by J. R. Tate
Looking down at Colin, Jake rested his hands on his hips. He didn’t want to argue with Colin - his attitude hadn’t improved from yesterday and he needed him on his side. “Listen, Colin… the situation isn’t reversed. Looking at everyone, I’m the best for the job. Y’all will stay here in case someone shows up but honestly, man, do you really think someone is coming?” Jake spread his hands out, glancing over his shoulder toward the wreckage.
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“That seems to be the million dollar question. We’re going on almost twenty-four hours since the crash with nothing happening. I don’t think I can sit and wait for another twenty-four. I don’t think some of these people will last that long.”
“What if something happens to you out there? I’m not even sure how far we are from the closest town.”
“I’ll take someone with me. What other option do we have?” Jake took a deep breath and rubbed his temples. “I need you on my side, man. Just like when we fly, we make these decisions together.”
Colin looked up at him, holding eye contact for a few seconds. He didn’t want Jake to go - it didn’t take a genius to figure that out. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Every decision they made from here on out could mean life and death for people.
“No matter what decision we make, it’s not going to feel right,” Jake continued. “It’s the least I can do, Colin. I was the captain of the flight.”
“I know. You do what you need to do. We’ll hold the fort down here. Where the hell else am I gonna go anyway?” Colin laughed and it was nice to see the scowl dissipate from his face.
“I’ll come back. I won’t leave y’all stranded.”
Jake approached the group of survivors, nodding toward Becky who was still manning the fire. She knew his plans and her mouth set in a hard line. Jake guessed she figured he wouldn’t go through with what he had talked about.
“I’m gonna go see if I can’t get us some help.”
Everyone stared back at him as if he had just spoken a foreign language. The fire crackled nearby, the smoke lingering against the humidity in the air.
“Why hasn’t anyone come?” a woman asked, holding her young child on her lap. “Why have we been stranded so long?”
“I wish I could tell you, ma’am. That’s why I’m gonna go see what I can find out. We need help and sitting here is just…” Delaying the inevitable, but Jake didn’t say that out loud. They didn’t need to hear that. “It’s wasting our time. Now here’s where I need your help.” He spoke to the group, his leadership role changing, from making sure they had a safe flight that landed, to the one making the crucial decisions about their survival. It reminded him of the military all over again, only this was different - they were all civilians now. It was a bitter pill to swallow, looking at the helpless faces staring back at him. “I need one volunteer who is willing to come with me. It’s not wise to go out there alone. Someone who isn’t injured too bad that will be able to walk for miles.”
“But you’re not even in that good of health,” Becky chimed in, tossing another log on the fire. “I wish you could see yourself in a mirror, Jake.”
Jake tried not to glare at her. The whole group didn’t need to know he was far worse than he was letting on. That would instill panic. Ignoring her comment, he looked toward the group again, hoping someone would stand up and be willing to leave the crash site.
A man in the back raised his hand - he was a little older than Jake, stocky, but looked able-bodied enough to make the trek with him. Jake smiled and approached him - he didn’t know the man but now was a good time to learn all about the man who would be accompanying him through the wilderness.
“What’s your name, sir?”
“Larry. Larry Bailey.”
“You got any family here with you?” Jake didn’t want to separate someone from their children.
“No, sir. I was flying alone. Headed up to Seattle for business.”
“You sure you wanna do this? There’s no pressure if you’d rather stay here.”
“I’ll go. You’re right, Captain. We can’t just sit around and wait.”
Jake held his hand up and squinted. “No need to call me captain. Just call me Jake. We’re all even here. No ranks, no titles, okay?”
“You got it, Jake.”
“I’m gonna see if there’s any food and water we can gather up. I plan to leave here in about thirty minutes. You ready to go?”
Larry nodded and gave him a thumbs up. “I’ll be ready when you are.”
Jake went toward the cargo door and pulled out more suitcases. He gathered articles of clothing that looked like they’d fit him and Larry. Having extra would be beneficial in case they had to spend another night out there - it was cold and wet, and they needed to stay as warm as possible. The daytime temperatures were recovering nicely at a comfortable level which would make traveling a little easier. The blanket of trees overhead would block the sun and help slow down dehydration.
Becky scooted a small carry-on suitcase toward him and lifted the lid. Several bags of snacks were inside - Oreo’s, peanuts, cheese crackers and cans of sodas and water. Jake’s stomach growled and he reached inside, pulling a few packages from it.
“I hit the jackpot last night. Found a bunch of the airline snacks scattered behind the plane. There’s definitely more than that but I just gotta find it.”
“Have the kids been fed?”
“Yeah. And hydrated. Take more than that for you and Larry. You’ll need it.”
He picked out bottles of water and a few snacks but left the rest for the group. Becky tried to hand him more but he declined.
“Take more, Jake! You’re gonna be burning a lot of calories. You need it for energy.”
“Nah, we’re good. I hope we won’t be gone that long to need it. I have a feeling there’s a town pretty close. I just need to get to the police station so they can dispatch out emergency services. Once we do that, we won’t even need these snacks.”
Becky ducked her head and closed the suitcase. A tear fell down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away.
“No, don’t do that,” Jake said. “Don’t you do that.”
“Do what?” She smiled through the tears.
“You’re acting like this is goodbye. I’ll be back. I’m not just gonna leave you here…” He patted his chest and she interrupted before he could finish his sentence.
“Oh, hush, Jake. I know you’re gonna come back. I just… I think it’s all catching up to me. All of this. The crash. The lack of rescue effort to get us out of this mess. It’s just suddenly hitting me.”
Jake glanced over his shoulder to make sure they were out of earshot from everyone else. “Just between you and me, I think something bigger is going on. I can’t really put my finger on it but something doesn’t feel right.”
“All the more reason for you to take more snacks and water.”
“We’re good. Y’all keep it. And good job with getting that fire going.” Jake pulled her in for a hug and her body shivered against his arms. Becky was cool under pressure - being a flight attendant for so long made a person develop a fight response in times of drastic measure. Seeing her so worried made Jake’s stomach clench.
“You better get going. Daylight is burning.” Pushing away from him, she wheeled the suitcase back to the group and stoked the fire with a stick.
Meeting back up with Larry, Jake took a quick inventory of everything they were taking. A pocket knife, extra clothing, a blanket, along with the snacks and water that Becky had found. It was the best preparation they could do with what they had. If things went in their favor, they wouldn’t have to dip into any of it.
Jake’s instincts were telling him there was a town just on the other side of the wooded area. It’d be a good hour hike due to the type of terrain they were in but it was doable. If there really was a town that close, it still posed the question of why no one had come to get them. They would’ve had to see the crash. Jake was
ready to get his questions answered. He was ready to get in touch with his family and let them know he was okay. His heart ached when he thought about the anguish Alice was going through, presuming her husband had perished in the disaster.
Waving toward Colin, Jake patted his travel buddy on the shoulder. “Alright, Larry. Let’s do this.”
***
The scenery hadn’t changed much between the campus and their walk to the outskirts of Boston. Sophie took a second to stop and catch her breath, leaning on the railings of a bridge that led them over the river on the south side of town. Under normal conditions, it lent an excellent view of the city skyline. It was a popular place to take pictures and jog but today, it looked like the cover of an end of the world thriller.
The hazy sky had an orange hue, skyscrapers were burning, the trail of smoke rising high in the air, aiding in the gloomy appearance of the world surrounding them. There were other people on the bridge with them, all going with the same idea they had come up with - flee Boston and get as far away from urban areas as possible. Only now, Sophie wondered if it didn’t matter where they went. Nothing was changing - stores were being looted, cars were left stranded, and the once heavily populated area seemed scarce and deserted.
Danny put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close. Neither of them spoke as they looked toward the city, their situation transitioning from a nightmare to the reality they were facing. Boston was in ruins. How were other major cities faring through this?
“I’m scared, Danny.” Sophie rested her face on his chest, unable to pull her eyes from the disastrous view. It was like looking down when someone told you not to or staring at a horrible wreck. Human nature made people do weird things sometimes.
“I am too, but at least we didn’t get split up. We’re in this together.”
Sophie shuddered to think how it would be without Danny. She was scared now - being alone would completely frighten her. “Should we keep going south?”
Danny nodded and ran his hand over her long hair. His touch was soothing and she closed her eyes, imagining that they were back at the dorm, lying together, watching a movie and not on some bridge with their lives being threatened by something they didn’t know anything about.
“Yeah. There’s nothing left in Boston for us.”
“What about Dallas? Do you think it’s the same there?”
Danny took her hand and kissed the back of it. “I do, Sophie. I think this is happening everywhere.”
A chill shot through her body and she shivered. They continued to walk, both deciding that staying on a bridge would make them vulnerable. She allowed his words to sink in. Danny was a smart guy - when it came to science, he was amazing. For him to think this was widespread made her lose hope that she’d ever see her family again.
“So, what do you think is happening?”
“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to,” Danny replied, smiling.
“Yeah, you’re right, I probably won’t like what I’m about to hear but I still wanna know. Is this the EMP thing you mentioned earlier?”
“I can’t say for certain but it sure does feel that way.”
“That means we’ll never make it back to Dallas, will we? No cars, no means of transportation. That’s almost two thousand miles. There’s no way we can make that on foot.” Her voice quivered and she stopped walking again, this time, allowing the tears to fall. “I’m never going to see my parents again, am I?”
Danny took her hand again and rested his forehead on hers. “Don’t give up on me now, Sophie. We’ll get it figured out.”
“I hope you’re right, Danny. Everything seems impossible right now.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
It took everything Alice had to step out of the ER doors and out into the parking lot. She wasn’t the only one making the decision to do it - doctors, fellow nurses, and support staff were following suit, all of them coming to the conclusion that it was time to get to their families and figure out what they would do next. Before leaving, she had grabbed all of here belongings out of her locker, filled up a cup with coffee, and rummaged through the refrigerator in the break room for any food she had left in there.
There was a sandwich and some bottles of water and she handed a couple to some kids she saw in the waiting area. It was her last effort to try and help them, the least she could do for not being able to come through when the victims needed them the most. The coffee was cold - the coffee maker must have crashed with everything else, which was comical. Alice smiled at the thought - even something as simple as Keurig was dead, which made the man’s words hang true - this went farther than a city-wide power outage. They were about to face some tough times that didn’t appear to be improving anytime soon.
At least the coffee had caffeine in it. Cold or not, it’d give her a boost of energy that she’d desperately need on her trek home. It was normally a thirty-minute drive in traffic. She estimated it’d take at least two hours on foot, depending on what she’d run into on the way. Since it all had started, she hadn’t gone past the convenience store across the street, not really getting a good perspective of what was really happening.
The sun was beginning to come up in the east but it was still too dark to see well. With no power, there were no street lights. She had lost complete track of time and hadn’t even realized she was coming up on twenty-four hours spent at the hospital. Twenty-four hours of what felt like pointless work of filling up the generator with gas, only to fall short of getting medical equipment to work properly.
She checked her cell phone again and it felt ridiculous. Electronic devices they constantly had their faces buried in were gone. What she once used for games, texting, and emails was non-existent and the one time she actually needed it to make a real call out, it wasn’t possible. She approached the last row cars in the large parking lot of the hospital. The parking garage was across the street sitting dark with cars occupying it. Cars that were now rendered helpless along with their cell phones - two items they used constantly and took for granted. Now that they weren’t available, it made Alice realize how much the monotony of an everyday life pushed them into auto-pilot, going through the same routine day in and day out. It was a shame it took something like this to make here open her eyes to how good things were just a day before.
She stopped on the edge of the parking lot, like a caged animal that was being set free into the wild. The hospital was her safety net away from home, a refuge that kept her close to her co-workers and people she trusted. Looking out at the city in front of her, it terrified her to think of what was out there. Random fires burned - cars, buildings, and even trees. The number of vacant cars around was surreal - many had crashed, just like the victims in the emergency room had claimed.
What made her pulse raise the quickest was the lack of people around. Dallas was a huge city - the sheer number of cars around proved it, but where had everyone gone? There were hundreds of people at the hospital, so that accounted for some of them. Were people hiding in buildings that weren’t compromised from all of the crashes? Was she the only idiot outside, standing there like a sitting duck? Staying in one place out in the open wasn’t her smartest decision. Seeing the violent looters just hours before meant that they were still around and would do anything to survive and take what they could.
Clutching her bag, she took a sip of water, making sure not to drink too much. She tried to push her fear aside by thinking of her family. It pained her to think it, but Jake was probably a casualty to add to the growing list of those who didn’t survive the initial outage, or whatever the hell this all was. EMP, terror attack, power outage - labeling it really didn’t matter.
The thought of her husband dying made a lump form in her throat and she took another drink to calm her squeamish stomach. She didn’t have time to cry for him, which hurt even more. It’d hit her hard, blindsiding her when she least expected it but she also had to hope that maybe he was okay and deep down, she knew it. It was her
positive attitude - until she heard otherwise, Jake was fine. They would reunite and things wouldn’t seem quite so bad.
Sophie being in Boston was another stitch in Alice’s side. If this was nationwide, how in the hell were they going to get her home?
“One thing at a time, Alice. One thing at a time,” she whispered to herself. Dylan was actually in Dallas. Getting to him was feasible and didn’t completely overwhelm her when she thought about it. She could trek all the way home - she used to run marathons, so walking wouldn’t be too difficult.
Stepping out onto the street, she looked up at the sky. A dusty haze gave the surroundings a sepia tone. The sun was coming up over the tree tops, aiding in visibility, calming her racing heart. At least she could see for a few blocks now. Her problem was her imagination - thinking someone would hop out behind a wall or bush to get her. And though it seemed a little far-fetched, Alice couldn’t let her guard down. She had to treat this like she was in South Dallas where muggings happened all the time.
She could feel eyes on her and this time, it wasn’t her mind playing tricks on her. A group of men near the gas station was watching her, probably just as suspicious of her as she was of them. Attempting to not make eye contact, she walked along the edge of the freeway toward the overpass she took every day to get to work. Cars were stalled at the top of it - how in the hell did the occupants keep them from rolling down? Alice was to the point where she didn’t understand anything, nor did she even want to try.
Glancing over her shoulder, the men weren’t following her, likely unwilling to leave their post at the store. If she had tried to go get some items, she assumed they probably would’ve given her trouble. They had claimed the place as their own, a smart move since it had plenty of food and gasoline, should the need to use it ever arise. It was a precious commodity when it came to keeping the generators at the hospital going but now it was all a moot point. What was the point of the generators if the equipment inside wouldn’t even work?
