Edge of Collapse

by Alex Gunwick

  When she reached the road that led to the church, she considered her options. She could stay in the trees and try to spy on them, or she could march right down there and demand answers.

  The scent of beef wafted up from a plume of smoke near the front of the church. They were probably eating lunch. If she went to confront them now, she’d have to do it in front of the entire congregation. And maybe that was the right way to approach them. At least she’d be safe. They wouldn’t all band together and try to kill her, right? What kind of people would they be if they did?

  It probably didn’t matter since she’d be dead, but she highly doubted they were all psychopathic killers. She would have seen it in their eyes when she’d been there the previous day.

  As she walked toward the gathering, the scent of barbecue invaded her nostrils. Her stomach clenched. Other than the cookie, she hadn’t eaten any meat in days. Her mom had insisted on rationing it.

  The closer she came to the grill, the more her stomach churned. No one noticed her approaching until she reached the first picnic table. There were ten picnic tables situated in two rows. Several men turned to stare at her as she strode toward the preacher. He had his back to her.

  “Hey,” she said when she reached him.

  “Sierra, what a pleasant surprise,” Elijah said.

  “I need to talk to you.”

  “Of course. I’d be happy to talk, but we’re about to serve lunch. Would you like to join us?”

  Her traitorous stomach rumbled.

  “As our guest, you will be served first,” he declared without waiting for her answer.

  “I guess I could wait.”

  “Come, sit with me and my friend Turner,” Elijah said, indicating a seat at the picnic bench next to an older man.

  Sierra sat. A woman she didn’t know placed a paper plate in front of her. Steam curled up from grilled chicken. Several stems of broccoli and half of an apple accompanied the meat.

  “Go ahead,” Elijah said. “Eat up.”

  She dug into the food, savoring the partially burnt chicken skin. Before the bombs, she wouldn’t have touched broccoli with a ten-foot pole, but now it had risen to the level of exotic delicacy.

  “Does your family have a garden?” Elijah asked casually.

  She wasn’t fooled. The coldness in his gaze sent a shiver down her spine.

  “No.” They’d actually planted seeds two days earlier, but she didn’t see the point in revealing this information. “Were you at my house last night?”

  Conversation halted around them. Several people turned to watch Elijah, who immediately plastered a smile on his face.

  “Of course not; I don’t even know where you live. Why, did you have company?” he asked.

  “Three men. My mom shot one of them,” she said.

  “Really?” Elijah glanced at the man sitting to the other side of her. A look she couldn’t identify passed between them. “Is your mom okay?”

  “She wasn’t hit. The men who came were shitty shots.”

  At the next table over, someone whispered to the person sitting next to them. Elijah glanced their way, effectively silencing them with one look.

  “We don’t use foul language here,” he said.

  “Good thing I don’t live here.” She chomped into the apple and chewed obnoxiously.

  “Why wasn’t your father outside?” he asked.

  “How did you know she was shot at outside?”

  “I just assumed it was outside or she would have been hit. It’s not hard to hit someone inside a house.”

  “And you know this from experience?” Sierra asked.

  The corners of his mouth turned down slightly.

  “No, not directly. But I can assure you, whoever attacked your home last night wasn’t from our church. We’re a peaceful community as long as no one attacks us.”

  Several people mumbled in agreement.

  “Have you heard of any other groups lurking around?” she asked.

  “No. Although we did have a group attack us several days ago. We had to kill them or they were going to kill us.”

  She tried not to show her shock, but she was sitting amongst killers. And they had guns. Although she didn’t see any, they had to have guns, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to kill off another group.

  “I’ve been thinking…maybe you’d be safer if you moved in with us,” Elijah said. “You and your family would be more than welcome to stay in one of the empty houses in the canyon. We have more than enough food to go around. Of course, we’d ask that you bring any supplies and weapons with you.”

  “I’d have to ask my mo—dad,” she said. She had to make sure they still thought her dad was with them. “I should go.”

  “I’d love to meet your father,” he said. “Bring him for dinner tonight. Maybe if he sees how our group operates, he’ll be more inclined to join us.”

  “Maybe,” she said noncommittally. “Thanks for lunch.”

  After leaving the church, she walked into the woods for about a quarter of a mile. She stopped and turned to make sure no one was following her. The forest remained silent but for the chirp of a bird and the scamper of a squirrel.

  She slowly made her way back to the cabin, checking every quarter mile to make sure they weren’t following her. She didn’t believe the preacher. As far as she could tell, there weren’t any other groups in this part of the forest. They had to be the ones who’d attacked them last night.

  Her mom was going to kill her when she found out. Not only had she broken the rule about leaving the property, but she’d led a band of murderers right to their door.

  26

  Several days after the confrontation with the preacher, Liz returned from perimeter patrol to make dinner. She turned on the gas stove which had an electronic ignition switch. It didn’t light. She glanced at the clock on the stove. Instead of the usual blue numbers, it was completely black.

  “That’s weird,” she said.

  “What?” Kyle called from the living room.

  “The clock isn’t working on the stove and I can’t get it to light.”

  “Yeah the DVD player won’t work either,” he said.

  “When did that happen?”

  “I don’t know, a few hours ago.”

  “What about the lights?” she asked.

  “We’re not supposed to turn them on, remember?”

  “Right. I’ll make an exception so I can check the power.” She flicked on the light switch in the kitchen. “It looks like the power went out.”

  “Maybe it’ll come back on later. Can’t you light the stove with a match? Dad does that sometimes.”

  “Yeah.”

  Liz opened the junk drawer and pulled out a box of long matches. She struck one and turned on the gas. She held the match to the burner. Flames flickered to life. She blew out the match and tossed it into a bowl by the sink. After grabbing a cast iron skillet from the cabinet, she turned around just in time to watch the flame flicker out and die.

  “What on earth?”

  Bells jingled outside. She dropped the pan onto the stove and raced to grab her rifle by the front door. She checked to make sure a round was in the chamber before opening the front door. She looked down the sight and spotted Edwin and Sandy Wright, the neighbors, walking up from the road.

  “Hey,” Edwin called. “You guys have any power?”

  “No.” Liz lowered the gun. “You?”

  “Lost it an hour ago or so,” Sandy said. “Gas is out too.”

  “That’s weird,” Liz said.

  “I think we’ve been hit again,” Edwin said.

  “With what?”

  “An EMP.”

  “An EMP?” Liz couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Isn’t that science fiction?”

  “No,” Sandy said. “We knew something like this could happen, especially if we’re under nuclear attack. The enemy only needs to detonate a nuke three hundred miles up over the center of America. Nebraska, Kansas, any of t
hose corn states would do. Then poof, everything’s gone. No electrical grid. Very few cars will still work. Computers will be fried.”

  “What makes you think we had an EMP strike?” Liz asked.

  “Anything with a battery still works. No battery and it’s not working. We tried hooking my laptop up via our battery backup and it’s not working. Circuits are probably fried,” Edwin said. “I got on the HAM and everyone’s saying the same thing.”

  “How did your radio survive?”

  “It’s got a vacuum-tube which isn’t affected when an EMP strikes,” Edwin said.

  “And other people also have these kinds of radios?”

  “Yup,” he said. “A lot of HAM operators run their radios for exactly these types of situations. We want to be prepared.”

  “An EMP strike seems highly unlikely,” Liz said. “Are you sure?”

  “There’s no way to know for sure because it’s hard to get any information these days,” Edwin said. “But I’m sure. What else could it be?”

  “The power plants could have gone offline because of the computer problems.”

  “Maybe,” Sandy said. “But that doesn’t explain the gas lines.”

  “Maybe they are rationing it,” Liz said.

  “No,” Edwin said. “My guess is that the pumps are down. Natural gas is kept under pressure. They use electrical pumps to maintain that pressure.”

  “Which makes my point,” Liz said. “It could just be a power plant issue.”

  “Well, either way, we’re out of electricity and power for now. We’ve got some gas stored up to run our backup generator, but it’ll only last us a few weeks if we’re careful,” Edwin said.

  “I guess it’s back to the creek to do laundry,” Sandy said. “I’d better get the old washboard off the wall.”

  “You have one?”

  “Yeah. We were using it as a decoration,” Sandy said. “Ironic that we need it now.”

  “I guess we’re going to have to do a lot of things the old way,” Edwin said.

  “At least until the power comes back on,” Liz said.

  “Let us know if that happens,” Sandy said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself all day now that I can’t watch my movies.”

  “Was your cable working?”

  “No, but I have over one hundred DVDs,” Sandy said proudly.

  “Don’t let the kids hear you or they’re going to be over there three times a day borrowing new ones,” Liz said.

  “How can they watch them if the power’s out?” Edwin asked.

  “Oh, right.” Liz flushed slightly. “I forgot.”

  “No worries. If you need anything, just holler,” Sandy said.

  “I’ve been thinking, we’ve got an extra pair of walkie talkies,” Liz said. “Maybe we should use them to stay in touch.”

  “Do you have a lot of batteries?” Edwin asked.

  “Enough to power them.”

  “Sounds like a plan then,” he said.

  “Hang on. I’ll go get them.” When Liz returned, she handed one to Edwin. “Keep it on channel two. These are short range so I don’t expect we’ll run into any interference.”

  “Sounds good. Take care. If you need anything, give us a holler. Are you set up okay on food?” Edwin asked.

  “We’re good for now. You?”

  “We’ve got enough to last a while,” Sandy said.

  “Good. With any luck we won’t have to go too long without power,” Liz said. “At least it’s finally starting to cool off.”

  “Yep.”

  After making small talk about the weather, the Wrights headed back toward their house. Liz switched on her walkie-talkie and stuffed it into her waistband. Back inside the house, she found Kyle rolling around on the floor with Justice. The dog woofed and wagged his tail furiously.

  Liz smiled and let them play while she went out back to set up the grill. She wasn’t totally convinced they’d been hit with an EMP yet, but with the gas and electricity out, she’d have to cook dinner as if they were out camping.

  After putting a pot of beans on the grill, she headed back in to get a cup of rice. She grabbed the salt and pepper shakers as well as dried garlic flakes for added flavor. They’d been eating beans and rice every day since they’d arrived. They did have a stockpile of canned food out in the shed, but she was trying to save those for when Luke arrived. She planned on creating a massive feast to celebrate his return.

  Until then, they’d have to enjoy what meager changes in seasoning she could manage. She’d found some seed packets for herbs out in the shed. She didn’t know much about gardening, but she figured she could try to plant them and see what happened. Worst case scenario the seeds wouldn’t work. But if they did, she’d be able to add mint or basil to the mix. Something as simple as that would go a long way in lifting morale at the house.

  Sierra swung the hammer one last time to complete the wooden platform for the solar panels. She stepped back and admired her handiwork. She’d used her brother’s protractor to create the angle she’d calculated on a notepad. Who knew she’d actually use geometry for something useful?

  According to the directions, she needed to use the latitude, times 0.76, plus 3.1 degrees. She found the latitude on one of her dad’s maps: 33-45'23'' N. So the angle needed to be 28 degrees. She did some rounding so she wouldn’t lose her mind trying to calculate an overly specific angle. Hopefully the possibility of being off by a degree would be okay. She’d know whether or not it was working after they plugged it in.

  Her mom sat in the dirt a few feet away, studying the wires and connectors. The solar panels were laid out side by side. Although they’d unpacked the brand-new panels and battery right after breakfast, it had taken hours to try to understand it all. Fortunately Liz had a basic understanding of electrical wiring because she’d helped Luke rewire one of the rooms a couple of years earlier.

  “The platform’s done,” Sierra said.

  “Okay. I think I have this figured out, but I guess we won’t know until we plug it in.”

  “We’ll see.”

  “Help me lift the panels onto the platform,” Liz said.

  As Sierra helped her lift the panels, Liz maneuvered them into place. They made sure that they were in the right position before they moved on to the next step.

  “Hand me the silicone sealant,” Liz said.

  Sierra grabbed the tube and passed it across the solar cells. As Liz glued the cells into place, Sierra walked over to get the wires.

  “Don’t move those,” Liz said.

  “Why not?”

  “I have them all laid out according to how we’re going to connect them. Also, we need to wait for the sealant to dry before we try to attach the wires.”

  “How long will that take?” Sierra asked.

  “Twenty-four hours.”

  “I’m sure we can solder the wires without moving the solar cells.”

  “I don’t want to take any chances.”

  “I’m sure it will be fine.” Sierra couldn’t keep the impatience out of her tone. After taking three ice-cold showers in a row, she was ready to get the hot water heater back up and running.

  “If we screw this up, we don’t get a second chance,” her mom snapped.

  “I know.”

  “We won’t have any way to cook and you can forget hot water.”

  “What about the grill?” Sierra asked. She’d skip a shower if it only meant waiting twenty-four hours.

  “I don’t want to advertise to anyone who might be out there that we’re cooking. We’ll have to use it again tonight, but I don’t want to have to use it after we get the solar battery running. Go get your brother and get him to help you with laundry. I’m going to take the wiring back into the shed and lay it out so that it’s ready for tomorrow.”

  Sierra headed into the house to gather the laundry. Their neighbors had found a second washboard in their old barn and had given it to her mom. On one hand she was thankful they’d have cle
an clothes, but on the other, she hated having to do even more chores. Not having electricity sucked.

  After gathering the clothes, she walked past Kyle, who was sitting on the couch reading a book. She didn’t want to ask him to help her because she didn’t want to deal with his endless questions about when the power would come back on. If she knew the answer to that, she wouldn’t have spent all day putting together the platform.

  She carried the basket of clothes out to the old red wagon they used to play with when they were kids. Sometimes Kyle still played with it when they were spending a weekend at the cabin, but even he was getting too old for it.

  As she dragged the wagon behind her, she scanned the woods. Ever since she’d gone to confront the preacher, she’d felt like she was being watched. She never spotted anyone, but it was as if the trees had eyes. It totally creeped her out.

  When she reached the stream, she took one more look around before beginning to do the laundry. She laid out the washboard and grabbed a bar of soap. After dipping the clothes in the stream to get them wet, she scrubbed away until everything was clean.

  As she wrung water out of the last pair of pants, a rustling in the trees caught her attention. She looked up to find Adam walking toward the stream. She stood and eyed him warily. Although he hadn’t done anything to make her think he was a bad person, he didn’t hang out with nice people.

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Hey.” He dropped his gaze to the basket. “Doing laundry?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Did you lose power too?”

  She nodded. “A couple of days ago.”

  “Us too. It sucks.”

  “Tell me about it. How’s everything in cray-cray land?”

  “Cray-cray? Huh?”

  “Church.” Maybe he wasn’t as smart as he looked. “Anything weird going on over there?”

  “It’s okay. Well… except… a few nights ago I saw something strange. It was the night before you came and yelled at the preacher.”

  “I bet he loved that. Did he say anything about it?” she asked.

  “No.”