Read Online Ground Zero by Rain Stickland - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Rain Stickland
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were expecting things to go south.”
“What do you mean? Why didn’t you warn people?” Lisa sounded shocked to the core, as only a young person can.
“I did, actually. I warned people constantly. It’s just human nature to ignore things that require action. I was told by a guy I used to work for, who was a former Ontario Hydro executive, that the power outages would get worse, and that eventually the grid would come down. My friends called me paranoid for wanting to set up a place that was off the grid, but I didn’t care. I knew it needed to be done if my daughter and I were going to survive. When the shit hit the fan, a few people needed a place to go, so they sort of straggled in after-the-fact. And then there were the animals.”
“Animals? What animals?”
“She means the fifty ferrets, dozens of goats, and even more dozens of chickens,” Neil said with a bit of a laugh. “And a Doberman, along with some cats and other dogs that she rescued while I was recovering from being shot.” At the last bit he glared at Mac. That had been a bit of a sore point between them for a while.
“You don’t need to bombard her with everything just yet, thank you very much,” Mac said crisply.
“Ferrets? You have ferrets here? Wait a minute. Did he just say fifty ferrets? He was kidding, right?” Lisa sounded like she was choking.
“Fifty-two if you count the two I already had, though they don’t mix with the ones from the shelters.” Mackenzie waited to see if Lisa would call them rodents, but she just seemed really excited.
“I always wanted a ferret, but they didn’t have any around here. When I went to Nipissing University up in North Bay I couldn’t have pets, and then I got pregnant with Jake. My life was a bit too complicated at the time to have pets. I already had my BA, but I was still trying to get my teaching certificate. I was taking some of the courses through their distance learning program, and was just about to start my practical when the world sort of went to hell. Oh wow,” she finished, when she saw the open area before her.
Gilles stepped up to the truck when Neil rolled to a stop at the house. Mac’s heart started pounding.
“Oh, God. Something’s wrong. Let me out!”
It couldn’t have been more than five seconds before Mac was standing in front of Gilles, but it felt like a millennium.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nobody’s dead or hurt, Mac. Relax. But we’ve got a situation to deal with,” Gilles said. He shoved his hands in his pockets, as though unsure how much to tell her.
“Gilles, spit it out. What the fuck is going on?”
“Well, you’re probably going to want to have a chat with your kid, because she could have gotten herself into some serious trouble. She’s fine, but she went off on her own to check it out when a sensor lit up. She played it pretty smart after she ran into the person who tripped the sensor, but she also got lucky. The worst part of it is, she ran into Brian Newman. Gerry’s father.” Gilles left it at that, giving her a few minutes to sift through the situation in her mind. As it was, Mackenzie was reeling.
“Honey, we need to get Lisa and Jake settled a bit, so let’s go into the house to finish this conversation. For that matter, we can all get something to eat while Gilles fills us in on the details.”
Mackenzie nodded abruptly. Instinctively she wanted all the answers right that second, but she knew Neil was right. If Cameron was okay, she didn’t need to go crazy. At least not yet.
“Maybe we should ask Cameron to join us in the kitchen,” Mac said, as they walked into the house.
“You’ll have to radio over to the cabin then. Billy came back from his archery practice saying she was there. Guess she wanted to hang out with her friends,” Gilles said, raising one shoulder in a half-shrug.
“Is she upset then?”
“Not that I could tell, but I don’t really know her that well. She hasn’t been particularly
“What do you mean? Why didn’t you warn people?” Lisa sounded shocked to the core, as only a young person can.
“I did, actually. I warned people constantly. It’s just human nature to ignore things that require action. I was told by a guy I used to work for, who was a former Ontario Hydro executive, that the power outages would get worse, and that eventually the grid would come down. My friends called me paranoid for wanting to set up a place that was off the grid, but I didn’t care. I knew it needed to be done if my daughter and I were going to survive. When the shit hit the fan, a few people needed a place to go, so they sort of straggled in after-the-fact. And then there were the animals.”
“Animals? What animals?”
“She means the fifty ferrets, dozens of goats, and even more dozens of chickens,” Neil said with a bit of a laugh. “And a Doberman, along with some cats and other dogs that she rescued while I was recovering from being shot.” At the last bit he glared at Mac. That had been a bit of a sore point between them for a while.
“You don’t need to bombard her with everything just yet, thank you very much,” Mac said crisply.
“Ferrets? You have ferrets here? Wait a minute. Did he just say fifty ferrets? He was kidding, right?” Lisa sounded like she was choking.
“Fifty-two if you count the two I already had, though they don’t mix with the ones from the shelters.” Mackenzie waited to see if Lisa would call them rodents, but she just seemed really excited.
“I always wanted a ferret, but they didn’t have any around here. When I went to Nipissing University up in North Bay I couldn’t have pets, and then I got pregnant with Jake. My life was a bit too complicated at the time to have pets. I already had my BA, but I was still trying to get my teaching certificate. I was taking some of the courses through their distance learning program, and was just about to start my practical when the world sort of went to hell. Oh wow,” she finished, when she saw the open area before her.
Gilles stepped up to the truck when Neil rolled to a stop at the house. Mac’s heart started pounding.
“Oh, God. Something’s wrong. Let me out!”
It couldn’t have been more than five seconds before Mac was standing in front of Gilles, but it felt like a millennium.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nobody’s dead or hurt, Mac. Relax. But we’ve got a situation to deal with,” Gilles said. He shoved his hands in his pockets, as though unsure how much to tell her.
“Gilles, spit it out. What the fuck is going on?”
“Well, you’re probably going to want to have a chat with your kid, because she could have gotten herself into some serious trouble. She’s fine, but she went off on her own to check it out when a sensor lit up. She played it pretty smart after she ran into the person who tripped the sensor, but she also got lucky. The worst part of it is, she ran into Brian Newman. Gerry’s father.” Gilles left it at that, giving her a few minutes to sift through the situation in her mind. As it was, Mackenzie was reeling.
“Honey, we need to get Lisa and Jake settled a bit, so let’s go into the house to finish this conversation. For that matter, we can all get something to eat while Gilles fills us in on the details.”
Mackenzie nodded abruptly. Instinctively she wanted all the answers right that second, but she knew Neil was right. If Cameron was okay, she didn’t need to go crazy. At least not yet.
“Maybe we should ask Cameron to join us in the kitchen,” Mac said, as they walked into the house.
“You’ll have to radio over to the cabin then. Billy came back from his archery practice saying she was there. Guess she wanted to hang out with her friends,” Gilles said, raising one shoulder in a half-shrug.
“Is she upset then?”
“Not that I could tell, but I don’t really know her that well. She hasn’t been particularly
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