The Blackout

by Stephanie Erickson

  He came to the conclusion that they needed to move on from the airport before Clint did. His co-pilot was very duty-oriented and thought they should stay where people knew where they were. Gary just wanted to get back to his family. He wasn’t planning on walking the entire way, but he thought maybe they could walk to the closest city that had power.

  The airport wasn’t that far from I-95, and Gary knew they could walk to Eddystone without too much trouble. He thought they could probably do it in less than a day. Then maybe they could see what was going on and form a plan of attack.

  Gary started taking inventory of their supplies and seeing what could be packed and carried. There wasn’t an endless supply of food, so one way or another they were going to have to leave soon.

  He approached Clint. “Clint, I think we should leave.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, we’re running out of food, and haven’t seen anyone for days. I think we need to move on from here in order to make some forward progress towards getting home.”

  “What about the clients?”

  Gary laughed. After three days of waiting, Clint was still planning on sitting here. “I don’t really give a rat’s ass about them, Clint.” His volume rose with the frustration of stagnating for the past three days. “I care about not starving to death, and getting back home!” He took a breath. “Besides, even if they aren’t just as stranded as we are, and they come waltzing through that door, what are we going to do? It’s not like we can take them anywhere.” He let that sink in. “Look, Eddystone is only a few miles from here, and I think it would benefit us to pack up what we have left and start walking.”

  “Why not go into Philadelphia? It’s a bigger city and more likely to offer help, don’t you think?”

  Gary considered this option, but logically it didn’t make sense. “No, I don’t think so. If the power has been out at the major metropolitan airport for this many days, the likelihood that it will be on in the city is slim to none.”

  Clint considered the options, and Gary became impatient. “If you want to stay, I’m not going to stop you. I’ll split up the supplies fifty-fifty and you can do what you want. But I sure could use your help. I’m not sure how far I’ll have to walk to get information, and it would be nice to have another person along the way.” He paused. “At any rate, I’m leaving today. Now, in fact. So, come if you want, or stay. It’s your choice.”

  Gary picked up his backpack and slung the extra bag full of drinks and food over his shoulder. He left two other shoulder bags full of similar supplies on the floor. Clint got up and picked up the bags. “You sure you got everything we need?”

  Gary smiled and shook Clint’s outstretched hand. “I sure hope so.”

  They were nervous about walking along 95, so they changed the route a bit. They were both so conditioned to cars driving at high speeds on the highways, neither thought it smart to walk there. So, they decided to take 291 down to Chester, and see what could be found there. If necessary, they could always connect with 95 in Chester.

  However, when they started walking along Industrial Highway, it became clear that there were no cars to be afraid of. They were all abandoned and scattered about the road, frozen in that singular moment.

  They could tell from the map they’d taken from the lounge that Chester was only about eight miles away. They were both in good shape and set a steady pace. They would easily make it there by nightfall.

  It was an eerie walk. No sounds traveled with them. No airplanes, no cars, no horns, no fire truck sirens, no industrial fans, nothing. Just the wind and the occasional sea gull.

  Chester was quiet in the twilight air. No one was out and about. Gary looked wearily at Clint as they walked cautiously down the main drag. Every footfall echoed in the evening air as the gravel crunched beneath their feet. All the businesses were abandoned, so if they wanted information it looked like they were going to have to press on, into the rural areas. They checked a few of the restaurants and markets to see if they happened to be unlocked. They could have used some food and additional supplies, but had no such luck.

  They didn’t have to walk too far to find a neighborhood. A few homes had started to decorate for Halloween. Paper ghosts and skeletons fluttered in the crisp Northeastern air, but with ten days left to Halloween, not too many had carved pumpkins yet, and all were dark, choosing to save candles for inside the house.

  The house they chose to approach had a wavering light coming from the windows, indicating they had started lighting candles. Gary hesitated to knock on anyone’s door after dark, but they didn’t have too many options at this point if they wanted to get out of the elements for the night. Of course, that assumed they would be offered a place to stay.

  They approached the door quietly. They could hear people moving around and muffled voices inside. Gary knocked on the door and silence followed. Everyone inside froze. He shifted his weight on the other side of the door and eventually a man with a deep, raspy voice answered the knock.

  “What do you want?”

  “Mostly information. We’re pilots who were stranded at the airport and we’re wondering if you’ve heard anything about when they’re going to start restoring power and operations,” Gary answered.

  He laughed. “Really. Pilots? That’s a new one. Go find someone else to steal supplies from.”

  “Honestly, sir. We’re not trying to steal anything from you. We’re both far from our homes and our families, and we’d like to try and find out when we can expect to be reunited with them.”

  He opened the door a crack, and Gary could see he had wild black hair and a short black beard. His eyes were dark, like the rest of his features. He looked Gary over, taking stock of his uniform and Clint’s. “I’m not sure you’ll ever see your family again. Now, g’night to you.”

  He shut the door then, and Gary didn’t know what else to do. Then, Clint did something surprising. He knocked on the door. “Please, sir. We could use some help and a dry place to sleep for the night if you’re willing. We’ll be on our way in the morning.”

  There was some rustling in the house and the door was eventually opened; however, they were not invited in. A woman now stood next to Black Beard. She was about a head shorter than him, and had blonde hair and a kind look about her.

  “Forgive our inhospitality, but there’ve been some rough folks moving through,” she said.

  “No apology needed. We understand. Although, we didn’t see anyone on our way here. The road was totally deserted,” Clint assured her.

  She looked at her husband. “Well, that’s good news. Maybe most of them have moved on.”

  The man laughed skeptically. “We’ll see about that.” He scrutinized us. “How do I know you aren’t packing weapons in those packs and intend on shooting my whole family? Hmm? I got my own interests to protect here!”

  Gary looked at Clint. “Fine. You’re right,” Gary said, weighing the options. He decided. “Here.” He removed one of the packs from his shoulder and offered it to Black Beard. The door wasn’t open wide enough for him to pull it through the door, but the gesture was there. “Search our packs. If you find anything sinister, you keep it to defend your family with.”

  Black Beard narrowed his eyes. “Wouldn’t you keep your protection somewhere that would be easier to get to than buried in a pack?”

  They were losing him, and wasting time. Gary turned to Clint and lowered his voice. “Maybe we should just forget it.” Clint nodded resolutely.

  Before they turned to go, Gary had one last thing to say to Black Beard. “Ya know, I don’t know what you folks have been through, but I’d like to think if our situations were reversed I’d offer up some solution, even if it wasn’t inviting you into my home. I’m just not the kind of guy who likes to watch people struggle if I can help them in any way.”

  Black Beard looked over his shoulder and sighed. “Ah, forget it. You might as well come in. We don’t have much to offer you, but it might be nice to have some com
pany for a change.”

  Gary nodded. “Thank you.”

  They set their packs just inside the door and took a seat in the living room. There were two kids coloring on the floor near the brightest candle. “These are our kids, Barry and Lucy. I’m Karen, and this is my husband Jack.”

  “Pleased to meet you all. What happened? Why do you say we won’t be seeing our families?” Gary asked.

  “Oh, now, don’t you listen to Jack,” Karen replied. “He’s a bit of a doomsdayer if you know what I mean. He seems to think this little predicament is more than temporary.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  He puffed on a pipe and sat himself heavily in an armchair nearest the fireplace in the corner. A small fire was happily crackling away. He swept the stem of the pipe from one side of the room to the other. “Look around you. Where is everyone? Where’s the cavalry, so to speak? Why has there been no word of recovery? Because everyone is in the exact same boat.” He punctuated his statement by pointing the pipe at them with the last three words.

  Gary nodded, also fearing that scenario, but hoping he was wrong. “Have you had any information from distant cities? Any other travelers moving through?”

  “Nope. Mostly rough folks – thieves and such – probably from the big city. But it seems the situation is the same there.”

  Gary nodded, his suspicions about Philadelphia confirmed.

  Jack got up and went to the other room. He came back with two mugs full of water, some bread, and warm cheese. “We’ve been trying to finish this cheese up before it goes bad, anyway.”

  “Well thank you. We’ve been living off vending machine food for the better part of three days. It’ll be good to have something different.”

  While they chewed, Jack took the opportunity to ask them some questions. “So, what’s your plan?”

  Gary shrugged. “I’m not really sure. Just keep walking south until we find someplace with power and the ability to get us home.”

  “And what if you don’t find it?”

  Clint looked at Gary, wanting the answer just as bad as Jack did. “Then we keep walking. No sense in sitting around. My wife’s alone, and if the conditions are the same there, she might get attacked by thieves or God knows what else. I need to get back to her.”

  “And how far away is your wife?”

  “Mine’s in Florida. Clint’s family is in Georgia.”

  “Let me get this straight. You’re thinking you can walk from Pennsylvania to Florida?” Jack scoffed at the thought.

  Gary frowned. He didn’t like how quickly this man they’d just met had assessed him. “Like I said, I don’t have anything better to do.” Gary nodded towards Jack’s family and lowered his voice. “I don’t have the luxury of having my family right here, and am not afforded the opportunity to dismiss my options so carelessly.” He paused, to make sure that sunk in, and brought his voice back to a normal tone. “Anyway, I don’t think we’ll have to walk that far. Unlike you, I’m optimistic that the situation isn’t quite so dire outside of this immediate area.”

  Jack sighed. “I hope you’re right.”

  “Well, what are you going to do if you’re right? Have you got provisions to live this way for the unforeseeable future?” he asked, challenging Jack’s mindset.

  “No. But we’ll have to adapt. I think we can fish the river for food if it comes to that. We can boil water from there too.” He put his arm lovingly around Karen. “We’ll survive.”

  Karen smiled. “Anyway, I don’t think it’s as bad as all that. I don’t think the power will just come back on lickety-split, like I thought a few days ago, but I expect to hear some word of help any minute now. I mean, the government must be working towards something. We’re not that far from the capital, so surely we’ll be among the first to be helped if the problem is more widespread than we might like to think.”

  “That’s true. I hadn’t thought of that,” Gary said. Maybe we should stick around, he thought. He shook his head. No. We can’t wait for someone else to get us home. We have to take a more proactive approach.

  By the look on Clint’s face, he seemed to be pondering the same thing, but had come to a different conclusion. He cleared his throat. “Ya know, Gary, maybe she’s right. Maybe we should just hang tight here until we get some solid information. Make an informed decision about where to go.”

  Gary shook his head. “I understand the temptation, Clint, I really do. But I don’t think that’s a good idea. Everyone, including the government, has bigger problems than getting us back to our families. I’m afraid if we want to see them again, we’re going to have to make it happen for ourselves.”

  Jack nodded. “You’ve got that right.”

  “Well, if you insist on walking, why don’t we go to D.C. and see if we can get more information there?”

  “What information are you looking for, Clint? It’s pretty clear there was some catastrophic failure that caused the power and communication systems to go down. When it comes to our day-to-day survival, does it matter what caused it?”

  “No, but it does matter as far as when they’re going to get things up and running again. If Karen’s right, and they get things going sooner here, we might be able to get a car, or take a train down, or even fly home.”

  “How long are you willing to wait for that savior?” Gary asked.

  Clint didn’t answer. It was a difficult choice, and neither of them knew which was the right one. Gary just couldn’t bring himself to wait around. He needed to be doing something. He needed to work towards bringing himself closer to his family, even if it was just a mile at a time.

  That night, after Jack and his family had gone to bed, Clint and Gary were lying on the couches in the living room.

  “I don’t want to go any further,” Clint said into the darkness.

  “That’s fine, Clint. It’s your life, your decision. I can’t make you do anything.” Gary dreaded the thought of going on alone, though, and wished Clint would reconsider. At the same time, he didn’t need to be wasting energy constantly convincing Clint to stay together. “You know you can’t stay with this family, though. They have their own problems, and you can’t be a drain on them.”

  “I know that,” he said, obviously offended. “I’ll go back to the airport and wait it out there.”

  “Well, it sounds like you’ve made your decision. In the morning, we’ll go our separate ways.” Clint didn’t answer, and before too long his breathing evened out and he was asleep. As Gary lay there, he considered everything the family, and Clint, had said. D.C. was on the way, and he had it in the back of his mind to stop there, if he made it that far. The power might be on in Baltimore, or somewhere even closer. It would probably take a few weeks to walk there if it came to that, but maybe Clint was right. Maybe he could get more information there. He wondered if he’d have been more open to Clint’s suggestion to stop in D.C. if they’d be going on together in the morning. He sighed. Clint hadn’t been into this idea from the get-go, and Gary didn’t want to waste time convincing him it was a good one. The separation was probably for the best.

  Lying on the couch, Gary wished for a lot of things. He wished that he had a weapon of some kind, something more effective than his Leatherman. He wished he had more food and water. He wished he knew if he was going to be able to make this long journey alone. He wished he knew how long it was going to be. Most of all, he wished he was at home with Molly.

  Monsters

  10.

  “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.” – Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

  A fight was coming – a fight for human life. Monsters were all around, waiting to pounce on the weak, using the darkness as a veil to hide behind. Those left would have to learn how to fight, and survive. In a world of darkness, a single candle is easily extinguished.

  11.

  After the enc
ounter with the men on the road, there was a lot of talk about what should be done. It had been about a week since the power went out, and people on the outskirts of town reported more frequent sightings of those deemed “Wanderers” – people looking for handouts, some willing to take them by force.

  Burt suggested building a wall around the town. He said in medieval times smaller towns protected themselves against thieves and other outlaws with outer walls, and the same principles could be applied here. Molly thought it was an excellent solution in the long term, but wasn’t sure it was what they needed.

  After all, the power could come back at any moment, she thought.

  Jimmy thought they were all a step behind. He thought they should’ve already started the wall, he thought they should all be armed and ready to fight for their supplies as things got scarce, and he didn’t hesitate to tell Molly. But he refused to speak up to anyone else. He wouldn’t leave his house. He was afraid someone would raid his stock if he left. And he wouldn’t tell Molly what they were saying on the radio, if anything.

  Molly tried to convince him to speak to the people, to help them, but he refused. He said no one would listen when he tried to talk to them before, so why should now be any different? She couldn’t help but sympathize with him. But she felt like they’d be so much better off if he would just guide them.

  The wall idea, for example. She knew he could help with that, help them plan it out at least. But he wasn’t having anything to do with it. Molly didn’t see how they were going to do it. And she wasn’t entirely convinced it was necessary, not like Jimmy was.

  Molly felt another problem with the wall was supplies. Where were they going to get all the materials needed for a huge construction project? Burt suggested raiding the big home improvement stores nearby, and the owner of a local hardware store offered up his stock for the project.