by Dave Bowman
The driver blasted his horn as the truck tore down the highway at high speed.
The truck plowed into a small car, sending it spinning off to the other side. The semi slowed down a little, but not enough.
It still blazed down the highway. And it was headed straight toward Jack and Brent.
A man nearby jumped out of his stalled car. He ran for his life, screaming.
Jack glanced over his shoulder. The truck was getting closer.
“Faster!”
He pushed his body harder. Brent did the same.
They heard the sounds of breaking glass and crushing metal as the truck plowed into their car.
Then, the next vehicles in front of it were smashed.
Jack and Brent pressed on.
Finally, the impact of crashing into so many vehicles made the truck lose speed. When it began to climb the incline of the overpass, it slowed down.
The horrible sounds of crashing vehicles ended. Jack and Brent turned to see the truck finally come to a stop.
Jack stopped running. He laced his hands behind his head and looked at the damage as he caught his breath.
It’s over. But it’s just the first test of many.
Brent was doubled over, his hand on his knees as he caught his breath. Jack shielded the sun from his eyes to see the rental car they had just evacuated.
It was destroyed. So were many of the vehicles on the road.
The cars in the left lane had mostly escaped the truck’s path of wreckage, though many of them had crashed into the guardrail or other vehicles when the engines all died. The people still in the vehicles stepped out and looked around.
The people in the right lane weren’t so lucky.
It didn’t take Jack long to see that several drivers hadn’t survived the out-of-control truck. He turned away from the gory sight.
If he and Brent hadn’t jumped out of the car in time, they would have been killed.
“What on earth is happening here?” Brent asked between gulps of air.
Jack looked around at the surviving people crawling out of their vehicles. Everyone was asking the same question: What’s happening?
The online warning had been correct. Now, people all over the country would be impacted.
They would all remember that moment.
The world had changed forever.
“Now do you believe me?” Jack asked, looking at the wreckage.
Brent stood up, still out of breath. “This is the attack you were talking about? How did this happen? How could all the vehicles stop all at once like this?”
“Look at your phone,” Jack said. “It’s not just the vehicles that stopped working.”
Brent fumbled in his pocket for his cell phone. His hands were shaking. He nearly dropped the device on the asphalt.
“It – it’s not working,” he said as he frantically pushed his power button.
“Everything electronic is useless,” Jack said. “Or almost everything, anyway. Come on, we’ll have to walk out of here.”
Brent kept staring at the dead cell phone in bewilderment.
Finally, he looked up to see Jack walking away, making his way through the maze of crashed cars.
“Wait up!” Brent called. He ran off in Jack’s direction. “We’re just going to leave the car behind?”
“It’s totaled. And it wouldn’t start even if it weren’t,” he said. “There’s nothing in there that can help us now.”
Brent caught up with Jack as he walked briskly around a wrecked Mitsubishi. The driver had survived the accident. He stood beside his vehicle, watching in a daze as Jack and Brent passed him.
Jack shook his head to himself. If only he’d had more time, more warning. If only he’d been able to make it farther out of the city.
They worked their way through the wreckage and the stranded motorists.
Some people seemed to be in shock, while others were starting to get aggressive.
No one seemed to want to leave their vehicles behind. Jack and Brent were the only people walking away from the wreckage.
“Who can tell me what’s going on here?” a bearded, middle-aged man roared from the open window of his useless Ford F-150. He sat behind the wheel, trying to start the engine in vain.
Jack ignored him.
Just got to get out of here.
Nearby, other motorists argued about who was at fault in the car accidents. Everywhere, tensions were high.
Just a matter of time before people start killing each other.
Above the arguments breaking out all around, a woman’s scream rang out from somewhere ahead of them.
“Leave me alone!” she yelled.
About one hundred feet ahead on the shoulder, Jack could make out some sort of struggle. He quickened his pace.
As Jack approached, he saw a large man pounding on the window of a Honda Civic. The guy used a tire iron to break the window, reached inside, and unlocked the door.
Inside the car, the woman screamed in terror.
She needs help.
Jack broke into a run. He headed straight toward the Civic.
“Jack, that guy is huge,” Brent called from behind him.
The man pulled a young woman out of the vehicle. She kicked and struggled against the man, but he overpowered her.
“You’re coming with me,” he said, laughing.
Jack was quickly closing the space between himself and the guy.
As Jack got closer, he saw the guy’s size. He towered over the woman. His neck was massive and thick like a tree trunk. His biceps bulged out of a shirt that didn’t quite fit him. His jaw was set in a mean grimace that overpowered his face.
Jack had to think fast. Very fast. What was his best move?
His fingers tightened into a fist. He brought his arm back.
The guy had pulled the woman a good five feet from her car. She kicked her legs uselessly, the way a scuba diver might propel himself through the water.
Jack had timed it about right. His arm was all the way back, starting to rebound. His fist was tight. He had almost reached the man.
Since he couldn’t use the momentum from his hips, he’d have to use the momentum from the run. Otherwise, his punch would fall flat. Do nothing.
Jack was breathless from running. His body felt hot.
It felt good to do something. Good to fight. Good to be in his body.
But the fight hadn’t yet started.
The woman was short enough that Jack’s punch wouldn’t hit her. His forearm might graze the top of her head, but just barely.
“What the –” the man said as he suddenly saw Jack.
How had it taken him that long to notice? He must have been drugged. Maybe drunk.
Jack’s fist swung through the air. Connected with the man’s face.
Jack felt something in the man’s nose give way. Cartilage breaking.
Blood came out. Blood on Jack’s fist.
The woman screamed. The big man released her. She scrambled aside, hopefully to safety.
Now it was just Jack and the big man.
And the punch hadn’t done much. A broken nose, that was it.
Drugged or drunk, the man’s reaction time wasn’t affected.
Before Jack had even gotten his arm back into position, his own face took a blow.
He reeled backwards, staggering somewhat sideways.
Pain flared.
Jack took just a second to recover. The man pulled his fist back again as Jack stood up.
The guy’s huge fist came flying towards Jack’s face.
He ducked. Just in time.
From his lower position, Jack used all the force in his legs to spring at the guy. Jack’s shoulder, and all his body weight behind it, hit the guy right in his center of gravity.
The guy fell backward, all the way to the ground.
His head made contact with the asphalt. A loud thud rang through the air.
Now Jack was on top of him. He got in a few quick punc
hes. That slowed the guy down even more.
Jack rose to his feet as the man groaned on the asphalt. Jack looked him over. The guy was bleeding from his head and face.
Jack snapped his leg back and let his foot meet the guy’s gut.
Hard.
The guy whimpered in a quiet voice.
That’ll keep him from following us.
Jack looked up at Brent and the woman. They were standing at a safe distance, watching the whole thing. Brent’s mouth hung open.
Suddenly, she ran over to the large man lying incapacitated on the road. Her eyes were wide open. Her face looked furious.
She let out a primal scream as she kicked him. Her boot made contact with his groin.
“Don’t you ever grab a woman like that again!” she screamed in his face.
She stood over her attacker. Her face was red and fiery. She shook with rage. Despite her small stature, Jack could tell she was a fighter.
Brent approached the scene, peering at the guy on the ground.
“Is he dead?”
Jack shook his hand out. Pain was spreading through his joints. His face didn’t feel so great, either.
“No, he’s alive,” Jack answered. “But I don’t think he’s going to be giving us any more trouble.”
The woman took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She kept her eyes on the guy who had attacked her.
“Are you all right?” Jack asked her.
She exhaled and nodded.
“I’m okay,” she said. “Because of what you did. He – he was going to hurt me. I know it. He was hurting me.”
Jack looked down at the guy who was now unconscious on the road. A few people had gathered to watch the fight. Now that it was over, they wandered off back to their vehicles.
“Glad to help,” Jack said. “There are a lot of monsters in the world. Just waiting for something like this to happen so they can take advantage.”
She nodded, keeping her eyes on the guy on the ground.
“There are definitely a lot of monsters out there. I just never saw anything like what you did. Thank you. Really.”
Jack waved her off. “Don’t mention it. It was the right thing to do. Couldn’t stand by and watch it happen.”
Brent cleared his throat and straightened his plaid dress shirt. He took a step toward the woman and held out his hand.
“I’m Brent,” he said with a grin.
She glanced warily back at Jack, who smiled.
“He’s with me,” Jack said. “And I’m Jack Hawthorne.”
“Naomi,” she said, shaking their hands. “Naomi Allen.”
The sound of some stranded motorists arguing with each other interrupted the introductions. Now that the excitement from the fight was over, people went back to their own conflicts.
“So,” Naomi said, crossing her arms over her white button-down shirt, “what the heck is going on around here?”
Brent snorted. “I’m trying to figure out the same thing.”
“An EMP has been detonated,” Jack began. “It’s a device that cripples most modern appliances. Cars, appliances –”
“Cell phones,” Brent said. He took the cellular phone out of his pocket once more just to make sure it hadn’t started working again.
“Well, when will everything start working again?” Naomi asked. Her brow furrowed in worry.
“I don’t know,” Jack said. “But I can assure you it won’t be anytime soon.”
Brent kicked the asphalt in frustration. “Why would anyone do this?”
“To weaken our defenses,” Jack said. “America is under attack.”
“Attack?” Naomi asked, her blue eyes widening.
Jack nodded. “I’m afraid so. An EMP would prevent our troops from mobilizing a defense.”
“You mean there might be… more to come?” Naomi asked, her face drawing in fear.
“Yes, which is why we need to get out of here immediately,” Jack said. “We’re in the city center here. It’s too dangerous to stay.”
“Well, where are you going?” Naomi asked, the tension of the situation making her voice rise a bit.
“We’re from Texas,” Jack said quickly. He knew they didn’t have time for small talk. “We’re just in town for a work conference. We were trying to get out of the city when our rental car stopped on this overpass.”
“So, what, you’re walking? To Texas?” Naomi asked doubtfully.
Brent looked at Jack. “Surely we’re not doing that, right?”
Jack shrugged. “Don’t have a lot of options right now. And the most important thing is to get off this overpass. Quickly.”
Naomi turned and frowned at her white Civic, her straight brown hair falling over her shoulders.
“You’ll have to leave your car behind, Naomi,” Jack said. “It’s no use to you now.”
“It’s kind of a piece of junk, but I can’t just leave it here.”
“Trust me,” Jack said. “Your car won’t be running anytime soon.”
“I know he sounds crazy,” Brent said. “But somehow he knows these things. I don’t know how, but he does.”
Naomi bit her lip in worry.
“Where are you headed?” Jack asked.
“Home,” Naomi said. “I work the early shift.”
“You can come with us,” Brent offered hopefully. “Right, Jack?”
Naomi looked away uncomfortably.
“Um, that’s okay,” she said quietly. “I can make it home all right on my own. Thanks, though. I appreciate the offer.”
Jack knew they were losing time. He could tell Naomi was shaken from the attack. Maybe it was hard for her to trust two strangers, especially after what she’d just been through.
But he couldn’t leave Naomi – who was maybe five feet two and one hundred pounds – to fend for herself.
“Where do you live?” Jack asked.
“Woodway,” Naomi said. “It’s on the east side. A few miles from here.”
“We’re headed east,” Jack said. “I think Woodway is more or less on our way. We can make sure you get home all right. It’s really not safe for you to be traveling alone right now.”
Naomi glanced at her car longingly. Then she looked around at the people arguing, their voices rising in volume and intensity.
Finally, she nodded.
“I’ll just get my purse.”
Naomi retrieved her bag from the car. She slammed the door shut and walked away from where it was parked on the side of the road.
Finally, they began their journey.
The three of them set off walking along the highway overpass. Stranded and wrecked vehicles were everywhere, and the drivers were confused, angry, and panicked.
Jack thought of his handgun, a Glock 17, back home in Austin. He always left it behind during these work trips. His Texas carry permit wasn’t recognized in California.
It sure would come in handy about now.
Violence had already broke out just on that overpass. It was only a matter of time before more people lost their temper and became aggressive.
Even worse, a city thrown into chaos was an invitation for criminal elements to roam around unchecked.
The man he had fought off Naomi was a good example.
People like that guy Jack had left on the asphalt were just waiting for society to collapse. Then they would be free to do what they wanted.
The man who had attacked Naomi was a monster. People like that were eager for their chance to take advantage of the vulnerable.
The EMP would change everything. With people stranded, infrastructure collapsing, and electronics that didn’t work, law and order would deteriorate. It would be impossible for the police force and other first responders to contain the chaos.
It would be every man and woman for themselves.
Annie, stay safe, he silently urged his wife. Be alert.
Jack knew that his wife was tough. But was she any match for the predators who would surely wreak havoc on people in Texa
s, just as they were starting to in LA?
He shuddered at the thought of Annie being hurt. He had to get to Texas as quickly as possible.
Until then, Annie would have to protect herself.
I know you can do it.
Naomi’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
“So what exactly is this EMP thing?”
“An electromagnetic pulse,” Jack said as they walked around a minivan parked on the shoulder. “I’m no expert, but from what I’ve read, it’s like a big flash of electromagnetic energy. It can damage – or destroy – electronic equipment. It can be natural, like a solar flare. Or it can be man-made.”
“And you think whatever happened here is man-made? And part of some kind of attack?” Brent asked.
“Yeah,” Jack responded. “EMPs can be used as weapons. You’ve got a nuclear EMP. That’s caused by a nuclear explosion high in the atmosphere. It can wipe out most of the electronic equipment across the country.”
Brent sighed.
“And then there are non-nuclear EMPs. Those affect a smaller area. I’ve heard that people can make those fairly easily. You just need some inexpensive equipment and the know-how. I think they’ve even got videos online how to do it.”
“So you think this is an attack on the US?” Naomi asked. “Who do you think did this?”
Jack squinted in the sun, then flinched when the pain flared from where that guy had hit him in the face.
“I have no idea,” Jack said. “It could be a foreign country. Maybe North Korea finally decided to attack. Or maybe it’s some smaller terrorist organization. But it seems like it didn’t happen all over the US at the same time.”
“That’s right,” Brent said, remembering. “You said something about the phone lines being dead on the East Coast?”
“Yeah,” Jack said. “I talked to my wife about forty-five minutes ago in Texas. She couldn’t reach any of her family members in the southeast.”
“And then her phone in Texas died while you were talking to her?” Brent asked.
Jack nodded silently.
“And now, an EMP has hit LA,” Naomi said.
“So it must’ve been several of those non-nuclear EMP things, right?” Brent asked. “They must have detonated these devices from the ground in cities all over the US?”
Jack shrugged his shoulders. “We can’t know for sure. But it is a possibility.”