After the Fall: Jason's Tale (2 page)

Jason was at his computer in the fitness gym he owned when
the power went out. It was four in the afternoon in Hillsboro on a Thursday, a
bright, late summer day. Stepping out of his office, he realized the whole gym
was without power so he went to the circuit breaker box in the rear of the
building. All the breakers were in their normal position. Puzzled, he went back
out to the front of the gym and stepped out onto the street. He was not alone.
The gym was located in downtown Hillsboro, in a mixed-use block with offices,
shops and restaurants. Horns were blaring, cars were stopped dead in the
streets; some had hit other cars. Drivers were shouting; people were standing
around outside the buildings. Many were looking up in the sky, as if expecting
to see something.

“The power station must have had a problem,” one man
standing next to him opined to no one in particular.

“Was there a lightning strike? I don’t see any storm
clouds,” another person spoke.

“What happened to all the cars?” another asked.

Jason wondered himself. There was something more serious
going on than the local power station shorting out. He tried his cell
phone…nothing. Going back inside, he had the receptionist try the land line
with the same result. No electricity, no vehicles running, no computers, no
cell phones; this was not a simple power outage. A further check revealed there
was no radio or TV either.

Jason had read about EMP bursts and the threat they posed to
the U.S. He began to think the unthinkable. He hurried to the back room and
made sure the service door was locked. Then he stood on a bench in the gym area
and announced that due the power outage, the gym was going to have to close and
no showers could be taken. People began mumbling and grumbling, many coming up
to ask questions that Jason could not answer. All he could tell them was that
he couldn’t keep the gym open without any power and he needed to let his
employees go home. The power seemed to be out over a wide area.

After the members had departed, Jason gathered his staff
together.

“The power seems to be out all over town. You’ll probably
have to walk home. Cars don’t seem to be running. Get some bottles of water and
grab some snacks from the vending machine. I’ll open it for you. If you’re
going in the same direction, walk together as far as possible just to be safe.
Some of you have a long way to go so don’t delay.”

“Is it dangerous?” one young instructor asked.

“I don’t think so, at least not at the present. But it’s
best for everyone to get home as soon as possible. I’d stock up on essentials
right away, just like if you were facing a big snow storm. There’s no telling
how long the power will be out.”

“Should we plan on coming in tomorrow?” another asked.

“No. Don’t come to the gym until the power returns.” What he
left unsaid was that the power could be out for a very long time, if this event
was what he thought it was.

“What about our cars?” another asked.

“What can you do? If they don’t run, you got to leave them.”

“And our phones don’t work.” There were murmurs of
agreement; everyone had tried unsuccessfully to phone or text someone.

“Yeah, I don’t know what’s up with that either.” Jason
responded. “The only thing I can think is that everyone is better off at home.
Downtown may get a little crazy if everyone is stuck here.”

With that Jason opened the vending machine and handed out
the power bar snacks to everyone. Soon the gym was empty. Jason collected the
remaining food from the machine and the back room, put it in his backpack,
grabbed half a dozen water bottles and put them in the pack. Then he emptied
the register and safe of all the cash. As he was leaving, he suddenly froze in
the doorway: Maggie was flying home today. She had called Jason earlier, from
the plane, to let him know when she would get into Charlotte.

Jason and Maggie lived in the hilly suburbs just outside of
Hillsboro which was located in the northwest corner of North Carolina. It was a
medium sized town of approximately 200,000 people, nestled in a small valley of
the Appalachia Mountains. The economy was supported by some small, local
manufacturing, and an old nineteenth century inn which enjoyed a modest tourist
trade. It had the problems of urban blight and unemployment found in many
mid-sized cities along the east coast. With those problems came its share of
the usual accompanying vices: addictions, theft and prostitution.

He quickly locked the door to the gym, grabbed his mountain
bike and rode over to the local airline ticket office. His mind raced.
What
time did she call? Did her plane take off before the power went out?
As
best he could remember, she called him from the plane at three pm, about an
hour before the power went out.

The manager was alone in the ticket office when he arrived.
She was confused and flustered about what had happened but Jason could offer no
explanation. After he got her settled down, she checked her printouts for
departure times. They confirmed Maggie’s call; the plane had taken off before
the power went out. It had probably been over Maryland or Virginia at the time
of the event.

Jason wondered how extensive the power outage was. Could a
plane survive it? He was afraid of the answers. Another man came into the
office to check on a flight. He spoke of seeing a plane literally fall out of
the sky when the power went out. It must have crashed more than fifty miles to
the west. This was not a local phenomenon.

Jason slipped out of the office as more people were coming
in, anxious to find out about loved ones flying. Downtown there was a growing
panic as people tried to comprehend the situation. Some people were shouting
that everyone should go to City Hall. Some were shouting everyone should go to
the police station, they would know what was going on. Most people were just
standing around, still confused and not knowing what to do. Leave my car, here
in the street? Walk home? How do I contact my wife or husband? What about my
kids at school? Some people were asking everyone around them these questions.
When asked, Jason’s advice consisted of, “Leave your car. You can’t do anything
about it. Go home or go to school and get your kids and then go home. Stock up
on food and water, just like for a big snow storm.”

As he pedaled home his thoughts kept returning to Maggie.
The sky was ominously quiet, which only lent credence to what that man in the
ticket office said he saw. Could she really have crashed? A knot grew in his
chest. She had picked this day and flight to avoid the crush of business
travelers heading home at the end of the week. Now had that choice proved
deadly? Who could have known? The ‘what ifs’ plagued his mind. He began
pedaling faster and faster, covering the ten miles to his home in record time.
The conviction that Maggie was gone kept growing inside of him.

At home, he went from room to room, not knowing what to do,
his mind paralyzed by the awful realization. The silence was unnerving. Out of
habit, he kept trying his phone and the television. Then he went into his
bedroom. He found himself pulled towards the closet. It was a large, walk-in
space that he shared with Maggie. Reluctantly he opened the door and stepped
inside. It smelled like her. Jason reached out and pulled one of her dresses
close to him. It was her favorite party dress. She’d last worn it on their
anniversary when they went out to dinner and dancing, something Jason didn’t
really enjoy but Maggie loved. He pressed it to his face and breathed deep. Her
scent filled his nostrils. He began to sob into the cloth.

Wrenching himself away, he stepped back out into the
bedroom. He approached her dresser and began to touch the items she had placed
on it; her hand mirror, perfume, powder, the picture of the two of them at the
beach. He gently opened the dresser drawers taking her clothing out, touching
the items and pressing them to his face. He tried to pull her back to him with
touch and smell. Ever more frantically he began to open each drawer, grabbing
the clothing, pressing it to his face; faster and faster until the drawers were
all opened and clothing strewn around the floor. Choking on his sobs, he
collapsed and pulled all her garments up close to him and just cried. He spent
that night working his way through a bottle of whisky, alternately pacing the
rooms of his house or slumped on his couch.

The next day dawned bright and clear. Jason awoke with a
throbbing headache and a twist in his gut. He checked his phone, TV and
computer…nothing. The situation was serious. Even in the worst disaster, one
had some communication. Now there was silence. What to do? He paced around his
living room for some time, disoriented by the information blackout. His thoughts
turned to his family. His mother lived alone in Florida, in a retirement
community and his only brother was in California. His father had left the
family when Jason was eight. He had lost his job and fell into a depression.
Finally he just cut and ran, leaving the family to fend for themselves. He
disappeared rather than face the daily needs of his family when he couldn’t
provide for them. Before the power went out it had been easy to transcend
distance and keep in touch. Now they were so remote, with a possibility of
never seeing or hearing from them. The thought was so odd, so final that he
dismissed it from his mind.

Energy. Was the gas still working? He checked and it was,
but he needed the barbecue lighter to light the stove.
How long will that
hold out?
He knew he could not count on the gas for long. He began to take
stock of his situation. He checked his propane tanks, camping stove gas and gas
left in his vehicles. Food needed to be inventoried as well. Jason was a bit of
a survivalist and kept a six month supply of emergency food in the basement.
Maggie accused him of being a closet Mormon, to which Jason would reply, “Yep,
and I’m thinking about a second wife.” Maggie would then respond with something
on the order of, “Over my dead body…or hers.” And they would chuckle over this
running joke. JHe loved Maggie’s possessiveness. The memories kept coming. His
sadness grew with each one.

Maggie was quite glamorous. Jason always said she could have
been a model and joked that he had married above his station. That comment had
seemed to become more painfully true over the last two years. Maggie had always
said that Jason seemed to have the spirit of a golden retriever, loyal,
protective and always trying to be helpful. He realized there was some truth to
her characterization. She was so successful that he sometimes didn’t see how he
fit in to her life. He was not sure how he helped fulfill her in their
relationship.

Maggie was a rising fashion executive and spent much of her
time in New York. Their being apart so much of the time did nothing to help
cement the marriage and Jason feared it was only a matter of time before he got
the notice from her that she had decided to relocate to New York, something
Jason would never do. He loved the mountains and woods, and the thought of
living in New York City made him shudder. He loved Maggie, but deep inside he
knew something would always be missing in their marriage. Bittersweet tears
came again and again as he thought of her.

After writing out a list of things to do, he made some
coffee and had a small breakfast. Then he just stared at the list. Taking
action seemed to elevate the improbable into reality. He kept waiting for the
TV to come on and explain everything. Outside, it was unnervingly quiet. The
quiet you hear when a snowstorm blankets the town. But now there was nothing
moving, no cars on the roads, no planes in the sky. He stepped outside and
listened carefully. The background hum from the interstate that ran past the
town to the north was absent. No contrails or noise from jets flying overhead.
Jason stepped back in the house and sat down. This was real. This was the big
event. The unthinkable had happened. With a snort, he stood up.

If the worst has happened, what do I do? What do I want
to do?

In the first few days after the EMP burst, Jason took
inventory of his supplies, and then set out to fill the gaps. His supply of
food would last for many months if supplemented with what he could forage and
hunt from the woods and fields surrounding his home. He also set out to
supplement his supply of ammunition. Along with his 9mm semi-automatic pistol,
a .223 Ruger carbine, Jason owned two shotguns, a 20 gauge, which Maggie shot
occasionally, and a 12 gauge.

The Ruger was his pride and joy. It was modified with a
longer, heavier, match barrel, which was bedded in and a re-worked trigger. The
result was a very accurate rifle that was light, compact, and rugged. It was
equipped with a low power, bush scope which worked well in the woods.

In addition to the guns, Jason also owned and was proficient
with a hunting bow. He had enjoyed mastering the weapon and hunting with it.
Now that skill might make the difference between life and death. If the power
didn’t come back, the bow might be the only weapon of value when the ammunition
ran out. In those first days, Jason suppressed most of those thoughts,
remaining hopeful that his worst fears would turn out to be unfounded, that the
power would be restored, that Maggie had somehow escaped the plane crash and all
would return to normal.

He lived on a back road that went up into the foothills. The
houses on the road were well spaced apart. On the second day after the EMP,
Jason decided to check on his nearest neighbors.

Tom and Mary Phillips lived closest to him, a quarter mile
down the road. They were an older couple, retired and living alone. Tom came to
the door to greet Jason.

“Hi, Jason, it’s good to see you. Come in.”

“Good to see you as well Tom. How are you and Mary doing?”
Jason asked as he followed Tom into the living room.

Mary sat on the sofa with a worried look on her face. “Come,
sit down,” she said.

“Do you know what happened? Nothing works, not even the
car,” Tom said.

Jason explained his theory of the EMP burst and its effects.
They followed his explanation with increasing concern.

“If what you’re saying is correct, then we may be out of
power…with nothing working,” Tom gestured around with a wide sweep of his hand,
“For some time.”

“Yeah, that may be what we’re in for.”

“What about Maggie? Where is she?” Mary asked.

Jason paused, “Her plane took off an hour before the power
went out.” There was silence in the room. Tom and Mary didn’t want to press
Jason about what that most likely meant.

“So what do we do?” Mary finally asked. “How do we get medicine
and food? Tom has high blood pressure that’s controlled by medicine and I have
diabetes.”

Jason looked down at the floor; there were no good answers
to her question. “I’m going to go into town to try to buy some things before
they run out, if you have a prescription, even an old one, I’ll take it and try
to get it filled.”

“Jason, thank you,” Tom said. “But that may only be a
stop-gap solution.”

“Maybe so, but it’s the best you can do for now. I’m
thinking I should go pretty soon, there’s no telling how long the supplies will
last.” Jason stood up. “I’ll go back to my house and get my backpack. Find some
prescriptions and write a note giving me permission to get them. I’ll stop by
on my way to town.”

Tom saw him to the door. “Do you think this will last a long
time? I don’t want to panic Mary by digging into how bad this could be in front
of her. I can get along without my blood pressure medicine, but Mary has to
have a supply of insulin.”

“Tom, I just don’t know. If it’s regional, help will come
shortly and we’ll be okay. If it’s national in scope, then I’m afraid we’re in
for a terrible time. I don’t want to sugar coat it for you.”

“Could this problem really be national in size?”

“Under the right conditions, yeah…it could.” After a pause,
“You should clean your bath tubs and fill them with water. Be prepared to use
the water in your pool as well.”

“The water’s going to run out?”

“It runs on gravity. Yours is the last house on this road
with city water, and when the storage tanks run down, the water won’t push up
this far.”

Jason rode back into town with his backpack, his 9mm pistol
under his shirt, money and the prescriptions for the Phillips. He entered the
first drug store; the pharmacy counter was at the back. There was a long
waiting line. Other people were scrambling around the isles, grabbing soda
bottles, bottled water and over the counter drugs and taking them by the armful
up to the counters near the front door.

Jason’s turn finally came. He showed the pharmacist the
prescriptions and notes from Tom and Mary. “I’m picking these up for my
neighbors,” he said.

The pharmacist scowled. “We’re in an unusual situation here.
I can’t even confirm insurance coverage for people who are presenting proper
prescriptions, now you want me to let you pick up other people’s
prescriptions?”

“You must know these people. They get their prescriptions
filled here. They’re my neighbors. Look at the address, they live outside of
town. You know cars don’t run. They have no way to get here. I’m trying to do
them a favor, helping them to get some needed medicine.”

“I don’t know…”

“Here are their prescription cards. I’ll pay the amounts
needed—in cash—so you don’t have to worry about insurance reimbursement. Things
are going to return to normal, but we all have to help one another while this
disruption lasts.” Jason felt that he might be lying about things returning to
normal soon.

“Well, we’re out of the insulin, but I have the blood
pressure medicine in stock.”

“I’ll take it,” Jason said quickly. The line behind him was
becoming restless. He didn’t relish the pharmacist’s situation as his supplies
ran down. The tension was growing. The girl at the checkout counter up front
could not process any credit cards which upset some of the customers who
refused to give up their supplies but didn’t have enough cash to cover them.
With the blood pressure medicine in hand, Jason pedaled away in search of
insulin. It took three more visits to drug stores and their pharmacies to find
one with insulin, but he was finally successful.

After the medicine, Jason went to a gun shop for additional
9mm and .223 caliber ammunition. The lines there were beginning to grow and the
shop was posting its own armed guard. He was limited to purchasing one box of
each type of ammunition, cash only. Jason pedaled off to two more gun shops and
was able to purchase more rounds for each of the guns. Later in the afternoon,
he headed back home. In the distance, back in town, he heard gunfire.
It’s
started already.

The next morning, he was in the garage working on an old
generator, trying to get it to run. Jason figured this older engine, with no
electronics, might be made to work. With it, he could not only run some lights,
but also an electric motor that could be made to pump water from his well. A
steady supply of clean well water would be invaluable over time. He paused as
he heard someone walking up the driveway. It was Jim Miller, the only other
neighbor Jason knew on the road. Jim and his wife, Cathy, lived a mile down the
hill with their two kids, Tim and Carrie.

“Jason, are you around?” he called out.

“In the garage,” he responded. “Come on in.”

“What can I do for you?” Jason asked as Jim entered the
garage.

Jim was in his thirties. He and his wife both worked. Their
kids, Carrie, twelve and Tim, nine, were both bright and enthusiastic. Carrie
idolized Maggie and had made her promise to help her get a job as a fashion
model when she graduated from school.

“Just wanted to get your thoughts about what has happened. I
can’t figure it out for the life of me.”

“Did you get the kids back to the house?”

“Yeah, Cathy and I wound up meeting at the school; I came
from work. It was her day off, so she rode her bicycle from the house. The
school was holding the kids until parents could come for them.”

“I hope all the parents were able to pick up their kids.”

“I think some of the staff were planning to stay overnight
with the kids if their parents didn’t come. Hopefully everyone got picked up by
yesterday. So, you have any clue as to what’s up?”

“I do. I think it was an EMP burst, possibly over the
eastern half of the US.” Jason went on to explain the effects of such an event.

“If it shut power down all over the east, we’ll be quite a
while recovering.” Jim was going where Jason had already been.

“I think this was an attack; it didn’t happen by accident,
and if it was, there might have been multiple bursts to cover the whole
country.”

“Holy shit,” Jim murmured, “That would be a first class
disaster.”

“More than you can imagine. I went to town yesterday to get
some prescriptions for the Phillips. There are already lines at the pharmacy
counters for medicine and that will only get worse. It’s good your family is
together; I think I heard gunfire late yesterday when I was coming home.”

“Rioting?”

“Maybe, or looting.”

“What do you think we should do?”

“Fill your tubs and any containers with water while there’s
pressure. That’s the first thing. Next you should inventory your food supplies
and, this could be dangerous, you should go out right away to buy what you can.
Food and water are going to become scarce soon, get what you can now.”

“You’re freaking me out, you know that.”

“I’m telling you how to deal with what we’re facing. Who
knows what’s going to happen, but I can’t imagine many rosy scenarios. Jim, do
you have any weapons in the house?”

“Christ, no.”

“Well, it’s too late to buy any. I’ll loan you my 20 gauge
shotgun. Do you know how to use it?”

Jim took a deep breath, “I can learn quickly.”

“Fine, let’s go inside.” He put down his wrench and headed
into the house. After getting the shotgun out, Jason showed Jim how to load and
unload it. It held four shells in the tube magazine and one in the chamber. In
defending his house, he instructed Jim to chamber a shell, then put another in
the magazine and, if possible, never shoot the magazine dry so he wouldn’t have
to spend too much time loading shells. Jim followed along as Jason went slowly
over the operation of the weapon. He looked close to panicking as the lesson
and the implications of what it meant sank in.

“I’ll go back down to the sporting goods store on the Ridge
Highway, the one on the way to town. I’ll see if I can get you a couple of bow
and arrow sets. People may not have thought of buying them yet. They’re quiet
and the ammunition is reusable.”

“I’ll go with you,” Jim offered.

“No, I’ve got no one here at home. Stay with your family. Show
them how to use the shotgun. Make sure they can load and unload it and aim it.
For God’s sake, though, don’t fire it. Shells are precious and you’ll scare the
Phillips to death.”

Jim smiled thinly at Jason’s humor attempt. “What about
Maggie? She’s away?”

“Yeah, she was on a plane when the power went out.”

There was a pause. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

“I think it does.” Jason could say no more. His eyes teared
up as he thought about Maggie.

“I’m sorry,” was all Jim could say.