Side Effects (Book 1): First Days Read online

  Anna began breathing rapidly her whole body beginning to shake. Knowing the signs of hyperventilation Emily rummaged around in the glovebox looking for a paper bag, after her mom had died she used to have panic attacks and sometimes breathing into a bag was the only thing that could calm her down. She hadn’t had an attack in years, but just knowing that she had a bag if she needed it made her feel like she had control of the situation. She needed it now more than ever.

  Finding the bag, she took off her seatbelt and climbed into the back. She snapped it open and put it to Anna's mouth while slowly rubbing circles on her back just like Nana Kate used to do for her. “You need to take a nice slow breath Anna.” The girl looked like she would pass out if she didn’t get control over the situation soon. She took a big breath in and out and some of the color started to leave her face. Good, at this point she could rival the ripest tomato.

  Her breathing slowed and the shaking subsided a bit before the tears started to come, running in silent streams down her cheeks. Emily pulled her over and just held her. What else could she do? She could only imagine how Anna was feeling right now, to lose someone that you loved so fully in such a terrible way right in front of you was something that Emily hoped she wouldn’t have to become accustomed to.

  Emily may not have talked to Anna much, but she had always been a very observant person and the love that Anna and Seth shared was obviously very strong and passionate. After a few minutes of just sitting together Anna stiffened and pulled herself away. She took a deep breath in and looked at Emily, “So can you tell me where we’re going? Because I really need to know.” Her shaking hadn’t fully stopped but Emily could tell she was trying to contain it, every now and again she would have a full body shudder.

  “Well” Emily began, “We’re going to my family’s cabin near Packwood Lake, it’s about a nine-mile hike from the nearest service road. If we’re lucky and the drive continues like it’s going, we could reach the cabin by night fall. I’ve found it’s usually better to plan for the worst and hope for the best though.”

  “Who’s going to be there when we get to this cabin?” Anna asked.

  “My dad, his name is Mitch, and my little brother Micah, he’s 13, and also Drew’s Nana Kate should be there. Most likely, my uncle Mike too. He’s not really my uncle. He’s my dad’s best friend, they were in the Navy together.”

  “Wow.” Anna said. “Must be nice to feel so confident that this will all work out that way.”

  “I believe in my dad, if anyone can get a 13-year-old boy and a 76-year-old woman to safety it would be him and Uncle Mike.”

  “Drew, could you turn on the radio for me? I would like to hear what’s going on out there.” Emily asked.

  Drew locked eyes with her in the rearview and gave a nod, he turned the radio on and the station it was set to was just static, so he pushed the seek button and the next station it landed on was dead air. He hesitated for a moment before pushing it again, this time it was a station out of Seattle and one of the DJ’s that Emily always liked to listen to came on the air.

  “So, if you're just tuning in, I’ll repeat DO NOT try to come through the city, there have been reports of attacks from all over, and I’ve seen the tanks rolling by the windows, they must have called in the boys from Fort Lewis to try to contain this. People have gone mad! It’s pure madness! Trust no one! I repeat, trust no one! I’ll stay on the air as long as I can folks, we might as well have some tunes while the world ends around us.”

  The song started to play and Emily wasn’t surprised at all the hear R.E.M’s familiar lyrics start in “it’s the end of the world as we know it, it’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.” she couldn’t help herself, she reached to the front, cranked the volume and started singing along, she thought, why not? When the song was over and was followed by The Stone Temple Pilots with “Dead and Bloated” Emily decided she had had enough, reaching to the front she turned the radio back off. She cringed at the vivid picture of their new reality that the songs words painted in her head.

  She thought now was as good a time as any to see what her dad had packed in her bag, she started with the front pocket and found a small flashlight along with an extra set of batteries, two bic lighters, a small knife like the one she used to gut fish, a travel size fishing gear pack, four hand warmers, a pair of gloves, a compass, and about 30 yards of thin rope. Of these things, she put a lighter and the compass into her jeans pocket and the small knife she tucked into one of her socks, just in case.

  She moved on to the main pocket where she found a water purifying kit, a collapsible pot, two full water bottles, eight protein bars, twelve fruit leathers, two packs of peanuts, and a big bag of jerky, under this there was a pair of socks and underwear, a small roll blanket, a small tarp, a telescopic fishing rod, a ski cap, a travel toothbrush with a small tube of toothpaste (her dad knew that she could be as dirty as you could get and it wouldn’t bother her as long as her teeth were clean) and at the very bottom of the bag there were three snickers bars, a letter from her Dad and a picture of her whole family the very last time they were all together. She took a shaky breath and opened the letter.

  Hey Kid,

  I’m very sorry that you are reading this letter, I know that if you have opened your bag then something truly terrible has taken place. It was always my hope as a father that I could have you prepared for anything that could possibly come your way but that you would never really need to use any of it. That appears to not be the case.

  Through this journey, I want you to remember how very brave you are, there isn’t a day that has gone by in your life when I wasn’t amazed by you. You know that we will all meet again at the cabin, until then know how much I love you. Oh, and Em, take good care of Drew. Nana Kate will have both our hides if anything happens to her boy. I know the two of you will be in this together, draw strength from him when you need it.

  See you soon,

  Dad

  Behind the letter there was a hand drawn map of the area surrounding the cabin. Her dad had marked alternate routes leading to it, and had shown where all of his hide-a-holes were, these were places around the property where he had dug into the ground and built a false ground on top, a little rugged, but a good way to hide if the need should arise. When she was young her dad would take her and the boys out here to stay weekends and they always hiked in a different way, he wanted to be certain they would know where to find it from any direction.

  When her parents first bought the property, you could reach it by car, but after her dad had gotten everything that he needed moved in he planted trees over the driveway, he wanted the cabin to essentially disappear into its surroundings. It was made primarily out of old forest timber, the logs were enormous, making the house feel massive, and really it was.

  There were seven bedrooms’ total, and a full basement that is used to store everything they could possibly need to survive the end of the world. One of the bedrooms was an infirmary which they had stocked with all sorts of medical supplies and books.

  The house was equipped with solar panels and backup generators, just in case. Her dad's room had a very impressive cache of weapons. When she thought of all of these things it made her feel much more relaxed about their current situation. They just had to get there and she was confident that no matter what came their way they would make it. She would accept nothing less.

  Anna looked over at Emily and in a shaky voice asked “have you ever lost anyone that you loved?”

  She hated this question, although the pain of losing her mother wasn’t fresh, it would always be just as sharp. A girl was supposed to grow up having a mom to talk to and ask questions. She loved her dad more than anything, but she would have given anything to have her mom back the day she got her first period or when James Marshal from down the street broke her heart. These were the types of things that her dad just plainly wasn’t good at handling. He had given her so much and taught her so many things though, and she had made
it through those tough times with him by her side. She also had Nana Kate to talk to about things.

  “My mom died when I was a kid.” She looked up and Drew's eyes met hers in the rearview mirror, she knew that as hard as it was for her to think about, it was twice as hard for Drew. But he seemed to take a strange comfort from the fact that his parents were together when the accident happened, like at least they didn’t lose each other.

  “How do you and Drew know each other?” Anna asked.

  “We’ve always known each other.” Emily replied, “There has never not been a Drew in my life.” She added with a smile.

  “I know what you mean, that’s the way it was with Seth.” Anna said while taking off her jacket and balling it up into a makeshift pillow, she then leaned against the door. “If you don’t mind I think I will try to take a nap.”

  “That sounds like a good idea, I’ll go back up front and let you rest.” Emily climbed back over the seat and got settled back in next to Drew, she had brought two of the protein bars with her and offered one to him.

  “I think we’re pretty set gear wise. I just looked through my bag, of course my dad was very thorough, and I’m sure yours has all of the same things. Except I bet you’ll have Reese’s peanut butter cups instead of the Snickers. I also have an emergency kit in the back.” Emily said as an afterthought.

  The traffic was starting to get more congested even though they were out on the back roads, they had made it out of the city and were nearing the town of Orting, with a whopping population of just under 7,000. Both times that Emily and Drew had made this trip since they started college they had stopped at Route 66 Pizza for dinner on their way to the cabin. The place was incredible, so good. Although even the worst pizza was still pretty good in Emily's book.

  Emily looked over at Drew and asked “What do you think is delaying the traffic?”

  “It could just be the amount of people out on the roads, but my bet is that something has happened up ahead, I’ve seen a lot of military vehicles out on the roads since we left the school, it could be that they have set up some kind of checkpoint.” Drew looked pretty worried. “Listen Emily, the last thing that we want is to be rounded up like a bunch of cattle because that’s what they decided is best for the good of the people.”

  “Well” Emily replied, “we’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen then. I think you should take the next left, it will take us deeper into the woods. You know there’s that old service road about ten miles down, if we get on that it’ll eventually lead us home.”

  Drew let out a breath “Thanks for always being so level headed Em, I was starting to get a little freaked out.”

  When they turned left at the next road it looked nearly deserted except a few cars that were heading towards the road that they had just come off of. They had gotten about a mile down the road when they heard the unmistakable sound of a shotgun blast. “Uh oh, looks like we made the right choice by getting away from the masses.” Drew joked.

  Just then they heard a rata tat tat that Emily had never heard in person before but was certain could only be a machine gun. “Wow I wonder what’s happening.”

  “Somethings are better left unknown.” Anna said from the backseat.

  “I don’t think that what you just did even qualifies as a nap.” Emily said glancing back at her, she had one of the books from her bag grasped tightly in her arms. “I thought you were going to try to get some rest? Time to read instead?”

  “I tried to nap but the day just kept replaying in my head, I don’t think I’ll be resting anytime soon. Sometimes just holding a good book calms me down. This one I know by heart.” she replied glancing at the blue cover of the book she held in her arms. “I thought maybe I could draw a little strength from Tate.” she added.

  “Who’s Tate?” Emily asked confused.

  “Someone you don’t know.” Anna replied nodding toward the book again.

  “Whatever.” Emily said turning back to the front, when she glanced at Drew he gave her a wink. She was sure he didn’t understand either.

  They made it to the service road that Emily had remembered, and had to slow considerably, the road had so many ruts in it they couldn’t chance going above fifteen miles per hour. This was going to be an incredibly long trip. After about fifteen minutes of nothing but silence Emily let out a sigh. Sitting still was hard for her, she was a person of motion, action, constant movement.

  Just as they were about to go around yet another turn in the road Emily thought she saw a car approaching from behind. “Hey Drew, next spot you see where you think it would be safe to pull off for a bit I think we should, it looks like we have company coming up behind us.”

  “Sure, thing Em.”

  When they came to a small clearing off the side of the road Drew pulled over and turned off the engine. “It’s probably as good a time as any to take a bathroom break if you need to ladies, I for one have had to go since we left Tacoma.”

  Emily decided that she would like to get out and stretch her legs a bit while they waited for the car that had been behind them to pass. “Are you getting out?” She asked Anna.

  “No, I think I’ll just stay here if that’s okay with you.” Anna answered.

  “Of course.” Emily took her large knife with her as she stepped out of the Jeep. She had walked back into the tree cover when she heard a car engine approaching, it sounded as if it was going faster than it should be on this road, she would feel better with the car ahead of them rather than behind. Thinking about it she realized that more times than not it was when people panicked that chaos ensued.

  3

  Emily decided on her way back to the Jeep that it was time to drive, as much as she loved Drew it was killing her to not be behind the wheel. Sometimes it felt as though her Jeep spoke to her. She always knew exactly what it needed, and Drew sometimes lacked the finesse that it took to get the optimal performance out of her baby.

  She had just reached the driver’s side door when she heard a rustle in the trees behind her, she had a tight grip on the knife in her hand and was prepared to use it if need be.

  “Relax Em, it’s just me.” Drew said as he headed for the passenger door, “I take it this is my seat now.”

  As they got settled back in Emily took a moment to truly look at Drew, and there it was that flutter in her belly that had happened for the first time two years ago, when she was having a rough day in drills with her dad.

  Sometimes it was hard to have to give up every Saturday running through the backwoods hiding from imaginary enemies, being cold and hungry and tired but still having to try harder and harder “Don’t give up, don’t let the enemy defeat you, show no weakness.” Her dad would say.

  On this particular day two years ago, she had tripped over a branch when she was running and Drew who had been running beside her stopped to help her up. After she was standing again he had reached over and tucked a stray hair behind her ear and when he did her stomach did that little flop and her whole world turned upside down. She only let herself think about it every now and again, truly she didn’t know what to do about it.

  They may as well be family as close as they are, they spent every weekend together for years, half the time when they were kids they shared a bed, the whole thing was preposterous and yet she could do nothing to stop it.

  “Hey Emily, earth to Emily are you with us?” Anna asked “because if you are I think it would be a good idea to get moving again, I don’t know about the two of you, but all of these sounds are really starting to freak me out, I think I'll feel better when we get to this little fortress of yours.” Emily started the car and pulled back onto the roadway.

  “Do you remember when we used to come out here for camping drills when we were kids Drew? I think all of those old cabins are only about fifteen miles from here.”

  “Of course, I remember that Em, we did it what like twice a summer until a few years ago, when your dad decided that we were optimally trained to survive in
the woods with just ourselves to rely on. I can close my eyes and see the whole layout of the land up here.”

  “Wow, it sounds like childhood was a real blast for you guys, what were you in some kind of cult or something?” Emily could hear a bit of jealousy in Anna’s voice. She decided it was time to find out where their passenger came from, she didn’t like the fact that she knew so little about the girl.

  “No, we were raised by a man who knew what loss felt like and wanted to be sure he didn’t have to feel it again. Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself Anna, where did you grow up?”

  “Well, mainly in the Portland area, but we traveled a lot, my dad is an environmental scientist, his research and studies took us all over the world. I was homeschooled by my mother. Right now, they’re in Washington DC. My dad said that he had information that was going to change the world, and he was hoping it would be enough to shut down Sonmanto once and for all, you know they have been slowly poisoning our population for years.” Anna shook her head, “that’s why I eat the way I do; only locally grown organic food, I don’t want to become like the masses.”

  Emily exchanged a glance with Drew. She had heard of the big corporation and knew that they had their hands in just about everything that had to do with the nation’s food supply.