The Switch (17 page)

Chapter 31

The men were in the yard
looking at the old boat the next morning when John and David arrived.

As they spread out through
the woods there was no conversation. They walked steadily up and down the tree
covered hills and valleys north along the lake. After a couple of hours they
stopped on the edge of a tall bluff overlooking the lake and sat to rest.

John asked, “Are you guys
hearing any news about what is happening in the rest of the country?”

Lecil leaned back against a
pine tree, “We have seen large groups of people traveling south all winter. I
talked to many of them and they said they were heading south to escape the
harsh winter. Apparently the winter in the northern states had been very cold
with a lot of snow.” He picked up a stone and threw it over the side of the
bluff towards the lake.

“I heard stories of people
killing each other for firewood and food. Many of the cities were nearly burned
down just to keep warm, the food supply is gone.”

John asked, “What about the
New Law and the efforts to control who comes into Alabama.”

“Lecil frowned, “The New Law is
all but disbanded. As time has passed and the members had to spend more and
more time and efforts to grow or find food, the interest and efforts of the
group faded. Our numbers manning the roadside rest became less and less. As the
numbers of travelers heading south increased in numbers and size, there was no
way we could stop them if we wanted to. Most of the traveling groups had banned
together for safety and were well armed.”  

Barney pulled his ball hat
lower over his face to block the sun, “Those damn Yankees will have just as
much trouble handling the upcoming heat and humidity of the south as they had
handling the cold northern winters. Those people have no idea how hot it can
get down here in July and August.”

Lecil added, “Without air
conditioning most won’t even be able to sleep at night.”    

They searched the woods until
near dark without finding any signs of the missing man.

When they got back to the
cabin Al sat of the porch step and let his shoulders sag. “We tried, I guess we
will be heading back north in the morning.”

John and Sue were working in
their garden early the next morning when the men rode their horses into yard.
They stopped at the edge of the garden and Lecil thanked John for his help and
asked that he keep an eye open for any signs of Bill.

They shook hands and the men
turned the horses to leave. Al had said nothing, but as he rode off with his
head down John heard him mumble something under his breath. 

When they were out of
hearing, John asked Sue if she had heard what Al had mumbled

Sue had a puzzled look on her
face when she said, “Something about the son-of-a-bitch probably got what he
deserved. What do you think he meant by that?”

John lied, “I have no idea?”

Out of the corner of his eye,
John could see David standing in the edge of the woods leaning against a tree
with his rifle in his hands.

John acted as if he did not
see David, but he thought to himself, “It is nice to have a good backup.”

Chapter 32

During April and May spring
bloomed full blossom into summer. In the years John and Sue had lived on the
lake there had never been a spring that had been so lush. The dogwoods and red
buds were magnificent with beauty.

The dam’s gates being stuck
in the closed position kept the water of the lake at flood pool. The brush
along the banks, which was normally out of the water, was submerged in several
feet of water. The high clear water added to the beauty of the trees and plants
at the waters' edge.

The family was living well.
There was little or no stress. The only concerns were the weather and the
gathering of food. The garden was growing high and would be producing plenty of
vegetables. The pear tree and apple trees had an exceptional amount of fruit
blooms.

Mail was starting to improve
but they still had received no mail from the Mortgage Company or the banks. Everyone
had accepted their new lives and were as happy as they could remember.

One evening in the middle of
July, John and Cameron stayed on the lake fishing late into the night. The
weather was hot, there was a full moon, but clouds sometimes blocked out the
moon. The fishing was good, they had a stringer of ten nice bass. 

When they got back to the
dock, John watched his grandson in the moonlight as the boy ran up the hill and
turned left down towards his home.

John lite a small candle he
kept on the dock to give him enough light to fillet the bass. As he carried the
fillets towards the house he was looking down at his path when he thought he
saw a flash of light from inside the house.

His first thought was that
Sue must have gotten up to use the bathroom and the light was a reflection from
her candle. But the light looked more like a flashlight than a candle. Unless
she had found some fresh batteries he had to be wrong. They had not had a
working flashlight for at least three months.

In the kitchen he put the
fillets in a pan of water and washed his hands before going to the bedroom. As
he was taking off his shirt Sue sat up and asked, “How many did you catch?”

“Ten. Did you find a working
flashlight?”

“What?”

“I saw a light a few minutes
ago. Did you find a working flashlight?”

“No”

“Did you have a candle lit?”

“No, I have been asleep. I
haven’t got up. Where did you see the light?”

“Maybe it was a reflection of
lightening, go back to bed.”

He sat on the edge of the bed
taking off his socks and thought about the light. He was not positive but he
sure thought he saw a light.

He stood up and wearing only
his underwear he went to the window. It was still dark and he saw no clouds and
no lightening. He went to the living room and out the side door onto the deck
to get a better look at the sky. He saw a few clouds as they passed in front of
the moon, but there were no signs of lightening.

He stood outside leaning on
the deck rail for a few minutes watching for lightening. He breathed in the
night air and thought he could smell rain.

Then his mind began to fill
with a hundred questions. “Am I wrong about what I saw?  Was it lightening? If
it was lightening there would probably be more. Could the electricity have
flashed back on? Could it be on now?”

He shook his head no and
whispered to himself. “No way, if it was on I’d see a light on somewhere.”

He looked across the cove to
the other houses, all were dark.

He thought back to the day in
Chicago when the power went off. It was daylight, so all of the lights in the
houses would probably have been off. So maybe the power is back on.

 He started back into the
house to check the wall switches for the ceiling fans and lights but he stopped
at the door.

His mind was full near
overload thinking about the consequences. “If the power was on, I’ll have to go
back to work, start making car and house payments again. My time will no longer
be my own. I will be able to fish and hunt only on weekends again. The lake will
be full of powerboats and jet skis again. The beautiful silence and solitude of
the lake would be gone.”

He stood with his hand on the
door handle thinking about whether he wanted things to go back to the way they
use to be or if he wanted things to stay the same as now; no TV, no video
games, no news, no job, no debts to pay, peace and quiet, and no stress.

He went into the living room
and put his hand on the wall switch. It was pointed down, the off position. He
started to push it up to on, but stopped.

See more books by John
Sullins at:
therightthingseries.com

Characters

Appleseed                   nickname
given to John by Steve

Ashley                         Renee
and David’s youngest daughter

Cameron                      Lynn’s
son

Coster, Bob                 Sears
regional security manager, Boston

Dean, Mr.                    Sears
store manager, Chicago

David                          Renee’s
husband

Gainey, Lecil               member
of the group, The New Law

Irhard, Terry                former
postal worker

John                             Sears
regional security manager, Alabama

Kayle                           Sears
store security manager, Chicago

Linda                           women;s
department manager, Sears store, Chicago

Lynn                            John’s
youngest daughter

Megan                         Renee
and David’s oldest daughter

Murphy, Charles         name
on dean man’s driver’s license

Renee                          John’s
oldest daughter, David’s wife

Rockford, Bill             member
of the group,  New Law

Thomas, Barbara         Samuel
Thomas’ wife

Thomas, Samuel          traveling
preacher, Barbara’s husband

Thomas, Sandra          Samuel
and Barbara Thomas teenage daughter

Unger, John                 rapist,
shot by John

Steve                           arrogant,
smart mouth, sears regional security manager, Oregon

Sue                              John’s
wife

White, Barney             member
of the group, The New Law

Rockford, Al               Bill
Rockford’s brother

Rockford, Bill             member
of the group, The New Law