by RH Fox
The sun finally made its full appearance, and Dreia watched the buildings carefully now, too. Movement inside a mattress store caught her attention first. Someone who knew they weren’t going to make it home before dark must have decided to take advantage of all those beds. Since the front windows were intact, she figured it was an employee of the store itself. She still lengthened her stride to hurry past.
Dreia kept the increased pace until the ramp leading down to the highway came into view. Slowing down, she surveyed the parking lot of a gas station right before the exit. Seeing no one around, she beelined toward the giant red box sitting in front where she pulled the permanent marker from her bag and scribbled her initials over the new release featured in the upper left corner. There was no way Matt would miss it if he stopped to check.
Then, Dreia carefully approached the overpass, making sure to keep some shrubbery behind her as she slowly walked to the edge of the bridge. She didn’t want her silhouette to stand out against the brightening sky while she vigilantly studied the highway. The power may have gone out in the middle of the day, but highways in Hampton Roads were always busy. This one even more so than most, since it led north to one of the only two bridge-tunnels that crossed the James River.
Disabled cars stretched out in front of her as far as she could see. Most had obviously rolled to a stop after they’d lost power, crashing into other vehicles and choking the road completely. Others had coasted off to the sides, blocking the shoulder in several spots as well. The sight confirmed why she’d never felt compelled to drive an older vehicle herself. The clogged highways would have rendered it completely useless. Eventually someone, the military or whoever took control of this area, would clear it. But not in time to help her get home any faster.
Peering south, there were several people already making their way around vehicles in both directions, mostly individuals with a few small groups here and there. Dreia shifted around the shrubbery so she could look northward. The same sight greeted her. Not noticing anything to raise alarm, she headed down the circling ramp onto the southbound lane, timing her merge onto the highway so that she fell a good distance behind a group of three people. Better that they were in front of her than coming up behind her.
Glancing over her shoulder, there appeared to be a lone woman about her age half a mile back. Dreia slowed down a bit. She might not want to join a group, but befriending another woman could be advantageous. The upside was getting some information about what was going on in other parts of the city. The downside was that Dreia didn’t have a lot of resources to share, and it was obvious this woman didn’t have anything. The only things she carried were a purse and an umbrella, which was odd since rain hadn’t been in the forecast for the weekend.
Dreia continued walking slow enough that the woman could catch up if she wanted. About ten minutes later she’d closed the gap, but maintained a fair distance. Dreia finally gave in and stopped walking. She turned around and blatantly waited for the woman, studying her as she warily advanced.
She was older than Dreia had originally guessed, in her fifties maybe, but stocky and fit. Wearing sensible tennis shoes with her skirt, her hair was light gray and spiked up in what probably started out yesterday as a stylish cut. Dreia was instantly reminded of the flying broomstick instructor from one of her children’s favorite movies. Smiling faintly at the image, she introduced herself.
“Hi. I’m Dreia. Want some company while you walk?”
The woman hesitated before answering, “I don’t suppose you have any water in that backpack? I haven’t had any since yesterday afternoon.”
“I do. I’ll trade you one for any information you have about other parts of the city,” Dreia offered.
“Deal,” the woman smiled tightly in return.
Dreia pulled her backpack around and dug out a bottle of water, handing it over. Despite her thirst, the woman wisely took a few long sips and screwed the lid back on.
“Come on. We can get acquainted while we walk. I’m Karen,” she said, looking back the way she’d come.
“Trouble behind you?”
“Not yet. But it’s inevitable, isn’t it?” she looked at Dreia with intelligent eyes.
“Most likely. Where were you when the power went out?”
“I work at the shipyards up in Newport News. Everything went dark right after I returned from my lunch break.”
“Military shipyards?”
“No. About seventy percent of our business is military though.”
“Any chance you heard something about what’s happening?”
“Not really, but rumors were rampant. Everyone agreed it could have been an EMP,” Karen paused and looked at Dreia to gauge her reaction. “Not surprised, huh?”
“No, I guessed it had to be something like that pretty quick afterwards myself.”
“I stayed at the office for a few hours, then finally gave up and headed for home. I wanted to make it across the river before dark.”
“How was the tunnel? Any damage?”
“Not to the tunnel. People miraculously avoided hitting the outer walls. The bridge afterward was a different matter. There were several holes in the guardrail where it looks like vehicles went through.”
Dreia was horrified. Being stuck in a sinking car was one of her worst fears, and as a result she hated crossing water in a vehicle. She’d been forced to face that fear head-on after they’d moved to the area. Living near the Chesapeake Bay and so many rivers, it was almost impossible to go anywhere without using a bridge or tunnel that ran under the water.
Karen continued, “I wondered if the drivers made it out but saw no point in stopping anyone to ask. There was nothing I could do to help.”
“What did the highways look like yesterday?”
“When I first started walking, a lot of people were staying near their cars, sure help was coming soon. Idiots. Anyone playing with even half a deck knows our population has gotten too big to recover from something like this overnight.”
“Very sensible.”
“I’m not naive in our country’s affairs. My husband was retired Air Force and we lost our rose-colored lenses a long time ago.”
“Was retired?”
“He passed away three years ago. Motorcycle accident.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“We shared twenty-eight years of marriage, most of it happy, and had four great kids along the way. I guess we weren’t meant to share retirement, too. I sure wish he was here now, though, because he’d know what to do. I’m just trying to make it home at this point.”
“Me too. Are your kids in the area?”
“Two of them are. My youngest still lives at home while he trains to become a welder and my oldest lives about ten minutes from me, with her own family. The oldest boy joined the Navy eight years ago. He’s stationed on the USS Abraham Lincoln and out to sea right now. My other daughter goes to Western Kentucky University. I’m not sure whether to hope she stays put or that she’s already headed home if this extends that far west.”
Dreia nodded in complete understanding. “I’m trying to make it home to my children. They’re younger though. Chase is in middle school and Abbie’s a junior. We live down in North Carolina.”
Karen whistled, “You have quite a trip in front of you. Hopefully your husband was closer to home when the lights went out.”
“He wasn’t. He was only five miles from the school where I teach. I expected him to show up at some point yesterday, but he never did. I’m a little worried, because it’s so out of character. He was in the Marine Corps and his protective instincts run abnormally strong.”
“Maybe when they kicked in he immediately started home to your children, expecting you to do the same?”
“Maybe,” Dreia answered, unconvinced. “So, how far are you going on this highway?”
“All the way to Virginia Beach.”
“You have a way to go yourself,” Dreia paused and looked around. In the time they’d been talk
ing, foot traffic had picked up slightly. They still hadn’t seen any working vehicles, though Dreia thought she heard the faint echo of engines on distant side streets. “I’ll be heading south well before then, but do you have any desire to partner up and watch each other’s backs in the meantime? There’s some beef jerky and a protein bar in it for you.”
This time Karen’s smile was warmer when she replied, “Deal.”
9
Dreia and Karen spent the next several hours swapping stories about husbands, kids and jobs while they walked. The older woman easily kept the ambitious pace Dreia set, and for the most part, they completely avoided the other people also picking their way between abandoned vehicles on the quiet highway. The only exception was for a mother with two small toddlers waiting in her trendy new crossover. Dreia did her best to convince the woman to set out for home, but she stubbornly insisted her husband would find them. So, they reluctantly left her behind with a bottle of water, a few granola bars and a chocolate bar for the hungry kids and hoped her husband found them before trouble did.
A few hours later they heard the rumble of heavy trucks in the distance ahead. Looking at each other in surprise, they froze.
“Keep going, or take cover and watch?” Karen asked.
“It’s got to be the military. I honestly don’t think anyone else could still have something capable of making that much noise. They can’t be moving very fast, though. Let’s keep going, but be prepared to take cover if we need to.”
Karen agreed, and they picked up their pace. Ten minutes later the road curved sharply toward the east, and they stopped to take in what was happening around the bend.
Four military vehicles were making impressive forward progress on the opposite side of the highway. At the front, several soldiers were breaking into abandoned vehicles, putting them into neutral and cranking the steering wheel sharply to the right. They weren’t wasting any time either, immediately busting out the window if the car was locked. Behind them, a massive truck then pushed the cars to the outside shoulder. Next in line was a slightly smaller transport truck, followed closely by two camouflaged Humvees. Finally, bringing up the rear of the procession was a large crowd of people easily numbering close to a hundred. Some were yelling angrily at the soldiers, but most were walking in resigned silence.
“Wow, that is one big truck!” Karen exclaimed.
“I think it’s a seven ton, but I’ve never actually seen one in person before. My son saw a picture of one once, that my husband took when he was deployed in Iraq. He talked about it endlessly until Matt managed to find a small model for him. He carried it everywhere until third or fourth grade when some other boys teased him about it.” Dreia smiled faintly, picturing Chase with the model. He’d handled it so much the paint had started rubbing off in places. Even as a teenager, he refused to part with it and it sat prominently on his desk. “I didn’t think the military still used them though.”
“Maybe that worked in its favor. If it was in storage somewhere, maybe it wan’t exposed to the EMP.”
“Possibly. The government was bound to have contingency plans in place, even if they did little to educate the public and safeguard the grid.”
“Come on, let’s go see if they know anything!”
“Hang on. I want to see what’s going on with that crowd.”
Dreia continued to watch as the vehicles moved closer. Exactly as she’d warned Rena, crowds always needed to be considered a potential threat. The soldiers, who she recognized as Virginia National Guardsmen, seemed to be ignoring the civilians.
“All right,” she said finally, “let’s try to talk to them.”
Karen set out, excited by the potential of real information. Dreia followed more slowly. As they got closer they crossed onto the median and climbed over the concrete barrier that ran down the middle. The large truck sighted them first and beeped its horn so that one of the soldier moving cars turned, swinging his rifle around from where it had been hanging on his back.
“Stop right there,” he commanded, pointing the weapon in their direction.
Dreia and Karen both froze in their tracks and threw their hands up.
“Do not approach the vehicles. We’re not rendering aid to civilians at this time.”
“We don’t need aid, we’re . . .” Dreia tried.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. You need to cross back over and keep moving.”
“But . . .”
“Please keep moving.”
Karen pulled on Dreia’s arm nervously, “Come on. Let’s go.”
Dreia let herself be pulled back to the concrete barrier. She climbed over but refused to leave the median. The soldier with the gun watched them for a few more seconds, then went back to work.
“What do you suggest we do now?” Karen whispered.
Dreia didn’t have a good answer.
The women stood there watching the soldiers create an open lane as the convoy moved steadily forward. When the hummers were closer Dreia squinted her eyes, studying the soldiers in the last vehicle.
“Those are Marines!”
“So? They’re ignoring everyone, too. No. Worse. They’re pointing a weapon at them!”
Karen’s face reflected disbelief at the sight of the Marine manning the huge gun mounted on top of the last vehicle. She involuntarily stepped back a few paces.
“Backing up two feet won’t save you from that,” Dreia murmured, mind spinning.
She hastily pulled her backpack around and set it on the median. Turning her body slightly to shield the contents, she unzipped the bag and pulled out the spiral notebook with her marker. She wrote ‘Major Matt Bennett’ on one sheet, ripped it out and handed it to Karen. Then, she wrote ‘Bates Creek Annex?’ on another sheet and ripped it out as well. As an afterthought she added ‘Semper Fi!’ underneath, before stuffing the notebook and marker back in her bag.
“Hold it up so the Marines can see it,” she ordered Karen, holding up her own paper.
The Marines were completely focused on the street ahead, so the women shuffled along the barrier to keep pace with the hummer making sure the signs stayed visible. The driver in the last hummer finally glanced over and pointed them out to his passenger, lips moving. Despite the passenger shaking his head several times, the brake lights flashed.
The driver left the engine running and exited slowly, scanning the large crowd several feet behind their rear bumper. The passenger exited as well, and came around to the driver’s side, rifle up, to stand in front of the open door. Dreia could see him talking into the mic attached to his helmet. The Marine on top of the hummer lifted a bullhorn, commanding the crowd to back up. Another Marine she hadn’t noticed before stayed in the back seat of the vehicle. The driver pulled his rifle around as he approached the median, but kept it pointed at the ground.
“Babysitting duty?” Dreia asked, motioning to the guardsmen still moving vehicles.
The young Marine laughed loudly and some of the tension left his posture. “Yes, ma’am.”
The name Hall was on the patch above his pocket, and Dreia easily recognized the two chevrons on his collar. “We don’t see many Marines around here, Corporal. Are you stationed nearby?”
“No, ma’am. We’re up from Cherry Point for training and were supposed to head back down tomorrow, but I reckon that’s been delayed. When the lights went out, no one seemed to know what to do with us. So, we tagged along today to watch their backs,” he tipped his head toward the big trucks, before nodding at the paper Karen was still holding up. “Looking for someone?”
“My husband. He was at Bates Creek Annex yesterday. It’s primarily IT contractors who . . .”
“I know what it is, ma’am, that’s why I stopped. That’s where we were this week for a systems security class. But I don’t recognize your husband’s name.”
“No, he wouldn’t have been involved in any of the current training. He transferred to another base a few weeks ago and was only wrapping up some things in his old office.
To be honest, I didn’t expect any of you to actually know him.” Dreia looked down at his confusion, face turning red at her deception. “I was hoping you might have some information about what’s going on.”
The young Marine hesitated, shifting from one foot to the other.
“Please,” Dreia prompted, “my kids are at home alone right now, where I’m headed, and I have no idea where my husband is. If this is what I think it is, once I leave the city I won’t be coming back. Any information at all would be helpful. Have we been attacked? Was it really an EMP?”
Hall looked back at his buddies, who continued to hold the crowd at bay. The Marine standing by the hummer was becoming more pissed by the second and making no effort to hide it.
“Please, anything,” Dreia beseeched.
“Okay, I don’t know much, but we were attacked.”
Karen cursed under her breath.
Dreia wasn’t surprised, “North Korea?”
“They seem to be the ones taking credit. According to the rumor mill, they sent a message yesterday morning before the attack.”
“Does anyone know how widespread it is? Depending on the size of the bomb and . . .”
“Bombs,” the young Marine corrected. “We know for sure one bomb was detonated over Washington DC. Last night, some of the local sailors told us they’d also heard all communication from the mid-west fell silent minutes before our power went out.”
Dreia sucked in a breath thinking of her parents and sister. “Meaning there were probably at least two detonations.”
“Most likely, ma’am. Communication is severely limited right now. Until more bases have their protected equipment up and running, it’s all a guessing game. For my pay grade at least, because there’s no telling what the brass really knows and isn’t sharing yet.”
“Hall! Come on, get your ass back here!” the Marine by the Hummer yelled angrily.
“I’ve gotta go.”
“Wait! How crippled is our military? Were any other countries attacked?”
“I’m not sure. Right now, we’re just scrambling to get an inventory of our usable resources and keep civilians calm.”
