by Pat Riot
With that, Rob took off at a jog. Seeing the group enter the house that way shook him. What if they’ve already hit my house? The only thing that kept him from breaking into a sprint was knowing he wouldn’t make it home if he tried to run the whole way, so he settled for a fast jog.
Even though he knew it was reckless he didn’t bother checking cross streets anymore, and it almost cost him his life. Vineyard Street was a T-intersection that went to Rob’s left. He was on the right side of the street and didn’t notice the small roadblock set back about fifty feet off Bryant. The first he realized he was in trouble was a single gunshot and his backpack being jerked on his back. Instinctively he knew someone had just taken a shot at him and hit his bag, so Rob immediately turned to the right and sprinted into the open field, trying to reach one of the few trees that were about a hundred feet ahead.
Rob zig-zagged as he ran, hoping to throw off the aim of the shooter. Just before he reached the tree he heard another shot and some of the bark on the tree shattered. Rob dove behind the tree and tried to catch his breath. He drew his gun and tried to listen in case the shooter tried to sneak up on him from around the tree. Seriously? I am the dumbest dude alive. Almost home and getting shot at, all due to my negligence. How would that look? Ninety-nine percent of the way there and get taken out just because my patience has run out. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Rob was breathing easier, so he stood up and tried to peak around the tree without giving himself away. He could see the roadblock but couldn’t see any shooters. Where are they at? They waiting behind the cars for me to take off again? Another couple of minutes and still nothing moving that Rob could see. I gotta make a move, I can’t just sit here the rest of my life, however short that might be. They could be trying to flank me and the longer I stay here the more likely it is they’ll succeed if they do.
Rob turned and studied the house behind him. The tree he was behind was technically in the front yard of the house which was set back several hundred feet from the roadway and didn’t have a fence around it. If I angle just right I can keep the tree between me and the roadblock and make it to the corner of the house. Then dash north across the open area to that next tree. I should be just about out of their line of sight if they stay at the roadblock. Only problem is I’ll be in the front yards of these houses. But I guess I don’t have a choice. Face the certain danger of the shooter at the roadblock? Or the potential danger of someone who might be in one of the houses?
Decision made, Rob first studied the houses for any movement or light. Seeing none he faced the direction of the roadblock and walked backwards, careful to keep the tree between him and the shooter. Rob reached the corner of the house and moved around the side, then sighed with relief. That was close. Just one more move and then I’ll be good.
As he was getting ready to move Rob heard something from the direction of the roadblock. It sounded like someone tripped and fell, a few curse words, then another person telling to first to be quiet. Two of them. This is not good. Maybe I can get the drop on them. Rob took his backpack off and left it on the ground next to the house. He quickly but quietly moved to the rear of the house, then around to the other side, stopping at the corner to make sure the people trying to shoot him didn’t have the same idea, then circled back to the front of the house.
Rob peeked around the corner to the front side of the house and found nothing. They probably found my backpack. He moved down the front of the house and arrived at the corner, then slowly looked and found two people. One was crouched down over Rob’s backpack with the other standing, holding an AR-15, and looking towards the back of the house.
Staying next to the house in case he needed to use it for cover, Rob aimed his gun at the one with the rifle and activated his pistol mounted light, at the same time saying in a commanding voice, “Drop the gun, put your hands up. I won’t say it twice.” Rob could see both individuals were average build, and both were wearing all black clothing with ski masks and gloves.
The one crouching immediately put his hands in the air as he slowly stood up. The one with the rifle hesitated for a moment then quickly spun around, moving the barrel of the rifle in the direction he believed Rob was standing. Rob fired twice, hitting the man once in his left shoulder, the other in the side of his neck. He dropped to the ground, dead before he even started falling. By this time the other one was standing, eyes closed, and repeating “Please don’t shoot, please don’t shoot me,” over and over as his bladder lost control and flooded his pants.
“Turn away from me, take five steps, then go down to your knees. If you do anything I don’t like, you die like your friend. Understand?” Rob asked.
“Yes,” the guy replied, voice quivering with fear.
As soon as the guy turned away Rob knelt next to the man he just killed and did a very fast search. I have to hurry, they might have friends coming to investigate the shots. He found a thirty round AR-15 magazine and a cheap pocket knife. Rob put the magazine into his own pocket, left the pocket knife, and approached the other individual. “Don’t move. You have anything on you?” Rob asked. The guy shook his head no, so Rob continued, “I’m going to give you a quick pat down. I swear to you, if you even breathe wrong I will kill you.” Keeping the gun trained on the man’s back, Rob gave him a quick pat down with one hand and found nothing interesting. As he was checking, Rob asked the man, “Anyone else back there at the roadblock?”
The man shook his head no and Rob gave him a small push on the back of his head, “I want to hear it. Anyone back there?”
“No. We were manning the roadblock when we saw you walk by. We have the overnight duty, everyone else is asleep,” he answered, on the verge of a break down.
“Okay. Keep doing what I tell you and you’ll live to see another day. Go all the way to the ground and count slowly to five hundred. Then you can get up and go back home. Don’t so much as twitch until you’re done counting. Understand?”
“I do, yes,” the man’s voice now sounded more relieved than scared as he went fully prone.
Rob quickly retrieved his backpack and put it on then picked up the AR-15 rifle that was lying on the ground next to the man Rob had killed. From the time Rob shot the first man, to the time he put on his pack, was less than ninety seconds. He walked back to the front of the house and checked back towards the roadblock. He believed the man when he said there was no one else, but Rob wasn’t taking any more chances. Time to go.
He took a couple deep breaths then ran flat out, faster than he ever had in his life, north through the open area. Nothing like being shot at to turn me into an instant track star, Rob thought wryly. Several houses in a row were set far back off the road with no fencing around the front of the properties so he ran straight through without stopping. As he approached the last open property he angled back towards the street. By this time, he was huffing and puffing, chest burning, heart feeling like it was going to explode, but because there was no cover to provide somewhere to rest, Rob pushed through the pain. When he reached the street, he slowed and studied the area behind him towards the roadblock. Satisfied no one was following he turned and kept jogging.
Rob had learned his lesson, and the last T-intersection he crossed before reaching the street he would turn down, he checked thoroughly before crossing. He jogged until he reached Eureka Avenue where he turned left. Halfway down on the left was his cul-de-sac. Now he started to run again, not able to hold himself back any longer. As he ran he couldn’t think of anything except his family. Question after question ran through his head. What would he find when he reached his street? What would he find at his neighbor’s houses? What would he find at his own house? Would his wife and son be there? Would they be injured or worse? Would Matt be there? Would his neighbors be there? Would Rob find the neighborhood burned down, or the houses looted with no survivors?
What felt like ten lifetimes but was only a minute or so passed before he reached his own street of Oday Court. He made the left turn and almost ran
right into another roadblock made of more disabled cars, one of which was the SUV his wife drove. A powerful flashlight was shined into Rob’s face and he immediately stopped and threw his hands up to block the light. The roadblock was manned by two of his neighbors, Josh Henderson, a twenty-nine-year-old white man that stood six feet tall and weighed a solid 220, and Jose Carmona, a thirty-five-year-old Latino from El Salvador standing five feet eight inches and weighing 180 pounds. They both recognized Rob immediately, lowered their flashlights, and greeted him with huge grins. “Rob it’s good to see you man” and “Hey compadre, how you doing?”
Rob almost ignored them but stopped. “Hey guys, my family?” he asked, not even caring about being almost blinded with their lights.
Josh answered with a smile, “At your house buddy.”
“Thanks, I’ll catch up with you guys.” Rob sprinted to his house. It was the second one in a set of five tract homes that were built on the left side and the end of the cul-de-sac. On the right side of the street was the backyard of a large property that faced Eureka, and the rear parking lot of a large church that faced California. Rob ran up to his front door while fishing the house key from his coin pocket. He got to the door and tried the knob. Locked of course. He stuck the key in and started knocking at the same time. “Monica! Monica! I’m home!” he yelled out to his wife. He didn’t have a chance to turn the key before the door flew open and Monica jumped into his arms.
She burst into tears, “Oh my God, I can’t believe you made it home. I’ve been so worried.”
“I know baby,” Rob said with tears in his own eyes. “But I did. We are together now, everything is going to be fine now.” They both knew it wasn’t true. Nothing was going to be fine now that the world had changed so dramatically, but it didn’t matter. They had each other, and that was the most important thing of all.
After a long kiss they both stepped into the house. Rob dropped his backpack and the AR-15 by the front door and walked into the living room where he could see Jackson laying on the couch. Being careful not to transfer any of the dirt, blood, and grime Rob had picked up on the way home to his son, Rob picked him up. “Hey little buddy, Daddy’s home. I missed you.” Jackson smiled as Rob gave him a kiss on the forehead. Rob felt Monica walk up and put her arms around both him and Jackson. Nothing had ever felt so good.
He looked at his watch. 9:19 pm. He was home.
Epilogue
The coronal mass ejection spewed from the sun forty six hours earlier had left no part of the planet untouched. Every city in every country was now without basic utilities or transportation. It was just less than two days since the power went out and the world was already spiraling out of control. Ironically, the places least affected by the EMP were areas considered uncivilized or barbaric by western civilization standards.
The world population was about 7.5 billion and so far, over the last two days, the number of births had just about kept pace with the number of deaths, keeping the world population more or less stable. However, this was just the beginning. Over the next few days, months, and even years, the world population would fall, and fall drastically. The loss of life would be somewhere between seventy and ninety percent. The first to die were those like the ones Rob seen in the burned out mobile home, or the lady in the flipped over car. The next to die would be those with medical conditions that required daily or weekly care, such as people with pace makers or in need of dialysis. Next would be the old, the very young, and the disabled that had no one to care for them. Then it would be those who were unable to obtain clean water or extra food, and those who were preyed upon by their neighbors.
During this time, disasters both natural and manmade would continue to occur. As a result of no power, nuclear power plants would soon run out of backup power and would be unable to keep their fuel rods cool. This would result in meltdowns and render large areas uninhabitable for years. Dams would no longer be maintained and would eventually fail, releasing trillions of gallons of water and flooding large areas. Hurricanes and snow storms would continue to dump rain and snow, but now there would be no forecast to warn people to evacuate or prepare for the worst. With no real medical system people would be at risk of death for ailments that were easy to treat prior to the EMP. Diseases like typhoid and measles would return. The flu would be a deadly threat again. Major surgeries would no longer be possible. Even the death rate of newborn babies would skyrocket.
Few would survive the first few weeks and months. Even fewer would survive the first few years. Humanity’s only hope of survival would be for enough humans to survive long enough to start rebuilding and repopulating the earth. However, enough had to survive the catastrophe unleashed by the sun first.
About the Author
Pat Riot has twelve years Law Enforcement experience, the first five in a volunteer capacity, and the last seven as a dispatcher. He loves fishing, hiking, the beach, target shooting, and of course spending as much time with his family as possible. He grew up in Southern California and currently lives there with his wife and two sons.