The Yesterday with no Tomorrow

By James A. Hall III

Susan Anne Miller, was just you average journalist, when her world was reduced to pile of rubble. Never one to take a holocaust lying down, she now collects other survivor to lead them to a new home. Along they way they meet some enemies, and some new friends, visit some interesting places and discover some valuable truths.

• Language: English
• Publisher: James A. Hall III
• Release date: Jun 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458184443

James A. Hall III

James A. Hall III holds an AA in Liberal Arts from Central Florida College, and a BA in English in Creative Writing (and a minor in Theater) from the University of South Florida. He has earned his MA in Library and Information Sciences (MLIS), and a Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies. He desires to work for a Museum of Natural History or a Planetarium, or a Library. He is also the founder of two clubs at the university, and was active in others. He is the author and publisher of The Distant Suns and The Yesterday with No Tomorrow (at Smashwords, affiliates, and Amazon). He also intends to publish The Flare Lance, and the epic series Atlantis 2 (nine books are currently planned; 8 are finished, a ninth is in the works. The series will likely expand.) In addition to these novels he also plans to publish personal collection of his poetry, and short stories. He also blogs about his writings. He is currently editing the first book of Atlantis 2, which will be a Smashwords and associate exclusive. (Amazon will not carry this book unless Smashword make them an associate.)

Book preview

The Yesterday with no Tomorrow

James A. Hall III

Copyright 2011 James A. Hall III

The Yesterday with no Tomorrow

James A. Hall III

Published by James A. Hall III at Smashwords.com.

Discover other titles by James A. Hall III at http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JamesAHall3.

Smashword's Edition, License Notes:

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedication:

This book is respectfully dedicated to all people, who risk their safety on a daily basis, to make other people’s life safer. Most notably:

Police, and military personnel, regardless of what capacity they serve;

Fire fighting personnel, whether they are volunteer fire fighters or not; and

Emergency medical personnel, regardless of whom or what their patients are.

And to all the people who gave their lives, while trying to save others lives, in the World Trade Center bombing, on September 11th, 2001.

Additionally dedicated to the producers, cast, and crew of the movie Independence Day, and the Twilight Zone episode Time enough at Last which served as the main sources of inspiration for parts of this story.

Table of Contents:

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER 1: Welcome to the Worst Day of my Life.

CHAPTER 2: The Police Department

CHAPTER 3: The House of God, and Around Town

CHAPTER 4: The Hospital, and the Park

CHAPTER 5: First Night

CHAPTER 6: Day Two

CHAPTER 7: Week One, Day One – Shreveport-Houston

CHAPTER 8: Week One, Day Two – Houston-San Antonio

CHAPTER 9: Week One, Day Three – San Antonio-Austin and Beyond

CHAPTER 10: Week One, Day Four – Near Austin-Castle Hill

CHAPTER 11: Week One, Day Five – Castle Hill-San Angelo-Painted Blue Canyon

CHAPTER 12: Week One, Day Six – Painted Blue Canyon-Santa Fe

CHAPTER 13: Week One, Day Seven – Santa Fe-Denver

CHAPTER 14: Week Two, Day Eight – Denver-Diamond Valley

CHAPTER 15: Week Two, Day Nine – Diamond Valley-Mount Fitz

CHAPTER 16: Week Two, Day Ten – Mount Fitz-Salt Lake City

CHAPTER 17: Week Two, Day Eleven – Salt Lake City-Idaho Falls

CHAPTER 18: Week Two, Day Twelve – Idaho Falls-Butte

CHAPTER 19: Week Two, Day Thirteen – Butte - Helena

CHAPTER 20: Week Two, Day Fourteen – Helena - Munich Park

CHAPTER 21: A Whole New World

EPILOGUE

PROLOGUE

Today is the 21st day, the month is May, the year is... well, it's not really important anymore, is it? Today does not matter. Tomorrow doesn’t matter. What does matter is yesterday. Yesterday was the day with no tomorrow.

How did It happen?

I don’t know.

Maybe it was a nuclear weapon, more powerful than any other ever used. It could have been an earthquake, a 10 on the Richter scale– everywhere, if that would leave the Earth intact. It was equivalent to 15 giga-tons of TNT. Maybe the dinosaur comet had a twin brother. I read once that comet impact was just over 12.5; 100 terra-tons of TNT. Either way, It was a rating XII on the Mercali scale; Cataclysmic. Maybe God decided to give up on us, but I am not in favor of that particular theory. Maybe the world had just reached its time. I don’t know, and nobody else really cares. But then there aren’t that many other people to care. I would quote the official estimate of living people remaining on that planet, but I don’t think anyone in an official capacity is still alive...

Regardless of how it was destroyed, I am not dead, and I don’t think I am alone. I have seen some other people around, at the edge of my sight, alive. But most of them were much too shell shocked to talk to anyone, and I was not in a tip-top mental state either. I started to write this in hopes that, one day, someone will read it, and that the reader will get something out of it. Some of it is written after the fact, like most of this prologue; some of it is recollection, or an excerpt taken from my journal; and some of it is just written like one. I would suggest any readers to keep one though, for future generation to know that we were not always like this.

Who am I?

Well that is a reasonable question I suppose. I am Susan Anne Miller. I have been in almost every type of life you can imagine, and I am only about 35, maybe 40. Well, a little hedging never hurt, so let’s say I am only 25. My parent’s always thought I would be a nun. And I did know quite a bit about religion. This is why I don’t buy the theory that I mentioned about god giving up or dealing a bit of wrath. As the good book says, I will remember my promise to you and to all the animals that a flood will never again destroy all living beings. (Genesis 9:15) I spent a lot of time in youth bible reading groups, and other religious training programs. At least until I was 15.

At age 15, both my parents died in a horrible car crash, caused by a drunk driver. I became a ward of the state, but I did not fare too well through the first month in the orphanage, so I left; albeit with a great deal of difficulty. I joined a street gang.

I saw a lot of friends die in my time there, which was just over 2 years, but there was little I could do. I couldn’t figure a way out of the life. Eventually I was breaking into a small store that was closed, to rob the till. The cops caught me. The judge did not deal kindly with gang members, so he gave me a long sentence he could for illegal entry, and damage to property. He charged me as an adult, and gave me 3 years in prison, no chance of early parole. I was released at about age 20. But I spent a lot of time in the library, and a lot of time training myself physically.

After that, I asked to join the police force. I could pass the entrance exam since I spent a lot of time in that library, and I was able to pass the physical test, and they asked me why? I said, that I wanted to help make sure nobody else had to go through what I saw in the gang. I still have nightmares of those days. They accepted me, and trained me. But I did not like staying in the city where I was born, and I wanted to see the world. After 5 years I enlisted in the military. I had law enforcement training, and I did see much of the world, and every continent except Antarctica before I reached the end of my term. I exited the military at 30.

After that I took some training in medicine, but while in college, I took a course in journalism. And– in my personal experience– I found that everyone that went into college for anything except journalism, but then took a course in journalism, changed their majors. I heard that from public speakers and, of course, journalists all the time. Now I know why. So at age 35, I became a professional journalist, which I have been for 5 years. And I love it.

When asked what am I, I respond A Journalist. I work for a magazine that you probably never heard of, but that you would have. Our sales were going through the roof only a week ago. Now, well now there is nowhere you can find evidence that we ever existed. I would say the building was destroyed, but that is not the proper way to put it. The city which the building was in was reduced to rubble. I should know; I was in it at the time.

How did I survive? Where was I?

I was checking on a hot lead. I had frequent phone calls from a man with no face and no name– usually the best sources. He sent me a package containing a letter and a key. The letter said he felt uncomfortable mailing the evidence. He left it at the bank. I sent his blind PO box a small down payment, and the deal was, I go to the bank with the key he mailed me, and I check safe deposit box 1357. I take the evidence and look it over, leave him a check for the remaining amount and the mail the key to the PO Box. He picks up the check and that would be the end of it. And if I didn’t hold through on my part of the bargain, a few of his friends would pay me a visit. And I was listed in the phone book, so I decided it would be best to just follow through. I had no reason not to, and the money he was asking was more than (or rather less then) reasonable.

I was in the foyer to the vault, the safe deposit box room, of the First Bank of Shreveport in Shreveport, Louisiana when it happened. As I indicated, I do not know what It was, but It happened, and I fell unconscious. I was the only person in the vault, and the vault door was slammed shut, by It.

When I awoke, it was dark, but there were lights on the ceiling controlled by a motion detector. So as soon as I moved, they came on. Luckily there was no audible alarm, although there might have been a silent alarm, somewhere. There was air circulation, in case someone was locked in. The door was controlled on a time lock, and could be opened at two times during the day– when the bank opened, and when the bank closed. At any other time it was sealed, but during those times a combination could be entered. There was also a switch on the inside in case someone was locked in, but they also would have to wait for the time.

I had been here all night, and the early time was only about 20 minutes away, so I waited, and the door became able to be unlocked on schedule, the switch unlocked it, and I was able to push the door open, and the piece of debris that blocked it. I was able to slip out (with the evidence) when I saw the bank was demolished. The old wooden building was lying in splinters. The vault was somewhat undamaged. Many of the stone buildings in town had crumbled, and some of the steel ones, just left a ghastly skeleton. I worked just down the street, and that building was one that looked like it was made of glass, and reduced to little more than dust. It was dawn, so I decided to check on my home. It was also reduced to dust.

CHAPTER 1: Welcome to the Worst Day of my Life.

Well, my car was in the office parking garage, but I had a pickup at home.

Of course, no matter how you try to park the truck, it won’t end up in that position. It looked like it had backed up, vertically, on the wall of my garage. The house was dust, but two walls of the garage, still could be called walls. So I pushed the truck, and levered it, until it was on the ground again. Then I had to roll it over 180º. A big job to do without help, but with the help of a jack, and lots of physical training, I managed to do it.

I started to dig through the second largest pile of dust I had ever seen, and I found some items of use. Some of my books were not destroyed and the useful one included a volume on herbal medicine, one not-quite-exhaustive volume on chemistry, both of which could be useful so I put them on the passenger’s seat of my truck.

When I was inn the gang I stole a Swiss army knife (the $150 one with 30 or so gizmos), and I found that. In the kitchen I had a sharpening rod (a dull knife is not useful for long.) One drawer had a magnifier in a drawer, a long-life pen, a box of matches, and a long-life lighter. I also found one intact can of butane. By digging through everything I also gathered a solar-powered calculator, some binoculars, a flashlight, and about 8 spare batteries of assorted sizes. I can remember all the stories of looters that I had written and photographed, so I decided to go through what was left of my closet and I grabbed my old service revolver. I also grabbed boxes of ammo. (I always kept another small hold-out style pistol gun in my purse, as well as my main cell phone, but I couldn’t seem to find either one after It.) I grabbed an old shoe box of things I kept form the force.

I decided to grab some clothes that were functional; simple walking boots, denim jeans (and something a bit lighter to sleep in), simple cotton shirts, a leather jacket, and a heavier winter long coat. I grabbed a simple knapsack for some of my items, but most of them were loaded in the back of my truck. I found my jewelry box, and took it, whole– I knew I wouldn’t have much use for it, but I might find someone who would trade some of it for something, like food or shelter.

I grabbed my spare cell phone (it was the same line, but the phone obviously couldn’t find the towers), and my laptop (I don’t know if it will work, but I would rather wait to try it. An EM pulse could have wiped it out, and my batteries won’t last forever anyway. I can’t even find the remains of an electrical outlet, even thought I did find the power adapter...). I grabbed a large first aid kit. I loaded it up with some extras, like antibiotics, pain killers, and a snakebite kit, as well as an epinephrine pen.

I grabbed some items that were recognizable as food (but only things that