by T. L. Payne
San Diego, California
Day of Event
Beth’s drive back to her mother’s house after dropping off her eighteen-year-old daughter at the San Diego airport was difficult. The doctor had put her mother on hospice care just days before. She hadn’t had time to adjust to the news that her mother would not recover from cancer this time.
Beth’s mother, Florence, had beaten breast cancer twice. The third time it returned, it was in her bones. Her mother was sixty-eight and had led a full, vibrant and active life before this most recent diagnosis.
The traffic was heavy—heavier than she remembered from when she had lived there before marrying her first husband, Greg Langston. But that was ages ago. She had lived all over since then, settling in Missouri. When Greg left the Marines and took the job in St. Louis, Beth had been thrilled.
For the first time in their marriage, they had been able to settle in the place of their choosing. To be honest, though, St. Louis hadn’t been her first choice. She could think of much nicer places to live, but Greg had received a great job offer from a military defense contractor. The job allowed him to be home with Beth and their children, Maddie and Zach.
Beth pulled the car into the third bay of her parents’ three-car garage. She unloaded the groceries and placed them on the marble countertop.
“Beth, is that you?”
“Yes, Mom, it’s me. Can I bring you some juice? I stopped at Panera Bread and bought you some of the chicken and wild rice soup you like.”
“Maybe later, dear. I…”
She was getting weaker and sleeping longer. Beth wasn’t sure if it was because of the cancer or the pain meds. She was incoherent a lot when she was awake. Beth had moved the dining table and china cabinet out of the dining room to set her mother’s hospital bed up there. Her step-father, Frank, was set up in the den, where he spent most of his time. He had suffered a stroke the year before, leaving his left arm paralyzed.
Beth finished putting the groceries away and went into the den to check on Frank.
“Frank, can I get you some soup or a sandwich?”
Frank did not answer her, so she said it louder. The television was blaring. She had to yell to be heard over the commentator’s gloomy newscast.
“Frank,” she yelled.
“What? Why are you yelling at me?” Frank asked, glowering at her over his shoulder.
He turned back to stare at the television before she could finish her sentence. She rolled her eyes and went back to the kitchen.
“I’ll just make him a tray, and if he is hungry, he’ll eat it,” she said out loud, her tone exasperated.
“What did you say?” Frank called from the den.
Beth shook her head and pulled a bowl from the cabinet next to the sink. She made Frank a tray and sat it on the coffee table in front of him.
“You're blocking the television,” Frank barked, craning his neck around her.
China’s president, Xi Jinping, is said to have facilitated the talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the United States. U.S. State Department spokesman, Robin Payton, said Monday that the president had rejected calls from China, Russia and North Korea to lift sanctions imposed on the isolated state. The U.S. remains committed to only doing so when Pyongyang makes further progress toward denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. Further talks between Chairman Kim and President Rhynard have yet to be scheduled.
“You can’t trust those damn commie North Koreans. Are they nuts or something? What the hell are we talking to them for anyway,” Frank yelled at the television.
Beth had never been so tired of listening to the news in her life.
Why in the world did they invent twenty-four hour news stations, anyway? All they do is repeat the same bad news over and over.
The hospice nurse, Sandy arrived shortly after one o’clock that afternoon. She took her mother’s vitals and adjusted her morphine pump.
“She is sleeping most of the time now. Is it from the meds?” Beth asked as she walked Sandy to her car.
“Her urine output has decreased again. I increased her fluids, but I think her kidneys are shutting down.”
The nurse put a hand on Beth's shoulder. Her eyes were full of sympathy.
“It is just a matter of days now—maybe three or four. If you have family to call in, I’d say now would be the time. She will likely slip into a coma in a day or two.”
Beth inhaled and held it. She had known those words were coming. She had felt it in her heart, and she’d thought she was prepared for it. Beth thanked the Sandy and walked back into the house. All she wanted to do was go upstairs to her room, crawl into bed, and pull up the covers. That was what she had done after her husband Greg had died. She had shut down. Sleep was her only comfort. She didn’t have the luxury of retreat today. She had ill parents and a lazy one-eyed dog to care for.
Jack slept in the bed with Beth’s mother. He rarely left her side. She stroked the dog’s head as she stared down at her mom. He lifted his head from the bed, shifted position, then put his head on her mother’s leg. Feeling sorry for her mother’s furry child, she decided she would reheat the chicken and rice she had made him the day before.
“Jack—you want some lunch?”
Jack’s paws hit the wood floor, and a flash of white fur streaked by her feet. Jack loved food.
“What are we going to do with you, little guy?”
She hated the thought of taking him to an animal rescue, but her husband, Jason would never allow her to bring him home with her. They already had a dog he didn’t like.
As Beth followed Jack into the kitchen, an ear-piercing emergency alert tone emitted from Frank’s television. Beth’s first thought was the alert was for a wildfire. They had not had rain in a while. Beth placed the kitchen towel she held in her hand onto the counter and walked into the den just as the emergency alert message began to scroll across the screen.
We interrupt our programming; this is a national emergency. The Department of Homeland Security has issued a national emergency alert. Residents are asked to shelter in place until further notice. Stay tuned to this channel for updates. This is not a test.
Beth heard the alert tone on her cell phone and ran to the kitchen to retrieve it.
Presidential Alert
THIS IS NOT A TEST. This is a national emergency. Shelter in place until further notice.
“What the hell?” Frank said.
Beth clicked the news app on her phone to check for news about the emergency but found none. She opened the Facebook app and scrolled through the messages. She stared down at her phone as her news feed refreshed. A story from a San Diego news station informed the city that the nation had been attacked. Beth dropped to the floor on her knees, her cell phone skidding across the floor. Crawling over and to pick up her phone, she leaned against the kitchen cabinets and read the article.
San Diego Daily News has been informed that at approximately twenty-three minutes past three this afternoon, a nuclear device exploded in the atmosphere above the United States. Information is still coming in regarding the extent of the damage this detonation has caused, and areas affected. But right now we know that communications with most of the nation have been interrupted. An official with the governor’s office has told Daily News that they have no information regarding further attacks. A state of emergency has been declared, and residents have been ordered to shelter in place until further notice. We expect a formal statement from the governor later today. Stay tuned for further details.
Beth kept scrolling through her news feed hoping for more news. She tapped on contacts, selected Maddie’s cell number, and pressed call button. The call failed so she couldn’t even leave a voicemail. She opened her message app and typed a message to Maddie and Zach, then tapped the send button. She waited. A moment later, a message appeared telling her that delivery had failed.
Beth buried her head in her hands. Being cut off from her children during a national emergency was beyond any heartache she had eve
r experienced. Rocking back and forth, she tried to control her panic. She repeatedly tapped the messages send button hoping desperately that it would go through.
Placing her hands on the counter, Beth pulled herself to her feet. She ran her hands through her hair. Her mind wanted to go numb, but she could not give in to that. Walking over to the sink, she washed her face and dried off with a kitchen towel. She heard a news anchor discussing the shelter in place order and headed back to the den.
Frank was unusually quiet as he and Beth sat staring at the television screen. All anyone could say was that no one knew what the damage was throughout the rest of the country. All planes had been grounded and a state-wide curfew had been ordered. No one was allowed out of their homes except essential personnel.
It was hours before news reports came in about the blackout caused by the electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. A so-called expert explained the effects of an EMP detonated at three-hundred-mile altitude. As far as they had determined, the unaffected areas include parts of California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. Beth didn’t need to listen to the rest. She understood the effects of an EMP. Her deceased husband, Greg, had studied it as one of the possible scenarios he foresaw happening.
She was cut off from her children and her husband, Jason. She was two thousand miles away, and there was nothing she could do to protect them. Worse yet, they were both away from home and separated from each other. Zach would have his school teachers for help and support, but Maddie was stranded in an airport in a large, densely populated city.
Beth paced the room. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t think of a single thing she could do to help her children or even try to get to them. The roads were shut down. The authorities were not allowing anyone to travel. Walking two thousand miles without any gear was impossible.
“Beth? Where are you, Beth?”
“I’m right here, Mom. I'm coming.”
No matter how desperately she wanted to get home to her children. She knew she could not leave her dying mother, and it would be foolish to go alone anyway. She wouldn’t make it out of California, let alone across four states of chaos and devastation.
Even though ever cell in her body wanted to get to her children, she would have to stay there and care for her parents.
Chapter 3
Chicago O’Hare International Airport
Chicago, Illinois
Day of Event
As the Andrews family prepared to leave the airport, Maddie studied the map on the wall. Although she was relieved that she would not be heading out alone, she was worried that they’d slow her down. An explosion rattled the windows. A third plane crashed to the ground, skidded down the runway, and slid into the wreckage, its fire flooding light into the dim concourse. Maddie shot to her feet and ran toward Rob and his family.
We needed to get out of here now!
Maddie stopped short and watched as the family huddled in panic over their suitcases.
“We cannot wheel all these suitcases fifty miles down the middle of the crowded streets. Stranded motorists will be flooding the roads and sidewalks by now,” Rob said, placing his hand on his wife’s suitcase.
“You can leave all your things here if you want,” April said. “It will not fit in any of our backpacks or my tote, and I cannot carry it around in my arms. What if someone knocks it from my hands? I am not leaving it, and that is final.”
Maddie tapped her legs with her fingertips and looked over her shoulder at the wreckage.
“Rob—we have to go now,” Maddie said.
Rob tried to take the suitcase from April.
“Emma can’t pull her suitcase fifty miles, so it is staying here. I will probably be carrying her part of the way.”
“I am not leaving it, Rob.” April said, pulling the handle from her husband’s grasp.
Rob stepped back bumping into Emma. Emma turned and tripped over her bag. Rob reached out and caught her, lifting her off her feet and giving her a quick squeeze before putting her back down.
Maddie’s heart ached. Her dad was not there to catch her when she fell. That huge safety net had been missing since she was fifteen. She would give anything for him to be there to catch her right then. She wondered if Emma knew how lucky she was to have her dad with her in this mess.
April reached down and brushed strands of curls from Emma’s eyes.
Rob reached down and grabbed the handle of April’s suitcase. April glared at him.
“I’ll take it. You can’t carry it, April, and there are going to be places that you can’t roll it. If we are going to have a chance of making it home, you need to let me carry it.”
“No, you will leave it somewhere.”
“I promise, April, I will do my very best.”
“No, Rob, I can do it.”
Rob shook his head and walked away, leaving the bag with April.
Maddie continued to tap her fingers on her legs as she watched him go. She looked to the main hallway and back to Rob. She wondered what the security personnel were doing. Earlier, she had seen a group of them running toward terminal two, but besides the useless customer service people, no one had come to tell them what they should do.
No sooner had the question popped into her mind, two airport security officers appeared. One of the officers climbed onto a chair.
“Folks, if I can have your attention…” he said.
The crowd began to quiet and gather near the security officers.
“It’s about time someone came to tell us what the hell is going on around here. Why are the lights out, and why are planes crashing?” a man yelled.
“Are we safe in the airport? Is someone coming to get us out of here?” another yelled.
“If you will quiet down, I will tell you what we know. All right?”
The security officer paused and waited for the passengers to quiet.
“All right, at 3:15 p.m. today, the President of the United States declared a national emergency ordering everyone to shelter in place. That—-”
Questions from the crowd interrupted his announcement. He held a hand up and waited for everyone to quiet down again.
“If you will stop interrupting me, I will finish my announcement and then answer your questions to the best of my ability.”
He paused.
“The order to shelter in place means that at this time, no one is allowed to travel.”
The crowd grew loud again, and the officer waited.
“Everyone just shut the hell up and let the officer tell us what is going on. If you keep interrupting and shouting him down, none of us are going to find out what is going on,” a man yelled.
After the crowd quieted, the security officer continued.
“From what little we know right now, it seems that our country has come under some type of attack.”
People murmured. Some held their hands over their mouths. Looks of shock and disbelief were evident on everyone’s faces.
“Communications are down now, but right before the electricity went off, we received a message from Homeland Security about the shelter in place order. We are doing everything we can to find out more but as of right now, we’ve been unable to contact anyone outside the airport. As such, we must enforce the order until such time as it is rescinded by the president. All airport exits are locked, and no one is allowed to leave at this time.”
Passengers began shouting, and the crowd began pushing in on the two security officers. The man stepped down from the chair, and he and the other officer ran off down the main hall of the terminal with much of the crowd in tow.
As the remainder of the crowd dispersed, Maddie could see fear on their faces. Maddie ran over to Rob. He was walking fast back toward his family. Across the terminal, a twenty-something man in a tank top and shorts was shaking the steel roll-down gate at the coffee shop. All the stores had been closed up, and the stranded travelers were increasingly voicing their displeasure with that fact. The vending machines were empty.
When Maddie caught up with Rob, she grabbed his arm. As he turned toward her, Maddie heard a loud banging. She stumbled, but Rob caught her. They turned in unison to see a crowd growing at the bagel shop. The crowd had been successful in prying open the security gate. The throng of people pushed and shoved their way into the shop. Angry voices and the crashing of tables being thrown came from the store. Seconds later, mothers were fleeing with their children clutched to their chests. It had only been a few hours since the lights had gone out, and people were already looting and willing to fight each other over a bagel.
Maddie looked at Rob wide-eyed.
“It is time to get out of here. If it is this bad in here, I hate to see how it is outside on the streets,” Rob said, turning toward his family.
“I agree, but how do we get around security? They have locked down the exits.” Maddie said.
“Now that they have told everyone what is going on, there will be a mass exodus. They will have a difficult time handling all the people. We need to go now, while they are occupied with all the unhappy people. We need to find an exit they have not locked.”
“That is what I was thinking,” Maddie said, bending over to tighten the laces on her running shoes.
She was glad that she had remembered to replace the laces with paracord. It was a habit from her hiking days with her family. She liked having the extra strong laces when she ran as well. It really sucked to break a shoelace during a marathon and have to limp to the aid station with a shoe flopping.
As she made the loops with the paracord to tie her shoes, her hands shook. Blowing out her cheeks, she let out the breath she had been holding. The sound of her heart beating thrashed in her ears. She managed to finish tying her shoelaces and looked over to the crowd that was slowly exiting the bagel shop.
She considered staying in the airport and waiting for her mom, step-dad, or someone to come to rescue her. The thought of walking through scenes like the Ferguson riots terrified her. Images of people being pulled from their vehicles by angry mobs flashed through her mind. She recalled the images on television of hooded men throwing Molotov cocktails at store windows.
