After: First Light (AFTER post-apocalyptic series, Book 0) Read Online Free Page A

you backtrack on those assholes, you usually find a pipeline between their bank accounts and the oil and coal industries,” Franklin said. One thing he liked about his faceless friends is that they dispensed with small talk like the weather and immediately started solving the world’s problems.
    If only we had an audience as big as Rush Limbaugh’s and Howard Stern’s, we’d save the human race whether they wanted it or not.
    “Once you get your Alaskan pipeline built, maybe the U.S. will quit bombing the hell out of the Middle East.”
    “Yeah, but then we’d have to invade you , good buddy. Got to feed those defense contractors.”
    “Fine with me. Just don’t make me drink that watered-down American beer. Budweiser. Christ, I’d rather drink moose piss.”
    “I’ll put in a good word for you,” Franklin said. “So what’s happening with the ice caps? Still melting?”
    “I’m pretty high up here in Ottawa, but I’ll bet Alabama goes underwater in five years,” Charlie said. “Maybe you’ll have some nice beachfront property.”
    “It’s a liberal plot to do away with the Red States,” Franklin said. “Take away the Deep South and the Democrats will hold the White House for the next century.”
    “You never did tell me what party you support.”
    “Lemonade Party. I think you ought to run the government like a lemonade stand. Serve it up on the sidewalk, cold and sweet for a nickel a glass.”
    “That’s just the heat getting to you.”
    “Could be. Don’t take much to bring me to a boil these days.”
    “Speaking of heat, did you hear about the big solar storm?”
    Franklin had adopted a policy of “Ignorance is bliss,” focusing mostly on daily survival and maintaining a sustainable compound. While he owned a tablet computer with an ethernet card that allowed him to connect to the Web via satellite, he rarely prowled the Internet for news anymore, simply because he no longer trusted any sources. Even Charlie.
    “No,” he said into his microphone. “I’ve been too busy picking cotton and stuffing it in my ears.”
    “Scientists say it’s going to be one of the biggest on record. Supposed to shut down radio communications and TV and shit like that. Government’s putting out official warnings.”
    “Does that mean I won’t be able to hear your angelic voice for a while?”
    “Careful, Soldier, or I’m going to sing you a lullaby and it might start the cats to howling.”
    “Well, from what I know of solar storms, they can blow the hell out of the electrical grid. Can’t imagine what they’d do in New York if the lights went out for a week.”
    “Come on, Soldier. You know how fragile the whole system is. You blow out all those transformers and you can’t replace them all for years. Plus, you need power to manufacture the new ones. Sort of a Catch-22.”
    “Don’t sound so excited about it, Charlie. I might start thinking you’re one of those Doomsday nut jobs.”
    “Well, that’s worst-case scenario. But if it happens…”
    A pause filled Franklin’s cabin, a high band of white noise coming from the speaker. Franklin eventually completed the thought. “Total shutdown. No gasoline pumps, no grocery stores, no air conditioning or heat, economic collapse.”
    “Now you’re the one getting all excited. I swear, you’re starting to breathe heavy, like a teenage boy with his first Penthouse .”
    “Hey, it’s not my fault everybody got dependent on a government run by foreign bankers. But I’ll be ready when it hits, whether it’s an asteroid, a pole shift, World War III, or a Martian invasion.”
    “Assuming you live long enough.”
    “I’ll be around as long as I need to be.” Franklin thought of his family. His wife Bitsy had died of breast cancer, and their daughter Laurel had disowned him after his political views attracted too much notoriety. She wanted to protect her two daughters from him and his twisted views, she said.
    Well, Chelsea had been taken from