by Roger Hayden
“Insulin isn’t the only thing that can help fight diabetes, Dad,” Mike said.
“It’s the only kind that can fight the type I have, and you know it.”
“Think you can walk?” Mike asked.
“Yeah,” Ulysses replied.
Ulysses handed the bottle back to Mike and the two headed down the path toward home. Mike’s eyes kept wandering to the windows of the cars he passed. Items left behind in the vehicles that he could easily take. Flashlights, emergency flares, food, water, all sitting in back seats, cup holders, and glove boxes.
Stop it. His eyes went back to the road. He wasn’t a looter. He only took the insulin because without it his father would have died.
Two men one car over from Mike were talking in whispers trying not to be too loud. One wore a grey Steelers jersey and shorts. The other was dressed in a short-sleeve polo and khaki pants.
“I’m tellin’ you, man, this was an EMP,” said polo shirt.
“It’s just a power outage,” said Steelers jersey.
“A power outage doesn’t cause your phone and car to break down.”
“You really think it’s the whole country?”
“Why haven’t we seen the national guard roll in yet? You saw what was happening in the city; people were going nuts.”
“You think it’s safer in Philly?”
“I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”
“Stay out of the cities,” Mike said.
The two men glanced over at Mike, who was looking at them.
“Your best bet is to head to a town with a small population. Gather whatever supplies you can and get to somewhere remote.”
“You think it was one of these EMPs that did all of this?” Steeler’s jersey asked.
“Yeah, I do,” Mike replied.
“Is that what you’re doing, survivor man? Going to get supplies?” Polo asked.
Then Mike heard it behind him, the low roar of an engine and the stiff shifting of gears. A light blue Chevy truck rumbled up the emergency lane.
People froze. Mouths dropped, and then arms flew up in the air. People made a sprint toward the car. Their frantic hands hit the side of the car, pounding on the windows, begging for a ride.
“Can you take us to New York?”
“I’m trying to get to Dayton.”
“Please, we’ve been walking for hours.”
“I’ll pay you, just please let us get in.”
The truck crawled to a stop from the blockade of people. Mike could see the young man and elderly couple inside the truck cab. The young man rolled the windows down.
“Hey, get out off the truck,” the driver called, turning toward the back.
Everyone was jumping in the truck bed, shoving each other out of the way savagely to make room for themselves. The unwanted passengers banged on the roof and sides of the truck demanding that they move forward.
“Get out of there! Now!” the driver said getting out of the truck cab.
The elderly couple held onto each other, their eyes wide with fear. One of the crowd members tried to climb in the driver’s seat when the driver got out, but he shoved him away.
Ulysses sprinted for the truck.
“Dad!” Mike said.
Ulysses had pushed his way through the crowd to the passenger side door. The truck started to rock back and forth. The driver turned around and saw Ulysses trying to pull his mother out.
“Don’t you dare touch her, asshole!” he said.
The young man leaped over the hood of the truck shoving Ulysses back. The crowd around them had grown to at least sixty people. Mike came up from behind and subdued the driver in a headlock.
“Dad, get them out,” Mike shouted.
Mike dragged the young man away from the crowd while Ulysses helped the elderly couple out of the cabin. When they were finally clear of the chaos around the truck Mike let the young man go.
People crammed themselves into the truck. Someone finally jumped behind the wheel and slammed on the gas. The truck hit several people before they were able to get out of the way. It swerved, smashing into cars and the concrete wall along the highway. People in the truck bed were falling out and smacking onto the pavement.
The truck drove further down the road with more people chasing after it. The young man started after it, but stopped when he realized his parents wouldn’t be able to keep up. He came back and took a swing at Mike’s head, who ducked out of the way.
“What the hell you piece of shit!” the young man shouted.
“Calm down, boy,” Ulysses said.
“Calm down? Our truck is fucking gone!”
“Somebody would have shot you, stabbed you, or hurt your parents to get that truck,” Mike said.
“It’s okay, Chris,” the boy’s father said, putting his hand on his son’s shoulder, and with that the fight went out of him.
“We made it all this way,” Chris said.
“You should have stayed off the highways. That’s where most people will turn to when they travel. It’s large, familiar, and if other people are traveling it’s possible for them to get a ride,” Mike said.
“There were so many people begging us for rides. My parents kept yelling for me to stop, to pick some of them up, but I knew what would happen if I did,” Chris said.
“You did the right thing,” Mike replied.
As the five of them walked along the road Mike saw him glance back at his parents, shuffling along the highway next to Ulysses. The boy’s father had his arm around his mom while Ulysses chewed their ear off about last night’s Pirates game.
“They’re not going to make it,” Chris said.
“Don’t count them out just yet,” Mike said.
Mike was speaking about Chris’s parents, but looking at his dad.
The sun sank lower in the sky the further they moved west. The orange ball in front of them spread its colors across the sky in pinks, reds, and fading blues. Chris’s exit came up and they parted ways.
“Good luck, Mike,” Chris said.
“You too.”
Ulysses shook both of Chris’ parents’ hands. They turned onto the off ramp that would take them to Chris’ girlfriend’s house. Mike watched the couple grasp each other’s hands and follow their son’s lead. He wanted them to make it. He wanted them to survive.
Mike and Ulysses were about an hour away from home when they came across the blue Chevy truck turned on its side. Blood and bullet holes riddled the windshield. The mob that had attacked it didn’t know why the car was working, they just saw it and panicked, but Mike knew.
The truck that had worked was too old to have any computer chips in it. That’s why it ran, but the masses didn’t care about that. They just wanted something to work, without understanding why.
Across the dashboard, slumped over the wheel of the truck, Mike recognized the back of the Steeler jersey. Mike kept his eyes forward and the smoke rising from the wreckage grew smaller behind them.
5
Home
The sun had completely disappeared from the sky when Mike and Ulysses turned onto 24th Street. Most of the driveways were empty. The windows along the street were dark. There was only one dim light coming from down the street: his house.
Mike felt himself running. His feet lost their pain. His face lost its weariness. His body lost its fatigue. He ran up the driveway digging into his pockets for the keys, fumbling them in the lock and thrusting the door open.
“Anne? Kalen? Freddy?” Mike shouted.
Mike looked up and saw Anne lean over the railing on the second floor. He watched her face fade from a smile to shock. Her feet thumped against the steps as she rushed down to him.
“Oh my god. Mike, are you all right? What happened?” she asked.
Her hands touched the dried blood on his shirt. She touched gingerly, looking for a wound that wasn’t there.
“I’m fine. The blood it’s not mi-”
Mike stopped. He pictured Garry’s lifele
ss body covered with the white sheet where underneath his green eyes were open, unmoving, frozen.
“It’s not mine,” he finished
Mike gently leaned his forehead against hers. The candles in the foyer barely lighted the features on her face, but he already knew every line of it with his eyes closed.
“Are you and the kids okay?” Mike asked.
“Yeah, we’re fine. The kids are a little restless. Mike, what’s going on? Nothing’s working. The phones, laptops, cars, everything’s dead.”
“I know. You didn’t try and take the Jeep out did you?” Mike asked.
“No, why? Would it work?”
“Yes, but let’s keep that to ourselves for now, okay?”
“What makes you think it will work?”
“It doesn’t have any computer chips in it.”
He watched her face process what he said, then saw her hand slowly cover her mouth in realization of what that meant.
“Jesus,” she said.
“I hope you’ve got room for one more,” Ulysses said, finally catching up with Mike.
Anne composed herself and hurried over to Ulysses, wrapping her arms around him.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Anne said.
Ulysses kissed the top of her head.
“Still breathing. How are you and the kids holding up?” he asked.
“Well, Freddy went over to Sean’s house and Kalen’s at Malory’s,” Anne said.
“Shouldn’t Kalen be here? She’s grounded,” Mike said.
“What’s she going to do over there, Mike? Everything she’s grounded from doesn’t work,” Anne replied. “And besides, she was driving me nuts.”
“I’m going to change upstairs and then bring the kids home. Will you set up the guest room for dad?” Mike asked.
“The couch will suit me just fine,” Ulysses replied.
“I’ll have the spare room ready in no time,” Annie said.
Mike walked down to Sean’s house to grab his son. He didn’t mind Sean, but his father, Nelson, was a man he could never understand. They just didn’t’ have anything in common.
When Mike rapped his knuckles on the front door he could hear the shouts of the two boys running around inside the house. Nelson answered and smiled.
“Mike!”
“Hi, Nelson. I’ve come to collect Frankenstein’s monster.”
Freddy came running by the front door. His head was hidden inside a cardboard box that had two eyeholes cut out and a wide, toothy mouth drawn across it.
“Dad!”
Freddy rushed toward his father. Mike lifted him up in the air and tilted the box up to see his son’s face.
“Hey, buddy.”
“Dad, the power went out and then Kalen got really mad because she couldn’t look at pictures of James, the boy she likes, and then I told her that she should just stand outside of his window and drool at him there and then she threw her phone at me and Mom yelled at her and then she screamed about how she hated living here and that when she moves to New York the power will never go out, but I don’t mind the power being out because I got to be outside all day.”
“I’m glad you’re making the best of it.”
Mike turned to Nelson.
“I appreciate you watching him, Nelson.”
“It’s no trouble. He’s welcome to come over any time, but umm, Mike, before you go,” Nelson said, stepping outside the house and closing the door behind him.
Mike stood, still holding Freddy in his arm. He watched Nelson fold his arms across his chest. He was worried.
“Do you know what’s going on?” Nelson asked.
“No.”
Mike wasn’t sure why he lied, or why he answered so quickly, but when the words left him, he felt a pang of guilt in his stomach.
“It’s just… I haven’t been able to reach Katie on her cell. It’s like everything’s fried,” Nelson replied.
The flashbacks from the mobs in the streets popped into Mike’s mind. He remembered the smell of blood and heat from the hospital, the rush of panic spreading through everyone in the city.
“I’m sure she’s fine, Nelson.”
“I know. I just worry.”
Mike knew that Katie was some sort of vice president at a company. It was a large corporation, so he figured she must have had some sort of security detail with her. He thought that would at least give her a chance.
“Well, you guys have a good night,” Nelson said.
“You too,” Mike said.
“Bye, Sean,” Freddy said, waiving his arm wildly at his friend through the front window.
“Now, it’s time to go and get your sister,” Mike said.
“Do we have too?” Freddy asked.
Mike’s daughter seemed less pleased to see him. When Malory’s mother, Genie, came to the door and called her name, letting Kalen know that her father was here for her, she trudged downstairs, marched out of the house without looking at him, and walked down the street.
“I hope she didn’t break anything while she was here,” Mike said.
“Oh, Mike, she’s fine. She’s just a teenager. No worse than mine,” Genie replied.
She bit her lower lip looking at Mike.
“You know, if you ever need any advice or anything you can always come over,” she said.
Freddy’s eyes opened wide. Mike smiled awkwardly.
“Have a good night, Genie,” he said.
“You too,” she replied.
Mike shook his head and Freddy mimicked him.
“I think she’s crazy, Dad.”
“Me too, bud. Me too.”
Ulysses had made the best argument he could, but by the time Mike and the kids got back to the house Annie had already set him up in the spare bedroom downstairs.
“Your daughter was thrilled to see me,” Mike said.
“My daughter?” Annie asked.
“She’s got you written all over her.”
“If by that you mean she’s smart, independent, and beautiful, then yes. Those little gems were mine. The stubbornness, well let’s just say I almost had to get violent with your father before he agreed to sleep in the guest room.”
Anne kissed his cheek and headed into the living room and plopped on the couch. Mike took Freddy upstairs and tucked him in. On his way back down to the living room he passed his daughter’s room and knocked on the door.
“Yeah?”
Mike opened it up and his daughter was on the floor flipping through the pages of a magazine.
“Hey” Mike said.
She didn’t look up at him.
“Hey,” she said.
“Everything all right?”
“I can’t use my phone, laptop, car, or listen to music, so no, everything is not all right.”
“Kalen, I just wanted to- “
“I’m going to bed, Dad.”
She glanced up at him and walked to the door.
“Goodnight,” he said.
A burst of air hit Mike as Kalen slammed the door shut. He lingered there for a moment, and then headed back downstairs.
Mike lay down across the couch and rested his head in Annie’s lap. She ran her hands through his hair and circled the small bald spot on the top of his head.
“Just because it’s there doesn’t mean you have to point it out,” Mike said.
“What? It makes you look tough.”
“It makes me look old.”
“Hey, if you’re old, then what does that make me?”
“If the boot fits.”
Annie smacked his chest. Mike winced and snatched her hand in his. He ran his fingers along her soft hands, gently rubbing them, and then he brought them to his lips and kissed them.
“What’s wrong?” Anne asked.
“It’s going to get worse,” Mike said.
“Aren’t there measures for stuff like this?”
“Not on a scale this large. I don’t think there’s a single piece of technology left in the country that�
��s still working. If it had a computer chip in it, then it’s toast.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I’m going to start getting everything ready in the Jeep tomorrow, but we’ll stay here as long as we can. We have enough food and water to last us a while, but we won’t be able to take all of it with us.”
“The cabin?”
“Yeah.”
The two of them glanced around the living room. Pictures of holidays, vacations, the kids’ sport events, snapshots of the history of their lives, all here in this house. He got up from her lap and put his arm around her. She leaned her head onto his shoulder and they sat there in silence, holding each other while the candles in the room flickered, casting their shadows on the walls around them.
6
The Second Day
There really wasn’t a breeze, but Mike had opened the windows of the house anyway. The heat was intense. Even Freddy, who never complained about anything, was starting to feel it.
“Is the power ever going to come back on?” Freddy asked.
Kalen was still on her ‘not speaking to anyone’ strike, unless it was asking when the next time food would be served.
Mike spent most of his morning in the cellar. The walls were lined with shelves of canned goods. He had bags scattered along the floor, half-filled with food.
A tall grey safe sat in the corner. Mike unlocked the door and revealed two twelve-gauge shotguns, a .223 lever-action rifle, a 9mm Smith & Wesson, and a .45 Colt revolver. Boxes of ammo for each lined the sides and bottom of the safe.
He heard a knock from upstairs and Mike grabbed the 9mm and tucked it behind his shirt. He closed and locked the safe and headed upstairs.
When Mike opened the door he was greeted with Nelson flashing a neighborly grin.
“Hey, Mike, how are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m fine, Nelson. What can I do for you?”
“Well, since it’s been about a day since the power’s gone out and we’re not sure when it’s coming back on we all thought we’d get the neighborhood together for a grill out. It was Bessie Beachum’s idea. The food won’t last much longer and she figured it’d be a nice way to get everyone together.”