BEYOND THE GRID: An EMP Survival story

by Connor Mccoy

  “They sound like kooky folks,” Doc Sam said.

  “I think so,” Jacob replied. “Well, they didn’t care for her rebelling and she didn’t care for their lifestyle. A rift grew between them pretty quickly. She dyed her hair, became a platinum blonde, and did her best to keep her distance from them. For a while she ran with the same crowd who took their shots at me, but she quickly realized she didn’t want to be with them, and that I was different. We fell for each other pretty hard our junior year in high school.”

  “So, what led you two to come out to the country?” Doc Sam asked.

  “I didn’t want my kids to grow up in the same hell I did,” Jacob said.

  “When I was little, I’d see those fairy tale movies. They’d always be in a forest somewhere and I always thought of them as magical places. Of course, today I know you have to work hard to live in the forest.” He chuckled. “There’s no magic out here. Well, maybe there is. The last fifteen years have been the best. The best for both of us.”

  Doc Sam finished off his glass. “Sounds like you ended up in a fairy tale after all. You got a happily ever after.” He set his glass down. “At least so far.”

  Jacob nodded. “So far.”

  Jacob looked through the door. Jubilee was sleeping on the bed inside the small room. Domino, on her knees, was leaning close to her daughter.

  As Jacob approached, Domino said, “I wiped her face. She doesn’t feel as warm. I think she’s doing better.”

  “Doc Sam thinks she should wake up soon, probably as early as tomorrow,” Jacob said.

  “I wish I could sleep next to her,” Domino said.

  “Yeah. But the doc wants her to rest alone until her wound has had some time to heal. We don’t know what situation her immune system is in,” Jacob said.

  “Right.” Domino sighed. “Terrible thing to hear that you can’t be too close to your own baby.”

  She turned around. Jacob reached down. Domino took his hand and allowed him to lift her up. “You know,” Jacob said quietly, “our kids have had a good life away from the city. But it’s not like our world was a perfect shield. She was hit by an arrow. You wouldn’t see those in the suburbs.”

  “Maybe not, but you might see a bullet instead.” Domino flicked loose hair out of Jacob’s face. “Life’s never perfect. There’s going to be risks no matter where you go.”

  A shadow moved along the wall. Jacob turned to the right. Cowell was hovering in the living room beyond the door, looking uneasy, as if he did not know what to do next. Doc Sam had been tending to some end of the day tasks such as making sure the home was locked up for the evening.

  As it so happened, Doc Sam returned to the living room from a side door. Cowell, his arms folded, said to him, “I thank you for your hospitality.”

  “Well, you’re very welcome,” Doc Sam replied.

  Cowell looked to the front door. “I suppose there is a hotel in this town?”

  “There is that small place, Ben’s Motel, on the other side of Trapp, but God knows what shape it is now. Personally, I wouldn’t go for it. I don’t know if Ben is taking in new guests with what’s going on now, and besides, hotels might be dangerous places right now. You never know if somebody decides to, well, carpe diem. You might end up on the wrong end of that.”

  Cowell scowled. “I’d be attacked by some hoodlum or robber?”

  “This world is going to make robbers out of a lot of people.” Doc Sam glanced at the couch by the wall. “My suggestion? Bunk out on there for the night. I’m not going to turn you loose to the wolves.”

  “You would let me stay?” Cowell asked.

  “Sure. Not forever, of course. I intend to give you the boot as soon as it’s feasible.”

  Cowell frowned. “Thanks.”

  “That’s not a jab at you, Mister Social Worker,” Doc Sam said as Cowell walked to the sofa. “This place may become too busy for anyone to rest comfortably. You won’t be the last people to show up looking for help.”

  Cowell sat down. “You sound a little worried about that.”

  Doc Sam nodded. “Some of those people aren’t going to be as neighborly as the Averys or yourself. You might want to get away from here soon if you can.”

  Blood.

  It laid a long trail across the ground leading from the shadow of his homestead. Jacob tracked it. He hoped it wasn’t human. If it was human, he feared who the blood belonged to.

  I’m dreaming.

  Jacob quickened his pace, but not so quickly that he lost the trail. He observed how the blood coated small leaves and blades of grass. He almost could tell the blood was familiar, although it shouldn’t be possible. Blood was blood. How could he tell who it belonged to?

  Perhaps because he was afraid of who it belonged to.

  I’m dreaming.

  Jacob jogged past his rows of crops. He did not look up at the horizon. He wanted to know where the hell this trail of blood led. Nothing else mattered to him.

  I’m dreaming…aren’t I?

  He was now beyond his crops. His footsteps took him toward the open area of his land where his children loved to play. He was rapidly closing the gap between himself and the pond.

  Please God, let me be dreaming.

  The trail of blood led behind a tall patch of cattails. Jacob scurried to the banks of the pond. Once there, he understood what he had been tracking all along.

  Jubilee lay on the ground, the arrowhead embedded in her arm. Blood trickled down her arm, and she breathed heavily. The teen looked up at the skies with wide but placid eyes.

  What’s she looking at?

  The pond’s water reflected the skies above, but instead of a serene blue heaven, white clouds, or even a stormy sky, the waters displayed a sky on fire. Jacob trembled. Was all of that right above him?

  He didn’t want to look up. But he had to. A compulsion within his body demanded it.

  Upon looking up, Jacob beheld the terrible sight above. He thought for a moment he saw God himself in the sky. A human-like figure had taken shape from a blue cloud. But then Jacob saw a second shape forming from a green cloud close by. Were there two gods up there? Or angels? Or demons?

  Maybe this is the end of the world, Jacob thought. Perhaps the destruction of the world’s electricity and electronics was ordained from Heaven itself. Jacob was not a particularly religious man, but he was at least familiar with the broad strokes of the Bible, including the parts about angels pouring out God’s wrath upon the world.

  However, these celestial forms seemed to be looking down on him. An added chill ran down Jacob’s back. Why were they looking at him? Were they judging him for something? Perhaps they looked at him as just a part of humanity as a whole and regarded him as no less guilty than the others.

  “I know.”

  Jacob turned his head. His daughter was pointing to the strange entities above.

  “We’ll never make it,” she finished.

  The weight of the previous day seemed finally to hit home. His world had changed. The weight of the burden he now had to bear in making sure his family was safe from the horrors emerging around him felt crushing.

  Then he woke up.

  Clutching the white sheet, Jacob looked around the guest room where he and his wife were sleeping. Jubilee slept soundlessly in a bed near the wall opposite them while Brandon slumbered in another room next door. The room was quiet. There was no sound of air conditioning. Soft chirping penetrated through the glass of the small window.

  He patted his white undershirt. Sweat had soaked into it. Jacob rarely had slept without an air conditioner’s soft breeze blowing on him, and it was fairly warm outside, even with the sun down. However, Jacob suspected the wild dream he just had experienced explained his sweat a lot better.

  He rolled onto his side, facing his sleeping wife, who reclined on her side. Sweat dripped down her face. He wondered if the lack of air conditioning was taxing her a little, but as he watched her face contort, Jacob guessed that she might be dr
eaming too, and not having good ones.

  But then her eyes opened. Jacob froze in place, to wait for her to drop back to sleep if she could. Instead she awoke fully.

  “Hey,” Jacob said, “bad dreams?”

  “Yeah,” she replied, “you?”

  “Yeah. Bad, bizarre, troubling.” Jacob clutched the sheet tighter. “I guess with everything that’s happened, I should be glad my dreams aren’t worse than they are.”

  Domino smiled sadly. “I used to be able to chase away your bad dreams. Remember that night, in that hotel room in Alexandria?”

  Jacob smiled. “Well, you did a good job of chasing away bad dreams. Of course, that was also the first time we…”

  “Had sex for the first time?” Domino asked.

  Jacob chuckled. “I was going to say, ‘made love.’”

  “My God, you are getting old. You’re becoming too classy,” Domino said with a soft laugh.

  “Maybe.” Jacob chuckled some more.

  “Anyway, I don’t know what my dreams mean. I guess I’m afraid that I won’t be able to…” He pointed to the ceiling. “…handle all of this. I’ve read about what can happen when society goes into the shitter, but it is scary to see it all happen in front of you. I mean, if it was just me, or even just the two of us, I wouldn’t be this way, but with the kids, I worry about them.” He sighed. “I suppose you don’t want to hear me say that. It sounds better if I have it all together, doesn’t it?”

  “I’d be surprised if you weren’t scared,” Domino said, “but you’re doing fine. You got Jubilee help even in the midst of this madness.”

  “With your help,” Jacob quickly added.

  “Yes, thank you, thank you.” Domino nodded her head twice as if to imitate a person bowing on stage.

  “I just wish I didn’t have to leave you,” Jacob said.

  “We’ll be fine. Trust me. I can handle Alex Cowell,” Domino said.

  Jacob laughed. “Well, I’m not worried about Cowell. Not completely, anyway. You know what I mean.”

  “Right. This seems like a good town, good people. I don’t think we’re in any immediate danger.” Domino looked down at the bed. “And you know that I can take care of myself.”

  “I do.”

  Jacob thought about the early years when he knew Domino. He knew that Domino was tough. Even so, he dreaded the idea that Domino would have to defend herself again. He had thought that their homestead, situated close to rural communities, would have been far enough away from seedy elements to avoid violent confrontations.

  Sadly, the arrow in Jubilee’s arm dispelled much of that notion. It only would get worse from here.

  “Jay, try to get some sleep.” Domino ran a hand through Jacob’s hair. “You need all your strength tomorrow.”

  “I’ll try.” Jacob rolled onto his back. It would not be easy. Perhaps his wife would be able to chase away his bad dreams once again.

  Chapter Nine

  Jacob managed a few hours of sleep, but his eyes fluttered open before the sun rose. It was just as well, for Doc Sam approached quietly through the doorway. He cast a glance at Jubilee. The doctor perhaps did not want to wake up her or Domino, who still was sleeping. Jacob silently thanked him for showing caution.

  “It’s almost five a.m.,” Doc Sam said, “still have some clocks that work. Join me in the kitchen. Leave the lady be. It’s time we plan your trip.”

  Jacob exhaled softly. “Alright.”

  Doc Sam flattened the map on the kitchen table. “Now, ordinarily this wouldn’t be a big deal. I order my supplies from a dealer in Pleasantville. But, of course, phones and email went into the crapper yesterday, so calling ahead to arrange an order is out of the question.” He looked up, his eyes meeting Jacob’s. “Without communication, you won’t know what to expect.”

  “I’ve been to Pleasantville. The interstate runs right through it. It’s one of the main arteries into the D.C. metro area. In fact, there’s an airport not far from there.” Jacob bit his lower lip. “Doc, there’s no way I can go any farther than Pleasantville. Hell, even Pleasantville itself might be clogged with people. There’s going to be a whole stream just pouring out of there.”

  “A stream of desperate people. I agree. I don’t want to put you in unnecessary danger.” The doctor traced a path downward along the interstate south of Pleasantville. “There are some towns along the way, smaller places, perhaps locales that won’t be as dangerous. Middleburg, now there’s somewhere you can try. Doctor Nguyen lives there. He’s helped me out on occasion. In fact, he might even have the antibiotics I used on your daughter. Yes, yes, I recommend you try him first.”

  Doc Sam scrambled to fish out a pad and pen from the counter. “Let me write down the address.” After scribbling the information and tearing the page from the pad, he added, “Don’t worry about paying him for the supplies. I’ll give you some proof that you know me.” He pushed the paper into Jacob’s open hand. “He and I go back some years. In fact, he accompanied me into some overseas trips to Vietnam and Burma to help some of the communities there.”

  Doc Sam sighed. Jacob asked, “It sounds like the trip didn’t go well.”

  “He was quite happy to return home, let’s put it that way. I only hope he’s able to handle this disaster. In his younger years, I’d have no doubt.” Doc Sam returned to the map. “It’s on Madison Drive. Here.” He pointed to a street not far from the interstate. “You’ll take your own map with you.”

  “Don’t worry. I have one in my get home bag,” Jacob said.

  “Your what?”

  “My get home bag is what I packed to sustain me if I wound up away from home without a car or anyway to get home quickly.”

  Doc Sam laughed. “My God, you think of so much. I can’t believe you never intended to be a prepper.”

  “I guess it’s now in my blood. I’ve learned so much since I began my life on my farm. If I have to, I can make fire, sanitize water, build a shelter.” Jacob eyed the interstate that ran up the left half of the paper map, envisioning the journey to come. It excited and frightened him all at once.

  He was so deep in thought he did not hear the footsteps of Alex Cowell or see the shadow that crossed his arm until the social worker had made it past him and was closing in on the refrigerator. Jacob raised his head. Cowell looked pretty rough. His once stern eyes now turned down to the floor, his strait gait was crooked, and his shirttail hung out of the pants.

  “The fridge doesn’t work,” Jacob said as Cowell reached for the handle.

  Cowell’s hand dropped down. “Damn. I forgot.” He turned away without looking at Jacob or Doc Sam.

  “You look like you had a rough night, sailor,” Doc Sam said.

  “I tried, but it was hard to sleep.” Cowell shuffled along the counter. He seemed finally to bear the weight of the terrible revelation that the world around him had gone to hell. “Do you have something to drink? I need something, anything.”

  “Water will do in a pinch.” Doc Sam turned to Jacob. “Pour some for him if you would.”

  “Sure.”

  Jacob found a paper cup and walked up to Doc Sam’s small water cooler. He pushed down on the button and waited for the cup to fill with water. Although the electricity was gone, and the cooler no longer could chill its water, it still was a handy way to quickly find some water around here.

  Cowell took the cup and drank, but he expressed no thanks beyond a single, curt nod. Jacob decided any further words were not forthcoming, so he turned back to the map.

  “A get home bag,” Cowell suddenly spoke up.

  Jacob craned his head back to Cowell. “What?”

  “How do you think of things like that?” Cowell asked, “It seems ridiculous.”

  “Not so ridiculous now, don’t you think?” Doc Sam spoke up.

  “Sure, now, but earlier, when everything was normal.” Cowell took a big swig before continuing. “Why the hell did I not hear about this?” Anger rose in his voice. “Why didn’t
anyone talk about this?”

  “I guess you wouldn’t hear about it unless you knew where to look,” Jacob said.

  “So, the only place we’d learn about this kind of stuff, about get home bags and building campfires and whatever other shit you have to know, oh, it’s not in schools, not at work, not at government meetings. No, it’s just floating on the fringes of the Net. Only they know about all of this!”

  It was hard for Jacob not to sympathize with Cowell. Like so many other people just living their lives, they wouldn’t have been exposed to the kind of survival skills that Jacob had learned. It didn’t seem necessary. They didn’t live in a wilderness. Their world was a paragon of advanced technology and convenience. Even though EMP awareness had spiked in recent years, a lot of people never dreamed their modern lifestyle could be ripped away from them.

  Cowell placed the empty paper cup on the counter. “I should let you get back to your…” He spun his finger. “Your…” He didn’t finish the sentence, instead began walking back through the door.

  Jacob checked the contents of his get home bag once again. It was well stocked with everything he would need. Still, maybe I should unzip this small compartment one more time…

  He was stalling. He needed to admit he was well packed and move on. The sooner he tended to his family, the sooner he could leave and retrieve what Doc Sam wanted.

  You could carry Jubilee out of here. If you split from the house at the right moment, while Doc Sam is busy, you could escape scot free and wouldn’t have to worry about going to Middleburg or anywhere you think is too dangerous.

  A tempting thought. But one, ultimately, he wouldn’t entertain. That would make him no better than the thugs he used to live around. He wanted to be better than they were.

  He turned from his bed to his sleeping daughter. Her cheeks showed some more color. She was recovering, no question about it. Jacob even dreaded it a little. If she woke up this morning, he would have to explain that he had to leave. Would she insist he stay? Would she be so disoriented that she couldn’t bear to have him leave so soon?