Without Summer Chapter One (Re-Write)
See Prologue for Disclaimers and Story Warnings.
Chapter One
CHAPTER ONE:
Few people were truly prepared when the bombs finally fell. People said they would be ready, they prepped for it; there were Preppers. However, few people were truly ready for the light of a thousand suns falling into their midst. They were not ready for the sheer chaos of the noise, heat, and light that vaporized everything in its reach, melted rock and steel down to slag, and cast plant and animal to ash and shadow. They were not prepared for the mind numbing cold of the darkness that followed. Months and years of overcast skies courtesy of hundreds of tons of smoke, dirt and ash trapped in the upper atmosphere enclosing the Earth in a tomb of perpetual night. Few people were truly prepared to steal, and hoard, and fight, and kill civilization's few remaining members if it meant that they would survive another day on a dying world.
When it was over, in the aftermath of the killing and the dying, all was silent. Black rain and gray snow; the world shroud in muted colors, painted in a palette of death, the Earth in mourning of another year without summer…
- The Years Without Summer: A History by Unknown
J-Day (Judgment Day):
He lived in a small, three bedroom, two bath flat with and open floor plan over a little non-big box bookstore. The floor was all oak hardwood and the walls were a shade of purple that his wife called periwinkle. It looked nice with the light cream painted wood of the handmade cabinetry. Juan Mendoza had renovated the place himself with help from his boys, Juan Carlos and Ricardo before his wife Carla passed away from lung cancer back in 2001.
The bookstore, Novel Escapes, was all Carla's idea. Juan always said that, "Carla loved books with a passion that was only exceeded by her love for her sons." It was hard for Juan and his sons when Carla passed away. Juan Carlos, or JC as he preferred, started to get into trouble at his high school and Ricardo or "Richie" began to withdraw more and more into himself. Juan thought about closing or selling the bookstore more than once. Even though the economy was not the best, there were still buyers for the storefront site that was in an up and coming area of the city.
On J-Day, everything changed for Juan Mendoza and his family. J-Day started out like any other that Juan could remember. Business was not bustling that day but that was normal for a Tuesday afternoon. People were often tired from the rush from the day before and wanted just to take it easy, browse lazily and go about their day.
It was 2:45 in the afternoon as Juan rang up the last customer before the afternoon rush. The school suspended JC for fighting on Monday so Juan had put him to work in the store as punishment. There was no way the boy would sit around all week and play video games. The fifteen year old came from the Employees Only area of the store where he had put up back stock. He brought with him a crate full of assorted soda for the two small display refrigerators near the checkout counter.
"Just leave those for now," Juan instructed, ignoring his son's sullen silence. "I need those end-caps restocked before the evening rush."
JC started restocking the end-cap shelves at the end of the book aisles. "Why do they always take stuff from the top shelves?" He muttered loudly to himself stretching upwards on his toes.
"Because they know you are short, Juan Carlos." Juan answered, "Use the footstool. You don't have all day."
"I'm not short." JC again muttered loudly. He grabbed the footstool and was able to reach the shelf.
Juan grimaced at the expected response. "Fine you are vertically challenged. You're fun sized whatever," Juan challenged. His son hated the reminder that he was small of stature. Juan could sympathize with the thought not being tall himself, but his son couldn't be allowed to get into fights because someone said so and hurt his misplaced pride. "You are small like your father and there is no shame in that." JC fumed and ignored him, continuing to work. "You should be in school with your brother..." The sudden and unexpected loss of power interrupted Juan's lecture.
Grumbling, he headed to the fuse box at the back of the store. JC looked over at him from where he stood a book halfway to the shelf. The sound of wheels squealing and cars crashing, horns blaring and glass breaking outside on the street resounded loudly inside the store. JC put the book down and slowly jogged over to the window. Suddenly, a roaring, gusting torrent of air, dirt, bikes, poles and garbage rushes past the wide storefront window, rattling the glass and shaking the building. Juan and JC tumbled heavily to the ground. They covered their heads as the pressing gust of air shattered the windows and tossed merchandise all over the place.
Juan blindly crawled over to his son and half dragged, half lead him away from the gaping hole where, in gold leaf, the name Novel Escapes had been. They made their way along the wall using it as a directional touch point as well as the most stable part in the room. Crawling over toppled bookcases and torn books, pencils, boxes of candy and other articles of merchandise, they made their way to the Employees Only door. It was quieter in the back storeroom although the building still tried to shake itself apart. Pulling open a cupboard and unlocking a trapdoor, Juan pushed JC down a hidden staircase into a basement area.
If books were Carla's passion, then Juan's passion was secret rooms. As a child, Juan enjoyed mystery novels and shows where the building featured in the story had secret doors and rooms. He was a fan of speak-easy architecture for the same reason. Therefore, when an opportunity arose for Juan to include a secret room into the store's design, he went for it.
Juan turned on the battery operated LED light near the door. Its cold light filled the near corner of the room, which spread across the entirety of the store's foundation. There were more lights spread throughout the space. It was quieter in the basement and the walls did not shake so much there since the foundation was made of thick layers of concrete. However, Juan worried about something falling and blocking the entrance, trapping them in the room. He feared that more than the idea of the building crushing them to death.
Juan took a deep breath. He finally felt as if he was not just reacting, that he could think. He walked the length and width of the room for a moment lost in thought. First things first, he had to find Richie. As soon as it calmed down some, he would go out and find his son. Then he would find out what happened. Maybe it was an earthquake or perhaps a tornado. He had heard of such things. Second, Juan never designed the basement to be a safe room and now he saw the error in that. They would need food and water. They would need a source of heat. Who knew if the upstairs apartment was still livable after that tremor?
Soft crying drew Juan's attention away from his planning. JC sat with his arms wrapped around his knees that he had drawn up to his chest. He had tucked himself into the nearest corner and was trying to disappear into the wall. Juan went over to JC and slid down the wall so that he pressed up thigh to thigh with his son. He slung an arm around his eldest and pulled the boy to his side in comfort. He only prayed that Richie was safe and that he would be able to reunite his family once again soon.
TBC... Chapter Two