NightFall Read Online Free Page A

how he’d
left it the day before. As sole owner, proprietor, and employee, he
spent six days a week there. It was hard to believe that two years
had already passed since he’d first opened his doors.
    He usually spent the first part of his
day on-line surfing prepper sites and keeping up with the latest
items. He went behind the sales counter, turned on a nearby radio,
and took a seat where his laptop sat.
    A little light rock music
helped get his gears turning. Computer
time consisted of working on his prepper blog during the slow hours
of the morning. Things usually picked up later in the day and on
weekends. He took a sip of coffee, and just as he turned on his
laptop, Bernie walked in.
    “ Hiya, Robbie. What’s the
good word?”
    Rob looked up and paused. Bernie was
wearing a beige suit, black tie, and dress shoes. It was an
unexpected sight, to say the least.
    “ Nothing much, Bernie. How
about yourself?” Rob said, looking back at the computer
screen.
    Bernie
didn ’t seem to notice Rob’s busy
distraction. Instead, he waltzed into the store and leaned against
the counter, tapping on the glass.
    “ What do ya think? Is it
me?”
    Typing, Rob looked
up. “Oh, it’s you, all right. Where’d you
get it?”
    “ Customer dropped it off
last week. Got it pressed and just trying it on for my big
day.”
    Rob nodded. “Mmmm.”
    “ Jury duty,” Bernie
said.
    Rob looked up. “Jury duty?”
    “ First time in my life.”
Bernie laughed. “You know, at sixty-five, I didn’t know if I’d ever
get a chance. Can you imagine that, someone actually wanting to have jury
duty?”
    “ Hard to imagine. For
sure,” Rob said.
    “ Well, I think it’ll be
exciting. What if I get on some high-profile murder
case?”
    “ That would be something,”
Rob said, scrolling his blog they talked. He had been thinking
about his next post: Five ways to prepare for a financial
collapse.
    Bernie moved down the
counter and switched topics. “What’re you
workin’ on there, buddy?”
    Rob was slow to respond.
His fingers typed wildly across the keyboard. “Oh… Um, just some work stuff. Posting to my prepper
blog.”
    Bernie snapped his
fingers. “Ooo! You should do something
about the Russians. You see what they’re up to?”
    “ Yeah, a lot of crazy
stuff,” Rob said, with indifference.
    “ That’s not the half of
it. They’ve taken the Ukraine. They’re moving in on Poland. I’m
telling ya’, these guys can’t be trusted. They’re trying to build
the Soviet Union back up.”
    “ No surprise there,” Rob
said.
    Bernie’s tone
intensified. “But we have to do something.
Wouldn’t you agree? They could nuke us some day.”
    Rob looked up
again. “What time is your jury duty,
anyway?”
    Bernie backed away from the counter and shot Rob a cockeyed glare.
“Oh, I see how it is. Can’t talk to ol’ Bern, eh? Too busy?” He
pulled on his sleeve and looked at his wrist watch. “You know what,
Parker? I think I’m due at the courthouse about now.” He then stormed off toward the exit.
    Rob tried calling him
back. “Oh, come on. It was an honest
question!”
    Bernie stopped at the door
and turned around. “Look into what Russia
is doing right now. That’s what you should be blogging about. Not
some post about booby traps.”
    Rob waved. “I’m not a journalist, but I’ll look into it.
Fair enough?”
    “ Sure, sure,” Bernie said.
“No hard feelings. I really do have to get to the
courthouse.”
    “ Good luck,” Rob said.
Bernie waved back and left the store. Everything went quiet again
except for the light rock playing softly and the hum of the air
conditioner. His edit screen was open, and he had only typed the
title of his economy post. He deleted it and instead added: A
Coming War with Russia?
    The land-line office phone suddenly
rang near the cash register. Another interruption. Ron got off his
stool and picked up the phone by its fourth ring.
    “ Pro-Survival. Your
one-stop shop for when