LOCKDOWN: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller (Reckoning Book 2) Read online

  LOCKDOWN

  Book Two in The Reckoning Series

  A novel by Lee West

  Copyright Information

  Copyright 2019 by Lee West. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author, except where permitted by law, or in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, contact:

  [email protected]

  Contents

  — 1 —

  — 2 —

  — 3 —

  — 4 —

  — 5 —

  — 6 —

  — 7 —

  — 8 —

  — 9 —

  — 10 —

  — 11 —

  — 12 —

  — 13 —

  — 14 —

  — 15 —

  — 16 —

  — 17 —

  — 18 —

  — 19 —

  — 20 —

  — 21 —

  — 22 —

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  — 24 —

  — 25 —

  — 26 —

  — 27 —

  — 28 —

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  — 30 —

  — 31 —

  — 32 —

  — 33 —

  — 34 —

  — 35 —

  — 36 —

  — 37 —

  About the Author

  — 1 —

  Joe Birch slowly woke from a deep sleep. As he exited the dream world, a painful awareness moved through his body, the full extent of his fatigue immediately coming into focus. All of his major muscles were sore to the point that he could barely move at first. Rubbing his eyes, he slowly opened them and looked around the room, momentarily unable to recall where he was or how he’d ended up in a dusty, book-stuffed den. The only familiar sight was Meg, his wife of three years, who dozed peacefully next to him. She was the only anchoring sight to his weary mind.

  Within moments, it all flooded back. He recalled their weeklong delayed honeymoon cruise, and all the fun they’d had—before the “event.” Something had knocked out most of the ship’s electrical equipment. Brett and Nancy, their tablemates on the cruise, insisted a high-altitude nuclear detonation had caused an EMP that damaged the ship. They had witnessed the blast, which temporarily lit up the sky in the direction of the shore. The next few days on board had been dominated by fear and a creeping sense of panic among the passengers.

  With a mix of horror and sorrow, he recalled their escape from the cruise ship. Mike’s roommate, Raj, had basically sacrificed himself to free the lifeboat. His mind recoiled at the memory of the man’s guts plastered along the side of the cruise ship. Joe knew that if Raj hadn’t disentangled their lifeboat from the cruise ship, they would either be dead or sitting in the ship’s brig—under arrest. Joe quickly wiped the tears that had formed, and fought to erase the image of Raj’s crushed body. He needed to appear strong and composed when Meg woke up.

  His wife snuggled in next to him, her warm breath tickling the side of his neck. For a moment he closed his eyes and tried to imagine them lying in bed in their cozy little apartment. An urgent knock on the door instantly brought him back to the current situation.

  “Are you guys awake? We need to get moving in about thirty minutes,” said Mike, in a loud whisper through the closed door.

  “Sure thing. We’re just getting up. Be down in a minute,” he said.

  Meg didn’t stir. He knew she was just as exhausted as he was. Getting her up and moving in a half hour would be a challenge.

  “Meg, Meg, we need to get up now,” he said, caressing her shoulder.

  “What? Why? I’m exhausted. I need more sleep. You go without me,” she said, making no sense.

  He looked down at her serene face and shook his head, smiling. She had no recollection of the previous events and would be just as confused as he had been when he first woke. Something about it almost made him laugh out loud. He knew messing with her was inappropriate and silly, but sometimes that was needed in a serious situation. A little lightheartedness could go a long way.

  “Meg, wake up. Your mother is coming. Remember? She’s coming for brunch today!” he said, barely able to suppress his grin.

  Her eyes shot open immediately and she said, “My MOTHER? What? No!”

  Meg avoided seeing her mother as much as possible. They lived three states away and she could barely be convinced to see her or her extended family for the holidays. Bringing up her mother was like throwing a bucket of cold water on her, without the bucket. She sat up and looked around the room. He could tell her mind was scrambling to make sense of things.

  “Nice,” she said, hitting his arm. “You scared the crap out of me.”

  “Being in a stranger’s home in a world where the electrical grid is toast and all the citizens have been rounded up by the government wasn’t enough to scare you out of bed—but mentioning your mother did the trick?”

  “You’ve met her,” she grumbled.

  “Good point,” he said, pulling her into an embrace. “Sorry to startle you like that, but the others are getting ready to leave. We need to get up.”

  “No worries. I can’t be mad at you right now, considering our situation. Geez, my body hurts. Everywhere.”

  “Mine too. I think it’s exhaustion catching up with us. Being tossed around on the lifeboat was hard enough. Add a daylong hike, heat and dehydration to the mix, and this is what you get.”

  “Maybe Marvin has water to share. I’m really parched,” she said, rubbing her eyes.

  They quickly got dressed and went into the living room with the others. Marvin’s brownstone sat a short distance from their apartment building in the city of Stevensville. The group had walked into the city from Mike’s house in the outskirts of town. They had expected to be greeted by Mike’s family when they finally made it there after anchoring the lifeboat. However, Sharon and their two young children were missing. In fact, all of the people in Stevensville were missing, with a few scattered exceptions.

  “Looking good, you two. Can I get you some water or food? I have plenty, and I don’t think it will be practical to carry all of the supplies,” said Marvin.

  “I would love some water!” said Meg excitedly.

  “Me too. Are those PowerBars?” asked Joe.

  A pile of assorted energy bars and nuts sat on the table, in front of a case of bottled spring water.

  “Take whatever you need. There’s plenty,” said Marvin.

  “Did you have all of this stored up?” asked Meg.

  “Not exactly,” said Marvin with a sly smile. “I’m a bachelor. I basically eat when I’m hungry without much thought being put into the next meal. These wonderful additions to my pantry were compliments of the generous health-nut couple that live next door.”

  “So you stole these things from your neighbors?” asked Joe.

  “I like to think of it as borrowing—with every intention of returning the favor when things get sorted.”

  Nancy and Brett joined them in the kitchen. Brett took one of the bars and a couple of water bottles. He sat at the table and began to eat.

  “How did you get into their townhouse?” asked Nancy.

  Nancy and Marvin were both sociology professors at the local college. They had worked together for years and knew one another very well.

  “That was the easy part. Our bro
wnstone is unique because there is a stairwell between each of the units. The interior staircase separates the units so that we don’t have shared walls, like most townhomes. Instead, we have a narrow staircase that can be used as a second way to exit the unit. Most people use the staircase if they have repairmen over or for deliveries. It makes these units really private. I just opened the door to the stairwell and jimmied their door open.”

  “What was the hard part?” asked Meg.

  “The hard part? Well, the hard part for me was deciding to break into my neighbors’ house. However, the longer I sat here without electric, food or water, the less breaking into their place bothered me.”

  “I can see that. I probably would have done it way sooner than you did. Societal moral norms aren’t fixed in stone but rather are a moving target given the situation. I’d say you are firmly in the moral majority by breaking into their unit under these circumstances,” said Nancy.

  “I appreciate your analysis, especially since I broke into all of the units in the entire brownstone,” he said with a smirk.

  Everyone laughed at the oddity of Marvin, an unassuming, older professor, breaking and entering his neighbors’ brownstones.

  “This is where the party is!” said Frank as he walked into the room, followed by Mike.

  “Maybe we should stuff some of these snacks and waters in our bags for the hike?” said Mike.

  “Absolutely. I think we should take as much as we can carry. We should also go into the other units and grab anything else we think might be helpful for us. Nancy, how far away is your house from here?” said Frank.

  “Brett and I were talking about that this morning. We think it should take around six to eight hours to walk there, given our previous pace,” she said with a glance to Frank.

  Frank was the slowest and most out-of-shape person in their group. His frequent breaks had added at least an hour to the group’s hike from Mike’s house to the stadium.

  “Our apartment is close by. Maybe we could go there first?” asked Meg.

  “We’re just off Freemont. From here it shouldn’t take too long to get there,” said Joe.

  Marvin took out a small map of the city and spread it across the table. He traced his finger over the streets until he found Freemont. “Are you in this block?” he asked, turning to Joe.

  “Yes. In between Freemont and Rosecrans.”

  “We should be fine going there. From what I can tell, they’ve cleared the entire block,” said Marvin.

  “Cleared? What do you mean?” asked Nancy.

  “As I mentioned before, the soldiers have been going door-to-door checking for holdouts. I’ve tried to keep track of their movements in order to figure out when I need to relocate. That’s what you see on the map in yellow. These are the areas I think they’ve been through. My plan going forward was to move to one of those buildings and wait until they finish searching this one.”

  “Do they ever go back to the same place?” asked Joe.

  “Not that I can tell. However, it’s pretty hard to get a good handle on things from in here.”

  “So we could get home and stay there,” said Meg, turning to Joe. “We could just hide out and ride this thing until it blows over.” The desperation and hope on her face blossomed.

  “Originally I had the same thought. However, I don’t know what else they have in store for the city. Besides, eventually, I figured they’d find me. Then what? I’d be taken to some camp? No, thanks. I think we’re way better off going to Brett and Nancy’s house,” said Marvin.

  “Our house is outside the city and fairly isolated. I think we should be fine there,” said Brett.

  “My house is outside the city and isolated. That didn’t mean my wife and kids were safe. Whatever swept through here also took them,” said Mike.

  Mike’s solemn reminder that his family had been taken had a chilling effect on the group. Each person sat consumed in thought for a few moments.

  “We don’t know what happened to them, other than they’re gone, like everyone else. What we do know is that Marvin has observed troops going door-to-door. If we stay here, it’s only a matter of time until they find us. And then what?” said Nancy.

  “You’re right. I know you’re right. We’re better off going. We’ll be much safer at your house. I appreciate you allowing us to come with you guys,” said Meg to Nancy.

  “I agree. Don’t worry, Mike. We’ll help you figure out what happened to your family and get them back. You’ll see, everything will turn out alright,” said Joe, trying to soothe Mike.

  “Then it’s decided. Let’s get to the neighboring brownstones first. Then we can make our way to your place. If we leave from the Murphy’s unit, we’ll be closer to your side of the block,” said Marvin.

  “We’re ready to leave whenever you are,” said Brett.

  “Us too. I just need to grab our bags,” said Joe.

  Joe fetched their two small bags from the den. Looking around the room, he envied Marvin. The den looked like the office of a person who spent his life learning. Books, magazines and scholarly journals were jammed into every conceivable space in the room. A well-used oversized leather reading chair and antique desk were prominent. Joe could imagine Marvin spending hours in his reading chair, learning all the things that Joe had never strived for. Looking around the room one last time, Joe felt a deep sense of purpose to help Marvin eventually return to his cozy haven.

  — 2 —

  The group assembled on the small landing outside Marvin’s kitchen, where they could easily reach the access stairway. He hesitated for a moment before closing the door to his unit and locking it. Despite his brave words to Meg and Joe, Marvin also wanted to stay put. He didn’t relish the idea of hiking all day in the heat to get to Brett and Nancy’s house. He had never been a physically fit person. Instead he had spent a lifetime reading books rather than playing sports or exercising. The thought of walking that far frightened him.

  “We can use their kitchen access door. I never relocked it,” he said, pointing across the landing.

  Meg opened the door and walked into the neighbors’ kitchen. The gleaming white cabinets, marble counters and stainless steel appliances sharply contrasted Marvin’s worn and dark kitchen. The couple had even put a skylight into the ceiling, which drastically lightened the space.

  “Wow! This is nice!” said Nancy.

  “Yes. This is the home of our building’s yuppies. I had to live through the dreaded remodel for months, with nothing to show for it but a nagging desire to take a sledgehammer to their new cabinets,” said Marvin.

  “It was that bad?” said Frank.

  “Worse than you can imagine. These two are also health nuts. So grab all the bars, water and granola you can!”

  Their pantry was stuffed full of healthy snacks, alongside a good amount of bulk-sized candy, brightly colored bottled drinks, chips and alcohol. The size of the bounty made Marvin think they must have just restocked from a bulk store right before the event.

  “You call this health food?” said Mike, holding up two family-sized bags of chips.

  “I’ve seen him eat at a buffet. That’s health food to him,” said Nancy.

  “I wonder if we should look in their medicine cabinet and take some first aid supplies,” asked Brett.

  “We took the kits from the lifeboat, but more couldn’t hurt,” said Frank.

  “You guys do that while I look at her clothing. I could really use a hat and more comfortable shoes,” said Nancy.

  Marvin didn’t feel comfortable with the others scavenging the couple’s medicine cabinet or raiding the wife’s wardrobe to swap outfits. It was one thing for them to eat the bars and water, but going through their medicine and clothing had an entirely different feel. Those items were more personal. Rifling through them seemed too invasive, despite the group’s desperate situation.

  Nancy must have sensed his hesitation because she added, “On second thought, I’ll be fine. And we have plenty of first aid
supplies. Let’s just grab the food and get out of here.”

  Marvin was grateful to his friend for her sharp intuition. She always had a way of reading a situation. Over the years she’d saved him from many gaffes with the senior university staff. Marvin was more of a combative employee. He never really grasped the politics or the careful treading one needed to do in order to survive in a highly competitive academic environment, but Nancy did.

  They moved through the rest of the brownstone to get to the door to the next unit. The couple’s entire unit was elegantly appointed with the newest style in furnishings. The high ceilings, hardwood floors and elegant cream walls accentuated their high-end taste. Although Marvin appreciated the décor in the couple’s unit, he would never want to live in it. His home felt like an old pair of comfortable jeans that looked bad but were always worn with genuine satisfaction.

  “The next door is in their back hallway. This way,” said Marvin. “A widow, Mrs. Cudlow, lives here. I think she has lived in this unit for the past sixty years.”

  Marvin opened the door, allowing the stale smell to leave the unit. He suspected that the smell probably was not much different from before the event. The home was jam-packed with family pictures, heavy overstuffed antique furniture, threadbare Persian throw rugs, and thick, elaborate silk curtains. Like Marvin’s home, it appeared to have had very little updating over the years.

  “Wow! Now that’s a piano!” said Brett.

  A nine-foot gleaming black Model B concert grand piano made by Steinway & Sons sat in front of the bay windows. The piano’s lid was in its upright position, music on its stand suggesting that the widow must use the piano regularly.

  “Does she play much?” asked Nancy.

  “Every day. The grand is so loud that all the units can hear it. She’s really an amazing pianist.”

  Marvin always felt lucky to hear Mrs. Cudlow playing. Most days she would play for a straight hour or more. Sometimes she would play for an hour, take a break and start again. He enjoyed her concerts, often marveling at the number of pieces she could play with confidence and competence.

  “I’m not sure I’d be too happy if I had a neighbor playing a loud instrument every day,” commented Joe.