In The End: a pre-apocalypse novel by Edward M Wolfe Read Free Book Online Page A

Salinas, Kansas. Just
before reaching the northward curve of I-70, Tori saw a mushroom cloud rise up
over Denver. Completely freaked out at what she was seeing, but still managing
with some part of her mind to execute some form of rational thought, she took
the exit for highway 24, steering southward away from Denver.
    She lowered her window an inch to
create an exit draft and lit a cigarette with a shaking hand. Her other hand
was gripping the steering wheel tightly. She fought the urge to cry. She was
horrified by what she saw outside but was also determined to maintain a façade
of normality for Elizabeth’s sake.
    Her mind flashed on images of
mushroom clouds she’d seen in school films: testing on Bikini Island; bombs
dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Other than that, she’d only seen them in
movies. She wanted to think that maybe this was some new type of special
effects; something that made an image in the sky that didn’t really exist. But
she knew that was just wishful thinking.
    Feeling pretty certain that it was
real because it couldn’t be anything else, she began to visualize people dying;
children playing at school, mothers strolling babies in parks, couples sitting
at tables at outside cafes. Her parents! Oh god, was California hit too? Her sister in Kansas? Her brother? Wherever he was.
    She hit the power button on her car
stereo and the speakers hissed, filling with the car with the sound of static.
    “Mommy. I
don’t wike this.”
    She hit the number two preset
button and it was the same thing. She hit the other buttons in sequence. Nothing. She hit the power button again, returning the car
to relative silence; just the sound of air rushing past her partially opened
window.
    “Is the music broke, Mommy?”
    Tori was even more scared now. She had never even considered the possibility of one day
turning on a radio and not hearing something. There were places she’d been
where all she could get was country & western or Spanish, but there was always
something. Tears slowly made their way down her cheeks and her nose started to
run.
    “Yes, honey. I think the radio’s
broken.” Her voice cracked at the end of the sentence even though she tried so
really hard not to sound like she was crying. Then she sniffed and wiped her
eyes with the back of her hand.
    No, dammit. I’m not going to cry.
Everything is going to be fine.
    “ It’s okay, Mommy. I’ll sing for you.”
    “Lizzie, you are the sweetest,
dearest little person in the whole world. Thank you.”
    Elizabeth made an exaggerated big
smile showing all of her teeth and bounced her head from one shoulder to the
other, basking in the compliment with delight.
    Tori saw her daughter’s pigtails
flopping around in her rearview mirror and smiled.
    “I love you, baby.”
    “I wuv you, Mommy!”
    Elizabeth sang the few songs that
she knew, over and over until she fell asleep. Tori needed to get her daughter
somewhere safe. She didn’t know if she had a home anymore, but if she did,
going there was not an option. The next thing she thought of was her parent’s
cabin near Vail. It was far enough from Denver and high enough in the mountains
that it ought to be safe. She would take Liz there and hope there was enough
food to last until… she didn’t know when. She didn’t know what would happen
next or if anyone would ever be able to go to Denver again.  For now, she
just wanted to get someplace safe and get off the highway before another bomb
exploded.
    Her drive up the mountain was
uneventful. There was very little traffic and the weather was clear. Several
times she passed cars that had pulled over to the side of the road and she saw
the drivers talking and pointing at the mushroom cloud. She was tempted to join
them due to an urge to commiserate with other adults and to ask if they knew
anything, but she knew that no one could know anything yet, so it would be
pointless.
    When she arrived at her parent’s
cabin, she gently removed Liz from