Sweetness in the Dark

by W. B. Martin

  As Paul started to get up, Amanda held him in place. Matt headed off and soon the two were alone.

  Paul turned to Amanda to ask why she had held him. The answer came quickly. She took his hand and with a blanket under her arm, led him down the long sandy beach to the secluded far end. Away from everyone else, she placed the blanket on the sand and turned to kiss him.

  “With all this noise and lights, I sure couldn’t sleep. I think we need to enjoy the night,” Amanda said. “And I sure don’t want to go to Alaska to try. Too cold.”

  * * *

  The morning found him and Amanda fast asleep wrapped in the blanket. Luckily, the sun hit their end of the beach first and the heat woke Paul with a start. He sat up realizing where they were.

  He quickly woke Amanda who complained at the interruption. She also suddenly realized where they were. They quickly slid into the river to wash up and raced back up the beach.

  Dressing quickly, they noticed no one else was up yet. As Paul got the propane stove lit and got water on for coffee, Amanda stood sheepishly beside him as they both smiled at each other.

  As the others rolled out of their tents, Paul and Amanda put breakfast on. The smell got the laggards up and going. While Paul began serving up the food, he noticed that Matt hadn’t risen yet. He walked over to his son’s rain fly and saw that his sleeping bag was empty. He started to look around when he noticed a figure climbing over the rocks on the end of the beach he and Amanda had slept on.

  He recognized his son and the fishing pole he carried. In his other hand were fresh trout Matt had caught. As he walked up the beach, Matt waved at his Dad.

  “Can I throw these on for breakfast?” Matt asked. He pointed at three nice fish on his line.

  “Sure. I’ve doled up breakfast for everyone. I’ll get the oil out of the box,” Paul answered.

  Matt took the cast iron skillet and poured in oil. Turning up the heat, he rolled the fish in some flour and dropped them in the pan. The fish sizzled as the smell wafted over the camp.

  “So, Matt, out early?” Paul asked.

  “Early bird catches the worm,” Matt replied. His son looked at him with a satisfied look. “It was good fishing out there, Dad. I missed you but I didn’t want to wake you.” He smiled at his dad.

  Paul turned red at the knowledge that his son had walked by as he slept on the beach with Amanda.

  Amanda looked at Paul. “Paul, we need to get you lathered up with sunscreen today. You got too much sun yesterday.”

  He turned even redder as everyone turned to look at his red face.

  “OK, let’s get things packed up. Another day on the river. Today we hit Middle Fork Lodge. A chance for cold beer for anyone so inclined,” Paul said as he cleaned up from breakfast. The rafts were soon packed and out in the current. As Paul pulled on the oars, he realized that his arms felt like lead. The lack of sleep suddenly hit him as he tried to maneuver for the small riffle they had to negotiate. Another full day of white water rapids lay ahead and he was already dead.

  This is the reality of older men with younger women, he thought. Paul knew he had to hold it together. Amanda sat and looked just as energetic as ever.

  “Today might be a good day for you to learn how to row,” Paul offered as they passed a small rapid.

  “Tired, huh? Those lights never stopped. I don’t know how you even got up this morning,” Amanda said.

  Paul realized Amanda knew and didn’t seem to mind, but letting her row some today still seemed like a good idea. He moved off his spot and Amanda sat down. Paul stood up behind her and started to teach her how to read the water.

  She immediately pulled on the oars and lined the raft perfectly for the small rapid ahead. With two quick strokes she pulled away from the rock to the right. Amanda then had the raft in position for the small ledge drop.

  “Sure, now you tell me you know how to row.”

  “My family is from Idaho, also. I’ve been running rivers with my dad since I was twelve,” Amanda said. “Why don’t you lie down on the box and get some rest? I’ll wake you if something big comes along.”

  Paul laughed and rubbed his hand through Amanda’s brunette hair to mess it up. There was still a lot they had to learn about each other. As he lay down to nap, he wondered why she was so interested in him. Whatever the reason, he would enjoy it as long as it lasted.

  Paul woke with a start when Amanda touched his arm. The other rafts were pulling into Middle Fork Lodge and tying up. Amanda pulled for shore to join them. Matt came up behind in his kayak.

  “Finally get some sleep Dad?” Matt asked. The smile on his face said it all.

  “Your dad couldn’t sleep very well last night with all the commotion going on,” Amanda answered.

  “Yeah. I had a hard time falling asleep myself,” Matt said.

  Paul looked at his son. What did he mean by that? he thought. This was all a mistake. He looked at his son who only smiled in response.

  “Hey, Paul,” one of his professors from ISE said. “You said they’d have cold beer here. They said no such luck.” He and his wife were avid rafters and they had spent many days floating together.

  “Well, their fridge must be out,” Paul said. “I’ll check.” Paul climbed out of the raft and tied up to the post provided. He walked up into the small river front store that the Lodge had established. Although expensive, because of the air plane ride into the lodge, rafters could usually purchase items like ice and cold beer.

  “So no cold beer today?” Paul asked. “Can we buy some ice then?”

  “Nope. All our fridges went down last night. About the same time that those Northern Lights kicked up. In fact, our short wave radio is out and our generator went down also,” the store clerk said.

  “Well, I’ll be,” Paul’s fellow professor said.

  But Paul didn’t saying anything. He was thinking. He recalled his long talks with his brother, John Ewing, professor of astrophysics at the University of Oregon.

  At family gatherings he and John would talk about world affairs. Paul had a doctorate in economics and the two would spend the entire time discussing the importance of their specialty in world affairs. Their wives would grow irritated at the two husbands distracted from family events. At least until Paul’s wife had taken their marriage over a cliff.

  But Paul recalled one long discussion concerning EMP and CME. John had explained that both had the potential to cripple the Untied States. An Electromagnetic Pulse. or EMP, was more often a man-made phenomena caused during a nuclear explosion.

  Emitted when a nuclear bomb was detonated, a super electrical charge blasted out that could overwhelm any unshielded circuit within hundreds of miles. The concern that John expressed was of a hostile nation setting off two nuclear explosions high over the United States. The EMP would collapse the nation’s power grid.

  With the destruction of the power grid, modern life stopped in America. Paul was shocked to learn that it would stay that way for years, as new transformers were moved in to replace the destroyed ones. The real shock was the discovery that the United States didn’t produce transformers anymore. That industry had been outsourced overseas.

  “Paul, are you OK? You seem lost,” Amanda said as she walked up to where he stood. Paul looked at her and his eyes started to water up. If what he was thinking had happened, everyone’s life had totally changed last night. He looked at his two children who were browsing the shop. “What is it?” Amanda asked when she noticed Paul’s eyes.

  Paul shook himself. There was no need to raise a concern to everyone just yet. It may be just a fluke problem here at the Lodge, he thought.

  “Have you gotten in any airplanes today?” Paul asked the shopkeeper.

  “No sir. Strangest thing. It’s been good flying weather and we had some guests scheduled to arrive today. Usually they’ve flown in by now. Must be having plane problems.”

  You have no idea, he thought. With the Northern Lights last night, every circuit board will be gone
. Unless it’s an old airplane before computers ran everything, no one would be flying in or out.

  “We need to get going,” Paul said. He realized that time worked against them if what he thought was true. He needed time to think. Everyone’s survival was at stake if things really were as they appeared.

  “Dad, I wanted to get some candy,” Meredith said.

  “No, we need to go now,” Paul barked. The seriousness of the potential situation descended on him.

  The group all looked at Paul like spiders were coming out his nose. They were used to mild-mannered Dr. Paul. Even during the divorce, Paul had exhibited a calm demeanor. He knew the kids needed that stability.

  “All right, let’s get going. If Paul says we need to move, we move,” Amanda said. The sternness in her voice got everyone moving.

  Paul turned as he walked down to the raft and looked at this young woman he had found. That was a good sign from her. She would have to display that intensity if they were going to make it.

  The next two days were decidedly different. Gone was the relaxed float through rapids they had experienced at the start of their trip. Now Paul pushed them hard. They floated all day until the light began fading. Then up at first light to eat, pack and climb onto the rafts.

  The kayaks were even tied onto the back of the rafts so that more relief rowers were available. The kids had started to complain but Paul cut them right off. They were now flying down the river and ignoring their assigned campsites. They camped wherever they found themselves when daylight ran out.

  Each night, the Northern Lights returned with a vengeance. At their arrival the second night, everyone began to realize that Paul’s behavior was somehow connected to the lights, but no one dared broach the subject with him. They were too tired each night to do anything besides eat and go to sleep.

  Even Amanda left Paul alone. A grim determination to get off the river as soon as possible was evident. Paul tried to tell her what he thought had happened, but he couldn’t say anything until he was more certain.

  The third day would bring that confirmation. Paul pushed on the oars as he willed the raft down the river. He was tired but had determined an action plan if today brought the answer he didn’t want. The Middle Fork soon joined the Main Salmon River and the group rowed hard for the takeout. As they came around the bend in the river, a fishing lodge appeared on the left bank, and a boat ramp on the right.

  Cars and trucks were sitting in the parking lot. Some had their hoods up. Paul slumped in despair. Amanda jumped off the raft as they pulled onto the beach. She walked up the beach and tied the rope off to a tree. Paul and the others followed. The beach was covered with rafting gear from parties that had ended their trip, packed up and were waiting for their shuttles. Another rafting party had just pulled up on the beach and was already standing and talking.

  “Howdy. Everything OK?” Paul asked.

  “No, we paid to have our rigs shuttled down from Dagger Falls and they aren’t here yet. They were supposed to drop our rigs off Tuesday,” a rafter said.

  “Well, I’m looking at the parking lot and I don’t see our rigs either,” Paul said.

  Amanda had already scanned the parking lot and walked back with her arms raised, as if to say, ‘What gives?’

  Paul walked over to one of the people with the hood up on his pickup.

  “Having trouble?” Paul asked.

  “Totally dead. The things only a year old and it just sits here,” the exasperated man said.

  “How long have you been sitting here? Any cars come in while you’ve been here?” Paul asked.

  “That’s what’s weird. We’ve been here two days now and no one has driven in. The lodge owner rowed over and said his telephone line to North Fork was out,” the man said. “The only vehicle we’ve seen was a woman driving an old ’64 Ford pickup that pulled in here the first day. She loaded up two guys with their raft and bolted.”

  “And the Forest Service ranger hasn’t shown up to check in boaters?” Paul asked.

  “Nobody has shown up here except that old Ford pickup.”

  Paul knew all that he needed to know. He walked back to the beach and motioned his group together. He had to be careful now.

  “Everyone jump back into the rafts. The ranger isn’t here today so we can head down the Main Salmon,” Paul said. He tried to put a positive spin on the news. “We get two raft trips this summer.”

  “What about our shuttle? Our vehicles will be here to pick us up,” Meredith said.

  “I said we run the Main. Now let’s go,” Paul said. He tried to not bark at his group, but he wanted them all moving.

  “Dad, what is going on? You’re scaring me,” Meredith said.

  “Come on. Your Daddy has a good reason for this. I’m sure he’ll tell us when he’s ready,” Amanda said. She took Meredith around the shoulders and started walking her to the raft. The others grew quiet and followed. They soon pushed off and lined up for the first rapid. They were now committing themselves to another seventy-nine miles of river until the next road.

  When they were a few miles downstream, Paul motioned that it was time for a lunch stop. Everyone pulled on their oars and headed to a large sandy beach. They walked the food up to a large overhanging pine tree to eat in the shade.

  “Before we break open the food, let me explain. What I saw at Corn Creek confirmed what I think has happened,” Paul started. Everyone stared as he explained a CME. He told them about his brother and the discussions they had had over the years.

  “You mean that electricity doesn’t work anymore?” Meredith asked.

  “No, electricity is still there, but everything that uses electricity is dead. At least everything that has a modern circuit. All the stuff before integrated circuits should still be working, but I don’t really know,” Paul said. He wasn’t an expert on this. He wished his brother was here to explain.

  “So, going down the Main Salmon does what for us? We’ll have barely enough food even if we continue the pace we’ve been keeping,” Amanda said.

  Paul liked this young woman more each moment. She had the intelligence to start thinking through their situation.

  “We’re on our own right now. To get home to Boise, we’ll be walking. Floating down to Riggins gets us closer than starting in North Fork,” Paul said.

  The group went quiet. Paul could tell they were all contemplating walking the distance from Riggins to Boise. He wasn’t sure, but it had to be close to two hundred miles. They would have to go on half rations to try and stretch their food supply.

  “So, we’ll concentrate on eating the food that is heavy while on the river. We’ll save the lighter food for the walk,” Paul continued. “We should be able to get to Riggins in hopefully three days at the pace we’ve been keeping. Once there, we take just what we need to get home.”

  “We leave all our rafting gear in Riggins?” one of the professors asked.

  “Well, you’re free to take it with you, but we won’t be waiting for you,” Paul answered. Everyone looked down at the gravity of what he said. For a lifelong river runner to abandon his equipment spoke to the deadly serious situation in which they had found themselves.

  They spent the next three days pushing hard on the oars, moving down the river. They met no other groups as they went, a sign that no one had put on the river since the CME had happened.

  As they neared Riggins, Paul motioned everyone to pull toward shore. The light faded as they reached the beach. It had been five days since the lights went out and Paul was nervous about returning to civilization.

  He knew that by now everyone would have figured out something big had happened. With no vehicles coming through town on Highway 95, the locals would have cleaned out the stores of food and supplies. Finding out how much civilization had abandoned Riggins was Paul’s main concern.

  “We need to scout Riggins before we enter. Matt and I will walk from here to see if it’s safe to float down tomorrow. We’ll check if there’s any food left
in town, too,” Paul said. He pulled his war surplus metal ammo can off the raft. It had been on every river trip he’d done over the years. It was used as a waterproof hard case to protect valuables inside. Paul pulled on the metal handle and opened it.

  He pulled out his digital camera. He didn’t need that anymore. Then he moved the small cloth he had for the camera’s protection and pulled out a Glock 17. He reached down and grabbed a second clip and shoved both into his rafting shorts.

  “Hold on. I know what that’s for. Do you think there’ll be that much trouble in town?” one professor asked.

  “I don’t know, but I plan on protecting myself if there’s anyone bent on causing trouble,” Paul said.

  “Well, I don’t like it. I’m sure the police have everything under control,” the professor said. The other three people from ISE chimed in their agreement.

  Paul suddenly realized that these people were from the East Coast. He had been under pressure by his Board of Directors to diversify his staff and he had reluctantly gone recruiting back East. These two professors and their wives had been the most conservative of the bunch. Now their true persuasions were coming out.

  “Just wait here. Matt and I will be back before midnight. If it looks clear, we’ll camp here tonight, float to town early in morning and head out south towards Boise,” Paul said.

  “I’m not liking this one bit,” the wife of one of the professors said. “If it’s as dangerous as you say, what are you leaving with us for protection?”

  Paul reached into his ammo can and pulled another cloth aside. He pulled out a Ruger SP101 revolver.

  “If you’re from Idaho, I’ll assume you know how to use this?” Paul said and handed the handgun to Amanda.

  “Five shot, .357 magnum. Hell of a kick. Short barrel. Get up close and personal before you pull the trigger. No problem,” Amanda quipped.

  Paul smiled. What a woman. The others stepped back, not sure what to make of this sudden change in this demure woman that had been with them all week.