by Harley Tate
Danny smiled. “That’s understandable given the circumstances.”
It is? Midge arched an eyebrow.
Danny stuck out his hand. “I’m Daniel Olsen, but you can call me Danny. And this is Midge.”
The woman looked at Midge and then back at Danny before taking his hand. “Jessica. And this is Caden.” She patted the carrier and the baby gurgled what could have been a laugh.
Danny launched into small talk like they were standing in line for a Frappuccino. “Are you from Chicago or just passing through?”
“My husband dropped me off on his way to work. I was on my way to my mother’s so she could meet Caden for the first time. But then the power went out and I was scared and…” Jessica trailed off and Danny reached out and squeezed her arm.
“It’s okay. You’re safe now. You can come with us.”
Midge’s jaw practically hit the floor. She can what?
“We’re heading down to the car rentals to try and get one. If we can snag a car, we’ll drop you off at your house so you’ll be safe with your husband.”
Both Danny and Jessica turned to Midge, waiting for her agreement. Like hell was she going to help some woman and her kid make it home. She had to get out of the airport and out of the city before a bomb turned it to radioactive dust.
She paused.
Radioactive dust. That’s what Danny, Jessica, and the baby who kept cooing at her would be if she walked away. Her father’s voice echoed in her head. What good deed have you done today, Margaret? Helping people is the glue that keeps society together.
He’d been a beat cop in Dallas, responding to everything from domestic disturbances to gang shootings. He was a good man and he would never have turned a mother and child away. Midge focused on the floor. It was his kindness that got him killed and what made Midge so fearful of others.
Could she look need in the face and turn her back? Not if she still wanted the name Sinclair, and deep down, she did. At last, she nodded. “You can come.”
Jessica exhaled in relief. “Thank you so much!” She plucked a diaper bag off the hook in the bathroom stall and took a hesitant step toward Midge. “I can’t tell you how much this means, your willingness to help. I don’t think I can brave the terminal on my own.”
Danny smiled again, but he looked at Midge when he answered. “Of course. It’s the right thing to do.”
Midge didn’t know if he was chastising her or commending her for agreeing, but she didn’t have time to figure it out. She needed a car and she needed it fast. As they all left the bathroom together, Midge steeled herself for what was to come. She hoped helping Jessica and Caden wouldn’t end up a huge mistake.
Chapter Five
MIDGE
Friday, 6:00 pm CST
Chicago O’Hare International Airport
Whoa. Midge stood at the top of the stalled escalator with Danny beside her. She’d seen videos of riots on YouTube with undulating throngs of people and police shooting canisters of tear gas. The scene inside O’Hare wasn’t that far off, minus the police.
Airline personnel used megaphones to communicate to hordes of stranded passengers while moms dragged crying children through the crowds and single business travelers cursed at the delays.
No wonder Jessica ran and hid in the bathroom. If Midge didn’t have a good reason to get out of the airport and out of Chicago, she might have done the same thing. She glanced up at Danny. “None of the displays are working.”
“The emergency power must not be strong enough.”
“Why haven’t they told everyone flights are grounded?”
“Maybe they have. Thousands of people connect through this airport every day. Most of the people you see could be stranded like me, all trying to get to another city. They don’t have anywhere to go.”
Midge exhaled and watched as a mother and father stood with their three small children huddled between them. They both had phones in their hands and were trying to make calls, but it was obvious from the frustration hunching their shoulders and creasing their brows that nothing worked.
Danny voiced the same concern Midge harbored. “The power outage must be enormous. Airports are usually some of the first places back online after hospitals.” He pulled up his phone. “I haven’t had service since we hit the ground. It makes no sense.”
With enough time and an internet connection, Midge could figure it out, but she didn’t have time for what could be a wild goose chase. She needed a car and she needed it now. A sign for ground transportation hung above her head and she pointed at it. “Rental cars should be this way. Let’s go.”
With Midge in the lead, Jessica and Caden in the middle, and Danny taking up the rear, the makeshift little group pushed their way through the crowds. Midge dodged past angry customers and crying children and made her way to another stalled escalator. Together, they made it to baggage claim with only minimal trouble. Despite the tension in the air, baby Caden didn’t seem to mind the journey. He bopped along in his carrier, chewing on his fist and drooling.
Midge wasn’t much for children; she’d never spent much time with babies, but so far, he hadn’t been a problem. She hoped his sunny disposition would continue. If he started crying or needed a change, they might lose their chance at a ride.
As they eased past a congested area full of passengers waiting for luggage, a shout cut above the din of conversation. A large man in a football jersey shoved another man into a stopped baggage carousel and he landed hard on his butt. Passengers stopped their conversations and converged around the pair as they traded punches. Midge wanted nothing to do with the spectacle. She hurried past the crowd, trying to go unnoticed.
The sign for rental cars still pointed ahead and Midge kept walking until Jessica grabbed her arm. “The taxi stand is right out here. I can take one home.”
Midge slowed. She didn’t want to take the time to find Jessica a taxi, but if it meant she was on her own again, she was willing to risk it.
Danny sounded dubious. “There can’t be any left by now.”
“Of course there will be. You know how many taxis there are in Chicago?” Jessica almost laughed and headed toward the exit. Midge and Danny hurried to follow.
As they stepped outside, the scene made no sense.
Taxi after taxi sat in the queue, the drivers chatting with each other in small groups or smoking cigarettes and leaning on the hoods. Hundreds of eager people crowded the taxi stand, shouting and pointing at the cars.
Unease trickled down Midge’s back. “What’s going on?”
“Wait somewhere safe. I’ll find out.” Before Midge could argue, Danny strode forward, edging past the throng. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet before motioning to a cabbie with a twenty-dollar bill. The cabbie dropped his cigarette on the ground and stubbed it out before walking over.
After talking for a few minutes, Danny handed the guy the money and hurried back to Midge and Jessica. His expression was grim. “None of the cabs work. The cabbie said all the newer cars are stalled out and won’t turn over. He saw an old El Camino putter by, but that’s it since the power went out.”
Midge exhaled and her shoulders fell. Some of her online friends were end-of-the-world types, always ranting about what would happen the day after tomorrow. For once, their crazy theories made sense.
“What is it? Do you know what’s going on?” Jessica’s voice teetered on the edge of panic.
Midge nodded. “It’s why the plane lost power and why there were so many crash-landings. Cars will be hopeless. The power grid, too. I don’t know why I didn’t see it immediately.” She smacked her palm against her temple. “I’m so dumb.”
Danny stepped forward. “Are you going to tell us what on earth is going on or do we have to guess?”
Midge chose her words carefully. “I think the city’s been hit with an EMP.”
“A what?” Jessica scrunched up her nose. “EMTs are the good guys.”
“Not an EMT. An EMP. An e
lectromagnetic pulse.”
Danny nodded slowly. “I think I read something about this.” He snapped his fingers as it came to him. “It was a report about how unprepared our country is for an attack. If a nuclear device is detonated high in the atmosphere, it can wipe out the entire power grid and most large-scale electronics. Small things like phones and computers will still work, but planes would be toast.” He looked back at the taxi stand. “Cars, too.”
“Did you say nuclear?” Jessica’s voice rose on each word. “Like a nuclear bomb?”
Danny reached out a calming hand. “Not like what you’re thinking. This one would be small and there’d be no risk of radiation.”
Jessica wasn’t comforted. She looked around, eyes wide. “Are you saying a terrorist did this? That we’re under attack, here, in Chicago?”
Midge couldn’t believe it had taken her so long to piece it together. The second the power failed on the airplane, she should have known. What she didn’t know was whether this was the start of the attack or the end. Had other cities been hit? Was the intel wrong and an EMP was the intended result instead of radiation?
She blinked. Or was this just the beginning? If an EMP was the first strike… She tuned out Danny and Jessica’s conversation and focused on what she knew. Twenty-five shipments, to all major cities. One bomb could cause an EMP; twenty-five would be overkill. The more she thought it over, the more she was convinced this wasn’t the main event; it was only the opening act. A ground detonation had to be coming.
Shouts erupted anew at the taxi stand and the crowd ebbed and flowed as people began to shove and punch.
Riots would grip all the major cities as people found out the truth. Police and military would be strapped. Looters and moochers would be stealing everything from TVs to tennis shoes while local governments tried to deal with the chaos. It would be so easy to detonate a nuclear bomb in the midst of so much panic and confusion.
The only question was how long would a terrorist wait? A day? Three? More? If the attack was already in motion, she didn’t have much time. Midge swallowed hard. “We have to get out of here. Now.”
Danny didn’t notice the edge in her voice. “How? If cars don’t work, then forget a rental.”
“Buses probably won’t work, either.” Jessica held Caden tight. “The train runs on electricity. It will be down for sure.”
Midge spun around. There had to be something. At last, she thought of a possibility. “Back out on the tarmac. We passed a metal shed. It was labeled transportation. I bet there’s a golf cart or baggage mover we can use.”
Jessica looked bewildered. “Won’t they be dead, too?”
“Not if they don’t have many electrical parts. And the shed might have protected the equipment from the blast.”
Danny almost smiled. “That’s what the military does to prep for an EMP. They use fortified metal sheds to house their electrical gear.” Midge raised an eyebrow and Danny shrugged. “I read a lot.”
“Obviously.” She hated to admit it, but he was growing on her.
“So that’s all we have to do?” Jessica sounded doubtful. “Find a golf cart and get out of here?”
“Somehow I don’t think it’ll be that easy.” Midge glanced once more at the angry mob near the taxis before following Danny and Jessica back the way they came.
Chapter Six
DANNY
Friday 7:00 pm CST
Chicago O’Hare International Airport
Danny rolled his shoulders and dialed up his confidence meter. The fight in the maintenance hallway had been the first time he’d thrown a punch outside of the mixed martial arts fitness class he took for fun at college. Hitting a bag didn’t have the same effect as hitting a dude’s cheekbone.
His hand still smarted and the scrapes across his knuckles were raw. But using his muscle felt good. Damn good. His father had never approved of the physical pursuits, preferring a dinner at the club and fancy cigars to show off his masculine side to the rough and tumble world of sports or fighting.
It was the main reason his father hated the idea of Danny becoming a doctor. No matter that his only other son had died because of an infection. No, Mr. James Rufus Olsen III preferred his sons clean-shaven and freshly pressed. The man was probably watching the news of the EMP with detached amusement from his corner office in Manhattan, wondering how he could use it to increase his hedge fund’s profits that week.
Danny pushed back his mop of hair and thoughts of his father along with it. He needed to get Jessica and Caden home and Midge to her mother before riots consumed the city. If an EMP was really to blame for the lack of power, then things would get a heck of a lot worse before they got better. He hoped they were all a long way from a city the size of Chicago before chaos took over.
They emerged from the terminal to catch the last rays of the sun. He scanned the horizon with his hand, shielding his eyes. The warehouse sat across the tarmac, past a downed plane and an abandoned baggage trolley.
Jessica pointed to the vehicle. “We could take that. It looks ancient.”
Danny shook his head. “It only has two seats and I don’t know how to disconnect the baggage cars.”
“Let’s hit the warehouse. If it doesn’t pan out, we can come back.” Midge picked up the pace and Danny matched her, almost breaking into a jog when they neared the building. Made entirely of metal, with steel beams supporting a huge, curved roof, it looked more like an airplane hangar up close than a maintenance facility.
Danny hesitated when they reached the door. “I should go in first and scope it out.”
Midge shook her head. “We go in together.”
Jessica hung back, content to let the two of them fight it out for position. After a moment, Danny capitulated. Midge might be smaller than him with less power in her swing, but she’d fought off the guy in the hallway before he clocked him. She wasn’t helpless. He tugged the door open wide. “We all go in, but we search as a group.”
“Agreed.” Midge pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight to light up the space as she ducked inside.
Most of the building was empty, the middle section obviously used for airplane maintenance. The huge rolling doors on either side could open wide and tall enough for a good-sized plane to squeeze through. Danny was staring at the mechanism to open the door when Jessica called out.
“Over here!” She hurried toward a cart parked near a smaller garage door, forgetting Danny’s admonition to stay together. Her blonde hair flew behind her and Caden giggled as she ran toward the vehicle. “The keys are in it!”
Jessica sat in the driver’s seat and leaned forward to start the engine. Caden grabbed the steering wheel and tried to bite it. She moved him away as the golf cart sputtered to life. “Yes!”
Danny stopped beside the cart. “Good work, but we still need to figure out a way to get it out of here.”
“I’m on it.” Midge stood by a garage door mechanism. She pulled a lever and the sound of a lock disengaging echoed through the space. After hurrying over to the smaller door, she yanked on the handle and the whole thing rolled up and into the ceiling.
Danny breathed a sigh of relief. They had transportation and a way out. They could finally leave the airport and the crazy mobs behind them. Jessica slid over and Danny eased behind the steering wheel. He paused before putting the cart in drive. “You both know we’re about to commit theft, right?”
Midge smirked. “You really think the airport is going to care about a missing golf cart when no planes can take off?”
“And no cars will start?” Jessica patted Danny on the back. “Just get us out of here.”
He put the cart in drive and punched the gas. It wasn’t the first time he’d driven a golf cart by a long shot. His father had taught him how to drive one at the country club when he was only eight. Every time they golfed together his father made him drive. He’d claimed it was to give Danny a head start with cars, but he knew it was so his father could knock back a few and not
get in trouble with management.
“Come on!” Jessica smacked her phone in frustration, snapping Danny out of his spiraling thoughts.
Midge leaned forward from her perch on the back of the cart. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m trying to call my husband,” Jessica said, her voice trembling. “I just wanted to let him know we were safe, but it isn’t going through.” She hit the call button again and lit up with excitement. “It’s ringing!”
Midge immediately pulled back and fished out her phone. Danny didn’t take his hands off the wheel. Even if he could get a call through, what would he say? Hey, Dad, it’s the son you disowned because he wanted to make the world a better place. Just wanted to let you know I’m okay. He rolled his eyes at himself just as Jessica leaned back with a disappointed sigh.
“Hey, honey, it’s me. I wanted to let you know that I’m still at the airport, but I met two nice people that are going to help me get home. I hope you’re okay. I love you so much.” She pulled the phone away from her ear and tapped a button to end the call. “It went straight to voicemail.”
Midge perked up. “That’s good. It means that some cell towers are still functional.”
“Did you get a call through?”
She shook her head. “No. I got the ‘all circuits are busy’ message.”
Jessica smiled in encouragement. “Maybe it’ll go through later.”
Midge didn’t respond and they lapsed into silence. After a few minutes of driving, Danny noticed Caden had fallen asleep, his head lolling against Jessica’s shoulder. He leaned over and whispered. “How old is he?”
She smiled down at her son. “Five months next week. He’s big for his age, though. Doctor says to watch out, at this rate he’ll be linebacker size.”
Danny chuckled. He’d always had a thing for kids and even babysat a fair amount during the college term for his professors. At some point, he’d have some of his own.
