Seconds later, Beverly turned the truck and it pulled up to the wall. The bucket lift stopped in front of Gary and he climbed in. Gary was about to lower the bucket, when he looked back out into the yard and saw the horde bearing down on them. He didn’t have time to call to Beverly before the truck lurched forward and away from the building. The bucket lift bucked like a rodeo bull and Gary was nearly thrown out. He grabbed onto the sides in a white knuckle death grip and tried to hold on, not daring to try and work the controls to lower the bucket for fear of being thrown to his death. He looked up and his world was a blur of jolts and jitters. All he could be certain of was that Beverly was headed right for a large group of shufflers that were the only thing standing between them and the central control building. Despite his grip on the bucket, Gary was once again almost thrown out as the impact traveled through the truck and up into the lift.
Seconds later, the jostling stopped and Gary’s world became clear again. He looked around to see what had changed. His breath caught in his throat as he looked down and from his bird’s eye view, saw the truck surrounded by the biggest horde so far. He heard the engine race and tires spin as the truck tried to press through the mass. The engine sank to a low, mean growl and black smoke poured from the tailpipes, wafting up passed him. The truck whined then lurched forward as the mass gave way. In the bucket Gary was thrown back and nearly tumbled out. He regained his balance and looked forward as the control building in the distance grew nearer. Gary reached out and midst all the rattling and shaking, was able to pull the lever that lowered the bucket lift. Like an albatross coming in for a landing, the bucket kicked, up and down, left and right, as it descended.
The truck rolled to a stop at the same time as the bucket lift finished lowering. Gary hopped out and climbed down in a hurry. He came around to the driver side as Beverly climbed down. Gary went to the front door and Beverly followed. She came up short as instead of going in, Gary blocked her way. Behind them, the Shuffling Dead began to regroup and come toward them.
“Gary, what are you doing?! We have to get inside!” Beverly cried.
A resolute sadness crept into Gary’s eyes as he looked at Beverly.
“No, Bev. I do. You need to get back into that truck and get home to your family,” Gary said.
Beverly stared at him, her mouth working, but no words came out. Understanding and acceptance washed over her and she took a step towards Gary.
“Bev, please-” Gary said, his words cut off by Beverly’s.
“There was a mass shooting at the lake…”
“I know, Bev…” he said. Gary looked behind Beverly at the advancing horde. Every fiber of his being cried out to push Beverly into the truck and then turn and run inside, locking the door behind him, but Beverly’s eyes locked him in place as she continued.
“My husband… he risked his life and took out the shooter. A lot of people died, but… not everybody, because of what Mark did. He is one of the bravest, most selfless men I know. And now you’re another one, Gary Sykes.”
Tears filled both their eyes as the words washed over Gary. Before he could say anything, Beverly rushed forward and hugged him. Then she turned and jumped in the truck and slammed the door behind her. She didn’t look back at him as she hit the gas and cranked the wheel in a hard right. She plowed through the advancing horde a final time, then sped off into the night. Gary watched until the truck turned left out of the plant and onto the road. When the taillights disappeared, Gary pushed open the door and went inside as the Zombie horde advanced on the building.
Epilogue
Gary slammed the door behind him and slid the deadbolt into place. He backed up and stared at the door, waiting for something to happen. In the hallway leading to the control room, there was only silence.
Maybe they forget all about me, pass on by Gary thought.
Several more seconds of silence passed and Gary turned and walked down the hall towards the control room. He got about half way when he heard it. A thump, small at first, sounded on the other side of the door. Gary froze. Another thump, same as the first, but quickly followed by another… then another… and another. The door sounded like it was being assaulted by softballs. Gary listened. Just under the thumps and bangs, he thought he could hear something else… moaning. He ran the rest of the way down the hall. He had to hurry. There wasn’t much time left.
Gary rushed into the room and up to a console in the back of the control room. It was covered with a plastic sheet. He ripped off the plastic and scanned the board. On the left was a series of monitors. Above these on the wall were several more. To the right was another console, this one an array of dials and switches. Above that was a panel of indicator lights with another panel of switches. A single light flashed on the left of the indicator panel, under it were the words, Grid Array. Gary pushed this and the rest of the lights on the panel lit up. The monitors on the wall turned on, displaying representations of the Western, Eastern, and Texas Interconnections. Under each of the three Interconnections were five indicators with labels beneath each one of them, Line Voltage, Frequency, Phase Sequence, Phase Angle, and Waveform.
On the panel, just to the side was a Synchroscope, one for each of the Interconnections. At the top of each scope was a red arrow between a ‘plus’ sign and a ‘negative’ sign. A pointer on each pointed straight down
Gary sat in the chair in front of the panel and flipped a switch labeled Shaft Energy. Overhead, a computer generated female voice sounded.
Synchronous Generator Speed Initiated. Generator field energized. Eastern Grid Synchronization in fifteen minutes
Behind Gary and down the hall the banging and thumping grew louder. Gary turned and his face paled. He turned back to the console and watched as the pointer on the Eastern Interconnection Synchroscope slowly rose. After the photo ops and handshaking were done, a new technician was supposed to be running this station, but Gary had grabbed the training manual and read enough to know what needed to be done. It was really nothing more than monitoring rates at his own station, only this was the whole U.S. grid. Sweat poured off his brow and his hands shook as he flipped switches and turned dials.
Minutes later, a new sound joined the banging and groaning, a metallic sound. Gary stood and went out into the hall. He stared at the door at the far end as he slowly approached. He jumped back as he watched the once solid door move ever so slightly in its frame. Down the hall, in the control room, the computer generated voice sounded.
Eastern Interconnection Synchronized. Initiate Generator Circuit Breaker Close for Eastern Interconnection.
Gary turned and ran back to the control room. As he entered, a buzzing sounded on the control board. Gary rushed over and flipped a switch labeled Eastern Breaker Close. The buzzer stopped and the voice sounded.
Western Grid Synchronization in fifteen minutes.
Gary looked at the Synchroscope for the Western Interconnection and watched the pointer begin to rise. He stood and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to catch his breath. He turned and looked back at the door leading out into the hall, then around the room. He went over to a bank of file cabinets. He wrapped his arms around one and tried to move it to no avail. Giving up he glanced at the couch. He grabbed the arm rest and tried to drag it over to the door. Through much effort he got it moving and it screeched as it slid across the floor. When he got to the door he realized that the couch was too wide to go through the door. He strained and tried to lift it only to slip and fall on his butt.
Across the room, the buzzer sounded again and Gary jumped up and over the couch to the control panel. More adjustments to switches and dials silenced the alarm. Behind him the noises from the door took on greater urgency and Gary thought to go investigate when the computer voice sounded.
Western Interconnection Synchronized. Initiate Generator Circuit Breaker Close for Western Interconnection.
Gary rushed back over to the panel and flipped the switch labeled Western Breaker Close. Above him, the voice
spoke.
Texas Grid Synchronization in fifteen minutes.
Gary checked the movement on the Sychroscope then made his way to the couch. He climbed over the couch and crept down the hall to the exit door. Gary stared at the deadbolt. It rattled and jumped. White puffs of concrete dust floated from around the frame. Gary turned and ran. He barged into the room and looked at the control panel. The pointer on the Texas Interconnection Synchroscope continued to rise. He went over and stared at the scope, willing it to hurry. Gary jumped out of his skin as another buzzer sounded. Angrily, he flipped switches and turned dials and the buzzing stopped.
Down the hall, the sound of the moaning grew louder as the door jumped in its frame. Gary swallowed hard. He went over to his old station and found his backpack. Reaching inside, he retrieved a single tiny object and went over and sat in front of the control panel. Reaching up, he set the object on the top edge. The tiny stalwart figure of a Paladin, resplendent in shiny armor stood at attention, his sword smartly at his side. Gary stared at the tiny figure and tried not to focus on anything else. Beside him, the pointer on the Synchroscope continued to rise even as the noise from down the hall did so as well. The minutes ticked by and still Gary sat staring at his Paladin. Gary didn’t jump when he heard a metallic pop then a loud bang from down the hall. The crescendo of moans and growls confirmed to him that the door had finally given way and he heard them coming. Gary looked at the scope, which showed the pointer virtually straight up. Behind him, he could hear Runners propelling themselves down the hall.
Seconds later, they caught his scent and pushed into the room. The first wave fell as they couldn’t negotiate the couch, but others pushed over them and rushed towards him. He felt the weight of them as they seized him. Through the tangle of grasping hands and gnashing teeth, he kept his eyes locked on the Synchroscope. His body began to hemorrhage and his mind buckled under the barrage of pain signals racing through his nerve endings, but still he focused on the scope. The computer voice sounded in his ears.
Texas Interconnection Synchronized. Initiate Generator Circuit Breaker Close for Texas Interconnection.
With his last bit of strength, he reached up and flipped the switch labeled Texas Breaker Close.
As they dragged him down and his vision went dark, he heard the computer generated voice make its announcement.
Total U.S. Grid synchronization achieved. U.S. Grid integrity now maintained from all sources…
Above him, the tiny Paladin stood at attention, keeping silent vigil over the last stand of Gary Sykes.
About The Author
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This particular offering is a prequel to the entire H.E.L.L. series. It is the story of how it all began, of Nicole’s father, Col. Steven Bennett. You will meet and learn more about Francis Delroney (you won’t like him any better). There is a scientist, Dr. Wilhelm Crenner, and I am pretty sure he is bat!@#$ crazy. I will let you decide that for yourselves. If you already have a healthy mistrust of those in power, then I am sorry, this story will not make you change your mind. It was fun to write and I hope you enjoy it. It is not terribly long, maybe thirty pages or so.
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Author’s Notes
(Or, “How I got to be eighty percent NOT screwed”)
This story was an interesting story for me to write. I now know more about the U.S. Power grid(s) than I ever really wanted to know.
When I was writing my first book, H.E.L.L. Nicole’s Odyssey, I thought about the power. I knew for the purposes of my story I needed the power to be on. In a lot of stories about the zombie apocalypse the grid fails. It is set dressing for the many other horrors and challenges the survivors have to face. There were certain story elements that I wanted to occur, however, that required the power to still be up, the grid to not have failed just yet.
Admittedly, there was some whistling past the graveyard on this, because… in a lot of zombie stories, the grid does fail. It is understood that without human intervention and maintenance, systems and infrastructure, like the grid will… fail.
But I didn’t want it to fail… just yet. Nicole embarks on her adventure six months after the start of the apocalypse, so the grid needed to be up at least that long, and… presto, it was.
There was not a huge outcry in my reviews, thirty-three of them as of this writing. Only two reviews have been negative, (one by a hater troll, so that one doesn’t really even count). The one review that pointed out that the fact the power was still up six months later may constitute a minor plot hole still gave me a positive review. But… it was a crack in the armor of my denial… denial that simply having the power still up six months after ninety-nine percent of the people are gone was anything that needed to be addressed. Whistling past the graveyard and I almost got away with it.
So now I found myself in the unenviable position of having to either keep denying and hope that a weakness in my story would continue to go largely unnoticed, or do a rewrite of a published book, working in either some explanation or recreating whole sections.
No thank-you.
There was a third option, but it was a roll of the dice. Did grid technology allow for the grid to still be up six months after a zombie apocalypse. This is not a question a writer wants to ask AFTER he has written a 330 page book and published it.
I did the belated research and got my answer. Can the U.S. power grid still be up six months after a Zombie Apocalypse?
Well… Yes and No.
Great, what does that mean?
I found out what it means. It means, based on my research, I was twenty percent in the clear on this. This also means, and let m
e check my math here (I was told there would be no math), I was eighty percent screwed.
So what does a writer do when they are eighty percent screwed?
More research.
Here is why I was eighty percent screwed (or twenty percent in the clear, which is how I prefer to look at it).
Gary already told us, but America gets eighty percent of its power from coal, which will last two days without human intervention. The other, natural sources (wind, solar, hydro) and nuclear constitutes twenty percent of our supply.
Now, in case you were wondering if I had to do a lot of research to find this out, no I did not. The beautiful thing about the zombie apocalypse is… there are a lot of people thinking about it from just about every angle. One of those angles is… how long will the grid stay up after the zombie apocalypse starts.
Which is what I typed into Google… almost word for word. You know what? Somebody not only thought of that question, but wrote a pretty slick essay answering the question.
I love research.
Human Extinction Level Loss (Book 2): Substation (The Last Stand of Gary Sykes) Page 8
