Tipping Point, page 13
“I stopped doing that years before I met Felicia. I’d never have met her otherwise. Or at least she’d never have given me the time of day.”
“I don’t doubt it. Well, you’re whoring days are over, I guess. Then again, we all knew that wasn’t what you were looking for. God, those were the days! Anyway, your partner there is looking a bit annoyed, so I guess we should get down to business here. This is a bit more complicated than it looks.”
It was another thirty minutes before all the details were out. Gilles was shaking his head at her.
“What is it about you? You’re always attracting trouble.”
“Very funny. I’m not putting up with victim blaming and shaming, thanks. Chuck’s got the details at the Huntsville station, but I think it was someone from Parry Sound who would have visited Gerry to issue the warning.” Gilles sobered.
“I’ll find out and make sure this is dealt with. We don’t have much use for men who pull that kind of shit around here.” When the incident report was filled out, a copy was given to Jim so he could file his insurance claim for the door and the little bit of damage to his stock.
“I’m required to press charges against him now, even if you don’t, Mac, so don’t be surprised to get a subpoena.” Mac just nodded. She knew they’d never be able to serve it to her. Gilles gave her his cell number so they could catch up at a later date, and then he and his partner had to leave on another call.
Mac drove up their driveway ten minutes later. The goats were finally home. She looked around at what had been done in their absence. The enclosure was looking good, but she realized she needed to keep the does separated from the bucks now.
Then there were the new chickens. The hens would be fine with the others, but the rooster needed a home of its own. Mac dragged her fingers through her hair and scratched vigorously at her scalp.
This was the problem when she made plans, and then kept changing them on herself. The closer they got to disaster, the more worried she became. The more worried she was, the more she tried to compensate, which resulted in more work.
There was no sign of Cameron or Leigh, so Mac figured they were inside. The garden looked like it was already done, which thrilled her. One less thing on the list. Cameron popped out of the building suddenly.
“Mom, something’s happening on the news or whatever. It’s trending on Facebook, and it looks major.”
“Fuck. It’s starting.”
12
ZERO DARK SEVEN MILLION
Mac and Kirk quickly herded the goats into the small pen to graze and tied a rope back and forth around the opening. As soon as they had let the hens out of their boxes and into the chicken enclosure, Mac took off for the house and went straight to her laptop. Facebook wasn’t a news source, exactly, but it pointed her in the direction she needed to go. She opened that first.
Rather than a single item trending, there were several that were related. The Greater Toronto Area, or GTA as it was called, had gone dark. It accounted for nearly half the population of Ontario. At least seven million people were without power, and there was no estimate on when it would be back up again.
The second item appeared more alarming than a power outage to anyone who didn’t understand how problematic that outage was. Looting and rioting had started in Hamilton, Oakville and Mississauga. The damage in Burlington wasn’t as severe yet, but she didn’t expect that to last.
Toronto was the worst. Already the police and military had been called in to do what damage control they could, but it looked like a lost cause to her. There just weren’t enough cops or military police to handle millions of panicking citizens. Justin Trudeau had followed in his father’s footsteps and invoked the War Measures Act, basically stripping everyone of their rights.
The third item mentioned the empty grocery store shelves, which had most likely been the impetus for the rioting and looting. The food was already gone, because they’d stopped delivering. The truckers had refused to go to a city where they knew they would end up trapped. All shipments had been rerouted to cities that still had power.
As much as she wanted to talk to Neil right then, she had another obligation. She needed to try to get Allan to come to the farm, and she’d take the opportunity to get more feed.
Mac called him and got his voicemail. As soon as he called back, she’d head to his place. It wasn’t that far, since he lived in Bracebridge, but she was pretty sure things would be getting bad there very soon.
The truck was only a two-seater, so she wouldn’t have room for anyone to go with her if she was going to bring him back. It was a risk she was willing to take, however, when she thought of the pain Cameron would suffer if anything happened to her dad.
Her phone rang. It was Allan.
“Hey! It’s Mac. Long time no talk. Are you busy tonight?”
“Hey back! It’s been years, probably, and no, I don’t have any plans. Why?”
“I’ve got to go to the feed store so I thought I’d stop in for a quick visit.”
“From Hamilton?” Mac was surprised.
“Didn’t Cameron tell you we’re outside Rosseau now?” She could hear him take a quick puff from a cigarette, and then cough after he finished inhaling. He had allergies and asthma, used two inhalers, and still smoked. One of many things he did that used to drive her nuts.
“Well, shit! If I’d known I’d have come and seen ya. I drive all over the place with the cab. I could’ve stopped in any time.”
“We’ve only been here since Tuesday night, trying to get the farm setup finished. We’ve got goats and chickens now, and the garden is doing pretty well. You really should see the place.”
“Holy crap! I still can’t get over how close you guys are. Cameron never told me where you were. Just said something about a farm. I figured it was down south somewhere.”
“I need to get going for now, but then I’ll stop by. What’s your address?” Allan inhaled from his cigarette, and promptly coughed once again.
“I’m on a main drag. Wellington. Hey maybe we can go shoot some pool or something. I haven’t had much chance to do that lately.” He gave her his house number.
“I have a pool table here. I just haven’t set it up yet. I figure that’s going to be a pain in the ass, but soon I’ll have all the time in the world for all that anyway.”
“Really? Holy shit. You always said you wanted to get one, but I never thought you’d do it.” That was the other thing that had turned her away from Allan. His complete lack of faith in anything she said. He either thought she was lying, or he just didn’t believe she could do it.
“I already know where Wellington is, so it’s not like I’ll get lost. I should be there in an hour.” When she hung up a few minutes later, she saw she had chewed off part of her thumbnail. Allan was fun to hang out with, but he was annoying, too.
Thinking it through, she grabbed her phone and called Neil.
“If you haven’t seen it already, check out what’s happening in the GTA,” she said, as soon as she heard his voice.
“I’m guessing it’s bad. Hang on. I need to go back to the office computer. Give me the short and sweet version, and I’ll get the details once I’m online.”
“The entire GTA is dark, and nobody is saying anything about it coming back. Rioting, looting, etc. Military police are already in Toronto to support the city and provincial police.”
“And so it begins,” he said softly. She could tell he was looking at some of the information online, so she remained silent for a few moments, letting him read the various reports.
“God. It’s so strange,” she said reflectively. “You and I both believed it would happen, but now that it’s starting it’s so surreal. Part of me still thinks it’s not. Plus, this is Canada. We don’t usually have riots. When they happen they’re a very big deal.”
“Yeah. I can guarantee if we check back with the news sites later, people will be dead. And I don’t think it’ll be one or two, either. They’ll get trampled, police officers will shoot out of panic or necessity, and panicked civilians are going to be killing other people. Toronto is the fourth largest city in North America. There will be no good news tonight.”
“Maybe we should rethink tonight’s plan, Neil. Neither of us will want to be away from our kids. We can do what we did last night. We’ll still be close enough, and everyone will have somewhere to sleep. Maybe just come over when you’ve done whatever you need to do at home after you close up the store. What do you think?”
“You’re right. The animals don’t need constant attention with the way I set things up, but I should check on them before I leave them alone again. I think we’re all going to be a little shaken up, that’s for sure. Billy doesn’t know yet, but I’ll tell him as soon as I get off the phone. He needs to know the seriousness of the situation. How are you holding up?” Mac almost burst into tears, but she managed to control it. Her voice was a little rough when she answered him, though.
“I’m definitely shaken. It’s one thing to know something is coming, and another thing entirely when it shows up at your door. The entire foundation of our society just cracked, and most people won’t even know that until it’s too late.
“I think part of me looked forward to it, as bad as that sounds, because we’ve overpopulated the planet and ruined it. But now I’m mostly just scared, because things just got really dangerous for all of us. It doesn’t help that I ran into Gerry again today.” She filled him in.
“I’ll be there in an hour,” he said.
“Wait. What? Your store doesn’t close until nine. You can’t get here until at least nine thirty.”
“Honey, the store doesn’t need me. You do. I’ll check on the animals and then we’ll be right over, okay?”
“I wish I could take you up on that, but I have to go somewhere first. Cameron’s step-dad is in Bracebridge. As far as she’s concerned, he’s her dad. I need to try to convince him to come back here. Cam’s worried about him, and she’s going to start getting frantic now. Why don’t you just close your store at the usual time? I’ve got to go to Allan’s and then stop at the feed store. I have no idea how long it’ll take me to get his ass in gear, or if it’s even possible.”
“Alright, but as a compromise why don’t you call me when you’re on your way home. Then I’ll close up. Okay?”
“Fair enough. I’ll talk to you then.”
When they ended the call the tears that were burning in her eyes rolled down her cheeks.
She hadn’t known until that moment what it would feel like to have absolute faith in someone. She was not the kind of woman who leaned on a man for support, but then she’d never found one she could lean on. It didn’t make her feel weak or stupid. It made her feel like she was a part of something that built her up and made her stronger. Now, when the world was starting to fall apart, she’d been given an incomparable gift.
She was seeing what he was like under stress far sooner than she’d expected, and it hadn’t changed anything for her. She believed in him. There was something so solid and steady about him, and he was making her a priority.
He’d been willing to drop everything. For her. That might not have seemed like a big deal to most people. She didn’t know. Maybe they already had that in their lives, but for her it was a brand new experience. Having someone who had her back when it mattered most was almost devastating in its poignancy.
Mackenzie wiped her eyes and smiled. She needed to go soon, but she still had animals and three young adults to deal with. She was about to head out to join them, and thought better of it. She had two more phone calls to make.
She called Mitch first. She knew she wouldn’t get an answer, but it still shook her when the mailbox was full. She couldn’t even leave him a message. He might still be able to charge his phone in his car, but there was a good possibility he’d already run out of gas.
Her next call was to Ian. He was her closest friend, with the possible exception now of Neil. He lived outside Cleveland, and they hadn’t been in touch since she’d left Hamilton. He didn’t pick up, either, but she left a message for him to call her back.
She’d probably hear back from Ian later that night, if he still had a working phone. If not she was going to have to get on the radio and try to contact him that way. She wanted to make sure he was okay. She’d been storing the radio in a Faraday box to protect it from potential EMPs for as long as they didn’t need it. It looked like it was time to pull it out and set it up, though. The internet could go down soon, and they needed their communications set up so they could find out what was going on in the rest of the world.
Mackenzie went back to her laptop and checked the hours for the feed store. They were open until seven, so she had plenty of time to see Allan first. By the time she went for the feed she’d know how much of the truck and trailer she could fill with it.
She did a quick search on Cleveland to check their news sites. Only some minor outages so far, so she figured Ian was probably just busy with his usual crazy schedule.
Kirk, Leigh, and Cameron were crowding around Leigh’s MacBook at the table. Every one of them looked terrified. She didn’t blame them. It was probably for the best that she was interrupting them. She cleared her throat to announce her presence. They all looked up at her, and she realized they were going to need reassurances from her.
“I know you’re worried. One of the best cures for fear is information. Not only are we going to keep up with the news in the rest of the world, but we’ve got a zillion books on how to do everything we might need to do.
“If you know exactly how to grow food and take care of livestock, then you won’t be afraid of starving. We could probably support twenty people just on what we’ve got set up now, and we’ll improve on that. When the shit hits the fan, and we’re surrounded by people who are starving, I’m going to do what I can to help them, but it will be done quietly. If people find out what we have here, we’re screwed.
“Before we all head off to our different tasks, there’s one thing I should mention now. There’s no way for us to know how things will shake out around here, so we need to be prepared for the possibility that law enforcement will no longer exist. I’m sure you realize I’m not happy to say that, since I now know of two friends who are cops.
“They may just decide to go and protect their families, so it won’t necessarily mean anything bad. It’ll just mean we’re on our own when it comes to self-defense. We’ll need to get the rest of our sensors set up, and then have them turned on at all times. If someone steps onto the property, we can warn them off.
“Once people stop being able to use their cars, we won’t be able to run ours except in an emergency. Things will be very quiet. A car can be heard from miles away, and people will come looking for it. We’ll need to insulate this building and run power tools indoors, too.
“I’m going to try to spend some time with Neil tonight, looking over the land registry maps for this area. I want to know who our neighbours are, what kind of set-up they might have, and what kind of threat they pose. I’m hoping Neil knows something about them, though he might have kept to himself out here. I’ll find out soon enough. He’s bringing Billy here in a few hours.
“Plans for tonight have changed a bit. Neither of us wants to leave you guys alone for the night right after getting this kind of news. I think we’re all pretty shaken. We knew this would happen, but seeing it happen is different.”
“I’ll say,” Cameron spoke up. “I don’t exactly like people, generally speaking, but it’s still scary, and it won’t be fun to watch.”
“An abstract wish that the rest of human civilization would just go away, doesn’t look anywhere near as attractive when you have to watch the actual suffering take place. Believe me, I know how you’re feeling right now.
“Okay, there’s not much point in continuing to rehash this. It’s happening, and we need to make sure we finish setting up. We need a second goat pen a fair distance away from the first. Believe it or not, the smell of the bucks can ruin the milk, and it’ll get worse when they’re in rut.”
“We need to set up food and water troughs, and they need to be high enough that they can’t piss or shit in them.” Mac looked around at her three partners-in-crime.
“Man, am I ever glad I’m not doing this alone. Cameron’s stuck with me, but you two are far more welcome here than you realize. I promise, the workload isn’t going to be like this forever. It’ll never be a vacation, exactly, but if there’s a way I can get rid of a chore, believe me I’ll implement it as quickly as possible. Hopefully we’ll each find stuff we enjoy doing out of all this work, so it won’t seem so bad. Better than starving, though.”
Mac pulled out the maps from the land registry office, and spread them on the table. Leigh closed her MacBook and moved it onto her lap out of the way.
“I made a bunch of copies of the map that details this property. This gives us the boundaries, where Google Maps and Google Earth can’t tell me that. This should help us plan any future buildings. This side of the river is actually a pretty small section of our land, and my original plans call for most of the buildings to be here, if not all.
“However, if I’m right and Neil’s property backs onto this one, we have nothing to worry about when it comes to protecting that side. Leaving aside the little detail that I wouldn’t be messing around with him if I thought he was like that, there’s the fact that he made his own preparations well in advance of ours. He’s not going to be stealing other people’s food.”
Mac picked up the papers and fanned through them until she found the one she was looking for.
“Yes! I gotta say, we got lucky here. We already live in an area where people tend to have gardens and livestock, so that helps in the grand scheme of things, but this is a major bonus. Holy shit. His property is huge. The river bends just past our parcel, and then runs through the entire length of his. We can use the river to get there. I should buy a couple canoes.
