It looked safe and secure, but there was no way to know for sure. One could only leave and hope for the best. The expensive-looking security system with cameras and sensors all over the inside and outside of the store had been rendered useless in a flash. Even with everything that was going on, it baffled James that the police were virtually absent.
Were they truly on their own? The thought seemed frightening as it was unreal. But perhaps, James thought, they’d been conditioned to have too much faith in how things worked. People like Larry didn’t seem to wait around to find out.
“Your car does work, right?” James said, walking toward the door with the two boxes.
Larry just sort of looked at him as though the answer was obvious. “Sure does.” He continued outside, whistling without a care of the world.
Marla soon inched her way outside as James followed. The back seat was nearly filled with the last boxes and totes from the store, and there was little room left to squeeze into. Larry opened the passenger side door in the backseat for him as James placed the perishables inside on the red carpet below.
“I’ve done an inventory of every item,” Larry told him. He winked as James looked at him, curious if he was being given a warning. “Don’t look so serious,” Larry then said with a smile.
James placed his hands on his hips and tilted his head. “We can’t thank you enough.”
“Quite all right,” Larry said, getting in the car.
James looked down onto the pavement, lost in a thought, but Larry was already behind the wheel and ready to go. The engine roared to life with the quick turn of the ignition. Exhaust burst from the muffler pipe in the back as Larry revved the engine with deliberate timing. Ecstatic, James spun around to face Marla, only to find her standing near the door with a troubled expression. Larry hopped out of the car, clearly impressed with himself, and told James to open the gate. Before he did so, James noticed that Marla was staring at her blank cell phone in hand.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
Marla nodded with a smile and then moved to the side, pacing within a small circle. None of this was going to be easy for any of them. The road ahead was an unpredictable one. “I’m afraid, James. Afraid to leave this store. Afraid to do anything.” She looked at him with pleading eyes. “Does that make me weak?”
James noticed the tenseness in her voice. He took her trembling hands into his and tried to calm her. “Look at me.” They’d been fighting for some time over the past month, but none of that mattered anymore. He hadn’t seen her this upset. And this time it wasn’t about petty differences at the office or the usual everyday stress. He saw in Marla’s crystal blue eyes the innocence and pain of the girl he had fallen in love with. “All we have to do is get home. That’s it. Then we’ll take it from there.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding as his hand brushed the side of her face. “I’m ready.”
“Good.” Larry interrupted from inside the wagon. “Now open the gate, and let’s go.”
James led Marla to the car where the only space left were the driver’s seat, window seat, and the seat in the middle. It’d be a tight fit, but they’d make it. James asked her if she wanted the window seat, but she shook her head. “I’m smaller,” she said.
“I think you mean thinner,” James retorted.
He opened the door for her and then hurried off to the gate as both Larry and she got in and closed the doors. James unlatched the metal gate and swung it open. Looking left and right, he saw no one around. The coast looked clear enough for them to make their getaway. Larry backed the station wagon out at an idle as James waited. The station wagon rolled past him with Marla at the window, head turned to face the rear.
“That’s that,” James said, wiping his hands together. “Next stop, mad city.”
Of course, if Larry knew his way around town, they could avoid the more populated areas of downtown altogether. He swung the gate closed and reached behind to lock it as the station wagon waited in the road. He still couldn’t believe the vehicle had started. There had to be others unaffected, too. Older model cars weren’t all that uncommon.
James turned and hurried to the car, opening the passenger side. Marla scooted over to let him in. James sat against the plush red seat that matched the wagon’s carpet. It was indeed an old vehicle. They stared at the road ahead that ended at a three-way stop.
“I can get us around the downtown hot spots,” Larry said. “But at some point, we’re going to have to get on the highway, regardless.”
“Sounds fine to me,” James said as Marla inched closer to him, trying to squeeze in and get comfortable. She reached for the seatbelt on Larry’s side and buckled herself in across the waist. James followed suit and strapped in, hesitant to make a request, but Larry seemed to know already.
“Something on your mind?” he asked.
“It’s okay,” James said, holding up both hands. “It’s a stupid idea. Don’t worry about it.”
“What is it, honey?” Marla said, squeezing his knee.
“You want to check on your car, don’t you?” Larry said. James didn’t understand Larry’s interest in the car itself, but he seemed to empathize in a personal way.
“No!” James said, cutting his hands across the air. “We have a mission to get home, and that’s all that matters.”
“Okay,” Larry said, accelerating further. “Just want to make sure we’re on the same page.”
As they reached the stop sign, James looked both ways and saw cars parked along the sides. It was normal street parking and thus hard to tell which cars had been abandoned and which ones the owners just hadn’t gotten to yet. There were small groups of people milling around in front of various shops and buildings.
Past the business district was an industrial sector where several of the roads were paved with gravel and beyond the usual workers, not too many people ventured. It was their best bet to circumvent the busier areas of downtown and reach the highway safely. However, James had seen and knew what awaited them there. And it had probably gotten worse since then. Crowds of people on foot had turned the lanes into their own walking paths, which made sense under the circumstances, but also very dangerous to travel through.
They received some immediate looks from people as the station wagon turned left and continued down the two-lane road toward the industrial sector. Normally, a dated station wagon with faded blue paint and wood-paneled exterior wouldn’t get a second glance. Now, there were eyes watching them in awe from all over.
“Well…” Larry said, advancing his speed. “There’s no turning back now.”
“I suppose not,” James said as Marla gripped his hand.
Everyone was looking at them. And then, gradually, people started moving, filing into the road. In their state of distress, their most natural inclination was to flag down the old car and ask for help. If that didn’t work, and it didn’t, James watched as stranded commuters became more desperate and bold.
One man ran out into the street, blocking them and screaming for them to stop. Larry swerved around the man, nearly hitting a parked car on its side, but just making it. He pressed the gas just a little bit harder as they sped down the road, almost daring anyone to try something like that again.
8
Homebound
Bumpy gravel lined the road between the many warehouses that comprised the industrial sector. James, and probably everyone else in the car, had never heard such eerie silence coming from one of the loudest areas in town. This was a place where constant construction, prodding, digging, dumping, crunching, and pounding occurred on a near daily basis. There were several tractors, lifts, cylinders, mixtures, and truck upon truck outside each site. Cars were parked in the lots outside each warehouse.
Nothing had changed. The only thing different was the sound. Nothing was happening. And then, as they continued down the road, crunching gravel along the way, they could see people, lots of people. Several of them were at their own cars, hoods up and looking into th
e engines like most everyone James had seen earlier.
Dust trailed from the rear of the station wagon. It was impossible not to notice their presence. Even so, however, they received fewer looks than expected. Most people still seemed involved with their own mechanical issues. And it made traveling through the industrial sector a better idea than they could have imagined.
“You know how to get to the highway from here, right?” James asked, watching out his side of the window.
“Yes, James,” Larry remarked. “I know my way around.”
“Just wondering,” James said.
Marla leaned forward and fiddled with the radio dials. “What I wouldn’t give to hear some news about what’s going on.” She tried to switch the radio on but only heard static.
“Look in the back seat,” Larry suggested. “I’ve got another radio that might help.”
James kept watching the road as Marla turned around, awkwardly reaching behind her.
“Just right there in the middle. It’s portable,” Larry continued.
She swept it up and turned around smiling, readjusting herself with the radio held in her lap like gold. James glanced at the small piece of plastic, unimpressed. If the EMP had destroyed the power to every piece of electronic equipment within range, what was the point of having a portable radio?
“How does it work?” she asked him hopefully. “Or does it work at all?”
Larry tapped the steering wheel and nodded. The long, dusty road seemed to stretch for miles, with endless warehouses and factories on both sides of the road surrounded by chain-link fence. But for the time being, no one was bothering them and that’s all that mattered. There was nothing better than anonymity, especially during a time like this.
“I kept that little guy in my wall safe,” Larry said. “Pulse, gamma rays, whatever. They’re not going to get through that.” He pointed. “Use the crank to charge it. Now it only picks up emergency signals, which is fine, because in circumstances like these, that’s probably all you’re going to get.”
He had barely even finished his sentence when Marla began turning the small hand crank with enthusiasm, winding it like a toy.
“Uh oh…” James said, staring ahead. “We’ve got company.”
Ahead, through the dust, he saw two shiny red pickup trucks parked to the side and nearly blocking the road, with a van sitting crooked on the other side. It was their first actual vehicle encounter since driving on the road. All three vehicles looked as though they had simply stopped in mid-movement and drifted to the side.
Marla, far too invested in the handheld radio, didn’t look up, but kept on cranking away. Larry began to slow down a little. The vehicles were roughly a hundred meters ahead. Their hoods were open, which was no surprise. If this was all they had to deal with before getting on the highway, James was fine with it. The highway was another story altogether.
“You see anyone?” Larry said, looking forward through his glasses.
James squinted ahead and saw ten, maybe fifteen men standing in the road, smoking cigarettes. Several of them were wearing hardhats and reflective vests. Perhaps they hadn’t grasped the severity of what was going on and would just let the station wagon pass without incident. There was a small gap to maneuver through, not much, but just wide enough that no one would get hurt.
“Might as well get used to this,” Larry muttered. “This won’t be the last time our path is blocked.” It wasn’t so much that having a moving vehicle put a target on their back. The station wagon was packed to the brim with months of supplies, from food and medical stores to purifiers, batteries, and all the necessities one could need during a disaster. “I’m going for it,” he continued as their speed suddenly increased.
“I hear something,” Marla said, holding the radio speaker to her ear.
“Hold on, Marla,” James said, staring forward with concern.
“Quiet, the both of you!” Larry snapped.
The eyes of the group were on them as the car slowed to a cautious speed. The men of varying sizes had reflective vests and work helmets. They watched the car, curious, but no one made a move.
James pointed to a gap between the vehicles. “Gun it through there while you have time.”
It was a hard fact that they couldn’t stop for anything or anyone. Trusting people had gone the way of electricity, though they had placed their trust in Larry and he seemed to feel the same way.
Larry now seemed hesitant at the wheel, but their reaction window was growing slim. James noticed two of the vested men grabbing a street barricade on the side of the road and carrying it over. “Now!” he shouted.
The car jolted forward as Larry hit the gas, speeding past the group, keeping steady, careful not to over-steer. In the frenzy of escape, they clipped the side of one of the men rushing out with the barricade. Marla screamed. James whipped his head to watch the man roll onto the ground in a cloud of dust. Larry swerved to straighten out the car across the uneven, rocky road. James watched from the back window as the construction crew chased the car in a fit of rage. They soon faded in the distance along with their shouting.
“We hit that man,” Marla said, shocked.
“He’ll be fine,” Larry said, maintaining his speed. The way ahead was clear, and they were nearing the highway, a half mile down the road.
“We only clipped him,” James said. “And I’m sorry, but that’s what happens when you jump in front of a moving vehicle.”
Marla swung her head in both their directions, appalled. “I don’t care what’s going on. You can’t just hit a man with your car. There are still laws and morals and—” James quickly took her hand to calm her down. It wouldn’t be wise to lose favor with Larry when they were still far from home. He could easily continue his way without them, and James knew that was still a possibility. To his credit, Larry said nothing as James attempted to nudge her toward their new reality.
“Listen to me, Marla. Those men were trying to commandeer this vehicle.”
“I know,” she said. “It just feels wrong to leave them.”
“We have no choice,” James said. “We’ll be home soon, so just stay calm.”
Silence followed as they reached a stop sign with a paved road ahead. Beyond the trees and rural surrounding was a bridge in the distance. They were close to the highway, and James felt an undeniable combination of relief and dread. Whatever awaited them there would be far worse than the nearly desolate road they had just traveled. James was sure of it.
For a moment, they just sat there with the car idling. Larry pulled a pair of mini binoculars from his jacket and held them to his eyes, scanning the area ahead. James rolled his window down and listened, hoping to hear sirens, and helicopters, or military jets racing overhead. Instead, he heard nothing beyond the drone of natural daytime buzzing around them. The crickets he heard and the birds who flew above had no care or knowledge of what was going on. This was a human problem. It was their problem.
The radio crackled from Marla’s lap as her attention immediately returned to it.
“Keep turning the knob,” Larry said, lowering his binoculars. “You’re bound to pick up something.”
Marla held the radio closer to her ear as she turned the small knob in the middle, trying to pick up the slightest frequency. James asked Larry what he saw through his binoculars and received a shrug in response.
“Bunch of cars stalled on the highway. No surprise,” he said.
“It was pretty bad when I drove through it earlier,” James added. “A shock I even got through.”
“It all depends if people have cleared off the roads,” Larry said. “And if currently they’re leaving the city in droves, I’d say our chances are unlikely.” It almost sounded as though Larry was going to suggest that they wait. James wasn’t sure what timetable they were operating on. Traveling the highway was a risk no matter how they planned it. The vehicles were little more than road obstructions and hazards now.
“I don’t suppose you know ano
ther way to get to Summerland Heights?” James asked Larry.
“What’s that?” Larry asked.
“The neighborhood we live in. Off exit ten.”
Larry shook his head. “If you don’t, I don’t.”
As they sat there idling, James glanced into the side view mirror. No one had appeared yet, but he imagined that it would only be a matter of time before the crew from earlier caught up with them, if they were still being followed.
“I’ve got something!” Marla said, holding up the radio with excitement.
Larry’s eyes widened with surprise as he nearly yanked the radio from her hands but stopped himself short. “Turn it up. Use the knob on the side.”
Marla increased the volume as everyone listened in anticipation. James leaned closer to Marla, trying to hear through the static and distortion as a man’s faint voice spoke through the tiny speaker.
“…And no new details are known. But officials are working on setting up dozens of emergency centers throughout affected areas in some twenty major cities.”
“Twenty?” James nearly shouted. Marla squeezed his leg for him to quiet down as the announcer continued.
“An unprecedented number of attacks occurred approximately two hours ago along the East Coast and Midwest. Reports are coming in that areas of California and the West Coast have been affected, too. There are currently an estimated 50 to 100 million people without power. In addition to the devastating blow to the nation’s power grid, reports have also detailed bombings and explosions that have further driven areas into panic.
“No official word from government officials or the White House has been released, but residents are urged to return to and remain in their homes. Anyone who hears this message is asked to share information and coming developments accordingly.”
Hideaway (Book 0): An EMP Thriller Page 8