America's Sunset: A Post Apocalyptic Fight for Survival by Norman Christof Read Free Book Online Page A

interior walls weren't up yet, so it was still one big empty room. The only windows in the place were the ones facing the porch, and a small one in the door. Those were high-grade, shatterproof, break-in-proof, bulletproof windows. Six large skylights across the roof of the cabin brought in natural light. They were made of the same high-grade glass that he put in the front.
    He unrolled the blueprints from under his arm, and laid them out on the floor. There were several large pages, including the overall floor plan, and individual plans for each room. There was also a wish-list blueprint detailing some future expansion plans. Those were still up for negotiations with the budget committee (a.k.a. Maggie) but that was for another day.
     
    He heard the front door open, and Maggie’s footsteps. He shuffled the blueprints around until the wish-list worked its way to the bottom.
    “Morning, honey,” she said, giving him a hug and a peck on the cheek. “I figured I’d find you here in your new man cave. Don’t forget, you still have another house that you’re not allowed to neglect now that this one is nearly finished.”
    “Oh, it’s hardly finished, Mags.” He wrapped his arm around her. “You know me, there’s no such thing as a project that’s ever truly finished. Just look at all this empty space in here. Do you have any idea how many tools, projects and toys I can cram in here?”
    “Oh, I could guess, but I’d rather not. I try not to think about things like that too much.”
    “Did I ever tell you just what an awesome wife you really are? Not a lot of guys’ wives let them build such a big toy box in the backyard.” Jake smiled from ear to ear.
    “I thought we agreed this was not just going to be for toys, dear. You said you’re going to move all that stuff out of the garage. And don’t forget about all those shelves of canned goods and rations in my craft room. I do understand the need for all this crazy prepper stuff, but I’d really like to reclaim that room.”
    “It’s not crazy stuff. It’s just being practical. We both agreed that it makes sense to be self-reliant, now, doesn’t it? It’s part of being a good member of the community. We can’t always rely on big brother to take care of our every little need.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 9 ~ Just Another Day
                  It was one of those really nice days; the sun was shining, the clouds were few and far between, and the light autumn breeze pushing around the leaves seemed a little ambivalent. Ambivalent in the sense that maybe it was going to die off, or maybe it wanted to be something more. Sort of an in-between breeze. Nothing sinister about that … just nature doing its thing. There’s nothing for sure about nature … there never has been. It’s just human nature to hope for the best. To assume that things will just stay nice and sunny and breezy. That things will always find a way to work themselves out. Just like they always do. The same old predictable status quo that helps us all to sleep at night, wrapped in our protection. The force and might of Mother Nature is awesome and beautiful at the same time.
                  There’s no doubt that every single person at the airport that day knew what Mother Nature was capable of. They’d all seen it before. Even the little kids. But, we want so badly to trust her … to believe that she won’t hurt us. Why would she? What have we ever done to her … well, that is unless you’re prone to believing those doomsayers that think the world is about to get sucked into a black hole any second. Things have always been fine … or at least close to it. We can’t expect the world to be a perfect place. Sure we complain at the minor inconveniences we have to deal with every day. Traffic jams. Slow internet. Poor cell phone reception. Mom’s apple pie that’s never tasted the same since she’s been on anti-depression drugs. But we wait.