A Dark Evolution (Book 2): Deranged by Jason N. LaVelle

Every single thing.
    Insects are absolutely vital to life on planet earth, and even so, that's not what will make the news. It won't be the annihilation of the biggest group of living creatures of the planet, it will be Walmart and Meijer running out of food. It will be billions around the globe starving to death as the crops die and food disappears. It will be the total breakdown of humanity when they realize that they are all going to die, that our time on this planet is running out.
    Robert didn't want to see it. He didn't want to see the world die before his grandchildren and great-grandchildren could grow into adults and experience more of life and love. It was just too damn tragic to think about. Then a glass was held out in front of him. He looked up and saw his daughter holding out a blue ceramic glass to him.
    He shook his head, “I'm not thirsty.”
    She lowered herself down next to him. “Well I am, and I’m not drinking alone.” She handed him the glass, which held an amber liquid. She had one as well. He sniffed the glass. It smelled like cinnamon and alcohol. He raised a white eyebrow at her.
    “Fireball.”
    He nodded and sipped the drink, letting the bite of the cinnamon whisky burn in his mouth before swallowing. It was good. “It’s tough for the kids to see you like this, Dad.”
    Robert glanced back at his grandkids and their kids trying their best to help. “Sorry. This is just -”
    “Overwhelming, I know. And I know Mom always used to be here for you, to take care of you. But we’re here now, you aren’t alone.”
    “It’s more than this,” he said, motioning to the hives. “Well, I guess it isn’t. It's all about this. The kids -”
    “Dad, I spent ten years between college, grad school and med school classes.”
    “I know, I paid for it,” he said gruffly.
    His daughter smiled. “I know you did, Dad. Even after I was an adult, you kept taking care of me. You’re a good man.” She reached out and took his hand. “I’m not stupid, Dad. I may not know just how bad this is all going to be when it shakes out, but I know that the world is going to change. That we’re going to have to change with it.”
    She looked over and saw that her father's eyes were developing red rims, and tears were forming in them.
    “Is it going to be so bad? You’re the one who knows about the bugs.”
    Robert took several great, deep breaths, trying to get his emotions in check before speaking. “I don’t know what the end is going to look like, honey, but I know that this is the beginning of it. It's going to be Armageddon. If this kind of die-off is happening around the world, then this is the start of the apocalypse.”
    She let out a long sigh. “Don’t tell the little ones.”
    “I didn’t even want to say anything to you about it. You have all of your things? To stay?”
    “We do,” Mary said. “It was a pain trying to convince all the kids we had to come out here, though. Jane and Elizabeth's husbands had insisted on going into work, said the world would keep turning. They're convinced the army will contain this, that it will blow over.”
    Robert let out a discouraged sigh. “I know they believe that. I know they think I’m crazy.”
    “The girls don’t though, Dad. They know that you’ve always known best. We won't go home, not to our homes anyway. We’ll hole up here on the farm.”
    “There’s plenty of room between the ranch and the bunkhouses. Manuel and his family are staying here as well.”
    “I saw them digging postholes.”
    “Installing an electric fence. Manuel’s son has a degree in electrical engineering, he said he can juice it up to a near fatal charge, enough to stop the zombies in their tracks.”
    “They're not actually zombies you know.”
    “I know. They have hearts that beat, and that's why the fence will work. Otherwise, there's just too much land here to defend. It's going to be a compound. We will survive as long as we can out here.”
    “Do you