TRIAL: A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Thriller

by Murray Mcdonald

  The garage door opened, allowing Harry to avoid having to answer her question. “How’d you think it would have gone?”

  Badly, he was sure. What he’d heard was sustained automatic gunfire, not something the police were likely to do. The police had taken a beating. He also was extremely concerned that not only did the group now know who she was, but through Roger, they knew exactly where she lived. As Kate pushed the first bike into the garage, he checked his revolver. He hadn’t known the Wolfes long, but they had shown him more kindness than anyone had in many years. Even through their grief, a grief no family should have to suffer, they had kept him in their thoughts, as he had them. They were more family to him than his hopeless son and bitch of a daughter-in-law, who only ever came calling when they needed money.

  Danny rushed past him and gathered up his bike and pushed with every ounce of his body weight. Harry snapped himself back into action and helped the youngster. The weight of the trailer was buckling the axle and Harry marveled at how Danny had made it home at all, as they both pushed it the final few yards into the safety of the garage.

  Kate rolled the door closed and surveyed their haul. It looked far less when stacked on the garage floor.

  “Girls!” she shouted.

  Ava appeared almost instantly, Sophie didn’t. After a minute and three more shouts, Kate went looking, telling everyone else to stay where they were. She wasn’t in the mood for Sophie’s histrionics, not after what she had just witnessed. She walked into the kitchen, a large family room that was the heart of their home. The view across their back garden and across to Boise never failed to take her breath away. Yet today, all she could see was the lack of movement. The roads and streets flowed like veins and arteries on any normal day. The city was dead, quite literally dead. Without electricity, it was lifeless. Just like a heart, it needed electricity to jumpstart it.

  “Sophie!” she called again. Nothing. Her anger began to manifest into panic. She raced through the house. It wasn’t a large house, just four small bedrooms, a lounge, a family kitchen, a two-car garage, and a small garden. The views had sold it to them, particularly Tim, who would sit and watch the aircraft land and take off all day long, given half the chance.

  Sophie’s door lay open, so there was no reason she hadn’t heard Kate’s shouts. There was no music to play and the house was deathly silent. Kate heard her before she saw her, deep gasps of breath, a noise she recognized from herself. Tears from a deep dark place, a truly desperate cry. Sophie lay curled in a ball at the end of her bed, hidden from sight. Her body heaving with each gasp as the heart-breaking tears flowed. Kate dropped beside her and wrapped her largest baby in her arms.

  “Baby, what’s wrong?”

  Sophie could barely speak between drawing breaths. “I heard the shooting… and… you, you… weren’t here,” she managed.

  “But we’re fine, baby. We’re home safe.”

  She calmed slightly, but the tears continued to flow.

  “I know, but I thought about Dad, what he went through, hearing those gunshots…”

  Kate pulled her close. “Your Dad wouldn’t have felt anything. He died instantly, honey,” she lied. She had kept the truth from them since the day she had been told of his death. It was bad enough she’d had to hear the truth. Why they hadn’t lied to her, she didn’t know. The grief counselor had suggested it was always better for the truth to be known. Kate disagreed, her kids would never know the truth.

  “Come on,” she guided Sophie up and down to the garage. “See what your brother and I managed to get.”

  By the time they reached the garage, Sophie had wiped her eyes but in the process, caught sight of her hair. Her focus was diverted, and a new drama unfurled. “We need to get the hairdryer working, Mom!”

  “I’ll make it top priority,” promised Kate.

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  Kate rolled her eyes as she pushed open the door to the garage.

  Whilst away, Harry, Ava and Danny had been busy. The collection of cans and dried foods were displayed across the floor, along with the bottles of water and packets of seeds.

  “Seeds?” asked Ava, “it’s November, Mom. You planning on gardening anytime soon?”

  She shrugged. She hadn’t noticed the packets of seeds and there were a lot of them.

  “Roger helped me get stuff. He must have put them in our packs.”

  “He must know something we don’t. You don’t plant these until March.”

  Kate ignored the seeds and looked at the stockpile of food. It was barely a two-week shop at any normal time. Her cupboards were fairly well-stocked, a Costco trip the previous week had unsurprisingly nearly bankrupted her and laden them with multipacks galore of stuff they didn’t really need, at least not then.

  She looked at Harry. He had the same look of worry she knew she was projecting.

  “I’ve got more than I need back home,” he offered with a knowing and apologetic smile. “We can share whatever I have.”

  “No, that’s not fair. You need to take some of this.”

  It was thanks to Harry that she had made the run to the supermarket. She hadn’t even thought of going until he’d insisted.

  “I’m an old man with an old dog, we’ve more than we need already,” he assured unconvincingly.

  “No…” began Kate. A loud knocking at the front door froze her. Her immediate thoughts turned to Bob Jackson, Roger, and Trey.

  Danny immediately reacted. He was always first to answer the door. Kate caught his arm mid-run and stopped him in his tracks. “Hey!”

  “What’s wrong, Mom?” asked Ava and Sophie in unison. Harry’s hand moved towards his pocket and the revolver.

  The door was knocked again. A hard and insistent knock. Kate held her finger to her mouth. Her children looked at her wide-eyed, not knowing what was going on.

  Chapter 8

  “Kate?” came a shout. “Anyone home?”

  It was Carol, the neighbor from the other side of Harry.

  “Sorry, just coming!” shouted Kate, ignoring her children’s questioning looks.

  Carol paced nervously as Kate opened the door.

  “Have you seen Harry?” she asked.

  “Yeah, he’s here,” she said, stepping back to let her in.

  Carol stayed where she was. “No, but thanks, we’re just doing a check on everyone. We’re checking on the more vulnerable first. Harry wasn’t answering. We were worried.”

  “We’ve got another couple not answering, Mrs. Somerville and Frank Hurley, have you seen them since…”

  Kate shook her head. Mrs. Somerville lived in the last house on their street. She’d never even heard of Frank Hurley. Carol was their street’s representative on the Neighborhood Community Association. Ten streets, working together to build a better community, or something like that. Kate couldn’t remember exactly what the shiny brochure had told them when they’d moved in, but it was clear the people in Warm Springs Mesa wanted them to be a part of a friendly and welcoming community.

  Harry appeared by Kate’s side, just in time to hear mention of Mrs. Somerville.

  “I’ve got a key for Hilary’s. She had workmen there a few months ago and she asked me to let them in. She told me just to keep the key.”

  “Kids, I’ll be back in ten minutes,” shouted Kate. She felt bad that she had not thought to check on anyone else herself.

  As they stepped onto the street, the quiet was disconcerting. It was a beautiful day but no lawnmowers, trimmers, kids playing or cars spoiled the peace that she would normally have craved. She’d expect something to be going on to fill the silence. It was an overwhelmingly young community; family homes in a safe neighborhood. Only a few elderly residents remained. The hilly nature of the neighborhood made for spectacular views, but being built on a slope and on the outskirts of the city made it less favorable for the less mobile. There were a few Harrys and Mrs. Somervilles dotted around the community, but they were by far the exception.

  �
��I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Carol as they paused outside Harry’s house.

  Both looked out across the city below. It remained static.

  “Is Mike home?” asked Kate as they waited for Harry to find the key. Mike was, if Kate remembered correctly, a regional sales manager for an engine manufacturer.

  Carol shook her head. “Seattle on business. Due back tomorrow,” she smiled.

  “Fingers crossed,” offered Kate.

  “They’ll have us back up and running soon, I’m sure,” said Carol cheerily. “God, I almost forgot, did you hear all that commotion earlier? Must have been some people set up a range somewhere. All that shooting.”

  Kate looked at Carol. Her husband was out of town, and her two kids were at college out of state. The truth, if Kate was right about the power and what was to come, could wait.

  “I know, what a terrible noise.”

  “What was a terrible noise?” asked Harry, holding the key for all to see.

  Kate answered quickly, hoping Harry would cotton on. “Whoever the folks were that set up a gun range.”

  “Yeah,” he threw her a wink, he understood.

  The street consisted of twelve homes. Six either side, either built on the up slope or down slope. All were built to take advantage of the views across the city. Being on the down side, it was the back of Kate’s house that faced the street. While those on the up side, their main rooms faced the street. Despite the closeness, shrubbery, and the slope, each of the homes had plenty of privacy. Mrs. Somerville’s home was on the up slope, the opposite side from Kate. Her blinds, they could see from the street, remained closed despite the time nearing eleven in the morning. Nobody expected anything other than bad news as they turned the key in the lock.

  Carol insisted she go first, just in case Mrs. Somerville was in distress and in no position for a man to find her. Harry stepped back and let Carol pass as he opened the door.

  “It’s okay, you can come in,” shouted Carol.

  Kate and Harry walked into the bedroom. Mrs. Somerville lay perfectly still in her bed. Her eyes were closed in what looked like a peaceful sleep.

  “She’s gone,” confirmed Carol as both looked to check that she wasn’t just sleeping. “Just passed in her sleep, bless her.”

  “And so peacefully,” added Kate, noting the bedclothes were perfectly in place. Mrs. Somerville had not even moved before her death.

  Kate’s attention was caught by the classic art deco alarm clock by Mrs. Somerville’s bedside. The Bakelite flip clock was a classic and probably worth more than it had been new. “You think this thing still works?”

  “No way to know until the power comes back on. Don’t see why it wouldn’t if it’s still plugged in,” said Harry, following the power lead.

  Kate pointed to the time. “Well if it does, we now know when the power went out.” The numbers had stopped flipping at 5.27. Only six hours earlier.

  “Oh God,” Harry turned to face Mrs. Somerville’s body and his face fell. “Hillary had a pacemaker, you don’t think…” he said, hoping both would tell him he was being silly.

  “And Frank?” asked Carol panicking.

  “I’m not sure, maybe,” said Harry, sitting heavily in the chair by the bed. “But I do know a lot of other people with pacemakers.”

  “We don’t know that’s what happened,” offered Kate as cheerily as her convictions would allow. She wasn’t convincing either of them. It made perfect sense. Every other piece of electrical or electronic device had stopped working, so why would the pacemaker be any different?

  “Hello? Anybody there?” came a shout from the front door. Kate pulled a sheet over Mrs. Somerville’s head as Carol left to break the bad news.

  Kate and Harry walked through as Barbara was confirming the worst. “Frank as well, peacefully though,” added Barbara.

  “We think it might be pacemakers, do you know if Frank…” began Kate, joining the conversation.

  “Kate, hi! You’re back and you’re okay,” interrupted Barbara, realizing it was Kate. “You didn’t see Roger, did you? He’s still not back. There was all that shooting at the supermarket and I’m getting really worried.”

  Carol swung towards Kate. “I thought you said that was just a gun range?”

  “Did I? Oh, that shooting,” said Kate flustered. Both women stared at her, waiting for more.

  A red-faced Danny burst into the house. “Mom, you have to come quick!” he managed between deep breaths.

  “Sorry!” said Kate, pushing past her inquisitors and following her son out of the house. “What’s wrong?” she asked as they rushed back home, with Harry following as fast as he could in her wake.

  “Zach appeared. You told me I was to let you know if ever Zach and Sophie were ever alone together in a room.”

  Kate smiled and thanked God for teenage hormones and child spies.

  Chapter 9

  “Sophie!” called Kate as she opened the front door.

  She checked behind her. Harry and Danny were going to check on Hank, Harry’s dog. As soon as she had heard it wasn’t a life or death scenario, she had slowed Harry down and asked him to keep Danny company while she dealt with her daughter. She had a feeling that Sophie and Danny would be best kept apart for the next few hours. Poor Danny was totally unaware of how he was, in his sister’s eyes, ruining her life. Zach was a senior, captain of the football team, and the boy every girl wanted to be seen with, let alone be with. Sophie was a sophomore and the envy of every girl in the school. Zach lived two streets over and most definitely had a thing for her.

  “Hey, Mom,” said Ava, appearing in the hallway at the base of the staircase, blocking Kate’s progress. “What should I do with the freezer stuff?

  Kate looked at her quizzically. “Really, you’re running interference for her?!”

  Ava shrugged her shoulders and smiled innocently.

  “We’ll talk about this later,” promised Kate. “Sophie!”

  Sophie appeared at the top of the stairs. “What’s up?” she asked, as though butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.

  Kate looked up and had to do all she could to stop herself from laughing. “Apart from your t-shirt being inside out?”

  Sophie’s face blossomed into a deep red.

  “Tell Zach to get down here!” advised Kate sternly.

  “I’m going to kill Danny!” said Sophie, storming into her room.

  Zach appeared shortly afterwards, suitably embarrassed with the situation. He was a handsome young man, reminding her of Tim in his youth. She tried not to be a hypocrite, the situation wasn’t dissimilar. Tim had been a couple of years older and they too had started dating when Kate was just fifteen.

  “Let’s have a chat,” said Kate, steering Zach into the kitchen and stopping Sophie in her tracks. “No, just Zach for now.”

  Sophie huffed and puffed, but knew better than to argue with her mother when she was in the zone.

  “Take a seat, Zach,” she ordered, closing the door on her two daughters.

  Zach sat down. He looked around the room, concerned as to what was about to happen.

  “Zach, you know my husband, Sophie’s father, died recently.”

  He nodded.

  “Sophie was his baby, his first child. Tim was a wonderful father, a former footballer like you. Although, he was bigger, a lot bigger. He was a man that feared no man, nothing scared him. Well, that’s not entirely true, there was one thing he feared…”

  Zach edged forward on his seat as he waited to hear what scared Sophie’s father.

  Kate left him hanging, turning to look at the plethora of medals and ribbons of Tim’s that adorned one wall of the family room.

  “What?” asked Zach, not able to wait until Kate’s pause was over.

  “Pissing me off!” she said, the tone in her voice changing. It was her ‘no nonsense, you’ve gone too far’ tone.

  At only five feet four inches to Zach’s six two, he dwarfed her. Even seated, he was tal
ler than Kate, but he had no doubt whatsoever looking at her that she was telling the truth. She had an inner strength that he could see in her eyes, a strength that far exceeded her physical attributes.

  Kate’s physical attributes were deceiving. She’d been a gymnast from a young age and throughout her college years, her strength belied her petite size and frame. Had it not been for a young and unexpected pregnancy, there had been every chance that Kate would have gone on to represent her country, such was her ability. She could train harder and longer than almost all of her teammates, and fight through pain to achieve whatever was necessary. She had a resolve and belief that few possessed. She had, as one of her coaches had told her, ‘it’, that special something that champions had, that extra something that the 99.9% of the population had no idea even existed. He’d struggled to explain what ‘it’ was to her, other than it was an inner strength, resolve, and belief that drove the very few to achieve extraordinary things.

  “Ma’am, I’m sorry. I will not disrespect your house again,” offered Zach.

  “Good, I’m pleased to hear it,” she dropped her tone and smiled warmly. Zach visibly relaxed. “And please, call me Kate!”

  “Yes, ma’am,” replied Zach.

  With another situation resolved, Kate went back to the garage. Ava’s blocking strategy of asking about the freezer goods was a good one and one that had Kate thinking. The chest freezer sat at one side of the garage. If she remembered correctly, it would keep the contents frozen for about twenty-four hours if, after the power went out, you kept the lid closed. Seven hours down, she thought. If she cracked the lid, what did it mean? Did it half the twenty-four hours or did it just take an hour off? The important question was simple. Did she think the power would be back on within the day? If not, there was a lot of produce that she was going to have to cook and use or try to store in other ways. If there even were any other ways. She was in fact, hopeless when it came to knowing how long foods lasted. She went by store dates, throwing out food she was certain was perfectly fine, but the date suggested otherwise.