by S A Ison
It was difficult. He knew it was only ginger root, but Sarah had been correct. It had taken time and effort to find that. What would have happened if it had been their snake, they would be going hungry tonight. Walking took calories, coming down here took calories. There were no vending machines. Each task was now at the cost of calories and if they couldn’t balance the task out with the calories, then their bodies would suffer. Their brains also needed the calories, that was the most important organ to feed.
“What if we can’t find food or enough food. Can you call more food in?” Matt Johnston asked, his arm raised.
“My sat phone isn’t working. So, we can’t call anything in.” Marla replied.
“How about your cellphone, maybe go up on a hill and make a call.” Vana suggested.
“Our cells and our tablets aren’t working either. So, we will just have to wait until we go to the meeting place with the porters.”
“What do you mean your cell phones and tablets aren’t working?” Aiden asked, his voice harsh, as he shifted restlessly.
CHAPTER FIVE
Everyone turned and looked at Aiden. Aiden had only eyes for Marla, and he waited, his body tense and his mouth drawn thin, he had an ugly feeling, something he wasn’t prepared for. Something none of them were prepared for. He was sick with the knowledge.
“Our solar recharger isn’t working, and we can’t recharge our cellphones or the tablets.” She said shrugging.
“Was this about the same time that the cameras stopped working?” He asked her slowly, watching her face. Her eyes were shifting around, looking at Christian, then Tom and Hudson, who nodded and he almost cursed, he didn’t like it, and it was pointing in a direction he didn’t like.
“Well, yes, what has that got to do with anything. The solar charger just isn’t working.” She said defensively.
Aiden stood, he looked around at the faces, he got a sick feeling in his stomach but he didn’t want to cause a panic. Telling them, that would not be good, but he knew deep down they were seriously fucked. Not telling them would only prolong the agony, not telling them would set them up for death, be it a week or minutes, they needed to know. He just hoped they didn’t kill the messenger.
“I could be wrong, and I really hope I am and I don’t want to cause a panic. But I served seventeen years in the navy and worked with special ops from time to time. With all the equipment failures you’re experiencing at the same time, I think we have a big problem.” He said ominously, he heard whispers around him and he looked down at Sarah, her face unreadable, but trusting, and he smiled slightly at her. His body tingled with dread. His heart was slamming heavily in his chest.
“What do you mean? What do you think is going on?” Christian asked, his voice sounding very nervous, he took a deep drag on his cigarette and rubbed under his nose apprehensively.
“The only thing that could take out all the electronics at the same time would be an EMP. That is electromagnetic pulse, which can be caused by the detonation of a nuclear weapon in the upper atmosphere.”
Everyone erupted, talking at once, Aiden heard Carol and Vana scream at the same time, their eyes rolling wildly. He held up a hand until everyone had quieted down, their faces filled with fear and shock.
“The detonation would be in the upper atmosphere, or it could be a solar event, like a coronal ejection. That could kill all the electronics. Either way, that would cause the EMP. There won’t be any planes, or buses, or phones or communications. I have no idea how widespread it is. It is pretty loss of all technology. All electronics, banking, fuels, transporting food and so on. Also, no way to find our way home. We won’t have the ability to leave this country.”
“For how long?” Someone asked, though he didn’t know who’d asked the question.
“I don’t know, maybe forever. If that cable doesn’t work, we aren’t getting out of here any time soon. I don’t know if it affected the solar panel or the generator, or if it fried the components. But if it did, then there is no way to get out of here.” He said and it was deathly silent, his eyes looking around.
“That is pure bullshit, you are full of shit, Sanchez!” Connor yelled, fury and fear in his voice, his body rigid, his face pale.
“I hate to say it, but if everything went down at the same time, he’s right, Connor.” Leo McCabe said without emotion, his voice wooden. Aiden nodded at him, his own face now devoid of emotion as well, he wouldn’t let them know what he was thinking.
“What do you think Hudson, is it possible? I mean, we didn’t hear or see any explosion.” Marla asked her cameraman.
“You don’t have to see the explosion, if it detonates in the atmosphere, it will affect the whole region or even a large section of the world. If someone detonated a nuclear bomb with a high yield over China, say North Korea, then where ever it exploded would affect pretty much this whole hemisphere. I can’t see them doing it, but it also might be some kind of coronal event, like a huge sun eruption.” Aiden said simply, answering for the cameraman who nodded his agreement.
“Well, we’ll go on as we are and in four days, we’ll go to the gorge and see if the cage is sent over.” Marla said, her mouth a very thin line, her dark skin ashen, and Aiden could see that her hands were shaking, she was holding her reading glasses. He knew she was trying to keep everyone calm, keep the whole thing from blowing up and he hated it for her, but there wasn’t much that could be done, whether they knew now or in four days, they were well and truly screwed. Each of the people there would have to deal with the situation in their own way.
He’d rather deal with the knowledge now and be proactive than live in some kind of false hope and fantasy world. His dark eyes scanned the faces and he saw that it was about to blow up.
“What happens to us? What will we do if they can’t get us out of here? How will we get home?” Carol asked in a small voice.
“Then we live here, for the rest of our lives. And even if we get out of this place, we’ll most likely never get home.” Aiden said, not unkindly to her, and he saw her bottom lip quiver. He hated giving them this news, but this was their truth now. He watched as everyone looked at each other. With the millions and millions of people who lived in China, they were lucky they were here. If they’d been in Beijing when this thing hit, Aiden was fairly certain that they may have been put in some kind of prison for being spies.
He didn’t think the U.S. sent a nuclear weapon into the atmosphere, but that wouldn’t stop the Chinese government from suspecting them. Not to mention trying to find food in the city with millions, they’d all have starved to death. Here, remote and alone, they stood a better chance, though he was pretty sure these people weren’t going to see it that way.
He watched as Matt got up and walked over to the supplies and pulled out a hand full of MREs. Marla ran over and tried to take them from him. Matt shoved her hard enough to send her tumbling to the ground. Hudson and Tom jumped and grabbed Matt.
“What the hell Matt, what are you doing?” Christian yelled, his face bright red with shock, as he helped Marla up.
“Fuck you, if we are stuck here, then I’m getting what I can. This is the last food there is. You assholes will have to share with us now.” Matt said angrily and stormed off, clutching his prize.
Aiden blew a high-pitched whistle, and everyone cringed, covering their ears. Aiden, whose face was dark with rage, his body vibrated with violence, looked around him.
“Knock it off Matt, if this is it, then that food will only last a couple days and then you’re shit out of luck after that. What is wrong with you? We need to come up with a strategy to actually survive here. This isn’t a game or contest anymore. We have the combined knowledge to make it work, to survive this, but we will have to work together, not splinter apart. Not steal from each other.”
“Who put you in charge Aiden?” sneered Connor, his face dark red and contorted.
Aiden looked at him, then looked around at everyone else and clamped his mouth shut in a thin
line. He then turned to Sarah and nodded at her and he turned and left the group, Sarah following him. She went ahead of him and Aiden looked back over his shoulders, his dark brown eyes narrowing at the people, they were all now shoving and pushing, trying to get to the MREs.
“Well that went to shit fast.” She said, her voice shaking badly, he reached out and took her hand, bringing her close to him, he could tell she was very shook up about it, as was he.
“Just wait Sarah, it’s only going to get worse. We need to get our stuff and get the hell out of here.” He pulled her along, his stride stretching out, and he knew she was having a hard time trying to keep up.
“Where are we going to go? We can’t get out of this place.” Sarah said, nearly breathless, her pace fast.
“We are going to find another cave, we have to find something bigger and more hidden. In about five days, they are all going to realize that they are well and truly screwed, when no one from the other side of that gorge comes. They will implode instead of working together.”
“How do you know Aiden?”
“You saw how combative Connor was already and Matt, and that is within five minutes of learning that they are screwed. It was Matt who probably stole your ginger. When I told them, that they needed to work together, they didn’t want to hear it at all, they were more concerned about grabbing what they could and Matt didn’t care that he shoved a woman to the ground. He didn’t care that he was taking food from someone else.”
Aiden paused a moment, looking back. He wanted to give Sarah a moment to catch her breath. Her long hair was coming out of its braid and the red strands caught the last glints of the sun. It looked as though her hair were on fire.
“Even when I suggested that we could work together because of all of our combined knowledge; they were thinking on how to take from others.” Aiden continued. He still had her hand clasped in his, he didn’t want to let go of her, for fear they’d get separated in the growing darkness. He looked down the trail but saw no one following. His shoulders relaxed.
“I’m glad you buried the water bottles. We’ll need them. Let’s get everything and get lost in the woods, we’ll go back in four days and see if anyone is left alive and if they are going to the gorge. We can go as well, but I’m making us weapons. I won’t go back there without something more to defend ourselves.” He said, his voice strangely calm. He didn’t know why he was calm, but when he’d figured out what had happened, he’d wanted to rage, but it wasn’t time for that now. He and Sarah were in danger, because he’d seen it throughout his career. People were most dangerous when they were afraid and where there was no ready solution.
There wasn’t going to be a clear solution here and certainly no quick fix. It was going to be the rest of their lives; it was a paradigm shift in their existence. Fear was like a virus and it was spreading below.
“Look Sarah, these people aren’t desperate yet, but when they become desperate, they will become deadly. Their fear will drive them and they will stop thinking, and as you saw, they’ve already stopped thinking. I’ve seen it, desperate people will kill you for whatever they can take from you and if they are desperate enough, they’ll kill you and eat you. You see, most of them have no clue how to hunt or look for plants to eat, most of them have been looking around their camps instead of spreading out. They came into this woefully unprepared, and they are now caught in a death trap. They can survive, easily, if they work together, but from what I witnessed, I don’t want to be near them, they don’t want to learn, they want to take. We need to get away and make sure no one follows us.”
“Maybe once they calm down, they’ll realize it. Maybe they’ll work together.”
“Maybe, but I’d rather not be near them while they try to figure that one out. Like I said, we’ll come back in four days. See what’s what.”
¤¤
Sarah didn’t know if she wanted to cry or scream or throw a tantrum. She just walked as fast as she could, holding tightly onto Aiden’s strong hand. She’d been so shocked that Matt had knocked Marla down, just knocked her down! She wasn’t used to that kind of violence and certainly not toward a woman. Over a few packs of salty food. There was so much food out here in this land, they just had to find it, work together like Aiden had told them, but they didn’t want that, they only wanted to take and take it brutally. They’d panicked so quickly.
She thought that was what shocked her the most. That they weren’t even that hungry, it had only been a day and a half. It wasn’t as if there had been any time to process what Aiden had said and they had immediately jumped to violence. She was glad Aiden and she had left, when she’d turned to look back at the group, it was almost a free for all. Everyone except for Leo, Gabe, Henry Diana, William and Hunter, the others had jumped in there.
Even Carol as weak as she was, was scrambling to get to the supplies. Marla was standing by Christian, like a frozen statue, the cameramen behind her, their hands on her shoulders. And where the hell was Grayson? He’d been nowhere to be seen.
They got to their small cave and Sarah went in and dug up the bottles. They gathered some of the wood and Aiden took his belt off and wrapped it around the wood bundle. They both looked around, she heard nothing and saw nothing, she hoped that no one had followed them and she was glad that she didn’t hear or see anyone. “You think anyone followed us?” she asked, her eyes looking everywhere and she listened too.
“No, they are all down there, fighting. Once the fighting stops, everyone will hightail it with their stolen goods until it runs out. They will more than likely try to hit up the others who stole the MREs, and try to take theirs. They will go back to look for more and then they’ll come back in four days to go to the gorge. We’ll go back then as well, but better armed. Let’s go.”
They began walking and she noticed they were going back to where they’d gone earlier in the day. It was a good choice, there was food that way and in abundance. Aiden paused by a bush and dug up the headless snake and threw it around his neck like a scarf. She almost laughed but didn’t, she was afraid she’d cry. Her emotions were raw.
She was just now starting to process what he had said about the EMP. She would never go home again, she’d never see her friends, she’d never see her parents. She bit down on that thought, she didn’t want to start crying, she was afraid she’d never stop. Then the thought of the EMP bringing down all those planes, all those people dying. And the people in the cities.
She was so overwhelmed, she still held on to Aiden, he was like her anchor. They didn’t speak much, and she kept looking behind her, her eyes scanning the trees. The viciousness she’d witnessed had shaken her to her core. It brought forward the primitive fear in her, her body recognized it. She’d felt the hair raise on her body when it had happened.
The backpack was heavy with the water and the nuts they’d gathered. She stopped a couple of times to dig up some tubers, shoving them into her pockets. It helped her to concentrate on looking for food. She’d fix those with their dinner tonight. She took note that it was getting late and the sun would be down within an hour.
“Should we stop somewhere for the night, and then keep going in the morning?” She asked him, worry in her voice, she felt him squeeze her hand and finally let go.
“Yeah, I hate to say it, but I think we’ll have to. I think I know where there might be some caves, but it is about another two hours from here and I sure as hell don’t want to blunder around in the dark. Let’s find a place where we can build a fire with some cover. We don’t want anyone to see it.”
They walked for about twenty more minutes until Aiden found a huge rhododendron patch. It was at least fifteen feet tall and nearly twenty feet in length. They walked around and found a fairly large gap that they could go into, it was a space that was big enough for both of them to lay down and make a camp. Aiden laid the bundle of wood down.
The night was slowly closing in around them and the temperature was dropping. They could hear the night sounds begin to s
urround them, and it calmed Sarah down and she could feel the tension of earlier melting away from her.
“I’m going to dig a pit, that will keep the majority of the light from the fire hidden. I doubt that anyone twenty feet away from this bush would see it, but the pit will ensure that. We have plenty of water, so let’s make some snake steaks and snake soup al-la-tubers.” He grinned. She looked at him and then her eyes filled with tears and she flung herself at him, hugging him hard.
“Thank you for being so strong and thank you for not panicking. Thank you for not being like them.” She said, she didn’t know why she was crying, but she couldn’t seem to stop.
She felt his arms wrap around her and he held her for a long time, saying nothing. She began to calm down and laugh deprecatingly at herself. She pulled away and wiped her face, she cleared her throat.
“That sounds good and I think I might put a couple of the nuts in the ashes and see if we can roast those as well.” Sarah said smiling, feeling better now that she had let the pent-up emotion out and pleased that they were a good distance away from the group. She was sure no one would have followed them and less likely now that it was getting dark.
At least she could sleep tonight and not worry that someone was going to steal their food. She was stunned at the thought, how quickly they had turned. Not all of them, but now that it was no longer a game, no longer for fun, for five million dollars, it became ugly.
Once the fire was going in the pit for a good while, Aiden fashioned a spit over the hot coals, cutting up chunks of the fat snake. Sarah filled the small pot with water, she cut up the tubers she’d collected and added chunks of snake. She put in the onion grass and a small nob of ginger she’d dug up. There was a bigger piece in her backpack.
She raked out a few coals and set the pot on it. From time to time, she lifted the pot, and raked over more coals. It was completely dark now and quiet, except for the crickets and night birds. She felt peaceful and safe.
