Instant Darkness

by Mark J Russell

  “What was your worst?”

  “The day my wife died,” Joshua said, somberly. “That was the very worst. How about you? What was your worst day?”

  Nick focused his gaze on Joshua, seeing the grief cast upon his face. “Same as you. The day my wife died.”

  “How did she die?” Joshua asked.

  “Cancer.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Joshua said. “It’s a terrible thing.”

  Nick gave one sullen nod.

  Joshua’s lips compressed and he kept his eyes on the road.

  The men were silent for a few minutes, and Nick was eager to change the subject.

  “So, anyway, why do you think some cars will run and others won’t?” Nick asked. “Computer components?”

  Joshua cleared his throat. “Actually, according to the science, a solar storm shouldn’t have stopped any cars from running. It did, of course, but if the owners had taken the time to disconnect the battery and reconnect it again, they probably would have been fine until they’d run out of gasoline.” Joshua shrugged. “Some people that think they were stranded weren’t. Unlike you. A carjacker is a sure way to get grounded.”

  “Tell me about it,” Nick said. “Not an experience I want to repeat. I’m grateful to you for picking us up.”

  “Sure, no problem. So, where are you from?”

  “Manchester. Though we’re on our way to Central Vermont. If you’d just drop us when you’re no longer headed that way, I’d appreciate it.”

  “You are traveling from Manchester to Vermont? Why? Won’t there be a better chance of getting resourced in Manchester? The cities will have multiple FEMA sites. I doubt the whole of Vermont has more than two. They just don’t have the population.”

  “We have friends in Vermont.” Nick shrugged. “Actually, I planned on staying in Manchester, but Corey convinced me we should leave, saying it would be safer to be out of the crowds. I’ve been regretting that decision since my car was stolen. So, where are you headed?”

  “Canada—Montreal, to be exact,” Joshua said. “I can drop you right at the doorstep of where you are going, if you want. It’s probably not more than thirty minutes out of my way, if that.”

  “That’s not necessary,” Nick said. He really didn’t want anyone to know exactly where they were going. “If you just set us at the nearest exit, we’ll be fine.”

  “I’m not leaving you at the exit. You’ll be sitting ducks. I’ll take you to town, at least.”

  “That’s kind of you,” Nick said, wondering if it really was or not. Could he keep Joshua from following them?

  “We’re coming into Lebanon, New Hampshire now,” Joshua said. “Keep your eyes peeled and your door locked.”

  Nick trained his eyes on the back doors, but evidently, Corey had locked them when he’d gotten in. He pushed down the door lock on his own door. He wasn’t interested in living through another carjacking.

  They drove past a shopping center with a grocery store, separated from a movie theater and some other shops by a parking lot with a medical clinic on the corner. The medical clinic had “closed” scrawled across the windows in red ink. If the urgent care clinics were closed, then where were people going to get treated? A minute later, they were passing a church, and then a donut shop.

  A man was chasing a boy down the sidewalk, and as the boy glanced back, Nick could see panic on his face.

  “We need to stop and help that boy,” Joshua said as they drove past.

  Nick wished they wouldn’t, and immediately felt guilty. He’d been rescued by Joshua, but he didn’t want to return the favor by helping this boy. He was a hypocrite and a coward, and he hoped that Joshua couldn’t see it in his face.

  Joshua pulled the car over to the curb, and the boy rushed toward them. Nick would have to unlock his door to let him in.

  Hadn’t Joshua told him to keep his door locked?

  Before he could reach to unlock his door, a gunshot rang out. The window next his head shattered, glass exploding into the car.

  11

  Corey awoke to the sound of a gunshot, and the window next to his father’s head exploded, sending glass spraying through the car.

  “Corey!” Joshua said, his voice urgent. “Open the door!”

  Corey caught the urgency and leaned over Rae Ann, unlocking and pushing the door open, and then jerking backward toward his door as a boy dove into the car, landing on the floorboards.

  “Go!” Corey yelled, leaning over to pull the door shut but keeping his head low in case another bullet hit the car.

  Rae Ann was yelling for him to get off her.

  “Stay down, Rae. And you too,” Corey said to the startled face looking at him from the floor.

  “Is everyone okay back there?” Joshua asked.

  “Yeah, we’re fine,” Corey said. “Is Dad hurt?”

  “I’ve got a few cuts,” his dad said, “but they’re superficial. It looks worse than it is.”

  “You can sit up now,” Joshua said. “We’re out of gunshot range.”

  Rae Ann sat up, and Corey helped the boy up off the floor and onto the seat, scooting closer to Rae Ann so he was sitting between her and the boy, who seemed to be about Corey’s age.

  “Thanks,” the boy said, “but can you drop me off now? I need to get back to my mom.”

  “Why was that man chasing you?” Joshua asked.

  The boy was silent, and Corey watched him as he stared out the window.

  “What’s your name?” Corey asked.

  “Nathan,” the boy said.

  “What happened, Nathan? What did that man want?” Corey watched him intently. “We might be able to help you, you know?”

  “You already did,” Nathan said and sighed. “I don’t know where Billy is.”

  “Who’s that?” Joshua asked.

  “My downstairs neighbor. He went with me to get medicine for my mom, and we got separated.” Nathan’s gaze shifted to his hands.

  “Medicine?” Corey asked.

  “My mom has diabetes,” Nathan said, “and she needs insulin. She gave me her credit card, and Billy and I went to the pharmacy on our bikes. But the pharmacy couldn’t take the credit card because there’s no electricity. Billy thought we should get cash, but no ATMs are working, and the bank wouldn’t give us money because we needed to have an account. They wouldn’t let me take money out of my mom’s account, or maybe there wasn’t enough money in it. They wouldn’t tell me anything, and they couldn’t call my mom to ask.”

  Nathan stopped speaking for a full minute, and Corey was about to nudge him when he took a deep breath. “We thought we’d either have to rob a store to get cash, or just steal the medicine. It seemed simpler to just steal the medicine, and Billy’s dad has a gun, so we went and got it. We held up the pharmacist with the gun, but the owner was in the store and told him not to give us the medicine.”

  Another moment of silence.

  “And?” Joshua asked.

  “Billy shot up the store,” Nathan said.

  “Shot up the store?”

  “Yeah, I don’t know why he did it. But I ran for my bike, and rode away as fast as I could. The man followed me in his car, and I had to ditch my bike and run between the buildings. Only, he was faster than me, and he almost caught me—then you showed up. But I don’t know where Billy is. I think they must’ve caught him.”

  “You should have told the pharmacist that your mother needed her insulin. They might have let you have it,” Joshua said. He pulled the car over to the curb. “Go on home to your mother.”

  Nathan got out of the car. “Thanks,” he said, waved, and jogged away.

  “He was bad, wasn’t he, Daddy?” Rae Ann asked.

  “He made some bad choices, Rae Ann,” their dad said, “but he was in a tough spot. He was trying to keep his mother alive.”

  “I’m glad he’s gone,” Corey said. “He doesn’t seem like he makes very good decisions.”

  “Yeah, he’d probably just bring trouble d
own on all of us if we let him come with us,” Joshua said. “Luckily, he’s got a family, so he’s not alone.”

  “Kids who make decisions like that are dangerous,” Corey’s dad said. “He should have gone back to his mom. She could have figured it out.”

  “Not if she was sick, Daddy,” Rae Ann said. “She might not be able to help if she didn’t feel good.”

  “You could be right, Rae Ann,” their father said, “but he still should have found an adult to help him.”

  “I know that, Daddy,” Rae Ann said. “I’d know to ask.”

  “What I hope is that you’d know to always have Corey with you to keep you safe,” their dad said. “You shouldn’t be out in public alone. From now on, you are not to go anywhere on your own. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Daddy,” she said with a sigh.

  Corey wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Don’t worry, Rae,” he said quietly, “it’s going to be a while before there’s anywhere any of us can go.”

  As they drove along, Nick thought of the boy they’d saved a few miles back. Boys like that worried him when he thought of his own kids. What if they fall in with the wrong kind of people? Hopefully, they would be insulated from all that at the Pattersons’ compound. Corey had a head on his shoulders, but Rae Ann could easily be led astray, and if anything happened to Nick, Corey might one day be in a position to do whatever it took to keep her safe. Even make bad decisions.

  Life had gotten pretty bad if boys were holding up drug stores for their parent’s medications. Pretty soon, there wouldn’t be any medicines available at all. Hospitals would have to close down as the fuel ran out for their generators, food would become scarce as the supply chain was disrupted. How long would it be before the US government ran out of fuel to supply the FEMA shelters? How would they keep water running in the pipes without pumps? He hoped Abram had considered that.

  In another hour or so, less maybe, they’d be dropped off and on the last leg of their journey. He hoped they didn’t run into any lawlessness before they reached the end of their trek. It all seemed so dicey, so unsafe. But then he realized that Joshua couldn’t be the only good person left in the world. There would be other people who maintained their integrity, who didn’t steal people’s cars or shoot at young boys. The wind coming through the broken window reminded him that the owner of the drugstore had been willing to kill not only Nathan but the random people who stopped to be sure the boy was okay.

  Still, he would not give up hope. There were good people, and he’d be willing to bet that there were more good folk than bad. They would stick with the people that made good role models for his children. People who would protect them and keep them safe.

  Nick glanced into the back seat to see if his children had gone back to sleep, but no, they were huddled together, Corey’s arm around Rae Ann’s shoulders. Their eyes were wide open and watching the road in front of them, and Rae Ann looked scared. The incident with the gun and the boy had obviously spooked her.

  “Are you okay?” he asked her.

  She nodded, though her eyes betrayed her.

  He wanted to ask Joshua to pull over so he could join her in the back seat, to help sooth her, but he didn’t want to ask the man to stop the car. Instead, he reached his hand back and held onto hers.

  “Everything’s okay,” he said, and he saw the tightness in her jaw dissipate.

  It wasn’t too much later when they turned off the state route and crossed a bridge into the small town. There was a town green, and across from one side, a block of stores and restaurants. The grocery store, Nick noticed, was boarded up, and it didn’t look hastily done. Perhaps the owners had taken precautions and secured the windows and door before the power went out. There was a deli toward the end of the block, and it was boarded up too. The coffee shop and the restaurant on the corner were unblemished, but Nick wondered how long it would be before someone was desperate enough to shatter the windows and steal whatever food was still unspoiled.

  “I think we have to walk another forty-five minutes to an hour,” Corey said, “but we’re almost safe now.”

  “Safe?” Joshua said.

  “Yeah, we have friends with a bug out location near here,” Corey said.

  Nick could have kicked himself for not telling Corey to keep his mouth shut.

  “Not really a bug out shelter,” Nick said. “It’s just a farmhouse a neighbor owns.”

  “Still, it sounds safe,” Joshua said. “Can I come with you?”

  “I’m sorry, but it’s not my place. And I’m not even sure we’ll be welcome.”

  “I’ll only stay the night. I’ve got a long way to go, and it’s going to be dark soon. I’d rather not have to sleep in my car in an unsecured location. Why don’t you let me drive you all the way there?”

  “I’m sorry, Joshua,” Nick said, trying to be firm and kind at the same time, “but I really can’t bring you. I was serious when I said I didn’t know how we’d be received. If I bring a complete stranger with me, I’m sure they’ll turn us all away. You do see that I have to keep my children safe?”

  “Yes, of course,” Joshua said, stopping the car. “Go ahead, then. I wish you well.”

  “And I, you,” Nick said. “You were very kind to bring us this far.” He felt some regret at leaving the man behind. He had, after all, saved them from a night in the open with no blankets and little water or food.

  They walked away from the car, Rae Ann looking back and waving to Joshua.

  “Dad,” Corey said, “Joshua saved us. We should have let him come.”

  “Listen, Corey, I feel bad for him—I do. But I know that Abram Patterson has no idea that we are going to show up on his doorstep. There’s no way I could bring a stranger.”

  “But Emma said—”

  “Emma said what she needed to, to get us to come. But I don’t for a moment believe Abram asked us to come. He would have talked to me, son. Not sent a note from his daughter.” Nick shook his head.

  “But then why did you agree to bring us, if you knew he might turn us away?”

  “I thought it was our best chance of surviving this emergency intact. I’m hoping your friendship with Emma—and the fact that she wrote a note telling us to come—will be enough to get us in the door. After that, we’ll have to prove our worth. Which means working hard. Are you ready to work hard?”

  “I am,” Corey said.

  They walked along in silence after that, and when Rae Ann started to lag, Nick picked her up and placed her back on his shoulders. Nick hoped he was right, that the fact that Emma had asked them to come would sway Abram into letting them stay. He was sure that Abram wouldn’t turn them away this evening. He wouldn’t be as cruel as that. But would he let them stay? Like he’d told Corey, they would have to prove their worth by working hard and pitching in. Three extra people would put a burden on their food stores, so he’d have to prove himself willing to do what it took to replenish those supplies. He’d be out in the field planting crops, and he’d probably have to fish and learn how to hunt.

  And he’d do all those things and more, if that’s what it took to keep his kids safe. He’d tell Abram that he was willing to do whatever it took so that they could stay at the compound.

  Nick said a silent prayer that it would be enough.

  “How much longer, Daddy?” Rae Ann asked from over his head. Even with the nap in the car, she was exhausted. He could feel her drooping.

  “Not long now, sweetheart,” he said. “Just hold on, and we’ll be there real soon.”

  12

  “Abram,” Shelly called to him as he came back into the house, “what do we have to do to get hot water here? You promised me hot water.”

  “It’s the pilot light,” Abram said. “I have to go up and light it.”

  “Why don’t you show me how?” Shelly asked. “In case it goes out when you aren’t around.”

  “I’ll come too,” Maggie said.

  The women foll
owed him up the stairs to the second floor and stood out of the way as he pulled the attic ladder out of the ceiling. They climbed the ladder one at a time and walked the dusty planks laid out over the open floor joists to the platform that held the water heater.

  Unlike every home Abram had ever lived in, where the water heater was in the basement, the one in this house was in the attic. This was because the system was gravity fed, and there was no pump to push the water up into the house. If they wanted hot water, it had to be able to run down the pipes into the building below, just as the water in the tank on the roof ran down to the heater, or to the pipes supplying the house if it didn’t need to be heated.

  “First, you have to make sure the propane tank is turned on,” he said, taking in a breath of the stale air. “There’s one extra tank at the far side of the attic, but the rest are down in the lower barn. We’ve stockpiled several hundred full tanks, so we shouldn’t run out.”

  He bent down and opened a small metal door in the bottom of the water heater and reached for a long, thin, metal pipe with an alligator clip welded onto the end.

  “This is an old car antenna,” he said. “I put a clip on the end so it would hold a match. You light the match and put it in the clip, then you can guide the match into the pilot light and turn this knob”—he pointed to a round knob on the side of the water heater—“to light. Once the pilot light is burning, turn the knob to the ‘on’ position. And you are set. It’s very straight forward, and there’s a panel here with the instructions.” He pointed to a metal plate attached next to the tiny door. “But if you forget to turn on the propane tank, you’ll be out of luck, and that step is not printed here.”

  “Hang on,” Shelly said, rummaging in her pocket. “I have a permanent marker.” Shelly knelt down beside him and printed “Turn On Propane” above the instructions. “There, now I won’t forget.”

  “I was wondering,” Maggie said, “where are the food stores kept? I might want to check if we have certain ingredients. Shelly and I are going to share meal prep, and it would be helpful to know what we have.”