by Harley Tate
Brianna nodded as she stood up. She eased around the table and gave Madison a hug, a curl tickling Madison’s nose. “Be safe, okay? I want you back here ASAP and in one piece, all right?”
Madison nodded and Brianna let her go.
“Don’t worry about us, we’ll be okay.” Peyton gave her a pat on the shoulder, his eyes full of emotion.
Tucker managed a nod. “We’re good. Just concentrate on finding out as much as you can. If there’s any word on the solar weather, I’d love to know.”
“Will do. Thanks, guys.” Madison exhaled a shaky breath before turning toward the living room.
Without a single look back, Madison tugged open the front door and stepped outside. She made a show of locking it behind her before stepping down off the front porch and walking toward the street.
The Palmers were an older couple Madison had met a few times while home on break. They lived five houses down and across the street in a little Cape Cod about the same size as her parents’ house. All the houses in the neighborhood were built in the forties, one of the first modern-planned tract housing developments in the area.
Over the years, a few of the houses had been expanded or topped and turned into little castles, but both her parents’ house and the Palmers’ stayed true to their roots. A pair of women she didn’t know were walking on the sidewalk across the street, headed in the same direction. Madison smiled as she crossed the street toward them.
“Are you going to the neighborhood meeting?”
The woman closest to her smiled and nodded. With dark brown hair and freckles across her nose, she couldn’t have been older than thirty. She held out her hand. “I’m Anna, this is Brooke. We live off Verde Villa.”
Madison shook both of their hands before pointing back the way she came. “I’m Madison. Tracy and Walt’s daughter. We live just—”
“I know Tracy.” Brooke held out her hand and Madison shook it, too. “She’s been helping me with beginning reader books for my daughter. It’s so nice to have a librarian in the neighborhood.”
Madison smiled and fell into step beside them as the three of them walked up to the Palmers’ house. “Were you all able to come yesterday?”
Anna nodded. “I came. Brooke was busy with her little ones. I didn’t see your mom or dad. Are they home?”
Madison hesitated. “Not right now, but we didn’t want to miss anything.”
Neither woman said anything, but the glance between them spoke volumes. Madison wanted to tell them not to worry, that as a college student she was a lot more prepared than they were to handle the future. But she didn’t.
They had arrived.
The front door to the home opened and Mrs. Palmer beamed. “Madison! So good to see you. We were wondering if you would make it home all right. Anna, Brooke.” Mrs. Palmer craned her neck, looking for anyone else. “Is your mom not coming?”
“Not today.” Madison eased inside and Mrs. Palmer shut the door.
“You give her my best, will you? I’ve been meaning to tell her that canning book she found for me at the library might turn out to be a godsend.”
Madison smiled in response. She hoped she’d get the chance to tell her mom so many things. As she walked into the living room, Madison tried to get her bearings. About twenty neighbors stood around the room, clustered into groups of three or four. She thought about the layout of the neighborhood and how many people might have been invited.
There had to be over a hundred little houses in the subdivision. Where was everyone else? Since her parents hadn’t moved in until Madison was already in college, she didn’t know many people. Apart from Mrs. Palmer and the two women she’d just met, Madison couldn’t place a single face. She wished her mom was there by her side.
She would know who could be trusted and who to look out for, who to sidestep and who to befriend. If the power stayed out for as long as she feared it might, these people could be the difference between survival and death.
With a deep breath, Madison walked toward the closest group of people, straining to hear their conversation before she butted in.
A man with gray hair pushed a set of bifocals up his nose as he gesticulated at the street, already mid-sentence. “—have to be coming, don’t they? Isn’t this what FEMA’s for?”
The woman across from him nodded. “The Red Cross, too. They should be here already. When it flooded, the fire department came right away and the Red Cross set up a trailer at the end of the block.”
They wouldn’t be much help. Madison smiled and eased past them, hoping someone would have some information she could use. Another cluster of people huddled around the fireplace as if they would somehow draw comfort from a cold and empty grate.
“I haven’t heard from Monica since the power went out.” The woman speaking tugged a purple knit cardigan closer around her. “She works at the Med Center downtown.”
Madison perked up and stepped close enough to become part of the conversation. “I’m sorry, but is that the UC Davis Medical Center?” Madison smiled an apology and continued. “I go to school at Davis. My mom’s Tracy Sloane.”
“Oh, you’re Madison!” The woman smiled. “Tracy has said so much about you. You’re studying to be a farmer, right?”
Madison gave a sheepish smile. “Sort-of. My mom couldn’t make the meeting so I came instead, but I’m not home much, so I don’t know anyone here.”
The woman held out her hand. “I’m Tabitha.” She nudged the man to her right. “My husband Richard and I live just down the street. The little blue bungalow with the orange door.”
Madison nodded. She knew the one. “Nice to meet you.” She shook first Tabitha’s hand and then Richard’s.
“And this is Jean, she’s our next-door neighbor.”
Jean, an older woman with blonde hair and bright red eyeglasses held out her hand. “Your mom and I started a book club a few months ago.” She glanced at the dark TV. “It might get a whole lot more popular if the televisions don’t come back on.”
Madison let out a little laugh. Everyone she had met so far was nice. Normal. Nothing like that Bill guy who gave her the creeps the night before. She exhaled before testing the waters. “Have any of you heard anything? It’s been a long time to be without power.”
Everyone in the little circle shook their head. “Usually we know something by now, but I haven’t heard a thing.” Tabitha glanced at her husband. “Like I was saying, Monica Fillers lives on the other side of us and she’s a nurse at the Med Center. She hasn’t been home since the power went out. We haven’t ventured outside the neighborhood, but Bill from the street over did. He said the power’s out everywhere.”
Jean crinkled her nose. “I worry about all the sick people in hospitals and all the poor nurses and doctors tending to them.”
Tabitha nodded. “What about the police? How can they cope without radios?”
“I worry more about the prisons.” Richard frowned. “Folsom’s not that far from here. What if they don’t have power? How long can it stay secure?”
Madison had all the same concerns. “I drove home from Davis. The power’s out there, too. I think it’s out everywhere.”
Jean’s mouth fell open. “What do you mean, everywhere?”
Madison blinked. Did these people really not know? Did they think it was an isolated incident and everything would just be repaired if they waited it out? She didn’t know what to say. How much information should she give them? The last thing she wanted was to start a panic. That wouldn’t help anyone.
She opened her mouth to say something when another voice called out. “I think everyone who’s coming is here. Let’s get this meeting started.”
Madison turned in time to see Bill, the man from the night before, take up position in the front of the room. Madison exhaled. At least he’s not breaking into our house.
Yet.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
TRACY
Sacramento, CA
12:00 p.m.
The smell of fresh blood mixed with the stink of decay, and Tracy fought to swallow the rising swell of saliva in the back of her mouth. She couldn’t vomit. Not over what she’d done.
The horror of it would come later; she knew this much. That night under the bed she’d been eerily calm, too. Just like this.
But later…
Oh, later had been almost worse than the experience itself. So many nightmares. So many screams jolting her out of the relative safety of a foster bed. Tracy swallowed again and bent over the man from the kitchen. Hank.
She reached for his arm, plucking it off the ground with a pincher grip on his threadbare flannel. A jingle of metal on metal rewarded her efforts. Tracy scooped up the keys as the widening pool of blood encroached on the now-empty space. She dropped Hank’s arm.
It squished as it fell, the sticky plop a reminder of the finality of her actions.
Tracy straightened up. “I’ve got the keys. Let’s get back to your place, grab the supplies, and get out of here.”
Wanda leaned against the counter, one arm propping her up like a tent pole at the big top. “I don’t think I can do this.” Her cheeks flamed, two bright spots on an otherwise ashen face.
“Yes you can.”
Wanda’s cheeks sucked in and bulged out, the precursor to what came next. The vomit landed on the linoleum, splashing over Ricky or Richard, whatever his name had been. The man who started it all. Wanda clutched at her belly, heaving until Tracy was sure the blood vessels in her eyes would burst.
At last, she righted herself, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “I'm sorry.”
“Don’t be. Just get ready. We’ve got to go.”
Tracy led the way out of the apartment, past George still lounging in the recliner, his blind eyes oblivious to the violence behind him. Wanda followed a few steps behind, clearing her throat as she went. The sun hit Tracy’s face and she almost hissed.
Too bright. Too real.
She shielded her face, ducking like a hungover teenager as she scurried back up the stairs to Wanda’s floor. Entering the hallway, the smell no longer bothered her. She’d seen so much, done so much. The smell of rot didn’t bother her anymore.
Wanda unlocked her door and the pair of them retrieved the supplies, Tracy balancing the Slim Fast once again on her hip as Wanda rolled the suitcases out the front door. They hustled back down the stairs to the lower parking lot, making two trips with all of the bins and bags.
Tracy beeped the Nissan Leaf unlocked and headed toward it, eyes darting back and forth as she scanned the lot for someone who might cause more trouble. No one appeared. She tugged open the back seat and loaded it up, shoving bags and fully-loaded trash cans into the back until she could barely see out the rear window.
As she shut the door a flash of reddish-orange caught her eye.
Fireball.
He’d run out of the apartment when the fight broke out, the only sensible creature in the room. Tracy crouched on the pavement, fingers out as she called to him. “Psst, psst. Fireball, come here, kitty.”
She rubbed her fingers back and forth and the little cat eased forward, weaving back and forth as he rubbed himself all over the front fender of the car. “That’s it. Come here.”
One more motion with her fingers and the cat came within striking distance. Tracy scooped him up and tossed him in the car as Wanda sat in the passenger seat.
“Fireball!”
Tracy slid into the driver’s seat and shut the door.
“Oh, Tracy, you found him!” Wanda gave the cat a snuggle before he settled in on her lap. “Thank you.”
Without a word, Tracy started the car. Saving a cat didn’t make up for the two lives she’d taken. Nothing ever would. But she’d survived. Wanda had survived. Together, they’d make it back to her house, their supplies, and hopefully her husband and daughter.
Tracy backed out of the parking spot, almost silent with nothing but the electric motor. Please let this car get me home. Please.
Half an hour later, she had her wish. The drive had been uneventful. No cars on the road. Only a handful of people saw her pass by. She’d kept to the residential streets, only having to back up and turn around a few times. Three days into the end of times and society hadn’t gone completely downhill.
Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as she’d feared. Maybe they would survive this without any more carnage. Or death.
Tracy turned into the subdivision and marveled. The neighborhood looked just like she’d left it. Tidy little houses all in a row. Front yards with springtime flowers and green grass. Not a single broken window or dead body in sight.
Nothing like the gated community they had left behind. But looks could be deceiving. Behind all those manicured lawns and swept front porches, her neighbors grappled with this new reality. Not all would take it well. Tracy wondered how long she’d have before all hell broke loose.
She turned the corner and slowed. Guess I won’t have very long at all.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
MADISON
Sacramento, CA
12:15 p.m.
“First of all, thank you to those of you who came today.” Bill cast Madison a glance and she stood a bit taller, folding her arms across her chest in hopes she projected a don’t-mess-with-me vibe.
Whatever this man was about, it wasn’t anything good.
He rubbed at his mouth before continuing. Was it nerves? His tick for when he delivered bad news?
“I know we all want answers. That’s why we’re here. Does anyone have new information they’d like to share?”
A murmur swept through the assembled neighbors. The little clusters of people all glanced at each other, furtive eyes darting this way and that. Madison still saw so much hope mixed with denial.
It wouldn’t last long.
One man raised his hand.
“Yes, David. What is it?”
The man flashed a brief smile. He couldn’t have been much past twenty-five with a close-cropped beard and eyeglasses that screamed hipster. “I still can’t connect with any major news outlets. All of my electronics are working since I’ve got solar back-up, but there’s nothing out there besides the emergency alert we’ve all heard. No one is communicating yet.”
“I’ve tried the radio since it happened and haven’t had any luck, either.” Madison spoke up for the first time and the whole room turned to her.
“Excuse me? Who are you?”
Madison fought back an eye roll. “I’m Madison Sloane, Tracy and Walter’s daughter.”
“Aren’t you in college?” A woman Madison vaguely recognized asked the question.
Madison nodded. “UC Davis. When the power went out, I hit the road. Got here yesterday.”
“The power was out there, too?”
Madison frowned at the sea of expectant faces, no longer surprised, only dismayed. “The power is out everywhere.”
A cacophony of questions broke out, neighbors all talking and raising their hands and practically shouting to be heard. The burst of a sharp noise rang out and the room fell silent.
Bill lowered the metal whistle and held up his hands. “Stay calm, please.” He addressed Madison. “We don’t need to incite a panic, young lady.”
She bristled. “That’s not what I’m doing. I just thought everyone would already know.”
He tilted his head. “Know what exactly?”
“What happened. Haven’t you noticed the night sky?” She waved her arm about. “You know, the northern lights? We had a massive geomagnetic storm.”
“A what?” Brooke, one of the woman she met walking in, spoke up. “A geo-what?”
Madison wished Tucker was there to explain it. He could do so much better than she could. “I’m not an expert—” Bill snorted as she downplayed her knowledge, but Madison plowed on. “A geomagnetic storm is space weather. The sun emitted a solar flare—that’s what disrupted cell service and radios a few days ago.”
“I wondered why my re
ception was so bad!” another man in the crowd said, interrupting.
Madison nodded. “Ordinarily that’s all that happens. We lose satellite, maybe cell service because of GPS problems. A solar flare alone doesn’t cause any long-term damage. But a massive Coronal Mass Ejection, or CME, followed this one.”
Someone else called out. “We don’t need a science lecture!”
“We need the power back on!”
A few whispers agreed.
Madison glanced around the room. How could so many grown adults not see the information she had to give was critically important? She frowned deeper.
Was this the future? If people couldn’t even stop long enough to hear the truth, what hope did they have to survive what came next? When no one came to help them, what would they do?
Bill called the meeting to order once again. “How about you wrap this up, huh sweetie?”
Madison raised an eyebrow. “I’m not your sweetie. But if you want it wrapped up, fine. You all want to know when the power’s coming back on? Try never.” She turned around as all the voices picked up, ready to get out of that house and back to the only people in the whole neighborhood who cared.
She made it five feet before a hand wrapped around her arm. Bill. He might be twice her age or more, but up close he was still intimidating. His hand squeezed, thick fingers digging into the soft flesh of her bicep. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Get your hand off me.”
“Not until you tell the truth.”
Madison yanked at her arm, but Bill held it tight. “I did tell the truth. The power’s never coming back on. The CME caused a massive electromagnetic pulse that killed the grid. It fried every transformer, every power line, every massive piece of electrical equipment from here to New York.”
Mrs. Palmer appeared by Bill’s side. She reached out and touched his arm. “Bill. Let the child go.”
“She’s lying. She’s just here to cause trouble.”
“I am not.”
“Why would she do that?” Mrs. Palmer tugged on his arm again and at last, Bill let her go.
