Fifty Falling Stars

by Wesley Higginbotham

  “Sounds good, but please, call me Barry.” Barry said.

  Everyone ate a satisfying dinner and got to know each other a little better. The women cleared the table as the men retired to the living room to finish setting up the TV. “I saw the satellite on the roof.” Will said. “So I went ahead and got the generator hooked up and wired into the house. I fired it up for a little while earlier to test it out. The lights work. Hopefully we can have power out here until everything goes back to normal. I was thinking I could go fire it up and we could see if we can get the satellite TV working.”

  “That sounds great. I’ll go with you.” George said. The two men walked to the back of the cabin. The minor repairs worked, and the generator sprang to life with just one pull.

  The satellite started its boot sequence as they walked back into the room. The six men pulled up some chairs from the attached dining area and took a seat around the TV.

  “We heard on the radio that all major US cities have been put under martial law.” Jim Baker said. “Dozens of them.”

  “Which ones.” George asked.

  “All the major ones on the east coast. Miami, DC, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, all the big ones. Said they all had uncontrollable riots. The rest of the country isn’t doing much better. Chicago, Denver, and Phoenix were on the list as well. The way they talked, Detroit and L.A. pretty much don’t exist anymore.”

  Barry let out a whistle. “That’s bad.”

  “Yeah.” Jim agreed. “They said they were delivering food and supplies to those cities and trying to direct people to them. Sounded like another Katrina situation.”

  “I heard from one of my neighbors that Phoenix is getting pretty bad too. His folks retired out in one of the Phoenix suburbs. He got an email from his mom before the power went out. She said they were having reports of people dying in the desert.” Barry said.

  “It’s not even hot out there yet.” Will said. “What’s going on?”

  “Apparently a lot of folks from California tried to escape the riots and unrest in L.A. They just got in their cars and drove. Some of them went north until that got clogged up and others turned east. The ones, who left first, bought up all the gas. Folks just tried to make it with whatever they had in the tank. A lot of people just ran out of gas on highway and caused a huge jam on the I-10. Thousands of folks ended up stranded out in the desert. It doesn’t have to be that hot for people to fight and kill each other when they’re stuck out there.

  “My neighbor’s mom also said they had some attacks in Phoenix itself. Apparently terrorist blew out several electrical substations. He said half the city was without power. He said terrorists had tried to attack the Hover Damn but failed.”

  “Hmm.” Joey said. “Smart.”

  “What do you mean smart?” Jim asked.

  “Don’t you see?” Joey said. “These aren’t random. These terrorist guys aren’t just trying to cause fear and panic by blowing up buses or planes. They’re cutting out important resources. Think about it. What’re the two things that Americans can’t live without? Gas and electricity. That’s what’s happening. They’re taking out power and gas. Then they’re setting off the sparks of fear like they did in the New York subway and watching America burn itself down.”

  “That’s a bold guess. You think these guys are that coordinated?” Chuck asked.

  “Hell, yeah. When did all this start?” Joey started.

  “I don’t know.” George started in. The conversation devolved into an almost heated argument about who was doing what and what the government was doing right and wrong.

  Will cut in. “Guys! The TV’s up.” He picked up the remote and turned it to Fox News.

  They caught the TV correspondent in the middle of his broadcast. The background behind the anchor showed the Eiffel Tower, a dark shape silhouette against the orange glow from fires burning behind and below. “As we have seen tonight, France has become the third European government to fall in the last two days. Earlier this week, both Italian and Spanish governments were ousted and replaced. The military stepped in and staged a successful coup in Italy and now has control of all governmental functions. In Spain, the leading communist party has become increasingly popular since the financial crisis erupted last week. On Friday, they announced that they were in charge of the government. There has been no legitimate transfer of power in Spain, so we may be looking at another coup or perhaps a parallel government and possible civil war. At this point, it is hard to tell. We will follow that story as it develops.

  “It has been four days since the Euro, as a unit of currency, was effectively abolished. Every country in the Eurozone has experienced widespread riots and civil unrest. Germany announced yesterday that they will begin printing new Deutsche Marks to replace the Euro. The Netherlands, Italy, and Belgium announced that they are switching their national currencies to the Swiss Franc, a move that has Swiss leaders and politicians scrambling from fears that mass demand for their currency outside of their borders will create a potentially catastrophic deflationary situation for the Swiss economy. Until now, Switzerland has remained relatively unscathed from the European turmoil. We will see if they can continue to avoid getting sucked down with the rest of Europe.”

  The anchor in the US asked his colleague, “We have heard rumors that Great Britain was expected to make a rather drastic announcement today. Have you heard anything about that?”

  The international correspondent answered. “From what we can tell, Great Britain is expected to announce a full annulment of all European Union treaties and ties to the EU. Analysts we have spoken to fear that this will create a cascading effect that will reduce the European Union to a blip in the history of Europe within a matter of days. As of yet, Great Britain has not made that announcement, but we think it is just a matter of time.”

  “What about the Asian countries, have we heard any news from them?” The anchor asked.

  “Almost all Asian countries are following the Chinese example set almost ten days ago when they pulled out of the European debt deal and began shedding US treasuries. Japan and South Korea are pulling back all economic ties with both the US and Europe as fast as they can. They want to limit their exposure to the dollar and what was the Euro. As we know, Japan in particular has had a rather stagnant economy for some years now. It’s unclear exactly how this will affect their economic outlook. What we can tell you is that Asian manufacturing jobs, particularly those in China and Japan, will probably be hit pretty hard since the they are major suppliers to the both the European and American markets, markets that at this point do not exist.”

  “Thank you very much for that incredible report.” The anchor said. “We hope to hear more from you as things in Europe continue to develop. Stay safe.” The correspondent vanished from the screen, replaced with an aerial shot of a burning city. Thousands of people swarmed over what looked to be a makeshift military or refugee camp. The anchor described the scene. “We bring you back to the United States where you can see what is left of the city of Cincinnati and the FEMA refugee center established there. As food shortages and lack of power have forced people to become more and more desperate, riots have broken out at several FEMA relief stations. Witnesses reported that a rumor spread through the line that the FEMA relief center had ran out of food. The people in line began to get unruly and a fight broke out in the food distribution line. We have reports that the National Guard tried to quell the violence, but the displaced citizens became worked up into a riot. As you can see from the footage, the relief center was overwhelmed by thousands of Cincinnati residents looking for food, water, and basic medical supplies.”

  “In other news,” the anchor continued. “Sources close to the NSA have stated that they have determined the cause of many of the power outages being experienced in the central and eastern United States. The unidentified source, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, stated that the outages are the work of cyber warfare attacks carried out on the national pow
er grid. He said it was similar in structure to the Stuxnet virus targeted at Iran in late 2010. The source stated that over ninety percent of all coal burning power plants and up to sixty percent of all natural gas power plants in the United States have been affected. He reported that the computer virus caused physical damage to the plants, burning out generators and other vital components in the process.

  “When asked how a computer virus could cause physical damage, the source explained that the virus did a variety of things such as provided nominal feedback to the control stations while overheating the generators, shutting down cooling systems, and sending power surges that fried transformers and other sensitive grid systems. Since it has targeted many of the same components and the damage is so widespread, government officials are expecting it could be three to six months before power is restored to some areas.

  “In better news, the source did say that no nuclear plants and only some hydro-electric systems themselves were damaged, but critical infrastructure outside of the plants may have suffered some damage. In total, sixty percent of the United States may be without power for up to six months. No word yet as to the effectiveness of government efforts to contain the virus. Some experts speculate that it could continue to spread to the rest of the power grid in the days and weeks ahead.

  “The power outages are expected to affect millions of Americans in a variety of ways. One way people will be impacted is the lack of communications. Up until recently, many cellular networks have been providing vital communications services for many people affected by the power outages as well as rescue crews. Cellular phone networks have become increasingly important to communications as the power goes out across the country and effectively cuts the internet and telephone systems. However, cell phone towers are now failing all across the country as their backup power supplies are being depleted. In large areas of the country, people may find themselves completely cut off from communication with the outside world or emergency services.

  “Gasoline shortages have also become widespread across the country. Demand for gasoline has reached levels never seen before. Many oil and natural pipelines have been shut down because the pumps used to pressurize the pipelines run on electricity. Many municipal water systems run on electrical power and may begin to fail as their backup power systems are depleted…”

  George reached over and turned down the TV. They had been so fixed on the broadcast that the men hadn’t noticed that the women had slipped into the room and settled behind their significant others. He looked up and saw tears in all of the women’s eyes and some of the men’s eyes.

  Silence stretched for several minutes as the gravity of what they heard hit them. “Well, this changes everything.” Will said.

  Everyone looked at him. “What do you mean?” His father asked.

  “We all came out here thinking this would be a few of days or maybe a couple of weeks at worst. Thanks to Joey, we brought almost everything we need to stay here indefinitely. I think that may be what we’re looking at.”

  “I don’t understand.” Kerry said. “How could they get into the power system? I thought all of that was protected.”

  Joey sat up. “I saw a show on that once. They set up a mockup of the computer systems and a generator. They got a hacker to try and attack it. Within about three minutes he had done pretty much the same thing the guy on TV said happened. Apparently a lot of the technology they use to network the power grid is old, sometimes going back to the 1970’s. I’m guessing that in their rush to hook everything up to the ‘smart grid’ to save carbon and the goddamned spotted owls, they probably opened up a lot of these old systems to the internet.”

  “How it happened doesn’t really matter.” Will said. “We have to act on this information as a reality.”

  “What do you mean?” Jenny asked.

  “We have to adapt and overcome.” Will said. “We have a lot of work to do. First of all, we need to figure out a permanent sleeping arrangement. We’ve only got one full bed and three bunks. We still need to come up with five more permanent spaces.”

  “We’ll stay in the camper.” Chuck said.

  “That’s fine for now, but will you guys be ok there in for six months?” Will asked.

  “Do you really think it’ll come to that?” Joey asked.

  “I think we have to plan on that.” Will said. “So, Joey, you and Chuck figure out how we need to deal with that. Joey, I also need you to get everyone’s guns tomorrow and do a complete inventory on what we have and how much ammo we have for each one. Mom and dad, I need to figure out what all seeds we have. We need to get a garden going as soon as we can.”

  “I’ve got some wheat and corn out in some sacks in the shed.” Barry said. “They’re feed corn and wheat for planting green patches for the deer. I don’t know if they’ll come up, but you’re welcome to them.”

  “That’s a start.” Will said. “I also think we need to dig a trench across the road and maybe put up some barricades.”

  “What on earth for?” Jenny asked him.

  “If this goes on long enough, we might attract attention, even way out here. We’re going to need some basic defenses in case we are discovered. We also need to get a tally on how much gas we have. Tomorrow, everyone needs to go out and check their vehicles. We’ll probably need to either keep siphon off the gas into some gas cans or consolidate it into one vehicle. That way it’ll last a little longer. Gas is going to be real important, so we’ll need to ration it. We’ll use it mainly for running the generators to keep the freezers going and the water pump running… Damn, that’s another thing. We’re going to need to come up with another way to get water. We may be able to stretch the gas out for a while, but it’s going to eventually run out.”

  “Holy shit.” George said. “You really are thinking this is going to be a long time deal.”

  “Think about it.” Will said. “How long will people be able to go without gas or power? How long until the food runs out? How long until the water stops flowing? If the power stays out for six months, this is not going to be a six month ordeal. The lights won’t just come back on and everything will be ok. If it’s that bad, then a fairly large portion of the population is going to die off pretty quick. What’s left of the population will most likely be living like animals by the time that six months is over. No, in this country, if the lights go out for that long, they may never come back on again.” He let that hang in the air. Let it ferment into his family until they began to grasp the true depth of what they could be facing.

  When he thought his point had sunk deep enough, Will continued listing things that they might want to do. One of the items Chuck had brought was a chainsaw. “I think we need to start clearing some lumber as soon as possible. We’re going to need a big stack for cooking, smoking food, and heat this winter. We might also make some new beds or even add on to the cabin if we can.

  “Jenny, you’re going to have a pretty specialized job. You’re the only one here with a lot of medical training. I’m going to need you to collect anything and everything that we can use as medical supplies. We need to categorize everything we have and identify what we don’t have. Then we need to find alternatives. You also need to train us on some basic first aid techniques.” Will looked over at his uncle.

  “Uncle Barry, once upon a time, I remember you telling me your granddad still used an outhouse. Do you think you could find us a place to build one?”

  “My God.” Pam said. “Surely it can’t come down to that.”

  Joey smiled sadly at her. “Ma’am, do you realize there are now ten of us living here, for better or worse, and we only have three rolls of toilet paper left?”

  “Holy shit.” George said.

  “Exactly.”

  Chapter 11

  Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Carlisle, Indiana housed just over twenty-one hundred prisoners, ranging from minimum to maximum security inmates. Only three supply shipments had arrived since the power went out twelve days ago.
Warden Philips was getting nervous. His superiors hadn’t provided any direction. The last news report they heard before the power died said that Indianapolis was one of the dozens of American cities now under martial law. He doubted they would hear anything out of Indianapolis for a long time. Things were getting tough at the prison. The first staff member to abandon his post left five days ago. The prison now ran with less than half staff.

  “Warden Phillips?” Officer Carlos Ricco asked as he knocked on the office door.

  “What do you need, Carlos?”

  “Sir, it’s been eight days since we received any supplies and three since the last time we were able to feed the population.”

  Warden Phillips rubbed his temples. “How are we looking on fuel for the backup generators?”

  “We will probably run out sometime today. When that happens, we’ll be blind. The CCTV cameras will shut down and the alarms won’t work. What are we going to do, sir?”

  Warden Phillips ignored the question. “How do we stand with staff?”

  Carlos hesitated and looked at the floor. He didn’t want to answer this question. The desertion of his fellow guards disheartened him more than the other aspects of the tragedy. He couldn’t believe how the men and women he had served with for years had abandoned their post. He looked up to meet the Warden’s dark eyes. “We’re down to less than twenty percent. They’ve just not come to work. They go home at the end of the day and stay there to protect their families, especially since they don’t know if they’re going to get paid or not. Even if they do, it won’t be worth anything. To tell the truth, while I’m disappointed in them, I don’t half blame them.”

  “Then we have a very tough decision to make, Carlos.”

  “What’s on your mind, sir?”

  “In these walls we hold some of the worst animals that society had to dispose of, but we also hold some descent men that just made a wrong choice or were down on their luck.” He sat back in his leather chair, dreading what he was about to say. “The way I see it, we have three choices. We can sit here and do nothing. At the rate we’re going, all staff will be gone within a couple of days. We just lock everything down and leave these folks in here to die. Granted, it’s better than most of them deserve; but worse than others. We just don’t have the time to sort them all out.