Edge of Fear: An EMP Post-Apocalyptic Survival Prepper Series (American Fallout Book 3) Alex Gunwick (free reads .txt) 📖

“This is the thing I was talking about. It’s not part of the water purifier is it? I thought maybe it was a refrigerator, but then I was like, ‘why would it be in a room full of computers,’ you know? To keep them cold?”

His dad laughed and shook his head.

Edwin came walked toward the huge metal rectangle. He clapped Kyle on his shoulder. “That, my boy, is a computer. A really old one. Older than your parents, even.”

“Whoa.” Kyle looked up at the machine, newly amazed.

“I don’t imagine it’s of much use anymore, though.” Edwin inspected it, fiddling with knobs and dials before looking around at the back.

“It’s not as useful as a water purifier would be.” His dad frowned for a moment before shrugging. “Maybe it’s behind one of the other locked doors. What do you say, son? Feel like putting your new skills to the test again?”

Kyle nodded and grinned. He was actually having fun for the first time since the death of his sister. He still missed her, and he wanted the COB to pay for what they did, but things were finally starting to look up. He couldn’t wait to see what they would find behind the next locked door.

Luke’s heart swelled with pride as he watched his son moving around the computer room. He wasn’t sure how useful the contents of the room would actually be, but it was good to see his son happy again. Kyle had been so full of anger since Sierra died. He’d fixated on punishing the Children of the Bomb almost to the point of obsession.

It pained him to see his young son so consumed with thoughts of violence and revenge. At that age, Luke’s only concern had been catching more frogs at the creek than Billy Cunham. Then again, those were simpler times.

Luke tried to hide his disappointment when Kyle led him into the room filled with dusty old computers. He’d been hoping to find the water purification system. Their water supply was adequate for now, but it would become their biggest problem before long.

Once they went through the bunker’s stores, the filters they had would only last so long. They couldn’t use iodine tablets for any significant amount of time without incurring negative health effects. If they had to boil all of their water, they would accelerate the rate at which they burned through their fuel stores.

Luke put his arm around Liz’s shoulders and pulled her close to him. They watched their son across the room.

Kyle nodded as Edwin showed him around the room. The older man pointed out different components. He explained antiquated methods of computer operation to Kyle, who seemed fascinated. At least his son’s mood seemed much better now.

“It’s good to see him focused on something non-cult related for a change,” Luke whispered in his wife’s ear.

“At least something nice happened today. I still can’t believe those numbers. Are you absolutely sure you heard the radio report correctly?”

Luke nodded gravely. “I could hardly believe it myself, but I’m sure.”

She shook her head before turning back to watch Kyle and Edwin. They were messing around with several wires on the back of the big console in the center of the room.

“What should we tell him?” she asked in a low tone.

“For now, nothing.” He squeezed his wife’s shoulder, as much to reassure himself as to comfort her. “He’s having a good day. I don’t want to ruin it.”

“Would he even understand? I mean, the scale of it. It’s hard for me to fathom. Maybe he won’t understand the true impact of what those numbers mean,” Liz said.

“I feel the same way. It’s tough to imagine trying to explain it to him. But didn’t he learn about the Holocaust in school last year?”

“Yeah, they had a short unit on it. But I don’t think they go into much detail at that age. I was surprised they covered it at all in his grade, but school isn’t how it used to be. Kids are growing up much faster than when we were young.”

Luke watched his only son sadly. He imagined future generations reading about the detonation of the bombs over Manhattan, LA, and San Francisco in their history books, just as he had read about the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in his.

He wondered what the books would have to say about the United States’ retaliation against Russia. As far as he knew, that part of history hadn’t happened yet, but it seemed inevitable at this point. The government message wouldn’t have hinted at retaliation unless they’d already set their plan into motion.

Edwin had made a good point about one thing. The announcement of an impending retaliation against Russia was unusual. Why announce it? Why not just carry it out? Why wait? And why hadn’t NORAD protected the US from the attack?

Every time they listened to the radio, there was a different report. They’d started giving out conflicting information. Granted, they were dealing with an unprecedented situation, but something wasn’t right.

He shook his head.

“What?” Liz asked.

“Nothing.”

What the hell did he know? What would normal look like in the middle of a nuclear war? Did anyone even know what was really going on?

He chuckled mirthlessly.

Edwin had gotten into his head with his conspiracy-theory nonsense. The guy’s theories about the US being behind the attack couldn’t possibly be true. However, Luke was standing in the control room in a secret military fallout bunker, so who knew? Maybe there was some truth to Edwin’s theories. Luke just wished they could get multiple sources of news. They’d tried to get Edwin’s HAM radio from their cabin, but looters had gotten to it first. The bastards hadn’t even taken it. They’d just destroyed it. It was a damn shame.

“You okay, babe?” Liz’s brow furrowed.

“Fine. I’m just thinking about something Edwin said earlier, but it’s not important. Should we go learn about this ancient computer stuff?” He nodded toward Kyle and Edwin. They were lying on the ground, examining the underside