EMP: Dangerous Decisions

by Mark Mathews

  “Excuse me, but there’s a group of men on motorcycles not that far behind us, and they aren’t exactly the friendly kind. Can we give you a lift somewhere?” The two women looked at each other skeptically, but when they saw Emily pop her head out of the back door of the car, they agreed. It was a tight fit now, but Sarah felt like she was making a difference in someone’s life, and that was her job.

  “So where are you ladies coming from?” It was Tom, trying to make conversation, or gather intelligence regarding his Christina. Either way, Wade was listening with pricked ears to figure out the answer.

  “We just came from the city. It’s absolutely horrible. Gangs are in charge now, and they are so violent the Holocaust looks like a playground dispute.” Fear shot through Sarah, and she tried gauging the reactions of Wade and Tom. Wade’s face was impassive, but Tom now was sweating bullets. They were talking about the town that he’d wanted to go to, after all.

  “What exactly is happening in the city?” His voice shook as he asked, but the women kindly overlooked it.

  “People are getting killed for sport. There’s one group that even has built a gladiator stadium and is pitting people against each other to fight to the death. They don’t give them weapons, and it gets pretty gruesome when they demand the fighters go until one is dead. It’s just not good enough for someone to concede anymore, they have to be dead.” The woman shivered, and Emily snuggled deeper into Sarah. Her whole body was shaking with fear.

  Tom thought it might be a better idea not to go anywhere near the city anymore. Wade nervously fingered the safety latch of his pistol as he listened. This was exactly what he’d been afraid of. This was why he’d wanted to avoid the city and everything to do with it. Unfortunately, with Tom being so stubborn and pig-headed, they’d come much closer to the city than Wade would have liked. They could start driving farther away again, but he didn’t know where bandits were lying in wait for unsuspecting passersby, and he really didn’t want to find out. He just wanted to take his group and get the hell away from there. Did that mean these two women now were going to be a part of their little family? He thought back to Sarah’s words. She would take anyone along who wanted to go because she wasn’t going to let them die without doing the most she possibly could for them.

  Sighing heavily, Wade decided he just might have to extend the invitation for them to accompany them before Sarah did. Not that it was a competition, but he felt the animosity from Sarah for originally denying Tom the privilege of going with them. So he had to do something to remedy that.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “IT’S a pleasure to meet you, ladies.” Sarah was doing her best to befriend these two women, if only to get information out of them.

  Their names were Emma and Rachel, and both of them had slender builds, with moderate muscles, and soft demeanors. That was where the similarities ended, however. Emma had short red hair that curled in on itself, giving her the tightly woven spirals that women killed for. (Sarah had to admit that she was a little envious herself.) Her eyes sparkled a beautiful blue, and they looked like pools of mythical lakes. Rachel had long, flowing brown hair that was as straight as a board, and hung down past her waist. How she managed to keep it like that in today’s world was a mystery to Sarah. Her eyes were a stunning hazel that seemed to change color depending on how the light hit them. They had a quiet beauty that Sarah always had wanted growing up, but never had been able to achieve.

  “Where are you guys headed?” Emma’s soft voice questioned. As long as conversation was going, Sarah was making headway, at least in her opinion.

  “We’re headed toward the Great Lakes.” Both girls’ faces fell, and it struck an instant alarm bell in both Sarah and Wade.

  “We came from that area, and we’re in no hurry to get back any time soon.” Rachel fell silent, and as much as Wade didn’t want to encroach on her memories, he had to know what they were heading toward.

  “Why don’t you want to go back?” The silence stretched on, to the point where Wade thought the girls wouldn’t answer at all, but then Emma cleared her throat.

  “Well, as soon as the attack happened, men formed groups, almost like gangs, and started to take over the fisheries. They would sell the fish to people for extraordinarily high prices, and if they had nothing to trade, people ended up hurt or worse. They set up a monopoly on the food, and it was just better to get out of there and fend for ourselves.” Wade was nervous now. If the resources they’d been looking at for a source of livelihood already were monopolized, then they might have to think twice about where they were going.

  “And it wasn’t just that. Men were killing each other for fun. They would start fights, then challenge the offender to a duel, like in the old days. Then they would just hack away at each other until they killed each other. It was disgusting.” Wade saw Emily cowering in the back of the car, and he cleared his throat.

  “I think we should keep the horror stories to a minimum. There are little ears in the car.” Both girls blushed and looked in the back seat at Emily, whose face was pale, and her lip was trembling. They guiltily looked at each other before falling silent.

  “If you guys are dead-set on going to the Great Lakes, then we’ll be happy to get out and continue our journey on foot.”

  “Well, wait a minute. Let’s discuss this. There’s a little roadside bar not too far up the road, if the signs are right, and we might be able to scrounge up something to eat while we talk about the best course of action. What do you say?” Sarah was ever the peacekeeper, and didn’t want to make any rash decisions that she might regret later.

  The girls agreed reluctantly, and Wade had to wonder how much of the agreement was because of the promised food. They both looked thin and haunted. Tom parked behind the little place so the car would stay hidden from view, just in case someone decided to come by. While everyone went in to look for food, Wade and Tom decided to check it out.

  The group at the table managed to open some cans and found some utensils to eat the makeshift dinner, but they couldn’t agree on a common course of action. Emma and Rachel were adamant about going to the East Coast, because they claimed the government was there, and if there was a way to survive all of this, then it would have already been thought of for the government officials. Maybe they’d have a chance. As Wade and Tom came back, they picked up the tail end of the argument that Emma and Rachel were starting. Wade wanted to go south, now that he knew the Great Lakes were a worse option than he ever could have imagined. Sarah decided to be the voice of reason.

  “Okay, how about everyone puts their ideas on the table and then we take a vote?” It seemed to be the only way to keep a riot from breaking out. The girls again put their vote in for the East Coast, and only Wade said south. He wasn’t sure if he had a new destination in mind yet, but it would be somewhere Southern. When Tom’s turn came, he was silent.

  “Go ahead, Tom, tell us where you want to go. Nothing is going to sound stupid.” He looked up at Sarah and gave her a rare smile.

  “It’s not that I think I’ll sound stupid for saying a place to go, it’s just that I really have no idea where to go. I don’t know what I want anymore.” He looked like an empty husk of himself, and they’d only known him for a few days. Something had to be eating him alive on the inside, but he never mentioned it, so no one could help him. They waited a few more minutes to see if he could come up with some place to go, but he couldn’t. Sarah decided to throw her two cents in.

  “I think we still should go to the Great Lakes. I understand what they’ve said about what was going on, but it can’t be like that everywhere. The Great Lakes is a big region, and I think we still could eke out a living there.” Something was pulling Sarah to that region, and it was almost a magnetic draw. She couldn’t explain it, not that she hadn’t tried. This vote wasn’t going to end well, she thought, and all she wanted was to get herself and Emily to the safety of the Great Lakes. She couldn’t give rational reasons as to why she felt the Great Lakes
were a safe bet, but something inside told her they were, and she wanted to go with her gut because it had gotten her this far already.

  “If you’ll hold the vote for a few minutes, I’d like to go to the bathroom first.” Tom was trying to inject some humor into the situation, because everyone looked so serious. Sarah gave him a smile and nodded. Tom got up, letting his mind wander. The bathroom was down a little hallway, and Tom almost didn’t make the turn because his head was still on Christina. Had she really left him because she thought he was dead weight in this new world? Was she in the city now? Had she turned into one of those people who now had no morals or standards at all? It scared him that he didn’t know her as well as he thought he did. Suddenly, an arm wrapped itself around his throat and two hundred pounds of weight crushed him to the ground. The air rushed out of his lungs and he felt panic in every fiber of his being. He bucked like a wild horse, trying to throw the weight off of him. Once he got himself turned around, he got enough air in his lungs to scream. He cut it short, however, when he saw that it was Rachel. He let it whoosh out of him a second before she threw herself into his arms, latching her lips onto his.

  Thoughts of Christina disappeared from his mind as Rachel’s tongue parted his lips, delving deep into his open mouth and exploring the far reaches of that cave. His hands came up to rest on her hips, and she pressed herself against him. The soft swell of her chest felt hot against him, almost as if the thin layer of his shirt wasn’t even there. She pushed him into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She shoved him up against the wall, and the two of them sort of fell around the bathroom while they were kissing. Thoughts of Christina were completely out of his head now, but as soon as the kissing started, it ended. Rachel bit his lip and pulled it out a little ways, then let it go and watched it snap back into position. She winked at him and left the bathroom, acting like nothing had happened.

  Tom stood there in astonishment. What just had happened? Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to argue with it. He used the bathroom and got back to the table. Sarah looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Something was wrong. Tom hadn’t left the table looking like that. Now, his hair was disheveled, his shirt wasn’t hanging straight, and his bottom lip was a little redder than usual. Almost like he’d bit it out of nerves. What was going on? Before Sarah could ask him what had happened, Emma got to her feet, with the excuse of saying she had to go to the bathroom. As soon as she was out of earshot, Rachel shot to her feet.

  “While the vote is on hold, and Emma’s in the bathroom, I need to grab something from the car that I forgot. I’ll be right back.” Sarah’s brows knotted in confusion. Something was going on. Why were they all running out of here before the vote even could begin? There was a chill of apprehension that raced down her spine, and she was not liking the fact that no one was sticking around. Wade, Emily, and Sarah were still at the table with Tom, and they were talking about the Great Lakes idea.

  “I would love to see them. It’s something I never got to visit when my parents and I went on our little vacations.” Emily was looking at this in the way of any child. She was excited about the situation, and wanted to do as much traveling as she could.

  Sarah opened her mouth to say something, but she snapped it shut as the sound of the Model T starting up got everyone’s attention. Wade and Sarah stared at Tom dumbfounded. Tom had the keys. As soon as he saw them staring at him, he started searching his pockets frantically. It was no good. He knew now that the real reason Rachel had started making out with him in the bathroom was to steal the keys. Leaving Emily at the table, Tom, Wade and Sarah went running out the door just in time to see Emma go running toward the slow-moving car, and get in. Then Rachel squealed the tires as the car took off on the main road heading east. Wade was in shock. They were stranded now, with nothing. All of their supplies were in the car, as well as the bikes they put in the roof rack. They had nothing on them except the clothes on their backs, the weapons they were carrying, and whatever they could find in this crappy little bar.

  “Wow. Now I’ve seen it all.” There was bitterness in Tom’s voice, and Sarah had silently to agree. She felt as though it was her fault, however, because she had tried befriending the two women and urged taking them along. Now she was kicking herself for not listening to Wade when he said there was no one to trust.

  “How will we even know where to go?” Despair drowned Sarah’s voice because the maps were in the car, too. She’d seen Wade put them in the glove compartment.

  “I still have two maps in my vest. At least we’ll know where to go, but I’m not sure where to go. That part of the discussion hasn’t happened yet, and now I think it’s something we should think about.” Wade was always the calm one, and this wasn’t exactly something Sarah was proud of admitting. She was usually the one who could calm down a situation, and now she was ready to go running after the car and drag those two skinny girls out of it by their hair. She huffed angrily and went back into the bar to sit with Emily. She was glad Wade at least had the maps, but she still was angry over the whole situation with the girls.

  “Where are Rachel and Emma?” Emily’s innocent look only riled up Sarah more. She felt as though the women somehow had betrayed the little girl personally.

  “They left, honey. They stole our car and bicycles and they left.” It was all she could do not to spit the words out, but she didn’t want to scare Emily, or make her think they weren’t going to be okay. Emily’s mouth puckered and tears came to her eyes.

  “But I thought they were my friends?” Sarah didn’t want to tell Emily that she wasn’t going to have any friends in this world, except the people who were with her now, and even then, she wasn’t all too sure about Tom.

  “I’m sorry, sweetie. They were scamming us so they could take what they wanted from us and leave.” Emily sniffed, and Sarah pulled her into a big hug. “It’s going to be okay, though, I promise. I’m here, and I’m never going to leave you, okay?” She pulled Emily’s face up gently until she was looking up into her eyes. “We are going to be just fine. I’m going to take care of you no matter what.” Emily nodded and Sarah started wiping away her tears. Tom and Wade were in the store room, looking for new supplies to take with them, and Sarah was on babysitting duty. Emily suddenly put her arms out for a hug, and Sarah opened hers to let the little girl come snuggle with her. This was exactly what Sarah had had in mind when she’d wanted to be a mother, and she was amazed at the strength of the bond she was starting to have with this little girl.

  Wade and Tom came back, two backpacks full of cans and some bottles of water. It didn’t give Sarah much hope, but she knew it was a start, and no matter what happened, she was going to keep her promise to Emily.

  “Are we ready to head out?” Wade had a map out in front of him and was looking back and forth between Sarah and Tom as to a direction to start in. Neither one of them said anything.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  SARAH WAS SEEING RED. She knew people were different now, but really? To steal from someone who had offered to help you? That was unacceptable in Sarah’s book. She wanted to run and chase after the car, she wanted to punch those women in their perfect faces, and she wanted to pull their perfect hair out.

  “How did this happen?” Her voice was hard, and she barely ground the words out in her anger. Tom shied away from her and didn’t want to admit he’d been caught up making out with Rachel. He wasn’t exactly a quick thinker, but this time he had to be.

  “I must have left the keys in the ignition.” He looked at the floor when he said it, so she wouldn’t be able to see he was lying. It did nothing to abate her wrath.

  “How could you have been so stupid? Didn’t Wade teach you not to trust anyone? How could you have done that to us? Now we’re stranded here!” She couldn’t help but blow up. Her emotions had been tamped down for a long time, and she just couldn’t hold it back anymore. Tom was an outlet, and there was nothing else that she could do but use it.

  “Tom, what were you t
hinking, leaving the keys in the ignition?” Wade put his face in his hands. Yes, he could have asked Tom while they were gathering supplies and Sarah was comforting Emily, but the shock of what just had happened hadn’t worn off yet. Now it had, and Sarah was fit to be tied.

  “I’m sorry. I just wasn’t thinking, I guess.” Wade shook his head, almost like he was chastising his son rather than someone who was an adult. Sarah didn’t know if she bought the story of him forgetting the keys in the ignition. His face had been flushed and his hair had been mussed when he came back from the bathroom. She remembered his glancing in Rachel’s direction. Had he helped them to steal the car? Had something more happened that she and Wade didn’t know about? She’d have to investigate to find the truth, but she wanted to talk to Wade about it first. She was a bit of a hothead at times, and talking to someone else usually helped her calm down enough to see an unbiased angle to the story. Taking some deep breaths, she tried forcing herself to calm down. They managed to sit in a booth together without killing each other so they could talk about where they should go. The conversation had lasted almost ten minutes with no destination in sight, when Emily decided to take matters into her own hands.

  “I’d really like to see the Great Lakes,” she mumbled. Giving the little girl face of innocence, she started looking around the table, making eye contact with everyone.

  “Well, I don’t know. According to what those two women said, it’s not a great place to be right now.” He sighed and put his head in his hands for a moment before looking back at everyone. “But then again, I’m not sure if we can trust them right now. It could be worth a shot anyway, but I just don’t know.” Tom was trying to make himself look better, so he went along with what Emily wanted.

  “I think we should listen to her. Maybe the Great Lakes are a good idea, and maybe they aren’t, but the truth is we’ll never know unless we go there, and if we go there, Emily will get to see something she’s never seen before. I’m okay with heading towards the lakes.” Sarah was impressed. Emily had persuaded both men to change their minds in five minutes flat. She wasn’t quite sure what the power was that the little girl held over them, but she wasn’t going to argue the point. She still had that feeling pulling her towards the lakes, and try as she might, she just couldn’t explain it.