Elizabeth Green laid under a car changing the oil, pondering her life choices. Why'd she decide to stay in town for the past five years? Why'd her brother decide to keep in contact with her after he left town five years ago? And why did he cut off contact three months ago? She knew her brother got into some shady stuff and that's why he left. But she hoped he would come back, his leaving broke the family. And she was the only person who knew the truth around his disappearance, and she didn't tell a soul. She then heard a car pull up breaking her out of her thoughts. She finished up what she was doing, and pulled herself out from under the car to see a familiar face looking down at her.
"Hey sis."
"Jake!" She yelled jumping up excited to see her twin brother for the first time in 5 years. She hugs her twin brother and then asks.
"Where have you been?"
"I'll tell you inside." He says as they walk around back to go into the house.
"Elizabeth..." Gail trails off when she turns around to see her daughter standing with her eldest son, who she hadn't seen or heard from in 5 years.
"Oh Jake! Oh honey! oh you're home!" She says tightly embracing her son.
"You're choking me mom!" Jake says hugging his mom.
"I thought I heard an annoying voice. Hey brother." Eric says coming into the kitchen suprised to see his brother.
"Good to see ya." Jake says as he hugs Eric. She then sees Jake starting at something, she follows his stare to see her father in the doorway staring back.
"Oh this is going be interesting."
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"I'm not here to interfere with your campaign dad. All I want is your signature, then I'll visit grandpa Then I'm..." Jake says sitting in the living room, talking to his family for the first time in 5 years.
"It's been five years Jake. That's all you have to say to dad?" Eric says angrily. Elizabeth then gives Eric a stare meaning "stop interfering and let him talk." Elizabeth knows her brothers return wasn't going to go well but she hoped it wouldn't end in a fight.
"It's none of your business"
"It is his business. It is all of our business. What you put this family through" Johnston says mad at Jake for disappearing for 5 years without any word.
"Johnston for gods sake" Gail interferes not wanting another fight between her family.
"now he could've been." Johnston says, Elizabeth watching her family fight from her seat in the living room.
"I thought this would go a lot different." Elizabeth thinks as her father and brother continue fighting. She wants to interfere but she doesn't want to get pulled into this fight.
"That went so well the last time I tried to defend Jake." she thinks sarcastically remembering the last fight her family had.
"We could spend a week talking about what I could've been. Alright. I've apologized. I've made amends. This is me now. I have a plan, but I need my money to make a clean start." Jake says trying to convince his dad to let him have the money his grandfather left him in the will.
"Hm, wonder what this plan is." Elizabeth thinks.
"It's not your money. It's your grandfathers money."
"I know. But he gave it to me for a reason."
"and he gave me authority over it for a reason."
"You convince me you're leading a more productive life and then.."
"That's right Jake." Eric pipes in taking their fathers side. Elizabeth then smacks Eric on the back of the head, shooting him a glare.
"We were both born on third base. Quit pretending you hit a triple. When are you going to realize? I'm 32 years old..." Jake says continuing his rant.
"When you do."
"Can I talk to my mayor then? huh?" Jake asks getting up to leave.
"Let's go see your grandfather." Gail says following Jake out of the room.
"Just think about giving him the money dad." Elizabeth says getting up.
"And was that really necessary Eric." Elizabeth asks as she exits the room.
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Elizabeth rode with Jake to the cemetery. Interogating him about his whereabouts the whole drive, she knew what her brother had been doing for the past 5 years because she kept in contact with him but Jake stopped calling her or writing her letters a few months back.
"So thats why you're not staying." Elizabeth says as they get out of the car and walk to their grandfathers tombstone with their mother. They pay their respects and turn to leave.
"I just..." Jake starts to say.
"Stop it Jake." Gail says.
"I can't."
"You would have been here if you could." Gail says as they walk back to their cars.
"I brought money. Here." I say giving Jake a wad of cash I had saved.
"I can't Lizzie." Jake says refusing the money.
"Take it. I'm not leaving this town anytime soon and I've got nothing to do with it." I say trying to convince to take the money.
"I'll talk to your father." Gail says knowing her husband would listen to her.
"If he doesn't get it"
"because you won't tell him why you need the money." I say, Jake told me in the car why he needs the money, but had me promise I wouldn't tell dad.
"mom, Lizzie."
"You don't give him enough credit. Your dad has had a few trials of his own you know." Gail says embracing her son.
"He'll never know." Jake says hugging his twin sister, while they hug she slips the money into his pocket.
"Just... stay one more day." Gail says.
"I gotta get back to San Diego by tomorrow." Jake says getting into his car.
"You better let me come visit, and don't go radio silent on me again." I say.
"Lizzie, one more thing." Jake says leaning his head out the car window.
"Hmm?"
"come here." Jake says signaling me to come closer.
"You have clumsy hands" he says handing me the wad of cash. I take it, but I put some money in his other pocket too that he didn't find.
"I love you. You be careful now, okay?" Gail says as her and her daughter wave as Jake drives off.
"Now did you put money in his other pocket too?" Gail asks as her and Elizabeth head to the car.
"Maybe." I say smirking at my mother.
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The ride back home was silent, not wanting to talk to anyone after what just happened I head straight to the back garage to work on my car. While working on my car I have my radio on to hear the presidents address, when my radio suddenly goes static.
"Thats weird." I mutter to myself as I walk to my radio to fix it.
I then hear my dad yell "Elizabeth, the tv went static, can you check the dish?"
"Yep." I call back walking out of the garage and over to the house, climbing up the tree beside it to get to the roof. I make it to the roof, but when I go to check the satellite dish I see a huge mushroom cloud in the distance.
"Shit." I say scrambling off the roof, knowing that a mushroom cloud means there was a nuclear explosion. I rush into the house, walking into the entry way I see my mom consoling one of the sheriff deputys kids, both are crying. I'm guessing they saw the cloud too.
"Gail? What's going on?" I hear my father say as he comes down the stairs.
"Oh Johnston." My mom says, she then has the kids explain what they saw.
"I saw it too." I say.
"Okay. I'll call the sheriff and have him meet us at the station." My dad says as he picks up the phone.
"Nothing," He says putting down the phone.
"Okay, Alright, it looked like the explosion came from the west, maybe Denver. Jimmy get on the Radio. I want everyone at the Sheriffs station. Elizabeth, we'll pick up Eric, let's move." Dad says as we start to leave the house.
"Johnston, Jake." Mom says before we can leave.
"We'll find him..."Dad says as we rush out of the house.
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After picking up Eric we rush into town hall. We then run into Shep and Norman, who are arguing about the mines and trying to get dad to solve their problem.
"Stop it! Both of you. Norman, get everybody out of the mine. immediately. And Shep? Help him for a change." Dad says, breaking up their fight and walking further into town hall.
"Sheriff? Chief? Damage, fires buildings?"
"Nothing, Mr. Mayor. The towns fine."
"Well, let's hope you're right." Dad says.
"What does that mean?"
"Do we have any Geiger counters?" I ask hoping there wasn't any radiation in the air.
"I'll go find them." A deputy says walking off.
"Here's the emergency plan," another deputy says, handing the booklet with the plan to Eric.
"So what does the emergency plan say?" The sheriff asks Eric.
"Contact the governor, national guard and state troopers." Eric says.
"Are we under attack?" A deputy asks.
"Son, I don't want to ever hear that word again. Now look, this could've been a test, an accident, theres uh military bases near Denver, One explosion does not make an attack. We stay calm, the town stays calm. Okay?" Dad says trying to calm everyone down.
"I understand dads trying to keep everyone calm but the deputy makes a good point." I think wondering if there was an attack and if so who would do it and why.
"I found the Geiger counters." The deputy says walking in with a box, he sets the box down and I grab one of the Geiger counters.
"Thanks. Oh Gray, good to see ya. We could use the extra help." Dad says as Gray Anderson, dads opponent in the election for mayor, walks in.
"Thank you Johnston, Eric, Elizabeth. What can I do to help?"
"We'll let you know." Dad says, turning back to see the results of the Geiger counter.
"Can you work that?" Eric asks.
"Looks okay." I says running the Geiger counter through the air, not picking up any radiation. No radiation in the air was good, it meant we had time to prepare for when the fallout came.
"Mr. Mayor.. Sheriff. A bomb..." A woman says rushing in with a few other people, they all look very worried.
"yes Ma'am. So far theres no sign of any radiation. We'll keep checking around..." dad says trying to keep the woman calm.
"No, no, no. No sir. The school bus isn't back from the field trip with my daughter." The woman says, I understand the worry and concern she has, Jakes still out there and we don't know what happened to him and if he's okay.
"Well do something!" The woman yells.
"I got it." Eric says walking off.
"You should be out there looking for Stacy." The woman says, very concerned about her daughter.
"Ma'am. Theresa. This is the first we've heard of it. But we will deal with it, alright? Just please, don't worry." Dad says trying to reassure the woman her daughter will be okay.
"That's easy for you to say! You don't have a child out there!" The woman now known as Teresa says aggravated. I almost snap at her because were worried about Jake, but I know that won't help the situation. Eric then walks in with a map and some new info. He tells us that the bus stopped at garage to get something fixed before coming back to town. Eric lays out the map and we start trying to figure out where they could have stopped and where they are now.
"So the school bus was here... Okay. You tell me where the might've gone..." dad says looking at the map.
"Theres Wilson's garage off of route 160." One of the fireman points out.
"Or Cedar Run Road." I add in, pointing to it on the map.
"maybe they took a detour." Eric suggests.
"Well I figure with two teams theres only so many places they can be." The sheriff says ready to go look for the bus
"What about the parents?" Gray asks. Then all the parents that crowded together in the town hall start voicing their concerns about their children.
"Folks.. Folks! FOLKS! Look I know that every part of you wants to just rush out there. I don't blame ya. But as your friend I'm asking you to think about that. You're safe here. Now what if, god forbid, you go out there and you get stranded, and your child comes back an orphan? You know the Sheriff and his men. You know they'll find your kids. So... please." Dad says calming the parents down and turning back to us, giving everyone their tasks. Once everyone leaves to fulfill their orders Dad, a deputy and I head over to the radio, listening to see if anyone is coming to help. The deputy puts on headphones and listens to the radio, while me and dad wait.
"We have our frequencies sir, but outside it's like theres no one there." The deputy says.
"Alright, um what about analog? We could contact the governor with a ham radio couldn't we?" Dad asks wondering if theirs anyway to contact anyone.
"That could work, but theres only one in town that I know of." The deputy says.
"There's two but one doesn't work." I say thinking of the ham radio I've been trying to fix at home. I'm really close to getting it to work.
"I was afraid you was going to say that." Dad says getting up.
"Elizabeth you try to get your Ham radio working, Eric and I will go visit Oliver." Dad says as him and Eric get ready to visit Oliver, the only man in town with a working ham radio.
"On it." I say collecting up my stuff and heading out of the building. I rush to the house, when I get there I see my mom welcoming Dale into the house. She sees me and waves me in. I walk into the house seeing her living room filled with familiar faces and candles. My mom pulls me aside and asks.
"Have you guys found Jake yet?"
"No but we're trying, there's also a school bus full of kids out there that we're trying to find. I've been tasked to fix my ham radio in hopes that we can contact the outside world."
Mom sighs, worried about Jake.
"We'll find him, now I need to fix this radio." I say trying to reassure mom. I hug Mom and then she ushers me off to fix the radio. I race upstairs and grab the ham radio and the supplies to fix off my desk, I shove it in my bag and race back downstairs. I rush out the door and back towards town hall. Once I make it to town hall I head to one of the tables, dumping out my bag and getting to work on the radio. I finally get the radio working when Dad rushes in with another ham radio.
"I've got it working, now we have two radios." I tell dad as he sets up the radio he has.
"Good, now let's get them set up." He says as I set up my radio.
We're working on the radios when the deputy interrupts us.
"Sir." The deputy says turning up the volume on her walkie talkie.
"there something going on at the gas station. Big crowd, looks like trouble. We need help down here." says the man on the radio.
"Crap." I mutter, I knew a fight would break out eventually, but I didn't think it would be this soon.
"Dad!" Eric yells running in.
"I heard! Go! go!" Dad says, I rush out with Eric and we hurry to the gas station. Once we arrive we meet up with Mom and Dad and walk towards the crowd.
"What's going on Gray? We making speeches?" Dad says seeing Gray making a speech through the fire truck speaker. We walk towards Gray, the crowd parting for us to walk through.
"With all due respect, Mr. Mayor. We have a missing bus, no police, Firemen doing policemens jobs." Gray says.
"Is he trying to get the town to turn against Dad so he can win the election?" I wonder.
"how dare you politicize this." Eric yells at Gray.
"Eric," Dad says shutting him up.
"I'm not talking to my opponent, I'm talking to my mayor. I don't care about the election, I care about survival. We just might be on our own here, and I need to know what my mayor intends to do." Gray says, the crowd then voices their agreement.
"Look I know we've been through a lot tonight. I wanna tell you something. I've been to big cities, and been to foreign countries, but I will take the good people..."Dad says before being interrupted by Shep.
"Take the good people of Jericho over any other city, we know Mr. Mayor we've heard the speech."
"Well Shep, I hope you don't think I've been asleep at the switch. We had all hoped that this was an accident. But he unfortunate truth is there was another explosion in Atlanta. I've been busy trying to contact the governor." Dad says to the crowd, the crowd starts murmuring and talking about their theories of what happened.
"Another explosion in Atlanta? This can't be good, if Denver and Atlanta both got hit it could be an attack." I think.
Then a member of the crowd asks,
"Yeah, well what if the governor is dead?"
"There is no report of anything happening in Topeka" Dad says answering the question.
"How are we going to get reports without televison? or with no phones?" Someone else asks.
"We don't know anything about north..."
"When are we going to get he power back on?" Then the crowd starts bombarding Dad with questions.
"Folks, one at a time please. Calm down."
"Calm down? my boy is still out there."
"The Sheriff is out there looking for your boy AND my boy." Dad says talking about the missing bus and Jake.
Then everyone starts asking questions, once voice cancelling out another. Then I hear a horn honk and see a pair of headlights.
"It's the bus." Someone yells.
"Jake" I mutter hoping my brother was on that bus. We watch as the firefighters approach the bus. They help the kids off the bus and return them to their parents, when the bus is empty Mom, Dad, Eric and I walk up to it, my heart leaps when we see Jake is driving it.
"Jake," I says climbing onto the bus to help him off.
"Jake... oh honey..." Mom says following me.
"I'm okay." Jake says as we help him up.
"Eric, help your brother." Mom says as Eric helps Jake down the bus stairs.
"Dad..."
"Put your arm around me." An EMT says walking up to Jake to help him to an ambulance.
"Careful. Careful." Mom says as we help Jake to your ambulance.
"Eric, get April. We'll meet you at the medical center." Mom says as I climb into the ambulance.
"Okay." Eric says as Mom gets into the ambulance.
"Hey, there's an empty prison bus out there." Jake tells Eric
"Where abouts?"
"Cedar Run"
"Alright. Just relax. We'll take care of it." Eric says walking off.
"Oh god. Look at you! You're a mess." Mom says to Jake.
"I'm fine. Stop worrying about me."
"Good luck with that."
"You look terrible." I tell him.
"You look worse." He replies.
"I was afraid I was never going to see you again."
"I wasn't worried, I knew you'd come back." I say trying to play it cool, even though Jake knew I was lying.
"You think I'd let dad have the last word?"
"hey. You're talking about me." Dad says walking up to the ambulance.
"You did a great thing out there today."
"Thanks."
"Your grandfather would've been proud." Dad says to Jake.
"Well I'm going to go see what's taking these guys." Dad says before walking away.
"You know, I go away for a few years and the town goes to hell." Jake says laughing.
"It's not your fault." Mom says
"I don't know, it could be." I say sarcastically.
"Yeah, well we'll see." Jake says as they close the ambulance and we drive off too the hospital.
(End of episode 1)
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I hope you guys liked the first chapter, please vote and comment you opinions on the story.