Johnny pulled up to Station 51 in his land rover early as he wanted to make sure that he had a minute to talk to Captain Stanley before the shift started. With Chet off to the Rez there wasn't a chance that he'd get hit with another prank so he hadn't bothered to get dressed in his uniform before coming in. The minute he walked into the locker room he found the captain waiting for him. "Hey Cap, don't worry, he got off ok."
Stanley sighed. "No problems then?"
"Nope, and my brother called me this morning telling me that we can get all of the kids out whenever their parents are ready to send them. It will be at least another month before we're ready for any other adults though."
"I think it's a good idea to get our families out, but I gotta tell you John, I don't like the idea of abandoning LA County to some disaster." The idea had been eating at Stanley for the entire month, leaving him snappy and upset as more time went by.
"We won't be abandoning LA County, Cap," Johnny looked sorrowfully into Stanley's eyes. "One shift of firefighters and two doctors and a nurse aren't going to be able to make a bit of difference here. But back on the Rez, they could mean the difference between life and death for a whole lot of people."
"This is going to be big, isn't it?" Stanley whispered going pale. "And what's a Rez?"
Johnny smiled, for a moment he had forgotten that his captain didn't know. "That's what we call the reservation Cap."
Stanley nodded. He suddenly noticed that Johnny's hair hung just below his collar. He knew that the only reason Johnny's hair was cut at all was because it was part of the regulations. He had explained once that short hair in his culture meant that the person was in mourning and he kept his as long as the regulations would allow. His brothers both boasted hair that was long enough to sit on. If Johnny was letting his hair grow again, it meant that he was heading back to his family, and not for a short visit.
"Yeah Cap, it's going to be big." Johnny agreed softly. "Bigger than you can imagine. Bigger than I want to imagine, but the Great Spirit isn't giving me a choice. The vision dreams are coming more frequently now. Used to be, I'd have them about once every couple of weeks. Now I'm getting them every couple of days."
Stanley nodded; he'd seen Johnny waking up from nightmares. The last time he'd had one at the station, Stanley had seen the look he'd thrown at Kelly. The sheer relief on Johnny's face had told him a lot. Whatever was going to happen was going to be really bad and Johnny was grateful that his nemesis and friend would be safe.
"My girls are ready to go. Since they're both teenagers, they'll be able to help look after the real little ones. Marco's family is getting ready. They should be ready to go in about two weeks. I'm sure my girls can take some of the Lopez kids with them." Stanley rubbed his chin. "Jo DeSoto and Amy Stoker won't go without their kids. Johnny, can I ask you what you've been seeing?" Stanley didn't know if he really wanted to know what was coming, but he knew without a doubt that Johnny did know what was coming. If it could give his man a little relief from the strain, then he would gladly shoulder the burden with him.
"You know how the politicians keep saying stupid things like 'it'll never happen but we're prepared for it if it does?'" Johnny asked.
Stanley snorted. There had been far too many 'never happen' incidents as far as he was concerned and they were never really ready for them when they did. "God, the stories I've heard and told about that one!"
"Yeah, well the Russian's aren't any better, except that they don't tell their people anything at all. They aren't telling anyone that they aren't taking care of their nukes." Johnny waited but Stanley caught onto what he was talking about immediately.
"One's going to go off?!!?" Stanley asked as his face lost all color.
"The Long Winter is coming, Cap. There will be snow falling everywhere within five months, probably a little less now. My people have been getting ready for the last five years. That's why I've been doing all that back to the land stuff. We not only have all of the food we need to get through the next fifteen years, we also have enough seeds, animals and animal feed and other supplies to start all over when spring comes again."
"Do you really think it will last that long?"
"I don't know. But it's better to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. We've got enough stuff now that if everything outside the Rez is destroyed, we can keep going without outside help. But I've got lists of what we don't have here," Johnny pulled out a notebook and showed it to Stanley.
Stanley took it and looked over it. "Hmm, midwife equipment, entertainment reading, rescue gear, rock climbing equipment?"
"The Rez is in the heart of the Black Hills, Cap. Even with everyone living underground, we'll still have to be on the surface sometimes and we need to be prepared to do rescue work both on the surface and underground. I've been sending medical supplies for the last two years, now that I know what I'm doing with it. I've talked with Dr. Brackett and he's been telling me what a good clinic/hospital needs. He doesn't know what's coming of course. He thinks I'm just asking him so I can help improve the clinic back home with better equipment." Johnny knew that Dr. Brackett was an excellent doctor who wasn't prejudiced, but he wasn't a patient man and didn't believe in anything that couldn't be proven with science.
"I'll talk to Mike and Marco. What about Chet's stuff?" Stanley was trying his best to take this news in stride for Johnny's sake but he knew it would take a while to sink in.
"I've got the keys to his place and he's already done most, if not all of the prep work for me. I'll see to it that what he wants to keep gets sent to the Rez. I'll even make sure he has a supply of water balloons," he added with a grin.
Stanley clapped him on the shoulder and went on in to his office. After he shut the door, he fell into his chair and quietly freaked. Nuclear warfare was everyone's worst nightmare. And Johnny had just told him it was about to come true. He just sat there shaking until he managed to pull himself together. This wasn't the disaster he had told his wife to prepare for. This was worse, much worse. He called his wife. They had some changes to make to their plans.