Lamp Black: Second Edition, Disaster, Preparedness, Survival, Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 2) (65 page)

John started by relaxing his body and breathing, and then began to count down from ten. At each number, he clearly visualized it in his mind. At number nine, he cleared his mind of everything but the number itself. At numbers eight, seven, six and five, he systematically willed his body to relax and let go of all the stress and tension. From the top of his head, to the bottom of his feet, John pushed all tension from his body. At numbers four, three and two, John calibrated his breathing, and relaxed to control the flow of life-giving air into his body. Finally, at number one, John was as near to complete relaxation as he could be. He was in the zone. He felt free, in a place where his mind was in perfect balance between his brain’s left and right hemispheres, a place that existed in balance between sleep and awake.

“Not bad, Papa,” said Eli, “You connected faster and better than I thought you could have at this point in your progress. You must want to talk to me very much,” said Eli.

“Why can’t I see you?” asked John, as a thought. But he felt the words, as if he was actually speaking them directly to Eli.

“You will with time, but you have done very well with your first effort. You felt Sarrif touch your ear.”

“Yes, in the den. Can Sarrif hear me too?” asked John

“Yes John, I am with you. I will be with you till the end.”

John began to cry, not in sobs, just a line of tears that ran from the corner of his eyes, down his cheeks, and onto his pillow. He didn’t understand why he was responding so emotionally to his contact with Eli and Sarrif, but he figured it must have something to do with the purity of their communications, that it was unrestrained, free of deceit and agenda, and thus resulted in a more emotional release. Either that, or he was tired and going soft. He wasn’t sure what to think of his
emotions until Eli said, “You’re not going soft, Papa. In fact, you are becoming.”

“Becoming what?” asked John

“You are becoming yourself, the “you” that is you beyond the natural man. The “you” that was, is, and will forever be,” said Eli.

John didn’t fully understand what Eli was talking about, but he wasn’t worried about it. At the moment, he was more interested in understanding why Pete was visited in a dream. “Is he not your friend?” asked Eli.

“Yes, of course,” said John.

“And did you not welcome him to your home, in fact, invite him here even?”

“I did,” said John, in his mind, in response to Eli’s rhetoric.

“Pete is an open mind, and an open spirit . . . obedient even. He will seek to understand many things that are spiritual, and he will come to you for help. You will be his gatekeeper, Papa. You will be a gatekeeper for many. What troubles you?” asked Eli.

“Nothing troubles me, I think. I’m just surprised. But I’m also relieved. What can I tell him? What can I tell Pete about my spiritual experiences?” asked John.

“You can tell him everything, or nothing. It’s entirely up to you. But you will come to tell him more than you have told Jenna. You will find Pete to be an open vessel, ready for your experience and knowledge. Do not be troubled. Everything will be fine. A storm is coming, so you must go now and prepare,” said Eli.

“A storm? Like a storm, storm?”

“Yes,” laughed Eli, “a storm. The weather will be severe. You must prepare. You know what to do. Be quick, it will be upon you soon.”

“How much time do I have?” asked John.

“Enough,” said Eli. “You have enough time, and many helpers, but delay no longer. Adieu, Papa.”

John lay still for a moment longer, absorbing what he had just heard from Eli. He just managed to swing his legs over the side of the
bed when Jenna opened the bedroom door and walked in. “Are you OK?” she asked, concerned.

“I’m fine. I just needed to rest my head for a minute. Has Bonnie said anything to you about her trip?” asked John, as he stood and straightened the bed covers.

“Yes. She did, but I’m guessing it wasn’t as detailed as Pete’s report.”

John looked at Jenna with a nod and said, “You’re probably right about that. It was a rough trip for them. Is Bonnie doing OK?”

“Yeah, she’s fine,” said Jenna, as she hugged John. “Are you hungry? We’re making grilled cheese sandwiches.”

“Again?” replied John.

He must have replied with a bit too much contempt, because Jenna straightened her back and put her hands on her hips. “If you recall, mister, we have to finish all the perishable food. Besides, we have new guests since our last soup and sandwich meal, so quit complaining and come out and join the party,” she replied. Pete dutifully followed Jenna to the kitchen, where he was met with many warm greetings from everyone.

At the end of the meal, John gathered all the males, at least all who were above the age of twelve, and announced his plan to prepare for the approaching storm. Adam, Corbin, and Marcus openly expressed their joy at being allowed to go outside, especially after being cooped up in the house for several days. Abby, after hearing and seeing their joy, expressed a desire to help as well. After receiving a nod from Jenna, John agreed that Abby could join them, which greatly subdued the enthusiasm of the boys.

“What?” asked John, “You guys don’t think Abby should help outside?” asked John.

Adam knew better than to say a word, but Corbin, having been raised in a male dominated house-hold, wasn’t so cautious, “She’s a girl, Mr. A.”

“Good job, Corbin. Your powers of observation are remarkable. But I’ll tell you this, Abby is more than capable of taking care of herself. She’s farther along than Adam was when he was her age, and I’ll even go so far as to say I think she could lay you on your back before you knew what hit you,” replied John.

Corbin smiled and was about to reply to the challenge when he looked at Adam. Adam was slowly shaking his head to Corbin and willing him to shut up. Corbin looked back at John, glanced briefly at Abby, and then centered himself on John again. “I didn’t mean anything by calling her a girl,” said Corbin.

The other’s laughed, and John quickly brought everyone back under control. It was not his intent to embarrass Corbin, so he said, “Everyone is valuable to our group, Corbin. You, in your way, and Abby in hers. All of us are valuable in our own way. And the individual value only changes when you stop working, or if you intentionally harm someone in the group. We have to respect each other and work together if we’re going to survive. Right Pete, Paul?” finished John.

“Roger that,” said Pete.

“I agree,” said Paul.

“Boys?” asked John. They all agreed in unison. “OK then. Here’s what we need to do. There’s a storm coming. In fact, I’m surprised we haven’t already had one. But we need to do a few things to prepare for it. I want to cover the shop windows, add a few more rope lines over the pool cover, put sandbags around the base of the tarp, cover the firewood, place sandbags on the fuel-pit cover, and grab anything that can blow away, and put it in the shop. Are there any questions?” concluded John.

“Where we going to get the sandbags?” asked Adam.

John and Pete exchanged a silent look and smiled. “That, Adam,” said John, “is exactly why I need your help.” John provided N-95 masks, work gloves, and goggles for everyone in the group, and issued his orders. “Pete, I’ve got shovels and sandbags in the shop. Take the boys and dig a run-off ditch around the pool. Use the dirt from the
ditch to fill the sandbags, and place the sandbags around the bottom of the tarp. I don’t want any ash to get in the pool water, at least not if I can help it. We’ve invested too much time and energy in protecting the water to abandon it now,” finished John.

“Got it,” said Pete. The boys groaned, but said little more.

“Paul, I can use your help covering the shop’s windows, and the wood. Everyone ready?”

“What about me, daddy?” said Abby.

“You’re with me, sweetie. You’re gonna help me cover the windows again.” Abby smiled and grabbed her dad’s hand in both of hers. “Let’s go,” he said, and they were off.

The crew worked hard for several hours. John, with Paul’s and Abby’s help, made short work of covering the shop window, and the firewood. They joined Pete, who was about two-thirds of the way around the pool, and helped him dig the last of the ditch and fill sandbags. “These might come in handy later,” said Pete.

“I was thinking the same thing,” replied John.

“How so?” asked Paul.

Pete looked at John and John nodded. “They can be used to build a fighting position. They’re great for stopping bullets. We can stack them in front of windows, or whatever,” replied Pete.

“But John’s got stone walls around his house,” said Paul, “Won’t that deflect bullets?”

“The small, slow ones, yes, but not fast or heavy ones.”

“What’s a heavy or fast bullet?” asked Paul.

“Anything that’s 7.62 or bigger I consider heavy, and anything that moves twice the speed of sound is fast,” said Pete. “But it also depends on the bullet’s jacket.”

“The jacket?” asked Paul, trying to keep up.

“The jacket is what the bullet is wrapped in. Some are straight lead, some are lead wrapped in copper, which is the jacket, and some are steel slugs covered in lead and wrapped in copper. Actually, there are many more varieties of bullets and slugs,” said Pete, as he glanced at
Paul. “Then you have the velocity . . . the speed in which the bullet travels. It depends on weight, and how much gunpowder is used to push it out the barrel. It determines how fast the bullet will travel. Some bullets move really fast, like around two-thousand feet per second, and some move much slower, like, say, around eight-hundred feet per second. In a nutshell, some bullets are soft, and some are hard; some move fast and some move slow.” Pete sounded a little like Dr. Seuss, innocently, but having fun just the same.

“Are you making fun of me?” asked Paul.

Pete looked to John, and John shrugged a reply. He wasn’t worried about Pete. He knew Pete could handle himself. “No, but I don’t know what you know, so I’ll give you everything I got until you grow tired of listening to me. Bullets come in many different weights, and are designed for many different purposes. Some are designed for shooting through cover, and some are designed for soft targets . . . like people. Do you understand what I’m saying?” asked Pete.

“I do. I just don’t like you talking down to me,” said Paul, and he turned and walked away.

“What was that all about?” asked Pete, as soon as Paul was out of ear shot.

“You heard some of it this morning,” said John, conscious that Marcus was listening to their every word. “He’s had a hard time these last couple of days.”

Pete nodded and they continued their work. It was hard work, backbreaking even, but John and Pete started telling stories about the time they spent together in Iraq, and the boys quickly forgot they were working and began to enjoy themselves. They asked a thousand questions, and Pete always had something funny to say about John. The two men would get going on each other, and the boys would start laughing so hard they would have to be prodded back to work.

As they neared the final stage of their sandbagging operation, the wind started to pick up. It started from the east, with a slight ten miles-per-hour wind, but it soon went slack and began to barrel out of the
south-west. The wind rose quickly, and the team scrambled to lash the pool cover down with additional ropes as the visibility dropped significantly due to blowing ash. John lashed everyone together with a length of 550 cord, and they worked hard to finish the project.

The boys jumped at the first sound of thunder. It was a low rumble, and though it was still several miles away, it seemed to continue on for several minutes; much longer than a normal clap of thunder. The first flash of lightning made everyone jump. “We need to hurry and get inside,” yelled Pete, over the increasing winds. The pool tarp, though very tight, snapped and rippled in the gusting wind. John estimated the wind speed at close to twenty-five or thirty miles-per-hour.

“You’re right,” yelled John in reply. “You boys get inside, Pete and I will finish up out here.” John cut himself and Pete from the line and the boys returned to the garage. Abby had long since returned to the house, and John had no idea where Paul was, but he knew he was inside. He hadn’t returned since taking offense to Pete’s ammunition explanation.

“I think the pool is as secure as we can make it,” yelled John. “Let’s just do one more walk around to make sure everything is secure!”

“John,” yelled Pete, “We can’t see anything out here. We need to get inside.”

“OK, but I have to close up the shop!” yelled John.

“Then let’s do that and get back inside ASAP!”

“Right!” said John, “Follow me!”

Another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, and John was surprised to see that it ran horizontal, high up in the sky, riding the atmospheric ash layer as if it was burning the edge of a piece of thick paper. The long, violently bright tendril of blue-green lightning must have been more than a hundred miles long. It cracked the air like a rifle shot, followed by a deafening boom and deep low rumble. The two men watched in amazement. They quickly tossed the tools into the shop, and John quickly locked the shop doors.