May Day (The Erelong Trilogy Book II)

A Long Night

The wind buffeted the house so much that sleep when it finally came, lasted only short periods. They woke in the early hours to the sound of loud howls outside the window. The wretches were on the porch. The two men lay on their sides on the hard bed that was the dining room table, neither wanting to get off to investigate. They wondered what type of illness or injury could have befallen the locals to make them all behave in like animals.

Three days had passed since they left the farm to travel to Sydney at Tremain's request. Storm had met Tremain in a prison bus. Their friendship was later cemented when Tremain generously drove Storm from Canberra to Coona, a day's journey traveling the highway that ran through a portion of the wild Australian emptiness. Tremain had left Storm a ham radio address to reach him by, and after the destruction of the meteoroid shower, the two talked over the airwaves.

Tremain had urged Storm to make the trip to Sydney, along with the astronomer, Doctor Michael Boulos, the director of the observatory destroyed by a team of assassins from a very large and shadowy corporation. Tremain knew that only a scientist with the reputation of Michael Boulos stood a chance of convincing people on the coast that a cataclysm was about to take place. He belonged to the Party as the workers everywhere called the socialist organization they had freely chosen to follow and call their own. The Party stood outside the political system, and as a result were watched closely by the repressive state forces.

Outside of Australia, the situation was similar. It seemed the world had awoken to the true nature of the situation they faced. The conditions they faced were the same. Be they Australian or Chinese workers, or from whatever country. It no longer seemed to make any difference. A growing majority of the people saw their freedom from the increasingly oppressive conditions under which they lived, lay in an uprising. A true mass rebellion. For they had come to realize their strength lay in their own vast numbers once they had united. The Party had shaped their wake-up, and it was that organization that had taken root around the globe.

Because the coming event was of a biblical scale, its approach was actively hidden from the masses. It would take a group with organizational power and reach to alert the people of the world. That is what Tremain had come to realize once he had thought about Storm's incredible tale and seen for himself how well it tied pretty much everything together. The extreme weather and the earthquakes, and timing of the economic collapse and the eruption of world war.

Michael was not keen to leave his stricken daughter behind. He pointed out Storm could recall all the scientific detail he could be fed. He would be able to relay the news almost as well as a scientist. Storm could never answer many of the questions that other scientists would come up with once they heard Michael's findings. Storm was not an astronomer. But, that was not a big deal so long as they could talk to Michael by radio.

Now, Storm tried once more to catch some shuteye alongside the foul-smelling soldier. He listened to the wind rocking the house, and the sound of clawing at the doors.

He concentrated on memories of family and friends. Once more he thought of the happier days spent with his sister and their new mother and father. The constant rumble of thunder outside sounded a lot like the interstate trucks he remembered traveling the highway through the night when he was a kid in his bed. That was back when the world made sense, but thinking of his home in better times helped him to relax. Soon, he was able to close his eyes.