Rest in Peace Read online

  Final Dawn

  Book 13:

  Rest in Peace

  By Darrell Maloney

  This is a work of fiction. All persons depicted in this book are fictional characters. Any resemblance to any real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Copyright 2018 by Darrell Maloney

  This book is dedicated to:

  Keith Murray

  A trusted advisor and a great friend.

  Thanks for your support.

  The Story Thus Far…

  Mark and Hannah met in college.

  He claimed it was love at first sight. With her it took a bit longer.

  She was smart, sweet and beautiful, so his hard and fast attraction to her was certainly understandable.

  And to be clear, he was a smart and handsome man himself.

  He was also a handful for any woman. Even his own mother said he was a little boy living in a grown man’s body.

  But his immature antics and bad behavior were things she could get used to. And he was oh, so sweet and kind to her.

  She finally figured she could tolerate him until he finished maturing and eventually he’d make a fine husband.

  He proposed to her and they started making plans for a wonderful future together.

  As Hannah and Mark figured it, ten years down the road she’d be the lead astrophysicist working for NASA and planning trips through the cosmos on spaceships that hadn’t even been designed yet.

  Mark had a hard time making up his mind what degree he wanted, but knew it would have “something to do with engineering.”

  He saw himself, ten years down the road, running his own heating and air conditioning business. Or architectural firm. Or maybe he’d be a successful builder.

  Mark was a man who sometimes had a hard time making up his mind.

  But he was certain of one thing.

  He was certain he wanted to make Hannah Jelinovic his bride and spend the rest of his life making her happy.

  And making babies with her.

  “At least twelve,” he suggested.

  She laughed at him. Then she examined his face and saw he wasn’t kidding.

  “How about we just wait and see about that?” she told him.

  The couple was happy, hopelessly in love, and making great plans for their future.

  Then nature happened.

  More specifically, a meteorite named Saris 7 which was barreling toward the earth at tremendous speed.

  There was no way to stop it.

  Oh, government officials claimed they were going to try.

  They had no plans to, but saying they would bought them time to move their loved ones into bunkers to ride out the long freeze.

  While the rest of the country would fend for itself.

  Because of Hannah’s position with a NASA contractor she discovered Saris 7 two years before it was scheduled to impact.

  The government tried and failed to silence her.

  In the most bizarre of coincidences, Mark bought Hannah a winning lottery ticket the same week she discovered the incoming meteorite.

  “Oh, great,” she moaned. “We’re suddenly rich but can’t enjoy our money because in two years we’ll be dead.”

  Mark said, “Maybe not.”

  They purchased an abandoned salt mine near Junction, Texas in the belief it would be a safe place to ride out the freeze.

  And they spent most of their winnings to stock it with food and supplies.

  Enough food and supplies to provide for forty relatives and close friends for seven to ten years.

  They also built a walled compound just outside the mine, but hidden from view from nearby highways.

  Their plan, once the thaw came, was to move their livestock and growing operations from the mine to the compound and live out the rest of their lives as simple farmers.

  But as many young couples are, they were very naïve.

  And they underestimated how dangerous the new world would be.

  The post-apocalyptic world was vastly different than the one they remembered.

  Only about fifteen percent of the people survived.

  Some froze to death.

  Some starved.

  Many were murdered, their meager provisions and possessions stolen.

  The majority of them, though, struggled as long as they could, then gave up and took their own lives.

  Many took the lives of their loved ones as well.

  Many survivors changed their ways, and not for the good.

  It was now very common for people to just take what they wanted by force.

  Everyone was armed now. For to be unarmed was to be a sitting duck.

  Everyone knew how to use their weapons.

  The old ways of surviving had made a dramatic comeback.

  Those who couldn’t trap small game, couldn’t hunt, couldn’t fish before the blackout were now proficient in all three.

  And those who’d taken a human life now outnumbered those who hadn’t.

  The group fended off an effort by the United States Army to commandeer their livestock.

  “It’s needed to help feed the masses,” they were told.

  They didn’t trust the government, having felt betrayed by Washington’s refusal to try to divert Saris 7. At the same time, though, they wanted to help the survivors of San Antonio and Bexar County they knew were struggling.

  They made peace with the Army, gave up half their animals, and made friends with an Army colonel named Montgomery.

  Hannah was riding in Colonel Montgomery’s helicopter when it went down, killing the colonel and severely injuring Hannah.

  She spent several weeks at a military hospital in south San Antonio recovering and getting to know the staff.

  Hannah was a beautiful woman. Everybody said so. And she was outgoing and sweet too.

  She was the type of woman people were instantly attracted to. Everyone wanted to hang out with her, and she made friends easily.

  When she found out later there might be a second meteorite following the same path as the first she insisted on going back to the hospital to warn her friends.

  After all, they were good people.

  They deserved a chance to prepare as well. Their lives could certainly depend on it.

  The second meteorite wasn’t the only revelation.

  It seemed the federal government was building a secret bunker on undeveloped land at the east end of the old Kelly Air Force Base.

  They’d always known of the second meteorite.

  And as they’d done before, they had plans to protect their own, the rest of the nation be damned.

  That wasn’t the only problem the group was having to deal with.

  When the second meteorite, dubbed Cupid 23, struck the earth began to freeze over.

  And one of their own, Frank Woodard, went missing.

  Frank was a man’s man. A former Marine and homicide detective. He was all knowing about anything tactical and the last person someone would expect to disappear without a trace.

  Yet gone he was, kidnapped by a convicted felon and his brother.

  Frank was forced to drive at gunpoint to a little town called Plainview some four hundred miles north.

  And there he was, critically wounded by a madman and desperate to escape.

  The odds were greatly stacked against him.

  And now the story continues with

  Final Dawn, Book 13:

  Rest in Peace

  -1-

  Mark and Hannah Snyder sat in their Winnebago, sipping coffee and recounting old memories while they waited for their son “Little Markie” to crawl out of bed and dress.

  “I can’t believe it’s only been thirteen years since this whole thing started,” Hannah said.

  “Hone
y, thirteen years is a very long time.”

  “Well duh… I know that. What I’m trying to say is it seems like fifty. I mean, look at how our lives have changed. How many friends and family we’ve lost. The things we’ve had to endure.

  “The times we almost died ourselves…”

  “You know, I was wondering the other night while I was trying to get to sleep where we’d be today if the meteorites never happened.”

  Hannah laughed.

  “I’ve thought about that too, actually. Let’s compare notes. Thirteen years ago this month we were freaking out because Sarah and I had just discovered Saris7 way out there in the cosmos…”

  “You thought you’d discovered it. Then you found out your superiors had already known about it for quite some time. And they were keeping it a secret.”

  “Yeah. That didn’t work out for them very well, did it?”

  Hannah suddenly grew somber.

  “Honey, do you ever feel guilty?”

  “Guilty? About what?”

  “About those people in Washington who hid inside the bunkers. They all died, every last one of them.”

  “Now why would I feel guilty about them dying? Don’t be so silly.”

  “I’m not being silly. If Sarah and I hadn’t gone public about Saris 7 the people in Washington never would have missed them. They never would have gone looking for them. Wouldn’t have smoked them out and gunned them all down.

  “The worst part was all the children…”

  “Hannah, stop it! That wasn’t your fault and you know it. They made the decision to keep Saris 7 from the public. They knew damn well the public had a right to know. They knew damn well the public would have demanded they do something.

  “And they knew damn well there was nothing they could do. So they chose to protect themselves.

  “In my book, that’s where they made their mistake. They should have been honest, and told the public there was no way to stop the meteorite. That they were in this with us. That we wouldn’t all survive, but that most of us would if we worked together and toughed it out.

  “Instead they lied to us. Said they’d divert the meteorite and then they all disappeared.

  “Honey, they signed their own death warrant when they betrayed the American people. They did that, not you and not Sarah.

  “As far as the children, the same answer applies. They took their children into the bunker without thinking of the consequences should an angry public take vengeance on them.

  “And that’s exactly what happened.

  “They ran into the bunker like rats deserting a sinking ship. And they dragged their children in there with them. Again, they did that. Not you.”

  “But…”

  “No buts, baby. You didn’t tell them about the bunkers. Heck, you didn’t even know about them. The citizens of Washington figured that out for themselves when all the politicians disappeared.

  “The same thing would have happened if you hadn’t gone public. The world would have suddenly gone cold and dark and nobody would know why. The people would have marched to the Capitol and would have been told by the Capitol Police there was no one there.

  “Then the truck drivers would have come forward and told everybody they’d been stocking the bunkers beneath the streets for months.

  “The secret would have gotten out anyway. The public would have smoked the bunkers and killed them all anyway. Even if you and Sarah had never said a word.

  “Let me tell you what you did do though.

  “By going public you gave millions of people around the world a heads-up they wouldn’t have had.

  “Yes, the gullible among them did nothing. They got suckered into President Sanders’ empty promises and placed their faith in the government to stop Saris 7.

  “But there were millions of others who knew better. Who weren’t so gullible.

  “Those were the people who suspected that Sanders was full of crap. And you gave them months to prepare for the freeze.

  “Months to stockpile food and supplies.

  “Months to band together, and try to find places to ride out the storm.

  “Most of them died anyway, despite their efforts.

  “But many survived and are still out there today.

  “And chances are they wouldn’t have survived without the lead time you and Sarah gave them to prepare.

  “For every life that perished in those Washington bunkers, you saved a thousand more.”

  She fell silent.

  She had no argument left in her.

  Mark seldom won an argument with his wife. But he won this one and he knew it.

  Before he had time to gloat, though, she changed the subject.

  This time to a much lighter topic.

  “You know what else I remember?”

  “What’s that, honey?”

  “When we first talked of getting married, you told me you wanted twelve children. Do you remember that?”

  He smiled.

  “I still do.”

  “We’re way too old now.”

  “I’ll never be too old to want to make babies with you.”

  “Wanting to is easy. Actually making them is a little harder.”

  -2-

  He reached out to her. She took his hand and he pulled her close to him.

  “Let me ask you something.”

  “What?”

  “You just changed from a very serious subject involving death and world destruction, to one where you’re teasing me about wanting to make love to you ten times a night and making a dozen babies.

  “How can you turn on a dime like that?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I guess because I’m just a silly woman.”

  “Can I give you another option?”

  “Do you have to?” she asked coyly.

  He smiled.

  “Oh, you’ll like this one.”

  “I will?”

  “You will.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  “Then quit stalling and tell me.”

  “I’ve known you awhile now.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “Probably better than anyone else on this earth. Including your best friends Sami and Sarah.”

  “Yes. So?”

  “So there’s only one other time when you’ve gone from hot to cold, from happy to sad, from melancholy to content on a dime.

  “And you being a silly woman, although certainly true, had absolutely nothing to do with it.”

  “What are you driving at?”

  “It was a hormonal thing.”

  “But… but honey, I’d have known by now.”

  “Are you late?”

  “Yes, a little. But I’ve been under a lot of stress, with Cupid 23 coming and all. Being a little late when I’m stressed is not unusual for me.”

  He smiled the big dumb smile which caused her to fall for him many years before.

  “You just wait and see, honey. You’ll see that I’m right.”

  “What are you two talking about?”

  The voice came from the open doorway, from a handsome young boy who bore a remarkable resemblance to Mark.

  Hannah never passed up an opportunity to fawn over her son.

  “Well there’s the most handsome boy in the whole State of Texas and then some.”

  “Mommmmm… I wish you’d quit saying stuff like that. I’m not a baby anymore, and it’s kind of embarrassing.”

  Hannah was just a bit taken aback.

  “Really? Why?”

  “Because I’m getting too big for my mother to pinch my face or tell people what a cute little tushy I had when I was a baby and all that other stuff.”

  “Well you did have a cute little tushy. And I love telling people how cute you are.”

  “Please tell me you’re gonna get over it before I start dating. I don’t want to bring a girl home to meet my parents and you start up a conversation about my tushy.”

  “I won’t make you
any promises, except that I’ll try to tone it down a little bit before you bring your first girl home to meet us.”

  Markie looked to his dad for help.

  “Hey. At least she’s saying she’ll try. That’s more than I ever get.”

  “Oh you hush, Mark. And he is cute. He looks just like you used to look before you got all old and your tushy started to wrinkle.”

  He tried to grab her and said, “Now you’re going way too far.”

  She dodged him and backed away.

  He said, “I don’t know. I always thought he looked more like that goon you dated before I came along. Are you sure you weren’t secretly seeing him after we married?”

  “Don’t even try it, Dad.”

  Markie held up his pinkies as evidence to the contrary.

  His pinkies were long and curved.

  Like pink bananas.

  “Nobody else on this earth has these ridiculous pinkies. Nobody except for you and me.”

  It was true.

  Hannah said, “So there, Mister Smarty Pants. I guess he told you. Besides, I only saw the goon on weekends after we got married.”

  Sometimes when his parents started acting like silly teenagers it was up to Mark Junior to change the subject.

  “So, you never answered my question. What were you two talking about when I walked in?”

  Mark looked at Hannah and caught her eye.

  They both shrugged.

  “I don’t remember. Do you?”

  “Nope. Haven’t a clue.”

  Markie wasn’t about to let them off the hook.

  “As I walked in you were saying something about wanting to make something, but that it wasn’t easy.”

  Hannah suddenly remembered the conversation and blushed.

  “Never mind, honey. It wasn’t important.”

  “Mom, you can’t fool me anymore. Like I said, I’m not a baby anymore, in case you haven’t noticed.”

  “Markie, you’ll always be my baby.”

  “And I’m smarter than you give me credit for.”

  “You are?”

  “Yes. And I know exactly what you were talking about.”

  “You do?”