AFTER THE DUST SETTLED (Countdown to Armageddon Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

place. We’ve got two others to use for chores. We can spare one. It’s got a good sized bed on the back and it’ll be a lot easier for you to gather your provisions from the trucks.”
         “Thank you, Scott. I wasn’t looking forward to hauling that stuff back by horseback, a couple of boxes at a time.”
         “I’m also going to give you a walkie talkie and some batteries to take with you. And some flashlight batteries. You’ll need a working flashlight at the parts store. They’re all rechargeable, and we’ll have the ability to recharge them when they go dead. So just bring them back here and swap them out when they get weak.”
         “What’s the walkie talkie for?”
         “Leave it on channel five. We’ll have another one on our security console, and we’ll leave it on twenty four seven. There will always be somebody sitting there, so anytime you want to come over and visit, just let us know ahead of time.
         “After I get all the security cameras set up, I’m going to block the end of our drive with dead mesquite trees. They’re thorny enough to keep people out. Better than concertina wire, in my opinion. The rest of the property is already lined with them. Once I block the drive, you won’t be able to get in unless we know you’re coming and use the tractor to drag the trees out of the way for you.”
         Linda tried one last time to talk him into staying.
         “Please, Tom. You may be stubborn and set in your ways, but you know there’s strength in numbers, and you’d be safer here. Heck, we all would be, with an extra man around to provide security and such.”
         He softened the resolve on his face, but he still didn’t bend.
         “I’m sorry, little lady, but I’ll take a pass. At least for now.”
         She went on.
         “And besides, it’s not fair for us who care about you to have to worry about you all the time.”
         Linda and Tom had gone out dancing a few times, and had even been intimate. But it was the first time that Linda had hinted she might be emotionally attached to him.
         A weaker man might have given in. But Tom Haskins was strong as a bull, and had a will to match.
         “Maybe if things get ugly. But not now.”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    -6-
     
         Jordan was a big help when setting up the electrical system. It reminded Scott that his son was almost a man now.
         Scott climbed to the top of the wind turbine to check out the generator. Although this wasn’t one of the full sized turbines used to generate power for cities, it was still pretty tall. And as he looked down seventy feet below into the compound, it struck him that this would be a great place for a sniper to perch and take pot shots at him and his family if he ever made it into the compound.
         He made a mental note to take a blow torch and cut the rungs off the ladder for the first twelve feet after he finished bringing the turbine back to life. He could always bring a ladder from his shed to service the tower after that.
         But chances were, any marauder happening by who wished to do them harm wouldn’t have a ladder in his back pocket.
         The wind was barely blowing when Scott climbed the tower, so he had no problem braking the propellers. It was unnerving enough being that high, for a man who wasn’t particularly fond of heights. But the rotating props made the whole tower sway, and that made it ten times worse.
         As for the generator, it wasn’t producing power, even before he’d stopped the props. So it obviously suffered some damage.
         Scott looked at it, and didn’t see any thing visible.
        He surmised that the wiring on the inside o f the generator was fried. That wasn’t something he could repair seventy feet off the ground. And he wouldn’t