For Those In Peril (Book 1): For Those In Peril On The Sea by Colin M. Drysdale Page A

none of it seems to be damaged. Where should we begin?’ I looked at Bill.
    ‘Why don’t we start with the shortest distance one, see if we can pick up anyone around here and then work our way up to the long distance ones?
    ‘Sounds reasonable.’ I turned on the VHF radio and scanned slowly through the channels. Silence. I turned to channel sixteen and sent out a message. No one replied. I fiddled with the gain and tried again. Still there was no response.
    ‘Okay, so there’s no one on the radio around here. Let’s try the FM receiver.’
    We’d had no luck with the one on CJ’s phone, but this was more powerful and capable of picking up stations from hundreds of miles away. We turned it on and heard nothing but static.
    ‘Try switching it over to AM. See if there’s anything there.’
    T here was nothing.
    ‘Okay.’ Things weren’t going the way Bill had been hoping, ‘How about the short-wave?’
    With the short-wave set, we could potentially talk to people over thousands of miles. As I turned it on, a spark shot out, burning the tips of my fingers, and it went dead.
    ‘Should we try to repair it?’ I glanced at Bill.
    ‘Do you know how?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Nor do I, so I guess that answers that one.’
    ‘Okay, so we’re down to the satellite TV receiver.’ This was our last hope and I was starting to sound desperate. If there was nothing on this one, it would mean we were well and truly on our own.
    Bill put his hand on mine as I reached out to turn it on. ‘Just remember. Even if we don’t pick up anything, it’s not the end of the world.’
    ‘Bad choice of words there, Bill.’
    ‘Yeah probably,’ he laughed slightly. ‘But you know what I mean.’
    I turned it on. We spent the next thirty minutes scanning through every possible channel, but all we got were automated notices saying broadcasts had been interrupted temporally and would be back as soon as possible. The satellites were still beaming down the signals but no one was transmitting anything up to them.
    ‘Shit, Bill, it looks like you were right.’ My voice sounded flat even to me. ‘This is global.’
    ‘Yeah.’ Bill glanced down before looking up at me. ‘I’m beginning to wonder if we’re the only ones left.’
    ‘Surely we can’t be the only ones?’ A sense of despair was growing within me.
    ‘If there’s anyone else, where are they?’
    ‘Fuck!’ I thought for a few seconds, ‘I’m not sure I can do this, Bill, not if we’re the only ones left. What future do we have?’
    ‘You’ve got no choice, Rob. This isn’t about you or me; this is about all of us. There’s no way the others can survive without us. I know Jon thinks he can do it all, but he can’t, he’s too young, too inexperienced. CJ’s barely holding it together, and the boys won’t last on their own, not in the long term.’ Bill looked me straight in the eyes. ‘I heard you last night, talking to Mike about his nightmares, I heard what you said to him, what you told him. You did good.’
    ‘You can manage without me. I can’t do this.’
    ‘Yeah, you can. You have to.’ There was a moment’s silence. ‘Rob, I can’t do this without you. I need another adult. I can’t look after these kids on my own.’
    I got the impression Bill was trying to make me feel needed, and I had to admit it was working.
    ‘Okay, Bill, what do you want me to do?’
    ‘Just help me look after them. You saw what happened to CJ the other day. We’re all going to go through times like that … you, me, all of us. I need to know that when it happens to me there’s someone else who can take over until it passes. Rob, you’re the only one I can trust.’
    ‘I’m not a leader, Bill. I’m a follower.’
    ‘No, you’re not. I heard you with Mike, you were great. You might not realise it, but you’ve got what it takes. Anyway, I’m not asking you to take charge, I’m just asking you to be there when I need it.’
    I considered what Bill had said for a few