He made his way down the alley between the corner store and the gasoline station. He chose this alley mainly because he saw beams of light jutting out of someone's garage.
When he got to the garage, he saw a tall man standing in front of his parked car. The beads of light were coming from a lantern.
“You still have power?” Benton asked.
“Yeah, I don't play around,” the tall man said. “I've got generators.”
“Your generators still work?”
If the generator still worked, maybe it was just a regular power outage, not an EMP. Of course, that was just a guess.
“Yeah, I had the generator and lantern stored in a special cage. I guess it shielded them from whatever caused the power outage.”
“Do you think it's an EMP then?” Benton asked.
“It's gotta be.”
“I heard an EMP will fry all electronic appliances if they're not protected.”
“No one really seems to know for sure. I mean, they've done tests. But those tests haven't been very thorough.”
“So, what about you? How are your electronic devices?”
“Most of my electronic appliances don't work, aside from a few of them that were shielded. I also can't get a cellphone signal. Some of the appliances still work and some of them don't, even though they were all shielded the same way. I'm guessing this EMP is related to a solar storm of some sort, like the one they've been warning about. From what I understand, a nuclear-induced EMP is supposed to cause even more devastation. But even then, I imagine the amount of damage done depends on the severity of the nuclear or solar impact. I guess we won't know for sure exactly what caused the power outage until later.”
Benton thought about his family again. Restless to get home to see that they were okay, he excused himself.
The tall man shut his garage door and went back inside.
* * * * *
By the time Benton reached his house, it was past midnight. The family sedan was missing, which meant the power outage happened after Amanda left the house.
If only she could have left a minute later. She could have realized the car wasn't starting. Then she could have walked to pick up Katie, whose friend's house was only a mile away. It would have been safer than having the car die while it was moving at thirty miles an hour.
But maybe they had already made it back home safely, Benton thought.
He passed through the backyard and looked fixedly at the back porch and kitchen windows. The house was dark, but that didn't mean Amanda and the kids were not home. After all, there was a power outage.
Still gripping the grocery bags, he extracted his keys from his pocket and opened the back door.
“Amanda?”
There was no answer.
Chapter Three
Benton stepped into the kitchen and put down the grocery bags. One of them was leaking melted ice cream. He opened the freezer door and felt a rush of cold air escape. Many of the items inside still had ice crystals on them.
He placed the ice cream in the freezer. Even though it wasn't running, it would still keep the items cold for a little while, as long as the door remained shut.
He closed the freezer door and left the other items in the grocery bags aside. Then he stepped into the dark hallway.
“Anyone home?” he called out.
There was no answer.
Stumbling into the living room, he inadvertently knocked something off the piano. He stooped down and picked it up whatever it was he had knocked onto the floor. He held it up so it would catch the glow of moonlight that peered through the windows.
It was a family portrait of himself, Amanda, and their two daughters. He stared at it, reminding himself of the deep concern he felt for them.
He set the portrait back on the piano and looked out the window. The streets outside were largely vacant, with the exception of some people who had been caught outside their house in the power outage and were hurrying home.
Soon, a patch of clouds began to cover the moon, and then it started drizzling. He didn't know what time it was because none of the clocks in his house worked. But he knew how long it took him to walk, and he calculated Amanda, Katie, and Stephanie had been gone for at least a couple of hours.
The air conditioner had been off for approximately the same length of time, and the house was heating up fast, even though the sun had retired for the evening three and a half hours earlier.
The flashlight he retrieved from his bedroom upstairs wasn't working.
He took several deep breaths of the humid air, hoping to slow down his racing heart. Then he made his way over to the dining room cabinet, where he kept the matchbooks. He lit one candle for the living room, one for the kitchen, and another one for the master bedroom.
Growing tired of the nagging, burdensome thoughts in his mind, he tried to distract himself by keeping busy, so he went into the kitchen and began putting the rest of the groceries away.
Then he cleaned his bathtub and filled it with water. He also filled the kettle, empty flower vases, and cups and glasses in the cabinets with water.
After that, he consumed half a carton of ice cream—the portion which was not melted—then threw the rest away.
* * * * *
More time elapsed.
Amanda still wasn't back with the kids.
He thought about going out to look for them. Then he talked himself out of it, realizing there wasn't much he could do in the pitch black dark, especially now that the moon was concealed by the clouds.
They'll probably be back any minute now, he told himself.
Eventually, he coaxed himself into a slumber.
Chapter Four
It was shortly after sunrise.
Benton woke up to an agonizingly hot, humid morning. He had not slept well at all, only drifting into light stages of unconsciousness as he struggled with his racing thoughts.
Amanda and the kids were still gone.
Maybe they spent the night at Lizzy's house.
He stepped into the kitchen and turned on the faucet. But all he got was a gurgling sound, followed by a flow of discolored water.
It appeared the water from the treatment plant had already been depleted.
Rummaging through the refrigerator, he took sliced turkey, milk, and a few slices of leftover pizza, and threw it all onto the table, preparing to make himself a large meal before it all expired.
He opened the freezer door and shuffled through the defrosted items, taking a bag of thawed berries and throwing them onto the table. Then he took the ice cube tray, which was filled with cool water, and poured it into a glass for a refreshing beverage.
As long as he was already rummaging, he decided to scavenge through the cabinet. When he found the address book, he looked under the letter L for Lizzy.
* * * * *
After breakfast, Benton passed through his front doorway and walked to Lizzy's house, taking the side streets. He didn't know what time it was exactly, and he was hoping it wasn't too early for them.
He walked up their front steps, knocked on the door . . . and waited.
There was no answer.
He knocked again.
Eventually, he heard the lock clicking, and then the door opened. A tired-looking woman appeared in the doorway and looked at Benton impassively.
“Hi.”
“Hey. What brings you by, Benton?”
“Amanda and the kids never came home last night, so I was wondering if they were here.”
Selena looked surprised. “No, Amanda picked up Katie last night at around ten o' clock.”
Benton's heart thudded. “Was Stephanie with Amanda when she came to pick up Katie?”
“Yeah, they came inside, and we talked for a few minutes. Then the three of them left.”
“So, they left before the power outage happened?”
“Yeah, I remember the power went out just a few minutes after they left.”
“Are your phones getting any signals?
” Benton asked.
“No.”
There was a pause.
“I'm sure they're okay, Benton. Maybe Amanda wanted to stop by her mother's house.”
That was a possibility. Amanda's mother was eighty-one years old, and lived alone. It made sense that Amanda would want to check up on her during a power outage to make sure she was okay, even if it meant spending the night there without telling Benton.
“You looked tired, Benton. Try Amanda's mother's house, and after you see that everything is okay, try to get some rest.”
“Yeah,” Benton said. “I'm gonna head over there now. Thanks.”
* * * * *
Benton knocked on the door to the small house that stood just a few blocks away from Lizzy's place.
It was a quiet street, and Benton could hear the birds chirping as he waited for Amanda's mother to answer the door. He observed a rabbit as it emerged from the bushes to chew on a piece of grass.
After hearing the lock click, the creaky door slowly opened. The rabbit poked up his ears and scurried away.
Benton turned around and faced the doorway. “How are you doing, Dianne?”
“It's good to see you, Benton.”
“It's good to see you, too. Is Amanda here by any chance?”
“Amanda? No.”
“Was she here last night?”
“No. I haven't seen her all week. Why?”
“She didn't come home last night,” Benton said vehemently. “Neither did Katie or Stephanie, and I was—
“They didn't come home?” Dianne's eyes widened.
Benton shook his head. “I certainly don't want to cause undue alarm. I was just wondering if they were here.”
“I hope nothing happened to them,” Diane said.
“Well, how are you doing? Is everything okay?”
Diane shrugged. “I think so. But none of my electronic appliances work.”
“There's been a power outage. There's no power over at our house, either.”
“No?”
Benton shook his head. “Well, I'm going to take off. Is there anything I can help you with before I leave?”
Dianne smiled halfheartedly. “I think I'll manage.” Then her eyes widened again. “Tell Amanda to call me as soon as the power comes back on.”
“Okay.”
* * * * *
Benton walked up OAKWAY RD. He knew that was the road Amanda most often took when she picked up Katie from Lizzy's house.
After nervously strolling through the tree-lined road, he eventually saw a familiar vehicle parked near the curb. He was pretty sure it was the family sedan that Amanda drove.
The numbers on the license plate were difficult to decipher from where he currently was.
He moved closer to get a better look at the car's license plate number, and now that he saw it up close, he was absolutely certain it was the family sedan that Amanda drove.
But no one was inside the vehicle.
Chapter Five
Peering through the driver's side window, Benton could see that the doors were unlocked. He glanced over his shoulder, saw nothing, and let himself inside the car. He took the driver's seat, then closed the door behind himself.
The car was aligned with the curb in such a way that it indicated Amanda had done fairly well at parking it.
If the bumper had been jutting out into the middle of the street or sidewalk, it would show that the parking job had been rushed and frantic. But this wasn't the case. The parking job was smooth, so if the power had gone out while Amanda was driving the car, she had certainly handled it successfully.
Additionally, there was no sign of a struggle; no broken glass, dented chassis, or spots of blood anywhere near the vehicle.
But that wasn't enough to put Benton's mind at ease, because it still didn't explain where they had gone.
They had never discussed meeting each other at a preassigned location in the event of a catastrophic event, and even if they had, they would have only agreed to have met at a place other than their own house if their town was uninhabitable. But their town was still inhabitable, at least for the time being, and there was no reason for Amanda and the kids to not come home.
His mind started racing again as he thought of all the worst-case-scenarios.
He popped open the glove compartment to see if he could find any clues. In the back of his mind, he knew such an effort was probably futile, but he needed to do something, and that was all he could think of at the moment.
After picking up a pile of vehicle registration papers and thumbing through them, he was reminded of the time they had bought that car. They had both test driven it before deciding it would be their family car that they would use to run errands. After purchasing the car, they had gone out to eat at one of their favorite restaurants, the one that had tables and chairs set up on the roof, so the customers could overlook the much of the city, including the downtown skyline.
What am I doing? He asked himself out loud. He threw the papers back into the glove compartment and sealed it up.
He sighed in frustration, then turned around and looked in the backseat.
A little doll was lying on its side. Benton picked it up and looked at it pensively, recognizing that it belonged to Stephanie. She would take that doll with her almost everywhere she went; shopping malls, family vacation trips. She wouldn't have left it behind unless . . .
Something was wrong.
With his hand on the car handle, he opened the door and shifted his position. He was about to step out of the car when he saw a group of five shady-looking people heading his way. They were walking down the sidewalk, darting their eyes back and forth truculently. Their voices were loud, and their facial expressions were malicious, as if they were begging for a fight.
Benton closed the car door and stayed inside, waiting for them to pass.
Their voices grew louder as they got closer to the car. They were screaming and laughing, like a group of hyper kids who had finally been released from school after sitting in a classroom for six hours. But these people appeared to be in their twenties, and they weren't carrying backpacks. They certainly were not kids.
Benton tried not to stare, but he eyed them carefully. Then he saw one of them smash through the window of a small convenience store with a brick that he held in his hand. Laughing arrogantly, he climbed inside, and then his friends followed him moments later.
It made Benton think forcibly of the disaster that awaited up ahead. If society was on the verge of a complete collapse, there would be more and more of these people breaking into businesses, and maybe even homes eventually.
Then he pushed that thought away. With his family missing, there was enough to think about already.
He stepped out of the car and scanned the surrounding area, looking for clues. But he couldn't find any, and he had no idea which direction his family had gone.
* * * * *
Benton made his way to the local police station, where he stood in line behind a group of at least thirty people. He couldn't help but overhear some of the nearby conversations that were taking place.
“This could have been prevented,” one of the women in line said to the woman standing next to her. Her voice was loud and angry, and people were staring at her. “We could have shielded our grid, but apparently, it would cost too much money!”
The line moved forward.
“Now we have a total grid blackout,” the woman continued. “I wonder what this is going to cost us.”
The woman standing next to her didn't say much. She stuck mostly to short sentences, almost embarrassed to be seen talking to such a loud-mouthed person.
To Benton's right, a middle-aged man was having a conversation with an elderly man.
“Well, people have survived for thousands of years without the use of an electrical grid,” the middle-aged man said. “There's no reason we shouldn't be able to do the same.”
“The people in those days knew more than we did about survival witho
ut the grid,” the elderly man argued. “We've grown up in a society that depends on the grid for survival, and people aren't teaching us how to handle life when that grid becomes damaged.”
The line moved forward again.
As Benton moved closer to the desk, he was able to overhear the police talking to the concerned people at the front of the line.
“I can't believe they can't send in reinforcements from other places in the country,” an angry elderly man said.
“Sir, this power outage is affecting the entire country,” the officer said. “The other areas of the nation are in the same situation we are.”
A middle-aged woman stepped away from the counter, creating an opening at the front of the line. The officer who had been talking to her now directed his attention toward Benton. “Can I help you?” he asked.
Chapter Six
Benton stepped up to the counter and approached the stressed out officer who was trying to keep the line moving as fast as he could.
“My wife and two children have been missing since last night,” he said vehemently. “She left the house to pick up my daughter from her friend's house, and they never came back home. I found her car parked in the street, not too far away from our house, but no one was inside.”
“I need to see your id,” the officer said.
Benton reached into his wallet and handed over his driver's license.
The officer jotted down all of the info onto a note card. Then he looked up at Benton, who was waiting patiently. “What's your wife's name?”
“Amanda.”
The officer continued writing on the note card. “Do you have any enemies that have been threatening you or your spouse?”
“No.”
“Any fights with neighbors or anything like that?”
Benton thought about it momentarily. “No, not recently, anyway.”
“Do you remember her saying anything to you before she left that might indicate where she might be?”
“She had asked me if I had picked up groceries, and I told her that I had. She made no indication that she was going to the store. In fact, she was relieved that it was one less errand she had to run.”
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