EMP (Book 4): Desolation

by Ison, S. A.

  “Dang girl, you’re awfully abusive. I might call the cops on your cute butt.” That earned him another pinch and he was dragged away. He laughed and picked her up, causing her to laugh and scream. He hauled her around and kissed her. Her arms wrapped around his neck and he held her suspended up against his body.

  “How tall are you anyway?” He asked, between kisses. He kept walking, watching out for tripping hazards.

  “I’m five foot four, why?”

  “Just curious. You sure do smell good though, as small as you are.” He laughed into her mouth.

  “Well, you stink. Not sure if it’s cause of the deer and the blood. You want to wash my hair?” She invited coyly.

  “Which one?” He laughed as she started punching him and he set her down.

  “My god, you’re a nasty one.” She laughed.

  “And you’re not?”

  “Of course not, my momma raised me better than that.” She huffed.

  “I’ll teach ya what I know gal, let’s hope you’re an apt pupil.” He grinned and pulled her to him. He began to undress her slowly, as she was doing to him. They unbuttoned each other’s shirts. He kissed his way down the buttons, on her soft skin.

  “Before we embarrass ourselves, how about we take our boots off before we go farther.” He suggested and she grinned and nodded. Once that was done, they helped each other with their pants, which slid off them both. He picked her up easily and began to walk into the cool water, her legs wrapped around his waist. The air around them was heated and was getting hotter by the second. When the water reached his thighs, he dipped them both down in the water. Dawn sucked in her breath, because he’d chosen that moment to enter her.

  Her arms encircled his neck and he devoured her mouth. He could not even remember the last time he had made love, perhaps nearly twelve years or more. He certainly didn’t remember any faces. Hers had been the only one he’d dreamed of for eight years. Hers was the only one he saw each night when he closed his eyes. He held her by her tiny waist, her slender legs wrapped tightly around his waist. She rocked her body, moaning and clutching his hair. He held her tight and they rode the waves.

  Later, they walked back, hand in hand, both glowing. Both, thoroughly spent and clean. He’d brushed her hair out and she’d done the same for him. Unfortunately, the shampoo soap combo didn’t come with a conditioner. He’d likely go bald before all this was over. They came back into camp and got grins from those around them. He could feel his cheeks heating up and looked down to see Dawn was fiery red. She might not have dark blue marks on her face, but he’d marked her neck and grinned. He was sure she didn’t know it. God, she was going to kill him.

  =

  Jack felt the shake and opened his eyes. Tomi stood over him, smiling. At first, he was confused and then remembered he’d volunteered to take the midnight watch.

  “Thanks.” He mumbled and got out of his sleeping bag. Unfortunately, Tomi crawled in, so he’d not be able to take his sleeping bag with him. That was okay, he’d take Linda’s backpack and Norman’s backpack. He’d have taken them all, but he figured he could only carry the two, plus his own. He’d find a house and he’d sleep in a goddamn bed. He stretched and went over to the rack of jerky. He reached down and took a handful and walked about the camp.

  Each time he passed Linda’s pack, he moved it a foot or two away. Then, he did the same with Norman’s pack. The snores of the others filled his ears. He checked his watch, it was just after one. He’d give it another twenty minutes, make sure Tomi was sound asleep. He’d also move the packs farther out. He went by the rack and got another hand full of jerky, eating it. It was good and not stiff. It would be in a day or two, but now, the meat was nice and chewy.

  He checked his watch again, and as he passed each person, he looked to make sure they were asleep. There was a moon out, though it kept going in and out of the clouds. It took time, but he was patient. He walked by his pack and eased it on, congratulating himself for stowing the noisy items that hung on the outside. He then walked to where the other two packs were. Three packs were heavy, but they were lighter than Liev’s, Tomi’s and Perrin’s packs.

  Once he got to the road, he backtracked the way they’d come. He’d go back to the thrift shop. He’d spend the rest of the night there and when he thought it was clear, he’d strike out and find a house to kick back in. He estimated it would take him a couple hours to get there, but if he ran part of the way, he’d make it before dawn. Since he was on the blacktop, they’d have no clue which way he’d gone. And he was sure they’d not waste time looking for him.

  He grinned hugely and walked down the road, looking over his shoulder from time to time. He got to a bend in the road and looked back. He saw nothing and breathed a sigh of relief when he was sure he was out of sight.

  SIX

  “Fucking bastard.” Perrin snarled, waking Tomi. Tomi sat up, rubbing his face with both hands. He’d been sound asleep. It was just light out, not quite full morning, but neither was it dark out. He looked over to Perrin, who was standing by the dead fire and lifted a brow in question.

  “Jack is gone, and he took Linda’s and Norman’s backpacks. He also took the majority of the jerky.”

  “What the hell?” Tomi said, jumping up from the sleeping bag. He looked around, disbelieving his eyes. He turned in a full circle, and those around him looked as well. They all looked into the trees, but there was no sign of the man, nor the two missing backpacks. Tomi walked out to the road, Perrin hot on his heels. He looked up and down the road but saw nothing.

  “What the fuck. That little pigheaded son of a bitch. Here I thought he was finally getting with the program. He’d wanted to take the watch, only to fuck us over. That little son of a bitch.” Tomi snarled and stamped his foot and then kicked a rock.

  “Should we go hunt the little weasel down?” Perrin hissed low. Tomi looked at him and shook his head.

  “There’s no telling where that little shit got to. Fucking bastard. No, let’s get packed up and head out of here. God damn it. We could have gotten our goddamn throats cut, he left us vulnerable. Anyone walking in could have killed us all.”

  “Jesus Christ, you’re right. I didn’t even think of that. Christ. If I ever see that little bastard, I’ll put one between his eyes.” Perrin huffed out angrily. He stomped back to camp, cursing under his breath. Tomi stood on the road a little longer, trying to get his rage under control. He inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. Jack had endangered them all. The food supplies aside. Christ, what a selfish little bastard. He shook his head and looked once more, up and down the road. He looked at the ground, but there were no discernable prints. It didn’t matter, they’d not follow him, they had to keep going.

  He walked back to the campsite and Liev was making a fire. He shook his head when Tomi came into camp.

  “Why am I not surprised?” Liev snorted.

  “Yeah, I should have known something was up, when he volunteered to take a watch.” Tomi sighed heavily.

  “Hey, he’s gone and now we can move faster. I don’t think he got as much as he’d hoped. Linda couldn’t carry much food, neither could Norman. We can make up for the shortfall with whatever we hunt.”

  “That’s true, it still burns my butt though. He left us vulnerable. That, I can’t excuse. I promised Iris, we’d keep her safe. Jack made a liar out of me.” Tomi said and blew out a hard breath.

  “Let it go brother, he’ll get his. He’s woefully unprepared. He thinks he can do better without us. He’ll now find out how the world really wags.” Liev grinned, his brows waggling up and down. This caused Tomi to laugh and he felt better. He slapped Liev on the shoulder, and walked into the trees to relieve himself.

  Within an hour, everyone had a cup of coffee. Dawn and Liev shared their cup, so Norman and Linda could share one. Tomi passed out breakfast bars and they also ate what was left of the jerky.

  “I’ll see what I can hunt today.” Perrin offered.

  “You know how
to hunt Bruh?” Tomi grinned.

  “Of course, I do, a hell of a lot better than an air force puke like you.” He laughed.

  “Just make sure it’s something edible. Don’t go killing a rock or nothing.” Tomi shot back, grinning, and Perrin lifted a middle finger, grinning, which elicited giggles from the women.

  The group got ready to go, Jack had left the clothing backpacks and so Tomi had put food into Linda’s pack as well as Norman’s pack. He also handed each of them a spare LifeStraw. Christ, glad I packed extra, he thought, then felt the anger rise once more at the thought of what Jack had stolen.

  The group set off, now walking a bit faster without the drag of Jack. They got to US 23 and turned south. The gunfire was now more prevalent and also closer. Tomi pulled his AR15 down and held it to a low ready. Iris walked beside him and he looked down at her. She was now turning a sickly yellow and green, but her face was losing the terrible swelling. She still looked distorted, but better. She’d been using cool compresses against her face when they camped. That had seemed to help a lot. The gash on her face was also healing and looked like it would heal clean.

  There would be a scar, but he hoped it wouldn’t pucker. It seemed the glue had worked well. She smiled up at him, nervous.

  “That gunfire is really close by.”

  “It is. Sound’s like someone is having a fight of some kind. Perrin is increasing our speed, so hopefully, we’ll be out of range and out of sight I hope.”

  “This doesn’t scare you?”

  He shrugged. “No, it does make me nervous though. I think as long as we don’t hear voices, whoever is fighting, is engaged with their own problems. We’re not on their radar.” He smiled reassuringly down at her and she smiled, nodding. She stayed close to him. They all drew closer together, instead of strung out. Liev and Dawn had stopped holding hands and now had their weapons pulled down and ready, their heads on a swivel. He smiled, Norman was also looking around, as was Linda.

  He looked around as well, they passed several homes, but all was quiet there. No dogs in the yard, barking to mark their presence there. He was glad, he didn’t want anyone paying any kind of attention to them. The gunfire was now sporadic, it would seem like the fight was winding down. He hoped there were no children involved in the fight. He hoped that the good guys won. There were going to be a lot of fights now. They were working on four days in, and for most people, their pantries were running low, dangerously so. Christ, it seemed longer than just four days. It seemed like an eternity.

  He figured most people kept about three days of food on hand. Maybe a little more, depending if they had children or not. He had never kept a lot of food on hand himself, since he ate at the chow hall when he was in the Air Force. If the folks hadn’t saved the food from the freezer or refrigerator, that was a hell of a lot of waste. His uncle had taught him how to preserve food. His mother’s people, didn’t know the American ways. His mother had never spoken of her own parents. When Tomi had been stationed in Japan, he’d tried to find his mother’s people. Though he spoke the language, no one was very helpful. He could not read the language, he only knew the rudimentary Japanese. A big difference in comparison to the dichotomy etymological Japanese. He’d simply mimicked his mother, and when she’d died, so had his language skills.

  He could understand more than he could speak, but as years passed and without using those verbal skills, he’d lost the beautiful language. It was difficult to recall his mother’s face, but he knew his uncle had family photos. His things had been left with his sister. After her death, they’d been lost. He sighed.

  “You okay?” Iris asked.

  “Yeah, just thinking of my mom, and my family.”

  “Are they where we’re headed?”

  “Only my uncle. My parents and sister are dead.” He smiled sadly and shrugged.

  “I’m sorry Tomi. Truly.”

  “Ah well, what can you do?” He smiled again, then looked down, “what about you? You have a husband, wife, or parents? Sibling?”

  “Only child and my parent are in Florida. My dad practices law there. Or rather he used to until a week ago. I hope they’re alright.” She gnawed at her lower lip and stopped, wincing in pain.

  “Where in Florida?”

  “Down in the Keys.”

  “I should think they’ll be better off than a lot of the country. They can block that bridge and they’ll have fishing and I’m sure folks will pull together.” He smiled down at her. She had very pretty red hair. He’d never been a fan of red hair, but hers had a copper sheen to it, not the carrot red hair.

  “You think? I guess you’re right. Hopefully they’ll block that way. I’m sure the local police will make sure no one comes down there.” Iris said, a soft smile playing on her lips.

  “Who knows, they may not have it as bad as us. I’m sure some have solar power or wind power. That’s the perfect place for it. I’m also not very sure how far the EMP reached. It might have gotten them, there’s just no telling.” He shrugged, he handed over the tube for her to drink. He had filled up before they left the stream that morning. He’d put tabs into the water to purify. It didn’t taste as good as bottle water, but it was drinkable. When they found a stream or pond, he’d use his straw to drink from those water sources.

  They heard no more gunshots. Tomi knew it wouldn’t be the last of it. He just hoped they’d not get hit with a stray bullet. That would really ruin their day.

  “I hope you’re right. I’d only been down to see them a few times over the years. They have a nice little place, near the beach. The people down there seemed to be nice and easy going.”

  “I shouldn’t worry. Again, once they block that bridge, they should be safe. We’re better off than the people in the big cities. I’m thinking that they are all on fire about now. Even Lexington.”

  “I think you’re right. We were woefully unprepared.” Iris said in a small voice.

  “Try not to worry. We can only do our best.” He said softly.

  =

  Jack hadn’t made it to the thrift store. He’d only been able to walk a couple hours before he was too exhausted to go on. He’d found a car that had been pushed off to the side of the road and he’d climbed into it. When he’d woken, it was daylight and the sun was baking the car. He’d gotten out, his body drenched in sweat. He drank the last of his water down and ate a few bars. He then dumped out the contents of Linda’s backpack and took all the food. There wasn’t as much as he’d hoped. What the hell had she been thinking? The boxes of .38 shells fell out. That had taken up some room. Why had she brought that much ammo? Christ, she should have brought more food.

  He then upturned Norman’s bag and tossed the 9mm shells off to the side. Useless. He got the food, more than Linda had carried. Good. He ate a couple more energy bars. Then he realized he was thirsty again. He cursed himself for not waiting until after he’d eaten, to drink. Now he’d have to find a water source. He shrugged. He checked but didn’t see any of those chlorine tablet things. Well shit, those two were as useless as tits on a boar.

  He packed up the remaining food into his pack and left their gear and clothing on the ground. He didn’t need that shit. He began to walk, he figured if he could make it to the thrift store, he could knock on doors and get water there. Or, if he came by a stream or river. He looked at his watch. He was surprised, it was after ten. He must have been really tired, sleeping all that time. It sure as shit felt good. Not being woken up by those assholes, who just had to get up at the crack of dawn.

  He was hungry again and stopped, and took off his pack. He pulled out a couple more granola energy bars and ate them. He was really thirsty, so he decided he’d look around in the woods for a stream. He put his pack back on and left the road. He heard gunshots in the distance, but didn’t pay attention. He’d been hearing that for days now. He wished he could have gotten one of the guns, but since he didn’t know how to use one, he guessed he really didn’t need one anyway.

  He wandered
around but couldn’t find any water, so he headed back out to the road. It was awkward moving through the trees with the big pack on. Finally, he made it back out to the road. He looked at his watch. It was just after twelve. He sighed heavily. Christ, he was thirsty as hell and his mouth felt like he had cotton in it. He looked a head and saw a house. Fuck it, I’ll asked them for some water, he thought. He picked up his pace, licking his lips, anticipating a nice cool drink of water, minus the chlorine taste. He looked around but didn’t see anyone. He stood at the edge of the yard.

  “Hello? Anyone home?” He called, though not very loudly. It made him nervous. He looked around him. There was no sound. He stepped into the yard.

  “Hello? Can I have some water?” He called again, this time louder. Nothing. He heard birds in the trees that surrounded the house. He wondered if anyone were home. The place looked abandoned.

  “Hey, if no one’s here, I can stay here. Shit, that’d be just fine.” He said to himself. He walked up to the door and knocked lightly. He waited, putting his ear to the door. Nothing. He knocked again, this time louder. He turned the door knob and it was unlocked. He grinned. His luck was changing for the better already. He opened the door and his eyes grew wide when he looked down the barrel of a shotgun and then up into the eyes of a grinning man.

  =

  Perrin walked in the dense forest. He now had the crossbow. He grinned, thinking about Tomi’s earlier comment about killing rocks. He sniggered softly. He was still pretty pissed off about Jack. That selfish fuck. He shook his head. What had possessed the idiot to do that? Cause they wanted him to take it easy of the sodium laden food? Christ, they were just looking out for his health. That sodium shit could kill fast if you didn’t supplement it with other, less salty foods. Perhaps if they came across a stream or river, they could fish. As much as he liked meat, he also enjoyed fish and fishing.