Chapter I: Things that Go Boom

December, 2011

Bombs + 5 years

Heathersat in the glider in her bedroom with her feet up, nursing baby Eleanor, her fifth child. She had enjoyed every baby, even the hectic time of raising newborn twins at the same time the world as they knew it had just come to a crashing halt and hordes of out-of-town family had descended upon Green Ranch. She thought back to the events of the previous afternoon …

"I'm not sure where the smoke is coming from," Wes had said, coming up behind her as she stood in front of the house looking toward town. They had been called out of the house by a loud boom.

"Chip is in town at Mom and Dad's," Heather had responded, trying to push down the feeling of panic. Precocious Chip, now almost 7, got into enough mischief on his own. But when he was with his cousin Brody, the potential for mischief knew no bounds. They were great kids, but their curiosity was insatiable. "Would you mind checking?" She asked tentatively.

"Of course not," Wes had answered quickly, raising his hand that was holding a radio. "This is Wes McCall. Anyone have eyes on the source of the smoke?" The leadership of Jericho did not carry the hand-held radios about their persons at all times like they had during the early days after the bombs, but they were still used frequently, and they came in handy more often than not.

After a pause, the sound of Jimmy Taylor's voice came back loud and clear: "Looks like it's coming from the salt mine. That's unusual, since it's Sunday, and there isn't a shift working today…" Heather grasped at Wes' free arm while she clung to Baby Ellie with the other.

"I'm on my way," Wes transmitted over the radio, while giving Heather a reassuring look and an awkward pat on the hand.

Heather had remained in the driveway while Wes started the farm truck and driven toward town. Everything within her wanted to go with him, but she couldn't leave Ellie and the other children again. Instead, she went inside and collected her radio from the charger on her way through the house to check on the rest of the children.

Eleanor had taken them out to the back yard to play so that Heather could have breakfast after she had fed Ellie. In addition to the Green twins and young E.J., some of the Bennett children were visiting. Eight-year-old Hunter, serious and mature for his years, preferred going along with Gil on farm calls to playing with Chip and Brody. So, Gil had dropped off Piper (6), Harper (4), and Cooper (2) to play and to give Hope a morning of peace and quiet with newborn Archer.

Eleanor had proven to be a Godsend when it came to parenting. As much as Heather wanted to be the one raising her own children, there were times it was necessary for her to be in town, or she simply needed to be in more than one place at a time. Eleanor, unable to have children of her own, had stepped up to the plate and been yet another parent, or at least beloved Aunty to both Heather's children and to Hope's. At the same time, Eleanor had been able to provide mental health care to the community two days per week and take call for the emergency department. Having already had a full career before she married Emmett, it was perfect for her.

Heather took a moment to watch Eleanor interact with the children. The five-year-old twins were finger painting at the picnic table with Piper and Harper while three-year-old E.J. was playing in the sand box with Cooper. Heather reminded herself how fortunate she was. To be a part of this family. To have been living in Jericho at just the right time. Then her thoughts returned to Chip and the salt mine. She pulled Eleanor aside and filled her in.

As they concluded their conversation, her radio crackled to life. "Heather, Wes here. You should come. Apparently, the boys snuck out of the back yard while Gail was occupied with giving Tracy and Joy breakfast. They rode their bikes to the salt mine and have managed to collapse the entrance with dynamite. They're OK. Fortunately, someone left a radio inside, so we can talk with them, but it's gonna take a while to dig them out."

Heather sat down hard on the bench at the beginning of the message, and then breathed a sigh of relief as she heard that the boys were safe. "Chip is certainly his father's son," she said to Eleanor in a shaky voice, remembering the stories of Jake's childhood.

Eleanor held out her arms for the now sleeping baby. "We'll manage just fine," she reassured Heather in her beautiful British accent. "You go and supervise the digging."

Heather handed off the baby and quickly went back through the house to her car. At this moment, she was particularly thankful to have a functioning vehicle. About six months after the EMP they had gotten word of an MIT graduate who had developed a work-around to fix many of the vehicles that had stopped working during the EMP. Jake had investigated and discovered it was the kid brother of his Embry-Riddle roommate. Jake had been able to reconnect with his old roommate on the east coast and to get the schematics for the workaround. He had immediately put Jonah and his crew to work salvaging the correct materials and then putting together kits for both the vehicles in Jericho and beyond. Since they were the only town in the western states that was making kits, they were quickly swamped with requests. They met with Roger Hammond, newly elected Mayor of New Bern, and provided the schematics for him to take to the brake factory. There was plenty of demand to keep them all busy. Fuel had still been tight, but it was a relief to be able to use vehicles (and then farm equipment) again on a limited basis.

As Heather drove toward town, she thought over the events of the past few months. In September, Jericho had commemorated the fifth anniversary of the bombs. Jake and Erik had come home briefly for the service, and then had to return to Columbus to mop up the end of the war. The Second American Civil War had finally ended in October, and Jake had returned home. Johnston had taken it as a fortuitous sign that Jake had returned in time for a fall election and quickly arranged for his own retirement. Jake ran unopposed and won with the votes of the many thankful townspeople who considered him a homegrown hero. Considering his previous career paths, he and Heather figured this would likely feel like a vacation. He would be inaugurated the following January and find out for himself, Johnston chuckled quietly.

But the part where Jake was home more had yet to start. He was still being called into town frequently during the rare times when he was home, many times to consult with other towns via HAM radio. At other times, he would be called away from Jericho at a moment's notice and be gone for days or weeks. "Stop it! What is wrong with you?" Heather asked herself out loud, pounding on the steering wheel of her now ancient car. E.J.'s foresight had saved the country, and Jake's leadership had played a large role in ushering in the New Republic. She knew that she should feel nothing but pride at Jake's accomplishments, and here she was feeling slighted that he wasn't paying enough attention to her? OK, perhaps she had a right to be upset that he had not been present for the birth of their last baby. She supposed she should be thankful that he had been there for the other births. The last two pregnancies had been harder than the first two, with this last one complicated by pre-eclampsia. Eleanor had been monitoring her blood pressure at home when she had developed a headache, swelling, and a spike of her blood pressure at 37 weeks.

When her pressure hadn't come down, they had radioed ahead to the clinic in town, which had then called Dr. Prescott and his wife to come from New Bern. The Prescotts had arrived in New Bern with a group of refugees and been welcomed when it became known that he was an OB/GYN and she had been an OR nurse before the bombs. They had fled their home in South Dakota and walked south to Kansas, where their services had been immensely popular during the baby boom that followed the bombs. Jericho had become acquainted with them when April had required a C-section for the delivery of her third baby when she had experienced placenta previa.

Pre-eclampsia cases had been induced before the bombs, but were delivered via c-section now, if a surgeon was available. There simply wasn't enough medication, and rapid delivery was the cure to prevent the mother from having a seizure, which would have a negative effect on both patients. Thus, Heather had been rushed to the operating room when she arrived at the hospital. As Dr. Prescott entered the OR, he had asked Heather if she would like him to perform a tubal ligation at the same time? He had not followed her pregnancy but had been made aware that this was her fifth baby and had been a difficult pregnancy. She had agreed. In retrospect, she had wondered if it was even ethical to ask her consent under such circumstances. She hadn't had the opportunity to speak with Jake ahead of time and hadn't had a chance to tell him after the fact, for that matter, since he hadn't been home in the weeks since Eleanor had been born. But she really didn't regret it. She felt overwhelmed. She had discussed it a little with Eleanor, who had mentioned postpartum depression/anxiety as a possibility. Heather vaguely remembered feeling the same after the twins had been born, and again after E.J.'s birth. She thought it would ease up if she could just talk with Jake.

She had arrived at the mine by this point and sat in the car a moment to gather her wits before getting out. She could see the heavy machinery working to dig out the entrance, Wes and a few other men standing at a safe distance. She was startled by a sudden knock at her window.

"Jake!" She cried out in surprise.

Jake came around the car and took a seat on the passenger side. "I meant to surprise you, not give you a heart attack," he said apologetically.

Heather collapsed into his arms across the center console of her old car, sobbing uncontrollably. "Oh, Jake!"

Jake rubbed Heather's back until the sobs subsided. "Hey, what's this all about," he asked.

"Oh, Jake," Heather repeated, hiccupping through the last of her sobs. "I have missed you so much. I was so independent and self sufficient before I met you. Where did that woman go? I'm so frazzled now that I don't even know what to do with myself. Oh, Jake, I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you, too, Heather. So much. That's why I've been working so hard to finish things up and get home for good. I guess I should have let you in on my plans. The good news is that, to the very best of my knowledge, I'm home for good now. Home for Christmas. Home to be mayor starting in January." Jake rolled his eyes.

Jake fished a mostly clean cloth handkerchief from his pocket and handed it over. Heather dried her tears, embarrassed at her emotional display and eager to change the subject. "At least we didn't run out of toilet paper," she said with a nervous laugh. This was a sentiment that had been echoed throughout Jericho dozens of times in the past few years. They had, however, run out of Kleenexes, and had resorted to the cloth variety, both those purchased before the bombs and those made of whatever fabric could be found since.

By this time, the heavy machinery had created an entry hole into the mine itself. Those in charge were calling for the parents to wait outside while they went inside to retrieve the boys. Heather and Jake hurried to join April and Eric near the now parked front end loader. April had been summoned from a clinic shift and Eric had been working at City Hall, leaving Gail to watch the children. Heather usually encouraged Brody to come to Green Ranch to spend time with Chip and lessen the load for Gail, but this time the boys had begged for a sleepover in town, and Heather had finally given in. Now she understood why they had wanted to be in town.

Eric's family had continued to live with Johnston and Gail after their home had burned down. The senior Greens had insisted. But it had taken a toll on them over the years, especially on Gail, who had watched the children while April continued to work at the hospital. Heather had noticed the issue almost at once, but had been unable to do anything about it initially. Soon, the Jericho Ranger farm patrol solved her problem. Once Brody had been remotely old enough, Heather arranged for whatever Ranger on farm patrol that day to collect Brody at the Green home in town and deposit him at Green Ranch via golf cart. Once at the Ranch, he was herded around with his cousins and whatever Bennett children happened to be visiting that day, learning the ways of the farm in much the same ways his father and grandfather had. Likewise, Gail had one less rambunctious boy to watch over. Events like dynamiting the salt mine did not happen while the boys were at the Ranch, Heather thought to herself…

While waiting with April and Eric, Jake glanced around the group to be assured of their attention. "So, restitution and not punishment?" he asked. The other three nodded. He looked to Heather.

"I'm sure Will could assign them barn mucking duties," she said tentatively, and they all nodded.

Back at the mine entrance, a man unknown to Heather (the refugees were still coming to Jericho) crawled out through the fresh hole and turned to help first Brody and then Chip climb out of the mine, followed by Grey Anderson himself. The boys, covered with mine dust but otherwise unscathed, scurried to their parents for hugs.

"Looks like the boys had a little old fashioned adventure," Grey said jovially, shaking hands with Jake and Eric, nodding politely to Heather and April. Grey had undergone a veritable personality transplant a couple of years after the bombs when he'd had a near-death experience. He'd been berating Johnston publicly during a packed town hall meeting when he'd begun slurring his speech as he shouted, then lost the ability to speak and collapsed to the floor. April was in the audience and had him rushed to the medical center, fearing a stroke.

Prior to the bombs, a head scan would have been done to rule out a bleed, and then IV thrombolytics administered within minutes. The CT and MRI scanners had not been brought back post EMP, however, and the thrombolytics were long since expired. The best they could do for him was IV hydration and a calm environment.

Grey was pretty much scared spitless by the collapse itself. Being unable to express himself verbally was an entirely new feeling for him, and not a pleasant one. This alone might have been enough cause for Grey to reevaluate his life choices, but there was more. The nurse in charge of his care had come to Jericho as a refugee. She had lost her husband in Denver during the bombs and wound up in Jericho. She'd been a nurse for many years and didn't take guff from anyone. She had been tough but kind with Grey, not brokering any of his shenanigans.

Fortunately, all of Grey's symptoms resolved spontaneously within 24 hours and his formal diagnosis was a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or mini-stroke. He was kept in the hospital under observation for an additional day, counseled on proper diet and methods of remaining calm. During those days, Grey and nurse Jane Dickinson formed a bond that would outlast his hospital stay. Once he had fully recovered and was no longer her patient, they began courting and were married the following year. The town would never know whether it had been the TIA or nurse Jane that had been responsible for the transformation of Grey Anderson, but they were universally grateful for the new and improved man.

The two Green families returned to their homes with their wayward sons, thankful for the best possible outcome.