Lamp Black: Second Edition, Disaster, Preparedness, Survival, Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 2) (9 page)

Just as John lowered his breathing mask, the intruder raised his hand to knock. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said.

The intruder spun around, eyes wide with surprise above a red bandanna that covered his nose and mouth. John figured he outweighed the intruder by more than eighty pounds, so he wasn’t overly worried that he’d try to get past him. To make sure the man knew what kind of danger he was in, John asked, “Do you see my gun?” The man nodded, and pressed his back against the door as he slid to the ground, landing hard on his butt at the base of the door.

“Please don’t shoot. It’s me . . . Mr. Anderson?” said the intruder, as he closed with a pleading final question.

“Who are you?” demanded John, surprised to be addressed by his surname.

“It’s me, Corbin! Please don’t shoot me. I’m sorry.” He held his hands up in front of him, briefly wiped his eyes and quickly returned them back to his front.

“Remove your mask!” commanded John. He didn’t want to yell and frighten Jenna, so he kept his voice calm and even. Corbin lowered the bandana with a single pull and looked up at John. “What are you doing here, Corbin? You should be home . . . with your parents.”

“I came to see, Adam. My folks said it was OK for me to come over. I tried to call, but the phones are dead,” replied Corbin, with a cough.

“Stand up, Corbin,” said John.

Corbin did as he was told and John ushered him to the side so he could knock for Jenna. John knocked the code and waited. “Do you have any idea what’s going on around you, Corbin?” asked John, irritated that he could have shot the foolish young man. When the boy didn’t answer, John asked, “Do you know I almost shot you,” said John, as he holstered his weapons. “It was very stupid to come sneaking around my house in conditions like this.” He waved a hand toward the ash that Corbin apparently didn’t notice. “You should be home with your parents.”

Corbin trembled, and his shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry Mr. Anderson, I’m really sorry.”

John smiled despite himself and replied to Jenna’s return knock. She moved the curtain aside to look at John and didn’t seem at all surprised to see Corbin standing with him. John realized that she must have heard their conversation through the door. Jenna released the locks and opened the door. John stepped in and said, “Jenna, we have company. Come on in, Corbin.”

As soon as Corbin entered the mud room, John issued orders, “Stand over there while I lock up.”

“It’s good to see you, Corbin. To what do we owe the pleasure?” asked Jenna, in her sweetest voice possible.

“I found him skulking around out back,” said John, before Corbin could answer for himself.

“I wasn’t skulking around Mr. Anderson.” said Corbin, sounding hurt. “Hi Mrs. Anderson. I’m sorry to bother you.”

“It’s OK. Are you here to see Adam?” she asked.

“If it’s OK, yes, I would like to see Adam,” replied Corbin

“Well, Adam’s a little busy right now,” said John.

“John, honey, let me handle this. Corbin come on in. But I’ll need you to leave all your ash covered clothes in the mudroom. I’ll have
Adam bring you down something to wear, so wait here until I get back.”

John looked at Corbin and said, “You and I are going to have a talk before this is all settled. Do you understand?”

“Ah, yes . . . sir,” replied Corbin, unsure of how to respond. He apparently wasn’t accustomed to being held accountable to adults, or addressing them as sir or ma’am, but John liked the kid’s manners.

“OK, remove your outer clothing and lay them on the floor by the door, to include your shoes and socks. When you’re done, go through the plastic curtain and wait in the clean room. I’ll go first. Wait for me to call you through.”

Corbin acknowledged the command and watched as John removed his gloves, vest, headgear, eye and breathing protection, and stowed everything in a locker. After John peeled off the duct tape from around his wrists and cuffs, he removed his pistol belt and laid it on the floor in the cleanroom. Lastly, he removed his boots and stripped off his coveralls.

“Why are you wearing all that gear, Mr. A?” asked Corbin, as he sat on the mudroom bench, watching John work.

“I don’t want ash in my eyes or lungs, and I don’t want to bring it in the house either. Go ahead and remove your ashy clothes and don’t follow me until I say. OK?”

Corbin nodded his understanding and John turned to enter the clean room through the overlapping plastic curtains. John glanced through the plastic curtains to see if Corbin was following instructions and returned to his own ash mitigation process. John noticed that, thanks to the painters’ coveralls, he was almost entirely free of ash. While he waited for Jenna to return with clothes for Corbin, he cleared his pistol and began to wipe it free of ash. A few minutes later Jenna returned and passed Corbin’s clothes through the plastic curtain.

John slid the pistol into his waistband and laid Corbin’s clothes on the floor of the clean room. Corbin stood on the other side of the plastic curtains, looking somewhat like a drowned rat, or more appropriately,
a rat that ran through a stove pipe. “OK,” said John, “when I leave the clean room, go ahead and enter. Once you get dressed, wait until I tell you to come out.”

John cleared the clean room and watched as Corbin squeezed his skinny butt through the curtains and entered the cleanroom behind him. Jenna was waiting for John around the corner by the refrigerator. “Why are you standing over here?” asked John.

“I don’t want to embarrass Corbin while he dresses.”

John rolled his eyes. “Really, he’s wearing underwear,” said John.

“John, he’s a teenage boy, and teenage boys are funny about their bodies. Anyway, I also want a kiss.”

John wrapped his arms around his wife and they exchanged a tender kiss. They embraced for a moment and Jenna whispered into John’s ear. “According to Adam, he and Corbin are not . . . the best of friends.” said Jenna.

“Then why is he here?” John whispered back.

“I don’t know, but I want you to be nice to him, John. Something happened to him, I can feel it. Call it a mother’s intuition.”

“I thought I was being nice,” said John.

“My love, your directness can be, at times, taken as hostility,” replied Jenna.

“I’ll be nice . . . er,” he said, and kissed her again. “I’m about ready to give you power again. Can you also talk to Adam about being nice, and then send him down.”

“I already did. And he should be down in a minute. He wants to know if he can come out of the room now, and if you want him to bring the rifle down.”

“Tell him yes to both.”

“Can I come out now, Mr. Anderson?” Corbin’s meek voice issued from the clean room.

“Yes. I’m sorry. You can come out now,” said John, in a much less imposing tone of voice. John looked to Jenna for approval and caught her attention as she was walking away. She gave John a thumbs up, and
a smile, and he continued. “Corbin, come sit over here at the kitchen table, so we can talk.” Adam entered the kitchen with the rifle in his hands, and John added, “Oh, hey Adam. Glad you could join us.” John saw Corbin’s eyes fix on the tactical rifle in Adam’s hands. It wasn’t a look of shock, but rather one of interest, which pleased John.

“Hey Corbin. Hey dad. Where do you want me to put your rifle?” asked Adam.

“I’ll take it. Why don’t you talk with Corbin while I go put it back in the safe,” replied John.

Adam handed the rifle to John, and he noticed his son had already cleared it. John offered Adam an appreciative nod, and he left the kitchen as Adam and Corbin struck up a teen conversation. When John returned, he saw that both boys were laughing together. “What’s so funny?” asked John.

“Corbin was just telling me about how you almost killed him,” replied Adam.

“And how is that funny?” asked John, with eyebrows raised.

“He said you were holding your knife and pistol the same way they do in Call of Duty, on the Xbox. He said he thought he was actually in the game with you,” explained Adam.

John still wasn’t convinced that was funny, but he knew he was slow to understand teen humor. “I don’t know about that, but it’s a pretty common grip. It works better with a flashlight though, especially in these conditions,” replied John. “And no, you can’t play Xbox,” added John, flatly.

Adam and Corbin stared at John for a moment, as if considering his comment, and they returned to their conversation as if he hadn’t said a thing. “It’s crazy outside. What were you doing out there?” asked Adam, while looking curiously at Corbin.

“Yeah,” replied Corbin. “I got lost trying to find you guys. I was hoping we could play some Xbox together, or just hang out.” He said the last part with a furtive glance at John.

“You know the power’s out, right?” inquired Adam.

“Yeah, but I know you have solar panels, so I hoped they were working for you,” replied Corbin.

“Seriously, Corbin? You know you need the sun for solar panels to work, right?” asked Adam, with a shake of his head.

“What? That’s not the sun outside?” replied Corbin. The two boys laughed again.

“So, Corbin,” interjected John, “what really brings you here.” Corbin turned instantly morose, but turned when Abby entered the kitchen. Abby, very much the cool customer her mother ever was, walked through the kitchen to the pantry without recognizing Corbin. She offered not even a single glance that way. “Abby, come over here and meet Adam’s friend, Corbin.”

“Dad, she’s met Corbin before,” said Adam.

“Oh, OK.” John wasn’t sure if Corbin was awe-struck with Abby, but it sure looked like he was. She had to be at least three years younger than him, if not more, which he was glad for. But he wondered about his interest in Abby. “Corbin, do you have a sister?” asked John.

“No.” he replied, and turned his attention back to Adam.

John was about to ask more questions, but then Abby emerged from the pantry and went straight to the kitchen table to join Adam and Corbin. John shrugged and said, “I need to get the power going. Adam, can you keep our company entertained for a while?”

“Sure, dad.” Adam resumed his conversation with Corbin. John listened to their conversation while he removed the two-by-four braces from the back door with the hand drill. It was obvious to him that Adam wanted to go outside, and while he talked with Corbin, he communicated it clearly. But he also expressed to his dad that he would have handled himself much better than Corbin. John didn’t doubt Adam would have handled himself better, he was just glad his son didn’t have to prove it. He didn’t know why Corbin was running around outside, but he would soon enough.

John ignored Adam’s baited conversation and concentrated on his work. After grabbing the bag of Christmas lights, and pulling the
remaining length of extension cord into the house, John shut the back door and re-secured it with the boards. He was pleased to see the cord fit under the door’s weather stripping, but it ended at the clean room, far short of reaching the well pump in the garage. After grabbing another cord from the garage, he plugged in the pump and flipped the circuit breaker back on. The satisfying sound of the well pump pressure tank coming to life meant they were another step closer to normal household functions.

John returned to the kitchen and sat the bag of Christmas lights on the table. He asked the kids to uncoil the spools of lights while he set power to the refrigerator. Using an orange, twenty-five-foot extension cord - so everyone could see it, and hopefully not trip over it - and a heavy-duty power strip, John ran a line to the refrigerator. When the refrigerator was humming nicely, he attached the first string of lights to the power strip, and ran them along the cabinets, past the clean room, over the stove, and then out to the entryway. With the second strand of lights plugged into the end of the first, John continued the chain into the entryway to the front door, and then partially up the stairs. The third and final string of lights completed the climb up the stairs, and ended down the hall, past the bedrooms, and into the game room.

John was pleased to see bright white light in every area of the house where he hung the lights, and he regretted not buying more strings of them after last Christmas. He returned to the kitchen to inspect the lighting and found Adam, Corbin and Abby still busy talking at the table. The three of them were discussing school, as if it would soon reopen. He didn’t want to interrupt them, or dash their hopes for a return to normalcy, but he really wanted to know what they thought of his project. “What do you guys think of the lights?”

John got a quick, “Awesome, dad,” from Adam, but his son quickly returned to the conversation. He was clearly unimpressed with John’s light producing abilities. John shrugged and headed to the bedroom. With everything he needed up and running, it was time to take a hot
shower. He also checked the gas burning hot water heaters, and they were operating smoothly. John was more excited to take a hot shower than normal. There was something about the disaster that communicated hot showers would soon be a thing of the past, so he planned to take one every day until that option was taken from him. During Operation Desert Storm, John was forced to go months without a shower. He remembered the “first” shower after that field induced sabbatical, and it was absolutely heavenly. Since then, he never passed up an opportunity to take a hot shower, dirty or not.

As he made his way to the bedroom, John wondered if he could convince Jenna to scrub his back. The anticipation of her hands on him, to feel normal and routine again, was overwhelming. He wondered what it was about the disaster that made him feel so desperate for her contact. It had been less than a day, and already he longed for some kind of reassurance from her. It was juvenile, but hard to deny. The power, the lights made the house seem a little normal again, and he wondered if it was that element of normalcy that was messing with his head. What was it about the power that gave him hope? It made a difference, gave everyone hope, but John knew it would be short-lived. Nothing in the world, their world, would be like it was. Power was something to be enjoyed, like a hot shower after spending many months in the desert.