Max started feel much more alert within just a few minutes. That made sense, since he didn’t have any food in his stomach, and they weren’t slow release pills.
“I should have thought of that before,” said Max.
“It’s OK,” said Mandy.
“It’s not,” said Max. “You know, I thought I was all organized and prepared, but… I don’t even know where half my gear is. It’s buried somewhere in the back of the Jeep with Chad.”
“You’re doing great,” said Mandy softly. “I shudder to think where I’d be without you… And you saved your friend from that mob.”
“I don’t know if he’s exactly a friend,” said Max quietly. “I mean, we were friends… really close. Like I said, or maybe I thought it—I can’t remember now. I’ve been up for too long. I’m starting to ramble. Anyway, he’s more like family. A family member you just can’t get rid of, but one you have to try to help.”
Mandy didn’t say anything for a while.
The night was still pitch black. The clouds covered the stars and possibly the moon, depending on what phase of the cycle it was. Max had no idea, but he supposed it wasn’t anything close to a full moon, since that tended to illuminate things through the clouds.
Max felt better with the caffeine, and he felt better getting out of the densely populated suburban areas. He congratulated himself again for not taking a job in the city. Who knew what kind of hellish fate awaited the people stuck in the cities. Maybe they’d already turned into one huge angry chaotic mob, fighting each other to the death. And in a week or two? They might be eating each other. It wasn’t a joke. Max had read about the Donner party, and that rugby team that had crashed landed. Sooner or later, when humans ran out of food, they started eating each other. Usually they had the decency to wait until they were dead, but not always. Sometimes necessity dictated that someone be killed, or a lot of people be killed.
The road was in good condition. Max was able to easily swerve around the occasional pothole. The trees were thick and tall, creating a blanket of intense darkness on either side of them. The road was straight in parts for long stretches, with an occasional section of dense curves. At another time, Max would relish this type of driving. He still loved the feeling of shifting gears in the Jeep, his foot on the clutch applying just the right amount of force. He loved the feeling of the engine connected directly to the wheels as he downshifted into a curve.
“Does he just smoke pot?” said Mandy, breaking the silence.
“Huh?” said Max.
Chad snored on in the backseat.
“I mean does he do other drugs?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“If he does harder stuff, he might go into withdrawal… I’ve seen it before at work. One of the girls was sniffing coke in the bathroom. Then once on one shift, the manager had some stomach problems and was in the bathroom the whole time. It was busy, and she couldn’t sneak off anywhere else. By the end of the shift, she was going nuts, screaming at customers and everything. I guess she was addicted pretty badly…”
“Where did you work?” said Max.
“It was at some Thai restaurant,” said Mandy.
“Well,” said Max. “I don’t know, honestly. I haven’t talked to him in years. In the past, it was mostly pot and alcohol, with the occasional pill. I think he was pretty into ecstasy for a while.”
“Oh, well that’s not addictive.”
“You sound like you know from personal experience.”
“Maybe,” said Mandy. “That’s all in my past now. I mean… yeah… in my past.”
“Good,” said Max, simply. The truth was, her past didn’t matter to him now. Most of the past didn’t matter. This was a new start. Everything would be new. The future was what mattered now, if there was a future to be had, that is.
“Anyway,” said Mandy. “Even if he’s just a really heavy drinker, he’s going to go into withdrawal.”
Max shrugged, even though Mandy couldn’t see his gesture in the darkness. “He’ll just have to deal with it,” said Max.
“It might not be that easy.”
They continued to drive in silence. Mandy turned her flashlight on, and Max had to tell her to put it on the lowest setting. It was just one candlepower, but it was enough that she could study the map. She was poring over it, really trying to understand it.
“Now we have a choice coming up,” said Mandy. “There’s a town about ten miles up ahead. A small town. Population 1,200, if the back of the atlas is right.”
“Probably about right,” said Max.
“We can go through the town,” said Mandy. “Or we can go around it.”
“Around it,” said Max.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too. I mean, like you’re always saying… the less populated an area, the safer we’ll be, right?”
“Yup,” said Max. “We’re going around it.”
“OK, but here’s the thing,” said Mandy. “If we go around it, we’re adding at least three hours to our trip.”
“Three hours? Are you sure.”
“Something like that,” said Mandy. “Maybe more, actually.”
“Damnit,” said Max. “We can’t afford to lose that much fuel.”
“I thought you had the extra gas in the back.”
“I do, but that’s just about enough to get us there. We can’t count on the gas stations working.”
“That’s what I figured, but I thought you had enough.”
“I do… But we’ve got all this gear. We’ve got two more people than I’d counted on. And that takes up gas. And Chad counts as two. If we have to take another detour later on… No, we can’t do it. We’re going through the town.”
“But what about that mob we rescued Chad from?”
“We?” said Max.
Mandy didn’t answer.
“I thought it sounded like you were trying to convince me to go around the town.”
“I don’t know what to do,” said Mandy. “You make the decision. It’s your car.”
“We’re going through it,” said Max. “Maybe everyone will be asleep.”
“It’s probably just a couple buildings off of the road anyway,” said Mandy. “I bet we’ll just drive right through it.”
“What’s this town named anyway?” said Max.
“Marxburg,” said Mandy.
“Never heard of it,” said Max.
They drove on. The ten miles went quickly. They only had the sound of Chad’s intense snoring to keep them company.
Max rolled his window down partially and let the cool air flow over him. It felt good and kept him awake. He wasn’t exactly anxious, but perhaps a little preoccupied with what might happen in the town.
They’d climbed up one of those short Pennsylvania “mountains” which in other areas of the country would be considered nothing more than large hills.
They were on the descent when they spotted the town. Max had the car in neutral, and they were gaining momentum on the straight downward stretch of road. He put the car into fourth to engine brake, and then third, and then second. He didn’t want to be going too fast through the town.
“Shit,” said Max.
“What’s happening?” said Chad, suddenly waking up and sounding startled.
“They’ve got something in the road,” said Mandy.
Indeed they did. There was something in the road all right, but Max didn’t have any idea what it was. From this distance, it just looked like a pile of crap stacked up in the road.
“What the hell?” said Max.
He applied the brakes and slowed the Jeep down even more.
As they got closer, they could see more clearly what was in front of them. It really was a huge pile of junk that had been piled in the middle of the road. It looked like a rudimentary road block, or a shield behind which soldiers would hide in battle. It was made of old couches, chairs, dining room tables, cardboard boxes, all manner of things.
“Can we go through it?” sa
id Mandy.
Max stopped the car about a hundred meters in front of the big pile of junk.
“Just blast through it, man,” said Chad, who immediately started coughing intensely after he spoke.
“I don’t think we can go through it,” said Max. He studied the pile carefully. It turned out that it wasn’t just made of furniture. There were some steel rods that ran through the structure. Max couldn’t tell how it was constructed, but he figured the thing had a steel skeleton. “Whoever made this didn’t want cars to go through it. If we try, I think they’ll already have some kind of plan in place for that.”
“Then what do we do?”
“Don’t move a muscle, or I won’t hesitate to put one right through your skull,” came a stranger’s voice from outside the car.
Max moved only his eyes. In his peripheral vision, he could just barely make out a man standing next to the driver’s side door.
Slowly, the man moved closer. He moved his gun until the cold metal muzzle was pressed against the side of Max’s head.
Max didn’t dare even open his mouth to speak.
11
Georgia
“Mom, we can’t go over that.”
“Do you know another way out of here, James?” said Georgia.
She had the pickup stopped right in front of the old covered bridge that ran across the local river. The river didn’t have a name as far as Georgia knew. It wasn’t that big. But it had been once, and while the water level may have only been a trickle, long, long ago the rushing and flowing waters had eroded a sizable canyon. It was known in the neighborhood as the moat, because it essentially cut off all access to the neighborhood.
The only other way out was blocked by the police.
This covered bridge hadn’t been used in at least fifteen years. But there it stood, made of wood, incredibly small, impossibly rickety looking. It looked like it might fall at the slightest breeze.
The township had been talking about putting up a new bridge, or at least tearing this one down, ever since the bridge had been declared off limits. A sign had been put up along with a stupid little gate that blocked unknowing cars from trying to cross it. The engineers had long ago deemed the bridge completely unsafe. It should have been replaced a long time ago, but no one could agree on the new bridge or how much money to spend on it. The result was that there it still stood.
“We’re going to die, aren’t we?” said Sadie, sounding worried.
“I don’t know what else to do, kids,” said Georgia. “If we stay there, well, you saw how crazy Mark McKinney had gotten…”
“To be fair, you were trying to steal all his food.”
“Don’t act like it was just me,” said Georgia. “Plus, we had our reasons.”
“Well,” said Georgia. “Here goes nothing.”
She knew she was putting the lives of her and her children at risk. But it was more of a risk to stay put in the neighborhood.
She pushed her foot down on the accelerator. The last thought she had, as they started to race towards the out-of-commission bridge, was that she should have first driven by to see if the police barricade really had been up. But she’d had her reasons not to do that—what if the police themselves became violent, or what if there was a mob of people there, ready to commit violent acts against her family.
The pickup slammed right through the flimsy metal gate, knocking it down.
“Here we go!” shouted James. He sounded more excited than worried.
Georgia felt a thrill run through her as they made it halfway across the bridge.
“We’re going to die!” shouted Sadie. “Shit, shit, shit.”
Georgia didn’t say anything. She just kept her foot pressed firmly on the accelerator. The engine roared. The tachometer was at the red line.
The bridge creaked audibly beneath them. The wood was shifting. Some part of the wooden structure was twisting. She could feel it beneath the truck.
But they made it across.
Georgia let out a whoop when the truck rushed onto solid land.
“Don’t look back,” she said.
But Sadie did anyway.
“It’s completely twisted!”
The truck was moving too fast. Georgia had to turn the wheel sharply to avoid running into a tree. They narrowly missed it.
“Mom!” shouted Sadie.
“It’s fine,” said Georgia, as she regained control of the sliding and speeding truck.
They were now barreling down Solomon Street. It was tree lined, and there were plenty of houses.
“Damn, look at those,” said James, in awe of the enormous houses.
“That’s where Josh lives,” said Sadie, pointing to one.
The lights were all off, and the buildings could only be seen by the faint diffuse glow coming off the penetrating high beams of the truck.
“I guess the generators aren’t working,” said Georgia. “Or maybe they don’t have any.”
They didn’t pass any cars as they continued west.
“It won’t take us that long to get there,” said Georgia. “If we drive all night, I bet we can be there by morning. If we don’t run into any trouble, that is.”
“So do you think they’ll be like bandits out?” said James. “You know, roving bands of guys, like in the movies. Armed to the teeth and all that?”
“Shut up, James,” said Sadie. “You’re an idiot.”
“What?” said James. “I know what I’m talking about. I’ve studied up.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call watching a bunch of violent movies studying up on what happens when the power goes out.”
“It’s not just the power, idiot, remember?”
“Kids!” shouted Georgia. “Quiet! No more arguing, OK?”
They agreed demurely.
“And I don’t think we’ll be running into any armed bandits,” said Georgia. “The situation may be dire, but in those movies that takes quite a while to happen, right, James?”
“I guess so,” said James.
“They’re just movies!” said Sadie, frustrated. “They’re not real. Both of you need to calm down.”
“Well, Sadie, your brother does have a point. You saw how Mr. McKinney was acting…”
Neither one responded. They were probably tired of Georgia’s constant refrain at this point.
Georgia continued to drive through the night. Sadie fell asleep and James’s snores eventually came up to the front of the cabin of the truck.
Georgia felt wired and awake. She’d occasionally worked late shifts and night shifts, and she knew how to keep herself alert. She didn’t need coffee or caffeine, she just needed to have her mind fixed on something, on a goal. Right now, her goal was getting herself and her kids to safety. The farther they were from whatever it was that was going on, the better.
Georgia picked up Sadie’s smartphone from the cup holder. She held it idly in her hand as she drove and wondered if it would ever work again. It wasn’t the smartphone itself that was important, but what it represented.
Georgia wondered if this was happening all over the world. If global communications were done completely, it could send the world back to the dark ages.
Yeah, she thought, the farther away the better.
Georgia knew the route well, and she hoped they’d be there by morning. She didn’t need maps or a GPS device. She drove intuitively, as she’d already done many times before in her life.
She still had the pistol she’d taken from the McKinneys tucked in her waistband. Of course, she’d made sure the safety was on. Now that it was there, it felt like a comforting weight. She liked the feel of it there. She wondered how she’d gone this long without getting a concealed carry license.
Georgia kept her eye on the gas gauge. Unfortunately, it had been a little while since she’d filled up the tank. The gauge registered half full. That might be enough to make it there, considering that she could coast down some of the hills to save gas. But sometimes the gauge on this old tru
ck could be inaccurate, registering the tank fuller than it actually was.
It was a good thing she’d taken that gas from the McKinneys.
They’d driven for hours now. It was 4 o’clock in the morning, and the area was deserted. They were out towards central Pennsylvania, where the houses and towns were scarcer than in the suburbs. The ones they’d passed had been completely dark, with no one out. They hadn’t passed a single car yet on the roads. That wasn’t that unusual though, considering they were on back roads, the less-traveled ones, the ones that Georgia had always preferred. If it hadn’t been for her kids needing to go to a good school system, Georgia imagined she might have liked to live out west somewhere, where there weren’t so many people, where you could be more free.
When she was sure there was nothing around them but the forest, Georgia slowed to a stop, pulling off to the side of the road.
“What’s going on, Mom?” said James from the back, waking up.
“I’m trying to sleep!” said Sadie, waking up briefly and speaking sleepily before settling back down to sleep. Sadie had always been a good sleeper. Sure, things could wake her up, but she always went right back to her dreams.
“I need your help, James,” said Georgia.
“What’s going on?”
“There’s no need to keep waking up your sister. Get out of the car and I’ll explain it to you.”
They both got out of the truck, which was turned off.
“We might be running low on gas,” said Georgia.
“You didn’t fill it up?”
“I didn’t exactly have a chance,” said Georgia.
“Sorry,” said James.
“I’m going to pour in the gas that you got from the McKinneys’ shed. That way we won’t run out when we aren’t expecting it. I don’t really trust the gas gauge on this old truck any more. And I’ll feel better knowing we have plenty of gas.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“You watch,” said Georgia. “Keep a lookout.”
She reached into the bed of the truck and took a loaded rifle. She handed it to James. She was glad that at least one of her kids actually knew how to use a gun.
Getting Out: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller (The EMP Book 1) Page 8