by Dave Bowman
They began to push through the hordes of people when a sudden noise caught their attention. They turned and squinted in the sun down the street.
“It’s a car!” Charlotte said, transfixed on the flash of cobalt blue as the vehicle maneuvered down the road. “I thought they didn’t run anymore.”
“That’s a classic car,” Annie said. “Maybe the EMP didn’t affect older models.”
“Lucky guy,” Charlotte said as she turned away from the car and set off hurrying down the sidewalk again.
“Looks like he’s having some trouble driving through this crowd,” Annie said as she snuck glances at the car while they kept pressing forward.
They heard the vehicle accelerate through the street. The crowds were pounding on the vehicle, shouting at the driver to give them a ride.
The noise of the motor grew louder as the Porsche approached.
When it was right behind them, Charlotte turned around to look again.
“Isn’t that…” Charlotte began, “someone we know?”
Annie turned to look at the driver. She had to admit he did look familiar.
“Yeah,” Charlotte said, recognizing him as he got closer. “It’s that lawyer who takes cases for the school district sometimes. Dan somebody.”
The car sped up beside them, then the driver slammed on the brakes, coming to a screeching halt.
“Hey, I know you two,” the driver said, leaning over to talk to them.
He was just five feet away. His vehicle was close to them as they walked on the sidewalk. His windows had all been busted out from the nuclear blast, Annie assumed. He wore a nice suit and mirrored sunglasses.
“You’re teachers from Victoria High, aren’t you?”
Charlotte nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. And you’re Dan, right?”
“Dan Hamilton, attorney.”
Charlotte had stopped walking, but Annie continued.
“Come on, Charlotte, we’ve got to make it to that library,” she said.
“I don’t think this is the time for any light reading,” Dan said with a grin from behind his glasses.
Charlotte giggled. Annie stopped and turned around impatiently to face them.
She felt her stomach tighten when that grin spread across his face.
She didn’t like Dan and never had, even when she saw him in passing at the high school.
“Get in, I’ll give you ladies a ride,” Dan said, still smiling. “It seems I have one of the only running vehicles in the city.”
“That would be amazing!” Charlotte exclaimed, reaching for the car door handle. “Can you give us a ride to Annie’s house? She lives in Bee Cave.”
“Sure,” Dan said, still flashing that grin.
A stream of people flowed in between Annie and Charlotte, and Annie lost sight of her friend for a moment.
“Charlotte!” Annie called. “Wait up.”
Annie ran back to stand beside Charlotte, who had already opened Dan’s door.
“Give us a ride, too!” some people shouted as they walked past.
“What’s the matter?” Charlotte asked.
“I don’t know about this,” Annie whispered so that Dan wouldn’t hear.
“You want to spend two days in a public library?” Charlotte asked doubtfully. “Or do you want to get a ride and go home?”
Annie bit her lip. “He gives me the creeps.”
“Are you serious?” Charlotte said, frowning. “Because I don’t know why you’d want to keep walking when we can take a ride in this nice car. Do you actually like pushing your way through these swarms of people?”
Annie glanced at Dan, who was shooing away some people getting too close to his car. Charlotte looked at him, and he flashed her another wide grin. Annie saw her reflection in his sunglasses.
Charlotte lowered her voice and spoke rapidly to Annie.
“Yeah, he’s kind of weird, I admit,” Charlotte said, “but I’m sure he just wants to help. We’ll only have to spend fifteen minutes with him. Then we’ll be home. And safe.”
“Uh, ladies,” Dan said. “Make a decision. These mobs are going to tear my Porsche apart.”
Annie looked around. The panic on the street had been rising all day, and people were now in a frenzy.
It would be hard to walk even a mile to the library. They might not make it before the fallout began. And the library windows may not have survived the explosion.
“Come on, Annie,” Charlotte pleaded. “I don’t want to go without you.”
But something just didn’t seem right about Dan. Annie couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She just didn’t trust him.
“Annie, get in,” Charlotte said as she pulled her friend’s arm toward the car. “You said yourself we don’t have much time.”
You’re being ridiculous, Annie scolded herself. Charlotte’s right. We should take the ride.
Annie stood frozen in place, despite her self-reproach.
Suddenly, a huge man entered Annie’s field of vision. A white T-shirt stretched over his round belly, and a beard nearly reached his chest.
He was furious about something, ranting and raving as he charged ahead. Bizarrely, he was headed straight at Annie as if he knew her.
“I know you, lady!” he shouted at Annie. “I’ll teach you a thing or two!”
He lunged at her with his arms outstreched.
But before he could grab her, Charlotte pushed Annie inside the car and hopped in right after her.
Charlotte slammed the door in the man’s face.
Dan drove off just as the man was reaching inside the open car window at Annie.
13
Jack watched as Naomi, sobbing, retreated to the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
He stood in the doorway of the bedroom just long enough to take in the scene.
Naomi’s mother had been brutally murdered.
Jack took the handgun from his waistband and held it ready as he moved quietly through the apartment. He checked under the bed. He looked in the closets in the bedroom and hallway.
“What happened?” Brent asked as Jack was closing the closet door in the hallway.
Brent walked to the bedroom and looked in.
“Oh, no…” Brent muttered.
Jack opened the sliding glass door that led to the patio outside. It was just a tiny little porch off the apartment, and it was empty. He looked around the parking lot outside. There was no one there.
Jack crossed through the apartment and walked out the front door. He looked around the parking lot on that side of the building. It was empty as well.
He entered the apartment once more and locked the door behind him.
“Whoever killed Naomi’s mother is gone,” Jack said.
He could hear the sounds of Naomi vomiting in the bathroom. He could only imagine the anguish she was going through.
“Poor thing,” Brent said, glancing at the closed bathroom door. “You could tell how close she was to her mother, too. And to come home and see her like that . . .”
Jack slowly walked to the bedroom. He covered Naomi’s mother up with a sheet, then he joined Brent in the living room.
“Things just keep going from bad to worse,” Brent commented.
Jack couldn’t help but agree. He felt horrible for Naomi. She was a good person. She didn’t deserve to find her mother like this.
So much evil in the world.
“Are you okay, Naomi?” Jack asked through the closed door to the bathroom.
Naomi had stopped vomiting, but the sounds of her weeping filtered through the door. She didn’t answer Jack.
Jack returned to his seat on the couch in the living room. He wished there was something he could do to help Naomi, but his hands were tied. He could just hope that she would have the strength to go on.
As the minutes passed, he began to feel antsy waiting in the small apartment.
What would be the next tragedy to happen?
He ran his hand along his jaw, rough
with his five o’clock shadow.
Outside, the light was fading as the sun grew weaker and lower in the sky.
How would he ever make it home to Texas?
If they were very lucky, they would find a car that still ran. Even some bicycles would be better than walking 1,400 miles. But still, riding a bicycle to Texas would take at least a week or two.
Naomi emerged from the bathroom with her face red and puffy. Jack and Brent rose to their feet.
“Can we do anything?” Jack asked.
Naomi looked at the closed door of the bedroom, then shook her head.
“How about some food?” Brent asked. “We’ve got a lot of snacks here. Some water?”
Naomi fell in a heap on the couch.
“No thanks.”
“Naomi,” Jack said, “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Me, too,” Brent said. “Really. It’s just – awful.”
“Let us know if we can help in any way,” Jack added.
Naomi nodded her head slightly, and closed her eyes. She fought back tears, but they fell anyway. She sobbed for a few moments, her shoulders shaking. Brent sat beside her, and she leaned on his shoulder.
She settled back down, sniffing and wiping her tears. Jack brought her a box of tissues from the bathroom.
“I know who did this,” Naomi said quietly. “It was Frank. My ex-stepdad.”
Jack and Brent looked at each other.
“How do you know that?” Brent asked.
“He was always beating up my mom,” Naomi said, her voice breaking. “I finally convinced her to leave him about a year ago. I got her to move in here with me. We kept our address secret from him. But I guess he found out somehow.”
“Then he must have used the EMP to his advantage,” Jack said. “He knew he could get away with it.”
Naomi looked up at Jack, her blue eyes watery.
“Exactly.”
“Well, in that case, I think we should be leaving as soon as possible,” Jack said. “He may return for you, Naomi.”
Naomi shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“No. I can’t leave here.”
Jack ran a hand through his thick, brown hair.
“It’s not safe here.”
“I can’t go back out there,” Naomi said. “I can’t run all over the place anymore. I don’t have the strength.”
“What about other family?” Jack asked. “Grandparents, siblings? Or friends you can stay with? We can take you to them. Right, Brent?”
“Absolutely,” Brent said. “Don’t worry about delaying us.”
Naomi shook her head. “I don’t have any other family. My dad left my mom and me when I was five. I never knew my grandparents. And, well, I guess I’ve kind of drifted away from my friends. When I became my mom’s caretaker, I didn’t have anything left in common with them.”
Naomi started to sob again.
“I have nowhere else to go. My mom was my whole life. And now she’s – gone.”
“You’ll have to come with us, then,” Jack said. “I’m not going to leave you here. You can come to Texas with us.”
Naomi looked up at Jack. “Texas?”
Jack nodded. “You can stay at my family’s ranch in the country. I know it’s a big change, and I know you’ve just suffered a huge loss. But I think this is for the best. And you’ll like Annie.”
“I don’t know,” Naomi said. “This is all happening so fast. I haven’t had time to think.”
“I know it’s difficult,” Jack said, “but the sooner we can get moving again, the safer we’ll all be.”
Brent stood up. He began to pace back and forth in the small living room.
“Maybe we should spend the night here,” Brent suggested. “Naomi’s not ready to hit the road yet. And we could all use some rest.”
“Yeah,” Naomi said. “And I could use some time to think.”
Jack considered it, but it just wouldn’t work. Frank could return at any moment. And besides, he didn’t expect the EMP to be the end of the attack on the country.
If there was more to come, they would fare better outside the city.
“I’m sorry,” Jack said. “I know you’d like to stay here, but we just can’t. We need to leave the city before anything else happens. Like something worse than an EMP.”
Naomi sunk into the couch. She was devastated.
“I don’t care if anything worse happens to me. I can’t keep walking out there. And I can’t leave her here.”
“What would your mom want for you?” Jack asked. “Would she want you to become another victim of her murderer? Would she want you to be hurt in another attack?”
Naomi didn’t respond, but Jack could tell she was considering his questions.
“The people who set off the EMP want to hurt us. They’re not going to stop with just destroying our electrical system. They want to take human life. Just like Frank. They’re the same kind of monsters. Psychopaths who want to murder innocent people and ruin lives.”
Naomi closed her eyes and lay motionless on the couch.
“We can’t just give up and let them take what they wanted. We have to fight until there’s no more fight left.”
“But I don’t have any fight left in me,” Naomi said. “I just want to give up.”
“Do it for your mom, Naomi,” Jack said. “You have to go on fighting for her.”
Naomi sniffed and turned on her side. She was silent for a while.
“Why are you doing this for me?” she asked.
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Jack said without hesitation. “And because I would want someone to help my wife if she needed help.”
Jack turned away as a lump formed in his throat.
Annie, please be safe.
Jack looked back at Naomi. She sat up.
“Okay,” she said quietly. “I’ll go.”
Jack nodded, then headed toward the bedroom. “I’ll go pack some things for you, so you don’t have to go in there.”
Naomi nodded. “My stuff is in the dresser.”
“Brent, you help Naomi to pack any food or water that we can bring with us,” Jack said as he entered the room.
He only saw the shape on the bed out of the corner of his eye, but it was enough to know the blood had soaked through the sheet on top of her.
He rummaged through the dresser drawers, putting several items of clothing in a large backpack he found.
“Jack,” Naomi called softly through the door. “Bring the picture of my mom and me from the shelf?”
“Sure thing,” Jack said.
He found the photograph of Naomi and her mom, smiling in the park, and zipped up the backpack.
He walked past the kitchen, where Brent and Naomi were finishing packing up a smaller backpack and a cloth bag full of what little shelf-stable food Naomi had.
“Ready?” Jack asked.
Naomi looked around the apartment one last time. She took a deep breath.
“Ready,” she said.
The three of them set off on foot through the streets again. Jack knew how hard it was for Naomi to leave, but he was glad she had decided to come with them. It wouldn’t have been safe for her to stay behind.
They walked in silence. At least this time, they had a city map to guide them that Naomi had brought from her house.
Jack kept his eyes peeled for any older vehicles, or bicycles, they could take. But so far, there was nothing.
It was starting to get dark. Once they got outside the city, they could look for a place to spend the night.
But where? There seemed like so few places that would be safe. Gone were the days of simply renting a hotel room while traveling. Just like that, the whole world had changed.
They would have to cross four large states. They knew no one along the way.
Traveling on foot, with no way to purchase anything. No law enforcement to protect them. And the world seemed to be full of people who, at best, were cruel or indifferen
t, and at worst were psychopathic.
It didn’t seem like the odds could be stacked against them any higher.
They crossed the street full of shouting, fighting people. Jack didn’t know what they were arguing about. But it didn’t matter. All around them, the city was in turmoil.
A terrible image flashed through his brain.
He imagined Annie, scared and alone on the street in Austin, fighting her way through crowds, struggling to get home. Or worse, something even more horrific happening to her.
Jack shook his head, clearing the image away. That couldn’t happen to his wife.
She must’ve found a way home by now. Maybe she found a bicycle and was cruising unfettered to their suburban home at that moment. Or even better, maybe she had somehow found a way to their country home.
Either way, Annie had to be safe.
She just had to be.
Jack, Brent, and Naomi trudged on through the dim streets.
“It’s going to be really dark without streetlights,” Brent complained.
“It already is dark,” Naomi said. “It gives me the creeps walking through the city without any lights like this.”
Jack looked down at the map again.
“I figure we’ve got about another couple hours of walking before we’re out of LA proper,” he said. “Then we can start to look for a place to spend the night.”
Naomi groaned. “I have a feeling we’ll be sleeping under a bridge tonight.”
Jack smiled. “Hopefully we can find something better than that.”
But he knew that her prediction might not be that far off. They just didn’t have a lot of options.
If Jack were on his own, he wouldn’t care as much as sleeping conditions. But now that he had two other people to think about, he felt the need to secure relatively comfortable arrangements.
Which wasn’t going to be easy.
“But first things first,” he said. “We’ve got to cover some ground before we can think about sleep.”
“Yeah, we have to walk two more hours,” Brent chimed in. “What a day. I woke up this morning thinking I’d be delivering a foolproof presentation to Harris. I just knew it. I was supposed to be celebrating my big promotion in the hotel bar right about now.”