Aurora Sky: Blackout (Completed)

Chapter 31

Silent was the misty morning. Rain from the night before gave way to heavy fog that rolled in through the Tri-State of Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana, which was a fairly common occurrence after a good downpour. Though the rain was great for the Earth and its ecosystem, it was to the company's misfortune. The thickness of the fog impaired visibility to the point where The Gray Fort's walls were no longer visible, only the great walnut tree and the barn could be seen from the house.

The untimely weather became a cause for concern amongst the group. The mission that lay before them was in jeopardy at least for the day. Although in case they did end up following through with their plans, there would still be a need to discuss how to go about it. So all of the house members gathered within the dining room for a "family" meeting. Before they could discuss about the mission at hand, first it was necessary to determine how many trailers would be needed, and that required the people to decide their new living arrangements.

Over the past few days, the housemates had talked amongst each other over who they'd prefer to room with in a mobile home for the future. To make things simple, Larry suggested everyone write down on a piece of paper with their name and who they were planning to room with. Isaac grabbed a notepad from his study and passed it first to his sister, who wrote down her name and Brandon's for the first trailer needed.

The rest of the couples followed: Cameron and Holly, Evan and Emma, Duke and Valerie, and Larry and Joanna. The family of Jonah, Susan, and their two children, signed their names next, upping the total to six trailers. Cousins Krissy, Kimmy, and Natalie offered to share one together, making for seven. Finishing off the list were friends Rob, Arthur, Warren, and Paul, who agreed they'd be willing to live together in one trailer if they could find one with enough room, but if not then the four could split into two pairs, tallying for at least eight, potentially nine trailers needed.

The only people left off the list were Lacey, Ron, and Sherri who already had their own RV, Isaac who was of course staying in the house, and Sean. As Larry read the list off aloud, Sean whispered over to Isaac, "I figured I would just stay in the basement if that's okay with you. I like sleeping around the instruments. I sleep better around them."

"Yeah, man, of course." Isaac nodded his head and whispered back, "You know that's cool with me."

When Larry finished calling off everyone's name, Evan transitioned the topic of conversation to the trip to the I-275 Self Storage facility in Ohio. "We'll go in first with a scout team," he said. "Isaac, Sean, Rob, Warren, and I will make the team. While we're scouting, we'll have a team of drivers waiting in the downtown area of Petersburg. You all will hang out there until we're done and then you'll make your way over, it will cut down on your driving time by half and saves us some time from having to wait for you. Any questions?" He looked around the room but nobody responded. "Alright, then. Once that's finished, we'll drop the trailers off back here, and the next outgoing team will head for the Vet to grab whatever we need for the animals."

As Evan wrapped up his presentation, Paul butted in and turned the conversation into a debate over whether or not the mission of leaving the town in search of trailers and campers across the river was worth it or not today, especially with the way the weather was. He never held back on his emotions of thoughts and often challenged authority, but he never did so out of ego or arrogance. Paul always presented his arguments calmly with logic and facts, and did his best to address it in an unbiased way, which Isaac really appreciated at times.

"I don't know," Paul said with his eyebrows raised and doubt in his tone. "I mean, do we need to go out right now for this? Don't get me wrong, I want my own space and bed just as much as the next person here, I just feel like it's gonna be really risky driving around in the fog that we can barely see in. I don't know if it's worth dying for especially when we already have beds here."