Intentional Darkness: Alexandreia Bennett: An EMP Story

by RH Fox

  “No, sir. You did not.”

  “I wondered why you didn’t argue about keeping the rifle earlier,” Dreia murmured.

  Matt leaned in and kissed her forehead.

  “I want to go home.”

  Matt nodded, “Are your feet steady?”

  “As steady as they need to be to make it around back.”

  Matt looked confused before his eyes lit up. “You, my beautiful girl, are a genius. Let’s go.”

  “Hold on, sir,” Evans walked up.

  Matt turned, and Dreia leaned out of the hummer so she could see him too.

  “Negative. We’re leaving now.”

  “I’m not going to stop you. Wayne was a lowlife who deserved the end he got. We’ll just have to make sure the other one survives the trip back to base. I wanted to give you these,” Evans dangled a pair of keys. “I found them in Wayne’s pocket.”

  Matt took them with a sincere, “Thank you.”

  “My men reported there’s half a dozen working vehicles parked behind the market. We’ll be taking the ones not claimed by these women back to base, but I think we can spare you one to get home.”

  “Thank you, Sergeant,” Dreia said gratefully. “Any chance your boys found any of the weapons or supplies they’ve stolen?”

  “Hubbard found a stockpile of stuff in the market where he took the women to wait.”

  Matt put his hand out to stop Dreia from climbing down out of the hummer. “You stay here. I’ll check on my way out back. I assume they took the .38 you kept in the van.”

  Dreia nodded. “And my backpack.”

  “I’ll see if I can find them.”

  Dreia watched Matt disappear inside the market.

  “How long will it take you to get home?” Craig asked.

  “Less than forty-five minutes, as long as we don’t hit any blocked backroads. I expect the highway will be clear enough to pass with no problem. It’s never busy down our way.”

  “You’ll be able to tuck your kids in tonight,” Craig grinned at her. “Here, let me see your neck. I’ll put a bandage on if it needs one.”

  Dreia pulled the cloth away and sucked in a breath, “Man, that stings!”

  Craig gently tilted her chin, so he could check how deep the cut went. “I think it does need a few butterfly strips. Here, hold this.”

  He laid the first aid kit in her lap so he could dig through it with both hands.

  “When do you think you’ll head home?” Dreia lowered her voice.

  “This little excursion’s convinced me to take your advice. I’m really worried about my parents trying to guard the ranch with only my youngest sister there. My other sister stayed in Chattanooga after graduating from college,” he explained. “Some of their hired help may have stuck around, but the ranch is sure to attract people looking for a good place to hunker down. They’ve got horses and other livestock, not to mention my mom’s massive garden. I’m going to talk to the other guys and get some supplies together tonight. Might head out as soon as tomorrow.”

  “I think that’s smart. I know you’re big, bad Marines, but you boys make sure to be careful.”

  “I’ll have Gimpy to watch my back.” Craig finished the last butterfly strip and taped a clean bandage over the wound. Then, he offered her the closed first aid kit. “Here, do you want to take this?”

  “Nope. I’ve got plenty of supplies at home.”

  “I bet you do,” Craig laughed. “You’re quite a lady, Aunt Dreia.”

  A loud engine approached, and Matt hopped out of a rusted, orange Ford.

  “Ready?”

  “Beyond ready!” Dreia climbed out of the hummer and hugged Craig tightly, reminding him again, “Be careful.”

  “We will.”

  “We will what?” Gimpy asked, joining the group.

  “Later, man,” Craig hushed him as both sergeants walked over.

  Matt shook everyone’s hand a final time, then led Dreia back to the truck. In true southern form, it was lifted with gigantic tires. She had to use the step to climb into it, and Matt hovered nearby to make sure she was really steady on her feet. After closing the door behind her, he went around and slid into the driver’s seat.

  “Your pack’s in the back seat. I put your gun in it since I couldn’t find any ammo.”

  She turned and spotted it on the bench seat. “That’s okay, we’ve got plenty at home. Hurry, I can’t wait to see the kids!”

  Dreia glanced up when the truck didn’t move. The anguish on Matt’s face spoke volumes.

  “Did Wayne . . .”

  She reached over and took his hand, “No. Truly, I’m fine. Let’s go home.”

  Matt’s whole body relaxed, and he squeezed her hand before bringing it to his lips. Then, he put the truck in gear and they started the last leg of their journey home. Together.

  22

  Thirty-two minutes later they hit the exit for their small town. Dreia stared at Matt in disbelief after hearing where he’d been for the last three days.

  “Unbelievable. Well, I guess I can understand why you didn’t meet me at the school. Do you think anyone will really be looking for you?”

  Matt was silent for a long minute before sighing. “Though slight, I think it’s a possibility we have to consider. Unfortunately, I have a lot of satellite knowledge that could be useful to the right people. And depending on who’s still running the country when the initial dust settles, the White House knows me by name now. I liked it better when I was just another ID number in the vast pool of military personnel. My biggest worry is that the EMP won’t have affected our nuke’s capabilities. They’re protected with a mind-boggling number of safeguards, but still useless without the satellites.”

  “Alright. Well, I guess we’ll just have to be careful and deal with it if it happens. Oh, look!” Dreia pointed to a small group of people standing in the service station parking lot. “Stop for a minute. I want to ask if they’ve had any problems down here.”

  Dreia and Matt were both relieved to see no sign of trouble as they slowed to a crawl before turning into the lot. There were flickering lights in most of the nearby homes, and Dreia recognized several of the people in the group watching them approach. Matt parked the truck and cranked his window down.

  “Hey, Bob.”

  “Matt. Dreia,” the old man sauntered over and leaned on the open window, “I reckon it’s ‘bout time you made it home. Your neighbors been wonderin’ bout ya.”

  “Any excitement down here?”

  Bob nodded, “A bit, over in your neighborhood mostly.”

  Dreia looked alarmed, “Are Abbie and Chase okay?”

  “Abbie was in town lookin’ for Doc last night but was in too big ‘a hurry to answer any questions.”

  “Matt!”

  “Thanks, Bob, we better get on home then and check on things.”

  “We’re having a town meetin’ tomorrow morning at 8am.”

  “Okay, I’ll plan on being there. Thanks, Bob,” Matt cut him off by rolling up the window.

  “Hurry!” Dreia urged, the familiar anxious feeling settling in again.

  “Calm down, sweetie. If Doc Clothier went out there yesterday and no one in town knows why, it can’t be that bad. We’ll be home in less than ten minutes.”

  Dreia nodded wordlessly and clenched the door handle. She knew Matt was more worried than he let on when it took less than five minutes before they were turning down the gravel road into their neighborhood.

  Suddenly, he braked hard, jolting them both forward. The headlights lit up two cars barricading the road. He opened the door to investigate, but as soon as his feet hit the ground a voice came out of the darkness.

  “Stop right there and identify yourself!”

  “John, is that you?” Matt called, recognizing the voice immediately.

  “Matt? Ken, it’s just Matt!” the voice called to someone else.

  A dark figure came around the barricade and held his hand out. Another shadow came out of
the trees to their left. Dreia climbed down and joined the men.

  “I didn’t expect a roadblock to the neighborhood,” Matt was saying.

  “Are Abbie and Chase ok?” Dreia interrupted.

  “Yeah, they’re fine,” the older man answered, leaning heavily on his cane.

  Dreia grabbed Matt’s hand in relief and John continued, “We had a bit of trouble with a local family. Some punk Abbie and Tyler knew from school caused it. You better talk to the kids for the details.”

  “Come on,” Dreia pulled impatiently on her husband’s arm.

  “Hold on a minute, babe. Are you fellas out here around the clock?”

  “We are. After what happened, we decided Dreia was right about keeping people out of the neighborhood.”

  “Dreia?” Matt looked to his wife in surprise.

  “I left some suggestions in a few letters to the neighbors,” Dreia waved it off as nothing, motioning for John to continue.

  “We figured even though the local problem was taken care of, it’s not going to be long before the city folks start migrating this way. We might as well stay vigilant.”

  “What sort of shifts are you doing?” Matt asked, analytical mind immediately clicking into gear.

  “During the day, two people switch out every five hours. Once it gets dark, we switch out every three hours, so no one gets too drowsy.”

  “Sounds like a solid plan. Tomorrow I’ll work myself into the rotation and fill everyone in on what’s happening outside town.”

  “We’ve been hearing bits and pieces as others have straggled in. You two and Evan Moss are the only ones we hadn’t seen yet. And Miss Nelly, God rest her soul. Tina had taken her to the hospital Wednesday night and they’d put her on a breathing machine for bronchitis complications. She was already gone by the time Bill realized her car was old enough start and went down to get Tina Friday morning. He said the hospital was a madhouse. It took him several hours just to get in and locate Tina. Then, she wouldn’t leave her mom’s body behind. Turns out the back-up generators failed from the get-go and there was no way to run the morgue’s cooling units. So when all the critical patients started passing, I guess the staff began following some sort of disease containment protocol to dispose of the bodies. We ended up having a small burial service for Miss Nelly yesterday afternoon.”

  “They found a place that didn’t fill with water after the first foot?” Matt asked in surprise.

  “They did, though I told them it was a bad idea. It’s too close to their garden.”

  Dreia covered her mouth with her hand. “I’ll talk to them tomorrow.”

  “You’ll be wasting your breath. I argued with Tina until I was blue in the face. I told Sarah not to accept any food from them in the future. I’m not sure how that’s going to work if things get as bad as you’ve talked about and everyone starts relying on a barter system.” John rubbed the back of his neck. “They did give us Miss Nelly’s car to use here, though.”

  “Some people are too hard-headed to listen to reason.” Matt concluded “Alright, we’re going to get on home and check on the kids. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  The men all shook hands and Dreia remembered Karen.

  “Oh! Wait. I met a woman on the road and offered her a place to come if she needed to get out of the city. I told her to ask for me or Matt by name and someone would direct her to the house.”

  “Thanks for the heads up, I’ll pass the word. You two go see your kids now.”

  John flashed them a tired smile and slowly climbed into Miss Nelly’s ancient Cadillac, which was built like a tank. He pulled it forward far enough for their truck to slip through. They recognized the other vehicle as the old truck Steve Bradley had been tinkering with for years. It didn’t run yet and must have been towed out, probably chosen because the roadblock was basically at the end of their driveway.

  “Can’t you go any faster?” Dreia urged Matt once they were moving again.

  He chucked, “The kids have been on their own for three days honey, they’ll be okay for another sixty seconds. Unless you want me to risk driving into a tree to get there sooner?” Dreia lightly smacked his arm and focused her attention on their house coming into view. Everything looked normal.

  Matt had barely stopped the truck in the driveway when the front door flew open. Abbie and Chase jostled each other roughly trying to be the first one out until Abbie finally gave in and let her younger brother pass. Dreia was already halfway up the sidewalk when Chase latched onto her. Abbie practically dove into Matt’s arms when he caught up.

  Dreia pulled back and checked Chase over from head to foot. “Bob said Abbie was in town looking for Doc Clothier. What’s wrong?”

  “It’s okay, Mom. He checked me out and told me I’m fine. No concussion.”

  “Concussion? What happened?” she exclaimed, feeling Chase’s head. There was a good-sized knot in the back.

  Abbie reluctantly pulled away from Matt, “Tyler and I had a problem with some kids from school. One of their families is crazy, which made it worse. Chase kind of got caught up in it.”

  She waited for Dreia to lecture her on being more responsible. Instead, Dreia released Chase and wrapped her arms around her daughter, squeezing tightly.

  “As long as you’re both okay, that’s all that matters.”

  Abbie’s eyebrows shot up and she was struck speechless. Matt winked at her over Chase’s head, which was now buried in his chest.

  “So, what took you guys so long to get home?” Chase asked, noticing Dreia’s bandages, “Mom, what’s wrong with your forehead and neck?”

  It was too dark for the kids to see the bruising, and she hated that they’d need some sort of explanation. It would definitely be a heavily edited version.

  “It’s a long story. We’ll tell you inside while we find something to eat. I’m starving,” Matt said.

  He and Chase headed to the door. Dreia held Abbie in her arms for a bit longer before reluctantly letting her go.

  “Alright, go on in. I want to grab my backpack real quick.”

  “I love you, Mom. I’m so glad you’re home.”

  “I love you too, kiddo.”

  She watched Abbie follow the guys into the house and turned to get her bag. There was a pair of headlights bouncing down the road. Dreia climbed up into the truck to reach her backpack and thought about which vehicles in their neighborhood were likely to still run. Beside Abbie’s Jeep and Miss Nelly’s Cadillac, she couldn’t think of any. When she climbed down and shut the door, it looked like the car was heading toward their driveway, so she stayed by the truck to see who it could be. Shock crossed her features when it pulled in and she recognized Marlene from school sitting behind the wheel.

  “What in the world are you doing here?” she exclaimed when the grouchy woman climbed out.

  “Um, I, uh, . . .” Marlene stammered nervously.

  “What’s wrong?” Dreia continued, extremely confused. “Is everyone okay?”

  “Rena sent me! She, uh, wanted me to bring you this.” Marlene moved to the rear of the car and fumbled with the keys.

  Dreia followed, taken off guard and wondering what could be important enough for Rena to send Marlene, of all people. The older woman finally found the right key and lifted the trunk. Dreia leaned forward to see what the darkness concealed.

  “Hello, Dreia,” a voice rose from the shadows, followed by a pistol pointed at her face.

  Marlene squeaked in terror when the gun swung her direction.

  “Back up, both of you,” Stubs barked as he climbed out.

  “How . . . Why . . .” Dreia’s brain tried to reconcile what she was seeing.

  “Let’s not play games, you know why I’m here,” he answered angrily.

  She struggled to come to terms with what was happening and glanced toward the house that contained her family. She saw a candle moving up in Abbie’s window. Dreia glared at Marlene accusingly.

  “I didn’t have a choice! I was at th
e school yesterday afternoon when he showed up. His men have my son and are going to kill him if I don’t cooperate.”

  “Where’s Rena?”

  Stubs jammed his gun into Dreia’s side. “Enough! She said you have two kids. Where are they?”

  Dreia refused to panic. After everything she’d already gone through to reach her home, she wasn’t going to fall apart now and kept her voice steady to reply, “My son’s inside with my husband, but my daughter’s at her friend’s house.” Please let Abbie stay upstairs and out of sight. The prayer looped repeatedly in her mind.

  Marlene slowly inched her way back to the driver’s door while Stubs was focused on Dreia.

  “Come on then.” Stubs pushed her toward the house and realized what Marlene was doing. “Hey!”

  Marlene jumped in the car and fumbled with the ignition. Stubs pushed Dreia forward far enough to rapidly fire two shots into the open window. He didn’t stop to see if he’d hit his target, but Dreia saw Marlene slump lifelessly into the passenger seat before Stubs jerked her toward the house. She focused on putting one foot in front of the other in the dark. The front door slammed open, and they heard footprints pound across the porch.

  “Dreia?” a frantic voice called.

  “Matt, he’s got a gun!” she yelled.

  “Freeze, or I’ll shoot her,” Stubs ordered. “Put your hands up!”

  Matt complied, straining to see into the darkness so he could analyze the new threat to his family.

  Stubs dragged Dreia up onto the porch, keeping the gun on her, and saw the Beretta in Matt’s hand. “Drop the gun over the side of the porch and walk in front of me into the house. Don’t try anything stupid either, because I will shoot her.”

  Matt did as he was instructed. It was too dark to try another risky shot with Dreia so close. He held his hands out to show he didn’t have anything else in them before backing into the house where the kids had already lit several candles in the living room and kitchen. Chase was standing in the doorway to the kitchen with an anxious look on his face.

  “Into the kitchen, everyone,” Stubs ordered.