Chapter 41: Tina's Family and Friends

Setting his wife down on the couch, Mike staggered back up the stairs and over to one of the windows. He looked out. What he saw, appalled him. Black smoke billowed up into the sky all around them, while people staggered out of their shattered homes. Mike took one more look around, and limped down to the bathroom, where he pulled the first aid kit out from under the sink, and carried the kit back downstairs. Setting the box down by his wife, he looked over at his gun safe.

Going over to his safe, he entered the combination in the big safe. Pulling it open, he walked in and looked at his weapons. With a quick look into the familiar room, he picked up his nine inch .357 Smith and Wesson. Quickly loading it with six shots, he placed it in the holster and wrapped it around his waist. Then he pulled out his grandfather's M-1 carbine and quickly popped a 15 round clip into it. Grabbing a bandolier with ten more clips for the M-1, he draped it over his shoulder. Opening a drawer in the cabinet, he reached in and picked up a bunch of speed loaders for the pistol, which he dumped in his jacket's pockets. Reaching under the gun cabinet, he lifted up a six-pack of water and carried it out to his wife. Setting the water down, he scratched Sampson's head and said, "Good boy, guard Momma."

Pulling the kit open, he looked into it. He pulled out one of the vials of ammonia, crushed the capsule, and waved it under her nose. The chemical quickly went to work, Danielle's eyes started fluttering, and then she woke up with a groan.

"Wake up lover, I need your help," Mike said.

Danielle moved her hand up to her face trying to knock the smell away and then she opened her eyes with a groan and she felt a sharp pain in her head and shut them.

"Come on honey, I need your help." Mike said as he touched her cheek.

Danielle, opened her eyes, looked at Mike, and tried to focus them on him.

"Mike did you hit me?"

Mike snickered at his wife's words and then chuckled, "No honey, I think we have been attacked."

Sitting up she looked at her husband and saw him wearing a gun, which he has not done since he was in the Air Force or going hunting.

"Attacked? Attacked by whom?" she asked.

"I don't know, but the city is burning. If I didn't know better I would say we were nuked. If so, it missed the city and the overpressure got us." Mike handed her a water bottle and a small bottle of aspirin.

"Here, take these for your headache and then I need you to fix a bandage on my leg."

Taking the bottle, she popped the lid, slipped three of the aspirin into her hand, and put them in her mouth. Closing the aspirin bottle, she opened the water and took a sip.

"Mike, lie down and let me look at your leg."

Mike lay down with a groan of pain as Danielle knelt by his side. Looking at the bloody bandages, she pulled out the powdered sulfur, gauze, a sharp pair of scissors and a pressure bandage. Grabbing a footrest she said, "Mike I need to lift your leg up." Lifting the leg up, she took the scissors and cut the pant legs up the seam, and then cut the bloody bandage away. Pouring the water on the wound, she washed it as best as she could, and then grabbed the sulfur and sprinkled the wound with it and placed a bundle of gauze in it, while holding it in place she got the pressure pad, placed it against the wound, and quickly tied it tight.

"Mike we need to get you to a hospital, you could be bleeding internally, and whatever caused the wound could still be in there," she said with concern.

"It was a splinter of wood and I pulled it out. I will be fine for now. First things first, I need to check on my dad's old pickup, the van and the Regal are going to be trashed," Mike replied as he sat up.

"There could still be some pieces in the wound. And why would my brand new van be trashed," she asked.

"The EMP will have fried the electronics. But my dad's 1947 Ford should be okay. The only thing that should be blown on her is the radio. So you better get the survival radio out of the safe." Taking his rifle, he limped carefully up the stairs and worked his way out to the garage. It had some structural damage but she was still standing. Checking the pickup for any damage, the only thing he found was a dent in the side panel, from a storage locker that fell against it. Getting in he tried to start it up. After a few seconds, it roared to life.

"Good! Now I just hope the chainsaws work."

Climbing out of the pick-up, he went over to the Garage wall. He pulled down each of the gas-powered saws and fired them up. With both of them proven to be working, he set them into the back of the truck. He then went back downstairs, to where Danielle was packing his duffle bags with the weapons and supplies. Going into the safe, he grabbed the dolly and started loading the eight cases of water on it and the boxes of MRE's he slid out of the safe. Moving to the stairs, he started trying to pull the dolly up the stairs, but he was too weak to do it.

Danielle watched her husband struggle with the dolly and came over to help, "Honey you pull I will lift."

Mike lifted his head and looked at his wife, "Thanks, honey. I guess I lost more blood than I thought. Okay, on three... 1, 2, 3, mpht!"

With Mike pulling on the dolly and with Danielle lifting the bottom, they soon had the load of water up on the main floor, and out to the truck.

"Thanks, honey. I have it from here. Can you bring up the duffels, and the four boxes of MRE's?"

Before Danielle could answer, Mike was lifting the cases of water into the truck bed.

Danielle looked at her husband as he loaded the water, then turned and made her way back downstairs where she grabbed the first of the duffle bags, and brought it up. When she was done, she has all four bags and the four cases of food up there. Going back down she looked in the vault to see if she forgot anything and then realized she had. Going in she opened the smaller safe and pulled out all the important papers, including the coin collection and the envelope with the emergency money in it. Looking in she counted roughly nine thousand dollars, along with the gifts given to them by the four strangers. Gathering up her 'wedding book', she walked out and closed the safe so no children, if any should find their way down here, would get trapped in there. By the time she got back upstairs, the food and two of the bags were gone.

Taking a plastic bag from the shattered kitchen, she wrapped the papers and the 'wedding book' into the bag, and stuffed them into one of the duffels. Taking the roll of bags, she went down the hall to the bedroom and started stuffing clean clothes into them. Grabbing a small suitcase, she packed Mike's suit in it and the beautiful dress that she got the night Tina went missing. Carrying them out to the kitchen, she dropped them there and headed into Tina's room. She grabbed clothes, pictures, diary and Tina's favorite teddy bear.

Mike came in from the truck and saw the suitcase and the plastic bags, checking them he saw the clothes and gathered them up and carried them out to the truck.

Opening the door he said, "Sampson! In the truck."

Sampson looked at Mike, and then into the truck. With a powerful leap of his legs, he was up onto the seat and lying down.

Going over to the door, Mike tried to lift it but it would not budge. Walking outside he saw that the Regal had been turned sideways from the blast, and the left front bumper was pressed against the door. However, that was not what riveted his attention. Everywhere he looked, all he saw was smoke, and devastation.

"My God we got hit hard," he said as he saw smoke billowing up from several of the casinos.

Walking to the car, he reached in and released the emergency brake. Shifting the car into neutral, he pushed it out of the way.

Back inside the garage, he did not see Danielle, so he went into the house where he heard her crying in the back, limping down the hall he saw her on Tina's bed. He went over to her he sat down beside her.

"Honey, it's going to be okay," he said.

Danielle turned and buried her face into his shoulder, as she cried, she said, "Not okay, not okay."