The First Hours
Apocalypse;
The First Hours
Book One
By
Christine Conaway
Text Copyright © 2019 Christine Conaway
All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction, any resemblance to living people, places, events or incidents is purely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the author.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Prologue
Tom stared at the television, transfixed by every word. He’d always thought the demise of America would be perpetrated by Russia, who purchased twenty percent of U.S. Uranium for who knows what purpose. According to some news sources, there was some speculation it had gone to Iran. Tom thought with the additional sanctions placed on Iran, they would be the culprits.
Then, with the president’s demand that no state shall purchase oil from the middle eastern country as long as they continued to press forward with their enrichment of uranium program, Tehran vowed to not be held hostage by this new development.
The world held its breath, waiting to see if it was nothing more than a blatant attempt to retaliate and hold the world hostage.
Then there was the breakdown of peace talks between North Korea and the United States, Korea had also reinstated testing of long-distance projectiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to U.S. soil. He couldn’t decide which country would take action against them, but his gut feeling was that one of them would. It was only a matter of when.
Tom wondered if Vegas was giving odds on which country would be the ONE. He shook his head and remotely turned the television off. He’d had enough depressing news for the day.
With an ominous feeling setting heavy on his shoulders, Tom had no options but to wait and see how it played out.
He thought that maybe he would contact an old friend who’d recently retired from the military. Jeff had a way of always knowing what was going on and where the hotspots were, but it would have to wait for morning. While it was only ten o’clock here, it was three hours later in Maryland. He, Jeff and Eric always talked about the what-if situation, but over the years they had all grown lax with keeping in touch. The last time Tom had spoken to Jeff was to plan a hunting trip that had fallen apart at the last minute with Jeff being sent to Afghanistan. Now, with Jeff being retired, Tom hoped there would be time for more hunting, camping and fishing in their future. The one time they had managed to get together, Jeff had scored a trophy rack while Tom and Eric had come away empty-handed. Jeff hadn’t let them forget it either.
With the idea to call Jeff the next day, he thought he should give Eric a jingle also and invite him and Renee over for a weekend. He wanted to show him his new purchase and get his opinion. Maybe, he’d take the first step and invite Carrie over too. The guys had been on him for years to get a life and maybe the time was right. With Teagan getting ready to go off to college, the house would be empty, and maybe he could begin taking life easy. Someone to share the lonely evenings would certainly be a plus.
Chapter One
Teagan stood on the side of the road, looking around. In front of them, the tree-lined road curved and she couldn’t see past the bend. The pavement behind them was straight for a short distance, and then it too rounded out of sight. The shoulder was barely big enough to support half the car, the other half sat on the pavement.
“What are we going to do?” Deena stood glaring up at the raised car hood as if it were the culprit. She turned her gaze to Teagan, who raised her hands in defense. There was no steam coming from the motor; Teagan had already checked under it. The pavement was devoid of leaking fluids. It was easy to see, there was nothing to prevent the car from starting and Deena driving it, except it wouldn’t even turn over.
They’d already lost precious hours because of Deena having to retake her stupid test. With this delay, they would be lucky to make it before the bonfire on the beach was extinguished for the night.
“I told you we should have taken my car. It may be ugly, but at least it runs, and we could have pushed it to start it.” Teagan whipped her head swinging her red hair away from her face. The humidity was ruining the work she’d put into straightening it. She could feel the strands sucking into themselves and coiling into the frizzy mess her best friend, Nancy Wilson called curls.
She sighed and wondered what her father was doing today, and if he had found out she was gone yet. Nancy wouldn’t volunteer her whereabouts and was covering for Teagan if he did ask. Teagan knew the anger she’d held in check regarding her schooling options would come bubbling out if she spoke to him, so she hadn’t told him she was going on the senior trip. As far as she was concerned, his meddling had risen to new levels when he’d insisted on her going to a local school…little did he know. Somehow, once the trip was over and she was back home, she was going to sit him down and confess along with telling him there were no other options. She could be a stubborn as him when it came to decisions concerning her future.
Tomorrow was supposed to be her special day, and Teagan thought she should get to celebrate her 18th birthday how she saw fit, but oh no, he wanted her to come home and do the same thing they did every year as far back as she could remember. He wanted her to go with him to pay homage to a woman she never knew and would never have the chance to know. Teagan knew the details surrounding the horrible crash and her subsequent roadside birth. At one time, it had sounded fascinating and had memorized every detail, but it was time to move past.
Teagan felt she had accomplished every goal her father set in front of her. Every, “She would have been so proud of you,” had spurred Teagan on. Teagan had thrown every minute into making a woman she hadn’t met proud of her. She was going to finish high school with a 4.0 would be valedictorian at 17, acceptance into Oregon State at 18.
What her father didn’t know was she’d been granted a scholarship to study veterinary medicine at Carlson College. This was Teagan’s dream come true. It didn’t matter that she had never been allowed or learned to ride one, she was in love with horses.
Teagan was a realist. She knew it was silly to study something as intently as she did without the firsthand knowledge, but she was going for the brass ring and do it anyhow. During the past summer, she’d volunteered with their local veterinarian and the first time she’d laid her hand on the shoulder of an older mare in distress, Teagan knew she was making the right choice. She had found her calling. Her mother would have been proud of her because Teagan had every intention of being the best damn veterinarian around and her first riding lesson was waiting for her in Newport.
Teagan shivered as a cloud drifted across the sun, eliminating the warming rays and wondered if it wasn’t a warning. The disappointment on her father’s face that morning, almost had Teagan grabbing her hurtful words back. She could have stifled them as she’d done in the past, but Teagan was beyond living her father’s plans for her. She was ready to move on with her life, and if it meant transferring to UC Davis to fulfill her dreams, she was going to do just that. Maybe some distance would help her father see that she was her own person with ideas and visions of her own. She couldn’t live by his ideals any longer.
The clouds had been building from the west since leaving school, but the weatherman had promised a sunny warm weekend for the coastal area. Two hours of driving could have made a considerable difference in the weather. This was Oregon, the home of indeterminate weather. Teagan knew if you waited for the forecast to be perfect, you would spend your whole life waiting.
This trip was beginning to look like a disaster. She and Deena had already started the long weekend off on the wrong foot with their late departure, and now, they were losing more precious time arguing.
Deena wasn’t someone Teagan would have volunteered to spend time with under normal circumstances, but she’d needed someone to share expenses with. The tourist resort their senior class had selected for their senior weekend was anything but cheap. Teagan had reserved her room with a credit card she’d pilfered from her Dad’s wallet but hadn’t planned on actually using it to pay for her room. It was bad enough she’d used it to make the reservation and if he found out…
She had teamed up with Deena, only because Deena had waited too long to get a room and they were booked up. When her best friend Nancy had to cancel at the last minute, Teagan had resignedly agreed to share with Deena. It wasn’t the most desirable situation, but Teagan would put up with Godzilla for a roommate, just to be able to go.
Deena stood looking down the highway in the direction they’d come from, “How come no one has passed us? Doesn’t that seem weird to you? The guys should have caught up to us by now.”
Startled by Deena’s words, she frowned, “what guys and why do we care if they catch us or not?”
Deena pushed her bottom lip out in a pout and shrugged, “Well, back at the gas station, I sort of told Trevor we’d wait for them.”
“Are you kidding me? Trevor Cade? Why on earth would you do that?” Trevor had come sniffing around Teagan’s locker on more than one occasion, and she had ignored his attempts at conversation. Nancy had reminded her more than once that he had a goal that included Teagan and every other pretty girl in their senior class. He had boasted loudly and often to “do” every girl in school. She had no idea if he would reach such a lofty goal, but it wasn’t going to include her.
Deena leaned over to scrutinize herself in the side mirror and rolled her gloss covered lips together. She rubbed the corner of her mouth with one perfectly manicured finger as she stood up, “In case you haven’t noticed, he’s pretty hot! I think he’s interested in me and I’m sure interested in him.”
Teagan stared at Deena. The petite blonde had been Teagan’s nemesis throughout high school but had hoped to leave her feelings aside for this one adventure. The girl came from old money and treated herself like a princess. Perfectly dyed platinum blonde hair cut in the latest shaggy bob that had probably cost more than Teagan spent in a year on pampering herself. Teagan had refused to give in to the idea that makeup could improve her own looks when her first attempt to apply it had made her look like a clown. Somehow, Deena looked as if she’d just stepped out of a fashion magazine, right down to her manicured toes, peeking out from sandals that could barely fit in the category of shoes.
“He’s nothing more than a spoiled rich kid,” Teagan said with disgust. She pointed down at Deena’s feet, “I sure hope you have better shoes than those to walk in.”
“I’m not walking anywhere. I’m calling a tow truck.” Deena pulled her smartphone from her back pocket. She swiped the screen and frowned. She swiped her finger across it a second time, “It was fully charged when I left this morning.” She stuck her hand out, “Let me use yours. I’ll call my dad, and he can send a tow.”
Teagan reached in through the open window and found her purse. Her fingers latched on to her phone, and without looking, she passed it to Deena. She knew it was charged up because she never used it except for emergency calls, and she always plugged it in before she went to sleep.
Deena looked at it intently, her mouth screwed sideways, her expression puzzled. She turned it over in her hand, “what the heck. Is this one of the new ones? How do you work this?” She turned it over several more times.
Teagan took it back, opened it, and held it out for Deena. “You probably haven’t seen one of these before. It’s a flip phone.”
“Oh, cool!” She held her finger over the keypad, waved it around a few seconds and frowned. Her shoulders sagged, “I can’t call him.”
“Why not? You just said he was home, didn’t you?” Teagan had heard from someone that Deena’s father was some prominent mucky-muck executive with a software company. Someone said he traveled quite a bit, but she and Deena hadn’t driven far enough together for Teagan to hear all the details of Deena’s family life; not that Teagan cared, but she was sure that at some point in their trip Deena would divulge some tidbit.
Deena’s blue eyes seemed to glaze as she confessed, “I don’t know the number. I always push the number 5 button.” As if she found her statement laughable, Deena did, “But who really knows their father’s phone number anyhow?”
Teagan did, but she could see the embarrassment on Deena’s face and didn’t want to make the girl feel stupider than she must already feel. She’d been flippant with her words, but her expression told a different story.
She held her hand out to take the phone back, “As much as I hate to, I’ll call my Dad. He’s going to be pissed, but we can’t stand here all day. We should push the car further on to the side of the road before someone comes around the corner and hits it.” Teagan slid the phone into her pocket to free up both hands.
Deena faced the direction they’d come from, “Wouldn’t you think someone would have come along by now? It seems kind of weird no one has.”
That was the second time Deena had mentioned the lack of traffic, and Teagan hadn’t given the first time much consideration because the highway was a secondary road and only a two-lane at that. She didn’t know how heavy the traffic flow was on an average day, but this was starting to feel less than typical all the way around because she just remembered that Deena had been using her phone to play songs from her playlist when the car died.
With the car moved as far off the pavement as they could get it, Teagan took her phone from her pocket and opened it. The tiny screen remained blank, not even the backlight lit up, showing it had power, and she knew that was impossible. Hers had been fully charged before she left her house.
Dread settled heavy on her shoulders. Teagan had always considered herself pragmatic, but this scenario was beginning to feel far less than a coincidence. While she didn’t want to think the impossible or give in to any type of foreboding thoughts, the idea was now sitting in the back of her mind, and she wasn’t prepared. She remembered something her Dad’s friend, whom she had given the honorary title of ‘Uncle’ had drilled into her, “Always be prepared for anything and everything.” Teagan was beginning to get the idea that this was a be-prepared situation, and she wasn’t. Not at all.
“Pop the trunk lid please.” When nothing happened, Teagan looked at Deena.
Deena stood looking down the road as if willing someone to come around the corner. Teagan was beginning to wish this was one journey she had not taken on. If they couldn’t call either of their parents, who were they going to call to come to help them?
Teagan rapped her knuckles on the trunk, “Deena? Open the trunk.”
“Huh?” Deena turned around. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”
Teagan made an upward motion with her hand over the trunk, “Pop the lid.”
Deena searched her jeans pocket for the keys and pointed the fob at her car. She pushed the button several times and gave Teagan a sour look. “Now, I’m beginning to get freaked out. Why doesn’t it work? I told my dad I wanted the Mercedes coupe and he gets me this piece
of junk Volvo. This damn thing doesn’t do anything.”
“You don’t need to swear. And the type of car is irrelevant right now. Look beside the seat or on the left side of the dash. There has to be a lever or something.”
When Deena just stood there as if she had no clue what Teagan was talking about, Teagan went and opened the driver’s door. She saw a lever with the open trunk logo on it and pulled. She heard the satisfying thunk as the trunk lid was released and turned to see it rising.
“Boy, you are bitchy…damn isn’t a swear word.”
When Teagan ignored her and pulled her suitcase from the trunk with a grunt, Deena’s curiosity got the best of her. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to change my shoes and walk to the closest house and ask to borrow the phone.”
Deena turned in a circle, “What house? I don’t see anything but trees.”
Teagan briefly clenched her teeth before answering and felt a sharp jab of pain. Her tongue gently massaged her cracked tooth. She’d had an appointment to get it repaired but had put it off until she got back. As long as she didn’t drink anything cold or chew on any more ice, she thought she would be okay. Or clench her jaw, she reminded herself when she felt she could talk. Sucking in cold air didn’t help any either.
She sighed, “That’s why I’m changing my shoes. I think we passed one about a mile back.” Teagan sat in the dirt and unbuckled her sandal. One at a time she pulled on socks and her new Ariats. She had considered putting on her tennis shoes, but they were brand new and very white. Walking in the dirt on the shoulder of the road would ruin them. The Ariats were made for riding, but she’d read the reviews, and someone had said if they had to walk a trail, they would rather be wearing the Ariats than pull-on boots. Teagan had taken the advice to heart and bought the lace-ups. Once tied, they felt a little snug, but being leather, Teagan felt they would form to her foot and be comfortable, at least once they were broken in. She climbed to her feet.