His head fell against the steering wheel while he allowed himself a short moment of panic. Then, with determination, he scrambled out of the vehicle, threw the backpack back on, cinched up the straps, and took off at jog down their private road with only the moonlight to guide him.
He didn’t know where Tucker had been and thus had no direction. The rock in his stomach twisted, almost causing him to retch. How much had he missed of his son’s life?
Ten minutes. The words repeated in his head, pulling his thoughts back to the mission. Kris said she would be down there in ten minutes. Down. Tucker’s friend must live in Forest Glen. Immediately, maps spread out in his mind. If he cut through the properties west of the highway, he might shave off a good mile or two. Yet, what if he missed them?
He ground his teeth and would have growled, but he needed his all his breath at this moment as he ran down their private road. Once he hit the main road he turned left to travel down to the highway. He couldn’t take the chance of passing them. He hoped that Kris would stick to the highway. Knowing her fear of the dark, he could assume she wouldn’t push into the gloomy forests unless she had to.
As he came into view of the more populated neighborhoods, he realized how difficult it might actually be to make it through to them. People shouted, asking their neighbors if they knew what was going on. You don’t want to know. Better they don’t. Mass hysteria would only make it more difficult for him to reach his family.
“Hey! Hey!” A man ran out to the road, shouting at him. “Do you know what the hell’s going on?”
Blake kept his pace and shrugged, feeling the reassuring weight of his pistol hugging him as he jogged.
“Why are you running? What’s going on?” Anger filled the man’s voice. Blake knew that was the fear talking.
He needed to get to Tucker and Kris. Stopping would ruin his pace.
“I’m going to check. It’s probably just a power surge.” He did his best to keep his voice calm and reassuring.
“Oh, great. Another week without power, just what we need.” The man lifted a hand before grumbling his way back towards his house. “It’s probably going to start another wildfire, too.”
Sweat beaded on Blake’s forehead. He swiped at it before it slipped into his eyes and glanced back once to make sure the man had gone back to his home. Hopefully, he would spread the word and ease the fears of the others. As much as he didn’t like to lie, delaying the mass panic would benefit everyone. Besides, it hadn’t been a full falsehood. A power surge definitely caused the transformers to blow and their power to go out. At this point, they didn’t need to know that there was something bigger behind that surge.
The rhythm of his feet pounding the pavement soon gave way to the almost meditative state that overcame him on long runs. His mind used the time to decipher the clues of what the cause actually was. If it had been a nuclear attack, there would be other signs and death.
Blake shook his head. He couldn’t go there. Power surges. Exploding transformers. Cars out of commission. Must be an EMP, a dreaded device that would take out a country's electrical grid and other electrical components as well. What was the game plan, though? Would the attackers come out right away, or would they wait until most of the population died off in the struggle and then take advantage?
Simmons’ words echoed in him: get lost in the aftermath. Blake shivered. Why hadn’t the country’s leaders done more to prepare their citizens?
He turned off the tree-lined road and right down the highway. The skies opened up in a clearing, and the colors filling them shocked him so much he almost stopped running...almost.
It wasn't an attack from another country but from the earth itself, a natural disaster. Not an EMP, a CME. Coronal Mass Ejection, the scientist he had guarded during the last global safety meeting had told him. He knew about these solar storms from shows on the Science Channel, but this scientist had even more doomsday information. For once, things were actually worse than what the TV shows portrayed.
CMEs were like a nature-made EMP. There was a massive one recorded back in the eighteen-hundreds that took out all the telegraph lines, electrocuting the operators and starting fires across the country. The scientist’s prediction of a similar CME attack hitting the electrically-dependent nation today was almost too horrifying to believe. Pretty much anything electrical would no longer function, or worse would explode, affecting the population in such a way that even after the immediate threat would leave them without power, water, and food. Civilization would break down, leaving people grasping onto life and fighting each other for the chance of survival on meager resources.
A softness entered his heart as he thought of watching the documentary with Tucker nestled against him on the couch. That boy loved watching natural disaster and survival shows almost as much as he did. It was probably unnatural for a five-year-old to be interested in such things, but Blake saw it as a good thing and used his interest to prepare him for what he knew would eventually come.
Tucker had looked over at Blake with wide eyes, which had made Blake feel like he looked into a mirror. “What if that mega solar storm happens, Dad?”
“We’ll be prepared, Tuck.”
“But what if you’re on one of your assignments?” His bottom lip had trembled, making Blake wish he had chosen a different profession. Yet, he had one more assignment, just one.
“Son, let me tell you something. No matter where you are or what happens, I will move heaven and earth to find you.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.” He had made his voice as grave as he could, wanting to make the boy understand he would do anything to keep him safe. “We always return to each other.”
“We always return to each other.” Tuck had thrown his arms around his neck then.
Longing filled Blake with the memory. What he wouldn’t give to feel those little arms around his neck right now. He evened his breath and then pushed his legs faster. He would keep his promise. Nothing would stop him from finding his family.
~4~
The night became silent the farther from town they traveled. Kris held her son’s hand, encouraging him to keep moving. The colorful auroras and almost full moon lit the road, but the darkness loomed beyond the highway into the forests.
Kris focused her eyes on the road as far as she could see ahead. She did her best not to look into the blackness and wonder what lurked in there. No matter how much time she had spent camping in the woods, she never outgrew her fear of the all-consuming darkness that could be found in them. Of course, when Blake stood by her side, fear didn’t enter into the equation. She had always felt safe with him.
A flash of anger fueled her. How could she still long to have him protect her when he had deserted them for so long without a word?
“Mommy, I’m tired.” Tucker pulled on her hand as his steps slowed, and he dragged his feet.
If it wasn’t for the fact that she felt they were running for their lives, she would be amused by the situation, her dragging her son down the highway an hour before midnight in his footie pajamas. She stopped walking and knelt down to his level, allowing him a momentary break.
“I know, Sweetie. This isn’t easy, and it’s way past your bedtime. You are being so tough.” She kissed his forehead as she slipped the backpack off his shoulders. “Do you have any water or snacks in here?”
“You know I always carry those and that multi-tool Daddy gave me. Though I have to hide that from my teachers. They aren’t allowed at school.”
“You bring your multi-tool to school?” A lecture formed on her tongue, but the look in her son’s eyes stopped the words. This was not the time. She sifted through his backpack, and pulled out a water and a protein bar. “You are a very prepared boy, you know that?”
He nodded. “It always pays to be prepared.” He mimicked his dad’s words.
“You definitely saved us.” She made a catalog of all that filled his pack: clothes, a few more snacks, a small first aid kit, a
whistle, another bottle of water, an emergency blanket, a small wind-up flashlight, and his multi-tool. “Are you warm enough? Do you want to put on some of your clothes?”
He shook his head. “I just want to go home.”
“I know, Sweetie. Just a few more miles.” Though, as she calculated in her head, it was more like six and all up hill. Their house was a good fifteen hundred feet higher than Forest Glen, and the further up they traveled, the colder the air. “Eat a few bites of bar to get a little boost of energy.”
He methodically did as he was told, but she assumed his exhaustion overran his fear of the position they were in. “Dad will find us, won’t he?”
Kris thought about her response. She warred with the idea herself. Part of her hoped every shadow she saw in the distance would be Blake running toward them. The other part jutted her chin out and told her that they didn’t need someone who might abandon them at any moment.
“We’re going to be okay, Sweetie. We’ll be home before you know it. How about we sing the Ants Go Marching while we walk to help distract us?”
“Okay.” He rewrapped the bar with only a couple bites out of it and handed it to her.
She stuffed it into her pants pocket, gave him a drink from the water bottle, took one herself, and then put that into the backpack before slinging the pack over her shoulder.
Tucker reached for her hand and started singing the first verse of the song. She forced herself to sing along with him, pretending they were on a night hike.
When Blake had been home, he had made it a tradition to go on a night hike every full moon. It had become a family outing that they all looked forward to. She had done her best to continue the tradition, but it pushed her limits. The hikes had become much shorter and designated to out their long driveway and back.
She tried to keep her mind busy as they walked up the highway. Every shadow that flickered sent her heart hammering. Blake had all sorts of ideas of the mayhem society would turn into after a catastrophe like this. He expected everyone to go crazy right away, to riot and attack their fellow men. It had been a fun discussion with them sitting on opposite sides.
Yet, right now, alone on a deserted highway in the dead of night, his ominous view-point threatened her peace of mind.
“Mommy, you stopped singing.”
“Sorry, Sweetie. What number are we on?” She focused on Tucker again.
“Never mind. I’m too tired to sing anymore anyway.”
Kris watched her young son, so wise and knowledgeable beyond his years. Maybe she shouldn’t have given Blake such a difficult time about preparing him.
Her feet ached. When rushing out to get Tucker, she had shoved her feet into slip-on shoes, and the soles felt worn through already. She shifted the backpack on her shoulders as her son dragged his feet once again.
“Come here, Tuck. I’ll carry you for a while.”
She hefted him up as he hugged her like a little koala. He had grown so much over this last year. Weighing over fifty pounds now, his body pushed on her hips and back. She wouldn’t be able to carry him for long, but for now, she soaked in the feeling of his arms around her and his sweet-smelling head lying on her shoulder.
Each step up the steep hill took more out of her until finally she felt like she couldn’t carry him one more step.
“Okay, Sweetie, I have to put you down now.”
“No,” he murmured, and she realized he had fallen asleep.
Her chest squeezed. She wished she could carry him the whole way home, but her back screamed in protest and her legs refused to move.
“I’m sorry, I have to.” She squatted to put him down, but he only wrapped around her tighter. “Tucker, please.” She looked across the distance, fighting back the tears. She just wanted to be cuddling at home in their warm beds, not forcing him to walk in the middle of the night with who-knows-what going on.
Her blurry eyes caught a glow further up the highway. She blinked several times until the glow focused into a fire...a car fire. Someone else’s car caught on fire?
Adrenaline spiked within her. She pushed her body up, with Tuck still clinging to her, until she stood and moved her feet towards the burning vehicle. Where were the occupants? Just then, she saw a lone woman rocking back and forth on the opposite side of the road watching her car slowly burn.
“Tucker, someone needs our help. We need to see if she’s hurt. Can you help me?”
Finally, his little arms loosened, and he slipped to the ground. “Is she burnt? I have my first aid kit.” Even groggy, he showed compassion.
She kissed her sweet son on his head and grasped his hand. “Let’s go see.” They walked a few more yards before she called out to the lady. “Hello! Are you okay?”
The lady lifted her head and looked around until her eyes found Kris and Tucker.
She’s just a kid! Kris picked up her pace, Tucker following only a step behind.
The girl shot up onto her feet and ran to meet them. “I don’t know what I did wrong! It just started stuttering and then smoking, and then flames came out of the hood! I barely got out before it consumed the whole thing.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m Kris. This is Tucker. What’s your name?”
“Hannah.” She looked down the road where they had come from. “Wait...why are you walking down the highway?” She took a step back, her face paling even further.
“Our car caught fire, too, just outside of Forest Glen.”
“Really?” She looked up into the sky and jabbed a finger towards the aurora. “Do those have anything to do with this?”
“It’s probably a solar storm.” Tucker nodded. “It can make all things electrical explode.”
“Are you for real?” Hannah gave Tucker an unsure glance.
“Yes, he is.” Kris looked the girl over. “You hurt at all?”
“My hand is a little burnt. I tried to get back in for my phone...” She showed them her open hand where an angry red welt sliced across her palm.
Tucker pulled at the backpack on Kris’s shoulders. “I’ve got a first aid kit. I’ll patch that right up.”
“He’s a pretty incredible kid,” the teenager said while Tucker search the bag for his kit.
“Yes, he is. I’m pretty lucky.” Kris’s heart warmed as she watched her son.
“Yeah, I’ve got a cousin about his age and he isn’t near as cool.”
“Where were you headed, Hannah?” Kris asked.
“Home. My dad’s going to be pissed.” She watched as Tucker spread out the contents of the first aid kit, sounding out what the tubes said.
“Burn cream!”
Kris smiled at her son as she took the cream and gingerly covered Hannah’s burns.
“Your dad won’t care about the car or anything else once he sees you’re okay.”
“Maybe,” she said with a wince as Kris covered her burn with the gauze Tucker handed her.
“You make a great medical assistant, Tuck. Once again, your preparedness has saved us.” Kris kissed his cheek, handing him the medical tape back.
Tucker smiled and then dug in his pack again. “Water?” he asked as he handed Hannah an unopened bottle.
“Thanks.” She took the bottle with her left hand and guzzled about half of it. “My throat’s raw. I screamed for help for like twenty minutes.”
“Not many houses around here,” Kris said as she scanned the forest around them.
“Why didn’t you start walking?” Tucker asked.
Hannah’s eyes flickered over to the dark woods beyond her burning car. “You’re not scared of the dark, Tucker?”
“Nope.” He shook his head.
Kris knew different. He acted brave, but that was why the night walks started: to get him accustomed to the dark. He acted brave during them, but every night he ran screaming to her bed because of darkness.
“I don’t blame you for not wanting to walk alone. Want to join us?” Kris nodded her head towards the direction they had been traveling
.
“You don’t mind?” Hannah bit her lip.
“Of course not. I wouldn’t leave you here all by yourself. Where do you live?”
“Just past Thirteen Corners, across from the post office.”
Kris nodded. She knew exactly where she meant. There was a housing development up the road across from their town’s post office.
“Do you think there will be people at the gas station?” Hannah asked, hope lining her voice.
Kris shook her head. The only station between Forest Glen and her town of Cedar Ridge was an older gas station, but it closed at nine.
“Don’t worry. My daddy’s going to find us.” Tucker puffed his chest out as he said the words.
Kris’s heart lurched at the pride and hope filling Tucker’s eyes. She opened her mouth to say something and thought better of it. Hope might be the only thing that kept them going. She packed the bag back up, held her hand out for Tucker’s, and headed past Hannah’s burning car into the darkness.
Thirteen Corners was just past the gas station. The winding road was aptly named for the thirteen sharp turns in the creek canyon. That stretch of highway was overgrown with wild forest on both sides. The tall pines and firs would black out the moon and aurora-lit sky. A shiver coursed through her with the thought of the eerie almost-alive silence.
Hannah talked nonstop while they made their way up the highway. The wired teen told her all about coming from her boyfriend’s and the fight with her dad for staying out past her curfew. She talked about her classes in high school and asked Tucker about his school. She talked as if it would save her from insanity.
The constant chatter taxed Kris. She couldn’t think or plan with the constant need to reply. When the teen suddenly stopped mid-sentence, Kris looked up quickly.
The gas station’s neon sign still sparked, throwing embers into the night. All other lights were out. She sniffed the air, relieved when she couldn’t smell gasoline. She didn’t know if the old-school pumps had saved it or if there were failsafe to make sure the tanks and pumps would not be affected. Either way, gratefulness filled her.
Grant Us Mercy (Book 1): Grant Us Mercy Page 4
