An Apocalypse Family (Book 1): Family Reunion (33 page)
“Well, we’re still breathing,” he said, smiling at Parker.
*****
I saw Parker waving at us. He was back to the edge of the supporting structure below the bridge. We drove back to his position, got out, went to the railing, and looked down.
“Get those belays untied and take up the slack,” he yelled up. Max and Lisa did as directed and were ready on belay.
“Ready on belay?” I shouted down to them.
“On belay,” Parker shouted back up.
Max and Lisa gave me a nod.
“On belay,” I shouted, and Parker and Thomas began climbing back up.
When they got their feet on the bridge deck, I felt much better.
“How did it go?” Maddie asked Thomas.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I expect we will all find out together when it either goes ‘kaboom’ or ‘psst.’”
That got a laugh out of everyone, even Parker. We stood around for a couple of minutes while Parker got all the lines put away in the truck, and then it was kind of awkward. What do you say to someone you may never see again?
I held out my hand to Thomas. He shook it and gave me the typical halfway man hug.
“Take care of Maddie and Harry. They need someone to watch their backs,” he said. I nodded, and turned to Parker.
“Going to miss you, brother; hopefully we will meet again someday,” I said as I gave him a full-on bear hug.
“Yeah, I never was able to keep either of you from tagging along. I’m sure you’ll show up again eventually,” he said, stepping from my hug into one from Max.
With all our farewells said, there was nothing to do but retreat. I handed the walkie to Thomas and then the battery from my pocket.
“Wait until we get to the other side before you put that back together, okay?”
He chuckled. “Why, ya scared?”
“No, just don’t want to be around when your bomb does work,” I said, smiling.
Max, Lisa, Maddie, Harry, and I got into the Humvee and headed for the other end of the bridge.
Parker and Thomas climbed into the F250 and backed it up past the end of the bridge, turned around, and drove to a safe distance. I looked down to the water and saw Josh waving goodbye from the boat. I gave him a wave back.
*****
Thomas waited until Josh had gone a good distance back out of the channel and then put the radio on the hood of the truck. He put the battery back in, turned it over, then flicked the power on. He looked over at Parker.
“You want the honors?” he said.
“Nah; it’s all you, Thomas.”
*****
We stood on the overlook north of the pass. I felt the blast in my chest before I heard the
Whump!
Then I felt the ground tremble under my feet. The bridge deck, where we had been standing just moments before, heaved into the air before breaking to pieces. It was quickly obscured in a cloud of debris. What followed was a sound of screeching metal as the structure tore itself apart. It sounded like giant swords colliding, with cracks and pops thrown in for good measure. Pieces fell to the channel below, sending geysers of water fifty feet into the air. A wide chasm was left, with tendrils of metal girders hanging from each side.
We stood there slack-jawed for a full minute after the last of the debris had settled. In the stillness that followed, I was lost in my own thoughts for that brief moment.
We were leaving the family we’d just found. Meg, Sarah and the kids, Jean, Lynn and her grandkids, Henry and Molly, Parker, Carla and Conner… their faces passed through my mind’s eye. We were all leaving someone here we cared about with the hope that others we loved were still hanging on, waiting for us.
Hang on just a little longer, we’re coming!
Mark has always been a bit of a vagabond. Born in Washington, raised in California he joined the Coast Guard after high school. During his Coast Guard career, he was an Admiral’s driver in San Francisco, a deckhand on a cutter in the Bering Sea, and an Aviation Electrician in North Carolina, Texas, and Southern Florida. After he left the Coast Guard he worked security, first guarding MX nuclear missiles, then at a nuclear power plant in California. Eventually he went to college in Wisconsin, only to drop out after meeting his future wife. He went on to finish college at 36 and owned a Miracle Ear franchise for a while. He went into publishing for a short time before becoming an Information Systems Specialist. He currently splits his time between West (by God) Virginia and Surfside Beach, SC.
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E-mail
To John O’Brien, thanks for encouraging me to write, for showing me the ropes, and for giving me so much help.
To Sara Jones, an excellent writer and my editor, I send heartfelt thanks for her encouragement and hard work. She has had faith in this book from the start and is the best. To my beta readers Lisa, Rebecca, Bobby, Larry, Kara, Lee, John, and my sister Lori, thank you for test-driving this book and for your help in the story’s development. A special thanks to Carlton Keith Parsons for his technical assistance.
To Miki at Marathon Coach, thank you for chasing down your engineers and getting all my technical questions answered. I hope your entire company enjoys the story.
To Justin McCormick for the awesome cover.
To my daughter, Lori, who edited the very first draft of my short story, I love you and am so proud of the woman you have become. To my son, Brad, thanks for coming over and watching football with me; it is the best respite.
Last but certainly not least, to my wife of 28 years, Jonie. Thank you for not shooting me, and for letting the dogs in and out four million times while I wrote this… I love you!
John O’Brien’s series is the best thing out there, give him a read. Here is a link to his first book in the series
A New World
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004W0CL2Y
