by Kip Nelson
Something had to change. Darren vowed that when the power came back, he would find a way to get back to where he belonged. He would make his kids proud of him again and give them the life they deserved.
But even as he was thinking about this, he found the idea of living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland appealing. The romanticism of it sparked a desire in his heart for freedom. Without the need for money he wouldn’t have to work two jobs. Brent and Michelle wouldn’t have to go to school, and Brent’s life wouldn’t be consumed with video games. The three of them could be together all day, every day, and while there would be a hell of a lot of challenges, Darren was convinced they could meet them. After all, they were smarter than the average family. Darren had seen how other people reacted to adversity and he knew he was able to keep a clearer head than them.
He’d been through a lot already and had come out the other side. Those experiences stood them in good stead for this. They could stay in their home, or they could travel around the country, depending on the extent of the damage and the environment around them. If large mobs started moving around the suburbs, spreading violence, they would have to move. But if not, all they needed was a consistent source of water and food.
Hell, they even could go into the woods and make it a permanent camping trip. It would take a bit of effort to lug everything down there, but they could camp near a source of freshwater and they could hunt for their food. Michelle might not like the realities of killing cute wildlife at first, but she would get used to it.
It could be the fresh start they needed, and Darren hadn’t realized how much he’d wanted something like this until now.
The more he thought about it, the more he actually was hoping for the world to fall apart. It only had been a short time since his car had broken down and things had gone dark, but in that time, he had faced down a malicious man who wanted to rob him, broken into a store and escaped from a group of men, and made his way through two very different crowds. He was already a survivor, and he was confident he could turn Brent and Michelle into survivors as well.
This could be exactly what they needed. He found himself walking more quickly, eager to get home and persuade them that this was a good thing.
He passed various houses and wondered if they were thinking the same thing as him, or if they were worried about their lives going down the drain. A lot of people had worked hard for houses, cars, wealth, and if everything fell apart, all those things wouldn’t mean anything. A lot of people simply wouldn’t have the skills to keep living. How many people would know how to hunt or build a fire? Darren was grateful that his job as a driver gave him the opportunity to read. There were plenty of things that he never would have learned had it not been for that.
The backpack gradually was getting heavier the longer he walked, but he would be home soon. The journey could have been done in a matter of minutes if he had been driving, but he actually liked the walk. So many burdens in his life had been because he felt he always was running out of time. There always seemed to be too much to do and not enough hours in the day, but with the power out he was free of this concept. Infinity lay before him and he was eager to explore it. Without the pressures of modern life, he felt as though he could do more than he ever could before. He finally could move on from everything dragging him down.
Despite himself, he spared a thought for Stacie as well. After she had left, he had no idea where she had gone, whether she had returned to Italy or found another man to attach herself to. He enjoyed a smug smile when he thought of how she would deal with this power outage. She’d probably be crying and screaming, flicking switches over and over again in an attempt to make things work. She’d never make it in the new world, not like Darren would.
In fact, she’d probably die before too long.
The sobering thought made Darren slow his pace. After Stacie had left he knew he never would see her again but thinking of her being dead was completely different than just suspecting their paths never would cross. He was sure she still was out there somewhere, but in time that might not be the case. The most distressing thing to him was that he would never know either way.
Thankfully, the rest of his journey home was uneventful. People seemed to be staying in their houses. A lot of people probably were sleeping through it anyway, as he hoped Michelle was doing. In the morning they’d likely be rushing outside, trying to make sense of what was going on.
Before too long he was walking around a familiar bend, and his house came into view at the end of the long smooth road that led up to his driveway. He held the lantern high. From what he could see there were no signs that anything had been disturbed and he breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed as though the signs of mania had been confined to the city so far.
Darren made sure the coast was clear and walked up his empty driveway. He still was a little annoyed he’d had to leave the car back in the city, but if it was the end of the world, he wouldn’t need it anyway. This house, though, this was going to keep them safe for as long as they needed it.
The curtains had been drawn and there were no signs of life. This was the moment of truth. Darren tried pushing negative thoughts out of his mind, but it was hard not to be scared. He had been gone for so long. Anything could have happened to his kids, and the thought almost made him sick. He rapped his knuckles against the door and waited to see what happened.
Nothing.
Darren smiled. He’d taught Brent well. When Darren had started working two jobs he realized he was going to be out of the house for most of the day, and Brent was going to have to look after Michelle. But Brent still was a kid, so Darren had implemented a few safety protocols to ensure the kids were as safe as they possibly could be when he wasn’t there. One of them was that Brent wasn’t to open the door to anyone he didn’t know, and never to open it after a certain time of day.
Even with the light of the lantern it was going to be impossible for Brent to identify his father with all the strange clothes he was wearing.
“She opens at dawn!” Darren said clearly. It was the password he and Brent had come up with. Shortly after uttering these words, Darren heard the door being unlocked, and then opened.
Brent was standing there. He was still shorter than Darren, although at fourteen he was getting taller every day. He looked tired but seemed relaxed. He had his mother’s complexion and dark hair. Behind him, Darren saw a lit candle on the console table. He was glad Brent had followed the drill and of lighting a few, if ever the power went out. He could see Michelle, peeking out from the living room. She was wearing her My Little Pony pajamas and held Applejack, a My Little Pony stuffed animal loose in one hand. Darren walked inside and shut the door behind him.
“Everything okay here?” he asked.
“Everything is just fine,” Brent said confidently. Darren opened his arms and embraced his son, then moved to his daughter.
“You should be asleep!” Darren said, scooping up Michelle in his arms. She giggled as she whirled through the air.
“I tried to get her to sleep, but she woke up and her nightlight was off. She said she wasn’t going to go to sleep until she saw you,” Brent said.
“Well, it’s lucky I got home when I did then,” Darren said. He was trying to act as normal as possible so he didn’t cause them any undue worry.
“What are you wearing?” Michelle asked, screwing up her button nose as she looked at his poncho.
“These are just some things Daddy needed to help protect me from the storm. Now then, sleepyhead, I need to get you to bed!”
Michelle protested that she wasn’t sleepy, but Darren carried her upstairs and sang her a soothing lullaby. Michelle continued protesting, but each word grew longer, and each blink grew heavier. Darren tucked her in bed, made sure that Applejack was right beside her, and then kissed her goodnight, caressing her head until she was fast asleep. Then, he left the room and returned downstairs, Brent was waiting for him.
“We have to talk,” Darren said. Brent
nodded.
Chapter 6
Darren placed his hand on Brent’s shoulder. When had his son grown so tall? It seemed like only yesterday that Darren had been able to bounce Brent on his knee. Time moved far too swiftly for Darren’s liking, and he realized just how much of Brent’s life he’d missed out on over the past year. When he had been growing up, Darren had sworn to himself that he never was going to live to work, but it seemed that was exactly what he had done.
They walked away from Michelle’s room so there was no chance of her hearing anything. They went downstairs and entered the living room, where they sat on the couch. Brent placed a candle he was carrying on the coffee table.
“I’m not sure where to begin with this,” Darren said. “As you can tell, there’s been a huge power outage, and I mean huge. It hasn’t just affected this neighborhood. It’s citywide at least. It might even be affecting the entire country.”
“It has,” Brent said simply.
“What do you mean it has?”
“It’s not just a power outage, Dad. It’s an EMP.”
“An EMP?”
“Sure, you know, an electro-magnetic pulse.”
“I know what it is, we watched the documentary together, but how do you know?”
“Just before the power went out, some people I was playing with online started saying that something was going on. There’s one guy, Devon, at least that’s his username, knows all about this kind of stuff. He told us exactly what was happening, and then everything went black.”
“So, you didn’t panic?”
“No.”
That was a small relief at least, Darren thought. Although it was strange to think that some stranger playing an online video game had been able to explain things to his son better than he could, if this person even could be trusted. Darren squeezed his thighs and licked his lips.
“What does Devon think actually happened then?”
“He said there was a huge storm. Apparently, the governments of the world have known about it and they never told anyone because they didn’t want people to panic. Then it became too late to do anything about it.”
“If they didn’t want people to panic, they made the wrong decision,” Darren muttered. “I think Devon is right. It’s not just the power that went out. My car died too, as did my cellphone.”
“Devon says they won’t be able to get the power grid back up for a number of years. He reckons five, in ideal conditions. He said a lot of stuff is going to happen in the meantime. There might not be anyone left to repair it,” Brent said calmly. Darren was surprised and impressed that Brent was remaining stoic in the face of this chaos.
The worst-case scenario had happened, just as Darren had suspected. A wave of relief washed over him now that he didn’t have to worry about going into work the following day or finding the money to pay his bills. He only had one thing to focus on, and that was looking after his kids.
“It was really incredible, though,” Brent continued. “When it happened, I went outside, and all the cars were dark, all the windows of the houses were black. It was like something out of a movie.”
Darren put his hand on Brent’s shoulder and looked him directly in the eye. “Brent, please promise me you never will do anything like that again. Don’t go anywhere by yourself,” he said.
“Sure, Dad,” Brent said, furrowing his brow.
“How was Michelle?”
“She was asleep for a long time. Then she woke up and was afraid because it was dark. I went up and got her, told her that it was a power outage and that you’d be home soon. She dozed off a little, but she kept waking up until you got back.”
“Good, good. You did a good job, Son. I’m proud of you. I’ll have to tell her the truth tomorrow, although I don’t think she’s really going to understand.”
“What happened to you?” Brent asked, looking at Darren’s new clothes.
“Oh, well…Brent, you remember when your mom left, and I told you that you’d have to grow up more quickly than some other kids, and that you’d have to start taking on more responsibility to help me out?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, that also means I need to be honest with you in situations like this. I can’t hide the truth from you, even though it might be easier for you to hear a lie,” Darren said. All he’d wanted was to protect his kids, and sometimes white lies were a means to an end with that. He couldn’t do that with Brent.
“I wouldn’t want you to lie to me anyway. I can handle it, Dad. I promise.”
“The city has gone a bit crazy, Son. I’ve always told you to believe in the best of people and give them the benefit of the doubt, but the things I’ve seen tonight…it’s not looking good, and I think it’s only going to get worse. People are scared, worried, and they’re going to lash out. Some are going to take this as an opportunity to be violent and try to make up for the things that have happened in their lives.”
He reached behind him and pulled out the gun he had taken from the man who tried robbing him. Brent’s eyes went wide. Darren felt the weight of the weapon in his hand, and then handed it to Brent. Brent took it tentatively. The gun looked massive in his boyish hands. He slid his fingers across the weapon, caressing it and exploring it, excited and afraid at the same time.
“A man tried robbing me. I broke his nose and stole this from him. Other people were hurling bottles into stores and starting fires. I also ran into a group of men who were gathering things to go hunting. I ran away from them before they shot me with a crossbow bolt, but not before I’d taken things from a store. Listen to me, Brent,” Darren said, trying to get the boy’s attention. He took the gun away from him. Disappointment fell upon Brent’s face.
“You’ve had to grow up a lot more quickly than other boys your age. I’ve had to put more responsibility on your shoulders than maybe you were ready for, but at every turn you have shown me you’re a capable young man. You’ve taken care of Michelle in my absence, you’ve kept her safe, and I need that to be your priority. Nothing is certain in this world, and whatever happens I want you to make sure nothing happens to Michelle, okay?”
Brent nodded somberly. He bit his lower lip, something that Darren knew he did when he was nervous. This was a hell of a lot to drop on a kid his age, but Darren didn’t see any other choice. He’d decided a long time ago that he wasn’t going to hide the major traumas in life from Brent. It had been the same when Stacie had left. Brent had been the first person Darren had told.
“I’ve taught you a lot of rules over the years, and a lot of them you’re going to have to break now. The world has changed, and what matters most is our survival. Things like stealing aren’t as big of a deal anymore. Take these clothes, for example. If I didn’t take them, somebody else would have, and since there’s no structure to the world I’m not going to get punished for it. Whoever owns that store isn’t going to care that they’ve lost money because money doesn’t matter any longer. What does matter is that we have the tools to survive. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any rules, and it doesn’t mean we can do what we want.
“I’ve always raised you to be kind and respectful to other people. I like to think I’ve done a pretty good job. I’m really proud of the man you’re turning into, and I want you to know that. It’s important that we keep trying to live up to our ideals, probably more important now than it ever has been, because they’re all we have left.
“I don’t know exactly what is going to happen over the next few weeks. For all I know the government is going to come swooping in and save the day, but we have to prepare for the worst. If it’s everyone for themselves, then you, me, and Michelle are going to have to work together. But we have to do it in the right way. I don’t want us to look at each other with shame. Do you understand?”
“I think so,” Brent said. His voice wavered a little.
“This is a lot to put on you right now. I know, and I’m sorry. I’m pretty messed up myself. I had to trek through the city on foot in th
is storm to get back here. There were a few points when I didn’t think I was going to make it.”
Darren shifted his position so he was sitting on the couch properly, his back sinking into its inviting comfort. He tilted his head back and breathed in deeply, closing his eyes for just a moment. The lure of sleep was tugging at him, and at that moment it seemed so easy for Darren just to let himself fall into slumber and wake up to a new world in the morning.
“Do you think Mom is okay?” Brent asked.
That was like cold water thrown into Darren’s face. He opened his eyes and sat up, shaking the grogginess away.
One of the most difficult things about Stacie leaving had been the aftermath with the kids. All Darren wanted to do was forget about her entirely, but of course he couldn’t ask the same of Brent and Michelle. Brent, especially, had been close with his mother. Darren had thanked the heavens that Brent hadn’t lost his mind over it, although he had changed.
When Darren thought of Stacie, he felt bitterness and betrayal. He wanted to curse her name but had to cull that instinct when he was talking with his kids. It wasn’t fair to them to insult their mother, or their memory of her.
“Your mom always has found a way to land on her feet. I’m sure that she’s okay, wherever she is.”
“Do you think we should go find her?” Brent asked, with all the innocence of a child.
There were many moments when Darren forgot how young Brent was, and then there were moments like these when the words out of his mouth provided a stark reminder. There still was so much for him to learn about the nuances of human relationships, painful lessons to be sure. Darren wanted to tell him that his mother didn’t want to be found, that the day she walked out of the door was the day she had turned her back on them and pushed them out of her life.