After the Republic by Frank L. Williams Read Free Book Online Page B

them to meet off-site, away from Raleigh, but they wouldn’t listen. I told them I was sick and couldn’t come. I just had a feeling I shouldn’t be there.” Drew paused and then started toward the bathroom. “I think I am going to be sick.” The closed bathroom door didn’t completely muffle the sound of him violently vomiting.
    “I’m going to check on my wife and kids,” Jim said with a sense of urgency. “We’ll plan to see y’all Saturday.” Jim hugged both Joshua and Rebecca and headed for his jeep. “We’ll talk tomorrow. If the phone networks are working.”
    Joshua plopped down on the couch. Rebecca sat beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. Reagan sat at his feet, still trembling. Joshua put one arm around Rebecca and ran his fingers through her straight brown hair. He used his free hand to turn on the television, but there was no satellite signal. His tablet was still working. I’m amazed this still works, he thought. Tears came to his eyes as a news website confirmed that downtown Raleigh was the location of the nuclear blast they had just witnessed.
    The anchor explained that the second wave of attacks had not been confined to Raleigh. Bombs had breached several levees in New Orleans, flooding low-lying residential areas without warning. San Jose had been hit with an electromagnetic pulse weapon, wreaking havoc on electronic devices in Silicon Valley. A dirty bomb had gone off in Cincinnati, several car bombs had detonated near crowded areas in Austin, a suicide bomber had blown himself up in a mall in Boston and there had been an explosion near the naval yard in Norfolk.
    Joshua shook his head. “This is spiraling out of control faster than I ever imagined.”
    Rebecca looked up and sniffled. “Yes it is. So what’s the plan for Saturday?”
    “Saturday…” Joshua rehashed the plan that he and Thomas had discussed the night before.
    “He’s just going to give the land to us and whoever goes with us?” she asked.
    “Not exactly, and I wouldn’t ask him to do that. It’s his land, and we shouldn’t expect something for nothing. Anyone who wants to go will have an agreement with him to provide something for his family in exchange for the use of his land. If they don’t follow through, they’re out.”
    “Sounds like a good rule, but who’ll enforce it?”
    “You remember me talking about my friend, Bob Kendall?”
    “The guy who was in the Army for so long and worked at the legislature?”
    “That’s the one. He’s going with us. And he and Thomas are meeting here tomorrow afternoon.”
    “That’ll be interesting,” Rebecca said skeptically. “Thomas is so laid back and Bob sounds like a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ kind of guy.”
    “It’ll be definitely interesting to see how they mesh.” Joshua chuckled. “But we need them both.”
    Drew finally emerged from the bathroom, pale and looking like he could get sick again at any moment. He trudged into the living room and silently collapsed onto a vacant recliner. After a few moments Joshua broke the silence. “Drew, you mentioned that your apartment was in downtown Raleigh. Where are you staying tonight?”
    “Umm, I hadn’t thought about it yet. Don’t know.”
    Joshua glanced at Rebecca, who silently nodded her approval to the unspoken question. “You’re welcome to stay here. We have a spare bedroom.”
    “Thank you so much. Still processing what happened today. Can’t believe it hit Raleigh .”
    Rebecca showed Drew the guest room while Joshua finished reading news coverage of the second wave of attacks. After a few minutes she returned and joined him on the couch. “Josh, are you sure about this? Packing up and moving to the mountains and abandoning our farm?”
    Joshua felt a pang of guilt. “I don’t like it either, but in my gut I know it’s the right move. I love it here, but all hell is breaking loose in this country and we’re too close to too many people here. We have to get