The Geostorm Series (Book 6): Geostorm [The Pioneers] Read online

  Kristi sighed. “Okay, I get it. Now is not the time to argue for feminist equal rights and such.”

  “Dear, listen. This is what survival looks like. It’s not about playing favorites or demeaning women. It’s about who’s best suited to do a particular job. To get settled, we’ve all got to do things we ordinarily wouldn’t do. Also, we’re gonna put in really long, exhausting hours.”

  Kristi smiled, immediately feeling guilty for her attitude. “I remember when I interned in Africa. It was a different culture there. I had to do things not required of the men in my program. I accepted that as fact and considered it to be part of the dues I had to pay.”

  “We’re in a similar situation now,” said Sarah as Isabella returned.

  “I know. I know. I wouldn’t last five minutes down there with the boys swinging an axe. And, most likely, I’d bring the deer home from the woods as a pet rather than a few days’ worth of food.”

  Sarah lovingly squeezed her daughter’s arm. “That’s my girl. Now, one more thing. While the clothes and linens are drying, will you track down where our water is coming from? It would be nice to know if we’re gonna run out anytime soon.”

  “Okay. We’ll let you know when we leave. You’ll have to keep an eye out by yourself.” As she spoke, Brooke knuckle-walked up to her side and copped a squat.

  Sarah smiled at the chimp. “She seems to be acclimating to our new surroundings.”

  Kristi chuckled. “Are you kidding me? She loves it here. She is also enjoying the one-on-one time we’re having together.”

  “Is her sign language improving?” asked Sarah.

  “It’s amazing, Mom. She’s picking it up faster than Knight did. Next, I’m going to try to teach her how to voice, through sign, of course, certain behaviors.”

  “Like what?”

  “Right from wrong. Danger versus safety.”

  “Is that what you did with Knight?” asked Isabella.

  “Not at first. However, under the circumstances, I have an idea.”

  “What is it?” asked her mom.

  “Well, what if I could teach Brooke to alert us to danger? You know, an intruder, whether it be a dangerous animal or a person. She loves to play in the forest. If I could teach her to identify a threat and report it back to us without creating false alarms, she’d be invaluable.”

  Isabella’s eyes lit up. “That is a brilliant idea, Kristi. She would be like a guard dog.”

  “Very good, dear,” said Sarah. “See, we can all pull together and make this work. Even this sassy pants here.” Sarah leaned over to tickle Brooke, who willingly raised her arms to get the attention. She loved interacting with her human family, and they seemed to enjoy her laugh.

  “Okay, let’s get to work,” began Kristi before adding, “Heigh-hooooo!”

  Chapter 17

  Pinnacle Overlook

  Cumberland Gap

  Southeast Kentucky

  Kristi and Isabella finished their washing chores, gathered their weapons, and made their way along a path made of flagstones that led up the hill beyond the overlook’s restroom facility. The dirt around the stones had washed away, leaving ruts in the path. Both women were careful with their footing to avoid turning an ankle. After a twenty-minute hike through the overgrown underbrush, they reached a slight clearing at the top of the rise. Somewhat out of breath, they raised their weapons and fanned out through the clearing, ensuring there were no predators present—four-legged or two-legged.

  They walked the perimeter of the hundred-foot-wide clearing and made their way to the middle next to a solar array of half a dozen large panels. In the center of the panels was a slightly elevated concrete structure with a metal-framed door containing wire mesh in the center.

  “It’s a solar well similar to what we use at the farm except more substantial,” observed Kristi as she shouldered her rifle and ran her fingers around the six panels. “These are pretty large. Maybe three hundred watts each.”

  Isabella slowly spun around to view the clearing once again. “Everything is self-contained underground. No exposed pipes or pumps.”

  Kristi stood over the array with her hands on her hips. “That’s different from what we have at home. Our systems were much smaller. Usually, there’s a steel box that holds the pump and the controllers. One pipe would stick out of the ground to a spigot, and another might lead to an irrigation system.”

  Kristi knelt down to the protective door and started to turn the handle.

  “Kristi! No!” urged Isabella in a raised voice.

  Kristi heeded her warning and immediately pulled her hand away. Her eyes searched the tall, overgrown grass near the handle for a snake or spider. “What is it?”

  “The sun,” replied Isabella. “The solar panels convert the solar rays into energy. Direct current electricity. In America, an inverter is required to convert the DC energy to alternating current.”

  “AC?” asked Kristi, who was now standing with her hands on her hips, staring at the metal lid.

  “Oui. Much of Europe is converting their industrial systems to DC, but that is not the case in America. Once the electricity goes through the converter, it can be used as a source of power.”

  “Okay. Why can’t I open the lid and take a look?” asked Kristi.

  “It is working, so it must be shielded from solar particles. This box is like a Faraday cage.”

  “Oh, I get it. It protects the electronics from the geostorms.”

  “Oui. These solar storms could be occurring without our knowledge. Opening the Faraday cage, even if only for a moment, could allow the highly charged particles to destroy the apparatus.”

  Kristi sighed. She’d almost made a huge mistake. Her curiosity almost ruined their water supply. She looked around the clearing and then turned to Isabella. “Six panels would operate a pretty large pump. The well is either very deep or the system is pumping water from the town. Sixteen hundred watts would handle a pump strong enough to go six to eight hundred feet, far more than anything we had at the farm.”

  “This is good news,” said Isabella as she took in the entire clearing once again. The sun was setting after a long day. “The chainsaws have stopped. I think the men are finished.”

  They began to walk back toward the trail when a rifle’s report echoed through the mountains.

  “Levi?” asked Kristi.

  “I hope so.”

  It was the first gunshot they’d heard since their arrival. Isabella readied her rifle, unwilling to assume the shot came from their team of hunters. Carly and Levi had been out for hours already, and this was the first time they’d heard the sound of a rifle.

  “Come on. Let’s get back to camp.”

  Kristi led the way, ignoring her own admonitions to be careful on the uneven flagstone steps. She moved quickly through the tree canopy, followed closely behind by Isabella. When they entered the overlook’s clearing, they found Chapman and Tommy wandering both sides of the parking lot with their rifles ready. The kids and Brooke were hidden away, and Sarah stood with her hunting rifle. Her facial expression was determined, like a mama grizzly protecting her young.

  Kristi turned to Isabella and held her index finger to her lips, indicating they should be quiet. Isabella nodded and the two women spread out, joining the guys as they pointed their weapons and their attention on the surrounding forest.

  After several minutes, they met up in the middle of the parking lot next to the Scooby van. With an eye on the forest, they all began whispering at once.

  “Which direction did the shot come from?”

  “That had to be Levi and Carly, right?”

  “Why have they stayed out so late?”

  “Has anybody seen anything out of sorts?”

  Lots of questions and nothing but speculation for answers.

  Several more nerve-racking moments passed before Sarah finally exhaled. “Okay, listen. We’re all a little jumpy. We sent Levi and Carly out to hunt, and that’s what they’re doin’.
”

  As the group relayed what they heard to one another, a consensus was reached. The shot came from the direction of the Pinnacle Overlook Trail where Levi and Carly had set off to hunt earlier in the day. Nonetheless, everyone stayed armed and on edge as the light of day started to disappear.

  Chapter 18

  Pinnacle Overlook Trail

  Cumberland Mountains

  Southeast Kentucky

  Levi and Carly had grown frustrated as they hunted for hours before they saw their first deer. To get the lay of the land, they walked the entirety of the Pinnacle Overlook Trail until they reached the end, or at least the newly abbreviated termination of the trail. The winding asphalt path reached the midpoint of the ridge where the road they arrived on should’ve been. That was where the earth had been swallowed and replaced with a muddy river. The earthquake had destroyed the side of the mountain by taking the rain-soaked ground and shaking it until it broke apart. Without risking their lives, they stood on the trail and marveled at the scene that unfolded before them.

  After making comments about fate, luck, and timing, they returned to the task at hand, which was to find dinner for the family.

  They made their way back up the ridge, opting to avoid the low-lying areas where streams and ponds might be found. They walked back up the ridge, scanning both sides of the manmade asphalt path for recognizable deer trails.

  Both Carly and Levi were experienced hunters and knew to look for certain telltale signs. Deer use trails or, as some whitetail hunters called them, funnels throughout the year. Oftentimes they have a physical barrier like water, fallen trees, the edges of a field, or steep ridges.

  They studied the ground for hoofprints and droppings. They stopped to examine small trees from time to time to determine if bucks had been using them to rub their antlers against to mark their territory. Along this same line of thinking, Levi always thought it important to study the base of large trees for scrapes, a place where bucks paw at the ground to create a bare patch. Then they pee on it as a way of marking territory as well.

  They made their way back to the top of the ridge after hours of hunting and tracking. Well-worn trails, most likely used by multiple does, were found. Even parallel trails created by bucks were evident. But they hadn’t seen a single animal.

  “Levi, do you think the earthquake ran them off?” asked Carly as they reached the summit of the ridge. They walked toward the overlook when Levi stopped, allowing them to catch their breath.

  “Yeah, it’s possible. Deer are fickle, too. If their food source is gone, they’ll abandon a trail they’ve used for years to move on. The nonstop rain could have as much to do with that as the doggone earthquake.”

  “It’s not like back home, where they were drawn to the apple orchards like flies to honey.”

  Levi chuckled. “Yeah, it wasn’t hard to hunt the farm, was it.”

  “The hardest part was keeping our neighbors out of our orchards. They’d go up in the state woods and come home empty-handed.”

  “Oh, don’t I know it. Except they’d stop by good old Riverfront Farms like it was 7-Eleven to pick up a deer so momma wouldn’t question where they were all day.”

  “Out carousin’, probably.”

  Levi and Carly shared a hearty laugh, the first the married couple had had since their arrival at the Pinnacle Overlook. He hugged her and gave her a tender kiss. She returned his kiss, and soon the two of them were in the throes of a passionate make-out session.

  Then Carly stopped them before they made love on the side of the trail. “Levi, I just saw a doe cross the road.”

  “Who cares?” he whispered as he fumbled at her clothing.

  She slugged him on the shoulder. “Get off me. Seriously, she just crossed the trail a hundred feet downwind from us.”

  “Really? Are you seriously cutting me—?”

  “Yes. Go hunt. There’ll be plenty of time for all of this other stuff later.”

  Levi hopped off the ground and adjusted his clothing. “Dang it, Carly, you’d better not be pulling my chain.”

  “Ain’t nobody pullin’ nothin’, mister,” she shot back. She pointed to a section of the trail where there wasn’t a split-rail fence. “There. Just before the fence starts. I saw her walk across the trail, pretty as you please. She never even looked in our direction.”

  Levi reached down and took his wife’s hand. He hoisted her up and headed up the hill.

  “I’ve got this,” he whispered as he walked softly along the asphalt trail. He suddenly turned, lowered his body, and moved stealthily into the forest.

  Carly waited for Levi near the point where he entered the woods, and studied the surroundings. She readied herself in case another doe emerged from the undergrowth to cross the trail.

  Several minutes later, the blast from Levi’s powerful .308-caliber hunting rifle startled her. The report echoed through the woods and down into the valley that used to be the Cumberland Gap.

  “Dangit!” he shouted. “She’s just wounded.”

  “Wait for me!” Carly shouted in return. She hustled into the forest and tried to follow the path Levi took to track the deer. After a hundred feet or so, the forest cleared and she shouted his name.

  “Down here,” he responded. “I’ve got her in my sights!”

  “Where are you?” Neither of them bothered hiding their voices. A wounded deer was already panicked and on the run. Excited voices among the hunters wasn’t going to change that.

  “Holy crap! You’ve gotta see this!”

  Carly picked up the pace, dodging trees and low-hanging limbs until the trees thinned somewhat. She kept moving forward until a clearing came into view. She gasped when she arrived. “What happened here?”

  Levi stood at the edge of the clearing, holding onto several saplings to steady his balance. “A landslide, I think.”

  “Look at all of these trees. They were knocked down like bowling pins.”

  “I lost the deer,” lamented Levi. “I see her blood trail dropping over the edge of the slope.”

  Carly joined her husband’s side. “Maybe we should give it up? Even if you caught up to her, I don’t think we could get her back up the hill, do you?”

  Levi sighed and handed her his rifle. He knelt down and retrieved his knife from its sheath wrapped around his calf. Then he responded, “It would be messy and a helluva waste, but I could carve her up and take her back to camp in pieces.”

  “Jeez, Levi. It’s not worth—” Carly caught herself mid-sentence. She nudged Levi and pointed down the slope. “Do you see that?”

  “What?” he asked.

  “Look. Near that overturned tree. Is that, um, a backpack?”

  Levi stretched his neck through the saplings and squinted his eyes to get a better look. “It sure is. Also, I see a walking stick like Grandpa used to use. I wonder if a hiker came down here.”

  “The people from the camper?” asked Carly.

  “Maybe,” replied Levi. He placed his knife back in its sheath and turned to his wife. “I’m gonna check it out.”

  “Oh, no. No way, Levi. It’s way too dangerous.”

  “No, seriously. I’ll be fine. There’s plenty of stuff for me to hold onto. Don’t worry.”

  “It’s not worth it,” she countered.

  “I have to know,” he said as he left her side and started to make his way down the steep slope that was still muddy from the recent rains.

  “Jeez, Lou-damn-eez, Levi!”

  He ignored her complaint and continued down the hill. Levi watched his step and took his time as he approached the backpack. He picked it up and looked inside. It was empty except for a couple of bottles of water, an empty thermos, and a Clif bar. You know, the one where the logo depicts a climber hanging inverted under a rock outcropping.

  “Oh, shit!” he exclaimed.

  Carly hollered back at him, “Did you find something else?”

  “Yeah. It’s a body.”

  “Are they dead?”
r />   After a moment, he finally responded, “Yeah, without a doubt.”

  She was still worried about her husband’s safety. Levi, like his older brother, had a lot of daredevil in him. “Good! Come back up here, and let’s go back.”

  “Hang on!”

  “No, you hang on! Come on, Levi. Please come back up here.”

  “Almost!”

  The impetuous Carly Boone was within seconds of chasing after her husband when he shouted to her, “He’s been dead a while. Looks like he got caught up in the landslide.”

  Carly leaned through the saplings and craned her neck to get a better look. Levi had disappeared below the drop-off, so she couldn’t see anything except a large boulder and some fallen trees.

  “Doggone it, Levi. Please come back up here.”

  “On my way. I found his ID and some other stuff.”

  Carly breathed a sigh of relief and backed up the hill slightly to get a better footing. It was getting dark, and she didn’t want to lose her orientation and suffer the same fate as the dead body down the ridge.

  Levi’s head appeared over the edge of the slope and then the rest of his body. He was using a walking stick to push his way up the hill. Just a minute later, he joined his wife in the thicket. He leaned in to get a kiss. Instead, he got slugged again.

  “I told you not to go down there,” she admonished him.

  “It was okay.”

  Her eyes welled up in tears. “Doggone it, Levi. You gotta stop taking risks. It’s not like before when we could call for help. We’re on our own now. Do you wanna be dead like that guy down there?”

  Levi lowered his head and reached out to hug his wife. They held each other for a moment until the tense moment between them passed. Finally, he spoke to her. “You’re right. It wasn’t necessary.”

  “Just think next time. Okay?”

  He nodded and handed Carly the things he’d retrieved out of the clothing of the decomposed corpse. It was a wallet, a photograph, and a blood-soaked cross-stitched sign.

  Don’t die before you’re dead.