Page 38 of Broken SEAL'S Secret Baby
The penny drops. He gets it. “Meaning no wheat to harvest and loss of commodity sales.”
“No hard wheat for bread,” I affirm. “There are stockpiles, but grain isn’t like gold. You can’t keep it forever.”
“Too right,” Charles agrees. “But you can’t eat gold.”
No telling where this conversation would have gone, but there comes a pounding from the stairwell door.
“Mr. Emory! Mr. Emory, are you there?”
Charles moves to the door, unlocks, and opens it. The day clerk from the front desk stands there. “What is it, Mr. Jeffers?”
“We got a hell of a mess, sir,” the clerk says without preamble. “A Pontiac came through the plate glass of level ten, and that’s put all the elevators out.”
“Anyone hurt?” Charles asks.
The clerk shakes his head. “Those safe rooms worked just like you hoped. We got everyone in and rode out the storm. But that darned car is a 1950s collector’s item made out of real metal, and it clipped one of the main columns. The fail-safes and redundancies are keeping us upright, and the fire extinguishers came on when some of the wiring caught, but we’re as wobbly as a kid’s loose tooth.”
“We’ll have to evacuate.” Charles’ voice takes on a decisive note.
“But where, sir?” The clerk spreads his hands in a gesture of hopelessness. “Most of the high-rises are in worse shape than our building, and the shelters are full.”
In seconds, Kate can see the decisiveness that had brought home Charles’ SEAL units time after time. “We’ll caravan to my country property,” he says. “It’s not far from Olathe, so we should be able to reach it in a day. Two at the most, if the roads or bridges are out.”
“We got nearly 3,000 people in the building, what with staff, regular residents, and guests,” Mr. Jeffers frets. “Not everybody has vehicles.”
“We’ll use the shuttle buses, and commandeer anyone who doesn’t have a full car,” Charles directs.
“What about social distancing?” Now Mr. Jeffers wrings his hands. With that many people, it is a concern.
“I ordered several cases of masks,” Charles reminds him. “Did they make it?”
Mr. Jeffers nods.
“Then get everyone masked up. Make sure kids or old people aren’t put in with anyone who seems to be sick — tell off one of the shuttle buses for people who aren’t feeling well. Hop to it. If the building has gone unstable, we might not have long.”
Chapter sixteen
Charles
Anguish clutches at my gut. What I had seen out on the deck hits me like a blow. The golden mesh designed to keep pets and little girls from falling off had been ripped in several places as if the stainless steel fabric had been no stronger than nylon mesh fly netting.
Gidget’s kennel is flattened behind the remains of the raised beds. Bricks, chairs, tables, and dirt are strewn everywhere, destroying Cece’s garden and most of the careful landscaping. Thank God, Em had insisted on the safe room.
“Kate,” I direct, “pack for you and Cece while I get food and gear together. Keep in mind that we will have to carry everything since the elevators aren’t working.
Kate’s face is pale, but she is rock steady as she says to Cece, “Come on. Let’s go pack some clothes. Do you have anything special you want to take?”
“What about Gidget and Mr. Fluffy?” Cece asks.
“We’ll put Mr. Fluffy in his backpack carrier,” I intervene quickly before she can start worrying. “Gidget will need her leash and can go down on her own four paws.”
“Okay,” Cece says cheerfully. “I want my tablet. It has my books and games on it.”
“Good choice,” I approve. Then I turn my attention to organizing the rest of the building, confident that Kate can manage packing for herself and Cece.
I’m not too surprised when she turns up at the stairwell door with a small duffle for herself, a large one for Cece, a suitcase devoted to MREs from the safe room, the cat in her backpack carrier and an excited Gidget on her leash. Gidget is fitted out with an impromptu set of saddle bags made from cloth grocery bags zip-tied to a dog harness. Kate also has her laptop bag and bag of books.
I have also packed a small personal bag and have devoted most of my large duffel to bottled water and dried food stuff out of the pantry. It might have been a while since I’d been in the field, but once you learn bug-out procedures, they stay with you.
