EMP Causality

by Michael Kravitz

  “We are fine. Are you from the military?” the man with the hunting rifle asked.

  “We are going to Tent City.” I am to meet with a general at command headquarters. We are commissioned from an air base in Massachusetts. We just got off the highway,” Ann said from the driver’s seat.

  “Well, ma’am, we really need help. The biker gangs are coming from the southwest part of the country. I guess they feel the pickings are easy around here,” stated the man with the hunting rifle.

  “You seem to be a doing a good job. I don’t see any broken windows on the houses that we just passed,” Camille answered.

  “We’re trying, but this gang is really vicious. They have already raped and killed several people,” said the man with the hunting rifle.

  “Thanks for the heads-up, I will let the authorities know. We have to push on,”

  Ann said politely. They waved to the two men and headed forward.

  Looking in the rearview mirror, Ann saw the concerned look on William’s face. Nothing she can do. They all knew the trip had its element of danger.

  Camille and William had their rifles at the ready. After a good twenty-minute drive, they were rounding a bend. Noises of motorcycles can be heard. Soon, it was screams of someone in pain. Ann saw a group of people several hundred yards ahead.

  As they got closer, it was apparent that the screams were coming from a victim who was being tortured. The Humvee stopped just a hundred feet from the bikers. Ann and Camille exited the Humvee, each putting on bulletproof vest. With their rifles raised, Camille and Ann approached the bikers. Ann asked Camille to stay a good twenty feet apart. Ann wanted to make sure the bikers were in a crossfire.

  It seems the leader was a man close to six feet tall. He weighed at least two hundred pounds. With bulging forearms, he had a pistol in one hand. In the other, he held a young man by his hair. As he pistol-whipped the young man, the screams sounded piercing.

  Just as he was about to pistol-whip him again, the other bikers noticed Camille and Ann. There were six bikes: five men and three women. Two of the women rode piggyback with their boyfriends. One woman rode alone, and three men rode alone. Ann and Camille saw two bodies lying nearby: one of a young man who was lying in his own blood; the other of a young woman with her clothes ripped off her. Camille, being a mother of a young girl, is shocked and angered. Her whole life, Camille protected her daughter from these evil lowlifes.

  “Put down your pistol and raise your hands,” Ann shouted.

  Hearing this, William grabbed his rifle and exited the Humvee. Logic told him he had to back them up. After Camille and Ann, William and Fred would be next. William made sure the safety is off. He stood behind the Humvee and rested the rifle along the hood. His eyes were on the tattooed man. Even though they were outnumbered eight to three (leaving Fred out of this), they still had three rifles drawn to only one gun (the tattooed man). As the old saying goes, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

  The tattooed man mumbled, “Now I got to deal with these two dumb b——” as he turned to face Camille and Ann.

  “Look! This is not your concern. Just walk away before you get hurt!” the tattoo man said in an arrogant manner.

  Ann glanced at the two bodies, mostly at the poor young girl. One of the other bikers noticed Ann glancing. Slowly, he put his right hand on the stock of his gun. Camille noticed. Slowly, she shifted her eyes on this thug. During the whole time, William just trained his rifle on the tattooed man. No matter what, William is determined to protect Fred first, then hopefully his friends.

  Ann sensed she had to force their hand now. Any delay and the others would also draw their weapons.

  “Put your hands on your head now!” Ann screamed in a louder voice.

  Just then, the biker who had his hand on his stock yelled, “F—— you” and drew his gun.

  Bang! Camille shot him in the head. He fell quickly. The tattooed man instantly raised his gun and fired one shot wildly. It missed Ann by a few feet. A rush came over William, his heart beating very fast. He let go a series of volleys. All of them hit the tattooed man. Ann, regaining her composure, also fired one shot at the tattooed man. It was over in a matter of a few seconds.

  The firing stopped. The other bikers did not want to challenge them. The tattooed man’s girlfriend is in total shock. She cried loudly. She really thought her boyfriend was invincible. She stooped down and cried, “Baby! Wake up, please wake up!” With blood all over her hands, she stood up and yelled. “You damn b——”

  She grabbed her boyfriend’s bike and with the other six bikers took off. It was a temporary retreat. They only went a few hundred feet. Quickly, Ann and Camille went to the aid of the tortured man. With blood and tears running down the side of his face, he is in physical and emotional pain. Ann ran back to the Humvee and got the first-aid kit. She started to put alcohol on his open wounds.

  As Ann is applying first-aid, the bikers stopped a couple hundred feet away. For all practical reasons, they were out of shooting range.

  “What`s your name?” Ann asked as she is blotting the side of his face.

  “My name is Pedro. That’s my sister on the ground. They raped and killed her. My friend tried to stop them. We had no weapons. They shot him several times,” Pedro said as he is pointing to his friend, who is lying in his own blood.

  “Why? My sister just had a small child. Our parents were in New York City.

  They died when the EMP blast hit. The tattooed man’s girlfriend kept egging him to rape her.” Pedro started to cry.

  “William, can you bring the shovel?” Ann asked while she attended to Pedro.

  Camille collected the guns from the two dead bikers. She lay them on the ground near Ann and Pedro. Meantime, the bikers drove a little closer. They stopped behind a ridge a hundred and fifty feet away. William grabbed the rifle and the shovel. He dug a grave. Being anal, he made sure it was a perfect rectangle. The whole time, Tattoo’s girlfriend is looking. It is an uneasy truce.

  With the grave dug to perfection, he helped Pedro lower his sister in the grave. William put his hand on Pedro’s shoulder. He also glanced at Fred and the biker’s gang. He could feel tension in the air. As if being in the eye of the storm, William grabbed his rifle and headed for the Humvee. Bad vibes seemed to permeate everywhere.

  Ann offered Pedro the shovel; she wanted to let him go first. Pedro dropped one shovel of dirt on his sister. As the dirt landed on his bloodied sister’s corpse, Pedro broke down. Camille put both arms around Pedro; he is crying profusely. Ann decided to finish filling up the grave.

  It took several minutes for Ann to finish shoveling. From a crouched position,

  Pedro raised his hand. He indicated to Camille he is all right.

  Both Camille and Ann were now at the grave. They both laid down their rifles so that they could do a prayer. Ann did glance at the bikers and at William. William felt torn. He is always a respectful person. He is a natural to give the eulogy. Seeing the bikers really made him feel uneasy. Why are they still around?

  Are they looking to bury their friends, or are they looking for revenge?

  The bikers were just sitting on their bikes. It seems the tattooed man’s girlfriend has filled the vacuum of leadership. It is either that, or they were giving her respect because of her loss. She had a real evil stare. That saying “If looks could kill”—the tattooed man’s girlfriend not only had the look; she had an itch to fulfill her rage.

  With Ann and Camille standing in a reverend posture, it seemed they were in a vulnerable spot. The bikers were either being respectful, or they were still waiting for a better opportunity.

  “Pedro, would you like to say a word or prayer for your sister?” Camille asked.

  Pedro lifted his head and wiped tears from his eyes. His emotions were swirling with both anger and shock. He lifted himself. As he started to step toward his sister’s grave, he noticed the bikers looking. He then looked at Ann and Camille. His sister’s and his frie
nd’s killing were too much for him to digest. He lost his parents, friend, and now his sister. He needs time to grieve; he cannot handle burying his sister this quickly. It is simply is too much for him to process. The pistol-whippings he took were already enough to put him over the cliff. His rage reached a crescendo. He quickly turned around and picked up the gun lying on the ground.

  Bang! Bang! He fired two shots in to the tattooed man’s corpse. The floodgates of hell just opened up. Tattoo’s girlfriend’s face seemed to explode with anger. She started her bike and came for Pedro. Seeing Ann and Camille at the grave site, the rest of the bikers followed suit. Pedro is not afraid—has anger filled his heart? Seeing the bikers come for him only increased his anger. Pedro ran straight at Tattoo’s girlfriend with the gun pointing at her.

  William, leaning against the Humvee, picked up his rifle and chased after Pedro.

  “Stop, Pedro! Stop! They’re going to kill you!” William screamed.

  A moment later, Pedro started to fire his gun. His aim is terrible. The bikers responded in kind. All guns from the bikers were fixated on Pedro. Many of the bullets found their mark. Pedro is fatally shot.

  William stopped and knelt down. He had his bulletproof vest on. He instantly raised his rifle. Now, he is in no man’s land. He cannot outrun the bikes. Both he and Ann already had their rifles in hand. They ran to help William. With her heart beating fast, Ann yelled out, “Not on my watch.”

  With Pedro down, the bikers focused on William. William did fire at the tattooed man’s girlfriend. She is hit. Losing control of her bike, she hits the ground tumbling multiple of times. With adrenalin running through everyone’s veins, this became a moment of life and death.

  Camille and Ann were a good fifty feet behind William. They both took up firing positions. The rest of the bikers were concentrating on William. They fired. Several bullets missed, but one scrapped the side of his head. Being hit, William stopped firing. Bang! Bang! One bullet went through his shoulder, and two bullets hit him in the chest. The force threw him backward several feet. He was now on his back.

  This all took place in only a few seconds. Ann and Camille started to shoot.

  They both hit the man and woman riding together, falling to the ground as their bikes crashed. The other bikers came to a screeching halt. They were so fixated on William that they forgot about Camille and Ann. Instantly, they turned around, knowing that they had lost this skirmish.

  As they started to turn and ride away, Ann gave chase. Camille did not understand why she was doing this. Ann stopped. With her scoped rifle, she shot both men, one at a time. Now only a lone female is left. A good hundred fifty feet away, Ann had her in her scope. With sweat running down her cheeks, she had her finger on the trigger.

  Just then, the woman on the bike raised her arm and threw her gun away. Is it not a sign of capitulation? She desired to live. In the background, Camille is yelling at Ann. “Stop! Stop! It’s over.”

  Ann took her finger off the trigger and bowed her head. She turned around and went to the aid of William. She looked at Camille.

  “This is the second time they came after us. There would have been a third time. It had to end,” Ann said with emotion.

  “I know! That last girl knew she lost her friends. I doubt she will be in any more biker gangs,” Camille stated with confidence.

  William is lying on the ground in excruciating pain. Fred exited the Humvee yelling, “William! William!” Ann quickly got the first-aid kit. Camille took off the vest. William’s chest had some mean black and blue marks.

  Ann quickly attended his shoulder and the side of his head. Camille put pressure on the wound. Ann told Fred to get blankets. They are trying to prevent William from going into shock. Camille and Ann worked well together. They have done as much as they could. With blankets covering him, all three lifted William. They put him into the back seat of the Humvee.

  Fred rode shotgun and Camille sat in the back seat. She had William’s head on her lap.

  “William, you’re going to be all right. Don’t fall asleep.” If William was not shot, they would have stayed and buried Pedro and the bikers. But they were dead and nothing could bring them back. It is William’s well-being that must take precedence.

  Like a bad horror flick, the Humvee exited the scene. Behind is a trail of carnage that will be detailed in the archives of history. While Camille is trying to keep William calm, Ann keeps telling Fred that everything thing will be all right. It might be false bravado, but at least they are still alive.

  EMP Causality: Part VI

  The Last Leg

  “Fred, there is no need to cry. We’ll get William to a hospital. Like a puppy that lost his master, Fred feels totally insecure. Each time he turns around, William’s shirt seems to be covered in more blood. Carnage and corpses littered the battlefield. One of the engines of a bike is still running, lying on its side, smoke and fumes still flowing from the carburetor. The landscape looks like an opening picture to a horror movie.

  Ann’s sweating palms are on the steering wheel. Her mind is in overdrive. Talk about multitasking. She is trying to reconstruct the same path they came in. She knows the man with the hunting rifle will help guide them to a hospital. Occasionally, she looks back at Camille to make sure she is helping William. Camille really seems to handle herself well in a crisis.

  Then there is Fred. Ann has had a lot of experience with domestic violence. Usually, it’s a husband and wife, or boyfriend and girlfriend. They are the most dangerous. Anyone of them in a moment of rage can take their frustrations out on a police officer. Fred is in uncharted waters with Ann. There is a lack of training in the police academy about the needs of the challenged. How does she handle his behavioral habits? What about his insulin shots? His medications? How will Fred respond to another authority figure? Many questions, few answers.

  In a crisis, Ann acts like a trained professional. Calm, she must remain calm.

  The EMP strike has thousands of stories. Some of the outcomes do not have happy endings. This is her moment in the spotlight. Eye, hand, and mental coordination must function like a well-oiled machine or quarterback in the last few minutes of a tight game. It brings out the best and the worst for most of us. They say we humans only use a small portion of our brains.

  Ann is trying to use all she can muster.

  William, the quiet one, has a photographic memory. (Do you think they have a digital camera implanted in their brains? —Just a thought) Ann is the driver. She is remembering each turn, heart pounding! It is now familiar terrain. Houses without broken windows; this is the spot. She starts beeping her horn.

  Honk! Honk! “Damn! Enough already,” said Camille as she covered her ears.

  Ann stepped out of the Humvee. A few people came out of their homes. Just as she was ready to shout, she saw the two men running toward her. They were the same two men she talked to before. A pure judgment call, but she did not have a rifle in her hand. She did not want to seem threatening to the friendlies. The two men came right up to her. They saw William in the back seat. In an instant, they knew Ann and her crew met up with a biker gang.

  “You meet up with the biker gang?” the man with the rifle said.

  “Yes, we need to find a hospital ASAP,” Ann responded.

  “It looks like he lost some serious blood. There is a nurse a few houses up the street. Let her help him now. Then I will show you the way to the hospital,” the man with the rifle said.

  He and his friend ran, and Ann followed them. As one knocked on the neighbor’s door, the other man ran to the back of the Humvee. They set up a triage spot right on her front lawn. Many of the neighbors now came out of their houses. They knew the Humvee is a friendly. With a clean sheet, they put William down gently. The nurse works the ER at a city hospital. She prefers living in a calm suburban neighborhood. Working the ER for a city hospital seems to befit her nicely. Getting paid for something you like to do makes life a little more rewarding.

  Instead of
a neighborhood block party, it is a neighborhood ER party. Several neighbors assisted. The nurse tore off William’s shirt. She quickly attended to both wounds. With a sterile needle and thread, she stitched his open wound.

  Some of the neighbors gave William a new undershirt and shirt. As the minutes passed, William seemed to be stabilized. One of the neighbors had an antibiotic medication that he recently got from the armory.

  “Unreal! I appreciate your help,” Ann said with a sigh of relief.

  “No problem. There are still good people out there,” the man with the rifle commented. “Give the nurse a few more minutes and I will take you to the hospital. It’s not far from here. They are really short-staffed.”

  “One more favor. There are several bodies. Would you mind giving them a proper burial?” Ann asked with a little hesitation.

  “We only have one rifle among us,” the man with the rifle stated.

  “No worries. I have collected several more,” Ann said as she went to the Humvee. “Here are three more that should help protect your neighborhood.”

  “Thanks. I’ll see what I can do,” the man with the rifle commented.

  With William and Fred in slightly better spirits, they loaded up. The neighborhood is happy that the biker gang is extinguished. The man with the rifle showed them how to get to the hospital. William still needed a doctor.

  Fred needed to get an insulin shot. Riding inside the Humvee, the man with the rifle asked Ann to stop. From that point, Ann would be able to find the hospital herself. The man with the rifle bid adieu and walked back.

  As they neared the hospital, there appeared to be a mob of people. Looks like Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. In front of the hospital is a heard of people and a barrier with a guard. A person with a clipboard is trying to do triage. Too many people. Ann drove her Humvee as close as possible. She decided to be a little aggressive. Beeping her horn, she carefully drove through the mass of bodies.

  Coming up to the guard, she exited with her dossier. Trying to act important, she was looking for a leg-up for entrance.