by Payne, T. L.
Beth kept scrolling through her news feed, hoping for more news. She tapped on contacts, selected Maddie’s cell number, and pressed the call button. The call failed, so she couldn’t even leave a voicemail. She opened her message app and typed a message to Maddie and Zach, then tapped the send button. She waited. A moment later, a message appeared telling her that delivery had failed.
Beth buried her head in her hands. Being cut off from her children during a national emergency was beyond any heartache she had ever experienced. Rocking back and forth, she tried to control her panic. She repeatedly tapped the message’s send button, hoping desperately that it would go through.
Placing her hands on the counter, Beth pulled herself to her feet. She ran her hands through her hair. Her mind wanted to go numb, but she couldn't give in to that. Walking over to the sink, she washed her face and dried off with a kitchen towel. She heard a news anchor discussing the shelter in place order and headed back to the den.
Frank was unusually quiet as he and Beth sat staring at the television screen. All anyone could say was that no one knew what the damage was throughout the rest of the country. All planes had been grounded, and a state-wide curfew had been ordered. No one was allowed out of their homes except essential personnel.
It was hours before news reports came in about the blackout caused by the EMP. A so-called expert explained the effects of an EMP detonated at a three-hundred-mile altitude. As far as they had determined, the unaffected areas include parts of California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. Beth didn’t need to listen to the rest. She understood the effects of an EMP. Her deceased husband, Greg had studied it as one of the possible scenarios he foresaw happening.
She was cut off from her children and her current husband, Jason. She was two thousand miles away, and there was nothing she could do to protect them. Worse yet, they were both away from home and separated from each other. Zach would have his teachers for help and support, but Maddie was stranded in an airport in a large, densely-populated city.
Beth paced the room. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t think of a single thing she could do to help her children or even try to get to them. The roads were shut down. The authorities weren’t allowing anyone to travel. Walking two thousand miles without any gear was impossible.
“Beth? Where are you, Beth?”
“I’m right here, Mom. I'm coming.”
No matter how desperately she wanted to get home to her children, she knew she could not leave her dying mother, and it would be foolish to go alone anyway. She wouldn’t make it out of California, let alone across four states of chaos and devastation.
Even though every cell in her body wanted to get to her children, she’d have to stay there and care for her parents.
Also by T. L. Payne
Fall of Houston Series
No Way Out
No Other Choice
No Turning Back
No Surrender (Per-order Now!)
No Man’s Land (Coming Soon!)
The Days of Want Series
Turbulent
Hunted
Turmoil
Uprising
Upheaval
Mayhem
Defiance (Coming Summer 2021!)
The Gateway to Chaos Series
Seeking Safety
Seeking Refuge
Seeking Justice
Seeking Hope
Seeking Sanctuary (Coming Soon!)
About the Author
T. L. Payne is the author of the bestselling Days of Want, Gateway to Chaos, and Fall of Houston series. T. L. lives and writes in the Mark Twain National Forest of region of Missouri. T. L. enjoys many outdoor activities including kayaking, rockhounding, metal detecting, and fishing the many rivers of the area.
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