Read Curtain Fall: Second Edition, Disaster, Preparedness, Survival, Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 1) for Free Online

“No, Cindy. There is no reason to worry about a possible eruption. The USGS, and the Park Rangers, assure us that everything’s fine . . . that there’s nothing to worry about up here. They say it’s just more of the same.”
    In an attempt to recover from the discomfort brought on by the eruption question, the on-location cameraman panned over to cover the tourists gathered around the Old Faithful Visitor’s Center. “And as you can see, Cindy,” she said, “by the number of vehicles parked in the visitor’s center parking lot, there are no restrictions on travel in or through the park today. And there are no anticipated closures planned for the immediate future.”
    “As if that’s a true indicator that everything’s fine,” John scoffed aloud. He felt a deep chill settle into him. There was something about the report that really bothered him, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
    The image on the screen returned to the news room, but John was too deep in thought to notice. He was trying to unscramble the report, and figure out why it bothered him so much. John muted the TV and carefully considered every word he heard, as well as the reporter’s bodylanguage. He was trained to read body language, so he knew she was lying, but what was the lie?
    If the Yellowstone Caldera was about to erupt, would the news channels be willing, or even allowed, to broadcast it across the country? John felt there was more to the seismic activity around Yellowstone than the news channel was willing to admit. Maybe they didn’t want to create a panic? He knew geologists weren’t always right. Even with their nearly accurate predictive analysis of Mount Saint Helens, there were unknowns.
    John tried to recall if he heard mention of the Yellowstone Caldera in recent news, but he hadn’t. While it was true he did see the occasional documentary on Yellowstone, he remembered only one show that talked about the Caldera itself.
    Most of the statistical information he learned about the Caldera came from various official and unofficial websites, but after hearing the news report, he actually believed the situation at Yellowstone was much worse than anyone was willing to say.
    What sealed his suspicions of deceit was the reporter’s comment about how everyone, “shouldn’t be concerned.” John knew, from experience, that when you want people to panic - tell them not to. When you hear the words, “Please remain calm and head for the nearest exit,” that it’s time to move, and move quickly. Those kind of words invite panic.
    A knock on the door startled John from his thoughts.
    “Oh! Hey, Tony,” said John, and he turned to see his junior associate standing in the doorway.
    Tony occasionally stood in for John during staff meetings, but he didn’t hold the title of supervisory assistant. That job went to Carl, a cantankerous old man who occupied the adjacent office. But Carl was rarely seen in his office since John passed him over for promotion. There was definitely no love lost between the two of them, or trust for that matter. Since uncovering the sour relationship, John learned to rely more heavily on Tony. Fortunately for John, Tony was more than eager to handle the responsibilities Carl willingly neglected.
    “You okay?” he asked. “You look a little, I don’t know, distressed?”
    “I’m fine. I was just thinking about the meeting. Are you head’n up?”
    “Yeah. Want me to wait for you?”
    “Nah. You go on ahead. I’ve still got to collect my notes. I’ll see you up there in a couple of minutes.”
    Tony nodded and walked away, moving down the hall toward the elevators. John gathered his things and, upon leaving his office, turned in the opposite direction of the elevators and headed toward the stairwell. The last thing he wanted to do at the moment was engage Tony with idle chit-chat. All he could think about was the news report from Yellowstone.
    He reached the stairwell and recalled what he had learned