“Let me think on it, Pike. Give me a couple days and I’ll get back with you.” A pause. “You still dating that waitress? I saw your status says single?”
“No, we broke up a while ago. She met some douchebag. No worries, though, it was never anything serious. How about you?” he asked, trying to keep the hope out of his voice. I really do need to get over her and get a life.
“No, there are mostly tourists up here and I’m not even going to tell you how gross some of them are. It is a small town here and everyone knows your business,” she laughed.
He grinned. She’d always had the best laugh. He couldn’t help but smile when he heard it. He let out a heavy sigh.
“Do you miss your ex-husband?” He knew he was pushing his luck. He wanted to know what had happened. There was silence on the other end and he could have kicked himself for asking. He didn’t know why he’d done so.
“It was fun for the first year or so, you know, traveling. Bobby and I stopped at every tourist trap and pretended we were on vacation.” She laughed, and he didn’t like that she had fond memories.
“I’m glad you had fun and enjoyed it.” Though he really wasn’t, but he didn’t know what else to say. He’d opened this can of worms.
“Well, I liked to read, so I took a lot of books. That helped to eat up the time on the road. Later I upgraded to a tablet. But then me and Bobby started arguing all the time. You know how it goes, in close quarters and always together. I guess it wasn’t the greatest combination.” He could almost hear her shrug and her self-deprecating laugh.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
“It’s okay, Pike. They aren’t really bad. Just not great.” She laughed again, and he couldn’t help but smile. “Look, don’t worry. If it happens anytime soon, you won’t be alive to worry about it, okay?”
He could hear the smile in her voice and loved her for it. She was so wonderful. He just wished she was there with him. That would be perfection.
“Thanks, that makes me feel soooo much better.” He laughed. He really did feel a load better, though he didn’t know why. Maybe because she’d said it?
“We’ll figure this out, Pike. Do you have any friends, by the way, who are like-minded?” Margo asked.
“Not really. I do have one contact on Facebook who’s a prepper, but I don’t know him personally. Seems to be a really nice guy, always helpful, shares his insights and tips. He doesn’t sound crazy or theory conspirator-esc,” Pike said.
“Okay. PM him and tell him what we’ve been discussing. From now on let’s keep this within private messages and texts. I’ll get back to you soon. Try not to worry overmuch.”
“Okay, Margo. It was good talking to you. Have a good night.” He hung up, laid the phone down and put his head back on the couch, looking up at the popcorn ceiling. He brought his hands up, wrapped his fingers in his hair and pulled. This was just too overwhelming. Too much to think about.
He almost wished he were as stupid and obtuse as Johnny and Beverly. At least then he would probably sleep better tonight. He hated this helpless feeling, like everything was outside of his control. He’d never thought of himself as a control freak. Life was just too short for that kind of burden, but man oh man, this stuff? This stuff was way outside of his control, and maybe even the government’s control as well.
How could it have all gone this far? Why did countries want to kill each other off? Didn’t they know they would only be killing themselves? It would be a domino effect. Either by weapons or economic collapse, things would just go downhill once they started. And wouldn’t there be a lot of nuclear fallout? Wouldn’t that travel back over to Russia? He wished he drank; he’d get good and drunk and pass out.
Sayer Bleak sat looking at the screen, his hands cupping his face. He was stunned. He’d been away for a week doing survival training with his friends in Colorado. He normally practiced on the weekends on his farm. He was seriously considering moving there. It would be something to talk over with Joy. She could get a job there easily, as she was a great nurse.
The guys he’d spent time with had a pretty sweet set up, and he’d learned a lot. Several of them were retired Navy SEALs. They knew how to survive out in the wilderness if anyone did. They’d taught him a lot about weapons, and they’d put him through some tactical training too.
He reread the article Pike had sent. He’d never heard of it, but then when he googled it, all kinds of things popped up. It nearly took his breath away. What is wrong with this world? he asked himself. It was as though humankind wouldn’t be satisfied until it extinguished itself, taking the planet along for the ride.
Sayer had been into prepping for over three years now, as he felt the socioeconomic situation was spiraling out of control. There had been quite a few computer virus scares, Ransomware attacks, hacks, break-ins, and all kinds of software breaches. It was only a matter of time before something went wrong and technology would be a thing of the past, pushing the world back to the 1800s.
He’d not told anyone at work, though there weren’t many who worked for him, nor had he ever discussed prepping with his customers. He’d been warned by other preppers to keep his mouth shut about what he had and what he was doing. His Facebook profile was under an assumed name. He kept the two aspects of his life separate. It was better that way, and he’d never used his picture on his prepper profile. He didn’t want to be recognized. There had been a couple of unsettling incidents.
Only his girlfriend, Joy Flannery, knew, and that was only because they’d been together four years. They lived on the small farm she owned and had got together before he’d started prepping. It would have been hard to do it without her knowledge. Or take weekend survival training.
She was an odd bird but he loved her all the same. A surgical care nurse, she loved her job. All that morbid shit never seemed to bother her. She had a dark and wicked sense of humor, and he liked that about her too. They matched well, like yin and yang. In some ways they were complete opposites and yet they saw almost everything in the same way. Though she didn’t participate in his prepping, she supported him in his goals. He loved her for it.
Sayer had asked her to marry him two years ago, but she’d said no. She was happy just living with the man she loved. She didn’t need or want a piece of paper to prove they loved each other and were together. She didn’t want children either. That had bothered him at first. He had a couple of nieces and nephews, but they lived in Hawaii and he’d not seen them in years. But after he got into prepping, he’d decided that bringing a kid into this world might not be the best.
After reading about the Russian’s POSEIDON, he was even more certain it really was for the best. He thought about the United States’s enemies. Russia had always been there in the background, waiting and watching. North Korea ranked high in that category as well. It was all so unsettling.
Pike wanted to know what he thought. Run for the goddamn hills, or just kiss your ass goodbye. He normally didn’t give out his number, not to strangers on Facebook, but he and Pike had been communicating for over a year and a half. With this news, he thought he should take a chance. He sent his contact information in a private message and waited. A few minutes later, his phone rang. He picked it up.
“Greg?” the voice asked. It had a southern twang to it.
“Yeah, but my real name’s Sayer, I don’t put my real name on my Facebook prepper page,” Sayer said.
There was a pregnant pause on the other end. “Oh, okay. I guess that makes sense. Maybe I should do that?” Pike laughed nervously.