Yes, I had surgery... and right before the Apocalypse struck!

Health Update (so this could be really boring for some)!

On March 12th (of this year) I had open heart, double bypass surgery. Yes, me; a 60-year-old, fairly healthy person who walks on average six miles a day, goes to the gym four times a week and eats pretty damned healthy.

One artery (the LAD, known as the widowmaker) was 70% blocked. Not good I was told. Worse yet another artery on the right side was 100% blocked. That meant, I was told, somewhere in the recent past I suffered a heart attack.

I never had a symptom with either blockage. No shortness of breath, no unusual sweats, no dizziness, no chest pain, no nothing. But the damage was done and I was scheduled for surgery six days after my second angiogram. If the professionals say you need heart surgery, then so be it. Who am I to argue.

(I don't look like I'm suffering too badly)

That was four weeks ago, my friends. I've worked hard at focusing on my recovery and, as such, I've made a lot of progress in those four weeks. I was home only four days after surgery, so my decent recovery began in the hospital.

The day I came home the stuff got real with the Corona Virus. That was March 16th. Since then... well, we all know what's gone down.

Yes, it has been slightly reminiscent of the opening episodes of The Walking Dead. If I had a sheriff outfit, I'd be ready. But alas, all I can do is watch and smile like most in my position are doing (I warned you something like this could happen. I warned you!).

(Me without the mask... maybe)

So, I'm well on my way to full recovery and all around me the world has come to a screeching halt. Welcome to the new normal, people. And after this, there will be another new normal followed by another and another. Things will change from how they were prior to March of 2020. And a lot of the changes will be permanent.

Okay, so what caused my health issues some will ask. My answer will be blunt and to the point:

1. Forty years of smoking
2. Type II Diabetic
3. I've always dealt with stress badly

I'm not going to lecture on any of the above. I knew smoking was bad for me and would eventually catch up (we all know that). I got diabetes when I lost 70 pounds. And I'm just crappy when it comes to dealing with stress and anxiety (and I always have).

I'm lucky, this could have ended really really really bad if it hadn't been caught (quite by accident back on January 16th). My best advice is to take care of your body. It's the only one you get.

So, I'm back to writing and creating more fodder for my family, friends, and readers. This has caused a set back in the timing for the release of book five in the No Where Apocalypse. But don't worry; I'll still get that published before fall. 

Until then, everyone take care!

e a lake

You too can survive the apocalypse...

Here something, thanks to Hillary Dixler, that may help many people survive TEOTWAWKI!

Survive the Apocalypse in Five Easy Steps

Eater combed through FEMA, CDC, and prepper blog survival intel so you don't have to. Now get packing:

1. Stock Up on Clean Water
It's hard to overstate just how important access to clean drinking water will be to your post-apocalyptic survival chances — and you'll need about a gallon per person per day, which is a lot. Have water at your home or wherever you plan to hunker down. Have water in your vehicle. Study up on where to find safe water (drained water from an undamaged water heater = safe, water from the toilet's bowl and flush tank = unsafe). Do some practice rounds of boiling and oxygenating water.

2. Create a Pantry
Canned and freeze-dried foods are your new favorites. So are properly-stored whole wheat cereals, nuts, dry pasta, corn, and various other dry edibles. To further build out your pantry, focus on high-energy options like peanut butter, jelly, granola bars, and trail mix. Get some powdered milk, powdered potatoes, and other powdered foods onto the shelf. Whenever possible, stock up on foods that are low in salt, so as to avoid getting unnecessarily thirsty and wasting your precious water. And stock up on canning supplies so that when you encounter fresh fruits and vegetables, you can make them last.

3. Don't Forget a Manual Can Opener
You might even want to stock a few of these because, let's face it, canned food is now a major part of your life. Do not lose them, or entrust them to someone you think might lose them.

4. Break Out the OverallsSomeday, your stockpile will run out, so get farming. Plant a diverse survival vegetable garden, and make it as huge as possible. Do be warned your vegetables might be an attractive nuisance, so consider camouflaging it as a "food forest." Raise chickens. Chickens are pretty easy to take care of and will provide you with a valuable source of protein via eggs. Also, raise rabbits if you are down to do butchering and slaughtering.

5. Quit Stalling
If you really want to survive, start working on your game plan before the world goes totally to shit. Things like tilling a garden, stocking up on food, and learning how to properly can all take time to get right. Might as well get a head start while the power grid still works. Good luck.
— Hillary Dixler

To me, number five is really important. Many, many people I meet say they know they should be even the slightest bit prepared, but then admit they've done nothing. Even in today's climate.



Stay prepared friends,

e a lake

What Will You Eat When the World Ends?

This post and the next three to follow are taken from an article I found online with the same name as the "Subject Line". They were written by Tove Danovich and posted on 9/16/15. The entire original post can be found here: http://bit.ly/2T8oqu0


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It could happen at any time. Maybe an asteroid will hurtle toward Earth or a storm will cover the world in ice. A bite from a particularly angry monkey could start a viral zombie plague. The Internet could even shut off. Things could go to hell because of monsters or uncomfortably sentient robots, nuclear war or a terrorist attack. The question you should ask yourself is: What will you eat and drink when the world ends?

The people answering this question aren't scientists, the military, or NASA (though maybe there's a secret apocalypse science division in the government). They're known as "preppers" and are usually everyday folks with normal jobs — teachers or bankers or candlestick makers. The only difference between you and them is that they want to be ready when, in prepper jargon, SHTF because it's TEOTWAWKI ("the end of the world as we know it"). While FEMA's guide advocates for having a disaster kit consisting of a 72-hour supply of food, water, and clothing packed and ready to go, that's just a baby step for preppers. Come back when you've stored up enough to last you a week, a month, or a year.

"Hurricane Katrina proved to a lot of people that everything you have can be wiped out very quickly," says Pat Henry, founding editor of the Prepper Journal. He explains that everyone has to focus on four categories of survival — food, water, security, and shelter. Since 2008, Henry has been slowly stockpiling backup supplies. He's used rain barrels, water filtration, and bottled water to amass "hundreds of gallons" of H2O. "It sounds hokey, but I had a gut feeling that I needed to take steps to protect my family," he says. While one Daily Mail UK article estimates "there are three million preppers in the U.S. alone," no one knows who estimated that number, and it's unlikely that there are actually solid statistics on the subject — thanks to an inherent secrecy within the prepper community.

But despite prepping's mysterious exterior, everyone seems to agree on the basic principles of planning, buying, and storing food, water, and cooking utensils one needs to survive a disaster. According to the experts, there are three rules that will help you prepare for the end of the world.

Until next time,

e a lake

Rule One: Keep Your Groceries Hidden

This post and the other in this series are taken from an article I found online with the same name as the "Subject Line". They were written by Tove Danovich and posted on 9/16/15. The entire original post can be found here: http://bit.ly/2T8oqu0

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Though preppers are very active behind screen names on the Internet — on groups like the American Preppers Network or websites like the Survival Blog — they stay under the radar in real life. It's not because they think their hobby is strange, but because when the end of the world comes, they don't want the entire starving neighborhood to know that their house is the one full of potable water, heat, and enough food to last a full calendar year. "The first rule of prep club is you don't talk about prep club," says Lisa Bedford, a mother of two teenagers and a prepper also known as the Survival Mom. As a result, there's not much in the way of hands-on education. "The community is online because people want to be very careful and cautious about who they talk to," Bedford explains. Bedford says that she has cultivated a small group of neighboring preppers who she could rely on if SHTF ("shit hits the fan," naturally). "But I have no idea how much they actually have."

Overall it seems like the secrecy is directed toward non-preppers: No one wants to get themselves into an ant-and-grasshopper situation where they're sharing supplies with the non-prepared deadweights of the neighborhood. Within the prepper community, however, there are websites like Prepper Dating and Survivalist Singles (just because it's the end of the world doesn't mean you have to be alone). Other forums facilitate people who want to either connect with neighbors or actually gather enough strangers to fill a home with like-minded survivalists.

Survivalists come in all shapes and sizes. Like any subculture, the people involved fit somewhere on a spectrum of intensity. On the one hand, you might have someone like Bedford, who began prepping as a backup plan if her family lost their primary source of income. On the other end are the types of people who build underground bunkers and whose security plans look like a mini National Guard.

But while outsiders familiar with prepping have a tendency to think survivalists have a streak of insanity, it's actually not all that different from the practice of homesteading. "They call it something different and do it a different way, but the end goal is the same," says Henry. He specifically references the local food movement where many people have taken to knowing their farmer or growing their own produce because they don't feel like they can rely on the government, big food corporations, or other overseers to adequately check the quality of what they're eating. "A large part of both movements is the concept of control," Bedford says. This is one reason why interest in prepping seems to increase after natural disasters, economic crises, or another traumatic event. It allows people to feel like, at least next time, they'll be prepared.


Until we meet again,

e a lake

Rule Two: Don't Store What You Can't Eat

This post and the other in this series are taken from an article I found online with the same name as the "Subject Line". They were written by Tove Danovich and posted on 9/16/15. The entire original post can be found here: http://bit.ly/2T8oqu0

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Though tents and bunkers might suffice for backup shelter, storing food and water is a much more involved process. It's not quite as easy as running to the local grocery store the day before a storm and buying up all of the bread and kale left on the shelves. People who are getting into prepping often treat food and water storage as the true first step. While water can be stocked in the form of water bottles or rainwater-capture systems, food is not as easy as following a pre-made grocery list off the Internet.

When Bedford began preparing for the possibility of economic disaster in 2008, she quickly fell on food storage as a place to focus. She says that a lot of people do their own food storage — particularly homesteaders or people who live so far from the grocery store that it's inconvenient to go more than once a month — but that as a "typical suburban stay-at-home mom" she initially felt out of her depth. "It was a whole new world," she says.

The main issue is that stored food is only as useful as your willingness to eat it. "Food fatigue is a real thing," Bedford explains. If all that's in the pantry is rice and beans, the monotony of the diet would eventually make anyone lose their desire to eat.

To get a varied diet, Bedford advocates a three-layer approach to stocking the pantry. The first layer takes place at the grocery store — specifically in the canned food aisles. "The reason canned food is so important is that its shelf stable," Bedford says. That said, don't just purchase whatever is on sale. "Focus on things you'll eat and your family members will eat," she adds. And don't forget the spices: Adding new flavors to the same base ingredients is an easy way to combat food fatigue while sticking to a few pantry staples.


Next are the bulk foods which Bedford believes are where most of a prepper's time and money should be spent. Opening a can of ravioli might get you a meal, but there's not much in the way of choice. With freeze-dried meat, shrimp, yogurt, and cheese (almost every food seems to have been freeze-dried) and a healthy stockpile of various pastas, dried beans, and grain, "you can make hundreds of recipes," according to Bedford. For people who don't feel up to DIY recipe development, there are a number of resources to turn to. Many preppers blog and post individual recipes and tips on their websites. 

Prepping is also a (small) cookbook genre with titles like The Survivalist Cookbook or The Prepper's Cookbook that speak directly to their intended audience. Plenty of other cookbooks focus on things like canned soup, jerky, or campfire recipes.

Finally, a good prepper wants to invest in some ready-to-eat meals. They're not all that different from the field rations given to soldiers and, as a result, are not something the average person wants to survive on entirely. "You'll get tired of them pretty quickly," Bedford says. She recommends that the RTE meals comprise no more than 20 percent of total food supplies.

But it's important to remember that even long-lasting foods can go bad. Henry doesn't just stock a pantry and forget about it, but rotates through the food during normal, non-emergency meals. "You don't want to find out when the power's out and the grocery store is closed that all your food expired five years ago," he says. "That's another reason why buying things you eat all the time is important." It also would ease the culinary transition into end-of-the-world dining if the family is still eating mom's beef stroganoff but with freeze-dried beef, powdered sour cream, and dehydrated mushrooms.


Bedford stresses that food storage does not have a one-size-fits-all approach. A city dweller simply doesn't have room to store a year's worth of food and water. Others can't afford to buy extra bulk and freeze-dried food — much less expensive gadgets or survival cooking gear. Even if someone could have a flock of goats and chickens doesn't mean they can take on that responsibility. "Not everyone can live that lifestyle and a lot of them don't want to," Bedford says.


One more to go friends,

e a lake

Rule Three: Get Out of the Pantry

This post and the other in this series are taken from an article I found online with the same name as the "Subject Line". They were written by Tove Danovich and posted on 9/16/15. The entire original post can be found here: http://bit.ly/2T8oqu0

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Unfortunately, even the best-stocked food supply doesn't last forever. Bedford points out that food storage doesn't exist in a vacuum. "You'll open that can of beans and then what?" she says. "The purpose of stored food is to buy you time." In her family's case, the year or so their supply could carry them for would be enough time to connect with other families, work together, barter, and so on. "Right now if there was a massive power grid failure, millions of households would only have a couple weeks of food," she explains. "They have no margin."

Henry supports the idea of keeping chickens both for meat and eggs as well as investing in the time to learn about technology like aquaponics or even hydroponics, which can both create comparatively large amounts of food in small spaces. Surprisingly, he doesn't advocate relying too much on hunting. "If you're out there looking for food and things are that bad, chances are hundreds and thousands of other people are doing the same thing." There are only so many deer and pheasants to go around. That's why in the process of increasing their food supplies, many preppers also teach themselves how they could grow more.

Prepping is just as much about creating a sustainable source of food as squirreling it away. Because the end of the world doesn't just last a week or month or even a year — it's forever. And we all have to eat to survive.


Hope you enjoyed the series,

e a lake

When are you an adult? 18 or 21? Make up you mind, America!

Just so we're straight on this, I'm 58. None of what I'm about to spew out applies to me. But it does matter to me and gives me a pause with concern.

Right now, today, if a young person is 18 they are considered an adult...sort of.

They can: drive a car, vote, get married, have a child in or out of wedlock, enter into a legally binding contract and so on and so on and so on. Okay, got it?

They can also join one of our armed forces and serve (and potentially die) for their country. Kind of a biggie in my mind.

Now, they cannot legally buy or consume alcohol (though they can die for their country...kind of odd, but okay)! They still drink (some/most of them) and they still drive cars so I can see where you'd want them a little more mature before you give them access to liquor stores...sort of.

They cannot buy handguns and soon (if some people have their way) they will not be able to purchase certain other weapons until the age of 21. Some stores have already "self" implemented these policies.

But we still allow them to vote? Huh!

What is the age of majority in this country of ours (the USA)? Can someone please explain to me this sliding scale in a way that makes any sense?

Teens and 3,000# vehicles have always been a bad mix. Teens and alcohol can lead to trouble in a lot of settings. We all know what happens when angry or depressed teens get their hands on guns. And let's face it, most 18 year-olds understand as much about legal contracts as I do about using Pinterest (and that ain't much)!

However, the problem should be obvious to all: If an 18-year-old is an adult, then they're an adult. If you want them to be 21 before they have access to all these great things that we adults get to have, then make it 21. But this odd mixture has to go!

If they can enter the military then these people deserve to drink, and the right to buy whatever firearms are legal for the rest of us to purchase. I do not believe it's fair to give them some rights, but not all rights.

I believe our legislators need our help in solving this issue. Our children deserve a clean, uncluttered path to adulthood. Quite frankly I don't care what age is chosen (my youngest is 30 and served 8 years in the USMC). Just give them everything they deserve and don't keep certain parts of adulthood hidden from them behind "curtain #3" until they turn some other magical age.

What do you think? I want to hear from you on this! Please comment below.


Until next time,

e a lake

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Big Brother 2

This example of Big Brother meddling in your lives borders on stupidity! And the worst part is that people are doing it willingly.

The other day my wife was buying a bottle of wine at the liquor store. The clerk told her that as of January 1, 2018 they had to scan ID's on all liquor sales. Okay, seemed reasonable. I mean it's an easy solution to the store's liability in underage sales to minors. I get it.

But wait -- the punchline is coming.

I asked the clerk how fast the database they were creating got transferred to the State of Minnesota. She shrugged it away and made some kind of comment about why would the State want to look at their database. As far as she knew it went into some great void that was never touched again.

Really?

Really?

REALLY?!

Let's not be stupid, people. If they've said ID's need to be collected on all liquor sales you can be darn sure the State has interest in that information. I mean, why else would they be collecting it?

Maybe liquor is the first of many steps. I can envision some time in the future going to buy a box of shells for my deer rifle and being asked for my ID so it can be scanned. Such a thing would help create a database of all of my weapons, submitted willingly by me each time I buy a different box of ammunition.

Starting to see the problem? Yeah!

Gun registration has its pitfalls. I can always buy a gun from a neighbor willing to part with one. I can inherit them from my family. And what about people who might steal my guns? None of these examples fall under the current gun registration laws.

You register your vehicles, your boats, your cell phones, your internet and now your alcohol purchases. Your pets are registered; even your children and yourself are all in some humungous government database.

And you've done it all willingly; never batting an eye or raising any concern as you did so. Thus, when they start asking for your ID to buy ammunition, don't be surprised. Just be a good sheeple and hand them your government issued ID. They'll thank you for your cooperation -- one way or another.

Do you have thoughts on this subject? If so, please comment on this post. I love hearing from free thinking people.


Until next time,

e a lake

Have you heard??? I'm at it again!

I'll make this short and sweet; I've written another series. And while only two of the three books have been released at this point, I wanted to fill you in on this one.

It's called "The Indiana Apocalypse" and it takes place in... you guessed it, Indiana (the southern part to be precise).

But that's not the best part. No, the best part is the angle I've approached this one from.

Here's part of the hook:

What could be worse than coming to with no memory of your past?

Quinn Reynolds regains consciousness on a couch surrounded by four strange women. He wonders where he is, what he's doing, and most importantly who he is. When he finds out the world is in its sixth year of darkness, his mind is totally blown.


Here's the cover for the first book:

It's available on Amazon right now. You can get your copy by either clicking right here or by clicking on the picture above. Your choice! And remember, if you're a Kindle Unlimited reader you can get it for FREE!

I hope you enjoy the story and if you do I hope you'll consider purchasing Book Two Found.

That's all for this time. Until March, have fun and thanks for reading!

e a lake

WWIV - The Last Great War

The first novel I ever published was WWIV - In The Beginning. That was more than three years and 120 reviews ago. Since then I've added three more novels to the series:

WWIV - Hope in the Darkness

WWIV - Basiin of Secrets

WWIV - The Last Finders

Here are the covers for all of them (just in case you've never read the series).

Each book is a standalone novel. New characters and new surroundings are found throughout. In the Beginning starts in St. Paul, MN and works its way into western Wisconsin. Hope in the Darkness takes place just outside of Portage (WI). Basin of Secrets is set in Salt Lake City. And The Last Finders is near Eau Claire (WI).

Book one features Bill and Brit. Book two focuses on Hunter and Sister Thersa. Book three zeros in on Cara, Betsy and a man named Willem Tarlisch (my favorite antagonist to date). Book four deals with four friends (Wilson, Tiny, Judy, and Sharon). It also has a great antagonist that goes by the name of Captain Wayne.

So, WWIV is a series but not a serial. I know that some readers prefer it that way. If you haven't dipped your toe into the WWIV water, maybe now is a good time to start. They are all available on Amazon and Book One is always free.


Until next time - Read Like There's No Tomorrow (because if WWIV does come, there won't be one).

e a lake

Cover Reveal - Coming in October 2017

It's been a while since my last release. So I'm happy to have a new post-apocalyptic series coming this fall. Here is the cover of book one:

I believe I've put on interesting spin on the apocalypse for you. To read more about this upcoming novel click here for a brief synopsis.

I promise to keep you updated as I get closer to publication.

Have a great week now,

e a lake

Catching up again!

I know, I know...it's been a while.

Sorry; I've been busy creating new novels and new ideas to be released in the next twelve months. I think you're going to like them. So stay tuned!

Here's what you might have missed while I've been on hiatus:

My latest release (from about a month ago) was The Remnants of Antietam. It's post-apocalyptic and involves a little more fighting and weaponry than my usual stuff, but follows much of the same vein you've grown to like.

Set in Sharpsburg, MD (near the Antietam Battlefield) a small community of preppers finds themselves thrown into the world they thought they were ready for. But is anyone ever truly prepared for the end of times?

You can get it by clicking on the picture/cover below:

Also, if you were following the online novel Glitched, it's available in ebook and paperback as well now:

I'll have more to tell you in a few days. I'll catch you up to speed on what I'm writing and an exciting series that will be released in 2018.

Until then, have a great week.

Thanks for reading,

e a lake

New Release Announcement

Seasons - A Year in the Apocalypse

I enjoyed writing this novel, though at times I became somewhat depressed with the situations I put the characters through. In the end, I think it's a good post-apocalyptic tale of survival that the reader will enjoy.

So sit back and let me introduce you to Abigail Turner (our main character), Sunshine Jones (Abby's best - and perhaps only - friend), Rickard Hulton (a nearby wealthy rancher who oversees the area), and Jeremy Lasky (Hulton's right-hand man, who is certainly no friend of Abby's).

The apocalypse has been 22 years in the making. Each year has become more and more difficult. The only question that remains is will Abby survive to see a 23rd?

Now available on Amazon. Get your copy today.

Thanks for reading,

e a lake

                      

"Glitched" - Chapters 1 & 2

Chapter 1

A small part of me died as I watched them lead Lucy Tringle out of the front door of her apartment building. I can’t say it was the roughest handling of a suspect I’d ever seen. Actually, the whole scene was quiet and the young 20-something woman moved as requested without incident.

I noticed her hands were cuffed behind her back. A black-jacket on each side held an arm, directing her towards the idling white government van. If she were afraid her face didn’t show it. No, she seemed as dull and boring as she did most days when I watched her leave for work at the Information Repository.

When they turned right on the sidewalk I realized Lucy wasn’t wearing any shoes. All she had on was a pair of khakis and an orange sweater. The neck of her sweater, I believe they called it a cowl-neck, rode almost to her chin. I loved that sweater; I loved that sweater especially whenever Lucy wore it. It showed off her womanly assets that made the otherwise bland library-type woman a real woman, one with adult curves and shape.

Watching from my front porch, they loaded her carefully in the back of the decade old vehicle and closed the door cautiously. I thought the whole scene was odd. Usually, when they drug a peeb out from wherever they found them hiding, the suspect was almost always kicking and screaming. Many times I’d witnessed the black-jackets thrust a suspected peeb into the back of a van, almost hoping a foot or head was in the way when they slammed the rear doors closed.

So, Lucy was a peeb, go figure. Except I knew she wasn’t. They had to have made a mistake, the Truth and Honesty Commission that is. Her arrest, they’d call it an informal interrogation, was the result of some glitch naming her as a malfeasant, which of course wasn’t true. Someone had just simply run short on names and tossed hers out in exchange for food.

Closing my book, I watched them pull away as if they were out for an early morning drive. I rose and stretched, losing sight of the vehicle as it turned left at the next street and disappeared behind an apartment building.

“Ma,” I shouted. “I gotta go out. Be back in a bit.” Yeah, I was almost 30, still unattached, and lived at home with my single mom. That pretty much summed up my entire existence.

“You want me to make you a sandwich, Trent?” she replied in a shrill voice, her normal. “It’s almost lunch time. You might get hungry.”

While a sandwich sounded good, I had other things at the forefront of my mind.

“I’ll grab something a Gareth’s, Ma. I gotta run. They just pinched Lucy.”

I heard her footsteps coming closer, though I didn’t bother to look back.

“Did you squeal?” she asked. I didn’t like her tone; she was trying to make me feel guilty.

“Lucy’s my friend, Ma,” I replied, pulling on my jacket as I reached for the screen door. “I’d never do that to a friend.”

I heard a huff come from the great criticizer. “Friends talk to each other; friends say hello and how are you. Friends don’t sit on the front porch like a stalker, watching her every move like she was a doll on display.”

Her long pause was a weak attempt to extract a response from me. But we were experts at that dance. She and I both knew I wouldn’t reply to such a load of crap.

“Friends,” she continued, almost sounding teary. “Real friends warn one another when they might be being watched. Did you warn Lucy, Trent?”

I pushed out the door and hopped the three steps down in a single bound. The gray day was cooler than I had anticipated. Perhaps a thicker jacket was in order. But that would mean going back and facing Ma again. She’d expect an answer.

Kicking the rusty gate open, I headed left down the weeded-over sidewalk. I needed to produce today. I needed to give those bastards, my keepers, something fresh. We – me and Ma – needed another month’s worth of food.

Even if it meant being a glitch.

Chapter 2

Arriving at my friend’s place I noticed the front door slightly ajar. As I eased inside I took in the front room. Papers were strewn everywhere. Plates of half-eaten food sat atop piles of garbage. The floor was as filthy as the pig shed at the government farms.

In other words, everything seemed normal.

“Gar,” I called out, closing the door behind me. “What you doing, buddy?”

A clatter sounded in the kitchen. Either someone was stealing the last of his spoiled food supply, or Gareth was having lunch.

He appeared in the doorway between the rooms. Standing in his open bathrobe, showing off his dirty underwear, he held a bowl of steaming noodles in front of his unshaven face. He looked like hell – again, normal.

“What up, little dude?” Slurping in the last of his lunch, he sat the bowl down on a counter that I knew was as cluttered as the rest of his place. Ah, the joys of outliving your parents.

“They pinched Lucy just now,” I replied, taking a spot on his faded saggy sofa. It was perhaps the only spot to sit in his dump.

“You squealed on your girlfriend?” he exclaimed in a high-pitched voice. “Dude, you’re never going to see her again.”

Folding my fingers together, I rested my hands in front of my lips and let out a long sigh. Gareth was a moron, and perhaps my only true friend.

“I didn’t do anything, you know that.”

He lumbered past me and sat his 6-6 frame in a chair after he whipped dirty laundry from it first. At least I assumed it was dirty. I gawked at him for a brief second, noticing his junk hanging out of the front of his robe.

“Close it up, man. That may work for the skunks you hang out with but I don’t want to see it.”

He laughed and pulled his robe closed. “Need some intel?” I could always count on him to read my mind.

“I just want to know where they took her,” I replied quietly. “That’s all.”

He pulled a keyboard from beneath another pile and the TV came to life. Entering a string of what appeared to me as gibberish, his hands flew around the keys. When I saw the government’s emblem appear on the screen I raised a hand for him to stop.

“You’re sure this is safe?” It wasn’t meant to offend him; the question was meant more to protect myself.

His grin spoke volumes. “Dude, you ask me that every time. Of course it’s safe. Those hacks downtown don’t know squat about data security. They don’t even know I’m in here. Chillax, man. We’ve done this a hundred times. I’m not about to get caught now.”

Just as he finished the screen went black. My stomach fell and I was glad I hadn’t taken Ma up on her sandwich offer. It would have been shooting all over Gareth’s living room…not that anyone would have noticed.

He tossed his keyboard aside and stormed towards the 50-inch screen. Playing with something on the back, the set came back to life.

“I gotta get some new equipment,” he said casually. “I swear that thing shorts out every time I used it.”

“While you’re in there,” I said, watching him pound the keys again, “see if you can grab me a name of someone they’re watching. I need a mark today.”

His smirk made me feel almost human. Gareth got it. There were two ways a glitch could get by. One was to do a bunch of legwork, following people all day, waiting for them to do something suspicious. The other, my preferred method, was to give the government boys and girls what they wanted – someone they already suspected had peeb ties.

“They took her to Station A,” Gareth reported, making his way stealth-like through screen after screen of detail. “She’s just in holding for now. They haven’t even assigned an interrogator yet.”

“Who glitched her?” I asked. I wanted the name of the weasel that snitched on her.

A glitch was nothing more than slang for glorified snitch. I had no idea how the name peeb ever came about. It was just what the government gang had always called people suspected of working against their ideals.

“Margo Hanks,” Gareth replied, pounding out new commands for the computer. “Here’s her picture.”

Before us, in full living color, was a person as dull as Lucy. Perhaps even a little more. At least my friend was somewhat cute and curvy. This gal, Margo, had the appearance of a young teen whose best friends were her cat and a large stack of books.

My eyes floated down the screen as I read her credentials. Twenty-eight, single, no known male attachments, purchased alcohol only on government holidays, wore a size four shoe. Nothing was extraordinary about this one.

Except her employer.

My eyes met Gareth’s. He saw the same thing.

“They work together,” he said. “The bitch turned on a co-worker.”

Her report to the OOD (Office of Decency) – a department of the Truth and Honesty Commission – was straightforward. Two weeks prior Margo had witnessed Lucy answering a question from someone she considered unworthy of information. That was it.

To be honest, that’s all it took to get hauled away by the government. To say they ruled with an iron fist made it sound as if they were a loving grandparent. Once a peeb, suspected or real, was in their dungeon the chances of ever leaving were next to none.

That, I’m afraid, was Lucy’s fate.

“I think I have your mark for you,” Gareth said, rising and leaving the room. “Go see Captain Kumquat and glitch on Margo. I’ll dig something up they already have on her. Not that they ever check their files for former information once they have a name.”

I inched closer to the screen, studying the face of my target. She didn’t know it at the time, but Margo Hanks was about to become public enemy number one.

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