by Mike Kraus
“For those of you out there who can still hear us, we’ve got about three more hours until our generator is dry and we can’t broadcast anymore. If you’re in a large city, we encourage you to shelter in place and follow the instructions of your local law enforcement and government officials. We have no new information on…” The man glanced down at a few other pieces of paper. “No updated information on FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineering and their attempts to restore power, but we believe they are still working with power companies to get things working as quickly as possible.”
The man glances at his co-anchor and she nods, then picks up where he left off. They ad-lib what they are saying, as the teleprompter isn’t functioning. “If you’re in one of the affected areas, we want to remind you again, to shelter in place. If you need supplies like medicine, food or water, federal and state agencies are working to set up distribution points, so you shouldn’t try to venture out on your own. Also please keep in mind that the White House and FBI have declared the ongoing situation as active, meaning that they believe that more terrorist actions may be forthcoming. For that reason you should stay away from heavily populated areas, avoid vehicles and any forms of transportation.”
“That’s right, Lacey.” Her co-anchor takes over again. “Most major public transportation systems have been shut down after the devastation caused in Manhattan’s subway system and, of course, all flights have been grounded indefinitely until we can figure out what’s going on.”
The woman who delivered the piece of paper to the anchors watches them for a moment before slipping out of the broadcast room. She heads back down the hall, doing another round to pick up any new information gathered by the journalists who are scattered about the building. With only a precious few hours left, every single piece of information that comes in may prove useful.
Chapter 5
“Wait a second. What do you mean nobody’s driving?” Frank stared out the front windshield of the truck as it barreled down the highway, slowing only when there happened to be an odd car or wreck in their way.
“Okay, so there are a few people still driving—like us, for example. But that’s what I heard earlier, and you can see it now. We’re pretty much the only car on a highway that should be packed to the gills.”
Frank rubbed his eyes and shook his head, having trouble coming to terms with what Linda had spent the last half hour explaining to him. Earlier in the day she had picked up a radio broadcast from a New York station that was rebroadcasting from a station that was in the Washington, D.C. area. The broadcast was a mixture of informational reports and cautionary tales from stories across the country.
One of the most frightening bits of news she passed on to Frank was that the destruction he had heard about on the television was far greater than he realized. Enough bombs had been planted and then remotely detonated in shipping containers, tractor-trailers, trains and even in a few private vehicles that the transportation grid in the country had effectively ground to a halt.
Truck drivers that hadn’t been affected were refusing to even go near their vehicles. The federal government had grounded all planes. Trains and mass transportation grids in larger cities had shut down. Even the general population, as they started to learn about what had happened, was beginning to rapidly abandon their vehicles, afraid that they might be one of the unfortunate few to have been targeted.
“Did you hear about any sort of pattern to the attacks? I mean, it sounds like whoever did this was just trying to shut everything down.” Frank moved around in his seat, trying to find a more comfortable position.
“I don’t think there was a pattern except to try and shut everything down. Whoever did this caused just enough destruction to scare everyone. And now that people won’t travel and shipments of basically everything are shut down, things are going to get very bad, very fast.”
“No kidding, and especially with the power outages. How long do you think that’ll take to get fixed?”
Linda raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Frank. “Months? Years? The little dab I heard before the station went dead was that the rolling blackouts were caused by physical damage to plants and infrastructure. Some of those parts can take several years to replace. Whoever did this was smart—really smart. They chose the perfect way to cause a tremendous amount of chaos.”
“I just…I don’t understand.” Frank struggled to form the words. “How… how could anyone—or any organization—manage to destroy a few hundred trucks. I mean, I understand the effect. I wouldn’t go within a hundred feet of one right now. But the sheer logistics of managing that, and remaining undetected… it’s mind-boggling.”
“No kidding. Not to mention hitting everything else.” Linda sighed and clenched her jaw. “Whatever. I just need to get home, make sure my parents are fine and then I’ll figure out what to do from there.”
The way that Linda managed to cycle between sounding friendly and sounding aloof was still a mystery to Frank. He felt like he was being open, forthright and transparent with her, but was receiving nothing but a stone wall with the minimum required amount of human interaction back. Maybe if I’m nice to her she won’t kick me out.
“So your parents are where? Tennessee?”
“Pigeon Forge.”
“Hey, that’s a nice place! I remember visiting Dollywood when I was a kid. The cabin we stayed in had a lot of spiders.” Linda’s face remained stoic, but Frank swore he heard her snort in slight amusement. “What do they do down there?”
“They’re…” Linda licked her lips hesitantly. “They’re retired.”
Frank could sense the uneasiness and worry in Linda’s answer. “I’m sure they’re fine.”
“Yeah, I don’t know about that. That’s why I need to get there.” Linda shook her head slightly and glanced over at Frank. “So what’s your story? You said you were a trucker?”
Frank laughed. “Barely. I started a month ago. I was an accountant for most of my life. Everything dried up and I moved in with my folks in Texas for a while, then got a job with a little trucking company. Not exactly my cup of tea but hey, I’ve gotta work at something.”
Linda nodded approvingly. “Nicely done. Not a lot of folks would take that kind of a downgrade. How’s life been treating you on the road?”
“Almost no sleep, long hours, barely any pay.” Frank smiled. “Better than nothing, I guess.”
They rode in silence for several more minutes before Frank spoke up again. “So what’s your plan for everything once you get back to your parents? Do you have any kids?”
Linda kept her eyes on the road as she replied. “No kids. Never found the time or the person. As for a plan, that’s hard to say. My folks still own a bit of land down there a few miles from the city, as long as they haven’t sold it yet. I can take them there, take care of them and ride this out as best as I can.”
“They don’t live on the land?” Frank asked.
Linda responded hesitantly. “They don’t live on it. No. Mom had a stroke three years ago, then dad had one a year after her. They’re in a nursing home right now.”
“Oh wow. I’m really sorry.”
Linda coughed and shifted in her seat, her expression hardening. “I don’t need you to feel bad for me or them.”
“Huh?” Frank started to protest. “I’m really sorry I asked. Forget about it, okay?”
“It is what it is.” Linda tightened her grip on the steering wheel and twisted it sharply. “What about your parents?”
“They’re down in Texas. They’re uh… ‘preppers’ I guess you could call them.” Frank noticed Linda’s expression softening at the sound of this, and he continued. “I never really bought into all that stuff till I stayed with them for a few months before I got my new job.”
“Did they turn you into one?”
Frank laughed and patted his bag. “I don’t think I could ever be on their level. But yeah, they wore off on me a bit and I learned a few things.” Frank eyed Linda closely. “
Something tells me you’re familiar with their way of life.”
Linda slid her eyes over to look at him, studying him closely. “Something like that, yeah.”
“Awesome.” Frank nodded with satisfaction, then turned back to look at the road. The hills and trees whipped by at eighty miles an hour as Linda kept the truck speeding along. Frank counted the number of other vehicles he saw driving and in the course of three hours saw five in total. None of them were commercial, and they were all loaded down with people and luggage, indicating that the passengers inside were trying to get away from or to somewhere.
Darkness soon crept up as the sun slipped beyond the horizon, putting an end to the worst day that Frank could remember in a very long time. As tired as he had been earlier at the diner, he hadn’t been able to sleep at all in the truck. A few short conversations had passed between Linda and himself, but for the most part they stayed quiet, each of them lost in their own thoughts.
Frank smiled slightly as he thought about his parents on their ranch and how they would have undoubtedly reacted to the disaster that was unfolding across the country. Unlike most other people, his parents wouldn’t have panicked, since they had a plan for every single potential societal breakdown possible. Hell, he thought, they’re probably happier than they’ve been in a long time. Being stuck on the other side of the country from his only family was a problem, but with a bit of luck he’d be seeing them again before too many more days passed. Besides, it can’t be as bad as Linda’s making it out to be.
The encroachment of artificial lighting into the most remote places in the United States meant that there were few places left where the majesty of the night sky could be fully enjoyed. National parks and isolated patches of wilderness were the last bastions of freedom from light pollution where one could look up at the sky and see the vastness of the universe laid out as if for one’s personal benefit.
Frank leaned forward and looked up through the windshield, shaking his head and whistling softly. The inky blackness of the sky was punctuated by innumerable pinpoints of bright twinkling light that were more majestic than he had seen before. “Wow.” He muttered softly to himself, taking in the majesty of the sight.
Next to him, Linda leaned forward slightly and smiled. “I guess that’s one benefit of the power being out everywhere.”
“You think this means the blackouts are nationwide?”
Linda shrugged. “That’s what it sounded like on the radio. I know there are towns all over the place on either side of this highway, so if we’re seeing the sky like this, I’m pretty sure the power’s out pretty much everywhere around here. Wouldn’t surprise me if it’s the same across the country.”
A soft chime rang out and Linda sighed. “Getting low on gas. I’ll have to pull over and fill the tank.”
Frank could sense the tension in her voice and tried to put her at ease. “I’ll get out and fill it up, if that’ll make you feel more comfortable.” He watched her grip on the steering wheel relax and she nodded.
“Thanks, that’d be great.”
“No problem.”
There were no exits anywhere in the next several miles, so Linda pulled over when the shoulder of the road grew wide and there was enough room to get the truck completely off the highway. “Doubt we’ll see any traffic, but better to be safe, especially in the dark.” She nodded at Frank. “Cans are in the back.”
Frank hopped out and dutifully walked around to the back of the truck. Linda’s continued distrust of him was starting to wear thin, but the last thing he wanted to do was to piss her off and get stranded out in the middle of nowhere. He pulled a couple of gas cans out of the back of the truck and brought them around to the side. The cap cover popped open as Linda pulled the lever inside the truck, then he heard the driver’s side door open.
“Hey.” Linda hopped out of her seat and Frank could see that her pistol was tucked into the side of her pants. “Look, I’m sorry for treating you like this.” She walked up to him and took the can he was holding and unscrewed the cap, flipped the spout over and began pouring it into the tank.
Frank took a step back and eyed her warily. “You don’t need to trust me; I can understand the reluctance.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you…”
Frank snorted and crossed his arms. “I think the gun says differently. But I understand, and it’s okay. I appreciate you taking me as far as you can south. I’ll figure something else out when you’re ready for me to leave.”
Linda threw the empty gas can into the back of the truck and uncapped the second can. “Let’s just take this one step at a time, all right?”
Frank watched Linda finish filling the truck, wondering what was going on inside her head. After the second can went into the back of the truck, Linda glanced at Frank. “Let’s get going. A couple more hours and we can look for a place to stop and rest.”
Chapter 6
Frank realized he was dozing on and off when he kept bumping his head against the window and waking himself up. He didn’t fight it, but was starting to get frustrated by his inability to completely fall asleep when the truck took a sharp turn to the right, pushing him against his seatbelt and causing him to reach out for the dashboard to keep from falling sideways.
“Sorry.” Linda yawned from the driver’s seat and nodded in the direction they were going. “I saw a place that looked good to stop for the night.”
“Where are we anyway?” Frank stretched and rubbed his eyes. “Seems like we’ve been going for more than a few hours.”
Linda glanced in the rearview mirror and nodded. “Yeah, I haven’t liked the look of any of the places we’ve passed.”
“Wasn’t there a rest area or two that we went by? I was sort of falling asleep so maybe I missed something.”
“Rest areas are going to be a prime target for the kind of folks we want to steer clear of.” The road grew bumpier as the truck rolled along a rough dirt road. Ahead of them a few hundred feet the headlights picked up the shape of a large wooden building with peeling red paint and a disturbingly angled roof.
“What is this place?” Frank squinted at the building and the area surrounding it, trying to figure out where they were.
“Looks like a farm, but nobody’s been back here in a while based on the condition of the road and the overgrowth. It’s a perfect place to get a few hours of sleep.”
Frank raised an eyebrow. “Out in an isolated place like this? You sure about that?”
Linda’s right hand fell off the steering wheel and lingered near her hip. “I’m not saying I trust you, Frank, but I’d rather rest up with someone who hasn’t been trying to kill me all day than take my chance with people I know absolutely nothing about. Besides, I’ll be sleeping in the truck with the doors locked while you take your shift.”
Frank laughed and shook his head. “Whatever you say, Linda. I’m just along for the ride.”
The truck eased to a stop and Frank unbuckled his seatbelt. “I’ll go check it out.” Linda nodded and shut off the engine, though she kept the lights on.
Frank slipped out of the truck and closed the door gently, raising his head to look at the building in front of him. The barn was old, at least thirty or forty years, and was in rough shape. The grass and brush growing up against it hadn’t been trimmed in several months and one of the two doors on the front hung at an odd angle, offering a glimpse of the interior. Trees butted up against the back side of the barn while fields, brush and undergrowth surrounded it on the other three sides. If there was a house on the property it wasn’t nearby or was hidden by the woods on the opposite side of the barn.
Frank approached the entrance to the barn cautiously, and peeked inside, using the light from the truck to see. The interior looked surprisingly clean and neat compared to the outside, with a couple of older tractors parked next to each other and several farming attachments for the tractors arranged on the floor of the barn. Several bales of hay were stacked near the front, giving off a fam
iliar odor that Frank remembered from his parents’ ranch.
He put his shoulder up against the crooked door and gave it a push. The rails at the top and bottom squealed in protest, but with a bit of effort he was able to slide it open a few feet. Behind him, Linda stepped out of the car and walked up next to him carrying two flashlights. She handed one to him and peered inside the barn. “Looks cozy.”
Frank laughed and looked back at the truck. “Better than trying to sleep in the front seat of that thing. Anyway, do you want to take the first watch, or me, or just both try and get some sleep at the same time?”
Linda turned and pointed at a long black and brown object that was hanging from her shoulder. “Here, take this.” Frank raised his eyebrows as he saw the shape of a hunting rifle hanging from a strap. He grabbed the barrel and pulled it from her shoulder, then eyed her with confusion.
“I’m sorry, but I thought you didn’t trust me.”
“I don’t.” She took a small bag off her other shoulder and held it out. “Extra ammo and some batteries for your light.”
“Why are you giving me all this?” Frank was completely confused, and wasn’t sure what was going on.
“Like I said, I don’t trust you. But you haven’t tried to kill me yet, and you’re going to be useless while you’re on watch if you don’t have a weapon.” Linda turned and headed back to the truck. “I’m going to get a couple hours sleep. Come wake me up if you hear or see anything.”
Linda climbed back in the truck, closed the door and shut off the headlights. Frank could hear the click of the locks engaging and could just barely make out Linda leaning over to lay across the seats. He put the small bag of ammo and the rifle over his shoulder and wandered into the barn, using his light to examine every inch of it as he slowly walked around.
Linda’s behavior went beyond confusing and Frank had no idea what to make of it. She fully admitted that she didn’t trust him, but she was still willing to give him a weapon and apparently go to sleep while he took the first watch. He suspected she was up to something, but wasn’t sure what it was yet. He took a few moments to check the ammunition she had given him for the rifle, and couldn’t find any problems with either the gun or the ammo. He was tempted to take a test shot just to be sure, but thought better of it.