Prologue

Nick wrapped his arms around his body shivering slightly. He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, after all he was in Louisiana and let’s face it, even in February it isn’t that cold. However, he has been living in California for years now, and anything below 70 was freaking cold to him. He stood next to his car taking in his surrounding; six years hadn’t changed much of his hometown. It was still small, dirty and smelled like cow crap. That was Loranger for you though. It was a small dairy town in the Southeast corner of Louisiana. It has its good sides too. It was beautiful, full of trees and streams and gravel roads that led to beautiful sandy banks of the Tangiboahia River. Man did he have some fond memories of the River. It was the hang out back in the day. Every weekend in high school was spent parting at the river with friends. He smiled as this memory registered through his mind. That was when life was so much easier than it is now. Now life sucked, now life was full of complications.

As mentioned before Nick hasn’t visited his home town in six years. You could say he didn’t leave on the best of terms. He was practically forced to leave. Forced to join the military, well almost forced, it was either that or jail, and that never seemed like something he would handle to well. Sighing as he thought about how stupid he had been that night. How if only he could go back and take that one night back. That wouldn’t happen though, so what was the point in dwelling on it. He was really just worried about seeing his father, who happened to be the Mayor of Loranger; he knew that he had really disappointed him. That was really why he hadn’t been back the entire time he was enlisted. He was ashamed of what his father might think of him. It didn’t help matters that his brother was prefect! Never had Kevin ever let his father down. He had never once gotten into trouble; in fact he was following in his father’s footsteps. He recently finished law school and moved back to town to start his own private firm. How was a screw up supposed to compete with perfection?

Nick knew this day would come, but he honestly wasn’t looking forward to it. He received an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps and was sent back to his home of record. He could’ve stayed in California, but he was sure he couldn’t afford it. And for him that meant finding was he could afford to stay, which translates into getting into trouble. So here he was, back home not really sure of what to do with himself. Looking up at the business in front of him, he smiled remembering once again all of the memories he had from the diner. Tallo’s was the place you went for a non home cooked meal around there. There weren’t any McDonalds, or Taco Bells around. There was Tallo’s conveniently located in the middle of town and then there was Wilbur and Tuffy’s which was down the road on your way out of town. Smirking he ran his hand through his blonde hair and made his way into Tallo’s.

This too, hadn’t changed at all. It still had the same uncomfortable red booths, lined around the perimeter, and tables scattered haphazardly throughout the dining area. Sitting in the first available booth, he looked around taking everything in. He recognized a few people, but none worth really noting. Pulling his attention to the menu in front of him, he laughed out loud as he realized how dumb he felt. He knew the menu by heart. Just then his thoughts were interrupted.

“Hello, Welcome to Tallo’s….” The girl started.

“Holy Shit! Jessica?” Nick half asked the girl standing in front of him.

“Well I’ll be look what the cat drug in! Nick Carter has decided to show his face in Loranger. To what do we owe this honor?” She replied trying to act like she wasn’t excited to see him.

“I just got discharged, so I figured it was time to come home.” He replied shrugging his shoulders like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Have you seen you dad or Kevin yet?” she asked.

“Kevin’s back?” He asked. The last he knew was he was in New Orleans going to Tulane Law School.

“Yea, he just opened his own law firm here. Too bad he wasn’t around back when you needed a lawyer huh?” she said taking a small jab at him.

“Yea too bad.”

“His wife was in here about an hour ago.” Jessica continued.

“Wife? Kevin is married?” Nick asked shocked.

“Yea, you didn’t know? Her name is Kristin. Really pretty, sweet, quite, you know the kind of girl you would imagine Kevin ending up with….So I take that is a no, you haven’t seen them yet?”

“No….I just got in. Felt a little hungry and figured what better place to stop and eat at than Tallo’s. What about you. Why are you working here?”

“Well, long story short, got married, he ruined my credit, cheated on me, beat the crap out of me, got divorced. Now I am working in Tallo’s and living in a mobile home, something I swore I would never do, but hey that is all I can afford right now.”

“Who did you marry?” he asked curious of who tamed the wild Jessica he used to fuck in the woods.

“Brett.”

“No shit, you married Brett Huggins? You have got to be shitting me! I would have never in a million years put you two together.”

“Yea, well I guess that is why it didn’t work….So what can I get ya?”

“I want some fried green tomatoes and I will have the chicken fried steak and fries.” Nick said licking his lips.

Jessica laughed as she wrote down his order, “Haven’t had food like this in a while I presume.”

“You presumed right!”

“What do you want to drink?”

“Miller light, draft if you have it.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back with that.”

Nick looked around the room again, spotting a news paper on one of the empty tables, he decided that now was a good time to look for a place to live. He couldn’t very well move back in with his parents. Hell he didn’t even know if his parents were going to speak to him. Looking through the classifieds he circled a few apartments for rent as well as few ads that were requesting roommates. Just then he heard a voice that he would recognize anywhere. Looking up from the table his eyes met with the guy who had been his best friend since practically birth. He smiled the biggest smile he had so far that day as soon as he registered the voice.

“Holy shit, Carter! Man it is good to see you!” the guy said pulling Nick up out of the booth and wrapping his arms around him in a tight bear hug.

“No shit, right? How have you been man?” Nick said just as excited to see him.

“Good, well almost good. Mom and Dad died a couple years back so I had to take over the farm, and take over responsibilities with Laura.” He said confessing what Nick had missed.

“Man, Alex that sucks. I am so sorry about that. How are you holding up? How is Laura holding up?”

Just then a red head poked walked up to Alex signing something to him. “That is Laura? Oh my God I have been gone for too long.”

Laura looked at Nick and then back at Alex “Who is that?” she signed again.

“It is Nick, Laura. You remember Nick right?” Alex replied signing and speaking out loud so that both Nick and Laura understood him. Laura was born deaf, but could speak better well, and was exceptionally good at reading lips.

“That’s Nick!” she said pointing at Nick her eyes wide. Alex nodded his head yes. Laura looked up at Nick and said “You changed a lot!” signing while speaking.

“So have you.” Nick replied being sure to look directly at her.

“So what is up man? What brings you back to Loranger?” Alex asked sitting down across the booth from Nick.

“I just got discharged. I am free! So I figured it would be a good time to come back home.”

“You staying long?”

“I was thinking about it. You know get my own place, see if I can’t start over on a better foot this time.” He replied smirking.

“Yea, well welcome back dude!”

Nick enjoyed his lunch with Alex and Laura catching up on everything he had missed the last six years. He couldn’t believe the people who had ended up marrying each other, and how some of them were still together amazed him even more. They talked about the neighboring town of Independence and how they still rivaled each other in every aspect. They even approached the subject of Nick’s family and Alex filled them in on what had been going on with them. He learned that his mother beat breast cancer three years ago, and that his father was just starting his third term as mayor. Alex also told him about Kevin and Kristin and agreed with Jessica that she seemed to be pretty sweet, but she was from New Orleans and none of them really knew much about her. Before Nick realized it, they had been there for three hours talking away. If Nick wanted to see his parents today, he would have to leave soon.

“I hate to do this man, but I’ve gotta get going. I wanna get out to my parents house before dark. I don’t know how good I will do on the little country roads after living in the city for so long.”

“Yea, no problem man. It is good to see you. I am glad you are back.”

“Me too, man. Me too!”

The sky had already begun to change as orange and pink spread across the sky. The sun was peaking above the horizon by about 25 degrees. Nick let his mind wander as he thought of all of his memories from home. He knew that he was about to find out if he had gotten his hopes up about a reunion with his family. His father was a good man, but he had his limits and Nick hoped that he hadn’t reached his yet.

That is when it happened, something he least expected. Something that he had never seen before, but knew immediately what it was. The sound was muffled and far away, but the huge mushroom shaped cloud the billowed high into the sky could only be one thing. The one thing that no one could escape, the one thing that could kill us all. Just as the realization hit him, he was hit.

He was hit head on by a car that must have been looking at the impressive mushroom cloud. Then it was nothing. Nothing at all, just darkness. Inside this darkness though, Nick knew that we, the United States was in trouble.

Chapter 1

Nick’s POV

I woke up with my head pounding with a force I had never felt before. I tried to focus my eyes on my surroundings, but I couldn’t clearly make out anything. I could smell something burning, but I didn’t feel and heat, so I was pretty confident that it was close to me. Reaching up to my face I attempted to wipe away whatever it was that was clouding my vision, but I soon realized that that wasn’t such a great idea. Pain shot across my head as I felt the gash in my forehead. Blood, it must be blood in my eyes. What happened? And more importantly where the hell am I? It doesn’t take me long to realize that I am upside down in my car. Oh shit….I am upside down in my car, my baby, my 2008 Mustang Selene! Oh God, please don’t let her be totaled. How the hell did I wreck her? What could have possibly caused me to be so careless with something so special to me? Then it hit me….the mushroom cloud. Fear consumed my body at this realization. From my 6 years in the Marines I learned that one thing made an explosion like that….Nuclear Bombs!

But what the hell was a Nuclear bomb doing going off in the United States, no forget that, Louisiana?! What the hell was so important in Louisiana that would make someone Nuke it? As my mind starts to contemplate this, I suddenly remember that there was another car. Shit! Are they alright? I suddenly felt the urge to get myself out of the car. I needed to check on those people, and let’s face it; it isn’t too much fun being upside down in a wrecked car. I unbuckled my seatbelt and screamed in pain as I felt a piece of glass pierce my shoulder. Mother Fucking Shit, as if I weren’t hurt enough already. Gritting my teeth through the pain I low crawled my way out of my baby. I turn back and take a look at her, and boy was that a mistake. She was ruined. Totally and utterly demolished. That figures it would be like that. The one thing that I own that I am proud of gets destroyed.

Pulling my attention away from my car, I look around and spot the source of the smoke that I smell. It is the other car and from the looks of the smoke billowing out from underneath the hood, I think it is safe to say that there is a fire under it. I run over quickly to get a closer look inside and winch immediately at the site. It is immediately obvious that the man driving is dead. I could literally see parts of his brain seeping through his skull. I rush around to the passenger side a reach my hand in through the window and place two fingers on the woman’s neck searching for a pulse. Without finding one I conclude that she didn’t make it either. I am really feeling freaked out now. I mean I am standing in the middle of Hwy 445 and there are two dead people here. I reach into my pocket and pull out my cell phone trying multiple times to get through to 911, but all I get is a message saying that all networks are busy. Screw this. I am only about five miles outside of town; if I hurry I should be able to make it back before it gets to dark. I look down at my watch, 7:20, shit never mind about the before it gets dark part. In 20 more minutes it will be dark. Never the less, I have got to get back into town and get someone out here to clean up this mess.

After walking about 30 minutes cursing out loud to myself, I realize that I couldn’t have chosen a worse day to come back to Loranger. I mean damn I haven’t been here in 6 years, and the day I come freaking Louisiana gets NUCKED!!!!How in the world does that make any sense? After another 10 or so minutes of more ranting and kicking the dirt I see a light flashing out of the corner of my eye. Turning my body towards the light, I see what looks like head lights. I wonder if it is another car. Curious of course, I get off the road walking across the ditch and into the trees. It doesn’t take me long to realize that it is a school bus. I take off running towards the bus, almost afraid of what I was going to find. Once I reached the bus, a woman opens the door and allows me on.

“I am so glad you are here. I have been trying to get a hold of emergency services, but it say’s all lines are tied up.” She said with her heavy southern accent. Man those were going to take some getting used to again.

“Yea, I know I was in a wreck a couple of miles back and I couldn’t get in touch with them either. What in the hell is going on?” I asked as if she would have answers that I didn’t know.

“I don’t know! There was the loud noise and then this huge cloud of smoke in the air, and the bus driver totally flipped out. I think he had a heart attack. But he ended up driving off the road and into the woods. I am pretty sure he is dead.”

“Is everyone else okay?” I ask looking around at the kids.

“I think so.” She replied unsure.

“Not her, not her.” Said a little boy from the back.

“Who?” I ask.

“”Grace. She says she can’t breathe and her mouth is starting to turn blue.” Answered the little boy.

I run back and find the little girl turning blue and I immediately start freaking out. I have to remind myself over and over again to think. What would I have done if something like this happened to one of my buddy’s in Iraq? THINK NICK!!!! A trach, a field trach. “I need a pen. Does anybody have a pen? And a knife, or a key, something sharp.”

“I have my swish army knife.” a little boy said as he handed it to me.

“Here, I have a pen.” Answered another kid tossing it at me too.

“You!” I said pointing to the girl who let me one the bus.

“Jennifer.” She acknowledged me, telling me her name.

“Jennifer, I need you to come hold Grace down. This is going to hurt, but we have to open her airway or she is going to die. Okay? Do you think you can handle that?” I say to her trying to stay calm, but inside I am seriously freaking out. I had never done this on a real person before. I had done it plenty of times on dummies, but everyone knows it is different when you do the real thing.

“Yea, I can do it.” She answered with fear evident in her voice.

“Just hold her down and look away. I promise to try and do it fast.” I tell her trying to ease some of her fear. She simply nods her head and lay’s her body partially over Grace to hold her still. I look down at Grace and see fear in her eyes too, but hers isn’t a fear of me with a knife, hers is a fear of dying.

“I promise this will only hurt for a few seconds, and then you will be able to breathe, alright?” I tell her, trying to console her. A single tear rolls down her cheek as she nods her head yes.

I pull the tip and the ink out of the pen and hallow it out, before carefully feeling for Graces vocal cords. Once I find the vocal cords, I go one finger width beneath it. I take a deep breath and press the knife against her throat forcefully, feeling it pierce her skin. She immediately begins to cry and I drag the knife along her esophagus about a half an inch long. Once I made the incision I stuck my finger into her throat to make sure I made it to the wind pipe. Finding out that I successfully made the hole, I remove my finger and replace it with the pen.

“Now try to breathe Grace. Take small breaths, and tell me if you can feel air in your lungs.” I tell her once I think I have it place properly.

I see her chest rise and fall slowly and a small smile creeps across her face. I took that as a sign that yes, she could breathe. I can’t believe I just freaking did that. I trached someone in a freaking school bus. I didn’t even get to do that shit in Iraq, but here I am in butt-hole Louisiana, emergency traching someone. That was like the coolest thing ever.

“That was like the coolest thing I have ever seen.” Jennifer said as she lifted her body off of Grace.

“Don’t move to much Grace, and don’t try to talk, because as long as you have that hole in your neck you won’t be able to speak, okay?” Grace nodded gently letting me know that she heard me.

“Where did you learn to do that?” Jennifer continued to talk.

“The military.” I stated simply.

“They teach you guys that stuff?”

“Well yea, it is called buddy first aid. If someone you work with gets hurt, we are supposed to know how to perform life saving services. It comes in handy in Iraq.”

“You’ve been to Iraq?”

“Do you always ask so many questions?” I shoot back at her. I didn’t know this girl and that was unusual for me, because I thought I knew everyone in Loranger.

“Sorry, I am just nervous.”

“It’s alright. I am Nick by the way.”

“Nice to meet you Nick. What were you doing in these parts? I don’t think I have ever seen you here before.” She asked.

“Actually I grew up here, and I was thinking the same thing about you. Granted I have been gone for a few years, I thought I knew everybody in Loranger.”

“I moved here from Holden four years ago to teach.” She replied. “Maybe I know some of your family.”

“Oh, I am sure you do. My name is Nick Carter, as in Mike Carters son, and Kevin Carters little brother.” I answer watching shock move over her face.

“No shit, the mayor is your dad? You are the Nick Carter huh? A friend of mine tells me stories all the time about the good old days with you.”

“Really who is that?”

“Jessica Smith.”

I smiled to myself happy to learn that Jessica was telling people stories about our past, and as much as I wanted to hear more of the story, I knew that we needed to get this bus back in town. Grace was going to need real medical attention. There was a risk of infection in the incision due to none of the equipment being sterilized and I didn’t want her having any unnessacary complications.

“We should try to get this bus out of here.” I said making my way back up to the front. I checked the drivers pulse just to make sure he was dead before moving him and to my surprise I felt a pulse. It was treading and shallow, but it was there.

“He has a pulse!” I yelled back at Jennifer.

“What?” she answered shocked.

“A heart beat, he has one. It is shallow though, so we have got to hurry. Come help me move him.”

We move the driver into the front seat of the bus and I hope into the driver’s seat. After a couple failed attempts the bus finally roars to a start. YES! Now I just had to drive up back safely. Hoping that in fives minutes time we would be in the town limits, and I would feel much safer there. A few minutes later we pulled in front of the school, which happens to be right in front of the sheriff’s station to find a parking lot full of parents terrified about the absence of their children. I rush to the back of the bus and gently pick Grace up. I carry her off the bus, and just as I had her off to her mother, explaining what happened and I turn around and find myself face to face with none other than my dad.

“Hello son.” He simply greeted me.

“Dad….”

Chapter 2


To say things were awkward between Nick and his dad was an understatement. After coming face to face with him the night before for the first time in six years he found himself speechless. He’d went over the things he wanted to say to him thousands of times before, yet at that moment none of them seemed appropriate. What exactly do you say to someone who you disappointed so immensely? ‘Sorry about that dad.’ Just doesn’t seem appropriate. But then again what is appropriate? How do you make up for not contacting your family at all for the last six years? Looking back at his original reasons for cutting off contact and he felt foolish. He was angry because his father had the ability to get him out of the situation he was put in, but he didn’t. Back then Nick didn’t understand and by the time he realized that his dad was just trying to be a good father and teach him responsibilities, he felt that it was too late to just pick up the phone and say ‘hey dad sorry I have totally ignored your attempts to contact me for the last four years.’

Needless to say when his father insisted that Nick stay at their home he was rather shocked. His father did a good job of avoiding the overhanging subject of Nick’s rebellion, for he really was just happy to see that his son was okay. Nick looked around the yard as they pulled up to his childhood home and he wasn’t shocked at all that it looked exactly the same. He could probably close his eyes and maneuver the property with ease. The property was still well lit with field lights, something his mother always insisted on for some unknown reason, however at this moment he was thankful for them. The impressive live oak tree to the left of the house still had his pitiful excuse for a tree house in it. He spent day’s building it with Kevin when they were just kids. ‘I can’t believe that thing is still up.’ He thought to himself. He smiled again as his eyes fell to the tire swing that hung from one of the lower branches; he broke his arm on that swing when he was seven years old. That didn’t stop him though; he was back on it the next day, cast and all. As he glanced toward the house and noticed that the wraparound porch had been remodeled, the surrounding banister was no longer the alabaster color it once was. It was now a more orange color aged wood, which matches the new stain on the house as well. The house, he had always loved the house. It was an older house with an open floor plan that was easy to navigate. It was always great for the parties they would throw when his parents went away on vacation. He clanked up to the second floor to what used to be his room and laughed again to himself as he thought of all the times he had climbed out of that window to sneak away at night and go down to the river. ‘That was the good ole days, before the REAL trouble started.’ He thought.

Finally making his was towards the house, anxiety filled him again. What would his mother think about him being there? She had never been one to hold her tongue and he fully expected her wrath for his actions. He knew that he would immediately receive a tight hug and a kiss, but soon after she was sure to start on a rant about his absence. ‘He goes nothing.’ He thought to himself as he stepped onto the porch.

“The house looks good Dad.” Nick said feeling the need to acknowledge the change.

“Thanks we decided to remodel the outside a couple years back. Your mom recently decided to remodel the inside now. She say’s we are still living in the 80’s, but you know me, I am not crazy about change.” His dad replied.

Nick took this chance to poke a little fun at his dad, “So I take it, you aren’t too fond of the new President then?”

“Humph” Mike Carter simply replied. It is long known that Mike Carter was a hard core conservative to the bone, and while Nick considered himself conservative he always loved to play devil’s advocate with his father when it came to politics.

“That’s what I thought.” Nick laughed lightly.

“Well, look at the situation we are in now. I am not sure what exactly happened today, but I can guarantee that it wouldn’t have happened with a Republican in office.” He mumbled as the stepped in to the house.

“Now come on day, you don’t really believe that. I mean look at 9/11, that happened with a Republican in office.” Nick countered.

“Yea, but it was planned while a democrat was.” Mike shot back.

“Well this new guy just got inaugurated a month ago; you can’t possibly believe that, whatever this is was planned in a month, so that would void your point, because a republican was in office before him.”

“Humph.” Mike said again. One thing Mike would not do was admit defeat. He would just mull over it for a few hours and then out of nowhere bring it back up so that he could justify his opinion.

Nick let it go following his father inside. As soon as he stepped foot into the house he knew he was home. The smell of his mom’s cooking filled his nose as he inhaled what he guessed was chicken and dumplings and homemade bread. “Oh that smells so good!” Nick said taking a deep breath, allowing his senses to kick it. His mouth was already watering.

Suddenly he heard his mother’s voice. “You have got to be kidding me; I would know that voice in my sleep.” His mother said as she rounded the corner. “Nickolas Gene, you get over here right now and give you mother a hug.”

Nick obeyed and took a few steps forward meeting his mom and wrapped his arms around her small frame. He kissed her cheek and smiled down at her. She looked the same, with just a few more small wrinkles in the creases of her eyes, her hair was still a striking blond, artificial of course, and she was just a slim as she had always been. “It is good to see you mom.” Nick said as he pulled away from her.

“Look at you, all grown up into a man. I never would have thought….” She said while eyes grazed over his body. “You look great son. I’ve missed you.” She added.

‘Great!’ thought Nick. Here comes the water works.

Tears began flowing down her cheeks. “Six years, since I have seen you. Six years since I have seen my baby. I honestly thought this day wasn’t gonna happen. What brought you back, not that I am not thrilled for you to be here, but why after six years?” she muffled out through the tears.

Nick searched his mind for the right things to say, but they just didn’t come to him. So he just went with instinct. “I am so sorry mom. I was just foolish when I was younger, angry at the world, angry at the situation that I was in, and by the time I realized just how stupid I was being, I was out in Iraq. I promised myself that I was going to make it right, but between two tours in the desert, there wasn’t any time to really make it up to you guys. However, now I can. I was honorable discharged, and I decided that it was time to come back home and make thing right.”

“Oh Nick!” his mother cried harder as she threw his arms around him. “I am so glad you are home. I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too mom, I missed you guys more than I can say.” Nick replied fighting tears from escaping his own eyes.

His mother suddenly stepped back and wiped the tears off of her face. “Now what happened to your head? Let me get a look at it.” She said pulling Nick to sit down at a nearby table.

“I wrecked my car earlier out on 445, it was pretty bad.”

“Goodness how did that happen.” She questioned.

“It was that explosion. I was looking at it and apparently so was the other car, because they crossed into my lane and we hit head on. I guess my car flipped, because when I came to, it was upside down.”

“Oh my, how are the people in the other car.”

Nick simply shook his head ‘no’ implying that they hadn’t made it, without actually having to say it out loud.

“God help them.” She said. “I will be right back, let me go get something to clean you up with.” She added as she turned and walked off.

“What do you think is going on dad?” Nick asked his father.

“I am not sure son, but I know it isn’t good.” Mike replied.

“It looked like the explosion came from New Orleans. Do you think terrorist may have attacked it because of the port?” Nick questioned.

“I don’t know, but I hope that the winds are in our favor for the next couple of days, because fallout from a nuclear bomb can reach hundreds of miles if the wind is in its favor.” His dad answered.

“So you think it was a nuke too?”

“Do you know of anything else that produces that type of smoke cloud?” his father asked.

“No, I don’t. The first thing I thought was that it was a Nuclear Bomb, but why in the world, no who in the world has the ability for attack the U.S. with Nuclear weapons?” Nick asked shaking his head confused.

“Someone does….” Mike answered with fear evident in his voice. “Someone definitely does.”

After excusing himself up to his room after dinner and light conversation, Nick laid down on the same twin size bed he had spent his entire childhood on. It was good to be home, and so far the transition hadn’t been bad. With the exception of the bomb of course. Nick was really worried about what was going on and quite frankly he was terrified. The main question he had was whether or not there were more bombs, or if by some chance New Orleans was the only city to get hit.  ‘Man if it is, I can see it now, we thought there was a ton of conspiracy theories about Hurricane Katrina, we haven’t seen anything yet’  he thought. But for some reason, he didn’t think that was the case.

 

It took a while but sleep finally consumed him and he slept surprisingly well. It is amazing what nostalgia will do for you. Everything down to the color of the walls and the scent of the home was totally comforting. The next morning he woke up determined to get some answers about what was going on. He needed to know if we had retaliated yet. Who did this? What did they want?

 

After showering and getting into some fresh clothes he made his way downstairs and was greeted by the aroma of eggs and deer sausage. Allowing his nose to guide him, he easily found the source of the smell in the kitchen. His dad sat at the table reading his daily bible study and his mother at the stove flipping the sausage. “Morning.” He simply greeted them as he sat at the table across from his dad.

 

“Morning sweetie, you hungry?” his mom asked walking over and kissing him on his head. “Your head is looking better this morning.”

 

“Yea, it feels better too, and breakfast sounds great.” He replied. “Umm, dad?”

 

Mike looked up from his bible and raised his eyes at Nick.

 

“Would you mind if I went into town with you today. I really want to find out what is going on. I have a feeling that things are going to get crazy pretty quick if they aren’t already.”

 

Mike stared at his son for a second. What happened to the Nick that left Loranger six years ago? The Nick he knew was only interested in things that directly involved him. He didn’t care about anything that was outside his little bubble of existence. “Dad, did you hear me? Can I go with you today?”

 

Shaking himself from his shock, “Yes, of course, plus Kevin will be in town and I am sure he would love to see you.”

 

After eating breakfast the two men made their way into town, anxious to get to the Mayor’s Office and see if any information had been passed. Quickly exiting the cars and rushing inside Nick abruptly stopped as soon as he entered. His eyes glued to the girl in front of him, a girl who probably never wanted to see his face again. Abby Littrell. It could be assumed that she felt his gaze because it didn’t take long for her eyes to pull towards his. Her face quickly went through an array of emotions, joy, sadness, and anger all within seconds of each other.

 

“Nick, what are you doing here?” she asked evidently not happy to see him.

 

“I got back yesterday.” Nick simply replied. He could see that this conversation wasn’t going to go well, so he was trying to keep it brief.

 

“That figures, you come back to town and all hell breaks loose.”

 

“Abby…look I didn’t come back to start anything okay. I came back to try and fix my relationship with my family and friends that I have had my entire life….you included.”

 

“Yea, well you can forget about that Nick. You killed my brother. How could you too be so stupid? Brian is gone, forever, and you want to fix it? You can’t fix it Nick.” She said as her eyes started to fill with tears.

 

“Abby, it was an accident. Do you really think I would purposely kill one of my best friends?” Nick replied running his hand nervously through his hair.

 

“An accident? A fucking accident? Nick you were driving 90 miles an hour down a gravel road! What did you think would happen?”

 

“I didn’t know the tire was gonna blow out. You know I couldn’t have wanted this to happen.” He said pleading with her.

 

“Well, it did happen, and now I get to live everyday knowing that they guy I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with killed my brother, because he was stupid and drunk and thought he was invincible.”

 

“Abby…” Nick started.

 

“Don’t Nick, just don’t. Please just stay away from me okay? I have moved on, and I am finally happy again. I am getting married in two months; I really don’t need you in my life. So please just stay away.”

 

Nick nodded his head understanding where she was coming from. “Alright. If that is what you want, then I guess I have no choice but to stay away from you, but just so you know….I am staying.” With that Nick turned and walked away.

 

His mind now plagued by that Friday night, driving down Lee Rd, bringing more booze back to the party, when he and Brian decided it would be fun to see how fast his pickup truck would go down a gravel road. When the front tire busted, Nick lost control of the truck and ended up flipping multiple times. Neither of them was wearing seatbelts, which caused Brian to be ejected out of the car, only for it to land on top of him. Nick used everything he had in him to try and lift the truck off of Brian, but in the end Brian died in his arms. The judge had been lenient on him, but vehicular homicide was something that he couldn’t get away with a slap on the wrist. The judgment was 18 months in prison, suspended by enlistment in the armed forces.

 

Everyone in the entire town looked at him with such shame. Brian was a golden boy. He was the towns pride and joy, all-star quarterback, a full ride to LSU, and full of faith in God. And because of Nick his life was cut short. Abby took it the hardest. It was like she wanted to hate Nick, but she couldn’t and in turn it made her hate herself. The love of her life, the only guy she had ever given herself to, killed her brother, and she still loved him. She still wanted to be with him, and it disgusted her. She tried to just shut him out of her mind hoping that her love would just fade, but months later when Nick was already gone, she still wanted him. Now though, now was a different story. Now she was not only angry that he killed her brother, she was angry because it took him six years to get his ass back there. Six years! And just when she is about to get married!

Nick walked into his dad’s office shaking his head, “You could’ve warned me that Abby works here.”

 

“Sorry, it slipped my mind. There are more pressing issues.” His dad responded tonelessly as he gazed at his computer screen.

 

“What have you found out?” Nick asked.

 

“Well it looks like there have been multiple attacks on most major US cities. Houston, New Orleans, Tampa, Miami, New York City, LA, San Diego, Denver, D.C., Detroit, Chicago….tons more, they are all completely destroyed. This say’s that the fallout will reach its limits after 72 hours and that everyone needs to get underground if possible. If it is not possible then it say’s all doors and window seals should be ducked taped to keep the contaminated air from getting in. It say’s to stay indoors until it rains.”

 

“How long will it be till it rains?”

 

“I don’t know son, but this is Louisiana, it can’t be too long.” Mike replied.

 

“So what do we do?” Nick asked.

 

“Well, we call a town hall meeting and let everyone know what needs to be done. We need to get all the people in the hospital down into the basement, and we need to make sure everyone tapes their windows and doors. Let’s get going we don’t have much time.”

 

This is something Nick knew how to do well, plan on a whim. In the Marines, you don’t always have a lot of time to make decisions and once a decision is made you stick to it. Nick somehow knew that this was his chance to prove himself. To prove that he wasn’t the same punk kid that left six years ago.