by Mark Mathews
“Come on to my humble abode.” He waved for the two of them to follow him, and even though her better judgement said she shouldn’t, she took Emily’s hand again and followed him.
The foliage leading toward his place was so thick they never would have made it through without him there to show them the slight path that he’d hacked out. There were tall ferns choking the path, but he’d cut down the majority of the undergrowth, making it much easier than it originally looked. After a short trek, they made it to a lean-to that looked like it had been made from materials he’d found at the local dump. Part of it was metal, some of it was wood, and there were two large pieces of thick, industrial plastic that made a little house. There were some cuts of meat hanging from hooks on the roof, and he seemed to be doing pretty well for himself. The rustic way was not dead after all, it seemed. “It would be better to talk inside. Quite a few packs of feral dogs live around here. They usually only come out at night, but when they do, they feed off of any living thing they can find. I’ve found myself up a tree quite a few times when I couldn’t get away.” It made Sarah feel a little better that she wasn’t the only one who’d been startled by the dogs and lost as to a course of action that would get her through safely.
Inside the shack was a table that looked like it had been pieced together from old, moldy slats of wood. Two stumps had been pulled up to it, making the table a complete set with chairs. He must not have been expecting a lot of company, because there were only two, but that wasn’t something that she could fault him for. She sat down on one, pulling Emily up onto her lap.
“So what happened to the town?” He sighed heavily.
“The same thing that happened everywhere else. We just weren’t prepared for anything like this. A small town with no factories or companies can’t make it far on its own.” Sarah pushed the thought out of her mind. She knew exactly what he meant. The people would have either left or turned on each other, and that wasn’t something she wanted details about. Especially with Emily there with her.
“This was a wonderful little place before the EMP attack happened. I grew up here, and I thought I never would have to leave it. I planned on retiring here and spending the days fishing and hunting, living alone here in the woods. I thought I would have more time to build myself a cabin, make myself a comfortable home. I guess fate had other plans for me.” He got up and went to a crude fireplace that he’d built up against one of the metal pieces. A hook had been driven into the wall, and he had a pot sitting over an open flame. He stirred something with a wooden spoon, and both Sarah’s and Emily’s stomachs growled.
“What do you plan to do?” There was nothing about the question that pried, and Sarah determined that he was just curious. What harm would it do to tell one man?
“I was hoping to get to the Great Lakes region. There should be fresh water and food supplies up there. I was hoping the EMP didn’t get that far.” He stared into the fire for a second or two before answering.
“My name’s Wade, by the way.” He chuckled low in his throat, and Sarah immediately bristled. Was he laughing at her? What could she have done to make him laugh? She was broadcasting how tough she was, so there should be nothing at all for him to laugh at.
“What’s so funny?” If she’d been standing, she would have put her hands on her hips to emphasize her annoyance.
“It’s pretty cold up there. Not only is it north of here, but the wind coming off those lakes is going to make it below freezing at night. I don’t know how to sugarcoat things, so I’ll just say it. You’re naïve to think the EMP hasn’t reached that far. The whole country was hit. It’ll be the same there as it is here.” Sarah had thought it was a good idea, so she was a little miffed at his blunt way of writing it off. Besides, how would he know about the rest of the country? He hadn’t been there.
Sarah clamped her mouth shut. It wouldn’t do to argue with the man over a matter that both of them were guessing at. He got up and grabbed some rough hewn wooden bowls off a shelf. Taking them to the pot over the fire, he ladled some of whatever was cooking into all three. He put two bowls in front of Sarah, then dug around in a file cabinet he was using as a drawer until he came up with some spoons. He added them to the bowls, then sat down across the table from them again. Both girls stared at him. Emily sat up straight and started eating, prompting Sarah to do the same. She thought it better not to ask what exactly they were eating and just enjoyed it.
“How do you know the Great Lakes are just as affected?” Wade chewed the bite of food in his mouth, swallowed, then stared at the back of his spoon as he thought about how he wanted to phrase what he wanted to say.
“I know this isn’t something anyone would want to think about, but I’m pretty sure this EMP attack hit the whole world.” Sarah was stunned. Surely he had to be wrong. Was there really no hope left in the world? The two bantered back and forth, throwing out their ideas and their opinions of the other’s ideas. During that time, Emily finished her food and silently slipped away to a corner where she’d seen a basket full of wooden carvings. She took some out and began playing with them, turning them over and over to admire the fine details. Listening to the adults was quite a few notches below fun, so she used the carvings as an excuse to interrupt.
“What are these?” Sarah’s first thought was to tell Emily it was rude to interrupt and that she should say excuse me, but what real use of manners was there anymore? Wade smiled grimly at her and looked as though his eyes were a little glassy.
“Those are carvings that I’ve made of my family. Before I lost them. They were sort of my good luck charm. You can keep them if you want. Maybe they’ll bring you better luck than they did me.” It was meant to be a joke, but in these times, things just weren’t so funny. Sarah’s heart contracted. This man had loved his family, and had lost them somehow. It couldn’t have been natural, or if it was, maybe it was a horrible way. The way he danced around it and refused to meet her eyes made her think it was better if she didn’t ask. Sarah herself had no family. She’d never had kids, and the ex-husband she’d had for a short time really was more a friend than a lover and life partner. She wasn’t upset the two of them weren’t together anymore, but she did think about him every now and then, and she wished him nothing but the best. Thinking about him now made her hope he was doing okay. The pain in Wade’s eyes was real, however, and Sarah suddenly thought it might do him so good to get away from this place where he had all of his memories.
“Why don’t you come with us? There’s no use in staying here all alone in the woods, hoping you can catch a few of those rabid dogs out there. Goodness knows what they’re eating, and what diseases they carry now that we don’t have vets and medicine for them anymore.” It was an olive branch, and she hoped he would take it, but he looked skeptical. She couldn’t imagine the battle taking place in his mind right now, about whether he should stay or go.
Chapter Three
Sarah’s attention was drawn to the window when she thought she heard a lonely howl. Fear crept down her spine in a cold sweat. It had become dark while they were talking, and now Sarah felt stupid. She hadn’t found them a safe place to sleep for the night, and now she was beating herself up about it. Where would they go? The dogs sounded close again, and Sarah was reluctant to leave the little shack. It was safe in here, and warm, and for the first time in a long time, she felt like she didn’t have to worry about anything right that second. The candlelight from the homemade lantern cast shadows across the rough wood of the table, making little fairies dance. At least, that’s what it looked like to her. She had to stop herself there, or she might find herself getting lost in the fantasy world rather than surviving in the real one. The worried look must have been frozen on her face because Wade cleared his throat and looked away in embarrassment.
“If you want, the two of you can stay here. You can take the bed and I’ll sleep out here. I have a bundle of blankets that I can make a nest out of.” Sarah narrowed her eyes at him. Was he offering t
hem shelter so he could slit their throats in the dead of night? Not likely, but still a possibility.
“Thank you. I really appreciate that. To be honest, I’d been so caught up in everything that happened today that I didn’t even think about where we were going to be spending the night. I’m sorry to put you out like this.” She was more than a little embarrassed to admit she hadn’t paid enough attention to their situation to keep them one step ahead of their predators, but he seemed to be chivalrously ignoring that fact. It made her give him a semi-warm smile. He looked away, and it made her wonder what the story was of how he lost his family. Had they left him because he couldn’t show affection? It was a horrible joke, and she couldn’t even get her inner voice to chuckle at it. Instantly, she felt terrible, and tried making some small talk to make up for it, but she was now at a loss. The candle wick burned down low, and finally Wade got to his feet. Emily had been dozing there on the floor where she’d moved to play with the little wooden carvings, but now her head popped up. Her eyes were wide, and even though she was trying to stifle a yawn, Sarah could see she was exhausted.
“Where’s the bed?” Her voice was soft, lulling Emily back into a state of relaxation.
Sarah picked up the tired child and went through the door that Wade indicated. When she opened it, she found a quaint little room with a large four-poster bed, spread lovingly with a handmade quilt. It tore at her heart. It was obvious his family hadn’t wanted to leave him. She pulled back the quilt and laid the little girl down. Emily’s eyes were closed before her head even hit the pillow. Sarah tucked her in, then quietly shut the door behind her as she went back to join Wade. Wade wasn’t at the table anymore, and her heart skipped a beat as her eyes instantly started darting around the inside of the shack. He was off in the corner, under an enormous pile of quilts and pillows, literally building a type of squirrel nest to get comfortable in. She couldn’t help but smile.
“Need some help?” He looked over his shoulder and returned her smile.
“No, I think I’m okay. Thanks, though.” Sarah was a little embarrassed that he had turned her down. He must have been at least fifty, and she was guessing more like late fifties. Before anything else could be said, a little whimper drew both of their attention back to the room that Sarah had just come from. Emily was standing there, rubbing her eyes and holding one of the carvings.
“Can you come tell me story?” Sarah felt like she was a sort of surrogate mother. She smiled as she tucked Emily under her arm and led her back to the bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Sarah tucked her in again and started telling her a story. By the time she was halfway through, Emily was snoring softly, clutching the carving to her chest like a teddy bear. Sarah snuck out again, intending to talk to Wade. She was barely within earshot when he turned to her.
“Does she know how to use a gun?” The question didn’t register at first, but by the time he’d opened his mouth to ask again, she’d found her voice.
“No. Of course she doesn’t.” It seemed like the most logical answer, and yet Wade frowned.
“She should learn. There might come a time when you need her to know how to protect the both of you, and if she can’t shoot straight, you might end up lost.” He had a point. The world had changed, and Sarah had to admit that.
“You’re right. She might need to know sooner rather than later. What is the world coming to?” It was a rhetorical question, but Wade took it as an actual question and looked down at his hands.
“Unfortunately, I think the world is going to turn into a cesspool. The rules of society and morals of people are going to deteriorate into nonexistence, and that is going to make the world go to hell. Like I said, I think it’s more than just our country that’s dealing with this. I don’t have any proof or anything, but I have a hunch, and I’m usually right when I have a hunch. The upside of the situation is, only the strong will survive, and Darwin’s theory will be proven true. The people who do survive will be able to repopulate the world by evolving into a people who are adapted to this world. It might end up going back a few hundred years, to before we had technology and electricity to begin with, but people will survive if they are willing to do whatever it takes. It will get worse before it gets better, but it’s always darkest right before the dawn.” Wade was playing devil’s advocate, and though Sarah also had been taught to look at both sides of a problem, she thought about it a little differently.
“What if it didn’t turn out that way? What if enough people were around to stop it? The Amish have a peaceful way of living, and they do just fine without technology and electricity. What do you think will happen?” There was such hope in her eyes that he didn’t want to disappoint her.
“I think it’s going to go badly, unless there are enough good guys out there to stop it. I only can hope it will go that way.” Sarah privately agreed, but she thought it more than likely would go the other way.
“Until then, times will start to get more and more dangerous.” That too, was something that Sarah agreed with, but she still hoped it wouldn’t go that way.
Wade let out a huge yawn, and Sarah excused herself into the bedroom. She saw that Emily still was passed out, and slid under the quilt with her. As she lay there, her mind churned with everything that Wade had said. She was still a little nervous, now more so than before, with everything that Wade had said about people throwing away their morals and turning into something barely above a beast. It would be a long time before she slept. The thoughts kept her up for hours, thinking about all the people she knew, and where they were now. If they were okay or not. Her thoughts went to her ex-husband. It wasn’t so much that they didn’t care about each other, they just had disagreements that neither of them would compromise on. Like children. She looked over at Emily, sleeping peacefully. Smiling, Sarah tucked a loose curl behind Emily’s ear. How could he never have wanted children? The one thing Sarah always had wanted that she’d never gotten in her life was children.
When morning came, she was woken out of a dead sleep by a gentle shake. Her eyes darted around the room and settled on Wade. He was smiling at her, and it took her a second to remember all the events of the night before. Emily still was sleeping, the wooden carving up against her cheek, leaving an impression.
“Good morning. I was thinking that maybe I would go with you after all. It seems like you ladies could use some protection. I made breakfast. While you eat, I’m going to head back into town and see if I possibly can scrounge up some more supplies for the trip.”
The journey into town was uneventful, and that was a blessing to Wade right now. He wanted to forget about everything that had happened since the EMP attack started, and maybe he’d even be able to get himself a little family to belong to. His wife, Karen, always had said he was the world’s worst bachelor. They’d tried to have children for so long, and in the end, they had to adopt. Karen had suffered six miscarriages, and each time it wrecked her insides until she’d had to have a hysterectomy. It had torn out both their hearts, and the only way to try healing any of it, was through a child. They’d adopted, and Sylvia was the sweetest little girl that Wade ever had met. Granted, he probably was biased, but that was how he felt. By the time he finished reminiscing, he was where he’d wanted to go. The department store in town had a warehouse in the back that not many people knew about. It was nestled into the first trees of the forest, and was hidden from view, for the most part. He entered the store, making sure to close the door behind him. He didn’t want to be surprised by any animals. Going to the back where the clothes were, he guessed at both Sarah’s and Emily’s shoe sizes, then grabbed two pairs of hiking boots and made his way over to the camping gear. Camping was a big tourist attraction here, and that was one thing he knew the store was never out of.
The racks already had been picked clean as people were trying to leave, but the back was chock full of winter coats and warm clothing. He found a huge camping backpack, and started shoving as many warm clothes and other camping supplies into it
as he could. In the end, he tied the two pairs of boots to the back of the backpack and lifted it to his shoulders with a grunt. It was a lot heavier than he’d thought it would be, and he wasn’t exactly young anymore, but it was better to have all of this than not. As Wade stumbled toward the door, he overbalanced on the load and caught himself on the counter. His hand came down mere inches from a stack of maps. As an afterthought, he grabbed a handful of them and put them in the inside pocket of his vest. He always wore one with lots of pockets in case he found things that he wanted to take with him. He made his way out of the store, and came face-to-face with the group of dogs from the forest. They growled at him, but were wary of his gun, so they hung back. He started to make his way back to the shack, moving faster than he thought he could with the heavy burden.
When he stumbled through the door, Sarah rushed over to help him with the pack. They emptied it out, and then repacked it with things from the shack as well, making sure they had everything they thought they would need. Wade even found a regular backpack stashed under the bed of the shack that he’d forgotten about, so they stuffed it full as well.
“Okay, I managed to find a few maps, too, and I thought of a route that might keep us safe as well as supplied with food and water.” He unfolded one of the maps and laid it out on the floor, tracing his finger along the path he’d been thinking about, making sure to show her where he wanted to go. She followed his finger with her eyes, murmuring the names of the towns out loud to herself. “I also thought I’d take the liberty of teaching Emily how to shoot.” Sarah was silent. She didn’t like the idea of Emily having to grow up so fast, but there was nothing she could do except let him teach her.
“That sounds good.”
“I’ll have her practice with me every morning, too. Once I get her to learn the basics.” That sounded like a good idea to Sarah, and she nodded. “I will warn you, though, it’s going to be a difficult with a child. This isn’t the easiest journey to begin with, but with a little girl in tow, it’s going to be ten times more difficult. I just want to warn you ahead of time.” Sarah knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but she never would leave Emily behind.
