The Event: The Beginning by Lee Thomas Page B

here and had them lift me onto the roof of the garage. Once up there, I helped up Jeff and Roger as well. We crept to the edge near the back yard. There was nothing in the yard except play equipment for the kids, toys, and a dog house. The dog was nowhere to be seen however. We made a quick inspection of the roof of the garage, and as much of the house as we could see from there. It all appeared intact. I motioned for Eric to come up also. I wanted him with us in case we found survivors.
                  We all climbed down to the ground, and luckily the garage door was unlocked on this side of the fence. We surrounded the door, then Roger threw it open. Jeff took point and went in, followed by myself, Eric, and then Roger.
                  "That’s my cousins van, right there.” Eric said, pointing to the only vehicle in the garage. There were various tools, boxes, etc. lying around, things you would expect to see in a garage. I told Roger to open one of the garage doors and tell the team to bring the cars in here since there were two open places. They keys were handed over and two men ran back to the cars to bring them up.
                  While the rest of the team stayed with the open doors waiting on the cars to be brought up, Jeff, Roger, Eric and myself went on to the house. Jeff went to one side of the door, and Roger the other. Jeff checked the knob and nodded that it was unlocked. I nodded and he threw it open.
                  Since nothing rushed out at us, we all entered. The kitchen looked relatively clean, like it was still being used. Dirty dishes were in the sink, but there was no smell of rotten food. We stepped into the living room, and again, no real dust or signs of neglect. I nodded to Eric to call out for his cousins.
                  "Jaime? Helen? Is there anyone here? It's Eric." Eric called out. I heard shuffling upstairs and pointed up. The others heard it as well, so we focused on the stairs.
                  "Eric? It's really you?" came a female voice from the top of the stairs, belonging to Helen, I assumed.
                  "Helen? Yes, it's me!" Eric cried, moving to the stairs. We followed, just in case. Footsteps running down a hallway and then people came into view. They all embraced, crying in obvious relief. Roger went to the back door and motioned for everyone else to come in, and then the whole team settled in the living room, while Eric and his family embraced and shared stories. After about twenty minutes of reunion, I stepped up.
                  "Eric.” I said, just to get his attention.
                  "Oh. I'm sorry. Jaime, Helen, Susan, this is Sheldon. He is in charge of this group we have from Oklahoma. He has a plan, a good one. We came to find you and take you with us." Eric said, pointing at everyone as he introduced them. I shook hands with them and nodded.
                  "It's nice to meet you all, and I'm glad we found you safe. But we really need to get moving. So if you want to come with us, please pack your things so we can get started." I told them. I didn't want them to feel forced to be coming with us.
                  "I can't believe this, I thought we were just going to live here until our food ran out. I didn't know what to do after that. Of course we will come. If Eric says you have a plan, and a good one, we will be more than willing to help.” Jaime said, taking my hand once more. He shook it, then put his arm around Helen and guided her upstairs to pack. Susan, their daughter, smiled back at us then turned and went up as well.
                  "Eric, go help them, and try to make it quick. The rest of us will search the house for anything useful to take they may not think of." I said. Eric turned to go help his family while the rest of the men went to search. I motioned Jeff and Roger over to discuss our next