Waiting Out Winter Read Online Free PDF Page A

recall that had used the technique, whether in the United States or elsewhere to deal with anything from disease to alien invasion. “And if anything, it would be precise strikes, not grand sweeping genocide. Most likely the woods--”
    Jamie continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Telephones and television and radio helped those of us that stayed behind. But everything changed when the static began.”
    “When was that?”
    “Wednesday? Nine days or so after the initial fly dump.”
    “Unmanned stations?”
    “Well, there were a few theories. I preferred that one, but Sarah heard it was because it was worse out there--that everyone else was dead. Rebecca told us it was because they’d just turned off our feed so we couldn’t see how bad it was, and that made sense in a weird way. After all, why aren’t our national stations and cable and satellite and such working? Cartoon Network doesn’t come out of Duluth or Eau Claire, it comes out of California or something doesn’t it? Damn media tells us too much when we don’t want to know and not enough when we need to know.”
    “You’re right. I like the first option best. Phones?”
    “All still working--landlines and cell.” She looked up and Nick realized the boys were standing in the doorway of the kitchen listening. She lowered her voice to finish her thought, “But how long will telephone and electricity last with no one doing maintenance downtown and none of us working to pay our bills?”
    He turned and motioned the boys to come on out. Nick squeezed his children, relieved they hadn’t been part of the horror stories Jamie had told him. As he rolled on the floor with them, he outwardly shared their innocent enthusiasm and reckless abandon. Inside, his mind churned with dark thoughts and apocalyptic possibilities, and took note of their total coverage wardrobe.
    Nick thought about the information overload Jamie had dumped on him and came to the conclusion that what had initially been a controlled situation had turned into a contained paranoia. He was glad to be home, but it wasn’t the home he’d left behind. It was darker, physically and mentally. A nightmare he had no control over.
    By nightfall, he had heard back from Jerry. Wade had provided no new information in a huff that let Jerry and Nick know, even in his official position, Wade was being left out of the loop and wasn’t happy about it. Nick tried to accept the situation while watching his family dine on vegetarian lasagna--Jamie had refused to get fresh meat and was saving their frozen pre-infection stores for future use, thanking him for his hunting hobby and two freezers worth of venison, bear and fish. After dinner, he began formulating a plan for survival.
    Believing they had added strength in numbers, regardless of the town’s failure at the same notion, they moved his sister Sarah’s family into the Kontis’ larger home. Shuffling bedrooms and rearranging Nick’s home office and the kids’ playroom in the basement, they easily made it roomy enough for the addition of Jerry, Sarah and little Emily. Sarah spent most of her time with Emily or talking quietly to Jamie. Nick hated their new relationship and wished he could figure out how to fix it. But he knew he’d pushed her too far the night before her wedding and she’d never forgive him for his words. It wasn’t that Jerry was a bad guy--Nick just thought he was wrong for his sister and had told her as much. Now, with the situation and sudden closeness of Sarah and Jerry, he wished he could take those words--hell, the whole night--back.
    They were still settling in when they offered to let Scott join them, but he chose to drive to Indiana to be near his children, “The ex’s opinions be damned.” He claimed it wasn’t the fear of government solutions but a desire to protect his children, and he left as the rumors of the Illinois and Indiana borders being breeched by the flies hit the Hayward rumor mill. Nick and Jerry knew