New Madrid Earthquake by Bobby Akart

Author:Bobby Akart [Akart, Bobby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-11-12T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Five

Saturday, December 22

Atwood Residence

Cordova, Tennessee

Reality hit the three of them as they realized Jill had left her handbag, with her wallet and credit cards, in the truck. Tate had lost his mom’s cell phone in the process of climbing out of the Halloran. His own phone had disappeared somewhere between the balcony falling over the top of him and dodging the Cadillac that had come crashing through the ceiling. Like so many families, they didn’t have a telephone landline. Communications were conducted by cell phone, Zoom video calls, or social media messaging services via the internet. They’d have no way to get in touch with Jack and Tony, or Beth.

As expected, the power was shut off. They had no electricity, running water, or heat other than their wood-burning fireplace in the family room. Despite the sunny day, their home was shaded by large oak trees that made it cold inside.

Tate’s first job was to get a fire going and to relocate their stack of firewood into the garage to keep it dry. Emily was tasked with picking up all the family heirlooms, photo frames, and other tchotchkes that had fallen or broken during the quake. Jill set about cooking all the perishable foods on their propane grill.

By her estimation, the power had been out sixteen hours. Their side-by-side refrigerator-freezer in the kitchen had kept the food cold enough to prevent spoilage. However, with each passing hour, the temperature would rise, putting the perishables at risk of spoiling. She started with the kitchen refrigerator and saved the deep freeze in the garage for later.

The night before, she’d purchased deli meats and cheeses for everyone to snack on as they arrived at the house. She spread it out on the counter and encouraged the kids to grab what they wanted, as that would be their food for the day. Then, like her neighbors, Jill fired up the propane gas grill on their back deck. She cooked the chicken and burger meat from the refrigerator and saved it in Tupperware containers.

“Mom, we only lost one ornament off the Shiny Brite tree,” announced Emily as she carefully brought the remains of the broken glass ornament into the kitchen for her mother to see. “A lot fell off, but they rolled around in the presents and fake snow.”

Jill led her daughter to the garbage can. “Just one ornament isn’t too bad. Heck, I’ve broken more than that over the years by accident.” She turned her head as Tate emerged from the garage.

“Hey, Mom. It’s gonna get cold at night. Should we bring our mattresses into the family room? We can move the sofa back against the wall, and the other chairs can be pushed into the living room. That way we can sleep on the floor by the fire.”

“Great idea,” said Jill.

“A slumber party,” Emily added. “But what about Aunt Beth and Uncle Tony?”

“We’ll let them have our bedroom,” Jill replied. “Before it’s over, the family room may be covered with mattresses for us and Anthony.

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