The Blackout (10 page)

At this rate I’ll need over ten pairs of shoes to make the journey.
  He shuddered at the thought, and reminded himself that he was still hopeful that he wouldn’t have to walk the entire way. 
Perhaps the next city will be different.  Perhaps.

Gary spent the night in an alley on the outskirts of Baltimore, and it was anything but restful.  It was cold in Baltimore that time of year, and he did his best to conserve body heat.  He curled up in a spot he thought would be out of the way, but he was wrong- the alley he picked belonged to someone.  Lucky for him, he’d taken to sleeping with his packs under his coat, so they couldn’t be stolen while he slept.  Just as he was drifting off he was grabbed by the collar and jerked to his feet by a rather large man.  Gary was no slouch at over six feet tall, but this guy had bulk.   

“Whaddya think you’re doin?”  The bulky fellow asked.  Gary was so groggy it took a moment to process what he was asking through the thick accent. 

He socked Gary in the gut.  “I asked you a question.” 

The breath quickly fled Gary’s lungs and he doubled over.  He put his hand up to try and stem further assaults and the man backed up a step.  “Well?” he asked.

“I’m just … passing through.” Gary gasped.  “I didn’t mean to cause trouble.” 

“This alley’s taken.  See that you keep passing, huh?”

“Sure.  No problem.”  Gary started to limp away, but he turned.  It was the first conversation he’d had with anyone in a few days, and despite the obvious hostility, he thought it was worth a shot to ask him if for information. 

“You stupid or somethin’?  Move along!”  In the dark, it was difficult to make out any features besides the outline of his bulky body.  His voice was loud, deep and had a bit of a gravel to it.  It was intimidating enough that Gary nearly turned back around, but he couldn’t lose this chance.

“Have you guys heard anything?”

“Bout what?”

“About what’s going on.  About when things will start going back to normal, about when we might hear some news, about when we might get some relief.”  Gary looked at his shadow as the big man laughed.

“There is no relief.  This is the situation, so you better learn to survive.  You can start by moving along.”

“How do you know that?”

“Look around you!  It’s anarchy! No one’s coming to help you.”  He approached Gary menacingly. 

Gary took a step back and cleared his throat.  “Thanks.”  He hated to turn his back, but he thought it might placate the man, so Gary turned and started walking. 

This wouldn’t do.  He had to find some place to rest or his progress tomorrow would be even slower. 

Eventually he came across an empty shop.  It had already been broken into, and there was glass everywhere by the sound his footsteps were making.  He walked around the little shop as quietly as he could.  He didn’t want to surprise anyone if there was someone already sleeping here.  He wished he had a flashlight that worked.  By the lack of response to Gary’s presence, he could only assume there wasn’t anyone else in the shop.  So, he found a spot in the back corner of the store and laid down.  That gave him as much time as possible to hear someone approaching.  It was a restless night, though, despite the fact that he didn’t see anyone else.  He was rattled by the encounter with the bulky man in the alley.  It seemed like the situation- his situation, the U.S.’s situation, humanity’s situation, - was becoming more dire by the day.

It occurred to Gary rather suddenly, as he lay there in the dark listening, that for the first time in his life, he’d completely missed a holiday.  He’d forgotten all about Halloween, and had done nothing to observe it.  Although he and Molly didn’t have kids, they always passed out candy – assuming of course that he was home.  If he was on the road, he listened to Molly tell him which neighbor kids had dressed up as what that night.  Last year’s popular costumes were princesses, werewolves, and the latest animated movie character. Gary couldn’t remember what the thing’s name was.

Normalcy.  I missed out on something normal,
he thought.

You could argue he hadn’t had anything normal in over two weeks.  No showers, no regular meals, no transportation, no phone calls.  But a missed holiday? 

Gary sighed and rolled over, trying not to focus on the situation as a whole, but on his immediate condition, and the fact that he needed sleep. 

In the morning, he took out the map to study it more closely.  He still had about a half-day’s walk until he was the other side of Baltimore.  He had two choices, as he saw it.  He could either keep on his original course and follow I-95 all the way home, or he could take the more rural roads along the coast.  That way, he’d at least have more consistent access to food.  But winding along the coast would also take longer, and would keep him away from most of the bigger cities. He hadn’t decided if that was good or bad yet.  After the experience in Baltimore, he wondered if he should avoid the big cities for now.

But how will I ever find some place that has power if I do that?
he thought.
 

It was less than forty miles to D.C.  The capital had to have something-  information, supplies, anything.  It was the government’s responsibility to care for the people.  They had to have some station set up with supplies, people to talk to, military officials offering assistance, things like that.  So Gary folded the map and started on his way, decision made.  In four days, he expected answers. 

13.

Construction on the wall began immediately, but not without dissent.  Craig and his group of naysayers were entirely opposed to building the wall, even after the attack.  They argued it would take too long, would be more work than it was worth, and didn’t want to contribute their time and supplies to something that would be useless by the time it was finished, since they expected the power to be restored by then.

Burt heard their arguments calmly and gave them two options.  They could either suck it up and help out, or move their families outside the areas zoned for the wall and save their supplies and energies for their own families.  Craig was the loudest voice against the wall.

“What right do you have to order me to abandon my home?” he yelled.

“If you aren’t going to contribute to this community, you can leave,” was Burt’s response.

“Who died and made you my boss, hmm?  You don’t own my home, I do!  You have no business kicking me out!”  He shook with rage.

Burt remained calm and reasonable.  “I do if you’re going to be a leech on this community and its very limited supplies.  You’re more than welcome to stay if you want to contribute.” 

Craig lowered his tone and narrowed his eyes at Burt.  “You think you’re so smart, do ya?  Well, what are you going to do when this ‘community’ collapses on itself, and it’s every man for himself?  What then, huh, fearless leader?” 

Burt ignored the threat entirely.  “What is your decision?  We’re starting work on the wall in the morning.  Either show up to help, or be gone by then.”

“And what are you going to do if I squat in my house?” 

He had a point.  Molly wasn’t sure what Burt could do if he decided to just hang around inside his house, steal supplies and otherwise cause problems. 

“I’ll be forced to relocate you myself.  Please don’t let it come to that.  I have better things to do.” Burt turned and walked away, leaving Craig in the middle of a crowd that passed judgment on him with every gaze. 

He looked spastically from person to person.  “Mark my words, this’ll be the death of you all.”  The crowd parted for him so he could storm off. 

At the edge of the group, Molly noticed Jimmy watching the scene with a frown on his face.  He turned to walk back to his home, and Molly yelled for him.

“Hey!  Jimmy!”  He kept right on walking.  “Jimmy!  Wait up!”  She caught up to him just a short distance from his house.  “Hey,” she said, breathless.

He nodded in response.

“Whaddya think?”

“Not much.” 

“Really, Jimmy?  Come on!  Throw me a bone here!  I know you have some kind of opinion on what’s happening with the wall, and Craig, and everything!”

“Yup.  Not sure if I wanna share it with you, though.” 

Molly looked over to find a mischievous glint in his eye.  She smacked him on the arm.  “Well, you better get your mind right, ‘cuz I wanna know.  It’s dark enough around here without you trying to pull the covers over my eyes!” 

He laughed.  “I think Craig is gonna be a problem, no matter what he decides.”

Molly had the same feeling.  “What about the wall?  Don’t you think the power will be on by the time we’re done with it?” 

“No, I don’t.  And what does it matter if it is?  Gives folks a chance to feel like they’re doing something to help, to protect themselves.  Why take that away?”

Molly hadn’t thought of that.  “I suppose if it is back on in the next few weeks, we can always disassemble it and reuse the supplies as we need them.” 

“Yup.” 

They stopped at the end of Jimmy’s driveway.  “It just seems like such a permanent solution.” 

Jimmy turned toward Molly and put his hand on her shoulder.  “Honey, we’re looking at a permanent problem.  The world is changed, and whether for the worse or better remains to be seen.” 

Molly harrumphed at that.  “Isn’t there any good news coming from that radio of yours?”

He frowned, remaining tight-lipped.

She sighed.  “Jimmy, why save that thing if you’re not going to tell anyone you have it, and what they’re saying?”

He looked her in the eye.  “To be ready.”

She wasn’t sure what he meant by that.  She shifted her weight from leg to leg.  “Well, at any rate, see ya tomorrow at the wall!”

Jimmy turned and waved as he headed up his driveway.

In the morning, they all gathered to begin the wall’s construction.  Craig had decided to leave, and had done so quietly, but Molly feared it wasn’t the last they’d see of him. 

They were lucky that the neighborhood was fairly small, and they calculated they would need to create a square that was about a mile long on each side, four miles of wall total.  They estimated a week for each side of the wall, totaling a month of construction.

They sent messengers to the outlying, more rural homes to let them know that they would be on the outside of the wall, and they were more than welcome to move in and settle on the inside.  Most said no.  They were used to being on their own, and weren’t interested in moving in with strangers.  Molly couldn’t blame them, but she was afraid it was a choice they would regret before too long.

At first, everyone in town was designated to gather supplies.  They did that for two days straight.  They gathered rocks from the beach and cut trees from the nearby tree farms.  Although most of those were palm trees, they still worked for good solid planks of wood once they were cut down.  Molly carried rocks mostly.  She would collect as many big rocks as she could in the wheelbarrow she was given and bring them back.  Round trip, it took about forty-five minutes, but she could gather a fair amount at once.  Over the course of those two days she made about twenty round trips to the beach.  During the trips, she couldn’t help but wonder about Cindy and what she was doing at that moment.  Was she safe?  How was her family?  Was her community doing the same thing they were?  Molly hoped so.  Cindy lived too far away to go visit, so all Molly could do was hope her dear friend was all right.   

By the end of two days gathering supplies Molly was exhausted, but there was no time to quit.  Construction began immediately.

It had been sixteen days since the Blackout, and even though no Wanderers had been seen since the night Kyle was murdered, they were wary.  There was a constant sense of unease, and they were all in a hurry to get the wall finished for that added security.

The town celebrated Halloween the night before the official construction started.  Some of them just happened to have candy on hand, and some didn’t have anything to spare, but just wanted to see the children in their costumes.  They agreed no one should be out wandering after dark, so the kids started knocking around four and quit by six-thirty.  Molly felt it was nice to have a small taste of something normal.  It served as a reminder that life does go on, that traditions remain despite disaster and tragedy.

But, much like any holiday, it was back to work the next day.  They labored for the next two weeks on the wall.  They mixed mortar from the nearby hardware store, they dug the foundation, and they assembled it under the direction of some of the contractors who lived in the neighborhood. 

Then, it happened.

It was the middle of the night when a group of four Wanderers came into the neighborhood.  They had stationed people around the area to guard the supplies just in case, and the alarm they raised cut through the night like thunder. 

Molly was on her feet at once with the gun Burt had given her.  Dug jumped up, growling, and Sally ran to hide under the bed.   It was the first time Dug had demonstrated such aggressive behavior, and Molly wasn’t sure how to react.  She ran for the door and Dug followed.

“No Dug, you need to stay here.  I don’t want you to get hurt,” she told him and gave him the signal for ‘stay’.  He wasn’t having it, though, and stayed right on her heels.  There wasn’t much time to react, so she ended up letting him follow.

Once she entered the darkness, she had a hard time perceiving what was going on.   It seemed like the commotion was a few streets over.  There wasn’t any immediate danger to Molly or Dug.  She was tempted to go back inside and wait it out, but she knew that if she were the one in trouble she wouldn’t want everyone to hide out and let her deal with it herself.  So, she padded as quietly as possible toward the commotion.

By the time Dug and Molly arrived, everything seemed to be under control.  She saw Burt and ran to him.  “What happened?”  Dug changed his attitude immediately upon seeing Burt and became friendly and joyous once again.

Burt patted Dug on the head distractedly.  “We were attacked.  Three Wanderers came and tried to take some of our supplies.  Seemed like when they realized it wasn’t food they moved on.  Betty said she thought she saw four at first, but there’s been no sign of a straggler.”