EMP 1500 MILES FROM HOME

by Mike Whitworth

  Bill motioned to one of the chairs. It was made from 2x4s and looked to be exceptionally strong. "I think this one will fit you, young man." He smiled as he said it. Yeti smiled back and sat in the chair. Bill and I took chairs at the same end of the table. Bill introduced the other man as Slim.

  I noticed Julie went to help the women when she was finished with the horses. Apparently she didn't feel like these people were a danger either.

  "I said, "I am Wayne and this is Yeti." We all shook hands. We made small talk until the women brought breakfast to the table. Breakfast was scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, jam, butter, and jelly.

  "You have electricity?" I asked.

  "We have a few solar panels on top of our houses. We don't have a lot of electricity, but it is enough," Slim said. "We run a couple of 12 volt freezers, three 12 volt refrigerators, and some other stuff."

  "Computers?" I asked.

  "Yeah, but we have never had Internet way out here if that is what you are asking?"

  "That was where I was going," I said.

  "We live completely off grid here," Slim smiled.

  "We are squatters," Bill laughed. "We don't pay land taxes, or any other taxes for that matter."

  "Yeah, the county keeps threatening to shut us down, but it hasn't so far," Slim said.

  "I doubt they will now," and, in between mouthfuls of a great breakfast, I told them all about EMPs and what it meant. They all listened intently.

  One of the women said, "Oh well, we ain't much for civilized doings. That's mostly why we are here."

  "I reckon I ought to introduce you to the women folks. I have been remiss, and haven't done that yet. My old mum always said I had the manners of a billy goat. Anyway, this is Becky, my wife."

  "Becky nodded. She was a middle-aged, thin, almost gaunt, woman with gray streaks already appearing in her hair.

  "And this is Martha. She is single, in case yer interested." He winked at me and Martha blushed. She was probably the youngest of these people, and looked to be in her 30s.

  "And that there is Slim's wife, Yo-Yo. Her real name is Yolanda, but we all call her Yo-Yo."

  "And I wish you wouldn't," Yo-Yo said. "But I am pleased to meet you folks. Both Slim and Yolanda appeared to be in their 50s.

  I was beginning to feel uneasy. Not about these people, because they seemed harmless. I felt uneasy because it had been an hour and I had forgotten to set a watch. Cap would have had my hide if he were here.

  I stood and said, "if you folks don't mind, I want to have a look around."

  "You want to see our stuff?" Martha asked.

  "No Ma'am, I want to check the perimeter for any dangers." Julie tossed me the binoculars after I slung the Mosin over my shoulder.

  "Climb up on top of that shed over yonder. There is a ladder against the back. It will give you the best view, but we haven't seen a soul until you folks showed up," Bill said.

  "Thanks Bill," I said. "I will be back in a few minutes. You folks keep right on talking. Thank you for breakfast."

  "You are most welcome," Yolanda said. "This is fun for a change."

  I climbed to the top of the shed. Someone had built a small platform there. I assumed it was a lookout point. I wondered if they used it often.

  Raising the binoculars I slowly scanned the horizon. I heard them before I saw them. Several vehicles were coming toward us. As best I could tell, there were two old pickup trucks and an old car. The truck beds were loaded with men. Right now they were four or five miles away. They would be on us in less than ten minutes.

  Chapter 4

  Wayne

  I climbed down the ladder and went back to the table. By now the sound of the encroaching vehicles was noticeable and everyone was getting up from the table to look.

  I signaled Julie and Yeti. "Please get the horses and cart as far out of sight as you can."

  They both scrambled off to hide our horses and gear. Yeti moved surprisingly fast for his bulk.

  "Well, I reckon we will meet them at the road, like we did you folks." Bill said.

  "They might not be friendly," I said.

  "Why wouldn't they?"

  "They might be the gang we saw several days ago that murdered a man for his old truck."

  Bill turned to the others. "What do y'all want to do? I am going to meet them."

  I interrupted. "Any of you want to greet them with Bill, follow him. The rest of you come with me. There isn't much time."

  Slim and Yolanda followed me, as did Martha. We gathered at the cart.

  "Julie, please dig out the guns," I said. Yeti helped her while I took the Mosin and looked for a vantage point that would let me cover Bill and Becky. I saw one fifty yards away and made for it on the run.

  Yeti

  I helped Julie get the guns out of the cart. They were already loaded. Wayne said they would be useless to us if they were not always loaded.

  I was scared. I had never fired a gun in my life, nor had I been shot at before. I was pretty sure I would die if this turned into the gun battle that Wayne seemed to think it might. After all, I was the biggest and slowest target. I could tell Julie was worried too. She seemed slightly less competent than usual and I could feel her fear. The other three were feeling no fear. I thought that was because they were too slow to realize what might happen. I chose one of the 30-30s because it seemed familiar from one of the video games I played.

  Wayne

  I had been in place for three minutes when the convoy arrived. The lead vehicle stopped about 25 feet from Bill and Becky. There were two men in the car, and two in each truck cab. In the two truck beds there were ten others. They were all armed; most with rifles, some with pistols, and two with machetes.

  The apparent leader got out of the car and walked over to Bill. He didn't say anything. He just raised a pistol. I fired as the pistol came up and the back of his head spattered all over the three guys standing behind him. I had the second shot off before his body hit the ground and nailed two more who were standing one behind the other. My third shot dropped another one. By then Bill and Becky were running for cover. Becky made it, Bill didn't. He fell and didn't move.

  The Mosin was now shooting right on target. Since last time, I figured out that these old rifles were sighted in with extended bayonets, so I extended the bayonet before the fight started.

  Julie opened up with one of the 30-30s. She dropped a couple of them. The rest rushed to get behind the last truck where they were protected from our fire.

  We had a standoff for a couple of minutes; each side exchanging fire to little effect. Then I saw Yeti. He was behind them with the 30-30 carbine. He fired and they ran in every direction. I stood with the Mosin and dropped four as fast as I could work the action. Then I was hit in the right shoulder and the Mosin fell to the ground. I drew the .45 with my left hand. At least 12 of the enemy were down. The shooting stopped but, by my count, there were still two more intruders. I couldn't see them.

  Yeti

  When the shooting started, I was surprised, and even more afraid. I was amazed that Wayne did not miss a single shot. In fact his second shot dropped two men; both fell dead and unmoving. I saw Julie shoot two with her 30-30, wounding one and killing the other. When the shooting died down, there were several of the bad guys hiding behind the vehicles. Without thinking, I crept around until I was behind them. Then I raised the 30-30. It felt strange, but familiar. I knew what the sight picture should look like, but I found I could not hold the rifle nearly as steady as the ones on the computer. I fired and the man I shot at fell. I then fired as quickly as I could work the action and still aim. I couldn't tell if I hit any more of them before Wayne stood and begin firing. Another one dropped with every round he fired.

  In a few seconds it was over. I was shaking. The thought occurred to me that none of the people who lived here fired a single shot.

  Julie

  I saw Wayne get shot and I got scared and felt sick at the same time. At that moment I doubted The
Knowing. The world after the EMP was so dangerous I didn't see that we would ever be like it was in The Knowing.

  But I had other things to worry about at the moment. I checked and no one near me was hurt. I found the three locals cowering on the ground, their guns unfired. I didn't see Yeti. I looked around frantically and finally noticed him walking toward me. He seemed to be fine.

  I never married and never had any children, but now I was beginning to know what being a mother felt like. There seemed to be a lot of worrying involved in motherhood. I guessed being a wife was like that too.

  Wayne

  It was difficult but it had to be done. I put the .45 back in my waistband and picked up a 9mm pistol one of the attackers had used. There were twelve bullets still in the magazine and one in the chamber. I went from one to another of our attackers. Using my left hand I shot each one through the head. Most were already dead, but two begged for their lives. I shot them both just like Cap had told me must be done if the world ever ended. I threw up twice and my shoulder screamed with pain, but I did it anyway.

  Julie was by my side a few seconds later. "There are two left, I think. Where did they go?" I asked.

  "They took off across the desert that way," she said pointing north.

  "Get the horses, please. We need to run them down."

  "Let them go, Wayne. I think one had only a machete, and the other a pistol."

  I thought about it for a bit. "I guess you are right. If they come back here during daylight hours, we can drop them at a distance. If it is at night, we can stand watch."

  "Let me see your shoulder, Wayne."

  I put the 9mm in my waistband next to the .45 as Julie unbuttoned my shirt and pulled it off of my shoulder. "I think the bullet passed clear through. The hole is a lot bigger on the back of your shoulder though."

  "Hollow point?" I asked.

  "Maybe. Let me get the bleeding stopped."

  We walked back to the table where everyone except Yeti were gathered once more. Bill still lay face down where he had fallen. It was obvious he was dead. Becky was upset and Martha was trying to console her.

  "Bill?" I asked Slim.

  "Gone," he said, "never knew what hit him."

  "Can you gather up all of the guns and ammunition the intruders had and bring them here to the table," I asked.

  "Sure thing," Slim said and he and Yolanda went to do just that. Julie placed pads made from one of her cut up blouses on my shoulder and tied it off with strips of the same cloth. The shoulder hurt. I suspected it would hurt even more later. I walked over to Yeti.

  "Yeti, are you all right?" I asked. Yeti was carefully watching where the two men disappeared into the mesquite. I noticed he chose a spot where a rise in the ground gave him cover and a good view. Smart boy.

  "I'm fine Wayne. I think I killed one though."

  "Two I think, maybe three," I said. "I thought you didn't know how to shoot."

  "I don't really. That was the first real gun I have ever fired. I play video games, first person shooter games to be exact. The guns are very realistic in some of those games so I know how they work."

  "Are you good at the games?" I asked.

  "Yes, I am world class at most of them," He paused. "It is a hell of a lot harder in real life though."

  "Yes it is." I put my hand on his shoulder. I was very proud of this boy who was so rapidly growing into a man.

  "How did you get to be so good a shot?"

  "I'm not," I said.

  "You didn't miss. Not one single shot. You didn't miss. Were you in the military?"

  "No. My pa-in-law taught me how to shoot."

  "Who is your pa-in-law?"

  "Cap Williams," I said.

  "My God," Yeti sputtered. "Cap Williams is a legend. I have read books about him."

  "You are kidding. There are books about Cap?" I had never seen a book about Cap and Lucy had never mentioned it.

  "Yeah, your pa-in-law is famous. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in Vietnam."

  "I didn't know that either. Cap doesn't talk about himself at all."

  "No wonder you can shoot," Yeti said. "Wow!"

  "Yeti, are you OK? Did you get hit?"

  "No, I am fine. I don't think those guys could shoot very well."

  "We were very lucky this time," I told him. "Sooner or later we are going to run into folks who are trained and disciplined. I am not sure how to handle that."

  While Slim dug a grave for Bill, I looked over the vehicles. The car was crap. At least one bullet cracked the block and another punctured the radiator. The next truck in line was also incapacitated. But the third truck, a 1953 Chevy, ran fine, even though it was full of bullet holes. I could tell that someone had lovingly restored it. I didn't think it was any of the men we encountered. I figured the owner of the truck was dead, probably murdered.

  I also looked over the guns recovered from the bandits that Slim and Yolanda stacked on the table. There were nine pistols, five shotguns, and five rifles. The pistols ranged from a .22 snub nose revolver, to a 44-40 single-action copy of an old Colt. Most interesting were two 9mms and a 40 caliber Glock. The shotguns were mostly single shots, with one Mossburg pump-action in the lot. The rifles were a .22 magnum Marlin bolt action, a 30-30 lever action Marlin, two AR variants in .223, and a scoped, bolt action 30-06 Savage.

  There was very little food in the vehicles. That meant these guys probably had a base they were planning on returning to, with loot no doubt. Even in gasoline-powered vehicles, they would have been stupid to try to cross the flats between the Rio Grande and the mountains to the east without enough food and water. Of course, they may have been just that stupid.

  There was not much gasoline in any of the vehicles. For now, if one was sufficiently mechanical, there was plenty of gasoline to be had in the tanks of disabled cars scattered along the roads, so that probably didn't matter.

  When I was done with the inventory, I asked Yeti to keep watch. Julie and one of women were busy stripping the dead men of anything useful, and then using one of the horses and a rope to drag the bodies away. I noticed that Julie's helper was carrying a shotgun, as was Julie.

  Yeti helped Slim finish digging the grave for Bill. They hit a hard caliche layer at three feet. Slim shrugged and said, "that will have to do."

  We gathered at the table after the funeral. Nobody said a word, so I spoke first. "Folks, we will be pulling out in the morning. Do you know what you are going to do?"

  Becky said, "I am staying with my Bill. I won't leave him!"

  "We are staying too," Slim said. Yolanda nodded agreement.

  Martha said, "I don't know. I just don't know what to do. I like it here."

  "There may be others who come meaning harm," I said.

  "Yeah, we know," Slim said. "I guess we will just take our chances."

  "Well then, how do we divide the spoils?"

  "Spoils?" Slim asked.

  "The stuff those guys had. It is now ours."

  "Oh," Slim responded. "I hadn't even thought about that."

  After a while we had it all figured out, mostly because Julie and I told them what they needed to keep. They were a pliable people, I think in part because they were in shock. They were a self-sufficient lot though. They had to be to live the way they did.

  We left them the truck and several of the guns. I was afraid that the truck might draw too much attention if we took it. It would also limit our ability to escape off-road. There might be a time when we wanted a few gas burners in our caravan, but right now wasn't that time. Besides, they needed the truck to haul water. All of the water they used was hauled in. Even when I pointed out that hauling water would be difficult when the truck gave up the ghost, they were adamant about staying. In the end, I think they craved familiarity even more than survival.

  We filled our water containers from Slim's 500-gallon water tank, as well as another ten one-gallon jugs that Slim gave us. He also came up with a jacket that went over my shoulders with much room to spare
, and another for Yeti. Becky gave Julie one of Bill's old jackets as well. It was heavier than hers.

  "Those big jackets belonged to Stubs. He lived in that trailer," Slim pointed to a small travel trailer a few hundred feet away in the mesquite. "Stubs died last winter. He was a big man, a really big man, though not so tall as you guys."

  I looked at the trailer and wondered how Stubs even got through the door. "Would you mind if we looked at his shoes to see if any might fit us?"

  "Go ahead," Slim said, looking down at my feet. "Stubs had pretty big feet, although maybe not as large as yours."

  It turned out that Stubs wore a size 13 EEEEEE. All he had were sneakers. Yeti could wear them, although they were a bit wide for him. I tried a pair on and my toes hit the end before I could slip my heel in the shoe. My wingtips would have to last a while longer.

  We took three pair of sneakers for Yeti, as well as some wide socks that we found. Yeti and I could both wear the socks. My single pair already had holes in the heels and toes. Julie was in pretty good shape as she was wearing her best boots and they still had a lot of miles left in them.

  We loaded our cart with the extra guns and ammunition. I also traded a small pistol and a box of cartridges to Becky for all of the cigarettes Bill left behind. There were several cartons, as well as a few cheap butane lighters.

  Julie looked at me kind of funny when I put them in the cart. "I didn't know you smoked, Wayne?"

  "I don't. None of us do. But they might come in handy."

  "OK," I could see Julie was a little puzzled. She hadn't connected the cigarettes to my plan, and having been raised in the high desert, she knew that carrying a bunch of extra stuff was not always a good idea. However, the cigarettes were lightweight so she didn't say anything about it.