Total pages in book: 163
Estimated words: 150878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 754(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 754(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
“They’re not hiding. Just laying low or gathered together at the church or community center. And quite a few, who could, left to be with family in other areas,” the sheriff said. “We’re not sure what to expect. There’s been some buzz on the ham radio about what might have happened, but no official confirmation of any kind. All just guesses at this point. Whatever happened, electrical systems all went haywire.”
“Any news from surrounding towns? You mentioned one a few exits from here,” I said.
“Other than the short distances a few residents have traveled to and then returned from, no. Like I said, I haven’t been able to contact anyone.” He looked from one of us to the other, Charlie offering a wide smile when the sheriff’s gaze landed on him as though he was waiting to be recognized and his Hollywood grin would make it easier on the man. But the sheriff only offered him a confused frown. “I walked to the main interstate yesterday and saw all the abandoned cars whose electronics are fried. I talked to as many people as I could wave down or were walking. Most were from other areas in the state, all trying to get to family. But one man was right outside Pennsylvania when the lights went out. He said there were mass fires in Pittsburgh, and he barely made it out. He had an old Buick that still worked, and some extra gas in his garage that he took with him but was running low on fuel. From what he told me, all the stations between there and here are closed.”
I felt a clunk in my stomach as though something heavy had dropped. “So, it does stretch east.” I said, my mind spinning. At least as far as Pennsylvania, but that might mean it also affected states farther than that. I raked a hand through my hair and looked away, not wanting to consider how big this might truly be.
Charlie heaved out a breath, his phone clattering to the ground. “It goes all the way to Pennsylvania?”
“And possibly beyond,” the sheriff said.
Charlie brought his hands to his head and gripped his hair. “How the hell is that possible?” He paced one way, then pivoted and took a few steps in the other direction. “No power grid? No satellites? No phones? Anywhere?” He stopped, gaping down at his phone on the ground. He let out a loud gust of breath and shook his head. “No, no, that can’t be right. That’s impossible.”
We all stared at him for a minute. It was very clearly possible. We had at least some proof, notably the fact that our plane had fallen from the sky, and also, the useless phone currently lying on the ground. Add to that the highway jammed with broken-down cars, the corpses, and the killing we’d witnessed, and you’d think Charlie might have already grasped some reality. He turned and resumed pacing a few feet away.
Emily let out a nervous laugh, her eyes slightly glazed. “That’s only the report of one man,” she said. “Maybe he got it wrong. Maybe he was lying. Maybe you misunderstood,” she said, pointing her finger at the sheriff and then quickly dropping it. He just looked at her, but not with anger. With understanding. He’d clearly been dealing with people having trouble accepting an onslaught of bad news since this had all started.
My heart was speeding, and I felt slightly clammy all of a sudden, despite the cold weather. Mass fires? No gas stations open? Across multiple state lines that we knew about?
“Why no gas?” Emily asked, turning back to the sheriff. “If most vehicles aren’t working at all, then why did gas run out so quickly?”
“They can’t pump without electricity,” I said, turning my gaze back on the sheriff. “So, this outage stretches east at least as far as Pennsylvania, but what about in other directions?”
“I couldn’t tell you. I haven’t had a lot of time to go out to the highway and I don’t feel comfortable being gone for long. My boy broke his arm right after the lights went out—tripped down the damn stairs. There’s a hospital twenty miles from here, but even their backup generator is out of commission. They managed to find a couple of working vehicles and moved their critical patients to a hospital a few hours away with a generator that’s running. That one will be operational as long as they can acquire gas, but only for critical needs. Even so, it’s a total catastrophe there too, from reports I’ve gotten.”
Christ. Who was making the determination about who was critical and who was not? I didn’t even want to think about what was going on in a hospital after days without any electricity whatsoever. How many had already died? “There are no medical personnel in town who could help your son?” I asked.