by Hunt, Jack
He didn’t even realize how long he’d been standing there until Maggie took a hold of his hand. “Elliot.”
He turned to her, and she clicked her fingers in front of his face.
He’d frozen, reliving his army days and the final days with his family.
“Are you okay?”
He reached up and touched his head. “Yeah. I think.”
Then just like that he was back in the present moment. All the sounds and horrors around him were just that, out there, no longer part of him. He looked down at her leg and noticed she was bleeding badly from when they’d been inside the police van and it had tipped.
“We should get you bandaged up. Here, take a seat.”
He cast a glance over to where Jesse and Damon were. They were helping people as best as they could, a task that wasn’t easy. They dragged a few people into nearby stores where owners had opened up to help the injured.
He ran his hands over her leg to check for any shrapnel, anything that might have embedded but there was nothing. He tore apart her jeans which were already ripped so he could get a better look at the leg.
“What did you do for a living?” Maggie asked.
“Before or after I moved to the city?”
She frowned. “You not from here?”
“Lake Placid,” he replied. He got up and headed over to a store and snatched up a bottle of water from a case that an owner had stacked outside for people to take. He returned, screwed off the top and poured it over her leg and then tore off a portion of her shirt and used it to clean away the blood so he could get a better look. There appeared to be a six-inch gash just below the knee, it wasn’t too deep but enough to cause her to lose a fair amount of blood.
“It hurts like hell. Is it bad?” she asked.
“You’ll need some stitches but you’ll live.”
He removed his jacket and took off one of the many layers of shirts he had on to stay warm. He ripped the sleeve and used that to tie off the lower portion of her leg. For the first time in a long while he actually felt useful. That was why he’d wanted to be a medic in the first place. It was easy to kill, but healing others, helping them in their time of need, that was needed more than anything in a war. As he tied it off she winced.
“So you got family in the city, Maggie?”
“Just a couple of friends, that’s it.” She looked around. “I’m not even sure if they’re alive.”
There were so many dead bodies lying on the ground it would take hours, days, even weeks for emergency services to gather up the dead. With so many people crammed tightly into Times Square, it was far worse than any other disaster he’d witnessed on TV. And that was confined to a small section of New York. What about the rest of the city? Or the rest of the country?
“Probably best you head home,” he said.
“I don’t know if I have one to go back to.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
She groaned and leaned back against a lamppost.
“My ex-boyfriend paid me a visit earlier this evening. He went ballistic. My friend tasered him before I left for the night.”
“You left him there?”
She nodded. “He has a history of violence.”
He shook his head. “Well you can’t stay out here. None of us can.”
She studied him as he used some more water to clean up her leg around the wound.
“You said before or after. What did you mean? Where’s home for you?”
“Home?” He snorted. “Up until this evening, below tracks 111 and 112 but not now.”
There was a hesitation.
“You live on the streets?” she asked.
“You could say that.”
“How do you survive?”
“I earn my living canning.”
She didn’t respond to that. It was usually a conversation killer. Elliot had met many well-meaning people in his time on the streets. Of course there were some that wouldn’t give him the time of day, others spat at him and told him to get a job, and there were the religious ones who reached out and offered to help if he would embrace their religion. Okay, they didn’t exactly put it that way, but he kinda knew what their agenda was. They weren’t out there serving soup and handing out blankets for the hell of it. Seeing that she wasn’t going to continue the conversation he carried it. “So, no kids?”
“Not at my age. You?” Maggie asked.
“Two, back in Lake Placid.”
Her eyes narrowed and then he wished he hadn’t told her. He could already feel the guilt weighing down on his shoulders. Any second now she would ask the questions. Why are they there and you are here? Did you get divorced? When did you last see them? Why don’t you speak to them? It was complicated. There was much more to it than what met the eye and only a few people, specifically veterans, would understand, and even then some wouldn’t. Everyone dealt with PTSD in different ways. Some got help and were able to come back from it with the support and love of their family. Others retreated, and some ran away. He only wished it was easy.
“You should head home, make sure they’re okay.”
His head dropped. The thought of returning had entered his mind many times, but it was only that… a thought. There was the final argument with Rayna, the incident with her brother and Gary. It all came back to him as fresh as the day it occurred. He couldn’t go back to that. He couldn’t face her again, or his kids. What would he say?
“I don’t have a ride even if I wanted.”
There was a long pause as if she was contemplating his reply.
Then she blurted it out. “I have a vehicle.”
He shook his head. “No.”
“It’s the least I can do for helping.”
“I’m not doing anything anyone else wouldn’t have done,” he said turning and gesturing to Jesse and Damon, and the many others that were out there in the smoke-filled streets helping the injured. “Besides, your vehicle won’t work,” he said finishing up and covering her leg.
“Of course it will.”
“Look around you, Maggie. Do you see anyone on their phone? Nothing is working. There is no electricity, no vehicles operating. You can’t hear the hum of the city. The world around us has gone silent except for the cries of the injured. It’s an EMP. Whether it was caused by a nuke or solar flare, it doesn’t matter, it’s knocked out the power, at least in our neck of the woods and that means everything you know about society is going to come to a grinding halt. Transportation systems will cease, grocery stores will eventually be looted, hospitals will turn into morgues and soon enough this panic will turn into chaos as everyone realizes that the power isn’t coming back on.”
“No, I don’t believe that. People will help each other.”
“Yeah, probably, for a time. Some will. Some won’t. Just because you would, it doesn’t mean everyone else would. This city already had desperate people who would stab, shoot and steal if it meant they survived.” He made a gesture with his head around him. “This is an opportunity for them to go on a rampage without consequences.”
“But the police, the National Guard, other countries?”
“We don’t know what has caused this, though I suspect it’s North Korea. Who knows if they’ve hit other countries?”
“North Korea?”
“Look, what I’m saying is the sooner you can get home and heal up, the sooner you can start thinking about how to survive this. Right now, we have the upper hand.” He paused and took a breath. “Some think that it will take one or two weeks for society to collapse but it’s not the collapse I’m worried about, it’s the unravel. Society has been unraveling long before those lights went out, now it’s only going to pick up speed.”
He stood to his feet.
“No,” she said shaking her head. “This is bad but not that bad.”
“Well I’m not going to stick around to find out.”
“Where are you going?”
And just like that he was back in the past.
The final argument with Rayna, and his one hand on the door with a duffel bag of belongings in the other. He pushed the thought from his mind and cast a glance over his shoulder.
“Jesse.”
Jesse turned and raised a finger to indicate he’d be a minute. He was dealing with a young child. Elliot was quick to change the subject.
“You mentioned friends?” he asked her.
“They have a place in Brooklyn. It’s where I was going to spend the night. My belongings are there.”
“You think they headed back?”
“Maybe.”
He assisted her to her feet, and she winced again while hobbling. “You okay to walk?”
She shook her head and stumbled a little but he caught her. “Yeah. It just hurts real bad.”
“What about your parents?” he asked.
“Fourteen hundred miles away in Kansas.”
His eyebrows arched.
“Yeah, they weren’t too keen on me living so far away either.”
Jesse finally made his way over along with Damon. “What do you want?”
“You mentioned you lived in Brooklyn, right?” Elliot asked.
“Yeah.”
“You want to take her back home?”
Jesse looked at her and shrugged. “Sure. What neighborhood are you in?”
“Bushwick but my friends live in Williamsburg. That’s where my stuff is. You?”
“Bed-Stuy.”
Jesse turned to Elliot. “What about you?”
“I’ll be fine.”
They glanced at Damon and before they said anything he waved them off. “I was just on my way to the Greyhound station.”
“They won’t be running,” Elliot said. He reached into his pocket to pull out a packet of smokes. Damon eyed the packet as he tapped one out and he got a sense he wanted one. “You smoke?”
He nodded so Elliot handed him one. He lit one and a rush of nicotine hit his system making him feel at ease if only for a few seconds.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Maggie asked Elliot. “I kinda feel bad leaving you here.”
“We’ll be fine,” Elliot said. He then corrected himself. “I mean, I’ll be fine.”
“Where’s home for you?” Jesse asked Damon.
“Keene.”
Elliot blew out a plume of smoke from the corner of his mouth and squinted. “Keene, New York?”
He nodded. “You know it?”
“I’m originally from Lake Placid.”
“Huh, how about that? So, what brought you down here?”
Elliot didn’t want to get into it. He looked around at the devastation and although he might have been able to survive by going back underground, finding another spot and continuing to live a hand to mouth existence by looting stores, he couldn’t push from his mind what Maggie had said about his kids. The only reason he was able to stay in the city was because he knew they would be safe with Rayna. She was a strong woman and more than capable of raising them by herself. He turned away from Damon and looked at the remains of the plane and chewed it over in his mind even as Damon continued to badger him with questions. Perhaps having his place set on fire was for a reason. Maybe all of this was for a reason? He couldn’t stay now. Not if this was what he thought it was, but on the other hand he wasn’t sure he was ready to face the music back in Lake Placid. He needed to find out more before making a decision.
“You know what, change of plans, I’ll go with you. You know, just to make sure you get home safe.”
“She’ll be fine,” Jesse reassured him.
“You know the city?” he asked.
“Like the back of my hand.”
He nodded and was about to turn away when Maggie piped up. “Elliot, you’re more than welcome.”
He smiled, she reminded him of his own daughter.
“Just out of curiosity, what vehicle do you have?”
“An ’85 station wagon. Used to belong to my father.”
He grimaced figuring it might be too new.
“People still drive those?” Damon asked.
“People with little money do,” she said before her mouth formed a weak, painful smile. She turned her attention back to Elliot. “Look, the offer still stands, if you can get it working. I mean, if it will work at all.”
“Why?” Elliot asked.
“Why what” Maggie replied.
“Why do you want to help me?”
She looked around at all the need, then she turned back. “Maybe I can’t help everyone but I can help one person.”
Elliot gripped her arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Thank you. Let’s hope it works.”
Jesse got this confused look on his face. “You want to fill me in on what’s going on?”
Elliot made a gesture towards the street that would lead them out of the chaos. “Society is unraveling. I’ll tell you about it on the way.”
Chapter 7
Rayna tossed and turned for close to an hour before she got out of bed. She couldn’t sleep, something about the outage didn’t feel right. She glanced at her phone which was still getting no signal. She swung her legs off the bed and sat there for a few minutes listening to the water pipes groaning. For the past few weeks she’d been worried about them freezing up and bursting due to all the cold weather they’d had. Her mind went back to the conversations she’d had with Elliot before the last time he’d deployed. He’d walked her around the house to show her what to do in the event of a pipe bursting.
“Shut the water off at the main shutoff valve. It’s right here.”
“Elliot. I already know this.”
He smiled. “I know you do but I’m just testing.”
“You and your testing,” she said leaning against him. “Just make sure you come home.” She raised up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his. He pulled away, and she was going to say something but she didn’t. She could tell his mind was distracted by all the things that he wanted to show her before he left. It bothered him that she was by herself even though she had a few friends in town. Lake Placid was a friendly town with just under 2,500 people though that swelled by three times in the summer months. Even the winter months still remained busy as tourists from all over the country wanted to visit the small town that had hosted the Winter Olympics back in 1980.
“Remember, I’ve put the key to the rifle cabinet in this tin.” He reached up to a shelf which was out of sight and pulled out an old tobacco tin. “There is ammo in the locked drawer in my study, okay?”
“Yes, yes,” she said smiling. “How many times have you taken me through this?”
“Enough but repetition is the…”
“… mother of all learning,” she cut him off before he could finish.
He leaned back against the workbench. “Okay then, smart ass. What about the bunker?”
“What about it?”
“What’s the one rule?”
Her eyes squinted. “Don’t tell anyone.”
“Exactly! Okay, I think you’re all good.”
Her mind flipped back to the present as she got up and picked up the flashlight off the side table and went and checked on the kids. She eased their door open and peeked inside. Both of them were out like a light. Rayna pulled the door shut and headed downstairs and entered the kitchen. Kong lifted his furry head and looked at her.
Kong was a German shepherd service dog that they’d got for Elliot six months after he returned from a deployment. For a brief while it had helped him. At least in the daytime hours but at night that was the worst. When he had the nightmares, there was nothing the dog could do for him until he woke. Ever since Elliot had left, Kong hadn’t been the same. He looked as lost as Elliot did in the days leading up to the incident.
“Hey Kong, you okay, boy?”
He wagged his tail and lifted his head and she crouched down and ran a hand around the back of his ear. At least with him still here she didn’t feel as nervous. Sure, Elliot had taught her how to use a rifle, bu
t just having the dog there made her feel at peace. His tongue dangled out the side of his mouth and she looked over to his bowl and noticed he’d drunk all the water. She scooped it up and went about filling it. As she turned on the faucet, it let out a clanging sound then the water rushed out. As it filled the bowl, she thought back to what Elliot had said years ago.
“If the lights ever go out for longer than twenty-four hours, or you find out the grid has gone down, fill up the bath and sinks with what’s left of the water in the pipes as there is a good chance that’s all you’re going to get. You’ll need it.”
As she looked out the back window, and saw no lights in the distance, her heartbeat sped up a little. There had been a number of times the power had gone out in their part of town but it had always come back up again within the hour. She glanced at her watch and noticed it had been at least two hours without power. Whether it was nerves or instinct, she wasn’t sure but after placing Kong’s bowl on the floor, she went back to the sink and filled it up, then went upstairs to the bathroom and did the same with the bathtub. If the grid was down, it would mean no electricity, no heating, no internet, no refrigeration, no phones and no means of withdrawing money or filling up their vehicle with gas. The vehicle? She stopped what she was doing and hurried down the stairs and scooped up the keys off the hook and headed outside to the SUV. She hit the key fob, but it didn’t work. She inserted the key and then tried firing it up. Nothing. Not even a splutter. What had he said about that? She got out of the vehicle and headed back into the house and made her way down to the basement. Inside the laundry room at the back, she approached the workbench and opened a couple of the drawers searching for the small booklet that Elliot had created which listed what to do in the event of a crisis. He wasn’t paranoid like some were and neither had he spent his weekends researching everything to do with survival, but he liked to be prepared and when the topic came up with Gary, he would just say that it was like insurance. No one wanted to use it, but it was helpful to have it. Rooting through the drawer she took out papers until she came across the small brown moleskin notebook. It wasn’t full of hundreds of pages of what to do in the event the world went to shit, but there were a few pages where he’d jotted down what she and the kids were to do in the event of an… She rifled through the book and stopped… EMP. That’s what he called it. She ran a finger down the page looking at all the signs. Sure enough, they were all there. The electrical grid would go down, GPS would no longer work, cell phones would be useless, internet, modern cars, radios and many electrical devices wouldn’t work. Her heartbeat sped up as she ran a hand over the bottom of her jaw.