Nuclear Winter Armageddon by Bobby Akart (best large ereader .txt) 📕

had been infusing conch, supposedly a natural aphrodisiac, into Hank’s morning power shakes. Especially when there were lady guests staying at the inn.

“No, but I think you’ve forgotten that your ancestors were big believers in its natural benefits, like iron, calcium, and vitamins E and B12.”

“Yeah, yeah. So what are you working on?”

“Mr. Hank, sometimes you have to do things that you never imagined you’d need to do, much less use,” she replied. She placed her hand on a book with recipes for using essential oils and spun it around for Hank to see. “I’m making this recipe for radiation exposure damage. Did you know many cancer patients who are required to have radiation therapy use antioxidants and essential oils to minimize the damage to their skin and organs?”

Hank flinched at the mention of the C-word, cancer. His wife, Megan, had died of breast cancer eight years prior. He didn’t respond, and Phoebe noticed his reaction, so she continued.

“She didn’t want you to know about how much pain she was in, Mr. Hank. I helped her through it the best I could using this recipe.” She paused to pick up a bronze glass medicine dropper bottle and handed it to Hank. It was labeled QuadShield.

“What is QuadShield?” he asked.

“It’s a brand of essential oils that I can recreate on my own with this recipe. It has a blend of Melrose and citrus oils like lemon and orange. When you take it with vitamin C, which we bought before, you know, the bombs, plus a medicine like Megan’s thyroid capsules, your body can fight off the effects of the radiation.”

“I’m sure none of her medicine is still around,” said Hank.

“True, but there are natural alternatives like bananas, which are rich in potassium, and this.” She reached for a four-pound box of Morton iodized table salt. She refilled the salt shakers in the bar and dining room with it.

“Will that work?” Hank asked. “I mean, to block radiation or whatever.”

“I hope we’ll never have to find out, but for now, it’s all we’ve got.”

Hank nodded his approval. He began to wander around the kitchen, randomly picking up dropper bottles and reading the labels. Lavender, lemon, peppermint, rosemary, and chamomile were some of the ingredients he saw used the most often. Each label also had the oil’s proposed use, including antibacterial, pain, headache, and stress.

“I’ll take a bottle of this,” he said before adding, “Make it a double.”

It was lavender, the most effective essential oil for stress.

Part IV

Day eleven, Monday, October 28

Chapter Twenty-Five

Monday, October 28

Fairfax, Virginia

Jackie was sobbing as Peter grasped her by the hand and led her through the CVS parking lot. He constantly glanced over his shoulder to watch for the last gunman to emerge in some poorly conceived effort to gain revenge for the deaths of his buddies. Peter had murdered them. That was a fact. Not that his actions could ever be justified, he knew that if he didn’t strike first, they would’ve killed him.

Once they crossed the boulevard and entered the woods, Jackie dropped to her knees from mental and physical exhaustion. Peter knelt down next to her. The sun was rising although it was mostly obscured by the smoky skies. The fires surrounding Washington had apparently intensified, and the cloud floating above them was mostly black from soot.

“I’m so sorry,” she said between her deep breaths and sniffles. “You needed me to protect you, and I crawled in the corner to hide.”

Peter gently patted her on the back as if she were a child. To him, it had all worked out well. At least she hadn’t panicked and shot him when he exited the pharmacy area.

“No worries. We’ve got your grandmother’s medicine and a few other things. That’s all that matters.”

“I knew them. At least one of them, anyway.” Jackie wiped her face and nose with her sleeve. Her blubbering subsided as she gathered herself. She glanced through the shrubs toward the drugstore before standing with the assistance of Peter. “I went to high school with him. I hope you shot him. He deserved to die.”

Peter scowled. “Whadya mean?”

“He raped my girlfriend when she was just thirteen. She went to a party to have fun. He was a senior in high school and got her drunk. When she passed out, he raped her.”

“God, Jackie. That’s awful. I’m so—”

“She tried to tell the police, but they said they couldn’t prove it,” Jackie continued. Her jaw was set, and there was anger in her eyes. “After they let him off the hook, he bragged all over school about his conquest, as he called it. My friend and I later found out he did this to other girls.”

Peter had no idea which man she was referring to. As they’d entered the pharmacy, he’d taken them out. Not that it mattered. Certainly, three of them were dead, and the fourth was like a frightened animal bleeding out in the back of the building.

“Well, it’s over now. Come on. Your grandmother and those cute little kids need you.”

Jackie laughed and spontaneously hugged Peter. “They’re not cute, frat boy. They are monsters.”

Peter laughed as he pointed down the path they’d used earlier. “Somehow I doubt that. They seemed well behaved when I was there.”

“They were afraid. Once they get to know you, the true monster comes out of all of them.”

Talking about her siblings seemed to place a new spring in Jackie’s step. She began to half-jog down the path, forcing Peter to do the same to catch up. Once they hit the sidewalks winding their way through the apartment complexes, Jackie was taking long strides as if she were power walking. Peter was amazed at how quickly she’d recovered from her angst.

“Mamaw is gonna be all right, isn’t she?” asked Jackie as they arrived at their complex.

Peter reached out to grab her arm. “Let’s talk about that before we get there. Jackie, this is just a temporary solution for her. I mean, after it’s taken from the fridge,