by Hayden James
“I gathered that would be the case. I would settle for brisket any time,” said Rachel with a wink.
As William leaned in for a peck on Rachel’s cheek, he said, “What is that coming through the parking lot?”
Rachel took a moment to look for what William was referring to. Then she saw it. A small group of people, riding horses, made their way down the parking lot.
The group of horsemen made their way over to Rachel and William. “Good day, gentlemen,” shouted William.
“Good day!” one of the men said back with a wave. “How are you guys holding up?”
“We’re doing all right, we are about ready to head out of town. How about you folks?” William asked.
“We’ve been hearing some strange stuff going on all over the country. Strange stuff. Not good at all,” one of the men replied.
“Oh, yeah?” William asked. “Where are you hearing all of this from?”
“Back at the ranch, we have a HAM radio. We’ve been tuning in to get information. We have caught one operator saying what he thinks this thing is,” one man riding horseback said while he dismounted to shake William’s hand. “My name is Ed. Please to meet you.”
“William,” replied William shaking Ed’s hand. “And this is Rachel.”
“Hi there,” replied Rachel.
“So, what have you been hearing what’s going on?” William asked.
The three other men on horseback stopped their horses while Ed conversed with William. Ed said to them, “Hey, Mike. I’ll be about fifteen minutes here. Why don’t you guys go and see if Mrs. Fields is doing all right and come get me on your way back?”
“Sure thing, Ed,” replied one man on horseback. The three remaining riders continued on.
Rachel saw that William became intrigued by the information that Ed had. The two continued to converse, “So, what is this thing?” William asked. “This disaster?”
“We’re heard on the HAM radio that this disaster has affected us from coast to coast.”
“You know how to work a HAM radio?” William asked.
“I do. Why, do you have one?” Ed responded.
“Yeah, it turns out the previous owner of the van has one under the dashboard. The only issue is that I do not know how to work it,” replied William. Rachel listened intently to the conversation. Perhaps they could have a little light shed on what was going on and how much longer they would be without power.
“So you guys could power the HAM radio off of the vehicle’s engine?” Ed clarified.
“Right. I have it plugged in through the cigarette lighter. It turns on, I’m just not sure how to work it,” answered William. “I can trade you some food if you’ll show me how to work it,” incentivized William.
“Deal,” answered Ed, sticking out his hand to solidify the deal.
William led Ed to the front cabin of the van. Rachel followed the two. William climbed into the driver’s side door and Ed into the passenger’s seat. Rachel came through the back to watch how the HAM radio was operated. William took a moment and looked at his daughters, Dr. Tate, Vince, and Gary bucked in and ready to hit the road. “Guys, we have a slight change of plans at the moment. I’m going to get a quick lesson on how to use this radio from this kind gentlemen. Why don’t all of you head outside, take a walk, or loosen up? Once we hit the road again, we will have a long stretch.”
“Sounds good, Will,” answered Gary. He slid past Rachel and took to the parking lot. Vince and the girls soon joined him. Rachel kept a watchful eye on the foursome, but then realized that her little chat with Gary and Vince may have worked. She directed her attention back to Ed and William.
She could hear Ed explaining how the HAM radio worked. William started up the van and Ed examined the HAM radio. “It looks like the power supply is doing its job. I wasn’t real sure about it when you said that the HAM was running off of the vehicle’s engine, however, it seems to be compatible. So you are lucky there. Where is the antenna mounted?”
“On the rear roof of the van,” answered William.
“All right, let’s turn her on,” announced Ed. William flipped the switch on and the HAM radio powered up.
Rachel asked, “How do you think this radio survived? All of my electronics, including my small ones have been fried.”
“It must have been kept in a Faraday cage. That’s where I kept one for me. I had one that I used every night because I enjoy HAM radios as a hobby, but I have a small collection of electronics that I keep in a Faraday cage in my garage just in case something like ever happened,” explained Ed.
“I see,” responded Rachel.
Ed slipped through the frequencies and found a clear one. He explained, “It is always polite to check again to see if the frequency is being used by someone. If it is clear, it is best to wait three to four minutes if someone is present and waiting before chaining frequencies. Sooner or later you will find someone and they will answer. Then the information can be exchanged.”
“Makes sense,” replied William.
Ed took the microphone to demonstrate. After finding a clear frequency, he said, “CQ CQ CQ… this is Echo Delta eight Foxtrot.” Ed set down the microphone and said to William and Rachel, “And now, we wait.”
Almost two minutes elapsed as the three sat and listened to dead air. Ed was just about to turn the knob to switch frequencies when a voice came from the HAM radio. “Echo Delta eight Foxtrot... Echo Delta eight Foxtrot… this is Delta Foxtrot Two Alpha… this is Delta Foxtrot Two Alpha, over.”
“Oh, my word!” William shouted, a grin coming across his face. “I can communicate with other people and find out what is going on?”
“Right,” answered Ed before picking up the microphone. “Delta Foxtrot Two Alpha… thank you for taking this call. What is your 20?”
“Echo Delta eight Foxtrot… I live in New York… What is your 20? Over.” the voice coming from the radio answered.
“Delta Foxtrot Two Alpha… I am in Blackiston Mill, Indiana. Just outside of Louisville, Kentucky. Over.”
“Echo Delta eight Foxtrot… Do you have anything to report? Over.”
“Delta Foxtrot Two Alpha… None at this time. Do you know what has caused this disaster and the power grid to be down? Over.”
“Echo Delta eight Foxtrot… I have heard several reports regarding that manner. It appears that our nation’s sovereignty is at stake. The reports that I have heard and that I trust seem to be farfetched, yet the only thing that makes sense given the severity of this. Over.”
“Delta Foxtrot Two Alpha… please tell us what you know. Over.”
“Echo Delta eight Foxtrot… from the reports, it appears that this disaster is a combination of a coronal mass ejection and a nuclear attack. Over.”
Rachel felt the blood leave her face after hearing that another country was somewhat responsible for this. She saw William’s face turn stark white. He had fought for our country’s freedom and by hearing that our nation was attacked, she knew that would be more than he could take.
Ed appeared to be keeping his composure as if he had heard this before. “Delta Foxtrot Two Alpha… please explain. Over.”
“Echo Delta eight Foxtrot… the reports that I have implicate China is behind this attack. One of their scientists figured out that there would be a coronal mass ejection six days ago. For some reason, our scientists did not analyze he data correctly and did not send out a national warning. Right before the CME traveled to the Earth, China detonated five high altitude electro-magnetic pulses, completely wiping out our power grid. That combined with the electro-magnetic radiation from the coronal mass ejection fried all of our electronics. This disaster was an act of war as well as a natural disaster. Over.”
Tears welled up in Rachel’s eyes. She had hoped that some hoe, some way there would be an end to this in the near future. However, from the way she saw it, that clearly was not the case.
“Delta Foxtrot Two Alpha… thank you for the information. 73.”
“Echo Delta eight Foxtrot… GL… 73.”
Ed hung up the microphone and said to both William and Rachel. “I didn’t believe that we would get all that,” he started. “It is stuff that I heard before, but you know, rumors and information are being spread like wildfires. Until we get official word, I would believe everything with a grain of salt. There’s no reason to panic further than what you already know for certain anyway.”
Rachel, knowing William would be going into war mode attempted to diffuse the situation, “He has a point Will. All we know is that the power grid is down and all of our electronics are toast. Other than that, we know nothing more.”
William stayed quiet and nodded. Rachel knew the silence from her husband spoke volumes.
Rachel took over, “Ed, thank you for your help. Let me get you some of our canned food.”
“Ma’am, that’s not necessary. I was glad to help. As this gets worse and worse, you will lose faith in all of humanity. I want you to remember that I helped you guys without asking for anything in return.”
“Why, thank you. That’s very generous of you.”
“Well, I appreciate getting to know you two. I must go,” said Ed while he got out of the vehicle.
“Thanks again,” Rachel said waving at Ed. She went over to where her daughters, Vince, Gary, and Dr. Tate stood talking in the parking lot. “Guys, we are ready to hit the road,” she said while motioning to the van. Rachel observed the body language between Gary and Madison and Vince and Addison. She was pleased to see that they were no longer all over each other, but rather quite a few feet apart. She was relieved that her conversation got to them.
Still silent, William hot-wired the van, and they returned onto the IN-265, skirting around Louisville and making their way to Nashville to find Liam.
The drive was quiet until Rachel broke the silence. She did not want to talk about the information that they had learned; she knew it would upset William. He had come so far with dealing with his PTSD, and even rumors that our country was attacked could potentially send him back to square one. However, the news bothered her; she had to make some sort of sense about it. She interrupted William’s focus on the road, “Do you really believe that China timed a nuclear attack during a solar storm?” Rachel hated to bring this up to William, but it was eating her up inside. She had to at least talk about it, or she would start to lose it as well.
“Goodness Rachel, I have no idea. It’s the best information that we have gotten so far now, isn’t it?”
“Well, yes. I must admit, the first time that I have heard about these sorts of pulses was when I was in Louisville, and my colleague, Mischa told me about them. She said that her ex-husband was a prepper and had prepared for the grid to fail. So, now I’m asking, based on what you know about EMPs and CMEs, is it possible?”
“Possible? Anything is possible. Probable? Highly improbable. It would take Chinese scientists monitoring the solar landscape, which I’m sure they do and we do. Now, this would take our scientists disregarding anomalies in the data that the Chinese did not. The only way I could see this happening is if the Chinese placed their scientists in our research stations. That way, they could conceal a solar storm. Otherwise, we would have had advanced warning that something such as this would take place.”
“That would be a lot of preparation on China’s part if they did that.”
“Right, they would have had to infiltrate our government and NASA. If what we heard is accurate and I’m not saying whether it is or isn’t, a plan like this would have been in the works for years if not decades.”
“And then China launched a nuclear attack to coincide with the solar storm?”
“Rachel, that’s the part that is scary.” Rachel watched a tear stream down William’s face as he spoke. “It’s the only thing that would fry all of our electronics. Taking down the power grid could happen with a strong solar flare. Depending how strong the radiation was, we could eventually restore the grid. Even frying electronics that were plugged into the wall, could happen with a server solar storm. But killing our small electronics? That would take something that amplified the natural disaster.” William fell silent for a moment. Rachel saw his breathing become shallow and rapid. She knew this was too much for him.
A few moments later, William broke the silence. “We really need to get a tow winch,” blurted out William.
“Really? What for” Rachel asked.
“You know, if me and the guys have to move an entire highway full of cars again, at least we would have something helping us.”
“Oh, I see. That seems useful.”
“I’m going to get off at the next town, Victoriaville. It’s south of Salem. There should be a store open that we could buy one or at least barter.”
Rachel did not respond, but she had a feeling that this little project was more of a distraction from facing harsh reality of the world that they live in now versus actually getting something that they needed. Although, she did see the use of it, but she did not want them to spend their cash or worse, barter with their food to get something that they would only need a few times and could function without it.
William took the following exit exactly how he said he would. Once they were off of the highway, William drove down the streets looking for an open store. “Looks like none of these stores are open,” he said, seeming surprised.
Driving a few miles down he shouted, “Hey, Rachel! Look! I see a gas station and car garage with their bay door open. They must be able to help us!” Without hesitation, William drove the van over to the garage and got ou o find the mechanic.
“Hey there! How can I help you,” the mechanic came out of the open bay door to greet William and shook his hand.
Rachel got out of the van as well to oversee the transaction. The last thing she wanted was more of her canned food being distributed to others. She was already worried about the rations as it was.
“I would like to install a tow winch on the back of this van,” explained William.
“That is going to cost you,” replied the mechanic.
“All right, how much?” William asked.
“You see, I don’t want cash or credit cards. I have enough of those already. I have at least a dozen of credit card transactions to run as soon as the power comes back on. That is not going to help me anymore. And cash has turned useless,” explained the mechanic.
Rachel had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She did not want to give any of their food away. She inquired anyway, “So, what are you willing to take for you to install a winch?”
“Ma’am, I would like you to work on my house and in the shop as payment.”
Rachel, knowing they did not have any time to spare to work around the house and his shop because they had to get to Nashville as soon as they could to find Liam replied, “I’m sorry sir, we can’t do that.” She turned to William and said, “Le’s get back on the road.”
The mechanic then replied, “Besides the tow winch, I’ll give you a full tank of gas. I have a manual pump.”
Rachel knew that her family would need the gas, but she attempted to get as much as she could if this meant she would need to stay here and help around the shop and house rather than find her son. “I have two 10-gallon jerry cans as well. Fill them both besides a full tank on the van and you have yourself a deal.”
“Deal,” replied the mechanic. William and the mechanic shook hands and the mechanic continued, “So, I have some work on my house. I see you have two strong men with you. I could show you the work that needs to be done while the girls watch the shop for me.”
“You got it,” replied William. Before Rachel could comprehend what was going on, she watched Gary, Vince, and William drive off, following the mechanic on his dirt bike, while she was left at the garage with her three daughters and Dr. Tate plus their pets. She already did not like being separated and the uneasy feeling that she had in the pit of her stomach only got worse.
Chapter Six
; Liam Conner
Mt. Juliet, Tennessee
4:45 AM
“How are we going to get out of here?” Prue asked, securing Chewy in her lap once again.
Liam sat in the driver’s seat, watching intently through the review mirror, keeping his eyes on every movement of the Bubbas. “I’m fairly sure this time they have come armed,” confided Liam. “They wouldn’t have followed us if they did not want revenge, and unfortunately for us that means bringing guns.”
Prue sat silent in the passenger side seat, tears streaming down her face. “They will kill us,” she whispered.
“They want to, doesn’t mean they are,” Liam assured. Liam was still uncertain the plan of getting out of the clutches of the Bubbas. The Bubba Brothers had Liam and Prue boxed in. On one side, the wall of fire, smoldering with hot plasma energy. The debris that this fire was burning were piles and piles of wood, and the fire appeared to be deliberately set.
Behind Liam and Prue were the four brothers, spaced far perfectly, not allowing the car to get by. The rattling of the mufflers shook the old, vintage 1957 Chevy, vibrating the walls of the car, a reminder of the threat that lurked behind them.
Liam kept calm and stoic as he monitored their every move. Liam watched for the Bubbas to reach for their weapons, but they all kept their hands not their handle bars. Prue appeared to become less and less trusting of Liam, as she burst into tears.
Prue’s sudden hysteria bothered Liam. He knew he needed to act soon. This standoff was eating away at his nerves. Going forward into the wall of flames was not a viable option, which left Liam with forcing himself by Bubbas. Liam studied their position in the rear-view mirror. “I’m going to back up, and these guys can decide if they are going to move or not,” announced Liam.
He put the car in reverse, keeping his foot on the break. Then he took his foot off of the brake and stomped on the gas, pushing the pedal to the floorboard.