“I wish I could just stay here the rest of the week,” Lisa told Stacy, as they sat at the table with their bowls of cereal.
“I don’t see why you can’t. Your mom and dad won’t be back until Friday. Why do they want you to go back home with Mitch after school today anyway?”
“So I can do my stupid chores. They said it wasn’t fair to Mitch to have to do them all every day they’re gone, especially since he had to drive them to New Orleans.”
“Yeah, like that was a chore! He gets to spend half the day driving your dad’s brand new truck and skipping school at the same time.”
“I know. I just wish I had my license. If I did, I could have driven them there, and I would have spent the rest of the day hanging out in New Orleans. Mitch hates the city though. He’ll drive straight back as fast as he can just so he can go hunting the rest of the day.”
“I don’t get it. He can hunt any time. Doesn’t he want to do something different once in a while?”
“No, not Mitch. He’s just boring like that.”
“If he can get back here in time to hunt, he could make it to most of his classes too.”
“Yeah, like he cares about that. Mitch would have already quit school if Mom and Dad would let him. You know that.”
“Has Mom called this morning?” Jason asked as he came in the kitchen to get his breakfast, his hair still wet from the shower.
“No, but she ought to be here any minute now. It’s almost a quarter ’til eight.”
“I hope so. I need to borrow ten bucks from her. Mr. Calloway is going to Hattiesburg after music class today and he said he would pick up a set of strings for me if I gave him the money.”
“Mom’s gonna say you don’t need them. Why do you need them? The ones you’ve got sounded like they were working last night.”
“They’re dead, that’s why. Bending the notes playing lead wears them out.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
Stacy wasn’t impressed with her brother’s playing, and after hearing his latest efforts last night, Lisa could see why. It was the same old Led Zeppelin song over and over for what must have been hours, never quite right, but loud enough that there was no escaping it in the small wood-frame house.
Five more minutes passed by the time they were done with breakfast and Stacy’s mom still wasn’t home. There wasn’t enough time to wait any longer since it appeared they were going to have to walk to school, so Jason locked the house, grumbling about not having the extra ten bucks he needed.
“I can loan it to you,” Lisa said. “But you’re going to have to pay me back tomorrow. I’ve got just enough lunch money to last me through Friday.” She handed him the money and Jason stuck it in his pocket before trying to call their mom again as they walked.
“Hey, this is weird! My phone just shut down right when I tried to make a call.”
“Probably because you forgot to charge it,” his little sister said.
“I didn’t forget. It had a full battery just before we left the house.”
“Did you try turning it back on?” Lisa asked.
“Of course I did. I’m not stupid! I’m still trying now. Nothing’s happening though.”
“I guess you’re out of luck then. Maybe it’ll come back on by itself later.”
“Yeah, it could be doing an automatic update or something,” Lisa said. She didn’t have her own phone, because her mom and dad didn’t think she needed one until she was old enough to drive. Stacy’s mom felt the same. Both of them had older brothers who did carry phones and if they were anywhere they might need to call home from, they were likely with their brothers or another adult.
As they made their way closer to the school, walking along the main road where the parents who drove their children dropped them off, Lisa noticed several vehicles stopped in random places in the middle of the road. People were getting out of them and there were also more students than usual standing around outside the building when it was time to get to class. As they got closer, they could see even more students coming out and none going inside. Something out of the ordinary was going on.
“Hey what’s up, Michael?” Jason asked, when they were close enough to call out to one of his friends.
“The lights just went out; right after I got here. Looks like there won’t be any first period class today, man!”
“Dang it! I could’ve slept in! I wish I’d known sooner!”
Lisa and Stacy left Jason there talking to Michael and some more of his friends and walked the rest of the way to the sidewalk where some of their own classmates were gathered. It only took a few minutes to learn that the problem was bigger than just an ordinary power outage. Everyone they talked to who had a cell phone said that theirs had suddenly shut down, just like Jason’s did. And the stalled cars and pickups on the road out front went dead at the same time. The teachers and other adults outside didn’t have an explanation for it, and seemed just as confused and surprised as the students. The power went out fairly often at her house and even here at the school when there were bad thunderstorms, but it was a clear, sunny morning today, and Lisa didn’t see how it could be weather related. No one else seemed to know either. Lisa saw her science teacher talking to the principle outside of his office, and urged Stacy to go with her to ask him if he had any ideas.
“Maybe Mr. Smith will know what happened,” she said.
“I hope so. I just heard Cara Anderson saying something crazy about how aliens might have caused it. She said there were weird lights in the sky last night, and that her brother thinks they were UFOs. He said if aliens were attacking the Earth, they would probably do something just like this; use some kind of force to zap all our electronic devices and vehicles so we’ll be helpless.”
“That sounds like something from a stupid B movie. Her brother watches too much cable TV.”
“Maybe. But this is really weird, don’t you think?”
“Of course it is. But there’s got to be an explanation. I’ll bet Mr. Smith has an idea. He knows so much about everything.”
They stood patiently waiting until their teacher finished his conversation with the principle, then Lisa asked him what he thought had happened.
“I don’t have enough information yet to know for sure, but I’m afraid this could be the result of a strong electromagnetic pulse. There’s really nothing else that would explain it.”
“Electromagnetic pulse?” Stacy asked. “What exactly is that?”
“A strong surge caused by solar activity, most likely. I’ve read quite a few articles in the science journals recently speculating that we’ve been overdue for a powerful solar event that could have an impact on our technology. It’s happened before, but not since civilization was so dependent upon the power grid.”
“Cara Anderson said there were weird lights in the sky late last night. We didn’t see any because we were inside.”
“No, I didn’t see them either, but Mr. Denton said a few people told him they did. That’s why I think it was a solar flare. It can cause visible effects like that. It looks a lot like the Aurora Borealis, which we almost never get to see at this latitude.”
“But if it happened last night, then why did the power go off just now, right before school started?” Lisa wanted to know.
“The lights people saw last night were probably from a much smaller solar flare that occurred first. They usually occur in series. The one that caused the damage today was far stronger. We wouldn’t have seen the lights because the sun was already up and the sky too bright, but I’ll bet they were visible farther west, especially on the West Coast, since they’re two hours behind us.”
“Would it really affect places that far away the same as it did here?”
“Oh yes, definitely. Let’s just hope the results were not as devastating elsewhere as they apparently were here. This could be an unprecedented disaster if it’s as bad as some scientists have predicated such a pulse could be.”
“Well I didn’t feel anything,
” Stacy said. “It doesn’t look like anybody got hurt, and it didn’t start any fires or anything like that, at least not that we can see. It must not be so bad. They’ll just have to fix the power lines and people may have to get new cell phones. How is that really a disaster?”
“What about cars?” Lisa interrupted. “They went dead too. What’s up with that?”
“They stopped running because just about all the vehicles on the road today depend on multiple electronic components to operate,” Mr. Smith said. “But to answer Stacy’s question; this is really bad because all the things that probably were damaged can’t be fixed without replacement parts and a means to get them where they’re needed. That includes things like transformers that are essential to the power grid, but that’s not even the real problem. The real problem is that communications could be down all over the country. People everywhere will be isolated and cut off, and stores will run out of food and other essentials if the trucks are not running to bring in more. You know how it is when a hurricane hits the Gulf Coast. Now imagine one big enough to affect the entire United States, and you will begin to get the idea.”
“So I guess we’re not going to be having class today,” Stacy said. “Can we go home then? My mom wasn’t back this morning when she was supposed to be, and now I’m worried about her. What if her car stopped on the highway somewhere along the way?”
“I think we’re going to dismiss everyone shortly,” Mr. Smith said. “I know you live close enough to walk home, Stacy, but if you do, you need to go straight there and stay put. Do you know where your father is working today, Lisa? I’m sure all the law enforcement agencies are going to do whatever they can to get some information and assist anyone they can.”
“He had to go to Colorado with my mom for a funeral. Their plane was leaving this morning, and Mitch drove them to the airport. I spent the night with Stacy because of that.”
Lisa saw by the look on Mr. Smith’s face that he thought that was bad news. Did it mean her mom and dad wouldn’t be able to come back on Friday because of all this? She looked around her at all the confusion and wondered what was going to happen next. Then it occurred to her that Mitch might be stranded too. If he was still in New Orleans, he was going to be furious, because he hated cities with a passion. She didn’t know what she was going to do if he didn’t return when he was supposed to. All she could do for now was stick with Stacy and Jason until they all found out more.
Five
DAVID GREENE KNEW HE’D had far too many beers to be driving. He’d already gotten one DUI in Hattiesburg the summer after he graduated high school. He couldn’t afford another, so he decided the smart thing to do would be to crash on Josh’s couch and go pick up Kimberly early in the morning. His mom and dad’s house wasn’t far from his buddy’s apartment, so he figured he’d have plenty of time to stop by to get his daughter and still make it to New Orleans with April’s car in time for her to get to work.
“Hey man, my phone’s almost dead and I don’t have my charger. Can you set your alarm for like 4:30 and make sure I’m up? I told April I would be back home by seven, but it’ll be cool as long as I’m no more than a half hour late. She’ll still have time to get to work.”
“Sure, dude. I’ll get you up.”
David wasn’t in a state of mind to be too concerned about tomorrow when he passed out on the couch. He didn’t get to hang out with Josh very often, so they’d made the most of it while they had the chance. The Bud Light bottles lined up in neat rows on the coffee table were evidence of that. The next thing he was aware of was someone pushing on his shoulder, shaking him awake. When David opened his eyes and saw that it was no longer dark in the apartment living room, he knew he had screwed up big time.
“What time is it, Josh?”
“A little after seven-thirty. Sorry man, but I forgot to set the alarm. Hey, I’ve got to go right now. I’m gonna be late for work already.”
David stumbled to his feet and looked around the room for his shoes. April was going to be furious, but she would have to deal with it. He didn’t feel like hearing it right now, so he wasn’t about to call her, especially with his head throbbing from a hangover. He would run home to his parent’s house as fast as he could get there and grab Kimberly, and then he would call her from the road once he was on the way. There would definitely be a major fight over this but it wouldn’t be the first one and he knew it wouldn’t be the last. If he had been able to come here in the Mustang, it wouldn’t be an issue because April could go on to work and he could drop Kimberly off at day care himself. He would have it running again soon, at least that’s what he kept telling himself, because all he had to do was rebuild the carburetor. Then he’d be riding in style instead of begging April for the use of her stupid little Honda.
Unlike his antique Ford though, the Honda never broke down or missed a beat. At least it never had, until this very morning when he was just two block’s from his parent’s house and it suddenly went dead as he slowed for a stop sign. He couldn’t get it started again and after getting out for a look, he figured it was an electrical problem rather than a fuel issue. Slamming the hood in disgust, David jogged the rest of the way to the house. He didn’t have time to fool with the car until he at least called April to tell her what was going on. But now that he had car trouble, he had a legitimate excuse for being late so he wouldn’t have to make one up.
“Where have you been?” his dad asked when David unlocked the door and let himself in. “Your mom’s had Kimberly up and dressed for the trip for nearly two hours! We tried to call you but your phone kept going to voicemail, and now our power is out. They must be working on the lines or something.”
“My phone was dead and I didn’t have my charger. Josh forgot to wake me up. I’d better use the house phone to call April. Her car died just down the street, and I think it’s the battery. I’m gonna be even later than I thought getting back.”
David gave his little girl a kiss and apologized to his mom when he went into the kitchen to use the wall phone. He couldn’t even charge his cell phone now that the power was out, but after he called her he would walk back to April’s car and get her 12-volt charger and plug it into his dad’s car. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d started a day with so many little aggravations, and picking up the receiver to the landline, he discovered yet another one.
“Hey, what’s wrong with this phone? I’m not getting a dial tone,” he said, turning to his mother.
“I don’t know. It was working earlier. I used it several times already trying to reach you on your cell. Is it because the power is out?”
“That shouldn’t have anything to do with it,” his dad said, walking in on the conversation. “Did you try hanging up and picking it up again?”
“Several times. It’s stone dead. There’s just nothing.”
“Well, I guess I won’t be using it to call the power company to report the outage then. Maybe they’ll be through with whatever they’re doing and get it turned back on soon.”
“I hope so. Hey dad, do you mind pulling your car down there where April’s went dead to see if we can jump it off? You’ve got cables right?”
“Of course. I’ll get my key. It’s probably just a bad battery.”
David followed his dad out to the garage and waited while he got in to start the car. If April’s car needed a new battery, he was going to have to ask him for a loan, because he had less than forty bucks in his wallet and he knew a battery would be at least twice that. But while he stood there waiting, wondering what was taking him so long, his dad stepped back out of the car and shook his head.
“Mine’s dead too, apparently. That doesn’t make much sense because I just drove it to the store yesterday. I’ll figure out what’s wrong with it after we get April’s car jumped though. I know you’re in a hurry. Run in and ask your mom for the keys to the Infinity. We’ll use it to jump off April’s and then I’ll see if I can jump mine off too.”
Mitch came back with
the keys and both of them were dumbfound to discover that his mom’s car wouldn’t start either. Just like April’s Honda and his Dad’s Chevrolet, her Infinity seemed to have an electrical problem, with the symptoms of a dead battery. Now David was really stuck, and he couldn’t tell April anything. She was going to be worried about Kimberly and so mad at him their relationship might not survive it. But what was he supposed to do about it? It wasn’t like it was his fault or anything.
His dad suggested they go talk to the neighbor and see if he knew what was going on. Mr. Bryant next door told them his landline was out too, along with everything else in his house. He had a cell phone that wouldn’t come back on, and when David’s dad told him about their cars he went back inside and got the key to his Dodge truck and tried it to no avail.
“Now why in the world won’t my truck crank? This hasn’t got anything to do with the power grid.”
“There’s got to be some explanation for all this,” David’s dad said. “I think I’ll walk over to the donut shop on Hardy Street and get a cup of coffee. Maybe someone there will know what’s going on.”
David didn’t really want to walk that far—it was like seven or eight blocks to Hardy Street, but his head was throbbing from the hangover and he needed coffee and something to eat. There was no use standing there staring at all these vehicles that wouldn’t start because none of them knew what to do about it.
When they got to the little café they were disappointed to find it closed for business. The doors were open but the lights were out and the employees were unable to serve them because their cash registers were inoperable. Looking up and down the street, David and his dad saw that it was apparently the same at every business they could see. And the strangest thing by far was that the busy four-lane throughway was full of stalled cars and trucks, most of them with their hoods raised. It was like someone had flipped a switch and turned them all off at once, the same as April’s Honda. David had never seen anything like it, and neither had his dad. No one they asked seem to know what to make of it either, so they turned around and headed back home. The only thing their excursion accomplished was that David’s hangover was nearly gone by the time they got back, cured by all the walking.
Darkness After Series (Prequel): Enter the Darkness Page 3
