SURVIVING ABE: A Climate-Fiction Novel by O'Brien J.Z

Author:O'Brien, J.Z. [O'Brien, J.Z.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: B Majec LLC
Published: 2014-02-18T05:00:00+00:00

Con, Gus & Ela - Unaweep Canyon, CO

Sometime after midnight Ela drifted into a troubled sleep in the reclined front passenger seat, awakening in fright at any noise before drifting off again. The motor she had heard last night went past them without slowing and eventually faded into the distance, but she kept listening for it and any further gunshots. Eventually, the dueling snores from her mother and "new guy" Gus had worn her down with the monotonous droning.

Ela came awake again in the predawn darkness, this time because the motor really had come back, and was loud enough to hear over the snoring. She sat up, listened, and then turned to shake her mom awake. In the dim light of the dash clock she mistakenly nudged Gus instead.

Gus awoke suddenly to a hand on his shoulder. He tried to sit up, but the blankets piled on him restricted his movements. Then Ela’s soft female voice stopped him, "Sorry, but the motor noise is back."

Hearing a female voice jogged his memory; he was in a vehicle with two women. Then the high-pitched whine of a two-cycle motor broke through to his consciousness. Gus and Ela stared at each other in the dim light, concentrating on the motor as it grew louder and then faded away. Only the sounds of Con's peaceful snoring and the morning's breeze through the trees remained.

"After you went to sleep last night we heard gunshots and then a motor starting up; it went past us toward Gateway. This morning it sounds like the same motor coming back from Gateway," Ela said.

Gus looked at his surroundings, the woman still sleeping beside him, and the one in front of him telling him the news. He carefully extricated himself from the blankets and clothing that had been piled on top of him and got to his knees. He wanted to get out of the car. He needed to breathe some fresh air and see if it would clear his thinking processes, so he could better deal with what he'd just heard.

Ela, seeing him on his knees looking around, surmised he was looking for his shoes and jacket. "Gus, Mom put your outer layer of clothing behind you near the back hatch. I think your boots are back there too. Just pull on that wire loop to open the hatch when you want out."

"Thanks," Gus said, looking at Ela and wondering how he was going to move without waking her mother.

Again Ela seemed to know his thoughts, "Just so you know, my mom is near deaf without her hearing aids. I need to wake her anyway, she’ll want to know what's happening; she thinks it's a snowmobile."

Con came awake to Ela’s gentle shaking. She looked up to see her daughter and Gus looking down at her, and then pulled the blanket over her face. "Good morning, now please go about your business and give an old woman a minute or two."

Con, her hearing aids in her pocket, heard some talking she didn’t understand exactly, but guessed they were words of morning greetings.

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