The Barbarous Road: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survivor Thriller (The Last War Book 6)

by Ryan Schow

  “That’s not too old, if that’s what I wanted, but that’s not what I want, Marcus. I just want to be near someone who reminds me of my father. I just need to forget this is happening. If only for a few minutes.”

  He didn’t say anything back, but he felt himself relax and he felt her falling back to sleep. He didn’t realize that he’d fallen asleep until he woke up, but when he did, he felt refreshed in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time. He’d actually slept. Sitting up, the room flooded with a dim shade of sunlight, he realized the long end of the morning was facing him. He checked his watch. It had stopped working for some reason.

  He tapped it.

  Nothing.

  Corrine rolled over, opened her eyes and said, “What time is it?”

  “Time to get up,” he said.

  Just then, Bailey walked out of their room to use the communal bathroom, stopping for a second at the sight of the two of them together. It had been a long time since he’d looked at anyone the way he was looking at Bailey. The word awkward sprung to mind. Embarrassed just wasn’t a strong enough word.

  “It’s not like that,” he said.

  “Not judging,” Bailey responded as she went into the bathroom and shut the door.

  “There’s nothing to judge,” he mumbled to himself.

  “What?” Corrine asked from behind him.

  “I said it’s time to get up,” he replied, getting up and putting a shirt on.

  “You didn’t say that,” she said.

  “Still…”

  “Does she think—?”

  “I’m going down to the boat,” he said, cutting her off because he didn’t even want the image of him being with her in his head. He was her protector, not her lover. Not someone he wanted anyone thinking he was taking advantage of.

  He took the boat keys, walked over to Amber’s house and asked which boat was theirs. She gave him directions and a description, then she stood there just inside the door, looking at him. He didn’t know what she wanted him to say, or to ask.

  “Are you with that girl?” she finally said.

  “Which one?” he asked.

  “Tall girl, gorgeous, big boobs?”

  “Bailey.”

  “Yeah, her.”

  “No,” he said. “Nick’s with her.”

  She stood a little straighter, then slowly nodded her head and said, “Yeah, figures. He’s just about as pretty as she is. Well, I guess you must be going.”

  “Thank you, Amber.” She nodded, then stood back to close the door, but he stopped her. “Are you sure you’re okay staying here by yourself?”

  “I have Abigail.”

  “You know what I mean,” he said.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Everyone’s fine until they’re not.”

  “Would you ever date a woman like me, in a world like this? I’m not asking because I want to date you. I mean, you’re nice and relatively good looking, but I’ve got a kid and I’m…not very good at life, which means I probably won’t be very good at this life.”

  “I’m not the dating kind, Amber.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I’m a bit…my head’s not right. My upbringing, my time in the Army. It’s not anyone’s fault in particular, and maybe I’ll try to change what’s mixed up here,” he said, tapping his skull, “but right now I don’t want to. My anger keeps me sharp. My hatred for everything keeps my heart turned off when I have to make tough decisions.”

  “Like decide who lives and who dies?” she asked, unblinking.

  “It’s about survival now.”

  “Have you killed people in this…whatever this is?” she asked before she realized you just don’t ask questions like this to men like him.

  “Yes.”

  Setting her jaw, she looked down, then said, “Thank you for the food and the gun.”

  “It seems an unfair trade, you know. A yacht for a few supplies.”

  “I can’t use the boat, but I can use the food and the gun, should I need it. You need a boat, and you have lots of food. As far as I’m concerned, we’re even Stephen.”

  “Well I’m grateful for you. And if you change your mind, we’ll be leaving in a few hours.”

  “Thank you.”

  With that she moved toward him, stood on her tippy-toes and kissed his cheek. “You’re a good man,” she said.

  He smiled as she shut the door, and then he turned and walked down the road, past the Mack truck and the house and all the way down to the yacht. He found the boat easily, then went aboard to check out the quarters. Although this one wasn’t nearly as nice as the other one, it was better than nothing. And right now that was something.

  He rooted around and found the owner’s manual, read the specs, figured they’d have to fill it with water and gas, and though that would take time, it was far better than the alternative. Driving through this nightmare up the coast would surely be a worst case scenario. Well, worse than losing the first boat. Which was a perfect boat.

  Letting out a deep breath, trying not to be upset at the yacht being gone, he stuck the key in the ignition, turned it, got nothing. No lights, no nothing. Battery? He went through the manual, found out where the main battery was located and a half hour later found it was dead. While he was going though the onboard tools, he found a portable fish finder, turned it on, nothing.

  Frustrated, Marcus left the boat, walked back up to Amber’s and knocked on the front door. She answered, looking at him in his sweaty, agitated state.

  “Hey, sorry to bother you,” he started to say.

  “You’re no bother,” she quickly replied.

  “When was the last time you took the boat out?”

  “Before my dad left,” she said. “So, maybe a week ago, two at the most?”

  “How would you say he was with his boats? Was he ever forgetful, or unintentionally careless?”

  “With the boat?” she asked, a glint of humor in her eyes at the suggestion.

  “Yeah.”

  “Absolutely not. He was a Formula One mechanic, one of the best in the business. So, no. He was not careless, or forgetful. Not by any stretch of the imagination.”

  “Well the battery’s dead.”

  “It’s a new battery as of a year ago. Are you sure?”

  Now it was his turn to look at her funny. “Yeah, I’m sure. Did you have any electronics that worked as of last night or the day before?”

  “Yeah. I mean, my cell phone. My iPod. Things like that. I think I lost everything else that was plugged in, either to a power surge, or maybe it’s just that the power’s down.”

  “Can I see either of those things? Your iPod or your phone?”

  “My cell phone isn’t working. I think the battery’s dead. But I just charged my iPod before any of this began. C’mon inside, I’ll go get it.”

  He walked inside, saw Abigail who came up to him. “Are we going with you after all?”

  “No, sweetheart, I’m just here to see if your mommy can help me on the way out of town.”

  “Oh,” she said, clearly dejected.

  Amber came back out, holding the device with a bundle of white earphones in her fist. “I thought I charged it. I mean, I’m sure I did—”

  “Anything else?” he asked.

  She thought about it for a second, then said, “Actually my laptop is charged. Hang on.”

  She disappeared leaving him with Abigail once more. The girl was now looking up at him, smiling. With the smattering of freckles on her nose, and her brownish red hair in French braids with the front of her hair pulled down in bangs, she was a cute kid.

  “My mommy likes you,” she said.

  He smiled, looked down at her and said, “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah, she says you’re handsome.”

  He felt the heat steal into his cheeks, then he said, “Where’s your daddy?”

  She looked down, then in a glum voice she said, “He’s with his girlfriend. My mom says she’s a bitch.”

&nbs
p; He coughed out a half laugh then said, “You shouldn’t use that word.”

  “Girlfriend?” she said, looking up.

  “The other one,” he said as Amber walked back into the living room with a perplexed look on her face.

  “I don’t know why this isn’t working either,” she said. “I swear I charged both of them. The iPod and my laptop. I was just using it the other day. The internet was down, but I remember looking at my battery strength.”

  “And you didn’t run the battery down?”

  “No.”

  He shook his head, suspecting what this was all about. “What kind of a car do you drive?”

  “Audi,” she said.

  “Newer or older?”

  “2017 A7,” she said. “I guess that’s new enough.”

  “Can I take a look at it?” he asked.

  Looking a little uncomfortable, she said, “I gave you the boat, but—”

  “I don’t want the car, I mean, the A7 is a gorgeous car, but I’m saying I’m not asking to take it. I only want to check something.”

  “Okay,” she said, reluctant. Abigail was looking back and forth between us. “Follow me.”

  He followed her to the garage.

  “Keys?”

  She handed them over. The door was locked, so he pressed the unlock function on the keyless remote, but it didn’t unlock. He touched the spot on the actual handle for the smart key’s keyless entry, but nothing. He could see her starting to worry. He slid the actual key from the key fob, opened the door, sat inside. The car was amazing. Truly stunning on every level. More amazing was that something this beautiful would never drive again. He pressed the start button, but nothing happened. It wasn’t starting. No lights, nothing.

  He got out of the car, handed her the key and said, “Your car is dead.”

  “The battery?”

  “No,” he replied, walking inside, “the entire car.”

  “Wait, Marcus,” she said, catching up with him. “What do you mean the entire car is dead?”

  “Ever heard of an EMP?” he asked.

  “No. I mean…no?”

  “Electromagnetic pulse. All your electronics are fried. Including your car, your iPod, your laptop. The electrical grid was probably already damaged by the attack on the city, but if this is in fact happening, then the grid is not just fried, everything with modern electronics is fried.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning you’ve got bigger problems than you originally thought.”

  “Are you one hundred percent sure of this?” she asked.

  “No.”

  He started to head out, wanting verification that an EMP had in fact taken place. It made sense. He didn’t expect it, but now that evidence was starting to point in that direction, it was the logical counterattack to an AI system that hijacked America’s defenses. Just nuke them all.

  As he walked outside the house, Amber followed, hot on his heels.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Drone hunting,” he said, steadfast, undeterred.

  “I’m coming with you.”

  Now he pulled up short, spun around and said, “Then get Abigail with Bailey and Nick and get your shotgun.”

  “I don’t like guns,” she said again.

  “I don’t care about your lack of understanding of guns. I may need it. You don’t know what’s out there and you can’t just hide in your house until you starve to death, get robbed, raped or killed. Because if an EMP was deployed, especially an HEMP, which is a high altitude nuclear explosion—”

  “Which is?”

  “If you detonate a nuclear weapon at the right altitude, it can cover half the United States. If you detonate two of them, then the entire electrical grid of the United States is screwed. You’re talking about setting the world back a hundred and fifty years in the past. Maybe more.”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “My best guess is that AI took control of the drones and were using them against humans. The only way to stop a system like that would be to shut down the AI programs. But if that didn’t work, setting off nukes would be the last resort. Maybe that’s why this went on so long. If the President and his team were looking at all the scenarios before this, that would explain why there were no teams sent to run a counterinsurgency, and no deployment of troops, or even the National Guard.”

  “Could there be another explanation?” she asked.

  “Yes, of course. But then why is every piece of electronics you own dead?”

  “So this EMP destroys, what?—all our electronics?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “So no cars, no running water, no electricity, right?”

  “Basically all the pillars of a civilized life here in modern America,” he said with a fair amount of sarcasm.

  “Meaning?”

  He bit his tongue, didn’t want to tell her the truth. What he had to say was scary enough to say to himself, let alone let fester in his brain. But to say it to a woman who couldn’t take care of herself? A woman who was scared of guns? Hell no. He wasn’t leveling with her now, he couldn’t.

  “C’mon Marcus, just be honest with me. I can take it.”

  “No you can’t.”

  He turned back around and started to head over to the house, but a hand came up, grabbed his shoulder and hauled him around with a surprising amount of strength. He found himself looking at this pixie of a woman. For the first time he noticed how pretty she was. She was pulled up black hair with just the slightest hint of burgundy; she was big blue eyes, freckles all over and full lips that were pursed at him right now.

  “Don’t treat me like I’m this frail little thing that’ll blow over in a stiff wind!” she said.

  “Wow.”

  “Wow what?” she barked.

  “I think I just saw you right now. I mean really saw you.”

  “What does that mean?” she asked, stalled.

  “You’re…you’re really quite attractive. But maybe I’m thinking that because you have a little fight in you.”

  “That’s because I’m a mother, moron. And don’t patronize me.”

  “I’m not.”

  “You wouldn’t date me yesterday, but now you’re telling me I’m pretty when I get pissed off at you. What’s with you?”

  “This isn’t your normal kind of day, in case you hadn’t noticed,” he said in the tone of voice he used to talk crazy people off the ledge.

  “No kidding,” she said, slapping his shoulder.

  “So now there’s no boat, which means if we want to get north we have to travel through the freaking mires of destruction.”

  “Why don’t you just stay?” she asked.

  “Because Bailey has to get to Sacramento and Nick to San Francisco.”

  “What about you? Where are you going?”

  He knew the conversation would come to this. “I have nowhere to be.”

  “So you’re just playing Uber slash Blackwater for people you don’t really know who have places to be?”

  “I’m a loner usually. It’s nice to have people around.”

  “People to protect?”

  “I guess,” he said playing coy, even though she nailed it right on the head.

  “Yeah, you come across as the type.”

  “Is that a bad thing?”

  “What am I going to do, Marcus?”

  “Take more of my food. We’ll find more along the way. Or come with us. I already told you it’s the safest way. Or get used to that gun.”

  “I don’t want to leave the house,” she said, firm but wavering.

  “I keep telling you to get Abigail and come with us!” he finally barked. “But you’re not listening. Stop all your damn hemming and hawing and just come with us.”

  “Abigail’s father might come home,” she finally said with a painstaking amount of shame on her face.

  “You’re waiting for a guy to leave his girlfriend to come pick up his kid he hardly sees, is that it?” he as
ked, realizing how badly he’d just screwed up the literal second he said it.

  “Amazing,” she said.

  Turning on her heel she stormed off. He waved a dismissive “I-give-up” hand at her, then went into the house and tried not to let his aggravation show. If the woman was wanting a man to take care of her, and he was offering, why wasn’t she accepting? Whatever. He was a man, a brute, a blunt force object. To say he didn’t understand women was like saying the sun was hot.

  “Where have you been?” Corrine asked.

  “Trying to get the boat going, then trying to get Amber to come with us.”

  “Why would you want that?”

  “She has no idea what’s coming. None of us do. Speaking of that,” he said, catching the others’ attention, “we need to have a group pow-wow.”

  Everyone met in the kitchen and he said, “We’ve got a reprieve from the drones, I think. But the bad news is I think whomever was in charge, the President most likely, set off a nuke, killing any modern electronics, including the yacht and things like your cell phones, etc…

  “How is that going to affect us?” Bailey asked.

  “You ever read about the dark ages?”

  “Does watching Game of Thrones count?”

  He took a deep breath in through his nose and let it out slowly through his mouth. “In a very disconnected kind of way.”

  “I didn’t mean…”

  “If this is the case, and I think it is, whatever plans we’ve made for getting home, things just got a hell of a lot harder.”

  A knock on the door startled all of them, but Marcus got up, opened it up and said, “Hey.”

  “First off,” Amber said looking up at him, “is it alright with the others, and second, why are we leaving one city for another?”

  He looked down at Abigail, who looked happy to be here, but concerned because her mother was talking in very serious tones.

  “We’ll check with the group, first,” he said. “And second, this isn’t about which city we’re going to, this is about getting people back to their families, their friends, the community they know.”

  “And what happens when we get to Sacramento, or San Francisco? What happens to us?”

  “You mean those of us without families?”

  “Yes.”

  “We’ll figure out which city we want to live in, or which direction we’re going to go, and then if we still like each other, then perhaps we can start our own little community.”