by Dennis Elder
“Then we form our own army. A gang so large, so powerful that no one would dare challenge us!” shouted Ivan.
Most of the men liked the idea. Many had grown up in a gang before they were imprisoned. It made sense to them. Most were looking at one another and shaking their heads up and down.
“If we band together under one gang we can take whatever we want,” barked Ivan.
The men cheered a bit at that thought.
“And we’ll live where we want, do what we want, and eat what we want!” continued Ivan.
That brought a louder cheer from the men.
“And we’ll take any women we want,” finished Hector.
Broad smiles came from the face of every man who stood below Ivan. They shouted and raised their clenched fists into the air in celebration. When the finally settled back down Ivan spoke again.
“We must first arm ourselves. We need guns before we move,” said Ivan. “Go back inside and find weapons. Search the guards. Once you’re armed, find water. Everyone meets back here in 30 minutes,” finished Ivan.
During the 30 minutes some of the prisoners tried to start a few of the cars in the prison parking lot, but nothing worked. While the men picked over the prison for food and weapons, Ivan spent the time considering their options. It was obvious that something catastrophic had happened. He tried to get some information off a TV or computer but there was no power. He climbed one of the prison towers and used a dead guard’s binoculars to check out the surrounding landscape. He noticed a large number of dead bodies on the surrounding roads and neighborhoods. None of the cars he could see were moving. Some were smoking. A lone woman stumbled across a main road in the far distance.
About 45 minutes later Ivan stood facing the remaining prisoners. The prison armory was locked tight, so they only found a few handguns.”
“We move as army now,” started Ivan. “If we stay together and work together to protect one another there won’t be anything thing or anyone that will be able to stand against us.”
Then Ivan grew a huge grin.
“And now the only bad news of the day,” said Ivan. “Unfortunately, none of vehicles work. So, we must walk.”
That brought a few murmurs from the men. But they quickly quieted. Ivan looked around at all the men. He thought about trying to convince them to stay in the prison for the night and start fresh in the morning. But he knew they wouldn’t stay another minute in this place. They were ready and eager to leave the prison yard and enjoy the fruits of Las Vegas.
“Let’s go then,” said Ivan.
And so, the army of Las Vegas slipped quietly out of Nevada’s High Mountain Desert maximum-security prison front gate and began the long walk down highway 95 toward Sin City.
None of the prison guards objected.
Chapter 23: Swell like a balloon
Marylin Stanza and Kevin Phillips spent the afternoon gathering food and water into his small apartment. Earlier they spent about an hour walking the four miles from the NOAA complex to his Nipton apartment. They saw several people lying by their crashed cars. At first, they tried helping them, but most were dead or close to it. The learned quickly none of the cars would start. They had already tried Kevin’s Subaru parked back at the complex. The engine was dead.
It was dark now and they sat across from one another at Kevin’s small kitchen table. Two meager candles lit the room. Marylin was pushing around some canned corn on her plate that they found in one of the other apartment pantries. There were eight units in Kevin’s complex. They visited each unit and brought all the non-perishables back to Kevin’s place. The power had been off since the previous night and, as the temperatures in the apartments rose, the perishables in their refrigerators began to spoil. Marylin was astonished to see how quickly the food began to rot.
“Tomorrow we’ll need to remove the dead bodies from the other apartments,” said Kevin before he took a drink of warm soda.
“Can’t we just leave them?” asked Marylin. “I hate the thought of having to handle a dead body.”
“Dead bodies begin to decay quickly when left in the open. But the smell from a dead body in an enclosed space will be overwhelming,” said Kevin. “The smell would drive us out of the building. After a few hours a dead body begins to swell like a balloon. When the skin won’t stretch anymore, the gas inside makes the body pop, like an over inflated balloon. Better to get them out tomorrow before it gets messy.”
Marylin aimlessly chewed on a mouth of corn. Then she put down her fork out of desperation.
“What are we going to do, Kevin?” asked Marylin. “Do you think anyone else survived?
“I’m sure a few did,” answered Kevin as optimistically as he could.
“How can you be sure?” said Marylin.
“Simple statistics,” replied Kevin. “Out of the billions of human beings on this planet, surely a small percentage were protected underground, like we were in the building basement.”
“Are you’re sure we didn’t receive any radiation,” asked Marylin.
“Pretty sure,” responded Kevin. “If we had, even at a low dose, we’d be sick by now. And warm soda or not, I’m feeling pretty good,” finished Kevin, at the same time raising his soda can in a mock salute before taking another gulp.
“But we can’t stay here forever,” stated Marylin.
“No. Nipton is far too remote a community. The water will only last so long out here. We might make it a week or so, but we’ll need to move on sooner or later,” replied Kevin.
Marylin looked deeply into the candle flame directly in front of her. Staring into the candle’s orange glow took her mind off her current situation for a moment. Then a gust of wind against the window startled her and she came back to reality. The world she knew the day before was gone now. She was lucky to be alive. At least so far, she was lucky. Who knew what challenges tomorrow would bring?
As she raised her own soda, she said, “Then let’s enjoy each day as they come to us.”
Kevin smiled and then raised his own soda as both cans clinked together.
Chapter 24: What to do
After fully realizing the extent of the above ground disaster, Victorville’s surviving Deseret High Hospital nurses came together in the early morning to discuss their options. Mary Smith and Pam LaValley had children of their own and instinctively wanted to check on them. Leny wasn’t married and didn’t have any children, so she volunteered to stay behind with the five postoperative kids. Mary and Leny went to the hospital parking lot but neither of their cars would start. So, they walked together toward their homes. Along the way they found dead or dying people lying by their automobiles or on the sidewalks outside homes and apartments. No vehicles were moving. They saw one distant man walking in the opposite direction, but he did not respond to their cries.
Both women lived on the same street and just across from one another. They took turns going to each other’s homes – Pam’s first and then Mary’s. The results of each visit were the same. Each child was found dead in its bed. After several hours of holding their children and crying over their lifeless bodies, both women covered them with blankets and then headed back to the hospital. They would return tomorrow with a shovel and bury them in their backyards. Neither of the women said a word during the return walk.
After they fed the five post-operative children an early dinner, the women felt it was only right to check through the rest of the hospital for survivors. They found a few that seemed alive, but all were unconscious and unresponsive. Only one other employee was found conscious. She was an HR assistant but could not be persuaded to come to the lower level for medical attention. Frankly the woman was belligerent and couldn’t be reasoned with. After unsuccessfully trying to convince her one last time to come down into the basement with the others, they finally left her to wander off on her own.
It was 6 pm by the time the surviving nurses completed their search of the three above ground floors. It had been a very long day. Now it was after 1
0 pm and they sat in a semi-circle behind the sub-basement nurses station. A battery powered lamp glowed at their feet. It gave off a yellow light that made the women look sickly. No one talked for a long time. Pam had her head in her hands. She took a sharp breath and looked at the other two women.
“We need to decide what we’re going to do,” said Pam.
“What are we going to do?” said Leny. “There doesn’t seem to be anyone left alive. And there are the sick children to consider,” continued Leny as he tilted her head to where the three rooms where two of the surviving children were still awake and busy attacking their coloring books.
Mary took a deep breath before responding. She had been thinking about her own dead child. Now she realized she needed to think about the living children in her care.
“I doubt their parents survived. If they didn’t make it, then we’ll need to take care of their kids,” said Mary with finality in her voice.
“How long do we wait on their parents?” asked Leny.
“Couple days at least,” responded Mary. “Just to make sure.”
“We’re going to need to figure out how to tell those kids that their parents are not going to be picking them up,” said Pam as she gazed back down into the glow of the lamp light just beyond her feet.
“Food is going to become a constant worry now,” said Mary. “We’re going to have to learn how to survive on what exists around us.”
“Water and sanitation too,” said Leny.
“Right, who knows how long the water pressure will last, “said Mary. “We do live in a desert.”
Another minute of silence passed between the women.
“I wonder what happened out there?” questioned Pam, as another tear rolled down the side of her face. She swiped at it before it got to her jaw. “It’s not like a bomb went off. There wasn’t an explosion. So what could have done this?”
“My bet it was some kind of radiation,” said Mary. “Something strong enough to kill everyone above the ground, but not strong enough to kill those below ground.”
“But if it was radiation wouldn’t you two be sick,” said Leny. “You were both outside for several hours today. You don’t look sick.”
“I don’t feel sick,” said Mary.
“Me neither,” said Pam.
“Then what was it?” questioned Lenny.
“I don’t know,” said Mary as she slowly stood up. “But I don’t want to think on it anymore tonight. Why don’t we take turns staying with the kids. I’ll take the first three hours so I’ll wake you, Pam at say… 1 am,” offered Mary while looking at her wristwatch. “Lenny, you can take the last shift.”
Mary looked at both women to see if there were any objections. Neither woman moved nor said a thing. Both kept their eyes on the light on the floor.
Mary pulled out a small hand flashlight from her pocket, switched it on and walked down the hallway to where the children were.
Chapter 25: Wolves
And so, another day passed on mother earth. All across the surface of the planet the dead began to decay. No one would come to collect the bodies. Fires, sparked by electrical overloads, continued to spread. In some places raging firestorms consumed entire cities, and there the smoke became so thick the air itself turned to poison. Trees destroyed by the gamma ray burst began to dry out, providing additional tinder for future fires.
Animals lucky enough to find underground shelter crawled out of their holes and caves and returned to the lives they knew only the day before. Birds began to flock and search for food. Surviving insects reemerged from the ground. Ocean life slowly rose back up from the depths. Animals that normally hibernated for the winter stayed where they were.
From orbit the earth was now without electrical light or power. Human survivors that came up from underground dwellings were, in most cases, alone. People began to collect supplies. Parents dug graves for children. In some cases, children did the same for their parents. Candles came back into fashion. Open fires replaced gas furnaces. No one wore fashionable shoes anymore. Survivors who could bathe did it less frequently. Deodorant went largely unused. People were forced to focus on the basics – gathering food, providing shelter and physical protection. Rape became a surviving woman’s worst fear. While a few mountain wolves crawled out of their protective caves, human wolves crawled out of their holes as well. And they turned predatory almost immediately, taking what they wanted, without remorse. The civilized would soon doubt their middle-class ethics, and, over time, begin to turn on trusted neighbors and the innocent.
The day of the individual was also over. Most would soon realize the only way to survive long term was to join a group, or gang up. The man or woman who decided to go it alone wouldn’t last very long. One or two people would not be able to stop a larger group from taking away food, water or life.
Surprisingly, there were several million survivors in North and Central America who were still semi-conscious. However, they were much too sick to take care of themselves. Most of them would die in a matter of days from radiation poisoning and dehydration.
Tens of thousands of others received a less than lethal dose of radiation. Their organs and tissues were spared severe damage, but their brains were sorely affected. Mark and his crew had referred to them as HBs. These half-baked unfortunates would survive physically for months or in some cases years. But their brains were permanently damaged. Their cognitive basic survival functions were all that was left. And they had no control over those instincts. They wanted food but didn’t have the skills to obtain it. When they were exhausted they laid down in their tracks and slept until their brain told them to wake again. It was all about their immediate needs and a constant desire to meet those half-baked urges. Some HBs gathered in packs and wandered together. Over time hunger would force the packs to view any living survivor, animal or human, as a food source.
Fortunately, their diminished capacities would kill many of them off – though simple lack of food and water. At first, Good Samaritan survivors tried to help the HBs. But they soon learned to stay away from them – especially those that traveled in groups.
Other fully functional survivors, unencumbered by principles or morals, would learn to put the surviving HBs to other uses. Uses suited to their own personal designs.
Chapter 26: Utah
By the time the sun finally rose on Anaheim’s newest and nearly completed Police Station, Mark Harris had already been up for two hours. He’d been thinking about what their next steps might include. For the last half hour, he’d been talking with Boon.
The team spent a good hour in the showers getting cleaned up. Mark suggested it when they first woke up, citing there was a lot of work to do today and they might as well start out refreshed.
Inside the station everyone was together and seated in a circle. No one was on watch. They discussed it earlier and agreed there didn’t seem any immediate threat to the station.
Mark brought the meeting to order.
“All right let’s get started,” said Mark. “Now that we’ve all had a refreshing shower…”
This got a chuckle from the group. The hot water was gone. The cold water showers were very refreshing indeed.
“And since we’re ready to work,” continued Mark. “Let’s set the discussion rules. I’ve asked Boon to take notes. Everybody has an equal say in this meeting. All ideas will be explored. No stupid questions, OK?”
A few uncomfortable seconds passed.
“I’ll start,” said Randy, as he raised his hand. “Are we absolutely sure that whatever happened here in LA has happened everywhere else. I mean, could there be a chance this was an isolated incident?”
This had been on everyone’s mind. Mark spoke first.
“I think if this had only happened to LA, then there would have been helicopters or some military planes flying by now. Anybody seen anything in the sky?”
Nobody had. No one said a thing.
“We haven’t seen a plane or jet in nearly 48 hours,�
�� said Frank. “That tells me it happened at least everywhere in the US.”
Still no one responded.
“OK. So, I think we’re all agreed that we are officially on our own. No rescue is coming,” said Mark. “And I suggest the first order of business is getting out of LA and deciding where we should go?” continued Mark. “Any ideas on this?”
Sam Watkins, ex-intelligence officer was the first to offer an idea.
“We need to find someplace away from a large city,” said Sam. Big cities with lots of dead bodies will breed nasty diseases.”
“And some place warm. I vote for the beach!” said Tyrone.
“How are we going to get wherever we end up?” asked Susan. Cars don’t seem to work.”