by Akart, Bobby
Blair, who was halfway to the kitchen, stopped in her tracks and swung around. She set her jaw, and her eyes closed to a slant—her death stare. “Whadya have against wives, mister?”
“Nothing. I’m just saying we don’t need all of these TVs.” Ryan tried to backtrack. He knew the look. His attempts to defend and retreat didn’t work.
“No, it sounded to me like you were equating televisions with wives. Are you saying I’m like a TV, something to be available only when you want it. To turn on and off as you please?”
Blair had started walking toward him, causing Ryan to freeze. “Um, no, no, no. Seriously, darling. I didn’t mean that at all. I—”
She was right in his face now. He glanced around to see if he had a place to run to, but he was trapped against the sofa. He backed up, waiting to get pummeled.
Blair burst out laughing, as she’d gotten him again. She was the consummate practical joker, frequently teasing Ryan to keep him on his toes. She couldn’t resist this time, despite his half-sleepy rant being harmless.
She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “Come on, grumpy. But get it together. If I miss something, I’ll be really pissed!”
Chapter Eleven
Late Evening
New Year’s Eve
Haven House
“Blair!” Ryan shouted her name from the media room. The tone of his voice raised alarms in the half-sleeping girls, who scrambled out from under their blankets and came running into the media room.
When Blair arrived, champagne and glasses in hand, she stopped in the middle of the doorway, astonished. “What kind of fresh hell is this?”
“Shh. I don’t know where to start. A plane crash in Alabama. The transportation systems in DC are at a standstill. A concert was evacuated in Atlanta. And now they’re reporting a massive power outage stretching from parts of New Jersey into Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.”
Blair set the bottle and glasses on a sofa table and walked around the massive sectional to approach the televisions. She glanced at her watch. It was less than ten minutes until midnight. “Ryan, this has to be coordinated. Jeez, all of this happened since I went to the kitchen? It’s been two minutes.”
“The plane crash showed up on the chyron of CNN first. Then the DC airports reported computer issues. I’m most concerned about the power outage.”
Blair pointed at the FoxNews channel. “Turn this up. They’re talking about it now.”
“At approximately 11:45, only a few minutes ago, reports came from Philadelphia that power plants had failed suddenly throughout the PECO Energy Company system. PECO operates primarily in southeastern Pennsylvania, covering all of Philadelphia and Delaware County.
“However, new reports are coming in that the power outage is much more widespread. PSE & G, the power company servicing much of New Jersey, including the state capital of Trenton, has reported a similar incident at the exact same moment. Reports coming out of Wilmington, Delaware, are similar.
“Because these events have just occurred, we haven’t been able to reach Homeland Security for comment. As you can see on your screen, we are covering both the ball drop in New York City and this power outage simultaneously to keep you abreast of the latest.”
Blair was pacing the floor, periodically walking close to the sixty-inch monitors to get a closer look. She suddenly pointed to the ABC broadcast of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. “Ryan, look! Turn up this one!”
The screen that had been split between coverage of the Beyoncé concert evacuation and Times Square suddenly enlarged to New York, where chaos ensued. As he increased the volume, a harried Ryan Seacrest was screaming into his microphone over the panicked revelers.
“I don’t know what’s happening, but everyone is running for their lives. Explosions have rocked Times Square in the last minute. The famous ball was the first target, and the crystals shattered into millions of pieces and began raining down on thousands of people below. Shards of glass struck their faces, embedding like tiny knives in their skin. Our production crew scrambled for cover on our elevated stage, and currently, I’m hiding under a tarp used to protect our cameras from the wet weather.
“My producers are telling me to leave. To get out. But to where? Now that the glass has stopped falling, I can catch a glimpse of what is happening around our stage, and it isn’t pretty. The panic has caused people to push and shove, knocking one another to be used as a springboard to flee from the attack.
“And make no mistake, this is an attack. It is nothing short of a war zone down here. I’ve heard more than a dozen explosions, maybe two dozen. I’ve lost count. Some of the bombs struck targets while others seemed to detonate in midair. I don’t have any idea where they’re coming from or how they got here, but they were clearly airborne. I’ve not heard anything resembling an explosion near the ground. All of it came from above.”
Ryan’s phone rang, so he handed the remote to Blair. She continued to turn up the volume on the televisions as they reported from the various locations under siege around the country.
“Yeah, Alpha.” She could overhear Ryan’s side of the conversation. “We’re watching too. Wait, what? Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles too? How? How do you know this?”
Ryan hesitated and stared at the monitors. Blair turned the volume down momentarily to listen in. They both shook their heads in disbelief.
“Okay, okay. Keep those lines of communication open. Gather up Echo and head over to the house now.
“No, not the new guy just yet. We need to assess this situation between the four of us. The decisions we’re about to make will impact a lot of lives. Hurry!”
Ryan disconnected the call and glanced at the time. It was just after midnight. He noticed his hands were shaking, but not out of fear.
“What about the other cities? There’s nothing on the news about—”
Ryan interrupted her. “Coordinated attacks. Alpha called his guy at the FBI as soon as this happened. The agency is freaking out, he said. All of these events occurred within fifteen minutes of each other, with the attack on Times Square coming last.”
Blair turned around and studied the televisions again. Most of the networks were focused on Times Square because that was being viewed by hundreds of millions of people around the world. The chyrons scrolled at a furious pace as news broke of the attacks around the country. The FoxNews production team was in such a frenzy they didn’t bother spellchecking what they inserted onto the constant feed.
It didn’t matter, as what was happening was clear to all. An attack on the United States, and it affected Americans from coast to coast.
Chapter Twelve
After Midnight
New Year’s Day
Haven House
“Champagne?” asked Blair with a chuckle as she raised the bottle and glasses in the air.
“Yeah, right.” Ryan sighed and rolled his eyes. “It’s happening. I don’t know by whom or from where. But one thing is certain. It’s hitting the fan right before our eyes.”
Blair motioned for Ryan to sit on the sofa. “Keep watching while I put this away. Red Bull?”
Ryan laughed. “You know me so well. Better make it a double.”
Blair kissed her husband on the top of the head and left. Ryan alternated between the four large televisions mounted on the wall, muting three of the networks and focusing on CNN, which always did the best job of covering catastrophic events when they occurred around the world.
“Information continues to come into CNN’s newsroom as our reporters make every effort to assemble and cover this breaking story for you. The White House has issued a statement that the president is being kept advised of these events, but other than that, they were unable to comment further at this time.
“The perpetrator of these heinous acts is unknown, as no group has claimed responsibility. What we do know is that they were carefully orchestrated to have a maximum terror-like effect on each of the targets. The plane crash outside Mobi
le, Alabama, may be an anomaly, a simple coincidence unrelated to the much larger scale attacks around the country.”
The sound of the Red Bull can popping open announced Blair’s return to the media room. Ryan, who allowed himself a minute to rest and gather his thoughts, stood and began pacing the floor, as he often did when he was brainstorming. He was simply incapable of sitting still.
Blair handed him his can, and then she held his hand for a moment. “Listen to me. We’ve got this. We built this place for a reason, and this is it. No worries, hubs.”
Ryan relaxed his body and took a long gulp of his favorite beverage. “First, two things. Happy New Year.” He bent over and kissed his wife to ring in the new year.
“What’s the other thing?” she asked.
“White rabbit. White rabbit,” he replied, generating a hearty laugh between them. For years, they’d followed the custom to bring them good luck throughout the month.
“Oh, yeah, white rabbit, white rabbit,” Blair repeated. “We’re gonna need it.”
Blair removed a three-ring binder that was tucked under her arm. “I brought the book.”
After winning the Mega Millions jackpot two years ago, the Smarts had begun to brainstorm their plans for a place like the Haven. They searched around the country for locations ranging from the Mountain West to Texas and even the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee.
Once they settled on Henry River Mill Village, Blair was charged with the task of creating a set of rules, policies, and procedures for the Haven that applied to pre-collapse living as well as what to do when the proverbial crap hit the fan.
Her organizational skills were incomparable. Blair had a knack for anticipating issues that might arise and established a detailed response to each. While Ryan used his background in real estate development to create a solid foundation for the Haven in the form of buildings and infrastructure, Blair created the book, a detailed guide to ensure the Haven withstood the storm, no matter how bad it was.
They pulled the ottoman closer to the sectional sofa and opened the binder to the operational guidelines section.
Ryan glanced up at the news networks, which continued to be transfixed on the events in Times Square. “Blair, I know we don’t have time to be philosophical, but I have to ask. Did you ever think we’d be at this point? I mean, look at the news. We’re smack-dab in the middle of everything we’ve talked about for years.”
She leaned back against the sofa cushions and grimaced. “Okay, all honesty right now.”
“Yeah.”
“At first, when you started talking about prepping, I went along with it because it seemed important to you. You weren’t going overboard buying nuclear fallout shelters or escape pods that would jettison us out of our home on a moment’s notice. Everything you did was common sense.”
“We couldn’t afford the escape pod, or I would’ve bought one,” Ryan interjected with a laugh.
“No doubt, but listen to me,” Blair continued. “Everything you purchased—from extra food to gallon jugs of water, to medical supplies—could always be used at some point. However, the last ten years really opened my eyes to how the fabric of our society is crumbling. I liked the concept of the Haven for many reasons, both personal and as to what was best for our family.”
“Me too,” added Ryan.
Blair leaned forward and pointed at the monitors. “But this. This kinda stuff here. No way. I never thought something like this would happen. I know you did, but honestly, not me. I love you for believing in the worst-case scenario, because our planning and the Haven will hopefully keep us all safe.”
“All is the operative word, too. We’ve created a community here that’s only half full. There are others out there, many of whom are directly impacted by what’s happening on those TVs. I feel responsible for them also.”
They both turned as Alpha’s unmistakable knock came on the front door. The hard pounding was reminiscent of every cop’s method of demanding someone open up. Before Ryan could push himself off the sofa, Alpha and Echo entered the foyer. Both girls, who’d sprawled out in front of the fire, shot up off the floor and greeted the men. Their exuberance was refreshing as their butts wiggled, causing them to slip on the snow-covered entry. After getting the requisite attention from the guys, they moseyed back to their spots to watch the activity.
“TEOTWAWKI, right, Ryan?” asked Echo as he entered the media room first. He often used the acronym TEOTWAWKI, the end of the world as we know it, when referring to a post-collapse way of life.
“Come on in, guys,” replied Ryan. “I don’t know, but it sure looks like the start of something.”
“My buddy with the FBI agrees,” added Alpha, his voice deep and ominous. “He was real honest with me. There are a lot of agents shocked that we were caught with our pants down on this one. With our abilities to monitor every aspect of communication in this country, he can’t believe they didn’t have a whiff of these attacks.”
“Nothing at all?” asked Blair.
“Well, he did tell me a FISA warrant was obtained today, but they thought it was related to Islamic terrorists. In his opinion, some group with more lethal capabilities than those radicals are behind this.”
“Why do you say that?” asked Ryan.
Alpha walked up to the wall of televisions and paused. He spoke with his back to the group. “The feds’ gut reaction based upon the coordination and the methods used suggested a foreign government. Russia, maybe China. Heck, even North Korea is a possibility.”
“Methods?” asked Ryan.
“The power outage in the Mid-Atlantic region was more than just the grid. It included vehicles and other equipment.”
“EMP,” mumbled Blair.
“Yes,” continued Alpha. “In DC, the attacks were on several forms of transportation, including the DC Metrorail system, the airports, and mass transit systems like the buses.”
“That doesn’t sound like an EMP,” said Ryan. “They were targeted.”
Alpha turned and nodded. “Yeah. The FBI’s initial assessment points to a cyber attack.”
The room fell silent for a moment as the news networks were switching from one catastrophic event to another. All of the screens depicted a common scene—panic, chaos, and mayhem.
Ryan stood and paused all the monitors. He casually set the universal remote on the ottoman next to the binder. Then he spoke. “Our first job is to prevent that madness from infiltrating the Haven. Security is job number one. Alpha?”
“Our protocols are simple. We have sectors of the perimeter assigned to all residents. Everybody has a two-way radio and knows the drill. Sidearms and rifles are mandatory.”
“Do the residents know?”
Alpha held up his iPhone to reveal the display to the group. “I muted the phone. I’ve had a dozen calls and twice as many text messages. They know, and they’re all waiting on me to direct them.”
Ryan smiled and patted his friend on the back. “Don’t let me hold you up. Get your perimeter security established.”
Echo stepped forward. “What do you want me to do?”
“First, go see our newest resident. Explain the situation and tell him to be on standby. I haven’t decided what role to place him in just yet. Blair and I will figure that out. Does he have one of our radios?”
“Not yet,” replied Echo. “I’ll take him one. Do I issue him weapons?”
“No. He’s got his own, trust me,” replied Ryan. “Tell him to monitor our emergency frequency on the radio. Based upon what’s happening, I expect the cell service to crash at some point.”
“What else?” asked Echo.
Ryan thought for a moment. “This might be premature, but I’d feel better if we moved the livestock away from the fences on the back forty and center them in the Haven. I don’t want some foolish hunter taking potshots at our meat and dairy.”
“It’ll be the last shots they take,” said Alpha.
Ryan chuckled. “I get it, but we also don’t want t
o get the sheriff on us either. This thing is just now unfolding. For the time being, the rule of law is still in place.”
“Okay, boss, I’ll get on it as soon as the sun rises,” said Echo, who immediately started toward the door.
Alpha followed him, and as the men were about to exit, Echo turned and looked at the Smarts. “Boss, thank you.”
Simple words, sincerely delivered.
II
NEW YEAR’S DAY
Chapter Thirteen
After Midnight
New Year’s Day
Haven House
For the next hour, Blair and Ryan made copious notes of what needed to be done as they kept a watchful eye on the news. Since midnight, no other attacks had transpired, but the wake of the first wave was being felt by many. The northeast from Washington, DC, to New York took the brunt of the complex blitz that systematically collapsed power grids, halted air travel around the nation, and caused hundreds of casualties as panic spread through Times Square.
“We have to recall the rest of Alpha’s team—Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Foxtrot,” said Blair as she thumbed through the security personnel section of the book.
“Foxtrot will have the greatest difficulty,” added Ryan in response. “She’s in DC, and air transportation in the entire region has come to a halt. Honestly, I’m not even sure if she has a car.”
Blair shook her head. “I’ll message her anyway. We can count on her, right?”
“Yeah, she’s solid. You know she’s in the middle of this Supreme Court thing for the president. She might be delayed.”
“We’ll see,” mumbled Blair. Ryan didn’t need to press the issue. Blair had voiced concerns about Hayden Blount from the beginning. She had skills that the Haven needed. Most importantly, she was single without family ties to cloud her judgment or decision-making. Blair had suspected all along that her new position with the law firm representing the president would require her to stay in Washington.
