by Pat Riot
46 Hours to Home
A novel of survival during the apocalypse
Pat Riot
Copyright © 2019 Pat Riot
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Cover image © Publicdomainphotos | Stock Free Images
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Epilogue
About the Author
Acknowledgements
When I first started this project I vastly underestimated the amount of time I would put into this book. Between the first outline, all the drafts, adding stuff and taking other stuff out, and the research, I estimate that I put several hundred hours into writing 46 Hours to Home. Of course something like this is never accomplished by just one person. To Cheryl: Thank you for your insights and help with proofreading. Your assistance was invaluable. To my brother: Thank you for all your help. With all the ideas and numerous hours reading the drafts, this book would not be what it is today without you. And most importantly, to my wife: from the bottom of my heart, thank you for believing in me, pushing me, keeping me level, and encouraging me; I am a better person because of you. You are the light of my life and I love you with all of me.
For those of you that take the time to read this book I say THANK YOU! I truly hope you love the book and come away wanting more. If you love it, like it, or even hate it, please take the time to rate it and leave some constructive feedback. I plan to keep writing and will hopefully improve as an author with your help. Enjoy.
Prologue
93 million miles above earth the sun was in a period known as solar maximum with sunspot, solar flare, and coronal loop activity at increased levels. On March 25, just after 1:00 pm UTC the sun would explode into activity. On the earth facing side of the sun, in an area with an unusually high number of sunspots, a solar flare, later identified as a class X32 flare, would erupt and release a coronal mass ejection containing billions of tons of plasma aimed directly at earth. Due to the heightened solar activity, several smaller coronal mass ejections had already occurred over the prior several days, effectively clearing the area between the sun and earth of ambient solar wind plasma. Because of this, the massive coronal mass ejection caused by the class X32 solar flare would reach earth in under eighteen hours. While humans went about their daily lives sleeping, eating, working, texting on their cellphones, playing games and conducting meetings via the internet, driving cars and flying planes, the vast majority of earth’s inhabitants had no idea the life giving sun would soon destroy modern civilization as we know it.
Chapter 1
“Control, Paul-38 on a traffic stop.” Communications Supervisor Robert Miller used his computer mouse to deselect the channel covering the southwest area of the county, then used it to select the channel covering the northwest area without waiting to hear the expected response from the dispatcher working that radio channel. As he selected the new channel an officer yelling into his portable Motorola radio came through Rob’s headset, “Charlie-14 PHYSICAL!”
He listened as Dispatcher Rachel Rodriguez went through the steps as laid out in the agencies policies and procedures. First, he heard a tone sent out on the channel to alert everyone listening that something important was happening, then he heard Rachel speak in a very fast but clear and concise voice, “All units 10-33 repeating 10-33 Charlie-14 physical at 15505 Ashwood units to respond code-3.” She cleared the radio channel and initiated what was referred to as “emergency traffic” which would hopefully keep anyone not involved in the critical incident from transmitting and taking up precious air time, potentially preventing the officers involved from putting out critical information.
Rob continued to listen as numerous units responded to the call for urgent assistance from Charlie-14.
“Charlie-11 code 3” … “Charlie-23 rolling code” … “Charlie-20 en-route.” The whole time he could hear Rachel typing furiously into the Computer Aided Dispatch system tracking everything that was going on with the speed and accuracy of a competent and well-trained dispatcher. Once she had a moment of free air time she activated her headset mic, “Northwest watch commander, copy?” A moment later Rob heard the sergeant currently acting as watch commander for that area respond, “Sam-5 I copy, show me responding.”
As many times as Rob had been in that seat taking the radio traffic of an officer in distress, as many times as he had handled this same situation and even situations that resulted in officers being involved in a shooting, including officers taking fire from a suspect, he could still feel his heart speed up just a little. No matter the situation there was always a part of him that worried that the officer would be injured or worse. As much as he wanted to take over the channel from Rachel he knew she was a good dispatcher and didn’t need any assistance with the radio traffic. Instead he called over to her, “I’ll start medical for you”.
“Copy!” Rachel replied as she continued to type.
He reached for a small keypad situated on the console in front of him and pushed the button labeled County Fire Dispatch, then listened to the line ring twice before being answered. “Hey this is Michelle,” he heard the friendly voice of the county fire department’s dispatcher come through his headset.
“Hey Michelle, can you guys start for 15505 Ashwood, we have a unit physical.”
“No problem, we’ll stage for you.”
“Okay thanks,” Rob said before hanging up and yelling over to the dispatcher assigned to the southwest command area radio channel, “Hey Tracy, start your K-9 unit up there in case they need it.” Rob knew a police canine was a valuable tool that could help with anything from tracking down and apprehending suspects to locating evidence and missing children. He also knew the officers appreciated when dispatch took the initiative to respond resources that could assist without the officers needing to ask for it.
As he waited for any updates from Charlie-14, Rob checked his screens. Just because he had an officer in a physical confrontation in one area did not mean he wasn’t still responsible for everything else going on in the county. He looked at the call screen to check on everything currently happening across their jurisdiction. Three domestic violence calls, one death investigation on a thirty-eight-year-old male who possibly overdosed on heroin or a similar opioid, four traffic collisions, one of which was considered major injury, twelve burglar alarm calls, one fight call at a bar, nine suspicious vehicle calls, one stabbing currently under investigation, one shooting call where the officers were still trying to locate one of the three victims who walked away from the scene prior to anyone arriving, one lost hiker that had a helicopter and volunteer search and rescue team on the way to look for, and twenty-seven assorted calls that were not in progress and still pending dispatch. Not a bad night, all in all. Next, he checked the screen that showed which officers were doing what along with their current location. Besides the officers on the calls currently dispatched he could see over seventy that were working special assignments, such as traffic enforcement, DUI patrol, surveillance on a few of the local gang bangers suspected of committing recent vehicle thefts, and the group of investigators currently in the next county over attempting to locate an assault-with-a-deadly-weapon suspect who had been on the run for over three weeks.
; The next transmission to come through was from Charlie-14 and even though he was fighting with a suspect the officer’s voice was composed and clear, “Control I’m still physical, Taser deployed but not effective. I’ve also got family coming out of the house.” Geez, thought Rob, this guy must be hopped on up something. And hopefully his backup units get there before the family decides to get involved.
Fifteen seconds later the radio came alive again, “Charlie-23 and -20 both 97, -14 still physical keep the other units rolling.”
“Copy -23 and -20 97, still physical, units remain 10-33,” Rachel said into her mic while continuing to type.
“Sam-5 I’m about a minute out.” Just over two minutes later he heard what everyone in the room was hoping, praying, and waiting to hear, “Sam-5 we are code four, one in custody, roll in medical for the suspect, all officers are code four. Send two additional units, we have a large crowd of family and neighbors semi-uncooperative.”
Rachel responded, “10-4, Charlie-25 and -29 both respond. Medical is en-route.”
Thank God, Rob thought with immense relief. The entire incident had lasted a little less than four minutes but felt like hours. It was a relief to hear that Charlie-14 was OK and the only person in need of medical aid was the suspect. There was a small part of him that was glad the suspect would be heading to the hospital prior to being taken to the county jail. What’s that saying? Rob thought to himself. Oh yeah, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. What an idiot.
“Tracy, your K9 unit can cancel,” Rob called out, then reached over and pressed the button to call County Fire Dispatch again. “This is Angie,” he heard after one ring.
“Hey, it’s Rob. Reference that call on Ashwood, you guys can roll in.”
“Copy that,” Angie responded. “Your officers okay?” she asked.
“Yeah they are. Just the suspect needs some tender loving care from the county’s bravest,” Rob joked.
“Okay you got it,” Angie said with a laugh.
Rob disconnected the call then yelled over to the other side of the room, “Hey Rachel, good job as usual. You need a break or anything?”
“No, I’m good, thanks though. And thanks for getting medical for me,” she replied.
“You’re welcome,” Rob said as he turned his attention back to the computer to finish working on the schedule for the upcoming month. He was interrupted again when he heard someone walking up behind him. He turned and found his manager, Kristine Davis, approaching. She was a tall pretty black woman with a reputation of being a bit of a hard-ass, but in his own opinion she was actually a very good boss and was fair with her employees; she just tended to come down hard on dispatchers who weren’t putting their full focus into their job. He took off his headset as Kristine asked, “Hey, which sergeant went to that unit physical?”
“Sam-5,” Rob replied.
“Okay, I’ll see if I can get the scoop,” Kristine said. “And Rachel did a great job, as usual.”
“Yeah,” Rob said, chuckling. “Those were almost my exact words to her.”
After a quick smile Kristine turned and walked back towards her office. Rob decided to take a break. Besides the officer who fought the suspect a minute ago there was nothing major currently going on and the schedule could wait. He picked up his headset and pressed the button to dial the supervisor console in the other dispatch room.
“PSAP, Jason,” the voice came through the headset. Jason Johnson was the supervisor overseeing PSAP, which stood for Public Safety Answering Point. It was the side of dispatch that took all incoming emergency and non-emergency phones calls from the public and other agencies. Most small to medium size agencies have both radio and PSAP in the same room, but due to the layout of the building they were in and the fact they were considered a large dispatch center, they were split into two separate but still large rooms. At any given time, there would be anywhere from twenty to thirty dispatchers working. Jason was new in the position, having been promoted a bare three months prior, but was quickly proving himself to be a well-liked and competent supervisor. In the seven years Jason was employed with the agency, he and Rob became good friends. They worked numerous shifts together and got along great, both having a somewhat immature sense of humor, laid back attitudes, and a friendly outlook on everything. Jason, like Rob, was quick to laugh but also knew when to take things seriously and worked hard when needed. Both were also known as good dispatchers who were now good supervisors, and everyone liked working on their shifts.
“Hey Jason, Rob, I’m gonna take a break, keep an eye on things?”
“Always, just let me know when you get back, I need to get some coffee” Jason said.
“Okay, will do.”
After hanging up Rob stood up and looked out over the darkened room. The walls were painted a light gray and the ceiling lights were all on dimmers and divided into several different sections. Each section could be dimmed or brightened based on the dispatcher’s preference. Right now, every section was as dim as the switch allowed without being completely turned off. Each console also had its own small lighting system so if one dispatcher liked the room dark, but another liked it bright, they could both adjust their own console, and both be happy. Besides the two supervisor consoles that were slightly elevated above the rest of the room, there were five pods of three consoles each, making fifteen positions that could be used to monitor and work the numerous different radio channels that the agency relied on to accomplish its public safety mission. Of the fifteen consoles nine of them were currently occupied with the dispatchers working anything from primary radio channels to backup and special request channels. Along the walls were numerous cabinets that held everything from printer paper to boxes of pens.
As he looked around the room Rob could see all five televisions that were mounted above the pods were tuned to different channels with three playing movies, one a home renovation show, and the last a cable news station, but the dispatchers had their full attention on their screens. Rob felt a touch of pride as he watched for a moment. He had a good group of people on his shift. They were always on time, took their job seriously, were all strong dispatchers, and didn’t cause any issues. And, surprisingly, they all got along. There was usually one or two who for one reason or another disliked the other dispatchers on their given shift and made it well known, causing morale issues. But that was not currently the case and Rob counted himself lucky that he didn’t have to deal with the many problems that typically resulted with dispatchers who had a less than desirable outlook on life.
Before walking away Rob took a quick look at the alarm panel that was supposed to sound an alert if any issues occurred with any of the many different systems that were used in the communications center every day and found all the system lights were showing green. He also looked at the large monitor mounted above the alarm panel that showed the status of the radio system, including each individual radio channel, and could see no alerts pending on it. Everything in the darkened room appeared to be operating like it should. Rob announced to the room, “Taking a quick break, Jason is in PSAP if you guys need anything, I’ll be back in a few.” He didn’t bother waiting to hear if anyone responded, knowing they heard him but were concentrating on their duties.
He left the room and entered the hallway, walking towards the exit door and passing the break room, locker room, and conference room. The building was older, built in the 1960’s, and made of cinderblock painted an off white with dark green trim. When the center was built the hill it sat on was selected not just for better radio coverage due to the elevation over the surrounding areas, but because it was secluded as well. That was no longer the case as neighborhoods were built up over the last couple decades and now surrounded the center. It had two levels, the one with the dispatch rooms, and a basement. The building also had numerous radio antennas of various types and several satellite dishes mounted on a large radio-tower that was installed on the middle of the roof.
When Rob walked through the exterior door
he was surprised to find that it was already dark out. During late March in Riverside, California he knew the sun set sometime around 7:00 pm. As he walked into the rear parking lot, where they were lucky enough to have an outdoor patio break area set up, he checked his watch. 8:32 pm. Dang, he thought to himself. I feel like I just got here. Time flies when you’re having fun I guess. He had started his shift at 2:00 pm on this cool spring day. As he walked into the break area he pulled out his cell phone and checked his text messages. He only had one, from his wife Monica, which read, “Hey vid chat me when you have a chance.”
He pulled up the correct app on his cell phone and pressed his wife’s picture to initiate the call. After some ringing the screen changed and a video feed of his wife sprang into view. Damn she’s beautiful, he thought to himself, not for the first time. How did I get so lucky?
Monica was 26 years old, about five feet six inches tall, with dark brown eyes and dark brown hair. She had that perfect caramel skin that Rob loved so much, and she worked hard at staying in shape. After giving birth eleven months prior, she was back to her pre-pregnancy weight due to working out at least three times a week and eating mostly healthy. Monica was born and raised in the United states but was first generation American, her parents immigrating from Mexico several years before she was born. Her father passed away five years prior after a long battle with lung cancer and her mother moved back to Mexico shortly after her husband passed away so that she could live out her life on the ranch she grew up on.
“Hey babe,” he heard from the phone.
“Hey gorgeous, how you guys doing?” he asked.
“Good. I just put Jackson in bed. He’s already out, he had a fun day playing with his cousins. I’m just gonna finish cleaning up the kitchen and get some reading done for my class, then crash out myself. You still getting off on time?” Prior to giving birth Monica worked as an emergency medical technician in a level one trauma center at a hospital in the next county over. Once she gave birth she resigned her position to become a full-time mom. Fortunately, Rob brought home enough money to cover their expenses and it allowed Monica to concentrate fully on their son. However, being a registered nurse was something she always dreamed of and she was now taking classes at the local community college, working towards achieving that goal.