“The laptop works?” Elias seemed intrigued.
“It turns on, but it doesn’t connect to the internet. There’s nothing for it to connect to!”
Elias nodded, then turned back to the door. “You don’t have to get all worked up. I was just curious.”
Elias opened the door at the end of the tunnel and a fresh cool wind blew in. For a moment, Sam felt relief from the situation. Elias stepped out of the tunnel and made his way to an alley. Sam followed into the alley but remained about ten feet away.
Elias turned to him, but he was now holding something. Elias held a radio to his mouth, pressed the button on the side, and said, “Get him.”
Sam didn’t have time to react. Before he could turn and run, before he could call out, before he could even blink, someone shoved a bag over his face and punched him in the stomach.
He saw black, then doubled over.
Chapter Thirty
Henry had Sam’s address memorized, but he had never actually visited Sam in his apartment. He had often sent letters from prison. They found the apartment building without too much trouble, but the sight before them was bleak. Windows were dark, and the streets littered with trash and debris from riots and looting. A lot of the action around this part of the city had already taken place, and it seemed the mob had moved on to another neighborhood.
The one thing that stuck out more than this was the soldiers patrolling the outside of the building. This felt off. It felt like something sinister was going on.
He and Leland hunched down at the corner across from the complex. The soldiers didn’t pay them any attention but instead remained focused on the apartment building.
“I don’t understand why we keep running into these guys,” Leland said. “They seem to be everywhere we want to be.”
All this made Henry wonder. Had Sam gotten himself into trouble? Henry knew Sam had a reputation for not caring about the law when it came to his online behaviors, but he couldn’t imagine he would have the military after him in the middle of a national crisis. It just seemed too big. Too unrealistic.
As they watched from the corner, they saw two of the soldiers grab for their radios. Someone was talking to them, but neither Henry nor Leland could make out what was being said. Henry involuntarily raised an eyebrow when the group of soldiers slowly pulled away from the building and hopped onto a truck. It seemed like something required their attention.
“How convenient,” Leland said.
“What do you think they’re doing?” Henry asked.
Leland shook his head. “Maybe Sergeant Russel called ahead to let us go wherever we need to go so he can spy on us and see what we’re up to.”
“Going into an apartment building would hardly go against what we said we were doing,” Henry said.
“True,” Leland answered. “Still, seems weird.” Leland reached down and pulled out his radio from his bag. “Why don’t you go in and I’ll watch and see if they come back? It’s not like you’re going to need me to see if your brother is in there.”
Henry nodded. He didn’t want to go in there alone, but it made sense, especially if Sam was the reason these soldiers were storming the streets. “Fine,” he finally said. “My elbow hurts a little bit, but I’m okay.”
Leland nodded in recognition of the code phrase. Henry couldn’t imagine in what scenario he would need that phrase, but he didn’t like separating from Leland. The two of them were in this together. Leland would do whatever he could to keep Henry protected. He was loyal—never wanting to give up on a friend. But his family came first, as it should, and Henry would be an afterthought if it meant saving Leland’s daughter.
“What are you waiting for?” Leland asked. “We’re running out of time.”
Henry didn’t know why his legs felt like concrete. He knew he didn’t want to face the fact that his brother probably wasn’t in his apartment. He didn’t want to deal with having to look for him all over the city by himself.
“What do you want me to do if he’s not in there?” Henry asked.
“Whatever you find in there, I’m going to look for my daughter when you’re done,” Leland answered without hesitation. “You’re free to come with me or go looking for your brother, but in any case, I’m leaving to go to her apartment in the next five minutes so you better make this quick.”
The words were harsh, but Henry didn’t recoil at them. He knew the stakes. He understood what they were up against. Truth was, it was unlikely either of them would find who they were looking for. If Cora or Sam had any sense at all, they would have tried to leave the city by now. He wondered if they would have had better luck looking for them on the interstate.
Henry crossed the street with his pistol in hand. He wasn’t taking any chances with looters or soldiers. If anyone came at him and presented a threat, he would shoot them. They had already gone through so much in the last couple of days. It put him on edge.
The front door to the apartment building was wide open. The hallway beyond was dark and seemed to warn him against coming inside.
Henry went anyway.
Sam’s address indicated his apartment was on the sixth floor. He could hear sounds coming from different floors as he climbed the stairs. Sometimes there was crying or shouting.
The sixth floor was one of the silent ones.
The hallway was dark but for a few apartments with doors standing open. Some of the remaining daylight bled into the hallway. He was looking for apartment 634. The even numbers were on the right, the odd numbers were on the left. His heart pounded the closer he got to the room and nearly exploded when he saw that apartment 634 was one of the apartments with the door wide open. Only, it hadn’t simply been opened and left open, but it had been smashed. The door hinges were splintered, and the latches had been broken off. A large crack down the middle had nearly broken the door in two.
Henry feared the worst. He stepped into the apartment, terrified of what he might find. He didn’t want to see his brother dead. He didn’t want to see a mangled body on the floor. Henry didn’t know what Sam had gotten himself into, but whatever it was, he didn’t deserve to die for it.
His eyes scanned the room and he saw knocked over bookshelves, overturned desks, and a ripped up mattress. The entire apartment had been ransacked as though a madman had been searching for something. The only relief Henry felt was the fact that his brother wasn’t there. That didn’t mean he wasn’t killed, but it did mean there was a chance he was still alive.
He grabbed the radio and brought it to his lips, then hesitated before pressing the button. If he told Leland his brother wasn’t here, then Henry was going to be on his own. He had to decide what to do from here. Was he going out to look for Sam, or was he going to help Leland find Cora?
They had come this far. Henry couldn’t just abandon his search for his brother. There was a chance he was still in the neighborhood or that someone had seen him go. He could ask one of the neighbors stowed away in one of their apartments if they had heard any unusual activity near apartment 634.
Henry couldn’t go with Leland. He couldn’t abandon Sam. Leland wouldn’t offer him another ten minutes, much less another few hours to search the surrounding area for Sam. And Henry understood. Every minute was precious.
Reluctantly, he pressed the button on the radio and called out to Leland. “He’s not here,” Henry said.
He released the button and waited for a response. Leland was probably calculating in his mind and then concluding that he would be searching for Cora by himself.
“What do you want to do?” Leland said.
Henry waited a moment, then pressed the button again. “I need to look for him.”
“I understand,” Leland said. “Hopefully we will be within range of each other, but if we get out of range, meet back in this area in a couple of hours. Does that sound okay to you?”
A couple of hours. It might just be enough to get some information about where Sam could have gone. Henry might be able to fin
d him or he might find out nothing. Two hours was a good time frame because if he wasn’t able to find out any information within a couple of hours, then Sam could be anywhere. For all Henry knew, Sam had been out with friends at the other end of the city when the power went out. But that didn’t explain why his apartment had been destroyed. Someone was after him. Henry felt like the soldiers had something to do with it too, but he just couldn’t understand why.
“Yes,” Henry said. “I’ll be back here in a couple of hours and try to radio you.”
“Sounds good,” Leland said. “I’m gonna head in the other direction. I’ll see you in a couple of hours. Stay safe.”
“You too.”
With the release of the button, Henry was alone.
He wondered if he should have said something about the apartment’s state to Leland, but Leland wouldn’t be able to do anything. He was too preoccupied with finding his daughter. Henry wouldn’t have all of his attention.
He searched the apartment, looking for a clue as to who may have done this and why. He had nothing.
Sam’s most nefarious acts had to do with hacking government agencies, but Henry never thought of it as being serious. Sam had never gotten into too much detail about it. The thought gnawed at Henry that Sam and the power outage were connected somehow. He didn’t have any evidence, but the feeling was there.
For the next ten minutes or so, Henry searched Sam’s apartment, looking for clues as to where he might have gone or what might have happened here.
He found Sam’s desktop computer, hit a couple of buttons, and confirmed that it was as dead as any other electronic device.
He was no forensics expert, but he didn’t see any signs of blood or struggle. It didn’t look like there had been a fight here; rather, it seemed like someone had just trashed the place.
Henry could speculate all day as to what may have happened, but this was not going to help him find Sam.
Henry recalled the conversation he and Sam had had months ago over the phone. Sam didn’t go into specifics, but he did talk about the EMPs. Sam had said world governments were terrified of the superweapon. His brother had researched the subject and learned that the threat of an EMP attack on the United States was very real.
The conversation had left an impression on Henry and had gotten him thinking about the situation for several days.
He wished there was some kind of a note, some indication of where Sam had gone. But Sam wouldn’t be expecting his life-sentenced brother to be looking for him. Sam could be days away, or he could be minutes away. There was just no way to know. Henry had a couple of hours, and he was going to spend that time looking. He thought he would start with some of the neighbors, questioning them on what may have happened and how long ago this apartment had been trashed. That would give him some indication of how long it had been since Sam had left.
He froze when he got to the front door. Three men with guns stared him down. Not just men. Soldiers. Henry didn’t have time to reach for his gun. He didn’t have time to cry out.
The lead soldier rushed Henry and tackled him to the ground. The other two grabbed his arms and pulled them behind his back, then they cuffed him. One of them kicked him in the side of the head and his vision swam. He looked up just in time to see the soldier, Russell, standing over him with a scowl over his face.
“I thought you two were up to something,” Russell said. With another swift kick, Henry was out cold.
Chapter Thirty-One
Leland trembled at the thought of getting to Cora’s apartment and finding it empty. He also didn’t like splitting up with Henry, even for a couple of hours. Still, he understood the need for him to keep searching for his brother. It was the same kind of drive that pushed Leland.
But nothing was like the need to take care of your child. Cora wasn’t a child, of course, but she was alone out here in a city that was tearing itself apart.
He felt for the radio at his belt. It was weird for it to always be silent.
He was used to a radio constantly squawking, whether it be by emergency EMTs or state police officers in other counties. The radio he had with him was nothing like the radio he used daily, but it was still weird to have one that was completely quiet.
There were so many thoughts in his head as he approached Cora’s apartment building that it felt like a river running through his brain. They were so jumbled and so incoherent it was hard to know what to do next. He didn’t like that the apartment wasn’t locked and that the bottom doors stood wide open. He also didn’t like that several buildings around it were charred with the remains of the fire and broken glass and littering the streets.
The only thing that gave him comfort at this moment was that the streets were quiet here. By the looks of things, it hadn’t been quiet earlier. He wondered how much fear Cora had felt last night.
Leland wondered if Cora had tried to go to the hospital, or if she had been there when the power shut down.
Medical professionals would be able to do some things for some patients, but they largely depended on machines and technology to help people. Those patients relying on machines would have to be let go, and doctors and nurses would need to focus on those they could save.
He charged up the stairs toward her apartment. The anticipation inside him grew, and he wondered what he would do if he did find her there. Would he hang around Chicago and try to help Henry find his brother, or would he do what he planned all along and get Cora out of there by himself?
Then there was the question of getting out of the city. They no longer had a car to travel back. He could try to relocate the motorcycle, but it would only be good for him and Cora. There wouldn’t be room for two more. And even then, he and Cora would still have to find gasoline if they were to get the motorcycle and take off. Their plan of getting out had hinged on keeping the Jeep and driving back to Hope. Even if they found their loved ones, would they be stuck here?
When he got to her floor, his heart pounded. He got to her door and raised a fist to knock. He took a deep breath and tapped lightly.
“Cora. It’s your dad. Open up, I’m here to get you out.”
There was no response.
Leland tried a few more times. Knocking, calling out to her. No response. He thought about what he needed to do for a moment. Given there was no noise from within the apartment and no response whatsoever, it was unlikely she was in there. He didn’t want to scare her by knocking down her door. Still, he didn’t feel like he had much of a choice. He stood back from the door and prepared himself to kick it in.
He stopped and looked down both sides of the hallway. Then he stepped forward, turned the doorknob, and it opened slowly.
He cleared his throat and called out for Cora again but still didn’t get an answer.
Leland was sure Cora wasn’t there, but he looked around the room with an investigator’s eye. The couch had been moved and pressed up against the door before she had left. He found very little food in the cabinets or the refrigerator. Cora was a resourceful person and didn’t often buy more than she needed. He didn’t find any bottles of water. Other than that, the apartment looked clean and neat as though she had just stepped out to go to work.
Leland sat down on the couch, thinking. As he relaxed on the soft cushions, his aching back immediately felt relief and his eyes drooped. Adrenaline had been pumping through his veins for so long.
He could have let himself fall asleep, but his conscience wouldn’t allow it. He knew what he had to do. She was a nurse at the hospital a few blocks away. He couldn’t imagine she would be anywhere else. Cora wasn’t the type to travel across the city to try and get out on her own, but she might have gone to work to see if she was needed.
The position of the couch and the fact that it had been shoved up against the door at one point showed Leland that she had felt fear. Perhaps it was the noise outside of the looters or some scuffle in the hallway. In any case, it proved she had been home since the power went out.
H
e shuddered to think about what she would find at the hospital. And he hoped it wouldn’t scar her for the rest of her life. He would no doubt encounter soldiers on his way there, but he would find a way to convince them to let him out of the perimeter. He knew this would be putting a bigger distance between him and Henry, but he thought it might still be within radio range.
Cora typically worked in the hospital’s ER, so he figured he might start there.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The wind blew cold between the large buildings and cut through Cora’s jacket. Michelle held tight to her hand and Cora felt a swell of pride for the little girl.
She had acted well when they had approached the soldiers. She didn’t know what reason they had for keeping people locked within the confines of the neighborhood, but they didn’t want to mess with an injured girl or get in the way of her “mother.”
The hospital loomed in front of them, and Cora knew what to expect. She tried to cover Michelle’s eyes as they approached, but there was just too much to see and the little girl pulled Cora’s hand away.
There were gurneys with bedsheets on top and human-shaped lumps underneath them. Cora counted about thirty of them just next to the parking area.
Because they needed the gurneys, the hospital had taken to setting the bodies in a row inside the parking garage. Cora could see them through the entrance and avoided the area. Still, Michelle saw enough to ask questions.
“What are those?”
“Just close your eyes,” Cora said, pulling her arm.
“Are those people?”
“Just close your eyes.”
Just keep walking.
Cora understood: the morgue was likely full and they needed to get these bodies out of the hospital so they would have room to work on people who could still survive without electricity.
Fallen Earth | Book 2 | Aftermath Page 15
