The Other Green

Four Horsemen

18 Hours After The Bombs

(3rd person POV)

In another part of Town a man is pulling on rain boots and a rain suit. He is preparing to go out in the storm. The man is Robert Hawkins a new comer to Jericho who showed up mysteriously before the bombs went off. Hawkins gets into U-Haul and drives to a storage facility. Once at the storage facility he opens the back of the U-Haul and gets a dolly from the back. He wheels the dolly out of the U-Haul towards a storage cubicle. He unlocks the cubicle and enters it closing the door behind him.

(Lizzie's POV)

Jake, Emily, Bonnie, The deputies and I are still in the cellar of the Richmond Ranch, waiting out the storm. We can still hear the rain pounding down on the cellar door. Jake and I are sitting on the stairs with the deputies, Emily and Bonnie sit in another corner of the cellar. 

"She's still not talking." Jake says. After Emily killed that man and we came down to the cellar she closed herself off a bit and wasn't talking to any of us.

"I get that. I mean, I'm a cop. I've never killed anybody." One of the deputies, Bill says. "She's a schoolteacher."

"Where's Stanley? Jake, my brother doesn't know about the radiation." *Bonnie says, and signs. She looks a bit panicked. I understand her worry for her brother, its the same worry I've been carrying around for the last 5 years.

"When the rain stops, he'll be back. Don't worry." Jake says trying to reassure Bonnie. But Bonnie just turns away and goes to sit back down. "Bonnie, I know Stanley. He'll be fine." Jake continues, I stand up to go talk to Bonnie but I stop when the other deputy, Jimmy says.

"Jake, Elizabeth, I got your brother. He's with your dad." Jimmy then hands Jake a walkie talkie.

"Finally." I mutter. 

"Eric, how's Dad?" Jake asks.

"He's good. The town hall shelter is secure. Listen, Jake, where are you?" Eric's voice crackles over the walkie talkie. 

"I'm at the Richmonds'. As soon as the rain stops, get every digging tool you can find and get to the mine. I had to blow the entrance to keep the rain out. Those people have been sealed up way too long. And I'm more worried the explosion might have put some debris into the ventilator."

"Enough to slow it down?" 
 

"Enough to shut it down. We've gotta get them out."

"We can't reach anyone at the mine. We have no radio contact with anyone there." I add, when we first got to the cellar we had been trying to reach anybody with the walkie talkie and the town hall shelter were the only people we've reached so far. We finish our conversation and continue waiting out the storm in silence. I see Jake staring at Emily. 

"Go talk to her." I encourage and Jake gets up to sit next to Emily. Bonnie moves to give them privacy and comes to sit next to me. 

"How do you deal with it?" Bonnie signs.

"With what?" I sign back.

"Worrying about your brothers."

"It's a skill I've worked on over time. And your always going to worry about your brother, but you learn to worry less as time goes on."

"What if he doesn't make it, he's the only family I have left." Bonnie signs, after her and Stanleys parents were killed in a car crash years ago it's just been the Richmond siblings.

"He'll be okay, plus family doesn't end with blood. I consider you like a little sister to me." Bonnie smiles at this and signs.

"Thanks for the pep talk."

"You're welcome." Then a thud is heard from above us. 

"What is it?" Bonnie asks

"Someone's in the house."  We all prepare ourselves for if someone come into the cellar and I hope it doesn't end in a fight. The deputies raise their guns and I hear one mutter. "Not more prisoners."  Emily grabs Bonnie's arm and I push them both behind and Jake comes and stands in front of all of us. The Deputies stand close to the stairs. The door to the cellar opens and the stairwell floods with light. The door then closes and then down the stairs comes a very wet Stanley.