EMP Survivors (Book 1): Destination Lost

by Christof, Norman

  "That's just stereotypical boy stuff, it's got nothing to do with growing."

  "Very funny." He dug a little deeper in the lunch box, and found a piece of cherry pie to keep the brain fog away.

  They pillaged the lunch boxes, picking and choosing their favorites for a few minutes. Not wanting to deal with the inevitable, but knowing that they had to, Becky spoke first.

  "So, what now? Any ideas?"

  "We're going to have to go for help. There's no one here, and we don't have a good way to get Wayne down from up there."

  "How do you think they'll get him down when we do find someone?"

  "They'll probably have to lower him down on a stretcher or basket like they use in helicopter rescues. We could do that, but that's not the important part. We need to get a medical crew up there first to check him out. I'm not sure how they're going to get up there past all those empty stairs and no working elevator."

  "What about the cranes? There were still a few left intact from the crash."

  "I haven't heard them running in a while. I don't know if they're even working. Like I said though, we need to find paramedics or doctors. The phones are all dead, even the ones in here. The fridge, the cranes. This is more than a massive power failure. It's got to be something else." He looked out the windows. "There's nothing moving on the street. We're on our own here."

  "This is really scary."

  "We need to get to a hospital. There'll be someone there they can send. Maybe they'll know what's going on."

  "Yes, of course. They'd have to." She checked the emergency first aid station, and found a contact list for hospitals and on-staff doctors. "Bellevue is the nearest hospital listed. It's got to be an hour's walk though ... way over on First Avenue."

  "Maybe we can steal some bicycles and get there in half the time. There's bound to be some bolt cutters around here we could use to cut any bike lock."

  "Good idea."

  William stuffed some candy bars into his pocket, then handed one to Becky when she gave him a look.

  "It's a long bike ride. Growing girl and all, you know."

  They made it just outside the front gate when they were confronted by a man in work boots and a denim jacket.

  "Hey, what were you two doing in there? That's a private security site. You're not supposed to be in there."

  William spoke up. "No, it's OK. Actually we work there. We're architectural interns."

  "Architectural interns? Never heard of that. Kind of late to be working, isn't it?"

  "That doesn't matter," Becky said. "We need help. One of our colleagues is trapped up in the building, and he's badly hurt. Do you know what's going on? Where we can get some help? He needs medical attention."

  "Oh look, the pretty girl intern speaks. Never heard of a girl architect before. That doesn't sound quite right to me." He drew closer to the two of them.

  "Seriously," William interrupted the man. "We need help, and there's no need to talk to her like that."

  Becky spoke up. "We're going to go now, if you can't help us."

  As they made a move to go around the man, a gruffer voice behind them spoke up. "I don't think you two are going anywhere."

  Chapter 19 ~ Risky

  The tone of the crowds on the deck had changed considerably, as had the visible presence of more ship personnel around the boat. The regular festive atmosphere had changed drastically in the past twenty-four hours, and the chances of it ever being restored were slim. Only a small number of passengers aboard had any real sense of what was in store for them, and those that did were keeping it mostly to themselves. They understood the situation, and the significance of being confined to a relatively small space.

  Garrett felt that two such people were the men that he saw across the pool. They were hiding something, and Garrett intended to find out what it was.

  He walked around the entire pool deck and past the cabana where the two men were lounging. They were conversing, but it was impossible to hear what they were saying amidst the noise of the other passengers. The two men didn't react at all to Garrett walking past. Garrett circled back towards the men, and this time stopped near their cabana. He sat down at the edge of the pool, dangling his feet in the water. He turned so the two men had a clear view of him. After about fifteen minutes, he got up, and walked back to a very nervous Holly.

  "You're completely crazy, you know that?" Holly said.

  "They didn't recognize me at all, did they? You didn't notice them acting strangely or anything when I had my back to them, did you?"

  "The only thing that I saw was my crazy husband trying to make a widow of me."

  "Oh c'mon. I wasn't in any real danger. What are they going to do in front of this many people?"

  "Maybe, then, they were just pretending they didn't recognize you because they were in a crowd. Did you ever think of that?"

  "No way. I would have noticed. I looked right at them both, and the one guy looked back. If he recognized me, he would have reacted at least a little bit. You can tell when someone knows you."

  "Sure. Whatever you say."

  "Hey, where did you get that drink? I thought the bar was closed."

  "The bartender showed up and said they'd be opening up soon. He figured I looked like I needed a drink so he poured me one. Still no ice, but I didn't care."

  "He said they'd be opening up soon? Everything? Drink machines and ice too?"

  "Don't know. I didn't ask. I was just glad he offered me a drink on the house."

  "They can't print bills yet, but if they're starting to get services back again, then that's a good thing. Could be just enough to keep the passengers happy. Getting the main engines back online is going to be a lot tougher, I have a feeling."

  "Have you seen the clouds? The wind's picking up as well. Not sure how big that storm is, but it's headed our way."

  "I did notice it. There's no way they're going to get this ship moving before it gets here. Even if we were back up to full speed now, the way those storms move, it'll be all over us eventually."

  "Can a cruise ship of this size survive a full-blown tropical storm?"

  "I'd rather not wait around to find out."

  "I'm not so sure that we have much to say about the matter."

  "Maybe not, but I have a feeling that it would. Survive the storm, that is, if it was fully functioning. I'm pretty sure any reasonable captain would have tried to evade the storm as much as possible, but now that they're flying blind without electronics, I don't know."

  "They've gotten some things working, and it sounds like other things are in the process of getting repaired. Maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe there will be help coming."

  "That's a lot of maybes. I do agree that a fully functioning ship would survive a big storm, but this one isn't fully functioning. It's got no propulsion and no stabilization to counteract the big waves. We're going to be at the mercy of the storm."

  "What should we do then?"

  Chapter 20 ~ Bloodied

  The gruff man behind them took a step closer, and pulled close enough to Becky that she could feel his breath on her neck. William noticed, and threw an elbow in the man's direction, which he easily ducked. The gruff man swung at William, catching him in the midriff. Becky fell away from the action, fading to a safe distance. The thug in front of them tried to reach for Becky, but she was too quick. She grabbed him by the wrist and swung him around, pushing his elbow straight up. Fueled by adrenaline, she heaved his arm up until she felt it snap and go limp. The thug fell to the ground, rolling in pain and holding his broken arm. The gruff man had William pinned against the chain-link fence, and was pummeling him. He never saw Becky coming. She lifted her right leg high, and brought it down with all her weight on the side of his left knee. It bent and flexed, but the bones didn't break. Tendon and cartilage on the man's knee torqued in directions they were never meant to. The man went down quickly with a whimper. Becky grabbed William, and they ran in the direction of the hospital.

  They r
an for what felt like forever, neither one of them looking behind. They stuck to the sidewalk, not that there were any vehicles moving in the street. There were lots of people on the sidewalks, and abandoned vehicles. A motorcycle weaved its way amongst all the stalled cars, but that was it. People moved about haphazardly, like they were in a daze, and didn't know where they were supposed to be going. That in and of itself was strange for a crowd of New Yorkers, where people normally moved with purpose.

  Finally, feeling they were protected by the crowds, Becky and William stopped running. Becky leaned against a post covered in posters for a bunch of off-Broadway plays, while William bent over with his hands on his knees. Becky looked back the way they had come, straining her eyes for any sign of the two thugs. William just stared at his feet, waiting for his breathing to return to normal.

  "What the hell was that all about?" William said.

  "I think they call it a mugging," Beck answered sarcastically. "It happens in big cities all the time. How long exactly have you lived here?"

  "I know what a mugging is. What I meant was, where did you learn to defend yourself like that?"

  "Yeah." Becky smiled. "Well, um, I'm not sure. It just seemed like the right thing to do."

  "Really? You take karate or something?"

  "No. I'm really good at gymnastics though. Took it for ten years, until I realized my little girl dreams of being an Olympic gold medalist were just that ... dreams."

  "Gymnastics? Really? That's where you learned how to break some guy's leg?"

  "No. Although, I did see my best friend Julie break her leg falling off the balance beam when I was like thirteen. There are lots of injuries in gymnastics. So I guess gymnastics did teach me it was possible."

  William straightened up, finally feeling his breathing return to normal. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

  "I suppose I was just more scared than anything. Listening to all my mother's fears about what happens to young girls in the big city must have stuck with me. For just a split second, when that first guy snuck up behind us, all those things she said ran through my mind. There was no way I was going to let something like that happen to me. I had a picture in my mind of those guys doing whatever they wanted to me. I had to fight back."

  "Wow. You OK now?"

  "No. Not yet, but I will be." Becky held her hands out, and they were shaking. William reached his hands out to hold hers, and at first she pulled back, but then she took his.

  "Thank you. You saved us both back there. I'll be sure to thank your mother some day for telling you all those scary stories."

  Becky smiled. "Yeah, I suppose after today all those sleepless nights I had when I first moved here will be worth it."

  "We should keep moving."

  "Yeah, we really should."

  Walking down Broadway, things seemed almost normal. There were still people out on the street, but everyone seemed more agitated than usual. It was quieter too. Quiet like it would be at 2am, rather than near dusk. Mainly it was the lack of street noise. They walked by more than a few people who kept fiddling with their cell phones, as if expecting them to spontaneously start working.

  "We should talk to someone," Becky said. "Maybe someone knows why the power is out."

  "This is more than just a power outage. All the cars and cell phones should still be working." William looked into the faces of people walking past him. None wanted to make eye contact. "Everyone's kind of freaked out."

  They tried to stop a few passers-by, but no one would give them the time of day. Finally, Becky pulled William into a small diner. The sign in the front window said Open, but when they walked inside, there weren't any customers. The waitresses were huddled in a back booth talking amongst themselves, while the short order cook was busy putting jars and cans of food onto shelves in the back behind the counter. There was an opening behind the counter and into the kitchen, where the waitresses normally placed orders for the cook.

  "Hello," William said aloud, but neither the waitresses nor the cook seemed to notice. They walked past the sign that said Sit Your Butt Down and called to the cook in the back. "Hello. We need help." One of the waitresses looked over her shoulder at them, then went back to conversing with her colleagues. William tried raising his voice. "We have an emergency. Our friend is really hurt and needs an ambulance. Is your phone working?" The cook either didn't hear, or couldn't be bothered.

  Becky lifted the hinged section of the counter, and walked behind. William started to suggest that maybe she shouldn't be doing that, but she just shushed him. She walked right up to the order window, and repeatedly banged the hand bell that was there. "We need help. Our friend is going to die if we don't get him an ambulance right now. Do you have a working phone?"

  The cook turned from his work and saw Becky staring angrily at him. He looked to be in his sixties, with long black hair tied up in a hair net.

  Becky repeated herself. "Do you have a working phone?"

  The cook shook his head, and pulled a hearing aid out of his right ear, fiddled with it and put it back in. "What do you want?"

  "We need a phone; do you have a phone?"

  He looked frustrated as he tapped on the hearing aid in his ear. "I don't understand a damned thing you're saying, sweetie. These things have been on the fritz all day." He leaned through the window and hollered in the direction of the waitresses. "Gina!" One of the waitresses looked up over her reading glasses at the cook. "Get over here will ya? I can't understand a damn thing this girl here is saying. These hearing aids ain't working worth a crap today."

  Gina lowered her glasses, and let them hang from the chain around her neck as she walked over to the counter. "We ain't serving right now. The power's out, and nobody knows when it's coming back. You're gonna have to go home and cook for yourselves today."

  "We don't need food," William explained. "We just need a phone. Our friend is hurt really bad back at the construction site, and we need an ambulance. Do you have a working phone?"

  "Sorry, sweetie, we don't. Everything's out, and has been for hours."

  "This is crazy," Becky said, making her way back to the front of the counter. "How can everything be down like this? It makes no sense."

  "We got a bunch of customers that are cops, and they stopped by earlier. They said it was an EMP ... electromagnetic pulse, or blast or something like that. Takes out everything that's electric. They told us we should all get home for the rest of the day, but it's too far to walk for us, so we're just sitting and waiting till the power comes back. There's lots of food in the back, so we're not too worried for the moment."

  "Did they know about the helicopter crash?" William asked, as Becky gave him funny looks.

  "Why would they know?" Becky asked.

  "Well, because they're cops. It's their job to know about stuff like that. If they did know, then maybe they're already sending some help. Which would be really good. Maybe someone's already on their way."

  "Right." Becky nodded in agreement. "Good point."

  "Helicopter crash?" the waitress asked.

  "Yeah," William answered. "Back on 57th and Broadway. That new skyscraper that's going up. A helicopter crashed into the top when all the power ... or this EMP thing struck. Our boss is hurt real bad, and we need to get some help up to him."

  "Holy jeez. That's crazy. It crashed into the building, like a terrorist attack or something?" The other waitresses were listening to the conversation now.

  "No terrorists," Becky answered. "Just an accident. Did the cops say anything about it?"

  "No." Gina shook her head. "They didn't say nuthin'. I don't think they knew anything about it."

  "Maybe they just didn't say anything, because they didn't want to startle anyone," William said to Becky. "If everyone started thinking it was terrorists, then they'd have even more problems to deal with."

  "Would this EMP thing kill the cars too?" Becky asked Gina.

  "Not sure. I guess. Buses and taxis haven't been running ei
ther."

  "Probably ambulances too. This isn't good. How will they even get to Wayne once we find someone?"

  "We'll have to worry about that when we get there," William said. "Someone will know what to do. I'm sure we're not the only ones in the city with this kind of problem. Accidents don't just stop when the power goes out."

  "No," Becky agreed. "If anything it gets worse."

  "Bellevue is the closest hospital to here," Gina said.

  "We know," Becky said. "That's where we were headed before we stopped in here. Thanks for the info." Becky and William were halfway out the door when Becky turned back. "You don't happen to know where we could get some bicycles, do you? We'd get to the hospital much quicker if we had some."

  "There's a pizza place about five minutes down, just past the pub and the wholesale foods place. Their delivery guys use bikes, they might let you borrow a couple in an emergency. Just tell Jake that Gina sent you ... he owes me in a big way

  ."

  "Thanks, we will."

  "I see the pizza place just up ahead," William said. "Just behind the big red M&M sign."

  They picked up their pace when suddenly a young boy, maybe six years old, stumbled at their feet. Becky almost tripped over him, as he wasn't getting up. She knelt down to see if he was OK. He just curled up in a fetal position like he was going to sleep. She looked around to find his parents. No one moved forward to claim him. Everyone kept walking down the street, caught up in their own problems.

  "Hey," she said, putting a hand on his back. "Hey, little guy. You OK?" The boy didn't respond. Becky reached under his arms to help the boy to his feet, and he reluctantly straightened up. William knelt down to his level as well. "Hey. Where are your parents?" As the boy raised his head to look at Becky, she saw that he was bleeding heavily from his nose and ears.

  "Oh shit," William said. Just then, the boy's eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he went limp in Becky's arms.

  Chapter 21 ~ Going Down