by Harley Tate
She smiled, hoping for the best. “I’ve inventoried the fridge and freezer. We have about a day or two before most everything goes bad. Mind helping me cook up the frozen meat? I’ve got a grill in the backyard and a smoker. We can use both to preserve at least some of it before we need to throw it away.”
Wanda cast a wary glance at the fridge. “I’m not much of a cook.”
Great. “It’s a good time to learn.”
The older woman’s brows knit even tighter. “I was hoping you could take me to my place today. I need to change clothes. Shower.”
Tracy sat still, forcing her face to not give away her internal shock. Did the woman not listen to anything she’d said this morning? She wouldn’t be able to take a shower. At least not a hot one.
The city water supply might still be operational, but how long would that last? They had to be running the filtration system on backup generators. Those wouldn’t last more than a day. Nothing was hooked up to solar power or wind turbines here.
Some of the small towns to the west between Sacramento and the Bay may still be up and running. If they shut down their systems before the EMP hit, the wind turbines might still function.
If Tracy had outfitted the roof with solar panels, they might have survived. But she hadn’t. Wanda’s apartment certainly hadn’t invested in any green energy, either. By the time she drove her home, any water still running would be ice cold and possibly not even clean.
But if that’s what the woman wanted…
Tracy could have used the extra pair of hands. But an unwilling pair might be worse than none at all. She puffed out a breath of air and glanced out the side window to the street beyond.
Leaving her house with all the supplies inside wasn’t ideal, but she would have to sooner or later. And she could fill up on gas before the local stations ran out of backup power. She knew the closest Shell had a generator: when the creek flooded and the power had been out for days, it was the only place still open.
Maybe she could even check out the neighborhood and assess who could be an ally and who to watch out for. Tracy stood up. “Okay. I’ll take you home. But not one word to anyone about my supplies. Understood?”
Wanda tilted her head. “Okay. Sure. If that’s what you want.”
“It is.” Tracy finished her water and set the empty glass in the sink. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready.”
Wanda smiled. “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me until we get there.” Tracy wasn’t sure they’d even make it down the street.
Chapter Thirteen
MADISON
Sacramento, CA
5:00 a.m.
The pounding wouldn’t quit. All those little hammers, jabbing away at her skull. Little pointed pick axes held by Snow White’s dwarves, searching for diamonds.
She begged them to stop. “Please, I’m not a diamond mine.”
But they only intensified their efforts, hammers becoming the beaks of a thousand woodpeckers, every one insistent on reaching her brain. They were starving and she was dinner.
Madison swiped at her head, trying to shoo them away. Go. Get out of here you nasty birds. Why won’t you listen?
“I said open up!”
The banging intensified. Madison swore one of the birds opened its beak and spoke. What the…?
“Shit.”
Brianna? What are you doing here? Consciousness threatened, but Madison liked the safety of the dark.
Someone shook her, tearing away the mask of sleep as a bright light hit her eyes. “Wake up. It’s the cops.”
Madison pried an eye open. The cops? She sat up, wincing as she moved her neck. Slumping over in the back seat of a Wrangler might not have been the best choice in beds. Rubbing at her stiff muscles, she blinked, bringing the interior of the Jeep into focus.
The light flashed in her eyes again and Madison’s brain finally kicked into gear. A police officer stood outside the Jeep, one hand on his hip, one holding a flashlight bright enough to illuminate the bottom of the ocean.
“What’s going on?”
Brianna pushed her hair off her face and reached for window controls. “Someone fell asleep on his shift.” She eyed Peyton in the rear view and he winced like she’d slapped him.
“Sorry. I was tired.”
Madison frowned. “Not as tired as me. What time is it?”
Tucker volunteered through a yawn. “Just after four in the morning.”
Madison groaned. “I only slept for three hours. No wonder.”
Brianna pushed the window button down and plastered a friendly smile on her face. “Can I help you, officer?”
“ID and registration, please.”
She nodded. “My ID is in my back pocket and my registration is in the glove box. I’ll get them.”
He waited, eyes intermittently darting up to monitor Madison and both guys. She didn’t understand why he’d be interested in a Jeep parked off the road on a day like today. Didn’t he have to deal with looting and riots already?
After fishing out the requested documentation, Brianna handed them over. “Is there a problem?”
He pulled the light down to read and Madison finally got a look at his face. He couldn’t have been much older than them. Maybe a year or two on the force. New recruits always got the worst shifts.
He shoved her ID and registration back through the window and raised the flashlight to blind them all once again. “Everyone else. Hand over your identification.”
Madison dug her wallet out of the backpack at her feet and both Peyton and Tucker lifted off the seats to get at their wallets. After they handed the cards up to Brianna, she held them out the window.
“We were just getting a little bit of sleep after getting stuck in traffic.”
He scoured the IDs, holding each one up as he shined the flashlight first at Tucker, then Peyton, and finally Madison. At last, he handed them back. “Do you know it’s illegal to park here after dark?”
“No.” Brianna shook her head, blonde curls bouncing as she glanced back at Madison. “I don’t think any of us knew that.”
Madison agreed. “We never meant to break the law. If we knew, we’d have parked somewhere else.”
The police officer stepped back, inspecting the outside of the Jeep. “Why are you up here in the bushes? Do you have something to hide?”
Brianna shook her head even harder. “Not at all. We just wanted to be off the road. Get somewhere quiet, you know? After driving for hours, we were exhausted. Just looking to sleep.”
He flashed his light into the backseat, lingering on Madison’s overstuffed backpack. “What’s in the pack?”
She hesitated. “Camping gear. We’re on a road trip. Spring break hiking trip.” She hoped her voice came across more convincing than it sounded in her head. Why was she so nervous? They didn’t have anything to hide.
Not unless the cop wanted what they had.
He flashed his light over to Peyton. “Where are you headed?”
“Uhh…” Peyton glanced at Madison, panic in his eyes.
Crap. He didn’t know the first thing about camping spots in Northern California. The boy had been raised in Los Angeles. He was lucky to know Sacramento was even part of the same state.
Tucker volunteered. “Redwood National Park. After we stop at Madison’s mom’s house. She’s in Sacramento.”
Madison nodded. “Carmichael, actually.”
The cop didn’t look amused. He motioned with the flashlight and Madison’s stomach flipped over. “Everyone out.”
“What for?” Brianna sat straighter in her seat, eyes trained on the police officer.
“Suspicion of illegal substances. I’m doing a sobriety check.”
“No. You don’t have probable cause.”
Madison almost choked on her own spit. What is Brianna doing? She’ll get us arrested! Madison glanced at Peyton, but he looked just as shocked as she felt.
The police officer raised his voice. “Out of the
car. Now.”
Madison started to move, but Brianna held up a hand. “Not until you tell me what probable cause you have to suspect either inebriation or the existence of alcohol or illegal substances in my vehicle. Until then, you can’t ask us to get out.”
Oh my gosh. Madison tried not to hyperventilate, breathing through her nose and out her mouth as she counted to ten and back to one. Now wasn’t the time to get into a fight with a cop or make a stand on principle. They needed to get to her mom’s place before anything else happened.
The cop took a step back. “I’m going to count to three and you are going to open that car door.”
“And if I don’t?”
He unholstered the firearm at his side and pulled it out, pointing both it and the flashlight right at Brianna’s face. “Then I’ll arrest you for disobeying a police officer and you can explain it to your parents when they come to jail to bail you out.”
“Brianna!” Madison hissed at her roommate from the back seat. “Just get out and be nice. We don’t have anything to hide!”
Brianna smiled at the police officer, but answered Madison through her teeth. “He doesn’t have a right to search us or make us take a test. I know the law!”
“But we need to get home! We don’t even know where we are!”
The police officer’s voice rang out. “One!”
“Brianna, come on.” Peyton scooted forward in his seat until he could touch Brianna on the shoulder. “We need to do what he says.”
“Two!”
Madison swallowed down her panic and the bile that crept up her throat. This couldn’t be happening.
“We’re getting out. Hold on!” Tucker threw open the passenger-side door and unlocked the back seat doors at the same time.
“Tucker!”
“Sorry, babe. I don’t want to get shot tonight.” He held up his hands as he stood up.
Brianna rolled her eyes and shoved her door open. “Fine. But I’m telling you, I’m right about this.”
The second her feet touched the ground, the cop grabbed her by the wrist and spun her around, slamming Brianna into the hood of her Jeep before grabbing her head and shoving it down.
“Hey! Watch it!”
He didn’t even look up. “Be quiet if you don’t want to end up in the back of my patrol car.”
Brianna almost spat. “It can’t fit all of us. You’ll have to let someone go.”
“I can call for backup.”
“Oh, really? Does your radio even work?”
“Of course it works.”
“Tried it lately?”
The cop hesitated. “No, actually. I haven’t.”
“Heard any chatter for a while?”
He glanced back toward the parking lot. “No.”
“Unusual, isn’t it? Haven’t you stopped to wonder why the power is out all over?”
Brianna was getting to him. Every question she asked, he loosened his grip on her head. “It’s just a blackout. That’s why I’m on patrol. Every time the power goes out this neighborhood goes to shit.”
“Oh, great. And this is where we decide to park.” Peyton shook his head, his hands still raised in the air.
Tucker spoke up next. “You really don’t know what’s happened, do you?”
The cop blew him off. “I don’t need to know. I just need to do my job. Hands on the hood, right where I can see them.” He motioned with his pistol and Tucker complied, stepping up and palming the yellow metal.
“I really think you should let us go. If we’re right about what happened last night, this part of town is going up like a tinderbox.” Brianna angled to look the cop in the eye. “You should go home. Protect your family.”
Madison took a step closer, hands raised. “The power isn’t ever coming back on. We were hit with a solar EMP. The grid is toast.”
“You’re making that up. That’s some college speak you’re just using to get me to let you go. You’ve probably got a bunch of weed in that backpack you don’t want me to find.”
Madison shook her head. “I don’t use drugs or drink. Neither do my friends. Haven’t you noticed the sky?”
The cop glanced up at the streaks of color.
“The northern lights prove it.”
“You’re bullshitting me.
Madison shook her head again. “We’re not the people you should be worried about.”
“Oh, yeah?” The cop almost smirked. “Who should I be worried about?”
“Yo!” A voice called out from behind the Jeep. “You should be worried about us, bro!”
Chapter Fourteen
MADISON
West Sacramento, CA
5:45 a.m.
The cop raised his gun, flashlight sweeping the area behind the vehicle where the voice came from. Madison froze, too afraid to turn around. She knew this area was home to more gang members than others, but when they’d escaped the causeway and found someplace to rest, she’d been too tired and scared to think it through.
Now she wished they’d kept on going straight to her mom’s house and never looked back.
“Show yourself!” The police officer barked out the order.
Laughter from the shadows was the only response.
Brianna twisted on the hood of the Jeep, half-raising up to speak. “Please, just let us go. We aren’t bad kids. We need to get home.”
“Be quiet!” The cop shoved Brianna back down.
Madison knew they had to get out of there and away from whoever lurked in the bushes as fast as they could. The longer they stayed vulnerable, the more likely someone would take what they had. Transportation included.
“Identify yourself!” the police officer shouted again.
This time, a figure emerged from the shadows. The beam of light from the flashlight lit up his white tank top and reflected off the metal grip of the handgun tucked in the front of his waistband.
The man had so many tattoos inked up and down his arms and across his back, Madison couldn’t tell the color of his skin. But she knew what those types of symbols meant. They were in gang territory.
She shifted on her feet, easing a step closer to the door of the Jeep. There had a be a way out of this where no one got hurt.
The man standing in the pool of light motioned at the cop. “You wanna put that piece down, homeboy? Won’t do you no good out here.”
“Stand back!” The cop took his hand off Brianna’s back to raise the gun once more. His setup was precarious. One hand on a flashlight, one on a handgun. They would be lucky if he didn’t accidentally fire a round.
The local took a step forward. “I don’t think you heard me, boy. Lower the gun.” He patted his own weapon, a smirk twisting up the side of his face. “You don’t want to mess with me. I bet you never even fired that thing. Have you?”
The police officer reached for his radio, twisting it on as he spoke into it. “One four six nine requesting backup at Mira Buena Park. Repeat. One four six nine requesting immediate backup.”
The radio remained silent.
Madison swallowed. He really didn’t know about the EMP. She tried to think. How could they get away?
“We told you the radios don’t work. It’s just the same emergency alert over and over.” Brianna shimmied to get the cop’s attention. “You need to let us go.”
“Naw. He doesn’t need to do any such thing. Ain’t that right, bro? You just point that gun at the pretty lady right there and wait for my crew to show up. Then you can go.”
“Step back. I told you, I’m calling for backup.” The cop tried the radio again. Nothing.
The man in the tank top pulled out his gun before waving it around. “No good, man. Don’t you know? Power’s out everywhere. One of my guys drove up from LA overnight. Said there’s nothing. Hell, I bet even Tijuana’s out of power.”
With the gun still up in the air, the man took a step forward. “The whole fucking world’s powerless. You know what that means?” He pointed the gun at the cop. “Power’s m
ine.”
Oh, no. Madison could see it all playing out in slow motion. The shot, the firefight, the collateral damage. She had to stop it. They had to calm the situation down.
“Is the power really out everywhere?” She spoke to the local, hoping to draw his attention away from the cop long enough to figure out a plan.
He turned to her, tongue running across his lower lip. She fought the urge to recoil. “Hey chica, you so sweet, over there shaking in your boots. You trying to help this sucker out?”
“No. I just—I didn’t know. I thought—” She didn’t know what to say or do, but she tried to keep talking. Stalling. Anything that could buy them some time.
“Stay away from her.” The cop spoke up and Madison whipped her head in his direction. He’d let Brianna go and given her the flashlight.
Both of his hands were wrapped around his gun. “Stay right where you are. You’re under arrest.”
The man laughed and the sound made Madison’s skin crawl. “I don’t think you understand who you’re talkin’ to.” He reached for Madison, but she ducked out of his grasp, diving behind the back of the Jeep and out of the direct path of his gun.
The sound of the gunshot pierced the night, so loud Madison’s ears rang. Was she shot? She patted herself down. No.
Was it one of her friends? Madison peeked up over the edge of the Jeep. The cop stood still, one hand on his shoulder, fingers red with blood. Oh, no.
He motioned toward the Jeep. “Go! Get in the car. I’ll hold him off.” He fired a shot at the man in the tank top. It missed wide, but the man ducked anyway, taking off for the row of bushes behind them.
Brianna tore open the driver’s side door and hollered. “Everybody in. Now!”
Bodies piled into the Jeep as Brianna turned it on and threw it in drive. Peyton landed on top of Madison, his left leg still out of the car as it took off, bumping over the curb before landing with a hard bounce on the concrete.
He tugged the door closed and sat up as Brianna whipped the 4x4 around a corner and punched the gas.