by Nathan Jones
“Oh, you were paying attention?” the girl said in a teasing voice, sounding a bit pleased. Matt didn't have the heart to admit that he had a good memory and hadn't specifically been trying to learn more about her. Although as he recalled she was pretty cute: petite, with long black hair and a decent tan. But it had been a big class so that was about as far as impressions went.
Sam continued. “Yeah, I'm from the Big Apple. But you know it's got to be way worse than even around here without food being delivered in, and anyway how would I even get there? I'm just happy to go wherever you're going if you'll have me along.”
He turned and kicked at his front tire. “I don't know if you noticed but I'm out of gas. This car isn't going anywhere, so unless you want to walk 75 miles with me you're probably better off looking for another ride.”
“No worries,” Sam chirped. Matt could almost hear the smile in her voice. “Don't carpoolers help pay for gas?”
Matt couldn't help but laugh. “Gas stations haven't been open for over a week. I know, my friend drove to a bunch of different places when he ditched town and that was the day of the President's speech.”
It was Sam's turn to laugh. “That's not exactly what I had in mind.” She patted her suitcase. “Can I get loaded up? Then if you've got a spare container and hose I'll show you where we can get this piece of junk topped off.”
“Sure,” Matt said, surprised but immensely relieved. He turned on his flashlight to help her see as she loaded up her backpack and suitcase, giving his hasty packing job a curious look.
It turned out it wasn't the mess she was interested in, though. “You managed to go shopping? At first I was saving my money hoping to buy tickets for a plane or bus home, and by the time I realized there wouldn't be any or any food coming in it was too late and all the food was gone. Looks like you got mostly other things.” She finished shoving her stuff in. “Got another flashlight?”
Matt nodded and fumbled in his other pocket. “Sure, here.”
“Okay, but we should probably keep them off until we need them. I ran into some security earlier and he was a real jerk.”
That made him laugh again. “We must've run into the same person.”
“Probably. Come on.” Matt hurriedly gathered up the gas cans and plastic tubing he'd gotten from the store, then followed Sam past the dorms and onto the eerily quiet campus. They walked side by side squinting into the darkness ahead as the dark-haired girl made a beeline for the Natural Sciences building, where she pushed through a locked door that had been left open using tape. He couldn't help but find the situation strange, although he had no reason to suspect his new traveling companion. Even so, surrounded by pitch black silence it was easy to imagine himself being led somewhere to have his organs harvested.
Luckily Sam was quick to produce his flashlight to light their way down a hallway, although as he pulled out his own light and followed he once again felt a moment of concern when she led him through a door onto a stairway that led down to an underground level. “Um, where exactly are we going?”
Her dark head bobbed slightly as she turned to look back at him. “Shared labs. Half the professors in the building have a project going down here, everything from simple tesla coil experiments to some pretty high tech stuff.”
“If you're about to tell me that my car is going to be run by a tesla coil . . .”
She laughed again. “Nope. Sorry for the mystery, it was just fun to see your reactions.” They reached the bottom of the stairs and she turned a hard left to reach a little alcove beneath the suspended steps. “I was a TA for Professor Guthrie, and before he took off for home a few days ago he had me fetching things for him from down here. Look.”
Tucked into the back of the alcove was a generator, a surprisingly large one, and as Sam finished she gave the tank bolted to the side a sturdy kick. Matt heard liquid sloshing inside. “Last time I came down here I noticed this and saw that it still had gas in it. Either the people working with it forgot it was here or they've already left like Professor Guthrie.”
Matt grinned as he crouched beside the generator, setting down his two 5-gallon cans and untucking the length of tubing he'd been holding beneath his arm. “I'm glad I'm the one you decided to hitch a ride with.”
“Yeah well I wanted to get away before these store riots I keep hearing about turn into something even worse, and considering it's the middle of the night you seemed like the least rioty looty murdery option available.” Sam paused. “Okay the only option available, but you always seemed like a nice guy in class.”
“Oh, you were paying attention?” Matt asked with a slight smile, repeating her earlier words. Her only answer was a soft laugh.
The tank was up high enough that he could siphon the gas into the cans, which meant he had the delightful experience of breathing in fumes to get the liquid flowing. Thankfully he managed to not suck in a mouthful of gasoline in the process. It turned out the tank held a little more than six gallons, aside from a few last ounces he couldn't manage to siphon out. With the miles per gallon his “piece of junk” managed he now had enough to make it twice the distance to Aspen Hill.
Sam offered to carry one of the cans but he refused. The gesture wasn't so much chivalrous as the fact that carrying two similar weights in either hand balanced each other out, which for heavier things was almost easier than carrying half the weight unbalanced in one hand. Not that the cans were all that heavy. Instead he let her guide the way with the flashlight as they hurried out of the building.
Together they slipped through the darkness back to his car, where Matt filled the tank while Sam kept watch for security guards or other unfriendly faces. Finally they got in and Matt pumped the gas a few times to prime the engine, then held his breath and turned the key in the ignition.
The engine rumbled to life and ran smoothly, and he turned and grinned at the dark-haired girl finally fully revealed by the dome light. “Next stop, Aspen Hill.”
Sam grinned back. Just like he remembered she was pretty cute. “Great! Where is that, exactly?”
* * * * *
After everything that had happened that day Matt was a bit worried they'd run into trouble on the drive down, maybe car problems or roads being blocked. With the riots he even feared possible ambushes. But everything was uneventful as they left the city behind and made their way along Highway 6.
He spent the drive talking with Sam and got to know a bit more about her, and had to admit he liked what he heard. Although she qualified for student loans she'd been working part time during school and full time between semesters to keep the debts as low as possible.
She'd also picked a sensible major, although he hadn't thought so at first. When she first said she was studying food sciences he'd thought glorified cooking, at least until she explained how the study dipped into the fields of microbiology, chemical engineering, and biochemistry. He was even more impressed when she went into detail about the complicated process of creating natural and artificial flavors in labs and the research and testing required, not to mention the production end of things. It looked as if her future was in a lab or factory, not a restaurant.
Or at least would be when the world got back to normal.
He also told her a little about himself, his time on the basketball team in high school and his mechanical engineering major at the university. It turned out that their fields had some interesting overlaps that made for a lengthy discussion, and the hour and a half drive ended surprisingly quickly, so he was turning off the highway and onto the smaller road leading to Aspen Hill before he even realized it.
Sam seemed surprised the drive was already over, too, and she had nothing but nice things to say about the town. Matt had wondered if growing up in such a big city would give her a disdainful view of rural living, but if anything she seemed to love the large yards and open countryside, and especially the black silhouette of the Manti-La Sal mountains looming to the west.
They weren't the only ones surprised at the
ir arrival, it seemed: Matt actually saw people coming out onto the porch to stare as he drove by. Were running cars really that unusual? Aspen Hill had one gas station so the City Council should've had fuel to use where needed, but maybe they were saving it for emergencies.
His parents' house was a block off Main Street near the center of town, a modest 2-storey structure with a large yard that had a few fruit trees, some currant bushes, and a small vegetable garden his mom kept up, mostly for fresh greens. The lights in the living room were on, and as Matt pulled into the driveway behind his dad's old truck his parents came rushing out of the house to stand on the porch waving.
His mom even took it a step further, coming down to practically pull him into a hug as soon as he got out of the car. “You've scared me half to death tonight!”
Matt hugged her back. “You didn't get my email, then?”
“No,” his dad answered as he came down the stairs to clap Matt on the shoulder. “No cell phones, no internet, no cable.”
The sound of the car door opening turned Matt around, but before he could introduce Sam his mom beat him to the punch. “Oh, you've brought a guest!”
Matt knew his parents well enough to know that in spite of the grim present situation and the lack of warning that Sam would be with him there was no accusation in her tone, just surprise and pleasure. As well as that familiar unspoken question that everyone comes to recognize when bringing a member of the opposite sex anywhere near inquisitive parents.
“This is Samantha Hutchins. She's in one of my classes, and when she saw I was leaving town she asked to come along. She found us the gas we needed to get here, and without her we wouldn't have even gotten out of the dorm parking lot.”
“Hi, Mrs. Larson,” Sam began, pausing hesitantly as his mom rushed around the car to literally greet her with open arms. The dark-haired girl looked surprised at the hug, but she wasn't awkward in returning it.
“Mona, please,” his mom insisted. “Welcome.”
“Thanks.” The hug ended and Sam stepped back, shifting a bit awkwardly. “And call me Sam. Look, I don't want to be a bother. If there's a hotel in town I'll go ahead and stay there until I figure out what to do.”
“Absolutely not,” his mom said, equally insistent. “We have a spare guest room and I had a big dinner waiting for my son that's ready to eat with a little heating. There's plenty for two and I couldn't dream of sending you away. Besides, there's no hotel in town. You're welcome to stay here as long as you like.”
Sam was about to answer when the lights in the house abruptly flickered and went out. Not just those but the streetlights as well, and also the few other houses in sight that had still been lit up. In the sudden darkness Matt exchanged glances with everyone.
“Well it was bound to happen soon,” his mom said with a sigh. “Ed, you'll need fetch the camping lanterns so Matt and Sam can unload. Good thing we had them ready just in case.” She put her arm around the younger woman. “Now really, dear, I couldn't forgive myself if I let you go wandering off in the dark. Come on, let me show you where you'll be putting your things.”
As the two made their way into the house, their way lit by Sam's flashlight, Matt grabbed some things out of the car and started after them with his own flashlight. On the way he passed his dad coming out with two brightly glowing electric lanterns. “How bad is it?” he quietly asked.
His dad shook his head. “We had a meeting tonight about it. I'll tell you tomorrow after you've had a chance to rest. But basically we've already got hungry people in town and refugees are on the way. I supported your friends the cousins when they suggested we turn the refugees away and Officer Turner is going to be putting up roadblocks tomorrow. He's looking for volunteers to man them.”
Well that was a bombshell to drop after saying they'd discuss things in the morning. But Matt just nodded tiredly. “I'll talk to him about volunteering tomorrow.”
“I think that would be good. But for now let's worry about getting this thing unloaded so you can get some sleep. Looks like you managed to bring back some things that might be useful.” His dad paused, then continued awkwardly. “So about Sam. This is, um, the first time you've mentioned her.”
He felt his face flushing in embarrassment. “I barely even knew her before tonight. I was a bit surprised when she asked to come with me.” He looked up thoughtfully at the light coming from the guest room. “But from what I've seen I'm really impressed with her. She's a good person.”
His dad chuckled. “Didn't mean to put you on the spot. Come on, let's get to work.”
Chapter Seven
Helping Out
Matt woke up early the next morning, troubled by worries about the future. Since he could hear noises in the kitchen he went downstairs and found his mom and Sam working together to cook food with no electricity, using the little propane camping stove his dad must have pulled from the shed. He stopped in to say hello and let them know he wanted to do some errands before breakfast, and his mom let him know that his dad had gone to Tillman's to pick up water jugs they could fill up while they still had pressure in the tap.
“I think I'll go down and meet him there then. There's some things I need to get too.”
“Oh then you should take Sam with you, show her around the town,” his mom immediately suggested.
The dark-haired girl looked torn by the offer, but after a moment shook her head firmly. “There'll be plenty of time to see the town. I can't just run off after I said I'd help you.”
Matt was surprised to find he was a little disappointed. He'd wouldn't have minded a chance to spend more time with her. But he supposed there'd be plenty of time for that, too, so he put on his shoes and walked the block or so to Tillman's Sporting Goods along Main.
His dad wasn't there when he came in. Tamara Raymond, Scott and Catherine Tillman's married daughter, was the only one in sight as she greeted him from behind the counter. “Hey Matt, good to see you made it into town safely. Your mom was really worried about you after the phones died. If you're looking for your dad he just left with my dad to check a few things. Or did you come to donate?”
“Hey Tam,” he replied, coming over to the counter. He was awfully fond of the petite auburn-haired woman, since she had enough school spirit for the entire town and even though she'd graduated five years before him had always come to his team's basketball games to cheer them on. He wasn't sure what she meant about donations, though. Maybe something for the cheerleading squad, which she still helped out with. “Just here to buy a few things.”
She smiled. “You came just in time then. We're about to turn this place into the storehouse and most of the stock will probably be the first donations.”
Matt blinked in surprise. “Storehouse?”
Tam's return look was equally surprised. “The town storehouse. Mom and Dad donated the store for a location. Anything extra people have comes here to help the town through the winter. I guess you must've missed the meeting, but didn't your parents tell you about it? Ed had a lot to say.”
“First I'm hearing about a storehouse. Anyway at the moment I need some stuff for this.” He pulled out the Glock Trev had given him, which he'd emptied at his house and checked several times to be sure, and set it on the counter. At the moment he only had one full magazine and the gun itself, and if he was going to help Officer Turner at the roadblocks he'd want everything else he needed for it.
She picked it up and did a quick chamber check. “Just bought it? Always liked these, and this one is almost new.” She frowned. “Dirty, though, and looks like it's been that way for months.”
Matt felt embarrassed, even though he had no reason to be since he wasn't the one who'd owned the firearm. “Yeah, I just got it. Will it still shoot?”
Tam racked the slide and dry fired the gun a few times into a compartment against the back wall behind her that was specifically designed to mitigate accidental discharges. “Probably, although you may run into malfunctions. I'd clean it thoroughly before u
se anyway, or at least not wait too long doing it. Keeping it dirty like this long term can damage sensitive mechanisms.” Her tone became stern. “And also I like to see firearms properly cared for as a matter of principle. They're not just expensive tools . . . properly cared for they can literally be the difference between life and death.”
“Yes ma'am,” he said, fighting a smile. Tam had been a cheerleader in high school and was now married with a young daughter, but for all that she was her father's girl: a tomboy through and through. “I'll need cleaning tools for it then. I also need a holster and some ammo and several spare magazines. Whatever you recommend.”
With her help he was able to gather up all the things he needed plus a good bit of extra ammo, and once he had his stack of goods he took them over to the counter to be rung up. He'd been keeping the money for next semester's tuition in an envelope in his room, which was more than enough, and he figured since tuition was out of the picture now so he might as well make use of it. He might even buy some extras after doing some careful shopping at a later date.
But when he pulled out the stack of 20s, 50s, and 100s to pay up Tam frowned. “Oh. Um . . .”
“What?”
She gave him an uncomfortable look. “We're not taking money for items anymore.”
Matt tried to work his mind around that. “But you're a store. Also the internet's down so credit and debit cards won't work. If you're not taking cash and customers can't charge purchases then how do I pay? I don't have a checkbook.”
“We're not taking dollars in any form,” she said, then hurried to continue at his further confusion. “Since we're effectively cut off from the rest of the world we just decided that going to a barter system made sense. Before we went dark yesterday there was word that the dollar's dropping like a stone, and none of us want to make deals today only to have a neighbor come around tomorrow complaining that we cheated them paying with worthless money.”
“And when did you decide this?” Matt demanded, looking at the couple thousand dollars in his hand. What now, he had a bunch of money and nobody in town would take it? Even with all that was happening they had to have more faith in the dollar than that. He'd worked really hard in sales at a used car dealership to save up that much!
