Have Hope: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller (The Pulse Book 1)

by Hayden James

  “That sounds amazing!” Madison shouted. “Do you think this is a CME, dad?”

  William responded, “I’m not sure. Your grandpa said that an attack on our power grid, either from the sun or from a rogue nation would do the most damage. It would send our society into a tailspin of anarchy. I hope he is not right.” William started off, realizing that the stories his dad had told him were coming to fruition.

  “Wow! I had no idea we had such a thorough prepper in the family,” proudly added Addison. “Why don’t we see him that often? He’s right there next to Liam in Nashville, isn’t he?”

  “Well, grandpa’s hobby was what tore us apart. After my mom died, being prepared for the apocalypse was all that he cared about.” William’s heart sunk at the name Liam. “Shit! Liam,” William muttered. “Sorry, you two. I try not to curse in front of you.” William rummaged through his pockets for his cell phone. “Let me try him.” William attempted to turn on his cell phone, but the cell phone remained dark and unresponsive. “Damn, my cell phone still doesn’t work. Let me go try the house phone.”

  William went into the kitchen where the only landline in the house was kept. He put the handset to his hear, hoping to hear a dial tone. The phone was completely silent, “Shit!” he yelled, in an effort to show his frustration, not in front of his twins.

  William returned to the living room where Maddy and Addy sat and waited on the couch with Regis.

  “Any luck?” Addy asked.

  “No,” William uttered as worry consumed his body. “God, I pray Liam is all right,” exclaimed William. “I’m sure your mom is fine. She would have been in an office building. They should be sheltering there, I hope. If she is not back by morning, we are going to go search for her and then Liam.

  Chapter Three

  Liam Conner

  The Wagon Wheel

  Nashville, TN

  11:10 AM

  “Hey man, you'll need to set up after this Prue is done with her set. Is everyone here?” asked the live talent manager of The Wagon Wheel.

  “Joey, the drummer is running late, but he should be here any minute,” replied Liam, looking nervous that his band mate is running behind. Especially since he had finally scored a gig where the cap was greater than twenty. The Wagon Wheel was known for the random label executive to make an appearance after work, and since Roger Sandstone left to go on a tour, this freed up Friday night. Liam who worked at a server at The Wagon Wheel, one of Nashville’s top live music venues, he jumped at the chance to book the first Friday night from Roger’s absence.

  Liam kept checking his cell phone and eyeing the door, waiting for Joey to walk through. The Wagon Wheel was similar to an abandoned warehouse, as it was below ground and had no windows. This was not a good look for him. Davey, the bass guitarist was hoping for his big break since he formed the band with Liam, the lead vocalist and guitarist and Joey, the drummer by placing an ad in the paper. These three gelled when they met at Davey’s open rehearsal six months ago. Since then, they had been practicing and rehearsing for their big break, and Davey was certain that later tonight would be it for them.

  “When is Joey going to get here?” Davey turned to Liam and asked.

  “He said he was on his way twenty minutes ago, I keep waiting for him to come through the door. We have to set up his drum set right after this rehearsal,” replied Liam.

  The two sit at two chairs at a small table by the bar waiting for Prue to finish her set and Joey to come through the doors.

  “You got our band art to the venue?” Davey asked.

  “Yeah, I gave it to them Monday during my shift. They’ve been promoting us and Prue Dint all week,” explained Liam.

  “Fantastic, she’s really got talent. She’ll get signed in no time,” Davey said while both men watched Prue Dint sing her closing song. Her blonde tresses tousled over her shoulders as she belted out the lyrics to the final verse before bridging to the chorus of her latest single.

  Both Liam and Davey seemed mesmerized by her. Prue’s song almost came to a close just as the warehouse became engulfed in darkness. The lights went dark and the power for the entire bar went out. The bar was completely black.

  “Damn it!” Davey shouted. “Just before we were about to go on.”

  “Well, look at the bright side, at least now we have time for Joey to get here and it won’t ruin our chance of ever performing her again,” said Liam.

  “Give him a call and see where he is. Don’t let him know the power is out at the Wheel, or he’ll take his sweet time. Let him know we are about to go on,” Davey commanded. Davey, being the leader of the band was accustomed to barking out orders.

  Barely able to see in the darkness, Liam reach for his phone and nodded his head and dialed Joey. Expecting to see his phone light up, panic surged through his veins after he saw his phone did not respond. He said to Davey, “Weird. My phone is not working. Call from yours.”

  Davey reached for his phone from his pocket, only to find that it was unresponsive as well. “Mine won’t work either.”

  The bar manager and wait staff had checked their phones and became alarmed when they realize that they were rendered useless. The same panic that Liam and Davey felt went through each person at The Wagon Wheel as everyone realized their phones were fried.

  “Oh no! We got to get out of here,” shouted Davey. “Now!” Both Davey and Liam darted for the door, in the pitch black darkness, which only heightened Liam’s anxiety.

  “Ouch!” Liam shouted after his head smacked into another head while he ran. “Are you all right?” Liam asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll have a lump, that’s for sure,” a familiar voice responded.

  “Prue?” Liam asked.

  “Yeah. Who are you?”

  “Liam,” he said while he grabbed her hand, barely making out the outline of her body. “We have got to get out of here now. I’ll lead the way, just hold on tight.”

  Liam fought his way through the crowd, holding tightly to Prue’s perspiration made her hand slippery, but Liam never let go. They both made it outside of The Wagon Wheel where crowds of people stood outside, wondering what was going on.

  Not one car on the road was moving. Liam suggested, “Let’s move over here and let me see if I can find Davey.” As they moved over to the side of the building, they both saw cars bursting into flames.

  “This is crazy!” Prue shouted. “What is going on?” Prue bordered on near hysterics as she took in the chaos that engulfed the city that she had grown to love. Prue had made her way down to Nashville from Spartanburg, South Carolina when she turned eighteen. Now twenty, she had felt like Nashville was her home, where she was meant to be. Despite being in Nashville for two years, she did not really know her way around.

  Liam watched the crowd exit the door from the side curb next to Prue, looking for Davey’s face. “I don’t see him,” Liam muttered. “He’s the band leader and an awesome bassist,” added Liam. “I think we should probably figure out what to do. I’m sure Davey will be fine.”

  “I hear you guys are really good,” Prue commended. “I was excited to hear that you were going on after me in the Friday line up.”

  Liam blushed and replied, “Your rehearsal was amazing. You really have it.”

  “It?” Prue asked.

  “Yes. You have it. I don’t know what it is, but whatever it is, you have it,” Liam clarified.

  Prue blushed and replied, “Thanks, that means a lot.”

  “Who do you live here with? Family? Boyfriend? Husband?”

  Prue chuckled, “Funny, none of the above. I live with two other roommates. I moved to Nashville two years ago. My family is back in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I see them for the holidays. How about you?”

  “I came down here a year ago from Indianapolis. I live with roommates as well,” responded Liam.

  “So we are both alone in Nashville?” Prue asked.

  “I guess we are,” answered Liam. “I think we should stick together until
we figure out what’s going on.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Where should we go?”

  “Where do you live?” asked Liam.

  “Melrose. You?”

  “Music Row, it’s in walking distance. There’s no way you’d make it home while the public transit is out,” Liam concluded.

  “Why are there fires all over the place? It looks like freakin Armageddon,” said Prue. “It’s really starting to freak me out.”

  “Right, and since the cars aren’t working, there're no sirens or firetrucks. Armageddon might be right.”

  “Let’s head this way and make our way to my apartment,” suggested Liam. As the pair walked among the crowd, Liam noticed a police officer standing outside of his squad car. “Hey! There's a police officer up ahead, maybe we can find out what is going on here.”

  As the two approached the officer outside of the police cruiser, throngs of people surrounded the officer. “What is going on?” a man shouted at the cop.

  The officer responded, “Everyone, return to your homes and stay inside. We are investigating the cause of this. We don’t have any answers right now. The only thing I can assure you is that you will be safest in your homes with the doors locked.”

  The same man injected, “The police never have any answers. This department is a disgrace. I can’t believe my tax dollars pay for this crap!”

  “Everyone go home. You will be safe there. We will get to the bottom of this, I can assure you,” The police officer reiterated.

  A woman in the crowd yelled, “Nashville’s finest at their best!”

  Unsatisfied with the answers from the police officer, the crowd became rowdier, pushing against the squad car. Prue and Liam linger for a bit, hoping the cop would shed some light as to what type of catastrophe this was. Standing at the edge of the crowd that encircled the officer, they watched the crowd begin to rock the police car.

  “Everyone! For your safety, disperse now! This is an order!” the police officer shouted and removed the gun from his holster, raising his arm into the air and firing a warning shot.

  “Quick, let’s get out of here!” Liam shouted, pulling Prue’s arm in the direction of his apartment. “I don’t want to be around when this crowd gets even more violent that they already had gotten. Plus, I live right down this street,” Liam said pointing to 15th Street.

  “That's great you live down in the middle of it all. You must really love the music scene,” said Prue as they turned the corner, oblivious to the danger that Liam had just led them from.

  “I really enjoy it,” responded Liam attempting to ease the mood. “I work at The Wagon Wheel as a server and I was so excited to land the gig. I don’t think we are going on tonight.”

  “You don’t?” Prue responded facetiously.

  Liam looked around at the crowds moving down the streets that ran perpendicular to 15th, the stopped cars in the streets, and the sporadic car and building fires that gave off plumes of black smoke everywhere. He replied, “Yeah, don’t think so,” he took one of his hands from his brown leather jacket gesturing to the staircase that was on the side of the apartment building. “Up to this way, second floor.”

  Prue chuckled as the two headed up the stairs of Liam’s apartment building. As they neared the front door and Liam went to unlock it he mentioned, “Kenny should be home.”

  Liam led the way into the small and messy apartment where Liam shared with two roommates, Kenny and Hank. “Oh, hey Kenny,” Liam said as he saw Kenny sitting on the couch in the dimly light apartment. The sunlight peeked through the blinds, but they were drawn making the apartment appear dark.

  “Hey man!” Kenny answered. “Who’s the chick? She’s really hot. You know what happens during blackouts?”

  “It’s not like that,” Liam dismissed Kenny’s assumptions of what Liam’s intentions were. Liam turned to Prue and said, “Sorry for him. He has no self-awareness.”

  Prue responded, “I get it all the time, no biggie.”

  “Did you see what is going on out there?” Liam asked Kenny.

  “I looked through the window. Just saw crowds walking down the street. I figured it was one of those women’s rights marches again. So I decided to go back and smoke my bowl.”

  Liam whispered to Prue, “He’s a gem.” Prue laughed and nodded, appreciating the comedic relief on such a dreadful day. “Let’s go to my room and figure this out.” Liam led Prue down the hall to his room by the hand.

  “I told you what they do during these blackouts. This is when babies are made,” shouted Kenny. “Next time bring one for me. Then I can smoke out and get laid.”

  Hearing this, Liam walked faster dragging Prue behind him before slamming the door shut. The two of them sat on the floor. Liam broke the silence, “So, where do we go from here?”

  “I don’t have a clue. Eventually, I’m going to need to make it back to my place to check on Chewy,” answered Prue.

  “Chewy?” Liam asked.

  “Yes, my chihuahua. I’m going to need to make sure he’s all right. He should be fine for now,” explained Prue.

  “All right, we are going to have to get to Melrose and check on Chewy.” Liam paused for a second and then asked, “So, what’s your real name? I know you go by Prue Dint on stage, but what is your actual name?”

  Turning red, Prue replied, “Prue Dint.”

  Liam chuckled and then responded, “Your real name is Prue Dint? like prudent? What were your parents thinking?”

  “Very funny.”

  “No, I’m serious is that your real name?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “No way!”

  “Did you want to see my birth certificate or something? My name is Prue Dint. My parents thought they were being clever when they came up with it. I actually hate it and my parents were cruel for doing this to me. Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever told them how much I hate my name.”

  “That’s horrible that you hate your name,” empathized Liam. “But, it does make for a great stage name. I mean, I thought you came up with it and that your real name was Sally Meyers or something forgettable like that.”

  “I guess it works on stage. Never thought of it that way.”

  “It’s all about marketing,” joked Liam. “Wait, a second. I think I have a radio.”

  “A radio? A radio won’t work. All electronics are fried,” argued Prue.

  “No, it’s a wind-up radio. My crazy grandpa gave it to me this past Christmas. He also gave me a backpack full of freeze-dried food. I thought it was weird at the time, but now I’m thinking it might just come in handy. When he gave it to me, I was hoping it was the new studio mic I’d ask for, but it was this radio, which I was certain I would never use. My dad told me to pretend as I loved it and that I was going to use it, so I did. It helped ease the tension between my grandpa and my dad. Their relationship was never the same since my grandma passed away.”

  “Sorry to hear that,” empathized Prue. Then she paused for a moment and laughed at the thought of hoping the gift was a top-notch microphone when it was a wind-up radio and a backpack of freeze-dried food. Giggling at the strange family dynamic, she said, “So, you have a crazy grandpa?”

  Liam started digging around in his closet, looking for the radio and the backpack. He replied, “Yeah, he and my dad had a falling out when my grandma died. That’s when he went off the deep end. My grandpa started getting more obsessed about prepping for the zombie apocalypse and it really put a rift between my dad and him. It is like my grandpa is obsessed. It’s all he talks about is when a catastrophe happens and there will be anarchy and looters filling the streets.”

  Prue responded, “Well, right now that doesn’t seem to be too far off.”

  “You have a point.” A few moments later after Liam rustled through his entire closet, “Found it! I put it way in the back. Didn’t think I’d be using this, ever.”

  He joined Prue on the middle of his bedroom floor. While he wound up the radio to generate the
electricity, Prue rummaged through the freeze-dried loot.

  “You got some good stuff here,” Prue commented.

  Liam stopped the winding and turned on the radio. After flipping through several channels, he was able to find a local AM station broadcasting. “This station is weird,” said Liam.

  “Yeah, it seems like an amateur job. I mean all of the dead air,” replied Prue.

  They listened further to that station since it was the only one that they were able to get. “Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare for the end times,” the DJ’s voice announced over the radio waves.

  “Obviously, this is some whack job spreading his doomsday fear,” Prue interrupted.

  The DJ’s voice continued, “This is the time of vicious violence, extreme hunger, and the collapse of society. Our Lord has revealed time and time again to our prophets that the world will come to an end. Now is that time. God will resurrect the righteous. The signs that the world is coming to the end have been blatant and in plain sight. Heed to this warning, for we all will die, but only those who believe will be resurrected.”

  “Liam, turn this off. I can’t listen to it,” Prue said as she turned away. “This is obviously some amateur nut job who is broadcasting from his bunker basement and taking advantage of the feebleminded who are scared out of their minds. I can’t listen to this anymore.”

  Liam turned off the radio and looked down for a moment. “Prue, what if he’s right?”

  Day Two

  Chapter Four

  Rachel Conner

  Residence of Mischa Miller

  Louisville, KY

  6:45 AM

  “Oh goodness, I was hoping this was all a bad dream,” Rachel said to herself as she came out of her light sleep, realizing she was in Mischa’s guest bedroom. Rachel awoke from a shallow slumber on the hard mattress that Mischa graciously offered for her to stay in. The sunlight came over the horizon and the City of Louisville was beginning to stir and realize the gravity of what occurred.