“Absolutely, follow me,” Andrew said motioning Conner to follow him inside the gate.
“So how is the family, Brad?”
“Not good; my son Bobby is dead.”
Andrew stopped walking and responded to the shocking news, “What? Oh my God Brad, I’m so sorry. How did it happen?
Conner had also stopped; he was looking down at the ground. The loss of his son was visible on his face when he looked up. He opened his mouth to speak, but his voice cracked.
“Brad, come over here, sit down,” Andrew motioned to a bench in a garden.
“No, not necessary,” Conner said forcing the words to come out. He cleared his throat and said, “Andrew, there’s been a couple of major attacks against the United States.”
“Yes, I had been watching the news until all the power went out yesterday.”
“No, Andrew not those small car bombings or mall shootings; someone has detonated an EMP bomb over the US. They also detonated a nuclear weapon in Washington, D.C.,” Conner said, his face now clear of the pain from his son’s death.
“What?” Andrew asked with shock on his face.
“The president, vice president and all of Congress is gone. We have not been able to get on the ground in D.C. to get a confirmed report, but our aerial photos show the city leveled. If someone has survived, they’d be lucky.”
Andrew was in total shock. He walked away from Conner to the bench he had pointed at earlier and sat down.
“Andrew, I’m here because I am now the new president and I need a vice president, I need someone I can trust, someone who thinks like I do but also has a good head on their shoulders. I need you right now. Your country needs you right now. We need to get this country back up.”
“Brad, this is unbelievable. So the lights are out because of the EMP burst?”
“Yes, it appears to have been a super-EMP, because its effect is continent wide. It’s really bad, Andrew, the entire power grid across the country is down, and whoever did this to us, also attacked Europe and Asia. Australia managed to thwart the attack.”
“Brad, I’m in shock. I don’t know what to say right now,” Andrew said, looking flabbergasted.
“Andrew, say yes. I need you. We don’t have much time. I need your counsel as I need to make a crucial decision very soon. We must respond! I have a plan, but I want to run everything by you. I also need to create a line of succession if I die. I wouldn’t want anyone else to succeed me but you.”
“Brad…I,” Andrew said and then paused. He then stood up and put out his hand. Conner grabbed it and shook it firmly. “I’m with you, what do we need to do?”
“You need to go inform your wife, gather your family and everything you’ll need to bring with you. I don’t know when we’ll ever come back here. From here we fly to Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. Can you get everything done in an hour or so?”
“An hour? I don’t see why not,” Andrew said and stepped away. He then stopped and turned and said, “Brad, we can fix this together, thank you for allowing me to serve my country.”
“Andrew, I wouldn’t have called on anyone else.”
****
San Diego, CA
Gordon looked at his watch; it was 3:10 p.m. and only about 150 people had gathered so far. He was willing to wait a bit longer but he couldn’t believe people wouldn’t come, when the announcement was clear that it was an emergency community meeting.
Jimmy walked up and patted Gordon on the shoulder. Looking out on the crowd of his fellow neighbors chatting and kids playing, he asked, “Where’s everyone?”
Looking perturbed, Gordon said, “I don’t know; but I do know that I can’t wait for everyone, and someone that is also notably late is Mindy and her cohorts.”
“Hey, that was a good haul we had this morning, good job on getting in through the shipping doors. I have to say I’ve only seen people shoot locks on doors in movies, now I know you can really do it,” Jimmy said. He was in a good mood. The past day and half had made him feel alive in a way. He was enjoying the adventure of it all.
“How’s Simone doing?”
“She’s good, man, no worries; thanks for asking.”
“Glad to hear it,” Gordon said. He then looked at his watch again and saw that it was now 3:14 p.m. “I’m going to start. Screw Mindy and her bullshit.”
“Hey, bud, her timing is impeccable, over there,” Jimmy said pointing to the far corner of the park. “Here she comes with her entourage.”
Gordon saw her leading a group of people, as they came into focus he could see the board members following her.
Mindy walked up to Gordon and said, “Hi, Gordon, sorry we were late but the meeting lasted longer than we had expected.” She looked around at the group gathered and then finished her thought by saying, “Thank you for waiting for us,” She then turned away from Gordon and spoke loudly, “Neighbors and friends of Rancho Valentino, thank you for coming to this emergency meeting!”
Everyone in the group started to quiet down and all turned their attention on Mindy.
“I need everyone to listen, so please pay attention!” Mindy said.
The last murmurs and chatter stopped after a brief moment.
“Friends and neighbors, we have called this emergency meeting to inform you of some troubling news. This blackout we are experiencing is not normal and unfortunately may not end anytime soon. With that in mind, we feel it is important to look inward and work together as a community to confront this problem. We do not know when the power will come back on, but it might be weeks if not months. Without power and more importantly without operational cars, the access to those things we need like food, water and medicine will be restricted. Your HOA board feels we need to come together now and work to limit our exposure to this issue.”
All eyes were on Mindy, including Gordon’s. Gordon was just amazed by Mindy; he didn’t understand why she never pursued real politics.
“We are working on a final plan and will present that to each homeowner very soon. What we recommend is to conserve water and to ensure you eat those foods that are perishable first. If any of you have any questions, please ask them.”
A gentleman in the crowd raised his hand.
“Yes, go ahead,” Mindy said pointing at him.
“Mindy, what do you know about this, you seem to know more?”
Mindy paused and looked around at the board; she then turned and looked at Gordon.
Someone else then shouted from the crowd, “Tell us what you know!” Then someone else yelled, “If you know something, tell us!”
Mindy looked back toward the crowd and then to the man who had asked the first question. “Ahh, yes, well, we have a theory, or I should say that Mr. Van Zandt has a theory about what might have happened. We, meaning the board, are not sure about this theory, but felt it prudent to act because this blackout is unique,” Mindy looked nervous and out of sorts.
Someone from the crowd yelled, “What is it? What is this theory?” then another person yelled, “C’mon, we have a right to know!”
Mindy, looking more uncomfortable, turned back to Gordon and waved for him to approach. She then turned back to the crowd and said, “Mr. Van Zandt will tell you his theory.”
Gordon walked up and looked at Mindy, who backed up a step. Gordon turned and began to address the crowd.
“Friends and neighbors, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this blackout we are experiencing is not going to end anytime soon. Based upon the facts, nothing more; I believe we have been attacked with some type of electromagnetic pulse weapon or EMP. What an EMP weapon does is fries everything that is electrical. This is why our cars don’t work or our phones or anything that we have that is electrical even if it was on batteries. I know my neighbor, James, James are you out there?” Gordon asked peering into the crowd looking for his elderly neighbor.
“Here, Gordon!” James responded from the back of the group.
“Yes, James there has heard the emergency broa
dcast system on his radio announcing that we have been attacked,” Gordon paused for a few seconds then continued. “An EMP is a very destructive weapon, depending on where it was set off and how large of a weapon it was, this blackout could be local, regional or even nationwide.”
Dozens of people in the crowd started talking among themselves. The chatter became louder and louder.
Gordon continued, “I approached Mindy late this morning and informed her of my theory and presented her with a plan to survive this.”
“Survive?” someone yelled from the crowd.
Looking very serious, Gordon yelled back, “Yes, survive! People, let me explain. There is no help coming anytime soon; if my guess is right we are on our own. We must act now to secure as much food, water and other supplies as we can to get through this. If this attack was nationwide, the lights will not come on for possibly years. Let me just lay it out to you. We live in a city of about 2.3 million people. San Diego is a semi-arid desert; there is not a lot of agriculture around, at least not enough to support 2.3 million people for a sustained period of time. Right now, grocery stores are not being restocked; they have but a day or two of food in them. Water will soon dry up because the pumps that bring it in are down. We must act now to get as much of the supplies we will need to last us at least a year if not more. We should prepare ourselves for the fact that some of us will die.”
“Gordon, that is enough, now you’re just scaring them!” Mindy snapped at him.
Gordon ignored her and continued, “There is not enough food and water for 2.3 million people in this area. If you want to survive what is coming, we must start today to go out and get these supplies. We cannot wait for the board to come back in a few days.”
“Gordon, that is enough!” Mindy snapped again, this time walking up to Gordon and taking his arm forcefully.
Gordon looked at her and said, “Let go of my arm.”
Mindy looked out into the crowd and said, “I am sorry for Mr. Van Zandt, we on the board feel he is being a bit sensational and we must think clearly before we overreact.”
“Let him speak!” someone yelled from the group. “What about my husband?” someone else yelled. “He hasn’t come home yet from downtown.”
Gordon shrugged off Mindy’s grip and answered the woman who asked about her husband. “Your husband is probably fine; it just takes a while to walk here from downtown. Friends and neighbors, I am not overreacting, this situation is not normal. Who out there happened to see that commercial airliner fall from the sky yesterday?”
About a dozen hands raised.
Gordon, sensing he had an upper hand with the group, pressed his case further.
“You’re right, that is not normal; typical blackouts do not cause cars to just stop working, cell phones not to turn on or planes to fall out of the sky! I know this is hard for everyone to deal with, but our life, the life we knew before is over. The jobs you had before, they are gone. We must start now to go out in organized groups to secure these resources before others do. The plan I gave Mindy addressed the things we need to do. We first must start with a headcount to see how many people we have in the neighborhood, how many are on medications, any with medical issues. We need to know what talents or trades you have that will benefit us.”
Gordon turned and looked at Mindy, who had hate in her eyes. He turned back to the crowd and finished by saying, “Please line up in a single file line, I will take your name down, how many in your household, address and talents that can serve our community. So please form a line over there, okay?”
People started to move and the line started to form. Gordon turned back to Mindy and said, “Sorry, but your typical bullshit won’t fly here, I won’t allow it. We have to act now. So you can either work with me or get the fuck out of my way,” Gordon walked away and approached the first person in line.
Jimmy stepped up next to him and said, “You the man, great speech.”
“Help me. Take this notepad and form another line or we’ll be here all day.”
Gordon and Jimmy worked until the sun set. They tried to help answer as many questions as they could. The back and forth with Mindy was noticed by all and even commented on by some. Gordon had not wanted the meeting to go in that direction, but he knew he was right and that Mindy seemed more concerned about pretense and procedure than about getting things done. Even in his frustration with her, he felt a bit sorry for her. How could she grasp the magnitude of what had happened and what would happen? Most people had never experienced the things he had. He had traveled the world, seen combat, seen death and taken life himself. He knew that when the sun was rising in the morning that he needed to be out with Jimmy and others looking for food. Even though the sunset signified the day was over, his work was not. He would have to go home and pore over all the info and start to form the teams. One of the other major problems was getting the rest of his neighbors onboard, and to help find those who had not made it home. He also knew that he would have to go back to Mindy and make amends; in order for the community to move forward everyone needed to work together. He would give her a few days; he knew that eventually she would come over to his side. What she probably needed was to see the reality start to hit home. Until then, he was the leader of the community and that brought responsibility. He was used to leading, and in some ways was happy to have it.
Walking into his house, he heard a voice he had not heard in a long time. Looking down the candle-lit hall he saw Nelson.
“Nelson?”
“Yep, it’s me good buddy!” Nelson yelled.
“Oh my God, am I glad to see you!” Gordon exclaimed.
Nelson greeted him with the same upbeat and humorous attitude that was his trademark, “Hey man. Great to see you! How about paying the electric bill?”
Gordon smiled and said, “Nelson, my man, it’s going to take more than a check to get the lights back on.”
Nelson was tall with an athletic build. His hair was a light brown with natural highlights of blonde from spending so much time outside. He was a very active person, if he wasn’t working at the firehouse, he could be found on his board in the ocean surfing. He was generous of spirit and with anything he had. He felt it important to give to his hometown; this is why he became a fireman and EMT. Gordon liked Nelson for his fun-loving and carefree attitude as well as his strong family values and principled beliefs. Nelson had resented how San Diego had changed since his childhood; gone in many ways were the days of flip-flops and beach shorts. He felt San Diego had become just a mini-LA, or, as Nelson put it, Hell A. Nelson and Gordon got along from day one, they appreciated many of the same things like good beer, great whiskey and a lifestyle that was about working and playing hard.
While the events of the day could be measured as positive, the sight of Nelson made the day perfect. Gordon hoped Nelson wasn’t just passing through. He needed quality people on his team, and Nelson had the skills needed and the right attitude to see any job done.
“Can I get you a drink?” Gordon asked.
“I can never say no to you.”
“Not until you eat some dinner,” Samantha said from the kitchen.
Gordon turned his attention to Samantha, who was busy making dinner on a Coleman stove that sat on top of the old burners of their electric range. Four lanterns provided adequate light for her to work.
“How long before dinner?” Gordon asked, walking into the kitchen and kissing Samantha on the head.
“Almost done. Can you please put the paper plates and plastic utensils out?”
Looking over at Nelson, who winked, Gordon replied, “Sure.”
****
“Samantha, I’m amazed by what you can do with only candlelight and a propane stove. The stew was great,” Nelson said, relaxing into his chair.
“Thank you, I’m glad you liked it. I have to say I miss my salads but hopefully in a few months we’ll have some fresh veggies,”
“Hey, sweetie, I was going to take Nelson to my office to discuss s
ome things, OK?”
“Sure.”
“Follow me; let’s go to my office so we can chat.”
Gordon grabbed a lit candle and escorted Nelson across the house to his office. Along the way Gordon grabbed two glasses and a bottle of Maker’s Mark.
As Gordon poured a glass of bourbon for Nelson, he said, “I have to say my friend, seeing you is really good.”
“Same here, buddy. I’m glad you all are okay,” Nelson said, now settled into his chair.
Gordon sat down and asked, “So I know you’re not here just for the whiskey. What’s up?”
“Remember all those conversations we had over a glass of good bourbon like this? Well, as soon as the lights went out I knew some shit had gone down so I decided to check on you.”
“You made the right call. What are your plans?”
“First, I’d like to know what you make of all this?”
“To make a long story very short, I think we’ve been attacked by an EMP and this is all the calm before the shit storm begins,” Gordon said, then took a big drink of whiskey.
“I figured something like that happened, so let me ask you the same question: What are your plans?”
“Well, right now, I’m hunkering down with my family, we have stocked up on food and water. Now I’m trying to get the neighborhood organized. Things are going to get real bad and we need to be ready for when it does.”
Nelson took a drink and said, “Damn, I love Maker’s,” He looked at the glass and then asked with a slight grin, “I suppose offering someone a little ice would be out of the question.”
Knowing Nelson’s sense of humor Gordon played along, “I only serve ice to my upstanding and reputable guests.”
Nelson smiled and said, “So what do you think is going to happen?”
“Before I answer that, what’s up with your firehouse? What have you heard?”
“Nothing, just rumor; the station is completely down, no power, trucks don’t work. I stopped by and only the chief and another guy were there. Their replacement shift never made it in. The chief asked me to stay, but I told him I had things to do and that I’d swing back around to see what I could do for them. I have to admit, it kinda seems useless now, based on what you’re guessing happened. If we don’t have operable trucks and such, what’s the use of a fire department? I’m tellin’ ya, Gordon, this is some crazy shit. I knew you’d have a good feel for what was happening since you were Special Forces and all.”
The End - a Post Apocalyptic Novel Page 14