by Bowman, Dave
“This is like a museum,” Annie marveled.
Dan finished lighting the candles and clasped his hands behind his back. “My parents were art collectors.”
He gestured at the seating arrangement, a collection of upholstered couches and leather chairs.
“Please, make yourselves comfortable,” he said.
Dan walked over to a door on the side wall and opened it. “This opens up to a connecting room. I’ll sleep in there and let you two have this room. Also no windows, so no risk of contamination.”
Annie peered over his shoulder into the unlit, adjoining room.
She was glad he was planning on sleeping in a separate space. The tension she’d been carrying in her belly loosened a bit.
“Those towels are for you,” Dan said, gesturing at the stack he had brought to the library. “I thought you might like to dry your hair.”
Charlotte reached for one. “Awesome,” she said rubbing the fluffy towel over her damp hair.
Dan reached inside one of the bags they had brought from the kitchen and retrieved a red pouch. He handed it to Annie.
“And I thought this first aid kit might come in handy,” he said. “It looks like your foot was bleeding.”
Annie smiled at Dan gratefully. “Thank you.”
She felt a pang of guilt. She had thought the worst of him, and he was just trying to be nice.
For dinner, they made ham and cheese sandwiches and polished off the gallon of milk that was starting to get warm in the fridge.
“I’m sorry I can’t offer you a better meal,” Dan said. “I suppose I live a bachelor life. Lots of takeout.”
“This is great,” Charlotte said between bites. “I was famished.”
Annie tore into her sandwich, then made herself another, eating large handfuls of potato chips between bites.
Dan smiled as he watched her eat. “I guess you worked up an appetite.”
Annie nodded, her mouth full. She hadn’t realized how hungry she had gotten.
When she was finished, she leaned back in her chair. She could finally think clearly without the hunger gnawing away at her.
I’m alive. I survived this day.
It was a miracle that she and Charlotte had made it. And Annie had to admit that Dan had played a role in their survival.
If he hadn’t stopped and given them a ride, they might not have found a shelter that would protect them from the fallout.
Maybe he’s not so bad after all.
His smile didn’t seem as terrible as she remembered. She didn’t have that uneasy feeling anymore. Maybe she had been wrong about Dan the whole time.
After all, he was being so generous with her and Charlotte. He had opened up his house to them, fed them, helped them. He was being a perfect gentleman.
It had been such a nightmarish day. Annie felt like she could finally relax and let her guard down.
She would have preferred to have been in her own home, but maybe Dan had been right. Maybe it had been for the best to come here.
Though she was feeling more comfortable, her heart still ached for Jack.
She was worried sick about her family, too, but they had most likely been at home during the attacks out east. They didn’t live in any major cities, so Annie hoped they were safe.
Jack, on the other hand, had started the day out in the middle of one of the largest cities in the country.
She had no way to know where her husband was, or if a bomb had hit Los Angeles or not.
She could only hope that he had left the city if it was under attack like Austin. She imagined him out on the streets, looking for shelter.
She felt a stab of guilt as she reclined, comfortable and fed, while he might still be out there.
What if he was hungry? What if he was injured?
She shuddered to think of her husband in pain.
Please, please be okay. Please find your way back home.
She knew Jack was smart and resourceful. She didn’t doubt his ability to protect himself or stay safe.
But, still, it was dangerous out there.
If the terrible day had taught her anything, it was that there were so many ways for it to all go wrong.
“What a tragedy this has been,” Charlotte said, breaking the silence. “Think of all the lives lost in that explosion.”
Annie remembered the destroyed downtown buildings, the piles of rubble.
“There must have been tens of thousands that died,” Annie said. “Anyone near ground zero downtown probably would have been killed instantly.”
“And all the injured,” Charlotte added. “All those people on the street with broken bones, bleeding. Compared to them, we were so lucky. If we had stayed on the bridge, we would have died for sure.”
Annie nodded. Their fate could have been so different had they not crossed the river. Her heart ached for all the people who hadn’t been so lucky.
She felt a sick wave of nausea take over as she recalled the people crying on the street. She wished that she could have helped them. But there were simply too many people, and she and Charlotte needed to get out if they were going to survive.
“Do you think this is happening all over the country?” Dan asked, interrupting her thoughts.
She looked at him in the dim, candlelit room.
“I do,” Annie said. “I couldn’t contact my family in two different states right before the EMP hit in Austin. It must’ve happened there first.”
Dan nodded slowly. “Yes, I would imagine this was a coordinated attack.”
“It’s awful to think of this happening all over the country,” Charlotte said. “I’ve got family in Chicago. My parents and my sister.”
Her voice faded out as she spoke. Annie knew that Charlotte was not close to her family, but it was clear that Charlotte still cared for them. She was worried.
“And my husband’s in LA for a work conference,” Annie said sadly. “Such awful timing.”
“That must be hard having him so far away at a time like this,” Dan said sympathetically.
Tears sprang to Annie’s eyes. She willed them to retreat.
“It is,” Annie said. “It’s very difficult. I just hope he’s safe. And – and that he can get home. But how can he? He’s probably on foot. Walking all the way to Texas could take weeks! And there are so many dangers out there…”
Annie’s voice began to break. She wiped away the tears and buried her face in her hands.
Charlotte reached over to squeeze her shoulder.
“Jack will make it home somehow,” Charlotte said. “I know he will. If anyone can do it, Jack can.”
“I’m sure your husband will find a way,” Dan said.”Try not to worry.”
Annie nodded, looking up and forcing a smile. She sniffed.
“You’re right,” she said. “Worrying won’t help him, anyway. “
Annie stood up and turned away. She walked slowly to the wall and looked at a painting of a woman in a sunlit garden, surrounded by flowers.
She cleared her throat. “Do you have any family out there, Dan?”
“I have a brother who lives in Dallas,” Dan answered. “We don’t keep in close contact. But I’m sure he’s out there, surviving one way or another.”
“The thing that worries me,” Annie said, still looking at the painting, “is how crazy everyone became after the attacks.”
“Yeah, it seemed to bring everyone’s bad side out,” Dan agreed.
“It was like a different city. Instantaneously,” Charlotte added. “Everyone was nice and normal before the EMP. Then suddenly, they all turned into raving lunatics.”
“Dangerous lunatics,” Annie said. “It makes me scared of what’s yet to come. Sooner or later, we’ll have to go back out there and face the world again. And the world is completely different now.”
“Well, at least we have a couple of days to recover,” Charlotte said hopefully. She was finger combing her hair and pulling it back into a ponytail.
“Yes, and then I’ll be happy to give you a ride home,” Dan said. “Once the danger of the fallout has passed.”
“That would be great,” Annie said, facing them again. The thought of returning to her own home brightened her mood a bit.
“Annie, are you still thinking of going to Loretta in a couple of days?” Charlotte asked.
Annie’s eyes widened for just a moment. She glanced at her friend in a quick burst of surprise and annoyance.
Why did she have to say that?
Annie didn’t want Dan to know her plans. She didn’t want him to know anything about Jack’s family ranch in the country.
Annie caught herself quickly and softened her expression.
“I’m not sure,” Annie said. She glanced at Dan and then away.
“What’s in Loretta?” Dan asked innocently.
“My husband has some property there,” Annie said, a bit nervous. “Well – his family does.”
“And you’re thinking of going there and leaving the city?” Dan asked, his voice even.
“Yeah,” Annie said. “I mean, I’m not sure. But it was an idea.”
“Ah, I see,” Dan said quietly.
He stood up and began to put away some of the food in the packages.
“It might be a good idea to go to the country,” he said casually. “Too much population here, all squeezed into a tight space. Not a bad idea at all to go somewhere else.”
“Yeah, maybe so. Here, let me help you.” Annie took a step forward and started to help him put the food away.
Dan held his hand up. “Don’t even think about it. Rest. You both have been on your feet all day.”
“Are you sure?” Charlotte asked.
“Positive,” Dan said. “Just relax.”
Annie plopped on the couch beside Charlotte and watched Dan seal the packages and stack them neatly.
He looked hurt.
Annie felt a little guilty.
He must have sensed her true feelings – that she didn’t want him going with her to the ranch.
“I’m going to leave the food in here, in case you two get hungry,” Dan said as he stepped back to look at the food supply.
“Thanks so much for everything,” Charlotte said sweetly.
“Yeah, thank you, Dan,” Annie said, looking up at him.
Dan grinned. “It’s my pleasure having you here. I have to admit, it would be a little lonely waiting out radioactive fallout all alone.”
Charlotte smiled sleepily. “Yeah, you guys are pretty good company for the end of the world.”
“I’ll be right next door if you need anything,” Dan said as he crossed the room.
“Goodnight,” Annie said.
Dan stepped into the neighboring room, waved, and shut the door behind him.
Annie sighed and slumped down in the couch. She looked at Charlotte, who was braiding her long hair.
“Why did you have to mention Jack’s place in the country?” Annie asked in a whisper.
Charlotte looked at her friend innocently. “What’s wrong with mentioning the ranch?”
Annie’s eyes darted at the closed door where Dan had left.
“Because I didn’t want Dan to know about that,” Annie mumbled.
Charlotte shrugged. “Why not?”
“I don’t want him going to the ranch with us,” Annie said in her lowest whisper.
Charlotte rolled her eyes. “Do you still not trust him? After all this?”
Annie chewed on her lip. “No, I guess I do trust him now. He seems all right. I don’t know… I just didn’t feel comfortable inviting him.”
“I don’t think he expected an invitation.”
Annie’s brows knitted together. “But did you see the look on his face? He seemed hurt that I didn’t invite him.”
“I swear, Annie! They dropped a nuke on us, and you’re still worrying about hurting somebody’s feelings,” Charlotte said, shaking her head. “You sure do overthink things, sweetie.”
Charlotte gave Annie’s hand a quick pat.
“Dan will be fine. Try not to worry so much.”
Annie scratched her head, jostling her red curls. “You’re right, I’m probably just reading too much into it.”
“Well, I can forgive you for being on edge. It’s been an absolutely terrible day for both of us. For the whole country.”
Charlotte moved to another couch, blew out a couple of candles, and grabbed a blanket.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m dead,” Charlotte said as she stretched out on the couch. “Time to sleep, my friend.”
Annie blew out the remaining candles and lay down on her own sofa. She pulled her blanket up under her chin.
“Goodnight, Charlotte.”
“Goodnight.”
Annie lay in the darkness with her eyes open, staring into the black room.
She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she could have sworn she heard the faint sound of debris from the explosion hitting the roof outside.
17
Jack, Naomi, and Brent took cover behind a large tree planter in the sidewalk.
An intense white-yellow light, brighter than anything Jack had ever seen, took over his field of vision.
For a moment, he was blinded by the sheer flash.
They hid behind the concrete planter, shielding their eyes in the crooks of their arms.
When the flash finally subsided, Jack could see again.
He was spellbound. As if in a trance, he opened his eyes and looked up.
A large halo cloud was rising and expanding upward.
Below the halo, a massive fireball formed into a mushroom cloud.
The rolling, angry fireball rose upward with a stem beneath.
In that moment, the forward march of time seemed to stop.
It was a sight that would stay with them forever.
A horrific image that would haunt them the rest of their lives – a churning mass of flames and destruction that consumed everything in its path.
The sound from the massive explosion reverberated through the air. Jack once again ducked his head down and covered his ears.
Everything shook. The street, the sidewalk, Jack.
He braced himself and held on.
A wave of pressure slammed into them. Hot winds from the explosion blew past them at high speeds. An acrid smell singed Jack’s nostrils.
When the heatwave was over in a few seconds, Jack opened his eyes again.
The giant mushroom cloud was still rising over downtown Los Angeles. The fiery red ball of flames had turned to gray smoke and was moving higher into the sky.
The ground had stopped shaking. The explosion was over.
Jack’s breathing had stopped for a moment, and he now took a breath with his open mouth.
We’re not dead.
Naomi and Brent cautiously lifted their heads to look around.
“Are you okay?” Jack asked.
Naomi nodded her head. Brent didn’t respond. He was stunned.
Jack grabbed his shoulder. “Brent! Are you okay?”
Brent blinked a few times, then his eyes came into focus.
“I’m okay.”
Jack stood up and looked around. All of the windows in the vehicles and buildings had been shattered. Debris and rubble littered the streets.
But most of the buildings, except for some smaller, flimsy structures, had remained standing.
“We’re far enough away from the explosion to survive the blast,” Jack said. “But we only have about twenty minutes before the fallout begins.”
“What does that mean?” Brent asked, as he and Naomi came to their feet.
Jack looked around at all the buildings and houses on the block.
“That means we have to find shelter to wait out the fall of the radioactive material,” Jack said. “We don’t have any time to waste. Follow me.”
Jack’s mind raced, his eyes scanning the area as he set off hustling down the sidewalk.
Small,
cheaply made houses lined the next several blocks. People began to congregate in the windows and doors, looking out on the destruction outside. Everyone was in a daze, confused and in shock from the terrifying event that had just happened.
He took long, quick strides. Naomi and Brent had to run to keep up with him.
Even if they could take shelter in one of the homes in the area, all of the windows had been shattered. Invisible radiation would enter their shelter, making them sick and perhaps even killing them within days.
Naomi gestured at a gas station down the block.
“Maybe we could stay in there? It looks like some people are trying to get inside. But if we hurry, we could squeeze in before it gets full.”
“That won’t work,” Jack said quickly without slowing down. “The force of the explosion broke the windows out.”
“We must be miles from ground zero,” Brent interrupted. “It’s crazy that the bomb could shatter windows this far away.”
“That’s what a nuclear bomb is capable of,” Jack said as he picked up the pace. “Anyway, all the radioactive debris from the bomb will mix with dust and vapor particles in the atmosphere. The force of the explosion has pushed all that material high up in the sky. But pretty soon, it’ll begin falling to earth.”
“Radioactive fallout?” Brent asked, still partially in shock.
Jack nodded.
They came to the end of the block and turned right.
“Yes, and it’s very dangerous,” Jack said. “We need to find a place we can wait it out for at least forty-eight hours. Let’s see if there’s anything that will work down this next street.”
“What kind of shelter are we looking for?” Naomi asked.
“A building with the windows intact, at a minimum,” Jack said over his shoulder as he pressed onward. “Even better would be a building with no windows. Something underground would be ideal, but I don’t know if we’re going to find that around here.”
“Yeah, not a lot of people build houses with basements in Southern California,” Naomi said, huffing and puffing to keep up.
“Look for something with thick walls,” Jack instructed. “Something sturdy. If we can find a large building and get to the middle of the building, that would be helpful too.”
But as they entered the new street, nothing matched his description. There were only small houses with wide open window spaces.
