Breakdown: An EMP Survival Thriller (The EMP Terror Series Book 1)

by J. R. Tate

  “They won’t turn on?” Colin asked, keeping his eyes on his leg.

  “No. Neither one will. And no one is responding on the radio. I don’t know what the hell is going on.”

  Jake kicked his legs out of the side of the cockpit. With most of it destroyed in the crash, it didn’t have a roof and the left side wall was gone. Sliding out, before he braced for the fall to the ground he glanced over at Colin. “I’ll be right back. I'm going to look around for other survivors and get an idea of what everything looks like. Holler for me if you need anything. I’ll just be back in the cabin.”

  It would have been easier to go through the cockpit door that led right down the aisle to the fuselage but it was completely obstructed by a tree that had fallen on the plane, narrowly missing both Jake and Colin. One second sooner or later and they would’ve been smashed by the trunk. The fall to the ground wasn’t as high as usual, as the nose of the plane had hit the ground and was buried about three feet under. It was still hard on Jake - his injured body being jolted as he hit the ground below. Tucking and rolling, he was thankful there was green shrubbery underneath that padded the fall.

  His head throbbed and it felt like his brain was sloshing inside of his skull. It took him a few seconds to get over the vertigo - like an ear infection times a thousand. Standing, he ran his hands down the front of his shirt, patting away some of the dust on his clothing. He got his first real look at the damage, his breath catching in his throat. Both wings were gone, cut off almost right where they connected with the body of the plane. The cabin’s roof had been ripped off and crumpled toward the tail, mangled like a crumpled piece of paper. If anyone was standing up, they probably were no longer alive.

  Suitcases scattered near the baggage compartments - blue, red, pink, and black stood out against the ground. Jake stepped forward, shielding his eyes from the beams of sunlight that cascaded through the trees - he was much more sensitive to light than usual, which was another strike against him when it came to a possible concussion. He probably shouldn’t have been moving around and his body warned him, sending another wave of nausea through him.

  Leaning against a tree, his body lurched forward but only small bouts of acid came up - the dry heaving made his pulse pound and he had to stay against the tree to prevent himself from falling over. This was taking too long - all he wanted to do was see if there were any survivors. By the looks of the plane, he and Colin were very lucky - if there was anyone left alive in the cabin, it was nothing short of a miracle. The fact that the plane hadn’t completely crumpled on impact was another miracle but it was also helpful that Jake and Colin had glided it in. It could’ve been worse. It also could’ve been better. And it shouldn’t have happened at all.

  “Anyone up there?” When Jake yelled, a flock of birds flew up from nearby trees, making him jump. A crow cawed in the distance, lending a horrific feel to the situation. No one responded, so he yelled again, “Anyone up there? Hello?”

  “Captain Shepherd, is that you?”

  Jake didn’t recognize the voice at first but he stepped forward, squinting through the light to see who was sticking their head out of the cabin. “Yes, it’s Captain Shepherd! Who is that?”

  “It’s me… Becky!”

  Jake moved closer, finding a good spot where a grove of trees blocked the sun. He finally got a good look at her, his heart skipping a beat at her appearance. She looked worse than Colin, the whole side of her face covered in blood so bad that she was almost unrecognizable. She was laying on her side, barely lifting her head enough to look down at him on the ground.

  “How does it look up there, Becky?” It felt like a stupid question - how in the hell did he expect it to look? And was Becky well enough to even look?”

  “It’s bad… Jake.” It took her a while to get all of the words out, her words shallow pants. “I don’t think… I don’t think anyone’s alive.”

  “Colin is up in the cockpit.”

  “How… how is he, Jake?” It looked like just talking was painful for Becky.

  “He’s alive but his leg is pinned. I can’t get him out.”

  “I can try and get up and see if there are any survivors.”

  Becky went to sit up, lifting her head off of the metal but Jake held his hands up and yelled, “No! No, don’t do that Becky! Just stay still! You don’t need to do that. I can come up there.”

  “You don’t look much better than me, Jake. And you’re down on the ground. How are you going to…” Becky paused and closed here eyes, cringing. After a few seconds, she continued. “How are you going to get up here again?”

  “At the front.” Jake pointed toward the cockpit area. “The nose of the plane is buried and I can shimmy on up. The cabin is barricaded from a tree but I can climb.”

  “Your head is bleeding. Why did you get down, anyway?”

  Jake touched his index finger to his head and when he pulled away, he saw the small droplets of blood on his hand. “I wanted to see how the plane looked. I needed to get an idea of how many people are alive.”

  “Not many,” Becky said again, closing her eyes. “And with the way I feel… you might be adding one more to your count of fatalities.”

  “Don’t say that. I’m coming back up there. I’m going to check on Colin and then I’ll find a way to get into the cabin. I’ll be right back!”

  Jake moved as fast as he could, going to the front of the plane. It’d be the only way to get back inside, as the farther back the aircraft went, the higher off the ground it was from the nose being pointed downward. The metal was slippery and Jake had a hard time finding a way to keep from sliding. The screws and bolts that stuck out were helpful but he had to move fast. His legs burned, his head ached, and all his body wanted to do was lay down and sleep. But he couldn’t do that. He had to do what he could until help arrived, whenever that may be. The fact that it had taken that long made him wonder what really was going on.

  Jagged pieces of damaged plane and trees helped him pull himself back up into the cockpit. His arms were about to give out on him but Colin reached out, pulling Jake up the rest of the way. With his leg pinned, he had good leverage to get him inside, though more blood squirted from his injury. Colin even looked paler, his usual tanned skin appearing as white as a sheet.

  “I’m back,” Jake said, smirking. This was a serious situation so his attempt at lightening the mood fell flat. If he was pinned against the instrument panel of an airplane he wouldn’t have much of a sense of humor either. “Thanks for pulling me up.”

  “Glad to be of use for something. I gotta get unpinned, Jake.”

  “Yeah but what if that is keeping enough pressure on your wound so you won’t bleed as bad?”

  “I need to help you. How bad is it?”

  Jake bit his lip and glanced back at the tree that was hindering him from getting to the cabin. “Bad. Becky is alive but I don’t know if she will be within the next hour. No one else responded. I can’t really give an estimate of casualties. But one really shocking thing is how much the plane stayed intact. The wings are gone, the roof is crumpled up like a piece of tinfoil, but the fuselage faired a lot better than I would’ve guessed.”

  “You did a belly landing and that helped,” Colin said, opening his eyes for a second before closing them again.

  “You helped, Colin. Don’t sell yourself short.”

  Colin scoffed and waved his hand. “I had no idea what the hell to do. I would’ve probably panicked enough that I wouldn’t have even glided it in. And now I’m pinned, still unable to help you.”

  “None of that is your fault, Colin. Keep your leg still. I’m going to climb over this tree and get into the cabin. I don’t know what to expect on the other side but we need to see how your leg is pinned so we can free your leg.”

  Colin grabbed Jake’s arm and squeezed. He looked into Jake’s eyes and forced a smile. “Be careful, Captain. You’re not in good health either.”

  Jake patted Colin’s hand. “I’ll be r
ight back, Colin. And then we’ll get you out of this plane. We’ll get some help.”

  Jake had a feeling the climb over the tree trunk wouldn’t be an easy task. Running on pure adrenaline was the only thing keeping him going.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Going to the basement of the student union building wasn’t the best idea Sophie had ever come up with. It was shielding them from the chaos happening outside but it was pitch black and she couldn’t even see past the tip of her nose. She clutched onto Danny’s hand, squeezing so tight that it hurt. Unwilling to let him go, she fought another wave of panic that coursed through her body.

  “We need to get out of here!” she yelled, though it didn’t feel like her voice was very loud. “Danny! Let’s go back up!”

  Crashing into Danny, Sophie caught herself before plummeting to the ground. He must have stopped in mid-step at her request to leave the basement. He grabbed her side and helped her keep her balance, a small laugh causing her cheeks to heat up. It was a good thing he couldn’t see her face.

  “Why do you want to go back up there?”

  “It’s dark. I can’t see anything. And what if…” She scooted closer, feeling his body against hers. Knowing he was close was reassuring but she couldn’t get her heart to calm down. “What if this all collapses on us? No one will ever find us. We’ll just be dead inside all of the rubble.”

  “Sophie, we don’t even know what is going on! What if it’s a storm… a tornado or something?”

  She couldn’t recollect if there were storms in the forecast - she was an avid weather watcher due to her father’s job. But that didn’t matter - just because the weather said it’d be a clear and beautiful day was no guarantee that it would actually turn out that way. But they were also in Boston. It wasn’t tornado alley, not by a long shot. There hadn’t been a tornado in Massachusetts for years.

  “I’m scared, Danny! What’s… what is all of this?” The room around them shook, mimicking an earthquake and this time, neither of the were able to keep their balance. Falling to the floor, Sophie landed on top of Danny and though they were in the midst of something incomprehensible, they both laughed like it was all a dream they’d soon wake up from and it relieved some tension.

  “I think you’re right. We should probably get out of here so we can at least see what’s going on.”

  They both ran up the stairs, and though it was day time, it was almost as dark as it was in the basement. A dusty haze covered the sky and Sophie’s eyes burned from the smoke and dirt that lingered at eye level. The explosions had stopped and the crowd had thinned out. The building was destroyed in some areas, the walls caved in on themselves, the glass windows busted out, and parts of the ceiling falling in. The stability of the structure was compromised so her assumption of the basement not being safe was a good one.

  “Where did everyone go?” Sophie asked, not really designated a particular person to answer her question. It was rhetorical - no one would really know.

  Her mouth dropped open when they walked toward the courtyard on the north side of the building. Two smaller airplanes had crashed between the student union building and the gym. A fire was roaring out of control near the cockpit of one of them and when she stepped forward to see if she could help, Danny held her back, refusing to allow her to go.

  “No, Sophie! We need to get away. It’s spreading toward the gas tanks!”

  “What if there are people inside?”

  “By the looks of the airplane, I doubt anyone survived the crash. We need to get back.”

  The small crowd heard Danny and followed them as they ran through the building again, exiting on the south side, as far away from the two planes as possible. Sophie felt guilty, leaving the victims behind. What if that had been her father’s plane? She’d want bystanders to help if they could.

  “We should keep moving. Where did you park today?” Danny asked, his once calm demeanor seeming more panicked, his eyes wide, his grip tight on her as he continued to guide her away from the student union building.

  “Over by the arena. About half a mile from here. I took a bus into class!”

  Danny stopped near a crosswalk, looking down the street. It was as if they were in an end of the world movie. Buses weren’t running, cars weren’t driving by, and the once heavy population of students on campus was minimized drastically. An eerie feeling enveloped them - was the plane crash the cause of the damage? There were several crashed cars, some in trees and other buildings, as well as a bus that had driven up into the entrance of the alumni center.

  Sophie didn’t wait for Danny this time - she ran to the bus, climbing on board to see if there was anyone who needed help. Two girls in the very back were awake, bloody, and in shock. The driver’s face was slammed into the steering wheel, his eyes glossy and vacant as he stared at Sophie. Scooting to the back, Sophie dug in her bag for some tissue, handing each girl a piece.

  “Here. This is all I have. What happened?”

  “We were driving along when the bus just swerved off the road. I thought the driver was trying to miss a pedestrian, but then I saw all the other cars and trucks around us do the same thing. It was like…” The girl snapped her fingers as she tried to think up a good comparison. “It was like they all had an on and off switch that someone had turned off. It was that fast.”

  Sophie glanced over at Danny who had followed her on the bus. “Kinda like the two planes that crashed near the SUB. Just right out of the sky. Right into the courtyard by the gym.”

  “I tried to call for an ambulance but my phone is dead. I was just listening to my music with a full charge before this happened!” The other girl held her phone up, pulling one of here ear buds out of her ear. “This isn’t right! It’s like the end of the world!”

  That had crossed Sophie’s mind too but she chalked it up to reading too many post-apocalyptic novels. Her imagination was healthy when it came to thinking up what if’s and maybes.

  Nudging Danny, Sophie tried to keep here voice from shaking. “You mentioned EMP’s earlier. What if that’s what this is?”

  “EMP?” The girl with the phone cocked her head to the side.

  “Electromagnetic pulse,” Danny replied, staring down at the floor. “We just talked about them in class. But I don’t know… We’re jumping to conclusions and we shouldn’t do that.”

  “We need to get some help. There are a lot of injured people who need to go to the hospital.” Sophie stood up and started toward the front of the bus. It wasn’t the safest place to be at the moment.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Campus police. It’s not far from here and they might have some answers.”

  ***

  Alice couldn’t process what was happening. The emergency room became flooded with people, many covered in blood, others walking around like they were lost. The paramedics had mentioned that they had to bring the patient the rest of the way on foot but what exactly did that mean? She stood frozen for a few seconds, watching the rush happen around her. Life was happening in slow motion, like a time lapse video, and she couldn’t kick herself into gear and move in real time. Rose hurried past but turned on her heel, glaring at Alice in disbelief.

  “What’s the matter, Alice? We need to triage these people. There’s a waiting room full of people waiting.”

  “What…” Alice licked her lips, feeling nausea in the pit of her stomach. The fear of her husband’s plane crashing was still front and center despite the chaotic scene playing out in front of her. “What happened, Rose? What is going on?”

  “We don’t know. We’re still running off of generators and there is a massive influx of people coming in with serious injuries. I heard someone mentioned a huge pile up on the freeway but it was in passing and I haven’t had a chance to find out. Come on, Alice. We need to triage and get these people some help.”

  Alice stared for a few more seconds, and like a light switch, her training kicked into gear and she followed Rose into the main waiting room o
f the hospital. An influx of people was an understatement. Every chair was taken, people were leaning against the walls, and some people were lying on the floor. Taking a deep breath, Alice ran her fingers over the stethoscope that dangled around her neck and went to the farthest corner of the room - she’d work her way back and hopefully meet the other medical staff in the middle.

  The first family had some minimal injuries so she tagged them as non-emergency, even though the father didn’t agree with her decision. Alice ignored his ranting when she spotted a woman holding a child about Dylan’s age in her lap. He was unresponsive, his eyes closed, and his white shirt was soaked dark red. Kneeling beside them, Alice checked his pulse, which was weak. His breathing was shallow and if they didn’t get him some attention soon, he’d be dead.

  Looking around the room, Alice searched for a stretcher or gurney, or even someone who could help her get him into an exam room. Standing, she glanced down at the woman who had a cold and vacant stare, like she had given up. In the disarray transpiring, it was easy for most to feel helpless, including her own situation with the uncertainty that plagued her worried mind about her family.

  Patting the woman’s arm, Alice forced a smile and said, “I’m getting him help. I promise, I’ll be right back.”

  The stranger nodded but the blank expression on her face didn’t change. She stroked her fingers through the boy’s hair but didn’t say a word, either patience winning the battle with her worry or she truly had given up and accepted that the child was a goner.

  Weaving through people, Alice couldn’t find anyone available. Everyone was working on other patients, all as bad off as the boy or even worse. A lump formed in her throat and she stopped to wipe the hair from her face. Sweat gathered on her skin, dripping into her eyes. To hell with it. She’d do what she had to do. Protocol or not, from the looks of the disaster playing out, none of it would matter.