by Sean Patten
“There!” called out a voice from the far end of the hallway. “Don’t let them get away!”
“Come on, little brother,” said Steve.
I said nothing, focusing my attention on finding the key. Once I had it between my fingers, I jammed it into the lock and gave it a quick turn, a steel mechanism clicking open inside of the door.
I didn’t wait. I slammed into it, pushed it open, and rushed out into the cool evening air.
Chapter 16
It was…quiet. Too quiet.
And dark. So dark that I couldn’t believe that I was among civilization, if that was indeed the case. Only the silver sliver of the waning moon above provided any sort of illumination.
“Hurry!” said Steve. “Come on!”
The group rushed out of the exit, and Steve slammed the door shut behind them. The lock clicked as soon as the door was closed. Moments later, fists banged against it from the inside.
We’d gotten to safety. But just barely.
For a moment I worried the crooks would find some way to get through the door. But after a time the banging subsided.
The group let out what sounded like a collective sigh of relief. Steve sat back against the door and dropped down into a sitting position.
“Holy shit,” he said. “That was close.”
No sooner had he spoken, the flashlight in my hand flickered back on.
“Of course this thing chooses right now to work,” I said, shaking my head as I turned it off and tucked it into my pocket.
“Figures,” said Steve.
“So,” said a voice I recognized right away as belonging to the frizzy-haired woman. “What now?”
I turned and faced her. She had her hands on her hips, her head cocked to the side as if impatiently waiting for my command.
“I suppose you’ve got a good idea of what to do next?” she asked.
“Lady,” I said. “I’m in the same boat you are. All I’ve been thinking about for the last hour is how to get the hell out of that casino free of bullet holes.”
The answer didn’t please her. The first rule of being a leader was to always have a plan, even when you didn’t have one. By admitting I was just as clueless as they were, I’d violated that rule. She didn’t wait a moment to react.
“There,” she said, pointing to something on the side of the building.
I turned to see what she was gesturing toward.
“Those stairs,” she said. “They lead all the way up the building.”
I saw it. Sure enough, a massive fire escape was on the side of the Medley, reaching all the way up to the top floors of the casino.
“Sure is,” I said. “What about it?”
“Think about it,” she said. “The elevators are down, and all the other ways up are locked with those keys right there.”
She pointed to the ring in my hand.
“If we go up that fire escape, we can get inside the top floors of the building and barricade ourselves in; wait this thing out.”
A few members of the group murmured their approval of the plan.
“We’ve been over this,” said Steve. “You get up there and there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to keep it secure. And then you’ve got to worry about food and running water and everything else.”
“And the entire population of Vegas wanting to join you,” I said.
Our warnings did nothing to discourage her.
“We can do it,” she said, turning to the group. “It’d be hard work, but if we all pitched in we could turn the penthouse into a fortress in the sky!”
“Yeah!” said one of the group. “Penthouse suite sounds like a pretty good place to wait this out.”
“And if we move now, I bet we can fill the tubs with whatever water pressure’s left,” said the frizzy-haired woman.
That seemed to settle it. She turned towards me and stuck out her hand.
“The keys, please,” she said.
A few of the others formed up behind her, their eyes all on me. I glanced over at Steve, who shrugged in response.
“Have at it,” I said, plopping the keys down into her hand with a jangle.
“Great,” she said. “Now, let’s go!”
Without another word, she was off. The majority of the group followed behind her as they made their way towards the fire escape.
The only two members of the group who hadn’t left, a middle-aged couple, watched them leave with me and Steve.
“What a stupid fucking idea,” the man said.
“George, watch your language,” said his wife, a slender, dark-haired woman.
“What?” he said. “It is. They’re going to get up there and find half the guests still barricaded in their room, and they’re not going exactly going to welcome them with open arms.”
“Yep,” said Steve. “They’re going to be trapped up there, supplies dwindling by the hour.”
“But at least they’re safe for now,” said his wife.
“That remains to be seen,” I said.
The four of us took our eyes off the group and turned back towards one another.
“Guess that makes just the four of us,” said Steve.
The couple shared a look.
“Not exactly,” said the man. “We’re visiting our kids here in the city—we need to get back to them out in the burbs.”
“You serious?” asked Steve. “That’s a hell of a walk!”
“Not going to leave them out there by themselves,” George said.
Without waiting for another word of protest, he turned to his wife.
“Ready?”
“Ready,” she said.
“But don’t think we didn’t appreciate you two getting us out of there,” he said. “We’re grateful, even if those jokers weren’t.”
“Sure,” I said. “Just doing what needs to be done.”
He nodded. “If the shit’s really hit the fan in the way you think it has, then we’re going to need a hell of a lot of people ready to do just that.”
He stuck out his hand towards me, and I took it.
“Good luck out there,” he said.
“You too,” I said.
The couple said their goodbyes and took off, their silhouettes quickly disappearing into the darkness.
Before too long, it was just me and Steve.
“Well, little brother,” he said. “What next?”
“Good question,” I said.
To our left was the fire escape, and nothing beyond but a massive parking garage that blocked the way. North, the direction that the couple had gone, looked like it led through or around another casino. Only other direction was to the right.
Back in the direction of the Strip.
I listened carefully, hearing a low roar of what sounded like a crowd.
“We need to get out of the city,” I said. “The fewer people we’re around, the better.”
“Sure,” said Steve. “But, ah, looks like the only way out is through.”
I turned towards the direction of the Strip, tension taking hold of my gut.
“No sense in waiting,” I said. “Let’s get this over with.”
Steve clapped his hand down onto my shoulder.
“I’m ready if you are,” he said.
Without another word, I took my first step towards the Strip, and whatever horrors it held.
Chapter 17
“You were right, little brother,” said Steve. “Didn’t want to believe it, but there’s no denying it.”
The scene on the Strip was one of chaos. Cars had been flipped and set alight, windows were smashed, and looting had already begun. It wasn’t full, end-of-the-world rioting yet, but it was damn near close. Gunshots popped over the low roar of the hundreds, if not thousands of people packed down the long road.
All the people who’d been partying and celebrating in the streets on the way in were now taking advantage of the confusion and chaos. But I knew it wouldn’t be long before desperation took hold, and when it did
this place would turn into a bloodbath.
Steve shook his head. “Jesus. No power for an hour and it’s already a zoo.”
“We can’t stand around,” I said. “We’re right in the middle of the last place we should be. And the longer we’re here, the higher the likelihood of something bad happening.”
I glanced towards the wide sidewalk, noting that plenty of people were making their way down it, trying to keep to themselves, some looking like what had happened hadn’t quite sunk in. I blamed the booze.
“Come on this way,” I said. “We take the sidewalk down as far as we can, then we get clear of this place before it gets worse. And it’s going to get worse.”
We turned from the alley between the Medley and the adjoining building onto the sidewalk.
“Just stay close,” I said. “Two of us are a less tempting target than just one person.”
“Why don’t we find a gun shop?” asked Steve. “I’d feel a hell of a lot better about this if we were armed.”
“Bad idea,” I said. “Because half the city’s having that exact same thought. And there’s not a chance in hell any gun shop owner’s going to stand by while he gets raided.”
“Good point,” said Steve. “I bet anyone with a stockpile like a gun shop guy is the type who’s just been waiting for a night like tonight.”
I thought back to my collection at home. I had two dozen weapons in total, give or take. Shotguns, pistols, long guns—hell, I even had some stuff that wasn’t technically legal. But it was all a thousand miles away, not doing me a damn bit of good.
We continued on, the sidewalks illuminated by the flaming cars to our right. Tourists moved about in dazed packs, and as I noted all of the soft bodies and shocked expressions I found myself wondering how many of them would make it through the night, once shit really hit the fan.
“We need to come up with a plan,” said Steve. “We can’t just be wandering around like these people, hoping someone’s going to come save us.”
“We do have a plan,” I said. “Get out of here and as far away from Vegas as possible.”
“Then what?” he asked. “Walk through the desert? To where?”
“No,” I said. “We drive.”
“Wait, what?” he asked. “Aren’t cars going to be wrecked by that EMP thing?”
“Some,” I said. “Newer models, yeah. They’ve got so much computerized crap in them that they’re probably not even worth trying. But older models, like a good ’70s car—that might be worth giving a shot.”
“Okay,” said Steve. “So we find some classic car. Then what?”
“We load it up with as much fuel as we can and leave. Figure out the extent of the blast, maybe try to get to my place in New Mexico.”
Steve said nothing for a long moment.
“You…you think it’s that bad?” he asked. “You think it hit the whole country? The whole world?”
“Stop,” I said.
“Huh?”
“Stop where you’re standing.”
He did.
“Now, look up.”
He did.
“What do you see?”
“I see…about the starriest night sky I’ve ever seen in my life.”
I glanced up along with him. Sure enough, he was right. The sky looked like a black cloak strewn with glittering diamonds.
Quickly, I turned my attention back to the road, not wanting to get distracted.
“Come on,” I said, gesturing for him to follow me again. “Now. What didn’t you see up there?”
“Planes,” he said. “Or helicopters. Or anything.”
“That’s right,” I said. “Now, if the EMP had just hit Vegas, or just Nevada, or even the southwest, the government would be on this place like ants on a picnic. They’d be flying overhead scoping out the scene, trying to at least send the message that they’re still in charge.”
The talk of planes made my mind shift to Kelly. If what Steve had said was true, she’d been due to come in tonight. Meaning her plane might well have been airborne when the pulse hit. Which meant—
“But they’re not,” Steve said, snapping me out of my train of thought.
“But they’re not.”
“It’s only been a couple of hours since the thing hit though, right? Might take them some time to send their people out.”
“Right,” I said. “But that means if they do have any people to send, they’re at least two hours out. Which means the blast is, at the very least, Nevada and several states.”
“Holy shit,” said Steve. “Holy shit. That means LA, San Francisco, Denver…”
“Yeah,” I said. “Same thing happening here’s happening there.”
“This is insane,” he said. “That means—”
“Excuse me?”
A voice called out to us from behind. I wasn’t going to stop. But before I had a chance to say anything to Steve, he was already turned around.
Shit.
I did the same, and the two of us were face-to-face with a man who looked to be in his late forties, and like he’d seen better days.
“What’s up?” said Steve.
“I was just wondering if you two had any information on what was going on.”
“Actually, we might,” said Steve.
I knew what was coming, and that there was nothing I could do to stop it, short of tackling the man where he stood.
“My brother and I—”
That’s as far as he got before the man produced a gun and pointed it at the two of us.
“Whoa!” said Steve. “What the hell!”
“All right, assholes,” said the man. “I want your wallets and your phones, right fucking now.”
Part of me wanted to laugh. The most useless things imaginable right now, and he was willing to kill for them.
Steve opened his mouth to protest, but I shot him a hard look.
“Sure,” I said. “Take them.”
“Smart boys,” he said. “Reach around slowly and take them out of your pockets. And don’t act like assholes about it.”
“Sure,” I repeated, nodding to Steve. “No need for violence.”
I slipped my cheap, fake-leather wallet out of my pocket and extended it towards him. Steve did the same, though his wallet looked far fancier than mine.
“Take it, prick,” said Steve.
The man, his small eyes still on us, took the wallets with his free hand and shoved them into his front pants pocket.
“Good,” he said. “Now, if I catch you two following me I’ll ventilate you both, got it?”
“Understood,” I said, making my voice as calm as possible.
The man took a few steps back, his eyes still on us. Then, once he’d put some distance between us and him, he turned tail and ran away as fast as his legs could carry him.
“Asshole!” shouted out Steve. “Miserable prick!”
“Easy,” I said, glancing around at the crowds to make sure we hadn’t caught anyone’s attention. “Just move.”
“That asshole took my wallet,” he said. “All my cards, all my cash…”
“He took the least valuable stuff you had, bro,” I said.
“What?” he asked. “I had around two-thousand in cash in that thing!”
“Cards are useless plastic right now,” I said. “And cash is going to be the same once people get it through their heads that it’s got no inherent value.”
I reached into my pocket and took out the small, orange lighter that I’d gotten from one of the members of the casino group.
“This right here,” I said. “Is going to be worth its weight in gold once people get their heads wrapped around the new reality.”
I pointed to his watch.
“That thing, too,” I said. “Bet it’s well-made, built to last.”
“Sure as hell is,” he said, holding his wrist up, a small smile of pride on his face.
“How much that run you?”
“More than you want to know,” he said.
I held up my own wrist.
“Right now, it’s worth as much as mine. They both tell time just the same.”
I undid the clasp, took off my watch, and tucked it into my pocket.
“I’d do the same if I were you,” I told Steve. “People are going to start figuring out what’s actually worth shooting people over before too long.”
He nodded and stored his watch in his pocket as I’d done.
As we continued on, I tucked my hand into my back pocket, feeling for the small, plastic envelope that held something else, something that I didn’t even want to tell Steve about. It was the most valuable thing I had on me, even if that value was of the personal sort.
Relief moved through me as I held the small, metal object between my fingers. It wasn’t going anywhere, not if I had anything to say about it.
My eyes flicked up ahead, down the length of the sidewalk. Up until now we’d stayed out of sight. But off in the middle distance, a group of about five rough-looking men—gangbangers, likely—made their way down the street, their eyes fixed on us.
“Uh, Justin,” said Steve.
“I see them,” I said.
“They don’t look like they want to have a friendly chat.”
“I know, I know,” I said lowly, glancing around.
Sinister smiles, demonic jester’s grins, formed on the men’s’ faces. The men in the group looked like the types who’d use the chaos of something like this to start shit just for fun.
“How you want to play this, J?” asked Steve, a trace of worry creeping into his tone.
I assessed the situation and my surroundings as quickly as I could. To the right, on road itself, the scene was slowly building chaos. Every now and then another car would be flipped over by the crowd, another engine up in flames. The teeming masses were on the verge of doing something very, very bad.
And we needed to be as far away from it as possible.
Behind us led back to the casino, back to the worst, most packed areas of the Strip. No go there either.
But the group of men approached closer by the second.
The only way out was through.
“Don’t stop,” I told Steve. “Just keep moving. Don’t make eye contact.”