Sink The Zinc

Excerpt from

Sink the Zinc

Prologue

1061 days before first human dies of 61-DIVOC

“I can’t believe you just sweet talked our way into Le Cellier Steakhouse on Valentine’s Day without a reservation.” Luke smiled at his wife of nearly 23 years. Not a single fleck of gray shone on his full head of sandy-blond hair. His sea-green eyes stood out with his blue, Florida Gator golf shirt.

“You can’t get it if you don’t ask.” Leila smiled flirtatiously at Luke as a Cast Member escorted them into their favorite restaurant in EPCOT. She chose a light-blue dress to accentuate her baby-blue eyes and long, blonde hair.

“Guess what I’ll ask for back at the room later?” Luke playfully smacked her bottom.

The Cast Member placed their menus on the table and said, “Welcome to Le Cellier.  Gloria, your server, will be with you momentarily. Have a ‘Magical Day.’”

“Isn’t Valentine’s Day always a sure thing? Like birthdays and anniversaries?” She slid into their favorite booth in the back of the restaurant.

“Every day with you is like Valentine’s Day.” He squinted as he studied the menu in the dimly lit restaurant.

“Why study the menu? Don’t we always get the same thing?” she referred to their scrumptious filet mignon on top of mushroom risotto.

“I know, but I’m curious about the appetizers. Steak tartare. That’s new,” he said.

“Steak before steak? How about the cheese plate?” she asked while studying the extensive wine list.

Another Cast Member arrived and said, “Welcome to Le Cellier. My name is Gloria. Have you dined with us before?”

Leila and Luke nodded in unison.

“Great, then you know our restaurant is divided into twelve separate territories, just like Canada. You’re seated in the British Columbia Territory. Will you be using any dining plans this evening?” she asked.

“Tables of Wonderland,” Leila referred to their discount card which gave them 20% off their entire meal, including alcohol. They normally recouped the price of the annual card in one weekend. As annual passholders for over twenty years, they frequently drove down to Disney from Jacksonville, Florida. Usually their teenage sons accompanied them, but tonight they enjoyed a rare date night.

“Excellent. Can I start you off with a bottle of wine or an appetizer?” Gloria asked.

Luke gestured towards Leila to allow her to order whatever she wanted.

Pointing to her wine selection, she said, “We’ll have a bottle of this Bordeaux and the Artisan Cheese Plate.” Leila placed the wine menu down and mentally salivated over their imminent feast.

Gloria scurried off to fetch their wine and cheese plate.

Luke grabbed Leila’s hand from across the table and smiled. “Oh, I bought our tickets to the Metallica concert. I joined the fan club which allowed me to preorder a day early. I bought four great seats and put two tickets up for sale for twice what I paid. We’re basically seeing Metallica for free.”

“Nothing says I love you on Valentine’s Day like Metallica tickets.” Leila grinned.

“Or matching 357s,” Luke referred to their Christmas presents to each other. This particular handgun shot both .38 and .357 caliber bullets. He’d prepared for the Apocalypse/Armageddon for years. Guns and ammunition proved essential to survive the end of days.

Gloria appeared with a smile and a bottle of Bordeaux. She presented the bottle to them, and they eagerly nodded their approval. She uncorked the wine and poured Leila a sample.

Leila went through the proper wine tasting routine of twirling the glass to study the viscosity of the legs as they slipped down the inner part of the glass, then she sniffed the aroma before tasting the bold goodness of the heavy Bordeaux. “Mmmm.”

Gloria poured a few ounces of wine into their oversized goblets. “Your cheese plate should arrive momentarily. Ready to order?”

Luke said, “We’ll both have filet mignon, medium rare.”

“Excellent choice,” Gloria said as a food runner delivered their cheese plate.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” Luke lifted his glass and toasted Leila’s.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” She drank her wine and hummed. “What’s next on the ‘prepare for the Apocalypse to-do list?’” As a best-selling author, Leila’s overactive imagination always spun wild theories about the end of the world—zombie apocalypse, global warming melting the glaciers and flooding the world, bees going extinct and the world running out of food, solar flares scorching humans to death, aliens invading, overpopulation depleting natural resources and humans becoming extinct, or some new virus causing a pandemic.

“I plan to build a few raised vegetable gardens to grow vegetables and lettuce,” Luke said.

“Grow potatoes. It’s the only food which provides all the nutrients humans need to survive.” Leila took a bite of smoked Canadian cheddar cheese.

“I’m growing tons of herbs for cooking—rosemary, thyme, basil, dill, cilantro, mint and parsley. But I’d like to grow medicinal herbs, too. Luckily, we live on the river and can catch fish and shoot those annoying Canadian Geese if the world runs out of food,” Luke said.

“Shhh. Don’t forget, we’re in Canada,” Leila scolded.

“‘Dope.’” Luke impersonated Homer Simpson.

“Since we live next to the woods, we’ll have plenty of firewood to cook our food. Since our cats hunt, they’ll survive on lizards and birds.”

“At least we’re prepared to survive the Apocalypse.” He sipped wine.

Leila laughed. “We’ll know the world is ending when Disney closes!”

Chapter One

101 days before first human dies of 61-DIVOC

The President of the United States of America, Alexander Ace, sat behind his desk in the Oval Office and fired off a tweet from his iPhone. As he tapped away, he chuckled to himself. The Fake News will have a field day with this one.

“Excuse me, Mr. President, the Secretary of Defense is waiting to see you,” Ericka, the Chief of Staff, said.

“Send him in,” President Ace said as he pocketed his iPhone. With perfectly coiffed and heavily sprayed blond hair parted on the left, he wore a navy-blue suit, white shirt and red silk tie.

 The Secretary of Defense, also a Five-Star Fleet Admiral, entered wearing navy dress blues and saluted the POTUS. “Mr. President.”

“Secretary Lucas.” President Ace stood to his six-foot, three-inch height and shook Lucas’s hand.

“I have an urgent report that’s so important I must hand it to you directly.” Lucas handed President Ace a file labeled—TOP SECRET. 

President Ace grabbed the file, sat back down and opened it. A typed report accompanied several photographs. Incredulous, he read the Top-Secret report as his mind processed the ramifications for not only the American People, but the entire Human Race.

Being a successful business man, he got straight to the point. “How much time do we have?” President Ace asked without changing his normal, pouty-lipped expression.

“Almost eight months,” Lucas said. 

“Who else knows about this?” President Ace asked.

“Just the top guys at NASA. All communication related to this matter of national security is old school. No computers, internet or phones. Only hand delivered, manually typed memos. And only secure face-to-face conversations.”

“No other country knows?” President Ace asked.

“There’s no indication that another country knows. Our technology and resources are far superior. NSA hasn’t picked up even a whisper about this.”

“I hope you’re right because China likes to hide important stuff from us. They lie to us, steal our technology, infiltrate our universities and spy on us. That’s not racist or xenophobic, that’s a proven fact,” the President said matter-of-factly.

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“Where are these coordinates?” President Ace stood and approached the spinning globe in his Oval office. He studied the Latitude and Longitude lines on the globe and ran his finger to their intersection on the globe. “Not America, that’s fantastic. Very few people at this particular location, also fantastic.” But the ramifications of this particular location sank in.

“Now I understand why NASA went directly to you first. I assume you have a plan to save as many Americans as possible?” President Ace asked.

Lucas nodded and explained his plan.

“Fantastic plan. We obviously cannot tell the world about this,” President Ace said.

“I couldn’t agree more, Mr. President. Telling the world would create mass hysteria. They’d destroy each other long before eight months from now. Do we let the people we can’t save continue on business as usual?” Lucas asked.

“No, we want them to spend their last months on Earth at home with their families,” President Ace said.

“How do we get Americans to stay home with their families without telling them the truth?” Lucas asked.

President Ace said, “We start a pandemic.”

Chapter Two

11 days before first human dies of 61-DIVOC

“Can we stay up until Midnight?” Leila asked Andrea, her BFF since high school.

“We’ll definitely pass out way before then.” Andrea raised her nearly empty wine glass to Leila and toasted, “Cheers.”

Leila and Andrea, along with their husbands, usually celebrated New Year’s Eve together. Their annual tradition included a delicious, home cooked meal paired with lots of alcohol and laughter. They alternated hosting at their respective homes. This year, they celebrated at Leila and Luke’s home on the Saint John’s River in Jacksonville.

Leila and Andrea sat on the patio overlooking the river with a great view of the Dames Point Bridge.

“I loved those Kobe beef sliders with Brie.” Andrea rubbed her belly and placed her empty wine glass on the side table.

Leila noticed the empty glass and hollered at her two teenage sons who fished in the river. “Boys, can one of you please fill Aunt Andrea’s wine glass?” Although not biologically related, they considered Andrea and Scott part of the family.

“Uncle Damon gives us a dollar every time we get him a beer,” Zach said.

“No wonder you’re so rich,” Leila retorted. Then she wrangled her tangential thoughts back to dinner. “Luke recreated those sliders from one of our favorite Happy Hour places. If you sit in the lounge at Matthew’s Restaurant, they offer $5 house wines and $5 small plates. One of the small plates is sliders. Matthew also owns M Shack and knows how to cook a tasty burger.”

“Mmm, Chef Big Boy knows how to cook, too!” Andrea referred to Luke’s nickname used by everybody except Leila. Although nearly six-feet tall with a slender physique, Luke’s nickname somehow stuck. “What are Big Boy and Scott doing?”

“Luke’s probably showing off his arsenal and Armageddon supplies.” Leila rolled her eyes at her husband’s over preparedness. But he and their sons are Eagle Scouts, after all.  ‘Be prepared.’

Zach appeared with a bottle of wine and presented it to Andrea like a Wine Sommelier at a fancy restaurant. He uncorked the bottle and refilled their glasses.

“Thanks, Zach.” Andrea turned to Leila and asked. Do you always drink this much in front of your boys? Do you think it’s a bad influence?”

“Yes and no. We teach them responsible drinking. We drink at home, after 5 and don’t drive. In fact, now that they’re old enough to drive, they are our designated drivers if we eat out or attend a family gathering. In fact, the boys sometimes drive their grandpa and uncle,” Leila explained.

“Smart. I’m ready to play a board game,” Andrea said.

“David, can you please bring us Cards Against Humanity?” Leila asked.

“Mom, I’m not playing that game with ya’ll. You just don’t get it.” David rolled his eyes like an annoyed teenager.

“I don’t remember inviting you,” Leila retorted.

Leila, Andrea, Scott and Luke sat at the round mahogany kitchen table and played Cards Against Humanity.

“I’m surprised that ya’ll didn’t take a big trip for your 25^th wedding anniversary.” Andrea said while studying her white cards.

“We wanted to go to Scandinavia in June, but Luke couldn’t get away from the Cape Project for that long. Then we hoped to take the boys to Italy and Spain for Christmas and see many of our former exchange students. Scandinavia is way too cold in the winter. But then David needed minor surgery, and we scheduled it during Christmas break so he wouldn’t miss school. He got straight A’s his first semester at UCF!” Leila loved to brag about her awesome sons. She epitomized a proud mamma bear. 

 “They say, things happen for a reason. It’s your destiny to spend New Year’s Eve at home instead of bouncing all over Europe.

Bzzzzzzzz

Bzzzzzzzz

Bzzzzzzzz

Bzzzzzzzz

All of their smart phones buzzed simultaneously

WAOK News Alert

Chinese authorities treat dozens of pneumonia cases of unknown causes

“Scott, didn’t you have a bad case of pneumonia a few years ago?” Leila asked.

“Yes, ten years ago. I spent 8 days in the hospital. That’s how I quit smoking,” Scott said.

Leila and Luke shot judgmental scowls to Andrea who’d smoked since thirteen.

Andrea threw her hands up in the air and said, “I know, I need to quit. What do you think caused all of these pneumonia cases?” she asked, changing the subject.

Leila shrugged, “Who knows what China hides from us.”