The Unit by Mike Lynch (ereader ebook txt) 📕

wrong at the same time if you tried."
The heat must have finally got to the old man. His business was all but none existent, no one to talk to all day, and he sat in this infernal heat without so much as a break. Put it all together—the guy finally cracked. "Look, Ernie. Maybe you should close up, lie down for a while."
The old man bounded to his feet and threw his arm around Sam's shoulder. "We'll all be going out feet first soon enough, but between now and then we should at least enjoy ourselves."
"What are you talking about? Enjoy what?"
"This!" He jerked his oversized leather chair out of the way and pointed at a brown, rectangular-shaped box on his desk. Stamped on one of the sides, four big red letters said as succinctly as possible: BEEF.
Sam swallowed hard. "Beef?" Their eyes met. "Where did you get that?"
"Came in about an hour ago," Ernie said, his voice brimming with pride. "With the other deliveries."
"You mean there's more?" Though Sam thought long and hard, but he couldn't imagine anything better than beef.
"Uh huh. Vegetables. Not the kind you find in a can, but real vegetables, like freshly grown corn. And fruit. Bananas, mangos, nectarines. Even a loaf of bread."
Fruit? He was wrong. That topped beef. "But how is this possible? Unless you know something different, every farm in five counties went bust when all the lakes and reservoirs dried up. Then there's the tractors for plowing and harvesting. Engines need gasoline, and all the oil reserves were used up in a wasted effort to keep the air conditioners running." Sam pointed at the unit wedged between makeshift window frames. "And every other device that brought us temporary relief from the heat."
"Seems as though everyone's assessment of the situation wasn't as dire as first believed."
"I know, but all this." Sam stopped and scrutinized the box of beef, and then turned towards the unit. "Or something else is going on."
"What else could it...be?" Ernie had a hard time getting the last word out, as though a terrible realization hit him at full force.
Without a moment's hesitation, Sam hurried over to the air conditioner. He grabbed the "on" switch, but suddenly found himself paralyzed. If what he feared happened did happen, the life of every single person on the face of the earth had just taken a terrible turn. Drawing in a deep breath, he closed his eyes tight and finally flipped the switch.
After several tense moments, a gentle hum rose up from the long dormant motor, followed by a steady stream of cold air blowing out of both slatted vents.
Both men looked at each other, and then back at the unit.
"If there's power for this that must mean..." Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out the clump of bills. "How much for everything in today's delivery?"
A look of acceptance settled into the old man's features. "We're having a special today. All fruits and vegetables are half off. Let's say $5000 for the whole lot."
Sam spread out the bills in his hand. "Looks like I'm a little short. I only have $4400."
"You can owe me the rest," he said, followed by a broad grin.
"You've been a good friend, Ernie." There was more Sam wanted to say, things he should have said years ago, but they became relegated to the realm of the unspoken the moment that air conditioner snapped on. The one and only thought on his mind was getting home to his family before it was too late.
Sensing the urgency in his demeanor, Ernie quickly threw everything into a box and handed it over with a smile. "May this be the best meal you've ever had."
Sam nodded and then hurried out of the store.
Darting onto his porch faster than he anticipated, Sam crashed through the front door, the box of food nestled close to his chest. Inside, a blast of cool air wrapped tight around his face and arms. He basked in the sensation before catching sight of Billy gleefully standing in front of the air conditioner.
"I knew the unit would come on today," he said, his eyes beaming. "I just had a feeling."
Sam put the box on the kitchen table and came down on one knee. "Looks like you were right." He held his arms wide.
Billy recognized the cue and practically leapt into his uncle's arms. He couldn't remember the last time his nephew had hugged him that tight. "You know what this means, don't you?"
The answer could not have been more obvious, but Sam couldn't bring himself to say it out loud.
"It's all gonna be over soon. The heat, everybody going away. We're going to be in heaven, where bad things won't ever happen again."
Sam pulled back and studied Billy's face. His mother had taught him about God and the Bible since he was little, saying the two of them would meet in heaven one day, and he clung to that hope like his life depended on it. It was so easy for a child to believe, at least it seemed that way to Sam. For those who witnessed the innocent get victimized again and again...or watched good people die, believing came much harder.
"I guess you know what's coming," a voice said from behind.
Sam turned back and acknowledged his brother standing in the kitchen. "How long?"
"An hour, maybe a little longer. When the air conditioner came on, I tried the radio. It was hard hearing the announcer through all the static, but if I understood him right, a number of observatories have recorded a marked increase in solar activity for the past two weeks, which has accounted for the recent rise in temperatures. But…" His gaze slipped downward.
"But what, Jake?"
"Their instruments detected a class ten eruption on the surface of the sun about twenty minutes ago."
Sam slowly exhaled. "Well, that's it then. A flare up of that magnitude will fry every living thing on the earth.” He placed his hand on the box of groceries. “A fitting end to the human race, don't you think? The victims of a once nurturing sun now transformed into a lethal red giant."
A sullen expression edged into Jake’s features, and his face lost some of its fight. “Maybe now would be a good time to bury the hatchet.”
The truth could not be denied any longer. The long-running feud between him and his brother had defined them for so long, Sam couldn't remember the last time he and Jake spent time together as brothers. Perhaps now was as good a time as any he did something about that. “Agreed. With the end practically at our doorstep—”
"But this doesn't have to be the end for us, Uncle Sammy," Billy interrupted. "Like my mother said, if you believe what the Bible says, about God and Jesus, how he made all the bad things we've done go away, we can go to heaven when we die. Don't you believe that?"
Sam turned and fixed his gaze on the unit. He wanted to believe, more than anyone would know, but he couldn't bring himself to accept all the mistakes of the past could be washed away by a simple profession of faith. "We may not have long, but at least we'll go out comfortable. We have a nice cool house and a wonderful meal that awaits us, compliments of our government. They may have mucked up our lives since this pitiful country of ours began, but at least they got the end right."
Billy father's leaned over and picked up the box. "I'll fire up the barbeque and throw those pieces of meat on the grill. Why don't you two take care of the rest?"
Sam took out the special family crystal and china, compliments of Billy's mother. Without exception, Jenny enjoyed having dinner parties whenever possible, and made sure her guests were served with the very best. He remembered how she always looked after the needs of others, something she said was an extension of her faith. People said a lot of things over the course of their lives, some of it true and some of it not, but seldom had he come across someone who truly loved others just for who they were, and he respected her for that. After all that had happened was it possible he could have the same thing in his life?
The smell of cooked beef wafted in from outside, creating a heavenly aroma in the dining room. Moments later, Jake brought in a sizzling plate of tri-tip in one hand, a bottle of wine he had been saving for this occasion in the other.
"Lunch is served." He cut three equal-sized portions and placed them on the plates before both pairs of hungry eyes. Billy's father spun around and went outside again, this time returning with a plate of steaming corn piled on it. "And to compliment the meal."
When he took his place at the table, all three of them looked at one another in stony silence, as though no one could bring himself to spoil the moment. Sam finally let out a laugh, followed by Jake. Billy's impatience finally got the better of him and he planted his fork into the piece of meat on his plate and cut off a small piece. A broad grin blossomed on his face after he slipped the tasty morsel into his mouth. At that the other two dug into the feast before them. First went the tri-tip, then the loaf of bread, followed by the corn, mangos, bananas, and nectarines, all of them disappearing in short order.
Jake downed the last of the wine in his glass. "I think this was probably the best meal I've ever had," he said after letting out a belch. "A fitting way to say goodbye."
A lengthy pause followed before Billy pushed back on his chair and ran outside.
"Billy, wait!" Sam called out, and then hurried after him.
"I think I see it," he said, pointing up.
Sam held up his hand and did his best to block out the red disk covering half the sky. A short distance from the edges, a circular ring of white pushed outwards into space. Though he was no scientist, Sam knew it wouldn’t be long before the potent eruption of charged particles slammed into the earth.
"Isn't it beautiful," Billy declared. "It's like Mommy sent it to bring me home to her."
Jake knelt down next to his son and placed his arm on his shoulder. "Yes, we'll both be seeing her soon."
Sam didn't reply. He just kept his gaze fixed on the growing circle of white.
"Uncle Sammy, God can forgive you like he did me and dad. All you have to do is ask."
"I...I." The words lodged in his throat. He looked down at his nephew, and then back up at the sun. All he had done in his life came crashing into his thoughts. Image after image burned in his mind, convicting him, like how he turned his back on the church as a boy because the thought of a distant God telling him how he