Pilliars in the Fall Read Online Free PDF Page A

coming and did something about it. It wasn’t like one day I just woke up and started preparing; it was a way of life. I lived nearly all my life in the country. We had winter storms and summer droughts. There were layoffs and car repairs, a person needed to be able to manage those things to maintain their lifestyle, let alone their very existence.
    I knew that when some people heard news of a super volcano or asteroid, or peak oil or global warming, they freaked out and prepared for those certain events, I prepared for the general curves that life will throw which you can actually do something about. Really, no matter how deep your bunker was, it wouldn’t stop the impact of a global population eradicating meteor, so I didn’t see much use in freaking out over the thought of one.
    I paid attention to the news and saw other countries and natural events, and more importantly, how people reacted and responded to those events. I learned early on that history repeats, and to take note of those things which could notably impact me and my life. If a country’s currency or economy collapsed, depending on the system they had in place and the lifestyle, there were either riots or adaptations. Likewise, with natural disasters you couldn’t predict an earthquake, flood or wildfire, but you could do some things to help insulate you from the effects of them. It wasn’t crazy, but it wasn’t commonplace either, and to that extent I didn’t make a big deal over having a few things put back to help me come out the other side if adversity should come my way. I didn’t make a big deal over it because it wasn’t a big deal to me. Apparently, I was one of the few.
    Also uncommon was a person my age already having been educated to these facts and developing the principles and an attitude to go with it. I was just a few short years out of college and had lived a pretty busy life so far. I was a former tall skinny kid that wasn't all that great at anything until I finally learned to put my mind in gear. After a normal high school career of generally screwing around, I screwed around some more in college.
    I had never really had much of an aptitude for education, although I loved learning. The nights I generally spent partying with friends or getting into trouble. Then between class and work, I would spend my days at the gym working out, playing basketball, or on the shooting range. I did all that when I wasn’t enjoying the outdoors with my friends, or more preferably, on my own.
    I was always a loner. Never the weird, nerd with long hair and trench coat, just a quiet person that didn’t like lots of noise and stupid people who seemed to somehow flock together and become louder and more stupid. I had many good friends, but time and time again I found myself on my own and liking it that way. Friends, then family, women, they all seemed to go one after another. My ideals about what I was seeing in the world got me started on a steady path, and Clint took me with him. He didn’t do it out of pity or a perceived need that I needed to be looked after; he did it because I was a like-minded friend. Together we watched as the dominoes leaned, then fell, bringing us to where we found ourselves today.
    Clint was already well established in this lifestyle and just being around him prodded me along. He never once pushed or shaped me, just let me make my own decisions, and mistakes. Clint was simple and refined, and I was maybe a little rough around the edges, but I could learn and perform, so the partnership worked.
    The little rural town that we lived in was just like any other small town. Normal life, decent people, schools, a movie theater, parks, a small college, low crime rate... we lived in middle class rural America. But life gradually got tougher and tougher. The roller coaster had its ups and downs which toyed with people's spirits. When it finally leveled into a steady decline is when the middle class went away, and people started to