by Dave Conifer
“He didn’t have to,” Nick said. “It’s the same everywhere I’ve been all day.”
“I’m sure the power company will get it straightened out pretty quick,” Matt said. “They always do.”
“Are they going to fix your car, too?” Brian asked Matt icily.
“Where’s the beef?” Penny Hellikson called from behind. “We were expecting a truckload of eats, Nick. What happened?”
Nick had rarely seen Penny without a smile on her face, but this was the exception. She was accompanied by her huge Labrador retriever, Tripper, who hadn’t been on a leash for at least five years. Penny had already been living in the house directly behind Nick when he moved into the neighborhood nearly ten years ago. While Nick was living and dying through a rough divorce, Penny and her husband Tom had gone the other direction, and had four children under the age of eight to show for it. Nick had always wondered how they’d kept the pace up. Amazingly, none of the kids were around at the moment.
“I made it halfway back across the Ben,” Nick said. “My truck didn’t want to go any further. Same as everybody else out there. Too bad. I had it loaded up with every kind of meat I ever heard of. I ran into Sarah, here. And this guy, Dewey. Sarah had these bikes on the back of her truck. A few hours of pedaling, and here we are. And now you know as much as I do. Except that we saw with our own eyes that whatever's happening here is happening everywhere.”
“Look, I have to get moving,” Penny said. “Tom’s holding down the fort while I take this guy out,” she explained, gesturing at Tripper. “How about I stop by later? Or I’ll send Tom if I’m tied down. You know me. I want all the details about what happened.”
“Sure,” Nick answered, nodding approvingly. “And bring some of that beer I know you guys have on ice. We’ll make a night of it after all.”
“We’ll see,” Penny yelled over her shoulder as Tripper, who’d gotten tired of standing still, was already leading her down the block.
A few other neighbors saw Nick and came by to see what was going on. After explaining for the third time how his day had gone, Nick was ready to be done talking. He was exhausted, and his traveling partners had to be, too. As soon as he could, he melted away from the group. Dewey was already pedaling up the street so slowly that it looked like the bike was about to fall over. Nick stepped off his bike and offered it to Jenny, who quickly climbed on. Sarah did the same for Ashley, who sped ahead to join Dewey and her sister.
Nick smiled. “I’m not sure why they’re following him. He has no idea where he’s going.”
“He didn’t take a bathroom break,” Sarah said. “I’ll bet that has something to do with it. Of course, you didn’t either.”
“So Sarah,” Nick said as they started walking, “What did you say your last name was? I was afraid to say your full name to Brian, because I wasn’t quite sure. Did it have one of those hyphens?”
“Yep,” Sarah answered. “I never thought I’d do that, but I was making a point. Eli’s family is Jewish, and they were, let’s say, very enthusiastic about me converting before we married. You can guess the rest.”
“I take it you didn’t convert?” Nick asked.
“I didn’t,” she said. “Eli was very supportive about it. Of course, we ended up being married in a courtroom. His family – they live in Israel – ended up not coming over for it.”
“Ouch,” Nick said. “That’s awkward.”
“It was, for a few years, but we’ve worked through it,” Sarah said. “I think it was the kids. Once they were in the picture, everybody forgot about it. We all get together at least once a year, now.”
He led Sarah around a corner. They were within sight of his house, a well-kept rancher with a double garage and full basement. “Speaking of the kids, are they, uh, well, are you raising them with any religion?”
“We’re raising them Jewish,” Sarah said. “As much as possible with a Protestant mother, anyway. Eli wanted that, and it isn’t an issue for me, so long as they can make their own decisions when they’re old enough. Which they will, whether we say they can or not.”
By then they’d reached the vicinity of Nick’s house. Dewey and the girls were waiting at the curb, having slowed down somewhere along the way until they could anticipate where Nick was heading. When everybody was there, they trudged up the driveway to the front door, each more exhausted than the next.
~~~
"Make yourself at home," Nick said. "I mean, if you're used to a home with no electricity." Dewey had pushed past Nick into the house as soon as the door was open. His throat parched, Nick went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass, but when he turned the handle on the faucet, nothing came out. “And no running water,” he added.
“Indoor camping, that’s all,” Sarah said.
“Where’s Daddy?” Ashley asked.
“You know where he is,” Sarah told her. “He’s in Boston for a few days.”
“But he left on a plane,” Ashley pointed out. Nick hadn’t thought she’d been aware of what had been happening in the sky back at the bridge, but now he knew he might be wrong.
“He landed a long time ago,” Sarah said. “He’s fine.”
“How do you know, Mom?” Jenny asked. “The phones don’t work.”
“Your mom’s right,” Nick said. “The planes were flying all morning. I’m sure he’s fine.” He was glad Dewey wasn’t there to say something dumb and push the girls over the edge. "So how about if you girls take the big bedroom?" Nick suggested. “Dewey and I can fight it out between the guest room and the living room couch. My daughter's room is off-limits. It's the project that won't end."
"Isn't that your room?" Sarah asked. "We couldn't." She was in the process of collapsing onto the couch after peeling her shoes off. "I don't know how many times I pulled my phone out to call Eli," she said. "I'm worried to death about him."
"He's probably even more worried about you three," Nick said. "I know I would be." He heard the bathroom door open. So that's where Dewey had run off to. "I need to use the john myself," he said.
"I wouldn't go in there if I were you," Dewey said, intercepting him in the hallway. "I opened the window. Give it a few minutes."
Nick shook his head. "Why would you do that, man? I guess I'm not king of this castle anymore."
"Sorry," Dewey answered, spreading his hands in a gesture of helplessness. "I didn’t know. The toilet only emptied out halfway."
"God help us," Nick said. "I'll use the other one."
“Like, we've time-warped all the way back to the Middle Ages,” Dewey said. “Or the Eighteen-hundreds, at least. We might have to build an outhouse."
“Yuck,” Ashley said. “Like the Jiffy-John’s at the carnival?”
“He's only joking,” Sarah told her. “Don’t worry, honey. It’ll all get fixed tonight while you’re sleeping.”
"Let's hope," Nick said.
"Why would the plumbing stop working, just because the power is out?" Sarah asked.
"Well, there are probably half a dozen monster-sized pumps between here and the source of that water. If the pumps have no power, there's no pressure to force the water through the lines. It probably trickled for a few hours and then gave out."
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was Joe Garrison and Penny Hellikson’s husband, Tom. “Long time, no see,” Nick said.
“A bunch of us are walking over to the ACME. We thought we’d pick up some supplies. You want to come?”
Nick nodded knowingly. “You mean like the night before a snowstorm when everybody goes out and loads up on milk and eggs?”
“You never know,” Joe said. He shrugged. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense, I know. We just feel like getting out of the neighborhood and seeing how bad this thing is.”
“I just got back in the neighborhood,” Nick said. “Trust me. It’s bad everywhere.”
“I’m not going,” Tom said. “I just ran into Joe in your driveway.” He pointed at the cooler on wheels that he’d park
ed on the sidewalk. “I’m the delivery boy.”
“I think everybody’s just getting restless,” Joe admitted. “They need to burn off some energy. I take it you don’t want to come along?”
“No thanks. I’ll pass,” Nick said. “Tell everybody I said ‘Happy Shopping.’”
"Okay," Joe said. "I'll do that."
"Hmm," Nick said to Tom after Joe was gone. "I don't remember him ever being so serious about anything."
“Yeah, same here,” Tom said. “This thing has him spooked, I think. Not me. Hey, I left the beer out front. You ready for one?” He looked around the room, as if he suddenly realized that there were four people he’d never seen before staring at him. “Anybody else want a cold one?”
“I’ll take one,” Dewey said immediately. He stepped forward awkwardly, extending his hand but stopping before he was within shaking range. “I’m Dewey,” he said.
Tom closed the gap and shook Dewey’s hand. “Tom Hellikson,” he said. “You met my wife earlier, I think. The dog was taking her for a walk.” He looked at Sarah. “Nice to meet you all, too.”
“Likewise, Tom,” Sarah said smoothly. “I’m Sarah, and this is Jenny and Ashley. We met up with Nick on the bridge and he invited us all back.”
“Good deal,” Tom said. “Hey, who says it’s not a party even if the lights aren’t on? The more, the merrier.”
Sarah forced a smile. “We’re going to our room to clean up as best we can,” she said to Nick. The girls were already gone. Tom went back out and fetched three cans of Coors Light. It wasn’t among Nick’s favorites, but after the day he’d had, it would do just fine. He popped the can open and drained half of it before the others had taken a sip.
“Take a load off, men,” he said after wiping his mouth. He plopped into his favorite recliner, while Dewey and Tom took a seat on the couch and opened their beers. “You should have brought me two of these,” Nick said after another long pull.
“Next trip out,” Tom promised. “I’ll bring back a couple for each of us.” He gulped some beer and looked outside into the late afternoon sun. “I hope the power comes back on sooner, rather than later. Bath time in the dark isn’t going to be any fun.”
“There’s like hardly enough water coming out of the taps to brush your teeth,” Dewey said. “There might not be enough for a bath.”
“Times two,” Tom said.
“Come again?” Dewey asked.
“We do the baths in two shifts,” Tom said. “The three little ones and then the two older ones.” He stood up to go for the next round of beer. “I’m sure it’ll all be working in a few hours. In the meantime, let’s do some more damage on that cooler of beer I dragged all the way over here.”
~~~
Nick had fallen asleep in his easy chair a few minutes after Tom left an hour after he’d arrived, but the nap ended suddenly with the jarring slam of metal in the kitchen. Dewey appeared moments later with what looked like the Sony CD player that had been mounted under a cabinet for years. The iPod that Val had left behind was hanging limply from where it was still plugged into the side.
“What are you doing with that?” Nick mumbled as he tried to focus.
“Oh, you’re awake,” Dewey said. “Good. I need to show you this.” He put the unit in Nick’s lap and pulled off the top, which had obviously been removed earlier. The electronics inside were charred black. Two vertically mounted circuit boards were dotted with melted clumps of plastic, some of which had dripped onto the bottom of the case. Nick knew immediately what Dewey was showing him, and why. Clearly, this device, which had worked reliably for years, was now a broken, burned husk.
He looked up at Dewey. “Is this about your electro-pulse?” He already knew the answer.
“EMP. This is exactly what would happen,” Dewey said. “You can see that a blast of power surged through it. It’s completely fried.”
“Sure looks that way,” Nick agreed.
“I spotted it as soon as I came in,” Dewey said smugly. He held up top of the case. “See? Even on the outside you can see the soot.”
“So you’re telling me it really was this EMP thing?” Nick asked.
“Yeah,” Dewey said. “But it’s weird. I walked around and saw some radios and stuff that didn’t look like they had any damage. It’s not as consistent as I expected.”
“Still, it’s not good,” Nick said.
“Your computer is wasted, too,” Dewey said. “I opened it up a few minutes ago. All melted. I was just walking around looking for something else to open up.”
“Forget it,” Nick said. “I believe you. You talked me into it. We got EMPed. Now what are we going to do?”
Six
“You know, everything in the refrigerator’s going to start spoiling within a day,” Sarah said later, after everybody had cleaned up as best they could and regrouped in the kitchen. Nick wasn’t saying much. Besides the battering he’d taken, he was still groggy after the exhausting bike ride and too much beer. The cat nap hadn’t lasted as long as it should have. “Unless you think the power’s coming back on anytime soon,” Sarah finished.
“It isn’t,” Dewey said.
“After what you showed me,” Nick said to him, “I’m leaning that way myself.”
“Maybe we should plan out our meals based on that,” Sarah said. “Just in case it stays off for a few days. We could take an inventory of what’s in there. Whatever’s going to spoil soon, we eat that first. I hope I’m not being too bossy,” she added. “It just seems like we need to plan for the worst.”
“Okay by me,” Nick said. But his mind was elsewhere. He knew the old adage about life throwing curveballs, but this was pushing it. Here he was, standing in his own kitchen, discussing the contents of his refrigerator and planning meals with somebody he’d never heard of six or seven hours ago. On top of that, he was still buzzing from the six beers he’d gulped down with Tom.
“Except we don’t have any way to cook anything,” Dewey pointed out. “Your kitchen is all electric. Unless you have a camping stove or something.”
“I have a propane grill,” Nick said, looking out the back window reflexively. “Oh, wait. It’s not here. I rolled it down to the Irby’s backyard last night for the cookout.”
“So it’s gettable?” Dewey asked.
“Yeah, of course,” Nick answered. “But I think I better go get it now. I’d rather do it before it gets dark. I know where I left it, but they might have moved it someplace else.”
“That’s a good idea, if you’re up to it,” Sarah said. “The way things look right now, we’re going to need it. How about water? How much do we have? Or anything to drink, for that matter?”
Nick was impressed. Sarah was staying calm, and working her way through problems that he hadn’t even thought of yet. That was going to help. “There’s a couple gallons of milk in there,” he said. “A few beers and a bottle or two of orange juice. There’s a case of beer and a case of Coke in the basement. That’s all I can think of.”
“We better drink the milk first. Is there anything coming out of the taps at all?” Sarah asked.
“A trickle, like,” Dewey said.
“I think we should open them up and collect all the water we can,” Sarah said. “I’ve always heard it’s a good idea to fill up your bathtub with water as soon as trouble hits. It’s easy, and then you have some drinking water.”
“Yuck,” Jenny said. Her little sister made a face. “I’m not drinking anything out of a bathtub. Eww.”
“Your mom’s right,” Nick said. “And you might feel different in a few days if things don’t get any better.”
“No way,” Jenny retorted. “I’ll never be that thirsty.”
“There’s a sink in the basement, too,” Nick said. “The water pressure’s always better down there. We should try that one.”
“It might be too late,” Dewey said. “Everybody probably drained out whatever’s left while we were biking across half the state.”
&
nbsp; “It feels so wrong that we’re competing against the neighbors for water,” Nick remarked. “But it’s not like they weren’t draining the pipes while we were still riding here.”
“We’ll worry about the water, Nick,” Sarah said. “You should go get your grill. Like you said, better now than when it’s dark.”
“What about lights?” Dewey asked. “You got any candles?”
“Not many. Maybe my ex-wife had some hidden away somewhere. There’s a couple of flashlights in the drawer by the sink,” Nick said. “I’ll search for candles when I get back.”
“Or maybe the girls could do it,” Sarah suggested. “Would you mind? It’ll be dark soon.”
“Sure. Knock yourselves out, girls. I don’t have any secrets,” Nick said. “There might be some in kitchen drawers, or maybe in the China cabinet in the dining room. Wait,” he said sharply. “Follow me. I know where one is.”
After he’d walked down the hall and entered the guest room, he realized that only Jenny had followed, and was lurking in the hall. He pulled open a cabinet and fished out a candle in the shape of a mushroom that had never been lit. “Come on in,” he said to Jenny. “For some reason this has been in here for years. I think it was a Mother’s Day present.” He placed it on the desk. “Now all I need is some matches.”
“I have a lighter,” Jenny said. She dug one out of her pocket and held it out.
“Thanks,” Nick said, taking it. It was a disposable butane lighter, the kind that was always at the checkout at WaWa. He flicked it twice, produced a flame, and lit the wick of the candle before passing it back. “So what’s a girl scout doing with a cigarette lighter at the Saturday Morning Bike-a-thon?” he asked. “Is it like the Boy Scouts? Be prepared?”
“Um,” Jenny said, looking at her shoes. “I found it. In the park.”
“Cool,” Nick said. “Bet you didn’t know we were about to go back into the Stone Age, and it would be your most valuable possession within a few hours, did you?”
~~~
By the time Nick had shown them where the basement sink was, and found an old watering can and a few five-gallon buckets for them to collect water in, the light of day was fading quickly. Unlike when they’d made their grand entrance earlier, the streets of Crestview were deserted. Everybody’s probably inside dealing with the same problems we are, Nick thought. He pulled the front door closed behind him, shoved his hands in his pockets, and set off to retrieve his grill. Sarah was right. They were going to need it.