Free Countdown to Armageddon by Darrell Maloney Page B

“I soooo don’t want to hear this.”
         Scott laughed. Jordan looked at him, not knowing whether he was kidding. So he did what teenagers were good at. He deflected the conversation by changing the subject.
         “What’s for dinner, Dad? I don’t smell anything cooking.”
         “We’re going to Perico’s. Best Mexican food in San Antonio. I didn’t feel like cooking.”
         “All right!” Jordan pumped his fist. “Best news I’ve heard all day.”
         At that precise moment the phone rang. Jordan looked at the caller ID. It was Linda.
         “Hi Mom. How are you?”
         “I’m fine, baby. I just wanted to tell your dad not to make dinner. I’ve got lasagna in the oven. He hasn’t started cooking yet, has he?”
         “Uh, no, Mom.” Technically, it was the truth. But he was crestfallen. He’d have to wait til another day to savor Perico’s beef and potato empanadas.
         “Good. Is he around? Can I talk to him?”
         “Sure, Mom. Here he is.”
         “Hello, Linda. How are you?”
         “I’m well, Scott. I’m glad I caught you before you started cooking. Are you still going to drop the boys off at six?”
         “Uh, yes. We’re just waiting for Zach’s bus to come, and then we’ll pack their bags and head out. We were going to stop for dinner, but we’ll do that another time. Is that why you mentioned my cooking? Do you already have plans?”
         “Yes. I’ve got lasagna in the oven. I hope that’s okay.”
         “Sure, it’s no problem at all. We can eat out anytime and they love your lasagna.”
         “Scott, there was something else I wanted to ask you as well.”
         “Okay. Shoot.”
         “I feel guilty that you’re going through all that work to get your compound ready up there, and I want to help in some way. Is there anything I can do to make it easier on you?”
         He thought for a moment.
         “Well, we still have a lot of computer work to be done.”
         “What kind of computer work? Like research?”
         “Yes, exactly. I’ve been making a list of research materials that might come in handy after the power grids go down. We’ll have computers that we’ll protect from the EMPs. But the internet will be down. It won’t come back up for years if at all. So we won’t just be able to jump on line when we have a question.”
         “Okay. Just tell me what to do.”
         “I’ll give you my list when I drop off the boys. It has things on it like how to do first aid. How to stock a new lake to keep the fish from dying. How to get rid of rats and ticks. How to birth a pig stuck in the birth canal. All kinds of strange things that might come in handy.
         “What I’d like for you to do is just search for as much information on the subjects. Take snapshots of each page and save each snapshot as a .jpg file. For the text, copy and paste it to a Word document.
         “Then, after you’re done, I’ll bring you half a dozen toner cartridges and a couple of reams of paper. You can start printing everything out. You may have ten thousand pages or more by the time you’re done. And much of it may never be used. But if we do need some information later, and have no other way to get it, then it’ll come in real handy.”
         Linda said, “Okay. Good. I have a couple of free hours most evenings, I’ll start working the list tonight, while the boys are playing their video games.”
         “Atta girl, and thanks for your help.”
         “Hey, it’s no problem. Thanks for letting me get involved.”
         “No sweat. Did you put that bike in your trunk like I asked?”
         “Yes. Along with the backpack.”
         “Did Glen give you a hard time about it?”
         “A little. He asked why I had it and I told him I might decide to go for a ride occasionally.”
         “And what did he