lots of water, keep dumping the water over yourselves and scrub hard. If it doesn’t hurt you are leaving something on you. Keith and I will do the same when I bring him out.”
“I need to get a drink first.”
“No! Don’t drink or eat anything until you get yourselves cleaned off. You don’t want to ingest any more particles than you already have. We have to scrub the boat as well, both of them if we’re taking this orange beast with us.”
Frank and Jack begin to strip down while George climbs back into the cabin with Keith and Maggie.
“She’s gone,” Keith says as George kneels next to him.
“Keith, we have to go outside and scrub the radioactive dust off of us.”
“Help me carry Maggie out of here. Before we went to breakfast, she asked me to bury her at sea if she didn’t make it to your house.”
George nods and lifts her body up to Keith, who raises her out of the hatch hole, and places her gently onto the deck.
“Keith, I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but we need to hurry. We need to get out of these clothes and scrub each other down to remove any radioactive particles. There isn’t time for a long goodbye, and we shouldn’t handle her body after we have scrubbed down.”
Keith nods at George and kneels at Maggie’s side. “I love you, Maggie. You were my best friend, and I will miss you until the day we meet again.”
He kisses her forehead, and then he and George lower her into the water, where she sinks into its depths.
With every second counting, George climbs over to his boat and begins stripping out of his clothes to begin the decontamination process. Keith lingers for a second, staring blankly into the deep blue before he finally turns and joins the others.
Chapter 4
Finding Our Way
Grants Pass, Oregon.
Wal-Mart—Present Day.
“What do we do now?” one of Isaac’s men asks him.
I turn to Arthur, and say, “Tell everyone to stand down.”
My group had instructions to casually shadow the members of Isaac’s and Jeremiah’s group while our story was checked out. Isaac did his interviews, and my people followed him and his men or hung out with them. Our youngest members and women stayed closest to those who looked like the most competent and alert members of the opposing team, and were accepted as non-threats until Arthur’s stand down order rings out over the radios.
Surprised looks appear on the faces of Isaac and his men when my people, whom they were having casual conversations with of some sort or other, put their guns back on safety and holster or sling them in less accessible positions.
Jeremiah looks from my twelve-year-old daughter Hannah, who is standing next to him, back to me, after she re-holsters her handgun. She had been so relaxed in her behavior and handling of the weapon that he didn’t realize she wasn’t actually wiping it down for the last thirty minutes. She looked directly at him when she put it away to let him know she was ready to use it if she needed to.
Both Jeremiah and Isaac look at each other, and then at me and those of my group gathering near me. We have already lost three hours of the day to this encounter with them, and by the looks on all of their faces, I can see they want something more than explanations of what just happened.
“Can we join your group?” Isaac asks.
That question catches me by surprise and apparently his brother as well. Jeremiah walks over to Isaac and gives him a fierce look that has only one meaning.
Giving back a look just as intense as he received, Isaac says, “We need this!” appearing to settle the matter for now. At least this lets me know which one of them is really in charge. I’m glad it is the more level headed Isaac, but regardless of who is running their group, they have been holding us up, literally, for three hours.
“My first inclination is to say no ,” I reply to him. “I’m not really in the mood to add even more people than the ones we saved to our ranch
“I need to get a drink first.”
“No! Don’t drink or eat anything until you get yourselves cleaned off. You don’t want to ingest any more particles than you already have. We have to scrub the boat as well, both of them if we’re taking this orange beast with us.”
Frank and Jack begin to strip down while George climbs back into the cabin with Keith and Maggie.
“She’s gone,” Keith says as George kneels next to him.
“Keith, we have to go outside and scrub the radioactive dust off of us.”
“Help me carry Maggie out of here. Before we went to breakfast, she asked me to bury her at sea if she didn’t make it to your house.”
George nods and lifts her body up to Keith, who raises her out of the hatch hole, and places her gently onto the deck.
“Keith, I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but we need to hurry. We need to get out of these clothes and scrub each other down to remove any radioactive particles. There isn’t time for a long goodbye, and we shouldn’t handle her body after we have scrubbed down.”
Keith nods at George and kneels at Maggie’s side. “I love you, Maggie. You were my best friend, and I will miss you until the day we meet again.”
He kisses her forehead, and then he and George lower her into the water, where she sinks into its depths.
With every second counting, George climbs over to his boat and begins stripping out of his clothes to begin the decontamination process. Keith lingers for a second, staring blankly into the deep blue before he finally turns and joins the others.
Chapter 4
Finding Our Way
Grants Pass, Oregon.
Wal-Mart—Present Day.
“What do we do now?” one of Isaac’s men asks him.
I turn to Arthur, and say, “Tell everyone to stand down.”
My group had instructions to casually shadow the members of Isaac’s and Jeremiah’s group while our story was checked out. Isaac did his interviews, and my people followed him and his men or hung out with them. Our youngest members and women stayed closest to those who looked like the most competent and alert members of the opposing team, and were accepted as non-threats until Arthur’s stand down order rings out over the radios.
Surprised looks appear on the faces of Isaac and his men when my people, whom they were having casual conversations with of some sort or other, put their guns back on safety and holster or sling them in less accessible positions.
Jeremiah looks from my twelve-year-old daughter Hannah, who is standing next to him, back to me, after she re-holsters her handgun. She had been so relaxed in her behavior and handling of the weapon that he didn’t realize she wasn’t actually wiping it down for the last thirty minutes. She looked directly at him when she put it away to let him know she was ready to use it if she needed to.
Both Jeremiah and Isaac look at each other, and then at me and those of my group gathering near me. We have already lost three hours of the day to this encounter with them, and by the looks on all of their faces, I can see they want something more than explanations of what just happened.
“Can we join your group?” Isaac asks.
That question catches me by surprise and apparently his brother as well. Jeremiah walks over to Isaac and gives him a fierce look that has only one meaning.
Giving back a look just as intense as he received, Isaac says, “We need this!” appearing to settle the matter for now. At least this lets me know which one of them is really in charge. I’m glad it is the more level headed Isaac, but regardless of who is running their group, they have been holding us up, literally, for three hours.
“My first inclination is to say no ,” I reply to him. “I’m not really in the mood to add even more people than the ones we saved to our ranch
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