Lights out in America's Dairyland: An EMP Adventure

by Victor Marbury

  Outside of a few noises of disbelief, the group stayed together and decided to hear what I had to say.

  “I suspect that we got hit with either a Coronal Mass Ejection from the sun or a man-made EMP. A CME can pack enough energy to destroy every electronic circuit, while leaving animal and plant life intact. If it was a man-made EMP, the same effect occurs. Either way, it spells big trouble for all of us in the short term. Like I said before, if you don’t believe me, take a look at your digital watches and cell phones, I would be willing to bet none of them is working right now. Unfortunately for us, none of our electronics will ever work again. I paused and made eye contact with several of my classmates. Each of us needs to start making some decisions now about the immediate future.”

  The crowd of officers burst into conversation, with a heavy dose of panic easily heard over the multitude of voices suddenly asking me questions. A guy named Ron asked nobody in particular, “What should I do man, I’m from Eau Claire.”

  It appeared that everybody was in the same boat. The only transport we had were our bikes, and everybody had a different direction to go. I decided to throw out my plan and see if would be adopted by the group. “I’m going to get onto my bike within an hour and start making my way back to Milwaukee. Anyone headed back east is welcome to join me. The same can work for the other points of the compass. Form a north group, south group and a west group, if you can stick together and be a hell of a lot better off! Whichever direction we travel we must keep in mind that society is in shock right now, and it will quickly turn to desperation and panic as people begin to realize that no food will be coming to the stores, power is effectively out forever, and the Government is not coming to help. I’m taking off my police uniform and going incognito, I suggest you do the same for your own safety. If we all work within our groups, I’m sure that we can all get to our homes safely. But the option to stay here won’t work, we got to hit the road people, talk to each other and figure out your routes. Again, anybody heading east is welcome to join me, but I’m gone in thirty minutes so choose quickly.”

  I got off of my car and began preparations for leaving. I noticed the group gathered around my car begin to break up into smaller knots of conversation, debate and arguments, apparently trying to make the decision to leave or stay.

  Part of me could understand why my fellow officers were taking time to debate the situation. Despite the fact that we were trained to take charge of most situations with a minimum of supervision, most cops liked to be given direction by higher authority. Every cop has a story in which the officer took the initiative based on the situation and then was pilloried by their superiors and the media for making the wrong decision. Naturally, the default position of waiting for higher authority for direction often became the preferred mode of operation. I refused to do that. It was a lazy way of doing things, and I had enough confidence in my skills to operate autonomously. I felt a degree of contempt for those who let fear of getting in trouble prevent them from acting in their own self-interest. I sighed to myself at their foolishness and began to prepare myself for the journey ahead.

  Washington D.C. 4:00pm EST

  The President sat in the Oval Office and looked out at the clear blue sky wondering what was going to happen to him and his family. He also wondered how he was going to spin this catastrophic event to his party’s advantage. A Marine General in full battle dress stood before him with a large sheaf of papers in one hand and a pistol on his hip waiting for acknowledgement.

  “What’s happening general? How will we be able to get out of this?”

  The General, Myron T. Tucker, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, cleared his throat, “Well, Mr. President, we are in some pretty deep shit here. It looks like we experienced a massive Electromagnetic Pulse, so far we haven’t’ been able to determine if it was man-made or natural. Unfortunately for us, our experts estimate that the entire planet has been thrust back into the 19th Century thanks to this event. You have to make some hard choices sir, and quickly! As for our military readiness…..”

  The president stood up and rounded the corner of his desk coming face to face with the General, “I don’t care about your precious military machine at the moment Tucker, I really need to know how this disaster going to look to the voters? I mean; they’re going to direct their anger at the administration and me personally, my party will lose the next election and then my legacy of free healthcare for the poor and my plans for wealth re-distribution from the top down will be derailed.”

  The president began to pace the floor in a circle around the general and said. “I mean we knew this could happen and didn’t prepare for it, so it is my fault.” He then paused, “Wait a minute; my predecessor didn’t do anything either. Perhaps I can blame him for it!”

  The general’s face hardened, in all his years of serving civilians, this guy took the cake as the most opportunist and feckless leader yet. This aloof, disengaged ninny floated above the fray and pointed fingers at what he believed to be intellectual inferiors of the populace and the opposite party instead of coming to terms with them and working on solutions that benefited the citizenry. This guy was far too concerned about how things looked, and far less concerned about keeping the best country on the face of the earth where it belongs….at the top.

  “Well sir, if you want to know about political fallout, I’m the wrong guy to talk to. Should I call Ms. Jarrell in?” Seeing the President frown at his answer, he continued, “Sir, our priority is to get you out of Washington DC and into Raven Rock ….we can worry about the voters later.” The general swept his arm towards the doors of the oval office, and the President followed him toward the underground station that would whisk his family and the majority of the Congress and Senate to the secure location at Raven Rock.

  Raven Rock was the closest and most modern of the disaster contingency shelters in the U.S. designed to protect critical members of the government from harm if a catastrophic event occurred. Located about six miles from Camp David, it allowed for the quick transport of key people during a surprise attack. It was a modern marvel, containing its own hardened nuclear reactor, a vast reservoir, and three five-story buildings that would house the offices of the president and the members of the government that were traveling with him. There was food enough to feed the entire party for at least 18 months, and top of the line medical care that could do everything from fixing a broken arm to complex brain surgery. The facility is under guard by special troops selected for their combat skills as well as their lack of attachments in the outside world, that way the troops would not sneak in unauthorized people to the bunker if disaster struck. To get assigned to the “The Rock” is considered one of the greatest honors in the peacetime military, and often ensured a bright future for the lucky members if they completed their tour without any trouble.

  The train that transported the President, and Congress would be using was built by a cold war President, who wore titanium toed ass-kicking shoes when dealing with the Soviets at the height of the cold war. The conveyance rivaled Raven Rock in its sophistication, and allowed the President, and a large amount of key personnel to quickly get to safety in the event of a first strike. The train was a modern marvel.The train’s electronics are protected from an EMP, and it had the ability to travel at the unheard of speed of 150 miles per hour to whisk the Government to safety in the event of the unthinkable. The train, nicknamed the Porkchop Express, was lovingly maintained by each administration up until the current one. The President was convinced in his intellectual superiority and believed that everyone in the world loved him so much that he would not need such a device to escape. He could just talk his way out of any problem because he was so smart…and darn it, people liked him. So, out with another cold war relic, which he renamed the Pork Barrel express in internal memos, and he got to crow about how he saved the government one million dollars in yearly maintenance costs. That million dollar savings was quickly re-allocated to SSI or some other social program his cronies were
championing. The tracks were well maintained at the three stops to keep up appearances, but the other tracks between Washington DC and Raven Rock had severely deteriorated thanks to the damp environment and lack of inspections in the past 5 years.

  The president boarded the 20-car train, which held the Joint Chiefs, the Cabinet, and approximately ninety percent of both the senate and congress along with key members of their staffs. The people on the train were the true cogs of the Government, nothing moved without their ok, so technically it was imperative to get them to safety. As the train pulled away from the White House station, most people just settled in for the ride in stony silence. Not because they were forced to sit next to one of their opposite members in the rival party, but because they were all coming to the realization that the parade of treats and toys from their pet lobbyist was over! Gone were the fancy lunches and secret deals that they thrived on, replaced by the harsh deprivations of bunker living.The silence curdled into dread as the train hurtled towards their new home of Raven Rock.

  As the trip progressed in the narrow tunnel leading to Raven Rock, The former Speaker of the House from the West Coast along with the current Speaker of the House, and one of the newest members of the Midwest Caucus made their way to the presidential car. They planned to voice their concerns about the arrangements for continuing the Government once they arrived at Raven Rock. While most of the group had agreed that the government should act to help the American people in this crisis, the former speaker had other plans. She devised a plot to permanently cripple the Republicans, and bring about an internal revolution, placing her at the center of power. The current President would be a useful pawn for the moment, until he could be plausibly disposed of and she assumed power over the United States Government. She smiled slightly to herself at her brilliance, although it appeared to be a frown thanks to her most recently botched Botox treatment. If everything went according to her vile plan, she and her co-conspirators would be in control of the bureaucracy within days, and then the reformation of the government according to her vision could begin. In fact, phase one of her plan was already in motion. Her hand-picked minions were either making their way to their shelters or had already arrived and were laying the groundwork for the coup to come. Once at their shelters, they would cut off vital communication circuits to and from Raven Rock and isolate the mountain from the wider command and control system. After that, it would be simple to assume control of the government. Then she would have the power to act as absolute dictator over the wounded land and reshape it according to her whims. The American people would essentially be slaves to the new government and set to the task of rebuilding the infrastructure and get the country going again. If they resisted, well, the shock troops and the camps would see to them! The former speaker had little respect for her peers on the other side of the aisle, as well as her compatriots on the left. She firmly believed that they were all stupid and greedy, beholden to Conservative and Liberal interests for their perks. She silently huffed at their selfishness. She fumed at the current speaker’s classic car collection paid for by the detestable Midwest brother team that championed old forms of power generation. The new Speaker fought in the halls of power to avoid hardening the electrical grid against EMP due to the costs associated with such a move. Also, he was their champion when it came to raising rates on the consumer, leading to bigger profits. She thought to herself, let’s not forget her top party colleague’s burning addiction to cocaine and transgender prostitutes. The gambling interests of the U.S. paid for his pleasures in full. They were poised to take total control of online gambling in the U.S. in exchange for their largesse. And that goddamned goody two-shoes from the Midwest, who despite his carefully maintained image of a squeaky-clean, budget conscious, man of the people, had a string of rough trade lovers in the leather bars of Georgetown. These men were fully financed and kept happy for their services by the powerful agribusiness interests of the Midwest.If any of the whores got the bright idea of talking to the press, they met their end in a lonely corn or soybean field.

  She spent years planning this little coup, pre-positioning supplies and cultivating the right people throughout the bureaucracy in order to make her strike brutal and effective. A few carefully planned assassinations once they arrived at Raven Rock would quickly take care of the remaining players that could upset her plans. She had also formulated plausible accusations of sedition, complete with manufactured evidence implicating of all of her enemies would totally clear the way for her and her compatriots to cement their position. She would gain unfettered access to the power she needed to change the face of the Republic forever! She thought back to what the President’s first Chief of Staff said all those years ago,“Never let a crisis go to waste”, and she planned to fully exploit this one for her own benefit. Her bony hands clenched in anticipation as she fantasized the current speaker standing in front of a firing squad for his crimes, protesting his innocence. And that goody-two-shoes piece of shit from Wisconsin getting water boarded for information regarding his supposed part in the plot against the President.

  The routine inspections that were cancelled by the President would have quickly discovered the fracture in the rail and repaired it at a minimal cost, but in the name of redistribution of federal funds to more “worthy” endeavors, no inspections were done. As the train hurtled along at it’s maximum speed of 150 mph, the front wheels came into contact with an 18-inch fracture on the rail. The rail shattered and sheared in half just as the bullet train’s first axle passed over it. The fracture left no viable track for the following axles to ride over. The train derailed in the close confines of the tunnel and burst into flames. The Senators, congressmen and women, as well as their staffs, were violently flung about the cars. Those who listened to the warnings about remaining seated with their restraints in place paid with their lives. The unsecured bodies of their compatriots became missiles and collided with them resulting in gruesome death. Mass chaos reigned as the train turned on its side and skittered down the track, coming to rest in the broken tunnel a half mile from the shattered rail. The screams and groans of the dying could clearly be heard for miles down the tunnel. The former Speaker struck a windowpane, which shattered and ejected her from the cabin. She rolled along the tunnel floor, her frozen face bouncing along the concrete, eventually coming to rest parallel to the president’s car. One of her $1000 Manolo Blahnik pumps got caught under her while she flopped down the tunnel. The spiky heel buried itself in her left eye socket penetrating her brain, extinguishing her life. A fire began almost immediately, filling the tunnel with toxic smoke, finishing off the majority of the surviving bureaucrats. The accident occurred just as the President’s wife was standing over her weak husband and shaking her finger and lecturing. Gone was the cultured, properly modulated tones the masses heard as she spoke about sixty minute play sessions, drinking more water and better school lunches. She was screeching like the street girl she was.

  She harped at her husband, “I done told you a second term was a bad idea you fool, now look where you got us…trapped in a hole surrounded by these assholes!”

  The President cowered under his wife’s gaze, and his Secret Service Detail found other places to look in the cabin. They all knew that it was never a good idea to get in the First Lady’s way when she was this furious, which was often.

  The President tried to defend himself, “But baby, it was supposed to be all about beneficial transformation through wealth transfer. You remember the chant from the campaign trail….”BTWT for you and me!” The younger generation loved it and voted me in based on that slogan! It would have worked too if the Congress and Senate went along with it!”

  The First Lady glowered and pointed her red-ailed finger at the lump that was her husband, “Don’t you but baby me! We could have lived the high life and been taken care of forever, but noooooo, you just couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you? In case you hadn’t noticed WE ARE THE RICH, and I don’t want to give up one nickel to those
dirt-neck leeches in the lower classes! All those motherfuckers in the Congress and Senate are rich too, and they don’t want to give any up either. We are now in the club stupid, so you better get with the program!”

  Just before the impact threw the President, the protection detail, and his nagging wife about the well-appointed cabin, killing them, the president was thinking to himself, “This just isn’t my day!”

  Chapter 3

  I suppose you could call me a prepper. From my years in law enforcement, I’ve seen firsthand what people did to each other when the resources they so desperately counted on suddenly ceased to be available. About five years into my career, I was given an excellent reason to become a prepper. A massive lightning storm hit several electrical substations in Milwaukee and effectively destroyed the power grid. Most of the city fell into darkness, but the lowest-income and highest crime areas were affected most due to the abuse and neglect of the grid in those areas. It didn’t take very long before the calls for service tripled and Department resources were quickly overwhelmed. Riots and looting began on the second night, and in several instances rioters attacked the police. In one instance, a mob severely wounded 2 officers with rifle fire. The mayor just hid in his house with his security detail and issued press releases until the lights came back on five days later. In his version of events, the police were the aggressors, and the rioters were misunderstood and scared. The press came down on the side of the mayor and further distorted the picture, but trotting several “witnesses” in front of the camera to give lurid accounts of police misconduct. In the months afterward, video taken by police during the confrontations exonerated the cops, but the damage was done. During the course of the outage, the Department suffered injuries to 50 officers due to gunfire and mob attacks, and we were the bad guys? From that day forward, I decided that I was going to be prepared in case such an event occurred again. I did the standard stuff, bought a generator, stored up some water and canned food and re-introduced myself to handguns outside of work. I also began to build a library of useful books and learned to do a few other things that came in handy like fixing bicycles, gun repair, and learning to garden, can the yield from the garden, and make my own jerky using time-tested natural methods.