over around one o’clock tomorrow. I’ll have a room ready for all your supplies in the basement. Feel free to bring side dishes for the barbecue. Maybe a dessert or two?” he winked at Annalise.

“Or two?” Vicky teased.

“A guy can never have too many desserts,” Gino said emphatically.

“Hah!” came Vicky’s reply. “A woman sure can. Men don’t have to worry about their thighs.”

Gino couldn’t help but to steal a quick glance at Vicky’s thighs, but he quickly looked away. Both women caught the look, though. Annalise stifled a smile.

“Okay, go home and let my husband in your house so he can get poor Michael to bed,” she said, shoving Gino out the door. “Tell him I’ll have lunch ready for him when he gets back.”

Just then Kayla emerged from the hallway. “Okay, so what’s first on the agenda?”

“Food!” said Vicky, rubbing her stomach. “All I had was a piece of toast and that latte this morning. I’m starving!”

“Yes. Let’s unpack the cooler and box of food I brought up and make some lunch,” agreed Annalise.

Kayla made some instant iced tea in a big pitcher while Vicky and Annalise prepared turkey and swiss sandwiches with lettuce, tomato and onion on whole grain bread. They wrapped one for Justin and put it in the fridge, and then the three women sat around the square wooden table and ate.

Kayla looked around. “I just love your decorating. I forgot how cool this place is.” The three of them looked around at the cozy but spacious cabin. The kitchen was open-style, looking out into the living room and dining room. There was a large fieldstone fireplace with a mantle that matched the dark wood floors that ran throughout the whole house. The walls of the living room were painted a light-toned olive green, while the kitchen and dining area were a tea-stained color. Throughout the house there were unique antique accents – an old coffee grinder on top of the cabinets. An antique black metal lantern on the mantle. A rustic-looking wrought tapered-candle holder on one of the end tables. An imitation Tiffany touchiere lamp in the corner next to one of the overstuffed chairs. Yet amongst those antiques were little touches of modern flair as well. Annalise had placed a big mirror over the fire place, with modern-looking wrought iron sconces on the wall. There was a long black leather couch with cream color Sherpa pillows, cream color corduroy chairs with matching black and olive green chenille throws draped over their backs. A dark wood coffee table with wrought iron accents and a glass top sat directly over a large wool rug that had rich colors of cream, olive, black and burgundy running through the pattern. In strategic places she had put items that gave the house a definite “north woods” feel – a few candles wrapped with pine needle accents… a picture frame made to look like wood… pine cones in a wooden bowl on the coffee table… and burgundy and cream colored gingham placemats with pine accents in the corners. They also had a large elk trophy head hanging on the wall where the cathedral ceiling peaked over the sliding glass door that lead out to the deck. It was one they bought, of course, since Justin didn’t hunt. Annalise truly loved this home, even more so than the one down in the city. This place was her sanctuary.

After the women ate and cleaned up, they decided it was time to start tackling the supplies in the U-Haul. Vicky unlatched the door and opened it. Just as she had pulled out the ramp, Justin pulled up in Annalise’s Honda SUV.

“Hey, ladies!” he said, getting out of the car. He went over to Kayla and gave her a big hug. “How ya doin’, sis? Did you hold up okay on the ride up?”

Kayla nodded and hugged her brother back. Then she pulled away and looked at him seriously. “How did Michael do?”

Annalise noticed the strain around Justin’s eyes, but he managed a genuine smile for his sister. “He’s hanging in there. He’s sleeping now in Gino’s spare bedroom. We kept him downstairs rather than put him upstairs, figuring it would be easier to have him on the main floor. He did okay on the ride. Coughed and moaned a lot, and couldn’t walk into the house. But he’s hanging in there.”

Kayla seemed shocked. “He couldn’t walk? How did you get him in?”

“Gino and I carried him,” Justin admitted. “He’s weak. But it was a long ride, Kayla. I’m sure after a good night’s sleep, he’ll be better in the morning. Don’t worry about him.”

“When do you think it will be safe for me to see him?” she asked.

Justin just shook his head. “I don’t know. I guess when he’s back to his old self. You don’t want to take that chance.”

Kayla sat down wearily on the lawn chair that Annalise had pulled out for her. The sun had warmed the air, and Kayla took off her zip-up sweatshirt and sat in her t-shirt. She closed her eyes and lifted her face up to the sun.

It broke Annalise’s heart. She knew how worried Kayla was for Michael. She turned to Justin. “Do you really think he’s going to be okay?” she asked, her voice low so that Kayla wouldn’t hear.

“I sure hope so. He’s in good hands with Gino, who will look after him like his own brother. I’ll go back over there this evening to check in on them both. Gino said you made lunch?”

Annalise nodded. “There’s a sandwich for you in the fridge. I’ve got chips in the pantry too, if you want.”

When Justin went into the house, she and Vicky began to pull out the supplies. There was no rhyme or reason to anything, and all of it was one massive jumble of supplies. They weren’t sure how to proceed at first, but then decided to bring the items into the living room in batches. Their plan was to take out about a quarter of it at a time. Inside the house, they would make two piles. One for Gino’s house, and one for theirs. At first they started to split things by category, but then Justin gave them the idea to split everything so that each home had equal amounts – or as equal amounts as possible – of the same thing. They all agreed it was a great idea, so they went about the task of splitting everything up evenly. Half of the toilet paper stayed, half went into the pile for Gino’s. Half of the first aid items stayed, and have went into the pile for Gino, and so on. For the items that were packed in two’s from Sam’s Club, they opened them up and split them, giving one to each pile. When the first batch was done, then they organized it into bags and boxes and totes by type. All the medicines went together. All the first aid items went together. All the canned food went together. Kayla came up with the idea of putting sticky notes on each bag, box and tote to label them. Then they put a piece of clear packing tape over each note so that it wouldn’t fall off. After four hours, they had almost half of the supplies split and organized.

“I am exhausted! That was way too much work,” Vicky said, stretching out onto the leather couch and kicking her slippers off. “We really should’ve done that from the beginning as we shopped for it all.”

“Yeah, I agree,” said Annalise. Thankfully, the sorting went fairly efficiently with Kayla and Justin’s help, but it still was a time-consuming project. Often times they had an odd amount of something which caused a bit of debate. And then there were the items that had only one, like the camping gear, cookstove, propane heater, etc.

“We don’t have the room for this stuff here,” Justin argued. “Better to keep it at Gino’s.”

“Yeah, but what if we need it and we can’t get to Gino’s? He’s got all that stuff already. We’ve got the whole bedroom upstairs and the loft area,” she insisted. The loft wasn’t large – just enough for a pull-out couch, a small wooden coffee table and a corner stand with a small TV. The bedroom up in the loft, which had a bathroom right next to it, was meant to be a master bedroom, but over the years they had found that it worked better as a guest bedroom. So she and Justin had taken the larger bedroom downstairs that was next to the main floor bathroom. The other downstairs bedroom that was across from the bathroom was the guest room that they had planned for Kayla to sleep in. Usually that was Vicky’s room when she stayed, but she gladly accepted the upstairs room so that Kayla wouldn’t have to do the stairs.

In the end, Annalise won her argument. The bedroom closet upstairs was virtually empty, and there was also a small closet in the main sitting area of the loft. They neatly put away all of the camping gear from the first two piles, and then stacked the boxes and totes in various places according to type. The bedroom held most of the toiletries, first aid products and medicines, while the sitting area of the loft contained the paper products and food. Annalise put her seeds and gardening supplies out in the garage, along with the bags of charcoal, the containers of lighter fluid and the small propane tanks. The rest intended for Gino’s they moved back into the U-Haul along one side of the wall, to allow them room to get to the rest of the unsorted supplies in the morning.

“Now let’s not forget that Gino told us to be over there by one tomorrow,” Annalise reminded them. “I say let’s quit for the day. I’m going to make a pasta salad some corn casserole for tomorrow’s barbecue, and I think I have enough cream cheese for a cheesecake. I’ve got some gourmet frozen pizzas and salad that I can whip up for dinner, so I need to get cooking. You guys all go relax and hang out. And Kayla…” she said, turning toward her sister-in-law who was flipping through a Log Homes magazine that had been sitting on the coffee table. “Please make yourself at home! If there’s anything you need, just look and dig until you find it. And if you can’t find it, just holler.”

They all scattered to do their own thing for a while. Annalise buried herself in the task of cooking. When she was done and dinner was eaten, she went into their bedroom and unpacked her suitcase and toiletries. She laid down on her bed for a moment to stretch out. She had been moving and unloading and lifting all day, and her body was tired. Not to mention that she was a bit stiff from the morning’s long car ride. Without intending to, she let her mind wander as she relaxed there on the bed with the warm breeze and late evening sunshine streaming through the windows. Within minutes, she had fallen into a deep, peaceful slumber.

When Annalise awoke from her nap, she was dismayed to find that it had been more than a nap. She felt as if she had been asleep for hours. She felt Justin’s warm body sleeping peacefully next to her, and realized that she was under the covers in her underwear. Justin must’ve undressed her. How did she not wake up when he took off her jeans and shirt? She looked at the clock on the nightstand, which was completely dark. The room was pitch black without the blue glow of the numbers. “Drat, I must’ve somehow pulled the plug out from the socket,” she thought. She felt around on the top of the nightstand to grab her iPhone, which she had set there before she had laid down. When her hand went around the rubber case, she turned it over and hit the sleep button. Nothing happened. She tried it a few more times but still nothing happened. Great. To top things off, the battery was dead on her phone. She plopped her head back on the pillow, figuring that she really didn’t need to know what time it was. She knew that she should just go back to sleep, but she couldn’t. She was wide awake. Remembering the bag of cookbooks that she had brought with her, she figured she’d get up and do a little bit of recipe-reading to lull her back to sleep.

Getting up, Annalise quietly pulled her robe off the hook inside the closet and wrapped herself in it. Then she slid into her furry slippers and creaked open the door. She padded down the hallway to the kitchen, which was as black as pitch. “Why in the heck Justin didn’t leave the light on the range?” she wondered. Usually that was their designated “night light.”

She found her way over to the switch for the overhead range light and turned it on. Nothing happened. Puzzled, she carefully shuffled her way over to the kitchen wall and tried turning on that light. Still nothing. Then the realization dawned on her – the power must be out. That would explain why the clock had been off and why the house was so dark. She tried to remember where the flashlights and candles were. Then she snorted out a laugh that made her cover her mouth with her hand. She began giggling. How ironic was it? They had at least different flashlights, a gazillion batteries, a few headlamps, dozens and dozens of candles and more lighters than they could ever need. And at that very moment, they were packed somewhere upstairs in the room where Vicky slept, tucked neatly away in labeled totes. She wouldn’t be able to find one of them if she wanted to, at least not without waking up Vicky. Now would be a good time to have one of those glow-in-the-dark watches that they bought from Cabela’s, but even those were upstairs, too. “Nice, Einstein,” she muttered.

Then she thought about her iPhone, but just as she was about to head back down the hall to go get it, she remembered that it needed to be charged. Well, at least she had her car charger in case the power was out long term.

Annalise went back into the kitchen and stood there. Now what? She really didn’t feel sleepy, but she couldn’t read without lights. She sure as heck missed her iPad right then. Sighing, she walked over toward the front door. Her eyes were adjusted better to the darkness now, and so she figured she’d take a peek at the stars. With the power out, she thought they’d be brilliant if the sky wasn’t cloudy. Even though they were way back in the woods and always had a spectacular view of the stars, there was usually some kind of light emanating from the house. With the power out, she was betting that the Milky Way would be clear and absolutely amazing.

She unlocked the front door, and what she saw made her gasp. The night sky was lit up like a kaleidoscope. All around her the sky wavered and glowed with brilliant displays of green and pink and purple ribbons.

“Wow!” she breathed aloud, stepping out into the colorful night. She had seen the northern lights once before in the U.P., but they weren’t this magnificent. It was like something out of a sci-fi movie. She walked out further onto the front lawn, spinning in a slow circle as she looked up. “Wow!” she said again, giddy with smiles and delight. It was beautiful! She had never seen anything like it! The sky quivered with large swathes of indescribable color. She laughed outright and clapped her hands. Running back into the dark house, she hurriedly made her way into the bedroom and gently shook her husband awake.

“Justin! Justin, wake up!” she urged quietly, but excitedly. His eyes flickered open for the briefest of seconds.

“Wha…? What’s wrong?”

“Honey, you’ve got to see this. You have to get up. Come on!” Annalise urged, pulling on his hand and tugging him out of bed. He protested, but she wouldn’t let him say no.

“You’re crazy!” he muttered sleepily. “Unless someone’s hurt or dying, there’d better be a good reason for waking me up.”

“Come on!” Annalise urged again. “Put your slippers on. And your robe.” She reached into his side of the closet and took his robe that hung on the wall opposite of where hers had been.

“What in the heck, Anna?” he asked now, more irritated than a few minutes ago. But he did what he was told and donned his robe and slippers. She took his hand and eagerly led him down the hallway and into the kitchen.

“OW!” he exclaimed, cursing. He had stubbed his toe on the corner of the wall. “Damnit! Can you turn a light on, please, before I kill myself?” he spewed loudly, hopping on one foot.

“Shhh! You’ll wake everyone up!”

“Well turn on a damn light then!”

“I can’t, Justin. The power’s out. No lights to turn on,” she said.

“What? Really?” His irritated voice gave way to puzzlement, as he flipped the wall switch on and off a couple of times.

“Come on!” Annalist demanded for the umpteenth time. “You’ve got to see this!”

Just then Kayla came padding out into the kitchen sounding sleepy. “What’s all the commotion out here?”

“Oh, good! You’re up, too!” Annalise said, excitedly. “Might as well wake Vicky up as well. VICKY!” she called up loudly. “Hey, you! Get up, missy! We’ve got something to show you!”

In the dark, she could see Justin turn to her. “Are you insane? What in the hell has gotten into you?”

“Just wait. Vicky!!!”

“I’m up, I’m up!” Vicky said, groaning over the loft railing. “What’s with the drill sergeant routine? It’s the middle of the night, you freak!”

Annalise laughed. “Come on down. I want to show you guys something. Be careful, though. It’s dark. The power is out.”

She heard, rather than saw Vicky slowly making her way down the stairs. “Alright, alright! I’m here, you nutcase. What do you want to show me? This better be good. I was dreaming about Brad Pitt.”

Annalise made a face, but realized that her friend couldn’t see her in the dark. “Come on, you guys. Come outside. You need to see this. Be careful, but follow me.”

She led everyone toward the front door with each person hanging onto the one in front of them. Annalise felt a bit silly, as if she were leading everyone in a wedding conga line. This made her giggle.

“You really are looney,” Vicky said, yawning. “Like I said, this better be…”

But at that moment, they all stepped out onto the porch, and Vicky’s sentence was abruptly cut off. The night sky was even more dazzling than before.

There were exclamations of delight and awe as they each stepped down off the porch and stood in the middle of the front lawn, with their mouths gaping open. The northern lights were bright enough to illuminate the night so that they could see each other. The red was becoming stronger, offset by the greens and blues and purples. There was even a bit of yellow around the edges.

“This is unbelievable,” Justin said, clearly awed and impressed. “I’ve been coming up here since I was a little kid, and I remember seeing the Aurora Borealis a couple of times. But it’s rarely visible this far south, and certainly not of this magnitude. Incredible!”

“It’s like something from Disney World!” exclaimed Kayla, her mouth gaping open in wonder. Annalise twirled around with her arms extended like a little girl. It was so magical! She couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. All around her the northern lights glowed with such intensity that she didn’t think anyone could’ve ever seen them this intense before.

Everyone was silent for a moment, and then Annalise said, still twirling slowly and marveling at the sight, “I wonder if that had something to do with the power going out. Aren’t the northern lights some kind of solar storm?”

“Oh, crap. Is that what it is?” Vicky asked. “The towers must be out, then. I couldn’t get my iPhone to turn on.”

“Mine either,” Annalise said puzzled. “It was completely dead. I didn’t think about the towers being out.”

“Um, don’t mean to point out the obvious,” Kayla said, her dark figure giving off a cartoonish look with her big belly. “But even if the towers were out, why would that make your phones die?”

“It wouldn’t,” Vicky said. “That doesn’t have anything to do with it.”

Justin went into the house and came back a moment later with his Blackberry. “What in the heck? My phone is dead, too! How in the world can that be?”

Kayla shook her head. “It has to be something else. It doesn’t make sense that a little solar storm would knock out electricity and your cell phones.”

“Ha! You never know,” said Vicky. “Maybe if it’s a big enough storm. And if that’s what causes these colors, I’d say it was a pretty big storm.”

As those words sunk in, Annalise suddenly stopped twirling and stared at all of them, a look of horror on her face. She read about this very thing on the prepper message boards. It was no joking matter. In fact, a solar storm can indeed knock out every kind of electrical power and gadget if it was strong enough.

“Oh, my God…” she said, covering her mouth with her hands. The others turned to look at her, noticing the stark white of her eyes against the inky darkness of the beautifully glowing night.

“What is it?” Justin asked, immediately concerned.

Annalise pulled her hands away from her face and looked all around her at what only a few moments before brought her joy and giddiness. Now it left a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. “This is not good,” she said in a grave voice. “I think we might have just been hit with an EMP.”

My apologies in the delay of the next chapter...

2011-12-12T22:23:00.000-05:00

Sorry folks! I did not intend to be so long with the next chapter -- I had it mostly written, and then decided it wasn't right. With a bit of prayer and quite a bit of thought, I deleted it and started over, taking it in a new direction. It's exciting to be sure! Stay tuned... I should have it posted in two days.

Thank you for your patience!

~Maria

Chapter 6

2011-12-04T12:45:00.000-05:00

Chapter 6

For the rest of that day, Justin and Annalise went through the arduous task of cleaning up the mess and sorting out a more detailed list of what was taken during the robbery. Gino had stayed for about an hour after the police left, promising that he would call them later to check up on them. Annalise just could not stop the tears. Sometimes she would break down with the overwhelming feeling of fear. Other times it was frustration. Yet often it was anger. Who were those jerks, and what made them think they could just break in and take what wasn’t theirs? She hoped that the cops would be able to hunt them down. Two different neighbors said that they saw a white box truck pull up into their driveway about noon. Neither thought anything of it, especially since it was the middle of the day on a Saturday. One neighbor, an elderly woman who lived next door, confirmed that two men had gone around the back. She figured that they were contractors of some sort. She was able to give a vague description of each, but no one caught a license plate number or any other information of significance.

The officers advised that for safety purposes, they should contact their banks, cancel all of their cards and put an alert on their account, especially since both the desktop computer and Justin’s laptop were taken. Annalise’s iPad was taken, too. They primarily did their banking online, with passwords stored in their computers. She was grateful that Justin was meticulous about keeping receipts which would help in their insurance claim, but each passing minute brought on a new memory of something precious that was on her desktop computer. Photos of all different occasions over the years: holidays at the cottage, Justin’s sister and brother-in-law’s wedding, pictures of her gardens in full bloom, memories of various vacations they had taken… the list was endless. And of course, she didn’t have them backed up on a flash drive or external hard drive. She thought about the zillion bookmarked websites on her browser. The hand-typed family recipes that she intended to have published in a personal volume for her kitchen. The articles she had saved, and all of the recent prepping and survival notes. The genealogy she had spent so much time on several years back. And about a dozen other things that were treasured and cherished… and completely irreplaceable.

Sitting on the floor in grey sweats and an old Detroit Tigers baseball jersey, she gathered up all her costume jewelry that had been strewn across the floor. She sighed heavily. Justin had been surprisingly sweet, attentive and compassionate all afternoon and into the evening. He hugged her several times, and offered to make her tea. He spent a good hour replacing the locks on the doors – an item he sent Gino up to Home Depot for since Annalise was afraid to be left home on her own. He also replaced the broken window in the spare bedroom with two pieces of plexiglass that he’d had in the garage. The window repair company would be out Monday morning to replace it.

Annalise was glad that she didn’t have to go to work the next morning. She wasn’t sure that she’d be up for it. She just didn’t like the feeling of helplessness and vulnerability. She wasn’t usually a woman who was afraid. But at that moment, she was. She was mostly afraid that the burglars would come back. They clearly hadn’t found what they were looking for, and there was a good chance that if they wanted it bad enough, they’d come back looking for it.

Gino had offered to swing by Vicky’s again on his way home to tell her what had happened and to give her house the once-over, ensuring that her home was locked up tight. Vicky had a high-end alarm monitoring service, so he was going to advise her to keep it on, even when she was home. Annalise hadn’t had a chance to talk to Vicky yet, and she knew her friend must be worried about her. She made a mental note to give her a call in the morning.

Then she remembered that her sister-in-law, Kayla, was having her baby shower that next day. She had the gifts ready to go – she had made a beautiful baby book that was more like a scrap-book. Annalise had included pictures of her sister-in-law’s wedding, vacation photos, pictures of her belly as it grew, and little baby decorations that she knew would be loved and cherished as the memories were written in on the blank pages. They had also bought the stroller that Kayla had on her registry. The big box was wrapped, but still sitting in the basement. Justin would have to bring it up and load it in the car for her tomorrow.

What would it be like, she wondered? What would it be like for a mother with a newborn when all of this happened? What about the women who were pregnant? Would hospitals be available? Her first instinct was to warn her sister-in-law and her husband, but what kind of news was that to give to a couple about to celebrate the birth of their first child? What would she say? “Um, sorry to break it to you, but chaos and destruction are around the corner… it’s time to go into hiding.”

She sighed heavily again, suddenly bone weary. If there was a God, she had no idea why He chose her for this role. She didn’t want it. She decided right then and there that it would be easier not to know about what was coming. As she gathered up the remaining earrings from underneath her dressing table, she stood up and stretched her back. It was going to be difficult sleeping that night. She knew that every sound, every creak, every rustle would jar her into a panic. She was so grateful to have Justin by her side. She wondered if this compassionate, understanding, loving mood would last. She then remembered the conversation with Gino at Cabela’s and how Justin had been asking questions about Christianity. Maybe she would ask him to give church a try soon. At the very least, she wanted to talk to a clergy member and ask about angels. She needed to find out if there were others out there seeing and doing the same thing.

Monday came around again all too soon. Her beginning to the workweek on started out a little rough. Between the baby shower the day before and not getting enough sleep, Annalise felt groggy and worn out. She knew she looked it, too. Thankfully, Justin had been able to stay home in the morning so that the window repairman could replace the plexiglass with a real window. She admitted to Justin that she was worried for him. What if the intruders came back, thinking that everyone was at work? He assured her that the minute anything looked suspicious, he’d be on the phone with the police. She told him to call her at the office or on her cell if anything happened, or if the police station came up with any new information.

Getting up out of her chair, she decided to take a quick break in the mid-morning to replenish her coffee. Grabbing her company-logo’d mug, she headed down the hall to the coffee station area. That particular break area had become a bit of a common gathering place. With a large countertop and barstools and a never ending supply of free Starbucks coffee, it was the proverbial “water cooler” area on steroids. While she waited her turn for the machine that offered freshly ground beans and an instant brew with every cup, she sat on one of the barstools next to a coworker named Kimber.

Kimber was a very pretty girl. Long auburn hair, blue eyes and a petite figure. She was always dressed very young and trendy, and she had a very fun, vivacious personality. As a member of their company’s sales team, the personality served her well in business, too. Over the winter, though, Annalise had watched Kimber put on a bit of weight. At one point she would’ve sworn Kimber was pregnant as her breasts had gotten noticeably bigger as well, but now she looked as slim and small as ever. Must’ve been winter-weight, Annalise thought.

“Hey, Kimber…” she greeted with a smile.

“Hey, Annalise! How’s it going?”

Annalise shrugged. She wasn’t one for revealing much personal information, so she gave her standard reply. “Good. Same ol’ same ol’. How about you? You look great! Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look like you lost a few pounds. Nice! Wanna share your secret?”

Kimber laughed. “Oh, it wasn’t anything I worked on, that’s for sure.” Then she lowered her voice just a touch. “I was actually pregnant for a while there.”

Annalise’s eyes widened. So she was right. She reached out and touched Kimber’s arm compassionately. “Oh, Kimber. I’m so sorry. There’s never anything appropriately comforting to say when you hear news like that, but you can try again. I just went to my sister-in-law’s baby shower yesterday. She’s due in a month with a perfectly healthy baby, and she had two miscarriages before this. It will happen for you.”

Kimber scrunched up her face in a look that at first showed pure confusion… and then amusement. “Oh, no… no. Not that. I had an abortion,” she said causally, reaching for the container of non-dairy creamer that someone had just set on the counter in front of her.

Annalise was stunned. She had no reply. She just stared at Kimber, unable to respond back to that.

Kimber filled in the awkward silence. “Don’t get me wrong, I think babies are cool and all. But I am not at the point in my life yet where I want to get fat. Plus Carter, my boyfriend, booked us two first-class tickets to Miami in September where we’re going to set sail for a ten-day Mediterranean cruise. We’ve been planning that trip for two years! It’s a nice cruise, too. Not one of those lame singles cruises where everyone gets drunk and hits on each other at the pool. A baby would’ve just messed everything up.”

Annalise was even more stunned. Her mouth gaped open in disbelief. She couldn’t help herself. After trying to come up with something polite to say and failing, she simply decided to voice her immediate thoughts. “I’m sorry… so what you’re telling me is that you had an abortion because you wanted to look good in a bikini and go on a cruise?”

Clearly this wasn’t the reaction Kimber had expected. She looked taken aback for a moment, and then got defensive.

“Listen, I had enough preaching from my parents. I don’t need it from my co-workers. Not everyone is parent material, and some who are just need a little more time. I was only eleven weeks – it’s not like it was even a real baby yet. Chill out. It’s a woman’s right, you know. Or are you one of those pro-lifers who hate abortion?” she asked, crossing her arms with a bit of attitude.

Annalise didn’t reply. She had always been pro-choice. Always. She felt that it was a woman’s right to do what she wanted to her own body. If that meant lopping off an arm or getting tattoos or getting an abortion, whatever. It didn’t matter any to her. To each their own, she always thought. But for some reason, this girl’s confession really ticked her off.

She stood up, deciding that she didn’t want coffee anymore. “Kimber,” she said slowly, straightening herself and looking the girl right in the eye. “You’re correct. It is a woman’s right. But that doesn’t make it right. I’ve been trying for more than seven years to have a baby… even to the point where my husband and I had considered expensive fertility treatments. And I’m still barren and childless. Even if you didn’t want that baby, maybe someone else would’ve. That poor little thing could’ve been the light of your life for the next fifty years, but yet you gave it all up for a ten day cruise.” She paused then, trying to control the shakiness in her voice. “I hope it will be worth it.”

Then she turned and walked back down the hall. She knew that with Kimber’s fondness for gossip, their little exchange would be all over the office by that afternoon. She also knew that her words would be skewed to make her out to be a crazed lunatic, but she didn’t care. How horrible to decide on an abortion for such shallow reasons! She had personally never known anyone who had one, and she had assumed those kinds of decisions were made with much more noble intentions. Could people really be so callous and cruel? What was the world coming to?

The end, she thought solemnly. It’s the end. And suddenly she had a very clear image of herself, as if from a ten-thousand foot view. Had she made bad decisions like that in her life? Yes, of course. Were they all so shallow and self-centered? Geez, she’d hoped not. It was as if someone had removed a veil from her eyes as she now looked at the world around her. It seemed to her now a very broken world. She stood just outside her office door, gazing out onto the endless rows of cubicles in which the hourly graphic artists and marketing associates sat. Everyone’s heads were bent down and they all were working at a frantic pace to meet deadlines.

She remembered Vicky’s words then, from their shopping trip at the mall that one Sunday when she first saw the angel in the parking lot. “…you don’t feel that you’re living to your full potential. I know you think you’re meant to be doing more than you are, and that even though you love your husband and your life so much, you’re exasperated with the mediocrity of it all.”

It was the truth. Much more than she was willing to admit. Didn’t anyone else feel that way, though? Wasn’t there someone else who thought there should be more to life than giving up babies for Mediterranean cruises, or working late on some corporate ad project? What was the purpose of it all? “Freakin’ ants running around in circles, not knowing anything beyond our little, insignificant hill,” she muttered despondently. One co-worker, a graphic artist in his twenties, must’ve heard her mumble. He looked up and leaned his head back to catch a glimpse of her. She blushed slightly, embarrassed by her dark and philosophical rambling. She turned and went back into her office. For the rest of the day, she tried to focus on her own deadlines and unfinished projects. Yet there, hovering like a little dark rain-cloud, was the ever-present thought of a baby that would never be.

That night she decided to swing by Trader Joe’s to pick something up for dinner. A quick call to Justin who was already home reassured her that everything was fine, the new window was in and there was no sign of intruders. She parked the Honda in the small parking lot, set the alarm and then quickly walked into the store. She loved that the weather was turning warm. The truth was, even though it was a lot of fun to play up north on their snowmobiles and enjoy the quiet, magical scenery of a fresh snowfall, she just did not like winter. Too depressing. Too dark. Too cold. She was ready to feel the strong, warm sun again.

As she walked into the welcoming store, she grabbed a red plastic basket from the wire rack by the door. She had no idea what she wanted to buy for dinner. Her plan was to just wing it. She scanned the prepared foods in the fresh refrigerated area and looked over some packaged butternut squash ravioli.

“Annalise!” someone called out.

She turned around and saw Kayla, Justin’s pregnant sister. Annalise greeted her with a big smile. “Hey, you! Look at that. I get the privilege of seeing you two days in a row. Are you recovered yet from your fantastic party?”

Kayla left her cart and walked over to give Annalise a hug. “Yes, and thank you again for the stroller and baby book. It was so beautiful! The hand-made gifts were my favorite. Our little baby will treasure the gift all his or her life, I’m sure.”

Annalise laughed. “I had a great time at the shower. It was amazing! The cupcakes were so cool. It was really great to see all those relatives that we usually only see at weddings and funerals. And, I have to say that I think it’s terrific that you two decided not to know the sex of the baby. Not enough people do that these days.”

Kayla shrugged. Despite her tremendous size, she was beautiful. She had Justin’s sandy blonde hair, which was highlighted with wisps of platinum. It hung down to her shoulders in a feathery, layered bob that framed her round face and upturned nose perfectly. Annalise always loved how cute and vulnerable Kayla always looked. She was a sweetheart. Kayla and her husband Michael lived in Livonia, only about six or seven miles from Novi. They didn’t get to see each other enough, Annalise thought.

“We’re just so happy that we finally have a healthy baby that it doesn’t matter what sex it is. The surprise will be fun, and it just makes the whole thing that much more exciting. It’s just a shame we don’t get to see you and Justin more, though. Our lives have just been so busy lately! But we miss you.”

Annalise tried to push all thoughts of Kimber and her abortion out of her mind. It was hard not to think about it though, as she smiled at her glowing, happy, pregnant sister-in-law. She chuckled. “I was just thinking the same thing! We miss you, too. But you know that once the little one is born, we’ll be visiting often. And you also know you have two built in babysitters,” she reminded her.

Just then Kayla’s phone rang. She dug it out of her purse and said, “Oh, it’s Michael. Can you hang on one sec? He’s just calling to check in, I’m sure.”

Annalise strolled over to the produce to give them a bit of privacy, but she immediately whirled around when she heard Kayla gasp.

“Oh, no! Michael! You’ve got to be kidding me!” Kayla had a stricken look on her face as she held on tightly to her grocery cart for support. “Why? What was the reason?”

Annalise came over, concerned. Kayla wasn’t even paying her any attention. The poor girl’s eyes were filling up with tears. “But Michael… what are we going to do?” After a few moments, she nodded and said, “Okay, I’m on my way. I’ll leave now and will be home in ten. I love you.” Annalise heard him say good-bye through the phone, but had no idea what just transpired.

“Kayla?” she said, gently touching the woman’s arm. At that moment, as big fat tears slid down Kayla’s face, she looked about 16 years old, even though Annalise knew she was ten years older than that.

“Oh, Annalise! Michael just got laid off! No notice, no reason. They just told him that they’re downsizing. He’s been there for over 10 years! What are we going to do? I just quit my job last month to be a stay-at-home mom!”

Annalise couldn’t believe it. She never would’ve guessed that Michael could be laid off. She thought he had a secure job. He worked downtown as an executive for Detroit Edison, the state’s electric and gas company. He was one of the most respected, well-liked men in the downtown corporate office. He started as an account temp while he worked his way through college, and then after getting his degree he managed to secure a permanent office position. His tenacity, intelligence and work-ethic moved him up through the ranks every year.

“Well, surely they gave him a good severance packet, and he can claim unemployment, too. You guys are going to be okay.” Annalise put her arm around her, reassuring her.

Kayla sniffed and wiped her eyes. “I don’t know if we are. We’re about to have a baby! And I have a friend on unemployment. It only pays like $370 a week. That will barely even pay our mortgage! Jobs aren’t easy to find these days. Not in Michigan! I don’t know… know how…” she shuddered and squeezed her eyes shut.

Annalise took her by the shoulders and began pulling her away from her cart. “Do you need to buy these things? If so, I can buy them and bring them over for you. You need to get home, sweetie. You’re in no condition to keep shopping. Go home to Michael and talk this out.”

With swollen red eyes and tears streaming down her cheeks, Kayla looked down at the items in her cart. “I don’t even know if I can afford that now. No, just leave it. I need to get out of here.”

Kayla placed her empty basket back in the bin and guided the sobbing girl out the door. “Hey, hey… don’t be so upset. It’s not good for the baby,” she soothed.

“Anna, I’m scared…” she sniffled as they walked outside. “I’m really scared.”

Annalise shook her head, walking with her arm around Kayla as she spotted the girl’s car across the way in the parking lot. “Listen, no one’s going to let anything happen to you guys. Michael is a good, smart man with a solid head on his shoulders. You two are going to be okay. I promise. Go home and talk it out with him, but you can be strong for him, too. I’m sure he’s mad and upset as all get-out. That’s a horrible thing to do to a man who’s about to have a baby and who’s the sole provider for his family. Go give him support. And if you need us, you know where to find us.”

Kayla nodded and wiped away more tears, straightening a bit as she found her resolve. She unlocked her car with the key fob and then turned to give Annalise a hug. “Thank you,” she said, squeezing tightly. “I’m sure glad you were here tonight. I’d probably still be in the store crying. Will you please tell Justin? Have him call us tomorrow, if he can.”

“I sure will, sweetie. You take care and rest for the baby. We’ll talk soon. Drive carefully!”

As Kayla got into her car, Annalise watched her for a moment and then slowly made her way over to her own. After unlocking it and getting in, she fished out her iPhone and called Justin. He answered on the second ring.

“Hi, babe,” he answered sullenly.

“Hi,” Annalise answered back, perplexed. “Everything okay? You sound weird.”

“No, but we’ll talk when you get home. What’s up?”

Annalise took a deep breath. “Do you mind ordering us a pizza tonight? There should be coupons in the drawer. I wasn’t able to get dinner from the store.”

It was Justin’s turn to sound perplexed. “Why? What happened?”

“I ran into your sister at Trader Joe’s. While we were chatting, Michael called her. He lost his job today, Justin. They laid him off. She was super upset, so I walked her out to her car. Now I’m sitting in mine, and I just don’t have the energy to go back inside for food.”

“Oh, man. No way! That royally sucks. What a stinkin’ blow. He’s worked there forever! Jerks!”

“I know,” Annalise replied. “It was a shock to both of them. And don’t forget Kayla quit her job to stay at home full-time. She couldn’t go back now even if she wanted to. Not with that baby due next month.”

“That poor guy. Sheesh. I’ll stop by there after work tomorrow. And I’ll talk to Gino, too. Maybe he’ll have something for him, at least temporarily. Yeah, I’ll order pizza. I’m starving! I was out on appointments all afternoon and haven’t eaten since a late breakfast. How come we don’t have any snack food? What happened to all that jerky we bought at Cabela’s?”

“It’s at Vicky’s, in the U-Haul. We just loaded all the bags inside. Same with all the tons of other food I bought. It’s all in the truck. The pizza will come fast. They usually only take fifteen or twenty minutes. Get a large if you want.”

“Mmmkay.” She could hear him fishing through the junk drawer for coupons.

“Hey, so what’s going on? How come you sound like your best friend just died?” she prodded, turning the key in the ignition and finally starting her car.

“Lise, we’ll talk when you get home. Are you on your way?”

“Yeah,” she said, pulling out of the parking spot. “I’ll be there in ten.”

She pulled up in the driveway and turned off the car, sitting there for a moment. Her eyes scanned the expanse of their home. She couldn’t imagine leaving it for several months, or for that matter, forever. She remembered the day when she and Justin first saw it. They were with a real estate agent, and it had been the seventh house they looked at. The large, perfectly manicured lawn and pretty black shutters against the white brick gave the home a “cottage” look and feel to it. The previous owner had been a big gardener, so the property also boasted several rose bushes, a rock garden, two perennial gardens and two raised vegetable garden beds in the back. That had appealed immensely to Annalise. The kitchen was good-sized, too, with granite counter tops and custom-cabinetry. And of course, she loved the fireplace with its big mantle. She thought back to how the home gave her a good feel that first time she stepped inside it. She had immediately pictured it as their own. Now it was truly their own after so many years of adding all of her little decorating touches and personal adornments. She’d have to start packing up their personal items, she thought. Maybe after they got back from up north. The thought of their personal items made her think of the burglars, and her eyes quickly sharply took in the length of the home, assessing the perimeter to see if there could be a way to make it safer. She tried to remember some of the suggestions she read on the printouts regarding home security, but she was coming up blank.

She heard a car pull up behind her, and it startled out of her daydream. She had thought at first that it was the pizza delivery man, but it had only been ten minutes. Instead she realized it was Gino. Reaching for her purse and tote bag, she got out of her car at the same time he did. He was still dressed in office attire – black slacks and a grey V-neck dress sweater. He came over and embraced her in a big bear hug.

“Anna, you poor thing. Crazy, eh? You doing okay?”

Thinking he was referring to the break-in on Saturday, she nodded. “Yeah, I suppose. Hanging in there. Just par for the course, I guess. Did you miss us already?”

“Nah, Justin called me over so that we can talk about a game plan for germ warfare. He thinks that we should all keep a careful eye on each other, and maybe even go into some kind of semi-quarantine. I think I’m in agreement with that.”

“Huh?” Annalise was thoroughly confused. She raised her eyebrows in question. “What on earth are you talking about? Quarantine for what?”

“Oh, man. Didn’t you hear the news? Didn’t you talk to Justin?”

She nodded and pulled out stray chunk of hair away from where it caught inside the neck of her coat. “Yeah, I just called him, but we only talked for a few minutes. He sounded upset, and told me we’d talk when I got home.”

Gino began walking up the driveway, and she followed. “Better you come inside,” he said.

Alarmed, she followed after him, locking her car without even looking behind her. When they walked in, Justin was seated on the couch with the television on. He was watching CNN.

“Babe? What’s going on?” Annalise shrugged out of her coat while setting her purse and tote on the floor. Gino, who wasn’t wearing a coat, simply sat down in the overstuffed chair. Annalise decided to remain standing.

Justin rubbed his face with his hands and looked at Gino, who just shook his head glumly. Annalise was starting to get really worried. “What? Will somebody please tell me what’s going on?”

“The flu,” Justin said simply. “It’s gotten really bad. More than a thousand deaths now. There are several thousand more who have it. It’s some new mutated flu. Airborne. I can’t remember the exact strain. H5 something or other. But they said it’s airborne.”

“Oh, god…” Anna said. She went over and sat down on the couch next to her husband. “They think it’s going to get bad? Don’t they have a vaccine for it?”

Gino chimed in. “Well, the pharmaceutical companies are working on it. They’re expecting to have one in about three weeks. But by that point, for as fast as this thing is spreading, it could be too late.”

“Wow,” Annalise said softly. “So it’s really happening. Another birth pang. It’s a little scary.”

Gino nodded. “Yep, and it’s probably going to get scarier. But that’s not all.” He looked over at Justin, as if he didn’t want to be the one to break the news. Justin understood, so he told the next part.

“Annalise… uh, well… we just heard on the news tonight that there has been a death in Michigan. While the flu seems to be more concentrated out west and in New York and Atlanta, we’ve only had one death so far. About 140 people are believed to have the flu, but the guy that died? He was the guy who dropped unconscious at Cabela’s.”

Annalise looked stricken. She couldn’t believe it. In fact, with all the events of the break-in and now her brother-in-law’s job layoff, she actually forgot all about that man.

“My God,” she said, putting her hand to her chest. Her porcelain, youthful skin took on a pale, sickly pallor. Justin had thought for a moment that she might faint or throw up, but she seemed to steel herself as she asked more questions.

“So now what? What does that mean, guys? What do we do? Is there any way to protect ourselves?”

“I think we should make a plan, which is why I called Gino over here,” Justin said. “We need to come up with rules, so to speak. Number one is no gyms. Stay out of the gym, Anna. And number two, I want you to stop at the grocery store after work tomorrow or Wednesday, and buy whatever you need to sustain us for two weeks. I know you just bought a million tons of food, but digging that out will be a nightmare. Plus, we’ll need produce and perishables like milk, bread, eggs. Be very careful at the store! Do not get too close to anyone. In fact, I’d feel more comfortable if you wore a mask and gloves, but we also don’t want to appear panicked. Once we have our house stocked with what we need for the next two weeks, we stay hunkered down in here. No going out unless it’s absolutely necessary. It may need to be longer than two weeks, but at least by then we’ll have a better idea of what this thing is doing. And when a vaccine might be available.”

“What about work? Isn’t it kind of pointless to do all that and keep to the house when we have to go out to work every day?”

Justin and Gino once again looked at each other. Obviously, they had previous discussions about this earlier in the evening. Gino spoke up. “Business has been slow this month. I told Justin that he can just conduct work from here. Since I know you guys will be getting insurance money soon, I’m going to go out tomorrow and buy him a new laptop. He can pay me back later. We’ve decided that neither of us are going to take on new business over the next few weeks, which should dramatically cut down on the amount of face-to-face visits we’re going to have. We’ll be telling the two agents on our team to back off on new clients as well. That way, Justin can just stay home. I will, too. Or at least as much as I can.”

Annalise looked bewildered. “Okay, but what about me? I can’t work from home.”

Justin sighed. “Yeah. We know. Anna, we think you should quit. If we’re going to be moving up north anyway in a few months, then it doesn’t really matter, does it? I cashed out all those stocks and funds, so I suppose we’ve got money to live off of for a while. I don’t want to panic and do something rash, but like I said, we’ll be living up at the cottage anyway.”

“Yeah, but not permanently! Justin, I was just planning to take a leave of absence, not quit my job!”

Justin replied calmly, “Lise, if this is truly the end times, the Tribulation as you call it, then do you really think there will be an opportunity for us to go back to our old lives? And if we’re wrong and it’s not really the end, then I’m guessing you could get your old job back, or even a new one, pretty easily.”

Annalise noticed how he said, “If we’re wrong,” which gave her a bit of hope. Was Justin coming around? Did he finally decide to come aboard with them and accept what she had been telling him about the angel’s warning?

At that moment, their doorbell chimed. It startled Annalise, until she remembered the pizza delivery man. Justin got up to pay him, and when he came back inside shutting the door, she saw that he had two pizzas, a box of garlic bread and a two-liter of Diet Coke. “Two pizzas?” Annalise asked.

Justin grinned and nodded his head toward Gino. “I told this brute he could stay and have dinner with us. You’ve seen the way he inhales pizza. He can practically eat a whole one on his own. Come on, let’s go eat.”

As they walked into the dining room, Annalise continued on into the kitchen to get plates and silverware. “Okay, so I quit my job,” she said, calling out into the dining room. “Then what?”

“I don’t know,” Justin answered truthfully. “I guess we take it one step at a time. But you should tell Vicky to do the same. She probably won’t quit her job, but maybe she can arrange to stay out of New York for a while. The news said that the west coast, along with New York, Atlanta and Chicago are bad.”

“All of the major airline hubs,” Annalise said thoughtfully, bringing all the dinnerware into the dining room and arrange it at each seat. She went back into the kitchen for glasses. “I guess that means we should probably go shopping and try to help out Kayla and Michael. With their situation now, they’re able to stay home as well. But they’ll need supplies.”

“What happened with Kayla and Michael?” asked Gino. As Justin relayed the story of Michael’s job loss to Gino, Annalise took three glasses out of the cupboard and gathered up a few napkins. As she was walking past the kitchen window, she happened to look outside at the dimming, grey evening. A shadow caught her eye. There was a figure of a man, not quite distinguishable, squatting next to the thick cedar tree along their side fence-line. He seemed to be watching the window, and when she paused to look out, he leaned back and blended in with the bushy tree. Annalise gasped. She scurried into the dining room.

“Guys!” she exclaimed. Her heart was pounding. “There’s someone hiding behind the cedar tree out back. I saw him crouching down next to it. I think it’s one of the burglars!”

Immediately the men sprang into action. “You go out the front door,” Gino instructed Justin. “I’m going to sneak out the side. Go quietly. Let’s jump this guy.”

Justin eased the front door open while Gino did the same with the side door. Annalise could not get her heart to stop racing. What if the burglar had a gun? What if there was more than one of them? She ran over to the phone, picked it up off of the base and dialed “911.” Immediately an operator answered, and Annalise frantically gave her address, stating that she believed the robbers who had broken into her home were now in hiding out in their backyard. She told the operator that her husband was going to try to catch him. The operator assured her that a patrol car would be there shortly.

After what seemed like an eternity, Annalise saw Gino race out across the back lawn over to the side fence and quickly pounce on the man still squatting behind the tree. The move reminded Annalise of a hungry lion. She saw them wrestle until Gino had him face down on the ground. He sat on the guy’s back, saying something that she couldn’t hear. He looked fierce and angry. Gino pinned the guy’s arm around his back and twisted it, saying something more. But where was Justin?

At that moment, she heard a commotion at the front door. She panicked, thinking that another man was attempting to break in. She instinctively grabbed a big knife from the block on the counter. Holding it up defensively, she backed herself into a corner by the refrigerator. Her heart was thumping so wildly in her chest that she could feel the blood pumping in her ears and temples. Then she heard the door open and her name being called.

“Anna! Get on the phone with the police. Now!” It was Justin. Relieved, she raced into the living room and saw him half standing in the doorway, holding a young man by the neck with the crook of his arm. Annalise gasped.

“Anna! Call the cops!” he shouted again.

“I already did! They’re on their way!”

Justin went back out the door and shoved the kid onto the porch, face down in the same manner Gino had just done. Annalise went back over to the side door, and stepped out onto the driveway. She cautiously made her way around the corner of the house, but saw that Gino was already striding over with another young man in his grasp. Annalise stared.

“Gino… Oh, my God… are you alright? Justin has another one around the front. On the porch. I called the police.”

Gino just nodded, and he continued to push the man up the driveway and around to the front. The young man was spewing a string of expletives, telling Gino that he was going to beat him down. Gino didn’t appear to even notice. Annalise followed them around to the front porch. At that moment, they heard the wail of sirens. Annalise continued to stare at the two men that her husband and Gino had pinned down onto the cement porch. They were barely even adults, and looked more like boys. She figured maybe 19 or 20. Maybe even 18. The two were glaring at each other as best as they could as their backs and necks were pinned down securely.

“Shit, man…” one said to the other. “I told you we should’ve waited until it was dark. This stupid broad saw me.”

“Don’t blame me, asshole. You’re the one that wanted to go around back and scope out the house. If we would’ve just busted in the way I wanted to, we wouldn’t be here.”

“Oh, really?” Justin asked, kneeing the guy who just spoke in the back. “What do you think my friend here and I would’ve just let you break in and take what you wanted? You think you would’ve been able to pull it off if you just busted in? I got news for you, mister. You’re lucky you didn’t get your head blown off!”

This surprised Annalise. They didn’t even own a gun. Immediately her thoughts went to the recent conversations they all had about defenses. What if she had been home by herself? The thought made her shudder.

The guy under Justin’s knee spoke up again. “Sheeet, I got me a glock in my pants. Shoulda used it on you from the start.” At that, Annalise blanched, but Justin just shook his head.

The wailing got louder as the police car finally made its way down their street and pulled into their driveway. The cops got out quickly, leaving the car and lights running but turning off the siren.

“What do we have here?” one asked, his hand on his holster.

Justin and Gino gave a brief overview of what happened. They also relayed the fact that there had been a break-in on Saturday, and that these were most likely the culprits.

“Don’t blame me, man!” one of the thugs piped up. “My girlfriend told me about this place. She works at the credit union. She told me that this lady just spent a butt-load of cash on high-end electronics at Sam’s Club. It was all her idea!”

Justin kneed the guy in the back again. “Nice, jerk. You’re gonna blame your girlfriend? Where is she? I don’t see her here.”

“That one said he has a gun on him,” Gino said, nodding towards the guy that Justin was holding down. “I don’t know about this one.”

The second policeman came forward. “We’ll take it from here, folks. Come down to the station tomorrow to sign some paperwork, and we’ll give you the full story. Don’t worry about these punks. They’ll be finding some new girlfriends in the state prison.”

The two policeman first frisked the boys, finding the gun on one and a large folded buck-knife on the other. They handcuffed the two as neighbors began spilling out onto the streets to take a look at the action. Annalise saw the elderly woman next door step out onto her porch with a look of concern. She shuddered again. What made the girl at the bank assume that she had bought electronics at Sam’s Club? Surely the police would find out who she was and arrest her, too. She vowed at that moment to never use her check card or credit card again. If she had to take out batches of cash from the ATM from here on out, she would. She didn’t want to leave any trace of her future purchases.

“Unbelievable,” Gino said as the policeman shoved the two men into the back of the cruiser. “It’s pretty sick that you’ve got spies at your local credit union keeping tabs on where you’re spending your money.”

Annalise looked over at him. “Why on earth would they think I bought electronics?”

Justin shrugged at that. “My guess is that the girl just assumed. Maybe it’s some kind of ring, or racket they had going on. She probably saw the charges on your account and figured that if you were spending that much, it had to be something valuable.”

Annalise thought about this for a minute. “Yeah, but I never charged more than $800. We went back there a few times, but no charge was ever more than that.”

“Eh, in this day and age, people think an $800 TV is worth stealing. Or a $600 laptop. Who knows? All I know is that you should probably pay with cash from here on out.”

Gino nodded in agreement at that, voicing the very same opinion Annalise had just thought a few moments before.

“But this is Novi,” Annalise protested. “Who does that in Novi? Houses just don’t get broken into around here.

“Clearly they do,” Gino said with a hint of disgust.

They all turned to find half the neighborhood watching the police car pull out of their driveway. “Come on,” Justin said wearily. “Let’s go appease the masses and tell them what happened. Let’s be sure to leave out a few details, though.”

Three days later, as Annalise was driving home from work with thankfulness that it was officially “her” weekend, she thought about the events of that week. It had taken her quite a while to relax after the incident with the two thugs, but it did relieve her fears a bit to know they got caught. She tried to push any and all thoughts out of her mind about what might have happened had she been alone in the house. Each day’s stresses seemed greater and greater, but now she felt a satisfactory reprieve from all the recent emotion. The sun was shining, the birds were flitting about along the sides of the freeway, and the air was warm. It was the end of April, and all the flowering trees were beginning to erupt in colorful, billowy balls of petals and blossoms. She loved this time of the year. It was a time of year when the earth began to awaken and stretch her limbs from a cold, dead winter. It made her feel alive, and the surge of hope and relief was a welcome one.

Of all the days, today had been the most stressful. After discussing it several times more, she and Justin agreed that she would quit her job on Thursday. She had gone to the grocery store Wednesday evening and stocked up on two weeks’ worth of food, toiletries and paper products, just like Justin had instructed. This afternoon at work, after nervously rehearsing what she had planned to say a dozen times, she walked over to her boss’s office and knocked on his door.

It hadn’t gone well. Her manager was distraught as Annalise handed over the formal resignation letter. He had tried to get her to reconsider, even promising to talk to H.R. about a raise. She told him gently that it was purely for personal reasons, and that they were preparing to move at the end of summer. He hadn’t liked it, and clearly he was concerned about their deadlines and workload. Annalise felt badly that she wasn’t able to give the standard two-week notice, and she told him so. Finally, he reluctantly agreed that he’d pass on her resignation. Then he encouraged her to stay in touch and wished her the best.

She had worked there for several years, so there were many colleagues that she considered good friends. After packing up the contents of her office – a task that made her more than a little emotional – she began to make the rounds to tell her news and say her good-byes. There was a lot of hugging, some crying and a lot of confused looks and questions. Annalise simply reiterated over and over that something had come up, and that they were going to move at the end of summer. She assured everyone that she was not sick and did not have cancer. Nor was she pregnant or getting a divorce. It had been an exhausting day. But with the contents of her office in two large boxes in the back of her SUV, she realized the finality of it all. On one hand, she felt a bit lost and a little nervous about being without a job. On the other hand, it was very liberating. “I’m free!” she couldn’t help yelling as she rolled down her window all the way to let the mild air blow into the car, whipping her hair into her face. The western rays of the sun streaming through her driver’s side window were heavenly, and at last she felt hopeful. Even though the events of the last week had been stressful, she thought that perhaps this “Tribulation” wasn’t going to be as bad as she feared.

Her phone rang, the generic ringtone. She reached over and fished her phone out of her purse. It was Kayla. “Hey, Kayla!” Annalise answered cheerily.

“Hi, Anna…” came Kayla’s meek voice from the other end of the phone.

Poor girl, Annalise thought. She forced an even bigger smile and tried to cheer her up. “How are you guys doing? Justin told me about his visit with you both on Tuesday. He said you’re doing a little better. I was going to go grocery shopping for you. Did you want to make a list?”

“Anna,” Kayla interrupted. “Something’s happened. Michael is sick. He wouldn’t get out of bed this morning, and he’s been in there hacking and coughing. He just keeps groaning, and the medicine doesn’t seem to be working. I think… I think he has that mutated flu.”

Annalise’s heart dropped. She felt a sickening dread at this news. “Kayla, do me a favor…” she instructed. “Pack a bag and come over to our house. You don’t want to get sick and harm the baby. That flu is a nasty, nasty bug. I’ll call Justin and have him go over and check on Michael. Maybe even take him to the doctor’s.”

Kayla seemed unsure. “Anna, I don’t want to leave him. Who will take care of him?”

“Don’t you worry about that. We’ll take care of him. We won’t let anything happen to him. But you’re less than a month away from your due date. Honey, you can’t afford to get sick. You’ve got to stay away from that bug. In fact, once you’re at our house, you should stay there. Don’t even leave for errands. Justin and Gino convinced all of us to stay in quarantine and not go out unless we have to. The spare bedroom always has fresh bedding. You’re more than welcome to stay as long as you need to. In fact, I insist.”

Kayla mumbled a hesitant agreement, and assured Annalise that she’d be over in about an hour. Pulling off the freeway onto her exit to take the back route home via Plymouth Rd, Annalise dialed Justin.

“Hey, babe. What’s up?” he answered.

“Justin,” she began, shakily. “I just got a call from Kayla. Michael’s sick. She thinks he has that flu. I told her to pack a bag with some clothes and things and come on over. I think she needs to stay with us, but someone needs to go check on Michael. Maybe take him to the doctor.”

“Oh, man… oh, that’s not good. Lise, I was just watching the news. This thing is spreading faster than a forest fire. Over 3,000 deaths so far. Here in Michigan, another 4 people died. The hospitals and doctor’s offices are overrun with sick people, and they’re actually telling everyone to stay home. I guess the country is running out of Tamiflu, and people are hoarding it. There’s not much the doctor can do without it. Our chances of getting him Tamiflu are pretty slim.”

Annalise drove down the pretty road, barely noticing the greening trees with buds and tender leaves, marking the official end to the long, cold winter. Her stomach flip-flopped. “What do we do?” she asked.

There was silence on the other end for a minute, then Justin said, “We’ll keep Kayla here. I’ll run up to Home Depot and get some masks. I think we have gloves here. I’ll go over and check on Michael. Maybe you and I can take turns going over there. I wish he had family that lived closer. Actually, I wish we had family that lived closer.”

She had to agree with that. Justin and Kayla’s widowed mother lived in Florida in an upscale retirement community. Annalise’s mother was no longer living. She had died of a heart attack five years prior. And her father, who had divorced her mother while Annalise was in college, lived out in Arizona with his new wife and step-children. She only talked to him on rare occasions and holidays. The two had never been close. It was times like this when she missed her mother dearly. Her mother had been English, first generation to be born here in the U.S. Annalise’s grandmother had been very British. She had fond memories of spending time with her mother and grandmother, gardening and drinking tea with English scones. She missed them both dearly. The thought almost brought tears to her eyes.

“Where are you?” Justin asked, breaking her trance. Not good, since she was driving. Thankfully, she knew the route by heart and could drive it in her sleep if she had to. Although she realized with a sudden pang in hear heart that it would be the last time she ever made that commute home.

“I’m on Plymouth Rd, just coming up to M-14,” she answered dully. Justin’s information about the severity of the flu was frightening. She just couldn’t think.

“Huh? Why did you take Plymouth Rd? Was there an accident on the freeway?”

“No. It was just a nice evening. The sun is shining, and the leaves are all coming out. I just wanted some peace and quiet. This route relaxes me, and it’s been a rough day.”

“Oh, crap. That’s right!” Justin exclaimed. “I forgot you were giving your notice today. How did it go?”

Annalise replied, “I don’t know. Okay I guess. About as good as things kinds of things could go, I suppose.”

“Alright,” Justin said. “We’ll talk more later. I’m going to head out. You’ll probably be home before Kayla gets here, so I won’t worry about leaving the door unlocked for her. Especially not with punk-ass kids creeping around trying to steal stuff we don’t even have. Do the best you can to reassure her. Maybe make some comfort food for dinner. I don’t know how long I’ll be with Michael. I’m going to take an overnight bag, just in case he’s in bad shape and needs someone there to stay through the night.

“But what about our trip up north tomorrow? What do we do about Michael and Kayla?”

“Damn,” Justin muttered. “I completely forgot about that. Although I don’t know how. I was just making a list not an hour ago of things I wanted to take up there. Brain overload, I guess. Well, why don’t you call Kayla back and ask her to pack enough for the weekend? We’ll bring her up with us. And as for Michael…” he trailed off, not really having anything more to say. He was stumped.

“You know, there’s his neighbor,” Annalise suggested. “That nice single, older guy. Bob, right? He’s always seemed really helpful. I bet he wouldn’t mind checking in on Michael while we’re gone.”

“Yeah, but for three whole days? That’s a long time to leave a sick man in the care of a neighbor. Kayla will freak about that.”

Justin was silent for a moment. “Well, we have two choices. We stay here and take care of Michael. Or we go up north and leave him with the neighbor.”

“Or,” Annalise said, thinking. “We could bring him with us. He’d be miserable on the ride up, but at least he’d be with family. We could take the U-Haul and both of our cars. Gino and Vicky can drive in the U-Haul. I’ll drive up my car with Kayla. And then you can take your car and put Michael in the back seat. Stay there for the night. I’ll pack up your stuff and bring it with me. Put Michael in the car and meet us at Vicky’s at nine, like we planned. We’ll caravan up there together. But you have to wear a mask, hon. I do not want you catching that. And being in a car with Michael for three hours is putting you at a big risk.”

“Well, if we’re going to that, which isn’t a bad idea, actually… then I’ll want to pack up all the things on my list. You know, I’ll do that now. I’ll gather all the stuff together and put it in my trunk. I’ll pack my personal bag, too. That way you just have to worry about your stuff and Kayla. Have you talked to Vicky since she got back?”

“No, not yet. I was going to call her when I got home.”

“Okay, well then let’s make that our plan. Maybe Michael can stay in one of Gino’s spare rooms. We’ll put Vicky up in the loft on the pull-out at our place and Kayla in the spare bedroom. It will be a full-house, but it’ll work out. Sound like a plan? Depending on how fast I can pack and load up this stuff, I still might be gone when you get home. If that’s the case, I’ll call you with an update tonight and then see you in the morning.”

“Justin,” Annalise said quickly. “Please… please be careful. I don’t want you getting sick, too.”

She could hear his smile through the phone. “I won’t. I promise. I’ll be alright. You just take care of my sister. And whatever you do, don’t turn on the news. Rent a comedy tonight or something.”

They said their good-byes, and Annalise continued to drive home. She had no idea how quickly Michael would recover, or if Kayla and the baby was going to be alright. The trip up north was certainly going to be an interesting one.

“If ever there’s a time to start praying,” she said, under her breath. “I’m thinking now might be that time.”