by Pat Riot
“Wait, NAWAS?” Miguel asked, clearly puzzled. Rob gave them both the quick version of what NAWAS was and the two alerts.
“So how long does it last?” Jasmine asked.
“It depends on how fast stuff can be repaired. But think about it. Every single electronic device is going to need repaired. Every single car is going to need replacement parts. And the power grid is the biggest thing. From what I understand the components that will be needed to replace the affected parts of the power grid can take a year or more to make. And if they need hundreds or thousands of those parts it can be years before we have power again. That’s if the plants that make the parts even have power themselves.”
“C’mon bro, that can’t be right. The government has to have contingency plans and backups in place for all of this,” Miguel said with disbelief on his face.
“When’s the last time the government did anything efficiently?” Rob’s question was rhetorical. “The government has known how vulnerable everything is for a long time and they haven’t done anything to prepare for it. I guarantee you as soon as they knew how bad it was going to be they all high tailed it for the nearest bunker to try to save themselves. We are on our own.”
“That’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever heard,” Jasmine retorted with a snort and another exaggerated eye roll. “You have gone off the deep end.”
“Told you I’d sound like a nut job. I promise you though no one is coming to help you. My suggestion is for you guys to get your stuff and start walking home. Things are not going to be pretty soon. In fact I think things are going to get very, very ugly, and very soon.”
“Man, you are crazy. You belong in the mental ward at County. I thought you dispatchers took psych exams before being hired,” Jasmine huffed before turning and walking back to the passenger side of the ambulance. She climbed back into her seat and slammed the door.
Miguel was still standing there, and Rob could see his mind was racing. “How do you know all this stuff?” he asked.
This time Rachel answered, “A bunch of us dispatchers took a terrorism class sponsored by Homeland Security. The guy who gave the class went over this same exact scenario.”
Rob took back over, “And after the class I did some of my own research and I’m telling you this is literally the end of the world as we know it. Of course it’s your choice, but I really think you should try to make it home.”
“Yeah,” Miguel said quietly. “I’ve got some thinking to do.”
“We’re going to move on. Nice to meet you Miguel,” Rob said, once again shaking his hand. “Good luck to both of you.”
“Listen, I know she’s your partner,” Rachel said as she nodded towards the front of the ambulance. “Just don’t let her influence your thinking. Rob might sound crazy, but I promise you he’s not. Good luck to you,” she finished the conversation with her own handshake.
As they walked by the ambulance Rob gave Jasmine a wave and a nod. She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. Too bad. A few days from now she’ll probably remember this and wish she had listened to me. Oh well. Too bad I couldn’t get any narcotics. Rob knew there was no way Jasmine would allow him to take anything from the ambulance without putting up a fight, and he wasn’t desperate enough to force the issue. Not yet at least.
A few minutes later Rachel started talking. “Hey, sorry about that back there. I almost lost it on that dumbass. Here you are trying to help her out and she’s treating you like you’re a moron. But, I still should have just shut up.”
“No worries. I was looking forward to a chick fight but didn’t want to take the time to let you beat her ass. We need to stay on schedule,” Rob said with a laugh. His joke worked, causing Rachel to laugh as well and lightening the mood. “Seriously though, she was an asshole. It’s fine if she doesn’t want to believe it, but she doesn’t have to act like that either. I’m hoping she’s just scared and will think about what she heard. Oh well, what are you gonna do right?”
“Yeah. Guess we can’t save ‘em all.”
“Yeah. Thanks for backing me up though.”
“No problem,” Rachel said. “I was surprised when you yelled. I worked with you for five years and never once did I see you even become upset, let alone yell.”
“It’s not often that I do. She just rubbed me the wrong way. I hope Miguel trusts his instincts and leaves for home even if she wants to stay. He was on the verge of leaving when we did but I think he was worried about leaving her there.”
“Yeah hopefully.” Rob and Rachel lapsed into silence again as they continued their journey east. They picked up their pace and walked the mile to Heacock Street, through commercial buildings and warehouses without incident, in less than thirty minutes.
A few hundred feet short of Heacock Rob called for another break. “I need to use the restroom again, and we need to take a quick break before we tackle the residential area.” They walked into a large grassy field next to the street where they put down their bags. Rob got out his Kershaw Siege and roll of toilet paper, “I’ll be right back,” and walked over to, and climbed down into, a storm drainage ditch that traversed the length of the field. He used the hatchet to dig a small hole that he used to relieve himself, then covered it up and walked back over to where Rachel was waiting with their bags. “You need to go?” he asked.
“Just pee, I’ll be right back.” She jumped up with a few napkins she had saved from earlier and walked over to the ditch. She was back within a couple minutes.
“So, this is what I’m thinking,” Rob began. “We just keep heading east on Cactus, go straight through as fast as possible. Once we reach Lasselle we’ll be out of the housing tracts and back into open fields. Then the only thing we have to worry about is the hospital before we get to your neighborhood. But you live here, so you know the area better than I do. Any other ideas?” Rob asked her.
“No, that sounds good to me. There really isn’t a way to go around that doesn’t go through neighborhoods, and the good thing is all the houses on cactus face away from the street and into their own neighborhoods. With any luck we’ll get through without seeing anyone.”
“Yeah that’s what I’m hoping, glad we are on the same page. I’m going to down this energy drink,” Rob said as he pulled one of the BANG energy drinks from his bag. “We need to move fast, so if you’re feeling a little tired you might want to as well.” Rob stood up and flexed his knees a few times by squatting down to the ground. Other than a little soreness his knees felt fine. And once the energy drink kicked in he would be good to go. Ten minutes later he stood and put on his backpack and Rachel rose and did the same with her messenger bag. Without a word they walked back to the street, then turned east and headed into the residential neighborhoods of this section of Moreno Valley.
Chapter 4
Rob and Rachel walked at a fast pace. Not so fast that they would tire themselves out, but fast enough that Rob hoped they would make it through the two miles of residential area before sunrise. The aurora turned the darkness into twilight, but it was better than walking through in the middle of a bright sunny day. It was 5:30 am so they had about an hour and a half to make the two miles. Cutting it close, Rob thought. He wasn’t sure they would make it, but they were going to try. If they didn’t hit any obstacles on the way through they should make it, but Rob wasn’t counting on smooth sailing. The farther they got the better.
Rob elected to walk in the street but close to the curb line. That way they had good fields of view for what was ahead and behind them, but were also close enough to any bushes and trees in the grass area next to the sidewalk that might give them some concealment if needed. At intersections they paused to look up and down each side street to confirm everything was quiet before proceeding across. At T-intersections, where small residential streets let out onto Cactus Avenue but did not continue on the other side, they crossed the street and walked on the opposite side of where the side street let out.
The area they were now
in was a series of tract home developments that were built in the 1970’s and 80’s. On the main streets that ran through the area, the houses all faced away with their backyards facing the main streets, divided from the streets almost exclusively using eight foot block walls. The interior streets that ran through each neighborhood mostly made several turns and had numerous cul-de-sacs placed throughout. The houses were all single-family homes on somewhat small properties with the houses separated by only fifteen feet and a wooden fence. There weren’t a lot of trees in the neighborhoods, especially compared to some of the neighborhoods on the other side of the city, but the ones that were there were mature and provided large amounts of shade in the summer. It wouldn’t be a bad place to live, except for the gangs. And if you didn’t mind being shoulder to shoulder with your neighbors of course, Rob thought.
The first obstacle they ran into was at the intersection of Cactus and Perham Drive. Several hundred feet short of the intersection they could hear numerous people talking from up ahead. Rob and Rachel crossed to the right side of the street and stopped. “Wait here, I’m going ahead to check it out. Keep an eye out and scream if you need me to get back here fast. Also, be ready to run in case I’m spotted.”
Rachel looked scared but nodded, “Be safe and come right back.”
“I will,” Rob said with a reassuring smile. So that he would present a smaller profile to anyone who looked in his direction, and he would be a little lighter and faster on his feet if the need arose, he set his Eberlestock backpack just off the sidewalk and next to a bush so that it wasn’t readily visible in the bright light of the aurora, then proceeded slowly towards the voices.
He utilized the sidewalk and stayed close to the cinder block wall that separated the street from the backyards of the houses next to them. When he was even with the corner house, but still several dozen feet short of the intersection, he could see light from a fire coming from the right. He moved slowly and quietly ahead until he could see across the front yard of the house. Unfortunately, due to a large tree and cars parked in the driveway of the house he was next to he couldn’t see anything other than the glow of the fire. Rob got down on his hands and knees and crawled through the front yard, using the tree and cars as cover. He made it to the tree, stood up, and peaked around, and found his view still obstructed by the cars in the driveway. He could see some movement and shadows but not enough to get a good handle on what was going on. He got back down and crawled to the cars, trying as best he could to watch his surroundings. He reached the cars and from a crouched position slowly peaked over the trunk of a white four door sedan.
Across the street, in the second house from Cactus, he has visual of about fifteen males and females. They were mostly gathered around a large bon fire they had started in the driveway of the house, and most had obviously been drinking. If it had been just the group around the bon fire Rob would have felt comfortable trying to sneak past, knowing the campfire was playing havoc with their night vision and they were engrossed in whatever conversation that was taking place. Unfortunately, there were also four males in the street shooting hoops through a portable basketball hoop, and with the night still brighter than normal due to the aurora, there was a good chance they would spot Rob and Rachel if they attempted to cross the intersection.
As Rob watched he caught snippets of the conversation. He caught the words cops, hood, crips, bloods, and power. It was obvious they were members of one of the local gangs having an impromptu meeting, but other than those words Rob couldn’t figure out what specifically they were talking about. He watched for a few more seconds then crawled backwards until he was at the corner of the house. Once he was certain he was out of the group’s line of sight he stood up and quietly made his way back to Rachel.
He told her what he found, “Bad news. Almost twenty people, gangsters I think, with a bon fire. No way we can sneak past them. We’ll have to double back and go around them. You know this area better than me, which way do you think is better?”
Rachel thought about it for a minute. “If we go north to Brodiaea we are going to have to cut through the neighborhood, and I don’t think there is a street that goes straight through, so we would end up walking up and down several side streets. If we go south to Delphinium, we can use the street we just passed, it goes straight through, then we can go down Delphinium and cut through Badger Springs Middle School and the elementary school that’s next to it, then through the fields back to Cactus.”
“Okay that’s what we’ll do then,” Rob said as he picked up his backpack and put it on. They backtracked west until they came to Joshua Tree Avenue. He could see that it did in fact cut straight through to Delphinium Avenue. and he took a long look at both sides of the street to make sure everything was quiet. Once he was happy nothing was moving he told Rachel, “Let’s move quick and get over to Delphinium. Keep a real good eye out,” then started walking fast.
They walked along the left curb line even though most of the houses faced them. On the right side of the street only a few houses faced the street, but there were three side streets to cross on that side. The other advantage to the left side was there were a lot more cars parked on the curb than there was on the right side; cars they could take cover behind if they needed to. They walked quickly, both scanning back and forth left and right, with Rob doing his usual backwards walk to occasionally take a good look behind them. At one point while looking around Rob noticed Rachel had her ASP in her hand ready to go. Smart girl, he thought. During the entire walk to Delphinium they both felt like a thousand eyes were watching them from the windows of the houses, but they made it without incident.
Before making the left turn onto Delphinium they paused to check both directions. While they checked Rob asked Rachel, “How far down is that school? A few blocks, right?”
“I think its four, but it’s not far.”
“You good to jog? I want to make it there as fast as possible.”
“Oh yeah, let’s do it,” she replied.
“Okay, real quick, make sure nothing you have is going to make any noise as we run. Once we start moving, other than clearing intersections, let’s try to make it all the way there without stopping. We can take a break once we reach the school.”
After a quick look in her bag Rachel took some of the slack out of the shoulder strap so it rode a little higher. This way she could keep better control of the bag and it wouldn’t bounce around so much as they jogged down the street. She looked at Rob with a determined look on her face and gave him a nod, indicating that she was ready.
They set out at a quick jog, utilizing the right side of the street this time. When they reached the first intersection, Perham, they paused to check left and right. To the left they could see the same group that had caused them to detour in the first place, but they were far enough away that Rob felt confident they could cross without catching the attention of the large group. To the right was only darkness and quiet. Crouching to reduce their profile, they moved as fast as possible to the east side of the street. Once across they hid behind a parked car and watched the group for a minute to make sure they had not been spotted. With no change in the group’s activities they started out again, still on the right side of the street to avoid the small residential cross streets on the left.
They were making good time and were just short of a side street which let out of the neighborhood on the left when Rob came to an abrupt stop. Rachel, not reacting fast enough to Rob’s sudden lack of motion, ran right into his back. “What’s going on? Why’d you stop?” she asked in a whisper.
“I thought I heard something, like a banging sound. I think it’s coming from that side street. Let’s slow down and use these cars to get where we can see down that street before we cross.” Together they crouched behind the cars, moving slowly and stopping at each gap in the parked vehicles to try to get a visual down the side street. They were even with the side street and were behind a large dark blue pick-up truck and still could not see anything
. There was a gap of about five car lengths to the next parked car due to the driveways of two houses being next to each other at that point of the street. After a minute of looking and listening Rob started to wonder if his mind was playing tricks on him.
“I’m going to go first,” Rob told Rachel. “You keep a good eye on the street. Once I’m across and behind that next car I’ll wave you over when it’s your turn. When you move don’t hesitate and get across fast.”
“Okay I’m ready,” she replied.
Rob was about to make his move when movement caught his eye. “Hold up, check it out,” he whispered to Rachel, while pointing down the side street. “Right side, about two thirds of the way down next to that white mini-van.” They could now see what was making the noise. Someone was on the sidewalk holding a large stick or pole. As they watched he walked into the street, moved to the driver side door of the mini-van, and used the stick to smash out the driver side window. He reached inside and unlocked the door, then pulled it open and got inside. They could see him moving around inside the van and Rob figured he was searching for anything he deemed valuable. The thief was done in less than forty-five seconds, got out and started walking to the next vehicle. They watched as he walked around the car, this time a silver sedan, and tried each door handle. When he wasn’t successful in finding an unlocked door, he moved over to the passenger front door.
