The Survivor Eight

By Patricia Palmer

Some people hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Follow four couples and their families as they survive the mountains of Arizona while the world around them is collapsing. They experience life off the grid, unplugged from all that they once knew. The United States is in chaos as God leads the Survivor Eight to survive and thrive. The world is moving toward something big. All but one of the eight will experience something no one else has ever seen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781449794934

Patricia Palmer

Patricia Palmer is a former missionary to Taiwan. She served as the executive director of the Northern Illinois Crisis Pregnancy Center in Rockford, Illinois, and also as the executive director of programs for the Rockford Rescue Mission before retiring to Gilbert, Arizona. Pat is also a hospital chaplain and serves as a chaplain for the Arizona Southern Baptist Disaster Relief team. She is the author of Minutes for Life. She and her husband have a son and daughter-in-law and two grandsons who live in Mesa, Arizona.

Book preview

The Survivor Ei8ht

Patricia Palmer

logoBlackwTN.ai

Copyright © 2013 Patricia Palmer.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1-[phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-9492-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-9478-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-9493-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013908425

WestBow Press rev. date: 5/13/2013

Table of Contents

In Memoriam 9/11

1. Valley Days

2. Their Eyes Were Opened

3. It Begins

4. The Plan

5. The Unthinkable Happens

6. The Bug Out

7. Too Late

8. A New Start

9. Daily Routine

10. Trouble Comes Calling

11. Emergency

12. First Word

13. The First Winter

14. Spring Arrives

15. A New Home

16. Homeward Bound

17. Something Is About to Happen

Dedication

Very special thanks to Linda W. for editing this manuscript. Also thanks to all who gave input to the project; my husband Dennis, Karen, Gay and Jay, Joyce, and Larry. Your wisdom made the book a joy to write.

In Memoriam

9/11

Perfect morning, routine day,

A kiss, a wave, a hug goodbye.

They left from homes both great and small

To greet the city’s morning rays.

The smell of coffee, sound of horns,

The touch of strangers brushing past…

Pushing, rushing toward the tall clean lines of the symbol.

Indestructible, changeless, casting its shadow across the Isle.

They must not be late for their date with fate.

In a moment time stood still and we were frozen in its grasp.

A jet’s loud engines, smoke, fire, people falling….

Slowly falling, gracefully falling, horribly falling.

First the one and then its twin

Brought low and humbled, no longer high and mighty.

Disbelief and overwhelming grief as eyes are fixed,

A montage of horror played out in slow motion.

Stories of heroes known and unknown

Rise from pale white ash as morning fog.

Like a phoenix they rise and join each other in the sky.

Out of many they become one, ordinary and yet extraordinary.

Our heads and flag were downcast turned

In memory of those whose lives were lost.

The call went out to raise the flag,

To proudly fly it at full staff.

We lift our heads, our hearts are full.

Our eyes are fixed on foes unseen.

With patience born of measured power,

We wait and pray and long for peace.

Our young warriors gather for battle,

Those called are strong and will not cower.

They all love peace but understand what freedom demands

May cost their blood be spilt on foreign lands.

He asks, "O man of all you’ve built,

What will stand against such evil deeds?"

Sadly, the truth, so hard to face,

Alas, no thing can stand against such fate.

Only that built by His mighty hand

Will stand against that final day,

When good and evil do final battle

At Megiddo, He will settle.

Pat Palmer

Chapter 1

Valley Days

O n an ordinary April morning in the heartland of America, everything grew suddenly and strangely silent just seconds before hundreds of birds, chirping loudly, took to the air. Minutes later, the ground on the New Madrid Fault shook so violently that fissures opened up and landslides were triggered as tree branches were bent until they intertwined. Huge waves rose on the Mississippi River as it began to run north, sinking some boats and beaching others. Whole islands dotted throughout the river simply disappeared.

More than seven million people were displaced and the cities of Memphis, Little Rock, St. Louis, and Nashville were devastated. Even the St. Louis Arch came crashing to the ground plunging dozens of tourists to their death. It was estimated that three thousand people died and the 8.6 magnitude quake was felt as far as the eastern half of the United States. It was the first of many terrifying events to come. Events no one could imagine.

A year earlier, the sun rose with the intensity found only over the desert skies of the Southwest. The temperature was already hitting 90, with the promise of topping out at 110 by late afternoon. Life in the desert summer consisted of moving as fast as possible from one air conditioned place to another. It really wasn’t much different than living in the Midwest in the winter. Some people adjusted quickly, and some never got used to it.

Sarah Hall was used to rising early to water her plants and take her daily walk. She actually missed the humidity of her hometown in Missouri. She was a tall, slim woman with dark straight hair who looked fantastic in both jeans and a little black dress. She had a gentle spirit and great sense of humor.

Sean, her husband was of medium build and had silver gray hair, which had turned that way when he was in his mid thirties probably a gift from his dad, who had also been prematurely gray. It also made Sean appear a few years older than he was and very dignified, which was an advantage since he was a banker and dealt with other people’s money. People said Sean reminded them of the TV personality Anderson Cooper. Together Sean and Sarah were striking and stood out in crowd.

The couple had moved to the Valley of the Sun ten years ago along with their daughter, Megan, and their eighty pound German Shepherd, Moose, when Sean’s bank promoted him. Sean had given the puppy to Sarah as a Christmas present the year before they came to Arizona. Somehow the sight of the twenty pound puppy with huge feet made them both laugh and the name Moose just seemed perfect. He had grown into the name.

Though he was friendly and loved attention, Moose was not the neighborhood favorite as his bark could wake the dead and scare off the bravest soul. But he was Sarah’s dog, and she could not bear to leave him back in Missouri with friends.

The Halls lived in what they and their friends laughingly called Beige City, a reference to the dozens of shades of brown the home owners’ association required houses to be painted in the upscale, gated neighborhood in Fountain Hills, a bedroom community for Scottsdale and Phoenix.

Most people would call the residents of Fountain Hills yuppies. The Halls were an upper middle class family, the parents both in their early forties, and living in an adobe two -story home with a game room, four bedrooms, and a three car garage, with a white SUV and a BMW in the driveway. They were used to having all the expensive electronic gizmos and toys. In fact, they felt they needed all the latest electronics to be happy and comfortable.

Sarah and Megan were most addicted to their Smartphones, constantly checking their e-mails and texting their friends. Sean was concerned that Megan would mimic her mom who despite his warnings continued to text even while driving. He at least used Bluetooth and could keep his eyes on the road and hands on the wheel while taking messages.

Sarah worked but only to avoid being bored, especially since Megan, now fourteen, had reached the age of embarrassment at being seen with her parents. Sarah worked part time as a para- legal for a local attorney and had a lot of flexibility with her hours, even the ability to take off for long summer vacations when Sean could get away and Megan was out of school.

Sean and Sarah met while they were in college at the University of Illinois in Champaign, dated for a year and married right after Sean finished graduate school. Sarah, who had been studying to be a lawyer, put her schooling on hold to get married and have the child both she and Sean wanted. They had struggled to get pregnant, and when she did get pregnant, Sarah developed preeclampsia. They decided Megan would be an