The Last Town (Book 2): Preparing For The Dead by Stephen Knight Read Free Book Online Page B

talking, probably on the phone.
    Arthur motioned toward the flat-screen television. “New York City’s on fire!” he said.
    “What happened to your ear?” Norton asked.
    “What? Oh, some skin cancer, nothing major,” his father said. “You hear what I said? New York’s—”
    “On fire, yeah. I heard. LA’s headed that way, too. That’s why I’m here. Dad, do you guys still have all that emergency food I bought for you guys a while back?”
    Arthur seemed not to hear. He stared at the television. Norton walked over and sat down on the other end of the big couch and glanced at the screen again. Sure enough, the NBC affiliate in New York was broadcasting helicopter footage of a gigantic fire that was raging across the tip of Manhattan. It looked like the area had been bombed, and for the second time in his life, Norton saw the World Trade Center area was again on fire. The skyscraper formerly known as the Freedom Tower now belched black smoke much the same way the Twin Towers had done fifteen years earlier. It was a depressing sight.
    “This is huge, son,” Arthur said, his voice full of emotion. “ Huge .”
    “Dad, the food. You guys still have it, right?”
    Arthur finally tore his eyes away from the television. “What food?”
    “Those six big buckets of food that I put in the third bedroom a couple of years ago?”
    “Oh, those. No, they’re out in the garage. Your mom didn’t like them in the closet.”
    Norton put his face in his hand. “Dad, that stuff needs to be kept in a temperate environment. Extremes ruin the lifespan.”
    Arthur waved Norton’s words away. “A little heat isn’t going to hurt anything, Gary. It’s all vacuum sealed. Everything’s fine. So what was this you said about Los Angeles? Did you know the governor called up the National Guard? I heard the airport’s closed, too. Did you drive in?”
    “All the airports are closed, and I got here a couple of hours ago. And yes, I know about the Guard being called up. And in a couple of days, Los Angeles is going to wind up just like that.” Norton pointed at the fiery devastation on the TV.
    “Really,” Arthur said, his voice small. “So this isn’t just another scare, like the bird flu or Ebola, this time?”
    “Doesn’t look like it. Are your cars gassed up?”
    “We going somewhere?”
    “Dad, no. I’m just trying to figure out how you guys are squared away. Are the tanks full? Is there enough food in the house?”
    “Well, sure, we have enough food,” Arthur said. “Your mom’s not into cooking much anymore, so most of it’s frozen or in cans.” He turned from the television and looked at Norton directly. “So, you think this is going to be something serious and long term?”
    Norton nodded. “I think so. That’s why I’m here. Honestly, I think I was lucky to get out of LA when I could.”
    Arthur regarded the television for a moment, then picked up the remote and muted the sound. He turned to his son and looked at him through his glasses.
    “So tell me about Los Angeles,” he said.
    Norton gave him the Cliff’s Notes version of his helicopter flight to Burbank, and told him of the congestion at the airport. His father nodded when he told him the FAA had grounded all civilian aircraft.
    “I heard that, it’s on the news,” he said, pointing to the muted television.
    “There’s more,” Norton said. He went on to tell his father about Barry Corbett’s plans to try and harden the town. When he heard that, Arthur smiled and shook his head.
    “Barry always had a streak of altruism in him, even when he was a kid,” Arthur said. “But now I know what all those trucks are doing lined up on the side of the road down by the airport.”
    “Oh my God,” his mother said from the kitchen. “Are you sure ?”
    Norton and his father glanced toward the kitchen, and Norton thought his mother had been listening to their conversation. Instead, she was still on the phone. Norton exchanged glances with Arthur,