“This morning I tracked down that retired professor that moved here a few years back to see if he could shed any light on this. Forgive the pun,” he chuckled. “He thinks we’re experiencing the effects of an EMP, but with everything down, there’s no way to find out. It’s a conundrum.”
“You know we’re not on grid power up at the resort, but even our generator won’t work,” Aaron said.
“Same here,” Claude remarked. “I just got back from checking with Nathan, the guy with the ham radio.”
“I remember when there was a big ruckus over his huge tower.”
“Yep, that’s the guy. His setup is new and fancy, and is totally fried. Even his back up gennie is toast. Although, he said he was talking with someone on the West Coast right before this happened,” Claude continued, “and the TV had a breaking news flash that said three missiles were launched at us from the Pacific somewhere and then everything went down.”
Jeff and Aaron looked at each other.
“What are you going to do, Claude? What will happen to everyone here?” Jeff asked.
“These are good people. We’ll all pull together and ride this out. If I can make a suggestion though, I’d get back to the resort and stay put if you can,” the sheriff said.
“That’s good advice, Claude. You take care now.”
Jeff and Aaron shook hands with the sheriff and left.
***
Kyle woke early, as he always did, noticing his clock was out. Even in the hospital he woke early although they wouldn’t let him have internet access, his computer, or anything else. He turned on his state of the art laptop that he built and programmed himself and dressed while it was booting up, only it didn’t. With his anger issues resurfacing, he almost threw it against the wall before thinking that this backwoods town likely didn’t have a computer store for him to replace it, and he tossed it on the bed instead.
Kyle sat in his new Explorer, trying to start it. “Damn piece of junk!” he said, slapping the steering wheel. Movement caught his attention and he watched two men, one white, and one black, get into an old truck and drive away.
He walked down to the café where he had dinner the night before for some breakfast, only to find it dark and cold inside.
“Is the power out everywhere in this damn town?” Kyle said to the first person he saw. “And is there a halfway decent mechanic here? My car won’t start!” he grumbled.
The guy looked at Kyle in distain for his rudeness and said, “Yes, yes, and no one’s will.” He went back to his cooling coffee.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Kyle snarled.
“It means, yes, the power is out everywhere in town; yes, we have a good mechanic; and it won’t do you any good because no one’s car will start,” the waitress replied. “We do have a single gas burner that works and I can give you some hot coffee.”
Kyle was stunned. Something was very wrong. As a computer expert he knew all the things computers were vulnerable to, and this one made him nervous. He took a steadying breath to check his mounting anger and sat at the counter. “Thank you, coffee would be good.”
Mae, the waitress, picked up his empty cup after he left, along with a reasonable tip and a Juicy Fruit gum wrapper.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Jeff tapped on Adele’s door.
“Well, that’s a glum look if I’ve ever seen one,” she said when she opened it to see him standing there. “What’s wrong, Jeff?”
“You were right.”
“About what?”
“There were three missiles launched at the U.S. last night, right before everything shut down,” Jeff explained. “We got nuked.”
“Three?” Adele gasped. “North Korea?”
“I don’t know. There apparently was a brief ham radio message sent, and then it was gone. You said you read a lot. What do you know about nukes and EMPs?”
“Only that if a nuclear bomb is set off at a high altitude, which technically makes it an NEMP, a Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse, the wavelength it puts out covers a great deal of area and instantly destroys electronic circuitry. Maybe then it’s a HEMP, a High-altitude EMP, I’m not sure. One bomb would cover a lot of area, but three… three would knock us back a hundred and fifty years. It was one of those near-impossible events that my mother always talked about, and why she had manual backups for nearly everything: oil lamps for lighting, a wood cookstove for heat and cooking, a hand pump on her well, things like that. She believes an EMP would affect everyone.”
“You think the whole country could be out?” Jeff asked, astonished.
“I don’t know, Jeff, I really don’t. It was an interesting article, that’s all, and I only half listened to what my mother said. I didn’t do any research on it, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Adele walked over to the woodstove and put another log on the fire, bringing the coffeepot back and poured Jeff a cup of the black brew. “Oh, I found something you might be able to use.”
From her bedroom closet, Adele brought out a battery operated lantern and handed it to Jeff. “Aaron might find it better to use than my little flashlight.”
He smiled at her. “Have I told you yet today how amazing you are?” He switched the lamp on and grinned at how bright the light was. “I’m going to get this to Aaron, and then I’m going to visit each condo and organize a meeting for later.”
“What time?” Adele asked.
“About an hour, but watches have stopped working too.”
Adele looked at her wrist. “It’s three o’clock.”
“Your watch works?” Jeff said surprised.
“My mom gave me this years ago. It was hers as a girl.” She held out her arm and showed him her Cinderella watch. “I have to remember to wind it every morning.” Jeff laughed, delighted. “I’ll see you at the restaurant in one hour,” he said, still smiling.
***
The twelve people sat around two tables that had been pushed together in front of the windows for the fading light. Chef Chet had made sandwiches and set them in the center, while Matt passed out bottles of water. They may have had a feast the night before, but everyone was naturally hungry again.
Jeff explained what they had found out in Avon.
“So what does that mean to us? When is the power coming back on?” Nancy Bjork asked, clutching her husband Bill’s hand.
“I have no idea when the power is coming back, Nancy,” Jeff said. “Our electricity here is from the resort power plant. Aaron is doing what he can to see if he can repair it, but it’s not looking good. He said the circuits are fused in the inverter.” He looked around the table. “As for what it means to us, I don’t know that either. We have limited resources. What I can do is offer anyone who wants to go to Avon a ride into town. Maybe they can do better for you.”
“How is it that your car works when ours don’t?” demanded Marvin Jenkins.
“It’s a really old truck that doesn’t have any electronics built into it. Like I said, I can get you into Avon and after that, they can help you. I think that might be a good option for most of you,” Jeff answered.
***
Kyle walked back to the motel as it started snowing again. He’d gleaned some information from the locals, and had a better grasp of what was going on, but it didn’t help. He kicked the snow off his loafers and opened his motel room door. Housekeeping had been by, made the bed, and left two extra blankets.
He stood looking out the single window and remembered the old truck, wondering where they had gone. It was too late in the day, but maybe tomorrow he could follow the tracks and talk those guys into selling him that old rattletrap.
***
“Are you going or staying, Adele?” Jeff asked tentatively.
“I have no place to go, Jeff, and couldn’t get there if I did. I think I’ll stay here. I have food, water, heat and… company. Why
would I want to leave?”
He took her hands. “I’m glad. In fact, I’m delighted. What you said makes me think though. If this lasts a long time, we might run out of food.”
“Didn’t you tell me the kitchen had already stocked for the winter? That was for a lot of guests. If there are only a few of us, it should last a long time.”
He nodded. “We need another meeting, one with only the employees… and you.” He hugged her and lightly brushed his lips across hers.
***
“So here’s the deal,” Jeff said to his employees, “we might have enough food to last the six of us perhaps six months, less if any of the guests decide to stay. There is only one couple undecided about leaving, the Swansons. The other two I’m taking into town in the morning. Adele is staying.”
“What do you want us to do, Jeff?” Beth asked.
“Without the central electric heating, we will have to group to conserve wood for burning,” Jeff said, thinking out loud.
“The first dome up the hill is a two bedroom,” Beth said. “I think the four of us can stay there, and like all the single domes, it has a woodstove like Miss Michaels’ place.” The insinuation that Jeff would be staying with Adele hung silently in the air.
“Without heat, I’ll have to drain pipes in all units not being used,” Aaron said, “or we’ll have a real mess on our hands come spring. We might anyway, depending on how cold the winter gets.”
“Make that your top priority,” Jeff said looking at Aaron. “The next, of course, will be to keep working on the generator. How is that coming along?”
“Not good. However, I’ve got some ideas that may or may not work that could restore limited electricity.”
“Keep me updated.” Jeff faced Matt and Chet. “What’s the situation with food and water?”
“It’s only a guess, mind you, but I think if we ration we can get those six months out of what we have,” Chet informed him. “The biggest issue will be what’s in the freezers. Without power it will start to thaw.”
Adele spoke up for the first time. “My mother has a saying: why try to keep something at forty degrees inside, when it’s forty degrees outside? And it’s getting colder every day.”
“Smart mom,” Chet said. “When I start to notice a thaw I can pack a lot of the freezer meats in plastic bags and bury them in the snow or in one of the unused units when it gets cold enough. That should buy us some time. Meanwhile, I suggest we eat mostly from the freezer instead of the dry pantry.”
“The bottled water is a different situation,” Matt added. “We’ve got a lot, but not enough for six months. We do have snow we can melt. We should also try to keep the water from freezing, since it would burst the bottles. I can move it to the two places if it starts to freeze in here.”
“I like these ideas,” Jeff said. “What else?”
“Since it’s already getting cold in here, I think I should ready that unit as soon as the Jenkins are out,” Beth offered. “I’ll collect all the extra blankets and have them readily available.”
“Thanks, Beth. I’m taking them into town tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I’ll load up wood in the truck and drop some at the two places.” When Aaron started to protest, Jeff said, “You have your work cut out already, Aaron: the water lines and the generator. I can do this.”
***
Adele moved several armloads of wood into the condo near the woodstove, creating a neat pile. She was collecting another armful when Jeff backed the truck into her drive.
“Before you start unloading, how much is at the other unit? I have enough for a couple of weeks. Maybe you should fill theirs first,” Adele said.
“Okay. Before I do that though, I think we should talk.”
Adele set the wood she was carrying beside the fire and turned to Jeff, who had followed her inside.
“That was rather awkward, I know.” He ran his hands down her arms just to touch her and laughed nervously. “I think my crew knew how I felt about you before I did.”
“Stop, Jeff,” she said gently. “I think it was inevitable that we would end up together, and I’m not complaining. It’s sooner than I thought, though who could anticipate an EMP throwing us closer so quickly?” She stroked his cheek and kissed him lightly. “I’ll meet you at the other unit and start stacking.”
“You don’t have to do that,” he protested.
“No, I don’t, but I want to and I’m good at it. We are all going to have to pitch in and pull our own weight now. I’m not going to sit on the sidelines and watch everyone else work when I’m perfectly capable of helping.”
They finished stacking the second load of wood and walked hand in hand down to the restaurant where Chet had promised a big dinner as a final supper for the guests.
“How is Chet cooking?” Gwen asked, eying the big bowl of steaming spaghetti and meatballs. Frozen garlic bread had been thawed and a couple of bottles of red wine were placed on the tables.
“There is one gas burner that I can light with a match that is usually saved for grilling steaks. It took some rotating of the pots to cook, and the chafing pans keep everything hot with sterno,” Chet informed them all. “Cooking this way is not going to be easy and the propane will definitely run out, maybe soon.”
Jeff stood with his wine glass. “To our last meal together.” He raised his glass toward his guests. “It’s been a delight having you here. While I wish our parting was under better circumstances, I sincerely believe you will all be better off in town. Please pack tonight, as we leave at first light.” He sat down next to Adele and whispered to her, “I hope I’m not sending them into a bad situation.”
“Just because they booked accommodations with you doesn’t mean you are responsible for them forever,” she whispered back. “For what it’s worth, Jeff, I plan on using everything I have stocked before taking any of the resort’s food.”
“That isn’t necessary.”
“It is for me.” She cut a tiny meatball in half, speared it, swirled it in the sauce, ate one half, and playfully fed the other half to him.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Have you got everything?” Jeff asked Marvin and Mary Jenkins. They nodded. “And you two?” he asked of Bill and Nancy Bjork. The back of the truck was full of suitcases and boxes. “Unfortunately, there’s only room for three of us in the cab, so the men will have to ride in the back. I promise to go easy on the potholes.” He was trying to keep it light, though that’s not the way he felt. Deep inside, he was afraid he was sending these nice people to their doom.
The ten mile trip took over forty minutes because of the deeper snow and fallen tree branches. When Jeff got to the edge of town, he went straight to the town hall and dropped off the four people and their luggage.
***
Kyle saw the old pickup truck pass the motel and stop at the government building. He set out on foot to intercept the driver. Before he could stop the truck, the driver went right past him and disappeared up that same road. His anger surging again, he closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths like his therapist had taught him. When he opened them again, he spotted the Wilderness Outfitters and thought it was a serendipitous sign.
He entered the store, noting that although it was chilly, it was warmer than outside.
“Welcome, is there something I can help you with?” asked Henry, the elderly man behind the counter.
“Well, old man, I need some boots,” Kyle said, even though he could see the name tag reading ‘Henry’. “And maybe a warmer jacket; I wasn’t prepared for being stuck here.”
Henry squared his shoulders at the obvious insult, reminding himself that the customer was always right. Well, until they crossed a certain line, and then he didn’t care.
“Boots are to your left, jackets are in the far right corner of the store,” Henry replied with a forced smile and moved to put ano
ther log in the old woodstove that had been mostly decoration until a few days ago when the furnace quit working.
Twenty minutes later, Kyle dumped his selections on the counter and pulled out his credit card. Henry started to hand write a receipt.
“I’m sorry, sir, without power I can’t take your card. Until things are restored, it’s cash only, orders from the store owner,” Henry said with a touch of sorrow. Even though he was the store owner it sounded better that way. Something about this man had him on edge and it was an instant decision to also not tell him what he was buying was inadequate for the weather that was coming. Hopefully this rude man would be gone by then and it wouldn’t matter.
Kyle put his card away and pulled out several one hundred dollar bills to pay for his purchases. When Henry smiled, he asked, “By the way, do you happen to remember a pretty blonde woman from a couple of weeks ago? She made a rather large purchase here.”
Henry disliked this man intensely and the question set off red flags. He made a show of thinking and then replied, “No, I can’t say that I do. Then again, I’m only part time. Sorry.” Henry made change and bagged Kyle’s items.
When Kyle left the store, Henry sat heavily on the stool behind the register hoping fervently that he never found that nice Miss Michaels. Any reason that arrogant ass had to be looking for her wasn’t good enough to betray her.
***
Back in his motel room, Kyle kicked off his wet loafers and put on his new boots over his damp socks. He carefully draped his expensive lightweight jacket over the old wooden chair and slipped on the new fiber-filled ski jacket, pulling the hood up. He looked in the mirror, thought it looked stupid, and he pushed the hood off. He headed outside toward the offices where the pickup truck driver had been and within moments of leaving his room, his short hair had a layer of snow. Kyle spotted the four people pulling their luggage along the snow rutted sidewalk coming toward him. Being the opportunist he was, he said, “That’s a lot to carry, could you use some help? Where are you going?”
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