The Pulse: A Novel of Surviving the Collapse of the Grid

by Williams, Scott B.

  Casey had never given much thought to how much everything in modern life was dependent upon electronic devices and the power that made them work. Like everyone else, she imagined, she just took it for granted that all these things would keep on working just as they always had. Most people had never considered the possibility of a situation like what was going on today. She was grateful that Grant was with her and that he seemed so knowledgeable. She wanted to just stay in his arms where she could momentarily forget her worries, but she felt his embrace relax, signaling an end to the hug, and she reluctantly pulled away.

  “So what do we do now?” she asked, hoping that whatever it was, they could do it together.

  “Do you still want to ride around some on the bikes? Maybe we can look for your roommate, and listen to the talk on the streets.”

  “Of course. We could try going by Joey’s place to see if she’s there. He lives in a little cottage on the grounds of an old mansion on Philip Street. It’s about three miles west of here, over in the Garden District.”

  “I know the area. It’s where the rich people live.”

  “It’s just a rental, but yeah, his parents are loaded, I think.”

  “Let’s go, but I’m getting kind of hungry. We’d better find something to eat first.”

  “I’ve got pizza in the freezer,” Casey said, “but no way to cook it.”

  “Let’s see what we can find somewhere on the way. We’re going to have to start thinking about more than lunch too; if the power stays off, food will run out fast.”

  “I didn’t think about that,” Casey said.

  “You haven’t been through a hurricane. It’s okay. Leave that to me. I know all about this stuff.”

  Casey was becoming more impressed with Grant all the time, and in a twisted kind of way, she was almost glad the lights had gone out. When she thought about it, she knew he lived alone, and with everything shut down, he probably didn’t have too much else to do right now. This would give them a reason they otherwise would not have to spend time together—time that she hoped would help them get to know each other even better. It seemed that Grant liked her company and wanted to help her. If not, he would just do his own thing, as he was used to being on his own.

  They made their way to the busy maze of Magazine Street, which was much narrower and seemed even more crowded than St. Charles Avenue, with stalled cars, pedestrians, and throngs of other people riding bikes. They found a line outside a pita sandwich shop that was serving what food they had left and the rest of the semi-cold sodas from their coolers to customers who could pay in cash. Casey never carried bills on her, always relying on her debit card to make even the smallest of purchases. Once again she felt stupid and embarrassed and had to admit to Grant that she didn’t have any money. Grant told her not to worry, he had money on him, so they were in luck and got in line standing beside their bikes, where they could overhear all sorts of wild speculation from those around them about what could have happened. Theories ranged from terrorist attacks to government conspiracies and even an alien invasion. Many people in this city that never sleeps had been outside and had seen the bizarre lights that flashed across the sky in the wee hours of the morning. It was obvious that there was a growing sense of frustration at all the unknown aspects of the situation, and even though it was only March, by late morning it was getting hot and humid. Gathering clouds threatened the afternoon rain that was typical in the Big Easy. When the rain started falling it would only add to the annoyance of all the suddenly stranded drivers who found themselves unable to get to wherever they had been trying to go that morning.

  Grant bought all the bottled water and Gatorade they could stuff in their book bags, along with some one-serving bags of baked potato chips, the only extra snacks the shop still had a supply of. Then they pedaled off to make their way to Joey’s house, where they hoped to find Jessica. Along the way, Casey told Grant that the relationship between Jessica and Joey probably wasn’t going anywhere. It was more of a physical attraction than anything else. Joey was arrogant and impatient and didn’t seem to care much about listening to what anyone else had to say. He didn’t have much time for her roommate anyway, Casey said, adding that he was a pre-med student barely keeping his GPA above the minimum, thanks to all the time he spent partying with his friends.

  “Sounds like she should have dumped him already, if you ask me,” Grant said.

  “Yeah, I keep hoping she’ll move on. She deserves better.”

  Casey set the pace as she led the way down Magazine until they came to Philip, where she turned right, heading towards the river. “Here’s the house, just ahead on the right.” She pointed.

  They pulled into a narrow drive that led into a beautifully landscaped semi-tropical garden of date palms, philodendrons, and oleander, and followed it past the white two-story mansion to a separate guest house in the back of the grounds. Joey’s black Audi was parked in front, but Jessica came to the door alone when Casey knocked.

  Casey reintroduced Jessica and Grant, though they remembered meeting briefly one morning when she and Casey were walking through campus together.

  “I was just getting ready to start walking home, since Joey’s car wouldn’t start this morning,” Jessica said. “He flipped out about it pretty bad. I tell you, I’ve had about enough of his temper. We both had nine o’clock classes, and by that time, whatever caused the electricity to go out and all the cars to mess up had already happened. Joey just went nuts. I don’t know if you noticed it in the driveway or not, but he kicked a big dent right in the driver’s door of his car, blaming it on his dad for buying him a used Audi. Then he took off running towards campus. I decided not to bother. I didn’t have anything I couldn’t skip today and besides, I knew they wouldn’t have class with no electricity. I went back to bed, because I sure didn’t get any sleep last night, and I was a bit hung over.”

  Grant glanced back in the direction of the car and rolled his eyes. Jessica was a beautiful girl by any standard, and he was surprised she put up with such an asshole. “Did you guys see the lights last night?” he asked.

  “Yeah, through the windows. We had just gone to bed and it was so bright it flashed through the whole house. I had no idea what it was. Joey didn’t either. But we were both pretty bombed from the party we went to.”

  “I slept right through it. Grant was outside though, and saw everything,” Casey said.

  “What in the hell was it?” Jessica asked. “What’s going on? I can’t believe everything just quit working like that. I can’t make a call, listen to the radio…nothing.”

  “We don’t know for sure,” Casey said. “But the rumor is that it was some kind of disturbance from the sun. It could have affected a lot more than just New Orleans. Grant said that it could be a serious thing. A lot of people might have already died, and if the power doesn’t come back on soon, things will get bad, like after a big hurricane.”

  “What are we supposed to do now, then?” Jessica asked.

  “We need to start thinking about that,” Grant said. “Hey, if you’re ready, why don’t we head back over to your apartment? Mine’s close by campus too. I’ve got some stuff there we’re gonna need. Do you have a bike, Jessica?”

  “Yeah, but it’s locked up by McWilliams Hall on campus. I left it there after play rehearsal and rode here with Joey in his car yesterday.”

  “No problem. We’ll walk back with you. Casey and I can push our bikes so you can keep up.”

  “Geeze, Casey,” Jessica whispered as they went inside to grab her bag out of the bedroom. “How come I can’t find a nice guy like that instead of a jerk like Joey?”

  During the three-mile walk back in the direction of the Tulane campus and their apartments, Grant related some of what he had experienced in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to Casey and Jessica and began speculating about what could happen next in a city the size of New Orleans with no power, no communications, and few working automobiles. He said it would likely become danger
ous to stay in the city if these conditions continued for more than a couple of days. He mentioned the post-Katrina violence that took place throughout New Orleans after the levee broke and the city was flooded and cut off.

  “But those people didn’t have a choice,” Jessica said. “They were stuck in the Superdome and everywhere else in the city and our own government screwed up and didn’t get them out in time.”

  “It was a combination of things,” Grant said. “Yeah, the local, state, and federal governments could have done better, but it was really an overwhelming event no one could have prepared for. It’s also a fact that some of those people stayed behind on purpose to take advantage of the situation. Even members of the police department were looting stores and stealing new cars from the dealerships. The people who truly got stuck here against their will were mainly just waiting in the Superdome—in bad conditions to be sure, but most didn’t have bad intentions. People who had their own transportation and wanted to leave generally got out before the hurricane even hit, and well before the city flooded.”

  “But don’t you think a lot of the looting and stuff happened because people lost their homes?” Casey asked. “This is different. Yeah, the lights are out and the phones don’t work, but I don’t see why it would get bad like it did after a hurricane.”

  “When you think about it, Casey, what are people going to do for food in a city this size? You saw how long we had to stand in line just to get a sandwich and something to drink at lunch. And this is just the first day. I wonder how long shops like that will have anything left. I’ll bet that one we went to is already completely sold out. Think about the grocery stores. If the power is out everywhere and most vehicles are not running, the shelves will be stripped bare in no time, and with the delivery trucks not running, they won’t be restocking. There are a lot of people in New Orleans, Casey.”

  “So what are we supposed to do?” Jessica asked.

  “The only sensible thing to do is get out of the city,” Grant said. “There are simply too many people here. There’s no way order can be maintained. It’s just a short time before most people start panicking.”

  “I don’t know where else I would go,” Jessica said. “I don’t know how I could get home if cars aren’t working and the airlines are shut down.”

  “She’s from Los Angeles,” Casey explained to Grant. “And I don’t know where I’d go either…. It’s not as far to my dad’s house in Mobile—well, at least not in a car, where it would be like two and a half hours, but that might as well be L.A., if you had to walk.”

  “What day was he supposed to be back?” Jessica asked. “Did you hear from him last night before the phones went out?”

  “No. They left Martinique on Sunday afternoon. I think they were supposed to get to St. Thomas like tomorrow, so his flight back here was on Thursday. I knew I wouldn’t hear from him last night because they were still at sea, but now he has no way of reaching me to let me know when they get to St. Thomas. I’m worried about him, but like Grant said, a good sailor like Larry doesn’t need electronics to navigate. I’m sure they’ll be fine, but how will he get back to the States when they do get to land? I know he’s going to be worried sick about me too.”

  “We can still hope the effects are not that far-reaching,” Grant said, as he started walking again to encourage them to keep moving in the direction of their apartment. “But they’re probably better off there than most anywhere else they could be, if this thing is that widespread. We’re the ones in a situation we have to worry about. I think we need to start getting ready to go and make a plan now. But regardless of when we leave, we had better get what food we can carry now.”

  The only store along the way that was open was a small corner grocery on Magazine Street that was already packed with people buying everything they could snatch off the shelves. Like the sandwich shop Casey and Grant had stopped at earlier, the grocery could only accept cash purchases because there was no way to verify credit or debit cards. Grant had a little over forty dollars left in his wallet and Jessica had a single twenty-dollar bill.

  “Jessica’s a vegetarian,” Casey said as Grant reached for the last two packages of beef jerky remaining on an end display.

  “It’s okay,” Jessica said. “Go ahead and get what you want, it doesn’t bother me as long as I don’t have to eat it.”

  “The thing is, we’ve got to get things that are lightweight, will keep without refrigeration, and, ideally, don’t require extra water to cook.”

  “Hey, how about these?” Casey asked, holding up a two-pound bag of almonds.

  “Those are great,” Grant said, “And vegetarian-safe,” he added with an amused smile.

  They were out of cash before they had purchased more than they could carry. Grant said they had done well, though, scoring a supply of several kinds of nuts, raisins and other assorted dried fruits, some bulk-packaged granola, a couple of large boxes of oatmeal that he said could be eaten uncooked if necessary, the jerky, several packages of tuna in foil, some boxes of whole-wheat crackers, two jars of peanut butter, and a couple of large blocks of Swiss cheese that he said would hold up well without refrigeration. Most of the other customers were loading up on bulky canned goods and other items that would be impossible to carry far on foot or on a bicycle. Despite their small haul, it took nearly two hours to get in and out of the grocery store. While they were in there the dark clouds that had been threatening rain since late morning finally broke open and drenched the streets, but the downpour had let up to a light drizzle by the time they were out in it.

  They tied the plastic bags on Grant’s rear rack and around the handlebars of both bikes and, pushing the bikes, made it back to Casey and Jessica’s apartment by late afternoon. Casey opened all the blinds to let in as much light as possible, and at Grant’s urging the two roommates began sorting through their clothes and shoes to find a few items that would be suitable to travel in. Casey was overwhelmed at what Grant was suggesting—that they might actually have to leave the city on bicycles. She knew Grant could do it, but she couldn’t imagine how she or Jessica could pedal for miles and miles on the open road to anywhere. But Grant wasn’t talking about just anywhere. His parents, who were currently working on an archaeology project in Bolivia, owned a small cabin on a river not too far from New Orleans. They’d used it as a weekend getaway when they were living in New Orleans for a couple of years while Grant was still in high school and his father was teaching at Tulane. That was before the hurricane destroyed their home in the city and his parents left for good.

  “It’s only about 90 miles from here,” Grant said. “It’s to the north, not far across the Mississippi state line, on a beautiful stream called the Bogue Chitto River. It would be a safe place in a situation like this. My dad thought of everything. There’s a well and generator and lots of food and other supplies stored there all the time. I was up there over the holidays to get away and work on a research paper.”

  “Ninety miles! I could never ride a bicycle 90 miles!” Jessica blurted.

  “Sure you could, Jessica. If you can ride a bike at all, you can ride it as far as you need to. You just have to take it one mile at a time,” Grant explained.

  “That’s easy for you to say,” Casey said. “You could probably ride that far in a day. But we aren’t in shape for it like you are and our bikes suck compared to yours.”

  “I’m not talking about a race, Casey. We’ll take our time, and go at the pace of whoever is the slowest. If it takes two or three days, that’s okay. The main thing is that we’ll be getting out of here. We can ride out of the city and get across the Causeway the first day for sure.”

  “The Causeway is 25 miles long by itself!” Jessica said.

  “Yeah, you’re right. But it’s also the shortest route north to where the cabin is. When you think about it, if you can ride a mile, then you can ride two miles, three miles, and on and on. You just keep pedaling and the miles will slide on by. We’ll stop and rest whenever
we need to. One good thing, with few vehicles running, there won’t be any traffic. I’ll bet there’ll be other bicyclists though—at least those who are smart enough to think of it and start moving now.”

  “I just hope it’s not a mistake to leave,” Casey said. “Can’t we just go back now and buy all the groceries we can carry and bring them back here? I’ve probably got at least thirty or forty dollars in change if I dig through all my drawers and boxes in my closet. We can come back here and stay inside and lock the doors. The lights have to come on soon, don’t they? Maybe it won’t be too long before everything is back to normal.”

  “I think it would be a mistake to stay here,” Grant said. “I mean, we don’t have to leave immediately, but we’d better get ready. I don’t think we can count on this being resolved or back to normal any time soon. If we didn’t have the option of going to a well-stocked cabin within a reasonable distance, it would be one thing. But I know we would be safe there, and we would at least have a supply of food and water. We wouldn’t have to worry about the angry mobs of looters that are bound to start roaming the streets here when they figure out no one’s gonna bring them what they need and the police are powerless to stop them from taking it wherever they can find it. If I’m wrong and it turns out to be no big deal, then there will really have been no harm done, and we will have had some good exercise riding up there.”

  “But this isn’t the Ninth Ward, Grant,” Jessica said. “This is Uptown. It’s nice here. People here don’t loot and rob. I think you’re being a bit paranoid.”

  “I know it’s nice here now. And yes, it’s relatively safe. But this kind of stuff would happen anywhere after a disaster like this. When people get desperate, they’ll do anything. And besides, the people in the truly bad areas like you’re talking about know that with everything shut down, nothing is going to stop them from coming here. And they know there’s money and other goods here.”