by Harley Tate
“What isn’t?” Dave looked down at his sheet. “When the power went out it was like a…” he glanced around, trying to come up with the words, “…surge. Everything got brighter, a microwave in the breakroom exploded, the transformer out front burst into flames. It was chaos.”
Wanda glanced around. “Did the fire department come? Did they put out the fires?”
“No. I can’t make a single call. The landlines are down. There’s no cell service. No one even knows where the closest fire department is. But that’s not the worst of it.”
He paled as he spoke, the clipboard in his hand shaking enough for Tracy to notice.
“What’s the worst?” Tracy asked.
He ran a hand down his face, fingers pausing to rub at his lips. “We’ve lost fourteen residents already. Ten more are critical and probably won’t last another day.”
“What? How?” Wanda’s mouth gaped in shock, her blue eyes as wide as the ocean.
Dave swallowed. “Eight had pacemakers. Something about the power outage… It wrecked them.”
Tracy nodded. It made sense when she thought about it. “A lot of modern pacemakers are actually controlled via wireless technology. They use the same cell network or satellites that our phones and TV use. Without power, the central monitoring facility is down. There’s no one telling those pacemakers what to do.”
“Oh my goodness.” Wanda smacked her lips, opening and shutting her mouth like a guppy.
Dave nodded. “We’ve got other patients on home oxygen. Without power, we can’t keep those systems running.”
“What about portable oxygen? Don’t you have some?”
“We do, and they’re all being used.” Dave glanced down at the ground. “There weren’t enough portable machines for everyone.”
Wanda raised her hands, waving them in front of her like she could wipe everything Dave said away. “What about the backup generators?”
Dave kicked at a broken piece of asphalt in front of him. “They only support the main building. Not the residences.” He looked up, eyes pained. “Not that it matters, anyway. The generators will run out of gas tonight. I sent Monica out this morning to find more fuel, but she said every gas station she drove by was closed. There’s no diesel to be had.”
He glanced at his watch. “We’ve got maybe four more hours. Then the refrigerators and freezers in the cafeteria will start to defrost. We’ll lose all the food in cold storage.”
Tracy closed her eyes for a moment. This is real. Everything I feared, everything Joe and I discussed… It’s all real.
She had to admit that although she thought Wanda was delusional, the woman’s unflagging optimism in society had gotten to Tracy. She’d begun to doubt her own cynicism.
Wanda turned to look at the mostly empty parking lot. “Where’s all the staff? The nurses, cooks… They should be here.”
“No nurses showed up this morning. It’s me and Monica and Edgar in grounds maintenance. That’s it.”
“How many residents do you have?” Tracy almost hated to ask, but she couldn’t help it. She had to know.
Dave’s lips thinned into a line. “Living? One hundred and eighty-six.”
“How many can make it through the night?”
He glanced down at his clipboard, flipping the first two pages. Tracy saw big red X marks over a handful of names and question marks next to so many more.
“We’ll probably lose twenty or thirty by morning. If the power stays out…” He trailed off, not willing to face the horror. “I’m keeping a list. Dead, dying, and missing. I’ve got about thirty residents I can’t find. One less now that Wanda’s here.” He gave her a forlorn, broken smile.
Tracy fought the urge to reach out and hug the man. He didn’t need comfort. He needed assistance on a massive scale. Assistance that probably would never come.
“Where are the police? The ambulances? Shouldn’t someone have come by now?” Wanda’s voice had taken on an almost ephemeral quality, there and gone before anyone could blink.
“No one’s coming. Edgar made it in this morning, but he said it was bad downtown. Riots, looting. He said he heard more gunshots than he could count.”
“Already? But the power’s only been out a day!”
“Not even. Word is that the gangs don’t think it’s ever coming back on. They’re seizing territory, throwing people out of their homes, ransacking stores. With phones not working and those emergency alerts they keep blasting out, it’s causing panic. Chaos.” Dave shook his head. “It’s like they think it’s judgment day or something. Edgar said he heard chants of ‘Our Time’ over and over as he drove through.”
“It’s a wonder he made it out of there alive.” Tracy was surprised. If it had already gotten that bad in parts of the city, how long before the crime wave spread?
Dave nodded. “Tell me about it. He claims it’s because he drives a POS car. No one wanted it.”
Tracy snorted back a smile. Edgar seemed like a good guy to get to know.
Wanda peered behind her at the building across the parking lot. “Is it safe to go to my place?”
Dave nodded. “Just watch your step. The hallways are dark. Oh, and the water’s off now, too. So don’t use the toilet.”
Tracy hesitated. She wished there was something she could do for Dave other than wish him good luck. But she knew there was nothing. Helping would only prolong the inevitable. She needed to get back home to protect her supplies and wait for her family.
They would be coming. She knew it.
Wanda smiled at Dave. “Thank you.”
“Of course. Sorry I can’t do more.”
Wanda turned toward her building and Tracy followed a step behind. The entire walk across the parking lot she thought about Dave’s information. No police, no fire department. No military to speak of.
They were on their own. Maybe for good.
Wanda pulled open the glass door to the building and stepped over the brick that had been used to prop it ajar. As soon as she stepped inside, a stench hit Tracy’s nose and she gagged.
“What is that?” Wanda looked like she might throw up.
“I don’t want to know. Let’s just get to your place.”
Wanda pointed as she held her other hand up to her nose to block some of the smell. “It’s down here.”
They walked in silence, both breathing through their mouths and fighting the urge to retch.
Wanda stopped in front of a door and fished her keys out of her purse. She stuck one in the lock, turned the knob, and shoved the door open.
One step inside and she dropped her purse on the floor. “What the…?”
Chapter Seventeen
MADISON
West Sacramento, CA
10:00 a.m.
“Let’s face it. We’re lost.” Tucker leaned back in his seat, chewing on the end of his pen as he scanned the street.
“No, we’re not.” Brianna shook her curls at him. “We’re just… taking the long way.”
Peyton grumbled from the back seat. “We’ve been driving for hours and getting nowhere.”
Brianna gesticulated at the windows. “It’s not my fault half the roads are blocked and we have to turn around.”
“How much gas do we have left, anyway?”
She glanced at the gauge. “Enough.”
Madison stifled a yawn. “Let’s pull over and take a break. My legs are so stiff I might fall over when I stand up.”
Tucker pointed his chewed-up pen out the window. “How about that shopping center? Maybe someone can give us directions.”
Madison didn’t think talking to strangers was a good idea, but she needed to get out of the car and walk around.
Brianna slowed the Jeep. “Fine. But we’re not staying longer than we have to. I want to get Madison home ASAP.”
Tucker glanced over at his girlfriend. Madison didn’t miss the tension radiating between them. Although Brianna was dead set on high-tailing it up to her family cabin north of Truckee,
Tucker didn’t seem so enthusiastic.
“We might want to stay the night. Regroup, eat, get a good night’s sleep. Who knows what the roads will be like. The highway could be jammed.”
Brianna scowled, refusing to buy in to Tucker’s theories. She parked away from the other handful of cars in the parking lot and turned off the engine.
It was a typical strip mall in this part of town, complete with a Metro PCS, minimart, and a payday loans store. Two of the three were now worthless. But the minimart could be filled to the brim with shelf-stable food and supplies. They catered to not only locals without a car who relied on the shop for their daily groceries, but also to motorists buzzing by who needed something quickly.
It would have antifreeze and batteries. Flashlights and motor oil.
Madison eyed the front doors. “You think anyone’s working the minimart today?”
“Are you crazy? The whole world’s gone to shit. You really think someone’s going to be in there selling Twinkies?”
“I’d be more worried about who else has the same idea.” Peyton nodded at the cluster of other cars parked in the lot. “Look.”
Madison leaned closer to the window to watch. While they had pulled into the parking space, four men had congregated at the far corner of the lot, heads together, talking. All clad in jeans and loose T-shirts, none looked up to any good. One held a baseball bat loose at his side, almost invisible when he tucked it against his pants.
“Are they about to break in?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
Madison sat up with a start. “We should go. If they’re about to rob the place, we don’t want to get caught up in that.”
Tucker shifted in his seat. “They can’t take everything.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The minimart’s got to have a ton of stuff. Food, water, beer. We could wait them out. When they leave, we can go in and scoop up what’s left.”
Madison gawked. “That’s stealing.”
Peyton nodded. “Madison’s right. We can’t just go in there and take what doesn’t belong to us.”
“You really think anyone’s going to care?”
“The minimart owner will. What happens when he comes back and there’s nothing left of his store?”
“If it’s not us, it’ll be someone else. How long do you think any of the leftovers will last? It’s not like we’re the ones doing the smashing.” Tucker hesitated. “Just the grabbing.”
Madison shook her head. She couldn’t believe what he was saying. “So that makes it right? We weren’t the first? Someone else will do it, why not us? Do you even hear yourself?”
“Shhh.” Brianna motioned for everyone to be quiet. “They’re looking at us.”
Madison and Peyton ducked down in the back seat. With the tinted windows, Madison wasn’t even sure the men could see in, but she wasn’t taking any chances. “Do they see us?”
“I don’t know. But they’re pointing and talking.” Tucker turned to Brianna. “We should get out of here.”
“And miss a chance for some junk food? The bag sitting in there might be the last jalapeño Doritos we’ll ever have the chance to eat.”
“You seriously want to risk death for chips that give you nasty breath?” Peyton shook his head as he looked at Madison. “Your roommate is certifiable.”
“Hey! This roommate is your ride. Watch it, buddy.”
“Shit. Brianna, let’s go. They’re moving.”
She peered over Tucker’s shoulder before grabbing him by the face. “Quick, kiss me.”
“What? No!”
“Just do it. Make out. Look convincing.” Brianna yanked on Tucker, but he refused to budge. After a moment, she cursed and climbed over him, tearing off her jacket to expose a trim little tank top.
“Brianna, stop it!”
“No. If they think we just pulled in here to get it on, they’ll leave us alone.”
“You can’t be serious. Where did you come up with this idea?”
She pulled the ponytail holder out of her hair and tossed her curls around, pretending to come on to him. “In a movie. Come on. Kiss me.”
Tucker groaned and reached up for Brianna, dragging her down for a kiss. All the while he mumbled against her lips. “This is the stupidest idea you’ve ever had, babe.”
“Shut up!” Brianna leaned in and squished her chest against Tucker’s. “What are they doing now?” She hissed her question into the backseat as she pretended to kiss Tucker’s neck.
Madison stared out the window, her face barely sticking up over the edge of the door panel. “They’re watching… And pointing… And…” Madison cleared her throat. “Making some lewd gestures.”
Peyton snorted next to her, still couched down below the windows.
“And now they’re turning around and heading back to the store.”
“See. I told you this would work.” Brianna stayed put, straddling Tucker as the four men regrouped in front of the minimart. Never once did she look up, relying instead on Madison’s play-by-play.
“All right. I think they’re about to bust in.” Madison tensed, every muscle in her body coiled tight. She was watching a crime. A bunch of thugs who one day into the apocalypse wanted nothing more than to smash and grab.
She glanced up at her roommate and her boyfriend, still pretending to get it on in the front seat. Were they any different? They didn’t have a baseball bat and a bad attitude, but Tucker wanted to break in. Brianna agreed.
If the power never came back on, how long before everyone turned into a thug with a bat and a bad attitude?
The sound of shattering glass made Madison jump. The man with the bat hit the front door again and again, knocking out giant shards of glass. It didn’t seem real.
He shouted at his buddies and one after another they hopped through the debris and disappeared inside.
Madison exhaled. Brianna sat up.
“Aw, come on, I was kinda getting into that.”
Brianna raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend. “The whole risk of possible death didn’t kill your libido?”
He held up his hands with a grin. “I’m a nineteen-year-old guy, Brianna. What do you think?”
Peyton laughed in the backseat, and Tucker reached out to high five.
A gunshot cut the joking short. All four college students turned toward the store. Another shot. Shouts. More gunfire. How many guns did they have in there?
Everyone in the Jeep started talking at once.
“What’s happening?”
“I don’t know.”
“We should go.”
Brianna slid off Tucker and back into the driver’s seat. “If there’s a gun, we’re out.” She went to start the car when Tucker grabbed her arm. “Get down!”
Everyone hunched down in their seats except Madison. She kept watch from her crouch. One of the criminals staggered out of the store, gripping his belly. His white T-shirt bloomed red with blood.
“Oh my God.” Brianna’s whisper broke the silence. “Was he shot?”
Madison nodded. “I think so. Where are the others?”
Just as she asked the question, another man ducked and ran from the building carrying a case of beer under each arm.
Madison and her friends stared out the windows, waiting and watching. After what seemed like forever, Madison sat up. “I don’t think anyone else is coming out.”
“We should go.” Tucker reached for his seatbelt, but Madison shook her head.
“No. We need to get in there.”
“What? You’re the one who complained that we were breaking the law. Now you want to pillage around a couple dead bodies?”
She didn’t want to do anything of the sort. But while they’d been sitting there, she’d realized what else the minimart would have. Madison glanced up at Brianna. “We need to go in. That place will have a map.”
Tucker cursed under his breath.
“Madison’s right.” Peyton cast her a look. “We nee
d to figure out how to get to her house from here.”
Brianna protested. “We can find the highway, I know it. As soon as we do, Madison can get us home.”
“What if the highway’s blocked? We’ve been trying that for hours anyway. How long do you want to keep going in circles?” Tucker sat up. “Think about it. What if we need to take back roads up to your parents’ place? We need a map.”
“You seriously want to go in there?” Brianna stared at her boyfriend, eyes wide with disbelief.
“No. But we need to.” Tucker unlocked the doors and pushed his open. “Who’s coming with me?”
Chapter Eighteen
MADISON
West Sacramento, CA
11:00 a.m.
“What if whoever shot that guy is still in there?”
Madison glanced over at Peyton and shrugged. “We’ll just have to call out. Tell him we’re not there to rob him.”
“And if he shoots at us?”
“Duck?” She knew it wasn’t a good answer, but what choice did they have? They needed a map. Based on all the gunfire, she didn’t think anyone could still be alive inside, but it wasn’t like she had a lot of experience.
Madison wished her father was there. He’d know exactly what to do. She reached for Peyton’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
He shook his head. “This is nuts even if it is the end of the world.”
Tucker reached the front door first with Brianna just behind. He called out. “Hello? Is anyone in there? Do you need medical assistance? Hello?”
They waited in the silence.
“We can help you! Hello?”
“We can’t help anybody. What are you doing?” Brianna chastised her boyfriend as she stood just outside the door, body tucked against a slim portion of brick wall.
“I’m getting them to trust us. But I don’t think I need to. Come on.” Tucker stepped into the store and Madison’s heart thudded against her chest in frantic alarm.
She’d never done anything like this. No breaking in, no sneaking around. She’d been the good kid. The model student. She glanced at Brianna, who eased in behind Tucker with a steeled expression. Now she wished she’d been a bit more like her roommate.
