Powerless (EMP Survival Book 1)

by Emily Garnet

  “I see you’re aware of the potential pitfalls of the situation. I’ll take your advice on getting some more serious-grade weapons for our trek out of Vegas, but I’d like to get some basic ones too.”

  “You just don’t want to load yourself up too much.”

  She nodded. “We’ll need a couple of bags to carry the extras that we aren’t using right now. Keep it lightweight, please.”

  He hesitated. After moment, he stammered, “About the background check…”

  Ivy stared at him, not speaking. She just had her arms crossed over her chest, and Matt knew that expression. It was the one she used when other bandmembers were being difficult or insisting on changes that didn’t need to be made to the music, the arrangement of performances, or their look and style. Matt wasn’t at all surprised when Kenny caved a moment later.

  The man’s shoulders drooped, and he huffed out a sigh. “I trust you. You’re going to pass a background check, right?”

  Ivy nodded, giving him a big smile. “I definitely will, but if this really is something like a HEMP, I think we both know it won’t matter. They won’t be running background checks again for a really long time.”

  Kenny licked his lips, looking nervous. “Yeah. Okay, let me get you some inventory.”

  While Kenny went to the gun case, Ivy pulled Matt over to examine the few gun bags the shop had in stock. From the way they were shaped like blunted triangles, he couldn’t imagine they were going to be much help in hiding what they were carrying, but maybe that would be an asset when they were trying to get out of the city. She selected two and had adjusted hers to fit on her shoulder by the time Kenny called them over to the counter.

  Matt followed her, seeing four handguns and four rifles assembled on the counter. Beyond that, he couldn’t identify anything, except he could see a difference between the two guns setting on top versus the two rifles below them on the counter. One looked almost primitive, and the other one was badass.

  He wasn’t much for guns, but even he could appreciate the sleek design of the rifle that Ivy picked up, and Kenny called an AR15. Ivy seemed to know what she was doing as she examined it, checking all the components before nodding her satisfaction. “These will do great. Is it all right with you if I show Matt how to use this gun and the others? He doesn’t have any firearms experience.”

  Kenny looked hesitant again. His slight stammer was back. “I don’t know about that. I’m not supposed to let you load a gun here.”

  Ivy smiled in a reassuring fashion. “I’m not planning to load the gun. I just need to show him how the parts work. Is that all right?” She grinned so wide her dimples showed.

  Matt struggled not to laugh at the awestruck look on Kenny’s face. Ivy definitely had her moments where she was charming as anything, and this was one of them. When Kenny nodded, Ivy gestured for Matt to come closer, and she walked him through how to use each of the weapons. Then she turned to Kenny. “We need a good supply of ammo. Nothing that will weigh us down too much, but something that will last us if we have a firefight.”

  Matt winced at the words and the idea. This was still America, and surely the cops would show up at some point. Even without vehicles, they’d take to the streets on foot. He couldn’t believe they would actually end up exchanging gunfire with anyone. Still, Ivy was convinced, so he held any objection.

  “Do you have an old card reader, Kenny?” Ivy was practically batting her eyelashes. “I definitely don’t have enough cash on me to cover that.”

  His face flushed, and Kenny was clearly affected by her charming manner. “I have a card reader somewhere around here. Let me look for it.”

  As Kenny disappeared into the back room, Ivy turned to the small selection of camping gear. She chose a sturdy backpack and indicated Matt should get one too. He looked at the humble selection, finally choosing one that looked like it might’ve been an Army pack at some point. It was older and dingy, but it looked like the most comfortable of the small selection.

  Ivy filled her bag with a few things, including a knife and what looked like a small radio. Matt selected a few things too, though he was rusty. He hadn’t been camping since he was a teenager. His father used to take them to the City of Rocks at the Utah border, so they could climb rocks and camp there, sometimes for a few days. As they’d gotten older, Matt and Sophie had both lost interest in camping, and their dad hadn’t persisted in forcing them to come with him. Now, Matt was grateful to have at least some of that experience, and it guided him to pick some items he thought might be critical if Ivy was right, or if they had to walk for a while to get home.

  When Kenny returned, he had an old-fashioned card reader in his hand. It took him a few minutes to load it with paper, mainly because it took him a while to find the carbon paper, and he muttered a few curses along the way. Ivy chatted to him the whole way, and that seemed to soothe any of his reservations. When he finally had it loaded, he tallied up their purchases, which exceeded three thousand dollars, and Ivy passed over her black AMEX.

  Kenny put it in the slot and started to make a copy, but he hesitated. He looked up at her. “If the power doesn’t come back, I won’t get paid for this.”

  Ivy put a hand on his forearm. “I swear to you that I’ll find a way to pay you if the system doesn’t come back online, or if credit cards are useless.”

  He sighed. “If we reach that point, cash’ll be useless too. At least I know you’re safe. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.” He wore an eager-puppy expression, clearly desperate for approval.

  “Ah, you’re so sweet, Kenny. Are you planning to stay with the shop, or are you getting out of Vegas too?” asked Ivy.

  “I’m going to wait and see for a while, but I might end up heading out. Just have to see how bad it gets.”

  Ivy nodded. “I hope this is as bad as it gets, but I’d expect it to be worse.”

  Kenny nodded. “Me too.” Finally, he handed back her credit card, and she stuffed it in the small wallet she kept in her pocket, even while on stage.

  Matt had a similar one that was thin enough not to be visible through his tight jeans, but had enough capacity to hold his identification, credit card, and some emergency cash. He’d started doing that at Ivy’s insistence, and now he wondered if her prepper background had led her to make that choice, so she always had funds and identification on her, even while performing. He couldn’t imagine how that kind of upbringing had distorted her view.

  “Ivy?” Kenny was blushing and looking down now.

  “Yeah?” she prompted in a gentle tone.

  “I want to say I really like your hair. I mean, I like you with just your natural kind of reddish-brown color, but that blondish-red with the purple stripy thing looks really cool.”

  Ivy smiled. “Thank you. It’s called ombre. Thank you for everything, Kenny.”

  He nodded as he shuffled out from behind the counter to follow them to the door. “Did you get everything you needed?”

  “Everything we can carry anyway,” said Ivy with a small laugh. “You really saved us tonight. If I can do anything for you, let me know.” She took Kenny’s hand and the pen from his pocket, writing her cell phone number on it before handing back the pen. “Thanks a million and be safe.”

  Kenny opened the door for them, and then the gate, and they had to duck under again. This time, he pushed it up a little higher for them to accommodate the backpacks newly added to their backs. The sleeping bag Matt had picked out and tied to the top of his pack temporarily caught in the metal gate, but Kenny freed him, and he was outside with Ivy a moment later. Kenny pushed down the gate, but he seemed reluctant to close the door.

  Ivy lifted her hand in a wave, and Matt did the same as they started walking away. He heard the door close behind them a moment later, followed by the sound of the lock clicking into place.

  “That was a nice guy.” Matt adjusted his backpack, unaccustomed to carrying one. As he did so, he paused at the sensation prickling the hair on the ba
ck of his neck. He turned around to look behind him, feeling like he was being watched. There was no sign of Kenny in the window or at the door, so it wasn’t him.

  He shrugged it off and kept walking, but turned once more a few feet away, still feeling the sensation. No one was obviously watching them, and he was afraid he was being infected with paranoia. Not that he wanted to call Ivy’s caution paranoia, but it did kind of border on it. Even though Kenny clearly shared the same concerns, Matt still wasn’t convinced.

  He made an effort to ignore the sensation of being watched and adjusted his burdens again. He had the gun bag across one shoulder, plus the backpack, and then an AR15 on a strap hanging down his back for ease-of-use if he needed it. There was also a holster holding his handgun at his waist. What had Ivy called it? A Desert Fox? No, that didn’t sound right. Desert Eagle. That was it. He couldn’t bring himself to even put his hand near it, and he prayed he’d have no reason to fire it.

  They walked for a while, and she was no longer ducking and weaving, but that seemed to be because the area they were moving through was a little quieter. They’d entered mostly residential homes now, so there wasn’t widescale looting. There were just a bunch of frantic families joining them on the street, though there were likely just as many holed up in their houses, locked safely away behind sturdy doors. “I’m getting tired. Can we take a break?”

  Ivy started to reply, but a foreign sound drowned her out. It took them a moment to realize it was just a revving motor. Had they really forgotten the sound in just a couple of hours?

  There was something different about it though, and he realized it was because the van was traveling so fast. He identified it as an older one as it came into sight, recognizing it as similar to the ‘70s Dodge van his grandpa used to drive.

  There were people clinging to the van on both sides, mostly holding on to the ski rack, or standing on the bumpers. They were all pounding at the van, and Matt saw the driver’s terrified expression as he tried to fishtail the van to shake them loose.

  Instead of having the desired result, it caused the man to careen into another car parked on the side of the road, and the van tipped sideways. For a moment, it looked like the frantic driver would be able to keep it under control, even as the wheels on the right-hand side came off the road. But then he lost all control, and the van tipped completely on its side. There were cries of pain from the people crushed underneath it, along with the rattling clunk of the heavy steel frame hitting asphalt.

  Matt started running to help. He ignored Ivy’s admonishment to come back, unable to just leave the people like that. He reached the side of the van that had tipped, crushing the six people who’d been hanging on. Four of them were definitely dead, and the fifth one breathed her last just as he reached her.

  There was a younger man at the corner of the van, and he was only partially crushed. He was still breathing, and his chest had managed to avoid most of the damage from the van landing. There was a chance he might live, and Matt knelt beside him.

  The ones who’d been holding onto the side of the van that hadn’t been crushed had either been thrown free or jumped off. Four of them gathered around him now, and one was limping badly, but they looked like they would live. He looked up at them. “Help me move the van so we can get him out from under here.”

  They looked at him for a moment, but didn’t respond other than to walk away, heading toward the cab of the van. Matt was uneasy as Ivy joined him, and he realized for good reason a second later as two of the guys who had been clinging to the side broke the passenger window so they could climb in and drag out the driver. He hoped it was an act of mercy, but he wasn’t surprised when the four of them started beating on the man who’d been driving.

  “You were just going to ignore us, man, when you have transpo?” said one of the big guys. He kicked the driver. “You deserve to die.”

  “Quick, kill him,” shouted someone from the corner. Matt didn’t recognize her as someone who’d hung onto the van, so she was probably just a vulture circling at the possibility of violence. He shook his head at her mindset as he got up. He reached for his handgun before he could think about it, striding forward. “Leave that man alone.”

  The guy who’d shouted at the driver looked up, scoffing at the gun. “Who’s going to shoot me, you? You look like a blond pretty boy.” His compatriots laughed, which seemed to bolster him further.

  Matt fumbled with the gun, determined to stop this. When the man started to kick the driver again, he squeezed the trigger like Ivy had shown him. The gun clicked, but nothing happened. That was when he realized he’d forgotten the safety.

  Gunshots fired from behind him made Matt startle, and the crowd around them suddenly dispersed. He turned to look at Ivy, who was holding her gun in the air.

  She waited until everyone had scattered before returning it to her holster. “You have to remember to turn off the safety, Matt.” The reminder was mild, and she seemed unaffected by having fired the handgun.

  He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, not quite certain he could speak just then. He moved over to the driver, and Ivy joined him. The man was still alive and still breathing, but he was unconscious, and there was an ugly gash on his head that either came from the attackers, or it had happened in the accident. He was bleeding profusely. “We have to get them to a hospital.”

  Ivy shook her head. “There’s no point. He’s going to die soon,” She pointed to the one half-lying under the van, “And he doesn’t look much better.” She waved in the direction of the driver. “We’re miles from anywhere.”

  “We have to try.” Matt couldn’t just walk away and leave them there.

  “The only vehicle available is this van, and there’s no telling if it’ll start. We can’t tip it over by ourselves, so how are we going to do this?”

  “We’ll just have to find—” His mouth dropped open as she got up and started walking away from him. Was she really going to leave him behind if he didn’t come with her? A sense of betrayal filled him and clogged his throat, while tears pressed at the back of his eyes.

  Chapter Four

  Ivy knew every minute they lost meant that much longer they’d be in Vegas, and she didn’t want to be there when people inevitably realized just how much things had changed. On the other hand, she couldn’t leave Matt behind, and she knew he was going to insist on helping the driver and the other one. They didn’t have time for that, and she feared it was a futile effort anyway, but she had to find a way to get Matt to go with her.

  With that in mind, she approached a group of young men who’d been standing on the corner and watching the whole situation. They hadn’t fled when she fired her gun, and they hadn’t appeared to be threatening in any way. She still had her hand on the gun in her holster, but she stood in a casual pose in front of them. “Hello.”

  A couple of them answered, and she said, “We have to get going, but I need your help. There’s a man pinned under the van, and the driver might still live. If you can tip the van upward, it’s still running, so you should be able to drive it. It’d give you way to get out of the city after you take him to the hospital. Is that agreeable to all of you?”

  “Why would we leave the city?” asked the youngest-looking. He appeared to be about nineteen, which meant he was closer to her sister’s age than hers.

  Thinking about Lacey sent a stabbing pain through her chest and spurred her on to get out of Vegas that much faster. “You probably won’t believe this, but I don’t think this is a short-term situation.” She pointed to the aurora borealis in the sky. “You see that? It looks like northern lights, but right now, I suspect it’s the aurora from a bomb that was set off at high altitude.”

  “You mean like one of those things that causes an electromagnetic pulse?” asked one of the guys.

  She nodded, pleased at least one of them knew what she was talking about. “If that’s the case, it’s going to take months to get the power back. Could even be years. You don’t
want to be here when things go to crap.”

  That man nodded. “I think we should take the offer, guys.”

  “What’s to keep us from just taking the van and leaving the dying people?” asked another man.

  Ivy stared at him, giving him her ballbreaker stare, as Tristan always called it. “I guess there’s nothing to stop you except your own conscience, and the fact that I’m asking you to give me your word you’ll get these people the help they need.”

  The man looked down, appearing slightly ashamed. “Yeah, okay.”

  She extended her hand to the one who had spoken of the EMP. “Do we have a deal?” She held her breath as she waited to see if he would point out she really didn’t have any grounds to broker a deal, since she didn’t own the van. Fortunately, he hadn’t seemed to realize that, or he didn’t care. He took her hand and shook it with a nod.

  “Let’s go.” She turned around and started walking back to the van, aware of the men following her. Matt was still crouched by the driver, pressing a handkerchief he must’ve found on the driver against the man’s head wound. She stood over him. “These men are going to help get the van on its wheels and take the injured to the hospital. But we have to go now.”

  Matt stood up slowly, looking uncertain. “How do you know they’ll actually do what they say?”

  Ivy shrugged. “They gave me their word, and we have to trust that.”

  “We should stay and make sure—”

  “We need to get out of here now, Matt.” Ivy hated snapping at him and being impatient, but she didn’t want his tender heart to get them killed. “We need to go now.” She gentled her tone, but kept it strong. She started walking, and Matt fell into step with her a moment later. “I really believe they’re going to do the right thing.”

  She wasn’t just saying that. She’d gotten a sense of the man whose hand she’d shaken that he would abide by his word and help the injured. As they turned the corner, she glanced back and saw the four of them rocking the van. Another couple of people had joined as well, and there was a screeching sound followed by another thud as they walked away. She didn’t see it, but she was certain that was the sound of the van returning all four wheels to the road.