Unprepared Page 4

  David tried removing the batteries from the radio and replaced them but it made no difference. He looked at the radio, turning the dials on the side, but realized he was now holding a plastic paperweight. He sighed and threw it in the ditch on the roadside. Kelly said nothing, aware that the radio was useless as it wasn’t protected against such a strong electromagnetic pulse.

  They continued walking, the sound of footsteps surprisingly loud on a road with no cars or human activity. If it wasn't so frightening, it might even have been enjoyable.

  Walking around a gentle curve on the road, they were then faced with a straight stretch of tarmac, about 300 yards long which dipped downwards. On the left side of the road was an unusual sight: a three-phase distribution transformer atop a power pole was on fire, not unlike a giant Olympic torch on the side of the empty road. It’s flammable mineral insulating oil was alight, dripping down and creating firey splatters on the ground.

  “Make a wish and blow it out,” David joked, finding humor in the absurd. Kelly didn’t respond, finding the entire scene surreal.

  They walked past the transformer with it’s yellow flames and thick black smoke billowing upwards. Against the silence of the countryside, the licking of hungry flames made for a haunting sound in the afternoon air. They pressed on, both pondering the seriousness of the attack. David broke the silence first.

  “So, if even my wristwatch is dead, it’s got to be a serious attack. A real intense pulse.”

  Kelly was quiet for a moment.

  “The people on that plane,” she eventually responded.

  David nodded in sympathy.

  “Try not to think about it.”

  “There were families on that plane, Dave. People like us.”

  “I know. But what can we do? It just fell out of the sky, hitting the ground like a ton of bricks. No one could have survived that.”

  The sound of their footsteps replaced the sound of conversation for a few hundred yards.

  “Once we get to this next town, whatever it’s called, we need to figure out how to get home,” Kelly said. “But, it’s going to be chaos. It’s going to be like a real world disaster movie.”

  She paused for a moment, stopping in her tracks. David continued for a few steps before turning around to face her. After a few awkward few seconds, she voiced what was on her mind.

  “We can’t possibly go home. It’s what, thirty miles from here? And it’ll be completely lawless.”

  David knew there was truth to what Kelly was saying, but it wasn't exactly a matter of choice.

  “But where else will we go, Kel? Our supplies in this bag will keep us going for maybe three days, tops. After that, we need to be somewhere safe until either everyone kills each other or the military steps in.”

  “If there even is still a military,” Kelly responded.

  “Kel, we need to get home. Maybe we can stay the night in a hotel or something when we get to the next town. What's it called, Bedford?”

  Kelly nodded.

  “So, maybe we can stay there for the night, but ultimately we need to get home. And fast. I reckon we have about one full day before it descends into total, lawless chaos,” David said.

  He stared into the distance for a moment, before continuing.

  “Right now, everyone’s in the ‘what the fuck’ stage. I doubt many even know what an EMP attack is. I mean, maybe it’s just this area. Maybe help is already on its way. Shit, maybe it was all just an accident.”

  “Yeah, maybe, maybe, maybe. We don’t know anything,” Kelly responded.

  David found himself getting angry.

  “Are we going to start fighting? Now, of all times?”

  “We are not fighting. We both just scared. Calm down,” Kelly responded.

  “Never in the history of being un-calm has saying ‘calm down’ ever caused someone to calm down,” he responded, realizing he was starting to sound whiny. David exhaled.

  “Look. I’m sorry, Kel. I’m being a dick. I’m just... freaked out.”

  “Babe,” said Kelly, grasping David’s hand. “We are gonna survive. Look, let’s just get to this town before it gets dark, then we’ll figure out what to do next.”

  David turned to face Kelly, reaching to hold her other hand.

  “I love you,” he said.

  “And I love you too. We’ll be alright, babe.”

  The town of Bedford, like any town in the USA, is car-centric. People don’t walk or ride bicycles; they take their cars. Even if it’s just a mile down the road. This made the following scene playing out in front of David and Kelly somewhat surreal. As they entered the outskirts of the town, the streets were devoid of traffic. There were cars, sure, but none were moving. People walked in the middle of the road. One resident was on a bicycle. Neighbors talked over their fences. If it wasn’t the eve of the end of the world as they knew it, it could almost be a beautiful scene.

  “It looks like Amsterdam,” said Kelly.

  “But without all the drugs,” David joked.

  “Uhmm,” Kelly responded, unconvinced. “This place probably has more meth than an entire season of Justified. I can’t imagine there’s much else to do. Procreate and do drugs.”

  They walked past a couple of middle aged neighbors, standing on the curbside, talking. The two neighbors, both women, looked up at the weary travelers, one with a backpack.

  “Where y’all come from?” asked the neighbor wearing an oversized brown sweater.

  “Our car broke down about four miles back that way,” Kelly responded, gesturing down the road with her thumb.

  “Did you see what that explosion was?” The neighbor asked. “We reckon it was a plane.”

  “Really? We didn’t see it,” Kelly lied.

  Like someone standing outside The Matrix, she was acutely aware of the seriousness of the situation. The less information she gave away, the better. It would just take one spark to ignite panic. If only they knew, she thought.

  “My husband went off with a group of others, heading towards the plane crash - if it was really a plane crash - to look for survivors,” the neighbor continued.

  “No one’s phone is working though, so I don’t know what’s going on. I reckon it’s a government conspiracy. Probably one of them chemtrails planes, trying to control the population.”

  Kelly and David exchanged a split-second glance towards each other. They didn’t need to say anything. Just that quarter of a second of eye contact, before quickly looking away, meant that they were on the same page. They both thought the neighbor was bat-shit insane.

  “Is there a motel or something nearby?” Kelly asked.

  “Yeah, in the center of town. End of this street,” the neighbor responded, “But the town’s got no power at the moment.”

  The other neighbor finally spoke.

  “There’s a fire at the big power box-thing in town and the fire brigade say their truck has broken down. It’s all hit the fan here so good luck getting a room.”

  “OK. We’ll give it a shot. Thanks for your help,” Kelly answered.

  They turned and continued walking into town. The neighbors watching silently as they walked away, pretending to act casual.

  “This place gives me the creeps,” David said when they were finally out of earshot.

  “I’m telling you, this is a jaunt down Methame Street,” Kelly joked.

  “Hah. You’ve been watching too much TV.”

  They walked past a man working on his car on the side of the road.

  “You two know anything about cars?” he asked the two strangers to Bedford.

  “Nah, unfortunately not,” David lied. “What happened to it?”

  “I just filled up the car at the gas station and it died. The gas station ran out of gas last night when all those folks from Washington and Richmond flooded through here trying to get away from that storm. The storm never happened but they came through and bought up all our gas anyway. The tanker truck showed up after lunch, so I went to fil
l up my car, but after filling up I only got this far before it died. I walked home to get my tools and came back here, but I’ll be damned if I can figure out the problem.”

  “It just died?” asked David, pretending to be naïve.

  “Yep. All the cars in town are dead. And the power’s out. I reckon it’s all connected. Must be something to do with the gas. Or the government’s trying to fuck with us. It’s the Illuminati, I guarantee it.”

  Oh great, thought David. This whole town is full of nut-jobs. Kelly was already looking at David and he knew it. He could feel her eyes on his face. He slowly moved his head upwards and allowed his eyes to quickly flick in her direction.

  Eye contact.

  The two smirked.

  “What's so funny?” asked the stranded motorist, now annoyed.

  “Nothing,” David answered. “I’ll bet you’re right.”

  “Damn right I am,” the motorist said, matter-of-factly.

  “Hey,” Kelly interjected. “Is there a motel nearby?”

  She already knew the answer, but was desperate to change the subject.

  “End of this road,” he said.

  “Thanks. Good luck.”

  They continued walking, this time walking in the middle of the road to reduce the likelihood of having to interact with more conspiracy theorists.

  “Surely, they can’t all be nuts?” David asked.

  “Too much Internet and too much spare time,” I guess, Kelly responded.

  With the sun getting close to the hills in the horizon, they arrived at the town center. It was picturesque, given that there were no cars moving about. There were people talking in small groups everywhere. There was a general store, which was open. That seemed to be a hub of activity, even though there was a hastily written sign out the front saying 'Cash only! No cards.'

  Kelly saw the sign and realized they had a new problem. She let out a pained sigh.

  “If the motel is even taking guests, how will we pay? The phone system’s probably dead. We can’t pay by card. How much cash do you have?”

  That was a very good point. David stopped and pulled out his wallet, flicking through what banknotes he had.

  “Ten... Twenty... Twenty five. Twenty five bucks. How much do you have?”

  Kelly did the same, opening her wallet and counting her cash.

  “Ten bucks. And some coins.”

  David inhaled through his teeth.

  “This could be a problem,” he said.

  The motel had a sign out the front reading Vacancy, but who knew if that was accurate. It’d now been around three hours since the EMP attack. The normally quiet town of Bedford was still blissfully unaware of the dangers it - and perhaps the whole nation - were facing.

  David opened the door of the motel’s reception and allowed Kelly in first. The two walked up to the counter and pressed the doorbell button on the top of the chest-height front desk, though the button didn’t seem to do anything. Kelly gave it a few more presses. It surprised her how even the most innocuous little things all had sensitive electronic circuits which were now fried.

  “Hello?” she said in a raised voice. “Anyone here?”

  “Coming!” replied a muffled voice from another room. A door opened and an older man appeared.

  “Afternoon. What can I do for you two?”

  “Do you have a room?” Kelly inquired.

  The man seemed unsure.

  “Uh, I think so. We’ve had a lot of bookings this afternoon, but the power’s out so we’re all writing everything down on paper. Also, we got no hot water, so if you want a shower it’ll be cold.”

  He searched through a disorganized sea of paper notes behind the counter.

  “It’s like working back in the 80s,” he said. “No cell phones, no computers. Got to do everything with a pen and paper. You young'uns probably wouldn’t remember that time. It was simpler.”

  Kelly and David made eye contact and smiled. Although both in their mid to late 30s, they admittedly looked fairly young for their age, perhaps that being a result of not having kids.

  “Here we go. This key doesn’t have a home, so I guess we still have a room left. Room 36.”

  The motel owner placed the key on the counter.

  “Alright, if I could get some ID please, the room will be all yours. It’s fifty dollars for the night. Sorry, but cash only. Our credit card system’s dead.”

  “Ah,” said Kelly.

  “Yeah, about that,” said David. “We thought this might be a problem, so we counted our cash outside. We’ve got about thirty five bucks.”

  “Hmm. That’s not gonna work,” responded the manager, his demeanor changing.

  “The thing is, we’ve got money on our card, but we can’t get at it,” David replied. “What if I give you my watch? It’s a Citizen watch. It’s worth a couple hundred bucks.”

  David took off his watch and placed it on the counter. The manager picked it up, suspiciously. He studied the face of the watch, aware that fakes are getting almost indistinguishable from the real thing. He placed it to his ear.

  “I think it’s broken.”

  “It just needs a new battery,” lied David. “It’s a two hundred dollar watch, though.”

  The manager placed it back down on the counter.

  “Sorry, friend. No deal.”

  This situation was more serious than it appeared. They couldn’t go back to the car. It was too dangerous, and it was only a matter of time before society descended into chaos. They just needed one night to sleep and think, then they could figure out how to ride the coming wave of mass hysteria. Kelly acted on instinct. She wiggled off her wedding ring.

  “Babe?” David asked, not enjoying what he was seeing.

  “Dave, just do it,” she responded.

  He complied, realizing the gravity of the situation. He placed his ring next to hers on the counter.

  “These are eighteen karat gold,” Kelly stated, sliding both rings along the counter towards the motel owner.

  “You guys really want that room.”

  He picked up the rings and put them in his shirt pocket.

  “Don’t worry about the ID. Just don’t make a mess.”

  “Alright. Thank you,” Kelly said, collecting the key off the counter.

  Slumping down on that bed was like falling on a heavenly cloud. Sure, that mattress has probably endured all kinds of steamy jungle sex by people with questionable hygiene, but for one night it was theirs. They didn’t care, they were just glad to be in a room together in each other’s embrace.

  After resting for a while, they cracked open a can of salmon and a can of kidney beans from the backpack, with both being good sources of protein and calories. Kelly opened the cans using her Swiss Army pocket knife. They had one spoon in their minimalist survival pack in order to save weight, so they took turns eating. It was the first thing they’d eaten since breakfast all those hours ago at that little cafe in Tennessee. Back when the world had order.

  As the room was getting cold, after dinner they finally had the opportunity to brush their teeth - a luxury often taken for granted – before sliding back into bed to stay warm. Simply holding each other was a beautiful form of therapy.

  Kelly broke the silence first, allowing the problems of the world outside to make their way into the room.

  “What are we going to do tomorrow?”

  David took a breath and pondered their options. They knew they had to get home. But they didn’t know how.

  “We both know we have to get back to Lynchburg. We have our supplies there. We were caught off guard in the car. Back home we have the spare shortwave radio, Geiger counter and spare phone sitting in the Faraday cage. Depending on the strength of the EMP blast, it could all be fine. We have food, water, chlorine tablets, gasoline, you name it.”

  “Yeah,” Kelly responded, “But the question is, how do we get there?”

  Kelly pulled back the covers and got out of bed, reaching over to the opened backpa
ck. She fumbled around in the dark and pulled out the map of Virginia. She also grabbed the flashlight and turned it on. A beam of light filled the room.

  “Babe, don’t use the flashlight. We’ve gotta save the batteries. We might need them,” David said.

  “Alright,” said Kelly. She switched off the flashlight and put it back in the bag, reaching inside for the zip-lock bag which stored a candle and a box of waterproof matches. Going purely by touch, she straightened the wick and placed the candle between her knees. Opening the box of matches, she took out one match and struck it against the side of the box. It took a couple of attempts to get the potassium chlorate ignited, but soon the room was brightened by the characteristic fizz of a lit match. She placed the flame against the candle and a soft amber glow illuminated her face.

  “I am the illuminati,” she said in a flat tone.

  She couldn’t see David’s eyes clearly, but he rolled them.

  Sitting in the bed, she brought her knees closer to her chest and placed the map on her thighs. It took her a moment to locate Bedford, then Lynchburg. She had a gentle frown on her face, biting her bottom lip slightly as she looked at their location and the map’s key.

  “I reckon we’ve got about 18 to 20 miles to get back home,” she said. “But we can’t take the roads, so it’s going to take an entire day to get back.”

  David gave a single nod. Kelly was a good navigator and better with figures than he was, so he took her word as fact. She’d always enjoyed orienteering as a kid and was good with maps. Being a prepper, she was one of the few women in the modern world who was as good with the latest Android phone as she was with finding her position with a compass and a sextant.

  “We’re going to have to cross a lot of private property,” she added.

  “With armed and probably freaked-out rednecks,” David lamented.

  “Well, I’m confident I can get us home,” she said. “But I don’t know what happens afterwards.”

  Kelly blew out the candle and held it for a few minutes until she was certain the wax was cool enough to place it on the nightstand. She moved over to David’s side of the bed and they held each other tightly. Perhaps two of a small handful of people in the state who knew what kind of hell was unfolding before them.