Future Apocalypse Homeward Bound Read online

  Copyright © 2020

  Barbara J. Gilbert

  Edited by Carol Rushing

  Cover Design by: Christian Bentulan

  All Rights Reserved

  Future Apocalypse is a work of fiction. Names, places, etc., are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, locations, or events, is entirely coincidental. This series takes part in the Pacific Northwest and some cities and towns maintain their actual names.

  No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author.

  Dedication Page

  To my boys:

  Marcus and Thomas who accidently inspired me to write.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  First and foremost, I want to extend my thanks to all my friends and family who encouraged me to keep writing. Thank you again, NaNoWriMo, for the encouragement, support and willingness to inspire everyday people to write those stories that lie within.

  I want to thank all my dedicated beta readers, Millie, Brenda, Teresa, Bonnie, and Kolleen, for taking the time to read and re-read my rough drafts and help catch issues in the book.

  I want to extend a huge thank you once again to John Finnan who willing read the first draft and helped me to tighten up the story. He took the time to carefully read every word and make suggestions for cuts, additions, etc. Thank you so much, John, for all your help in making this book great.

  Thank you to all my ARC readers for taking the time to read this book and for posting your honest reviews. I appreciate all you do to help us authors become successful.

  FREE GIFT

  It's been 230 years since the asteroid hit the earth and some feel it’s time to leave the mine shafts and go topside.

  The Mayor upholds the old rule that no one is allowed to go outside till he feels it is safe, so the rebellion has begun.

  The rebels have been planning and gathering supplies for years and are hoping to make their escape soon. Will they find a way out, and if so, will they be able to survive topside? No one is sure but they plan on trying.

  Download the free ebook at:

  https://bjgilbert815.wixsite.com/syfyauthor/year-of-reckoning

  WORKS BY:

  BARBARA J GILBERT

  THE TIME TRAVEL SERIES

  FUTURE APOCALYPSE, BEGINNINGS

  FUTURE APOCLYPSE, JOURNEY TO THE CITY OF TECHNOLOGY

  FUTURE APOCALYPSE, HOMEWARD BOUND

  STAND ALONE WORKS

  YEAR OF RECKONING, 2250,

  A FREE SHORT STORY

  Chapter 1

  Summer 2281

  City of Technology

  She heard footsteps. Thomas entered the kitchen, sauntered over and gave her a hug. Paulette returned his hug but then lightly nudged him backward so she could look at him.

  She assumed the concerned look on Thomas’s face meant he had noticed the black clouds roiling around behind her eyes.

  “What’s wrong, love?”

  Paulette threw her hand over his mouth. With her other hand, she placed a finger to her lips, signaling he should remain silent. He acknowledged that he understood.

  Paulette then said, “Will you accompany me to the bedroom while I get out of my work clothes, then we can have dinner.”

  “Sure, my love.”

  They walked hand in hand to the bedroom and when they arrived, Paulette released his hand and went to the closet. She signaled for Thomas to come help her. “Thomas, maybe we should go out to dinner tonight. Can you help me choose some clothes that would look appropriate?”

  Thomas joined her in the closet, and she raised a scrap of paper that read, They promoted me to lead the time travel project today.

  Thomas smiled at the note and said, “That’s wonderful. That’s what you’ve been waiting for.”

  She signaled for him to be quiet then flipped the paper over and wrote. Mr. Payne is trying to steal my technology and has made me a prisoner until I give him what he demands. She rotated the paper and watched as Thomas’s face emptied of color and he started to say something. She placed a finger to her lips, then shook her head and passed him the paper. She watched as Thomas scribbled furiously on the paper and then turned it around for her to read.

  What the heck? He can’t do that. And why are we writing on paper?

  Because I also learned they have the entire city wired for audio and video. Nothing goes unseen in this city. We must be vigilant.

  Thomas just stood there gawking at the paper, mouth wide open and face pale white. He snatched the paper from Paulette and scribbled, What are we going to do?

  Nothing for now.

  He seized the paper from her hand and swiftly wrote, What do you mean, nothing for now? We need to get out of here.

  She studied the question before writing her response. Don’t worry. If Greg doesn’t get here first, and soon, then I plan to steal the time pod.

  Thomas frowned before he wrote, But won’t that be dangerous? They could kill us.

  It’s a possibility, but it’s a chance we must take.

  He read the reply and glanced up at her. She could see the dread in his eyes, but there was nothing further she could do.

  She moved close to him, giving him a tight hug, then whispered in his ear, “Everything will be fine. We’ll get out of here; it just may take some time. For now, just play along and do what you’re expected to do. Okay?”

  He maneuvered his head so he could whisper back, “Okay. I trust you to get us out of this.”

  Backing up, she gave a half-hearted smile, then said, “So what do you think of this outfit?”

  Thomas blinked before he said, “It looks gorgeous. You will look radiant in it.”

  “Thanks, my love.”

  Paulette took the outfit into the bedroom and put it on. Thomas shuffled through his closet searching for something to wear that would complement her outfit. He grabbed a light-blue shirt and a pair of slacks to go with his black shoes.

  Paulette chuckled to herself. It was no big deal for her to wear these kinds of clothes, but Thomas had a terrible time figuring out what to wear since he had never seen clothes like these.

  “What are you chuckling about over there?” he asked.

  “Oh, just you, looking for the right clothes to wear.”

  “What’s so funny about that?”

  “Well, generally, it’s us women who take forever choosing our clothes, not men.”

  Thomas’s face turned a light shade of red.

  “Oh,” was all he said, before coming out into the bedroom to put on his clothes.

  They finished getting dressed and headed out the door to find a nice little cafe to have dinner. They strode down the dirt road toward the market area of the city, looking back and forth at all the various shops and eateries, tr
ying to decide.

  “What would you like to eat tonight?” Thomas asked.

  “Hmm, I was thinking fish. What about you?”

  “Fish sounds okay. There’s this modest cafe around the corner that serves some excellent fish. I had some for lunch the other day. Would you like to try it?”

  “That sounds wonderful. Lead the way.”

  They headed to the little fish cafe, found a table, and sat down. It wasn’t long before their order of fish and potatoes was served.

  Paulette dug into her fish, dipping it into homemade tartar sauce and devouring the first bite. She happened to glance up and noticed Thomas was just staring at his food. “Honey, what’s wrong? Is it the food?”

  Thomas lifted his head and seemed to still be staring off into the distance, caught up in his own thoughts. It took him a minute to return to the here and now and answer her. “No, the food is great. I just can’t seem to get a grasp on...”

  Before he could say anything else that might give them away, she said, “Oh sweetheart, I’m so sorry to worry you over the promotion I received today. Trust me, everything will work out fine. I’ll be careful and continue to do an exceptional job. There are no worries. Okay?”

  Thomas bowed his head and ate his meal in silence. Paulette could tell he was still anxious about what happened to her that day. The revelation that she was a prisoner in the City and couldn’t leave till they were in possession of her work had to be overwhelming for him. She was determined to make it work, one way or the other. She had to. Their lives depended on it.

  Chapter 2

  Summer 2031

  Seattle, Washington

  Greg set the microphone down and stared at the radio for a moment. He still couldn’t believe that he had just talked with Paulette. He just kept shaking his head in total disbelief. He had a hard time grasping the concept that she talked to him from the future on his HF rig. If it truly was she, then she had to be in trouble, so he needed to get the time pod built and running sooner than he planned. Greg knew that he could go to any point in time, but with the new development of the City of Technology having a time pod, he could understand her wanting him to meet her at her present time.

  Hopping out of his chair and forgetting about his lunch, he rushed out the door. Running in the front door of P&G, he sprinted over to the project room and punched in the code. Upon entering, he was confronted by Susan.

  A little shocked, she turned to Greg. “Oh, you’re back from lunch already?”

  Greg stood there speechless, his mouth agape.

  “Greg, what’s wrong? Speak to me.”

  Greg walked over to the computer terminals and plopped down into one of the swivel chairs, causing it to rotate him toward Susan. He glanced at her, over to the incomplete time pod, back to her, then down to his hands.

  Susan sat there patiently waiting for his reply. Finally, he lifted his head back up to look at her.

  “I…umm…have some interesting news to tell you.” Greg paused.

  “Well, what is it?”

  “You’re not going to believe me, but I…ah…just spoke to…umm…Paulette today on my HF rig,” he said with some difficulty.

  Susan’s mouth fell open, then she closed it, looked at Greg, her eyes squinting, trying to tell if he was pulling her leg or not. “This is a joke, right? You didn’t really talk to her.”

  “No. I mean, no, it’s not a joke, and, yes, I really talked to her. She’s stuck in an apocalyptic future. She managed to find a city that has some technology and is trying to get home.”

  “Really, and how does she plan on doing that?” Susan asked with skepticism in her voice.

  “She said they already had a time pod built but couldn’t get it working and wanted her help. She also said they wanted her code so they could go back into the past to change it. I don’t know why. But she said she was going to try to use that time pod to get home. She also said I should keep working on my end, just in case she couldn’t use their time pod,” he said, taking in a deep breath after having said so much at once.

  Susan’s face paled and her brows furrowed as she sat there stunned. Greg could tell by the look on her face that she probably thought he had either made up a fantastically believable story, or he had actually talked to Paulette.

  Seeming to have caught her breath, she replied, “Okay, let’s say what you told me is true. What does that mean regarding helping her?”

  “It means we build our time pod faster than we had planned, just in case we need to go get her sooner. Also, it means if we need help with the code, we can get help from her when she contacts us.”

  “But the only way she can contact you is on this HF rig you have at your house. Is that correct?”

  Greg frowned for a moment then said, “You’re right. She can only contact me at lunchtime, at least that’s what time she did so today. I’m thinking I need to bring my rig to the project room and install it and the antenna here so we can talk to her anytime she calls.”

  He could see by the way Susan squinted her eyes and drew her eyebrows together that she was still a little skeptical of his plan.

  “Honestly, it’s the best thing we can do to make sure we stay in contact with her. Not only that, but with me in the room as the control operator, you can talk to her too,” he said.

  That got her attention. She glanced up at him and said, “I’ll be able to talk to her?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “It would be awesome to hear her voice again. I sure do miss her. When can you get it set up?”

  “Slow down a bit. I’ll start bringing things over tomorrow morning. It’ll take several days to get everything hooked up and find a suitable place to hang the antenna. We need to have the best coverage possible. I just hope we don’t miss her call while I am setting things up.”

  “That sounds great. Hopefully, we don’t miss her.”

  Greg got up out of his chair and circled around the computer terminals to where the time pod sat. “I need to finish building this, and it will take a lot of time. Do you think the company will be okay with us both hiding out in here?”

  “Yeah, and if they need something, they can call us.”

  “Good, then I’ll get going on this. You think you can work the code?”

  “I’ll do my best, but it’ll be nice to verify some of this with Paulette.”

  “We may not want to say too much over the airwaves.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s the airwaves. Anyone can listen in to what we’re saying.”

  “Oh, so we’ll have to talk in code,” she said, as she placed her hand over her mouth and giggled at her pun.

  Greg was amused by her laughter, and a warm feeling welled up inside him.

  “Something like that,” Greg replied, stifling a chuckle of his own.

  Greg worked on the electronic components of the time pod. He still had a long way to go to get it to support two humans and a dog. “I hope I can get this done soon,” he mumbled to himself as he got up to retrieve his soldering iron. He took his time and carefully soldered the positive and negative wire leads from the engine to the main circuit board.

  When the soldering was finished, he laid the iron on its stand and grabbed his multimeter to check the connections. While moving around under the pod, he accidently knocked over the soldering iron without realizing it.

  Shortly, he smelled something burning. He looked around but couldn’t see anything on fire. Thinking that maybe Susan was working on something that was causing the smell, he continued working.

  A few moments later, he felt a burning sensation on his right leg. He sat up and slammed his head into the time pod, knocking him back to the floor. Dazed, he shook his head and squirmed out. He then noticed his right pant leg was on fire. Gulping down the panic that rose in his throat, he grabbed a cloth and patted the fire out. He removed the cloth to see that the bottom part of his pant leg had melted to his skin. He began shaking and hyperventilating as he continued to
stare at the burn.

  Trying to take in a deep breath he hollered out, “Susan, call 911. I burned my leg!”

  Susan appeared next to him. “What the heck happened?”

  “I knocked over the soldering iron and burnt my darn leg!”

  Susan looked down, and the color drained from her face.

  “Hey, don’t look at it, just dial 911.”

  “Oh yeah, sorry.” She punched in 911 and placed the phone to her ear.

  “911, what’s your emergency?”

  “Yes, my co-worker has caught his leg on fire. He managed to put it out, but it doesn’t look good.”

  “Okay, take a deep breath. Where are you located?”

  We’re at 820 Adams Street.”

  A few moments later, the 911 operator said, “Okay, while you wait for the ambulance to arrive, I need you to do a few things to help stop the burning. First, you need to cover the burn with a cool, moist cloth or bandage. Second, elevate his leg. Last, keep an eye on him and try to keep him from going into shock. Do you have any questions?

  “Only one. Can you refresh my memory on the symptoms of shock?”

  “Sure. Some of the symptoms to keep an eye out for are cool, clammy skin, rapid pulse, rapid breathing, nausea and vomiting, and any changes in behavior.”

  “Thank you. We’ll wait for the EMTs in our company’s lobby.”

  Susan hung up. Greg observed Susan moving away from him, but a few seconds later he sighed as she placed a cool wet cloth over the burn area.

  “We have to move you out of here. The EMTs and fire crew can’t come in here.”

  Greg groaned in pain and nodded his head. With Susan’s help, he was able to get upright. She helped him hobble out into the main lobby area of the company. Several employees saw Greg’s leg and were staring with questioning looks. “It’s okay, everyone. The EMTs are on their way.”