The Blackout (7 page)

She grabbed enough pasta and rice to last awhile and moved on quickly.  Guilt overwhelmed her as she filled the cart with dry cereal, dog food, cat food, canned corn, tuna and the like.  There was no way to pay for the goods.  There wasn’t a worker at the place even if they all had cash.  Molly decided to tally up everything when she got home and pay for it all when things got back to normal.

She didn’t really know how much to take.  No one knew how long the power would be out.  Some things, like bread, she only grabbed one loaf.  Molly knew she wouldn’t be able to eat more than that before it went bad.  But stuff like cereal that kept longer, she stocked up on.  She figured when the power came back in a week or so all of it would still be good, and they’d eat it eventually. 

When she got to the pharmacy towards the front of the store, no one else was there.  Molly thought about all the neighbors who might need medicines if this went on much longer.  She was no doctor though, and didn’t know what circumstances might require.  She decided to just try to get what she personally might need, and remind everyone to stock up before they left.  From in front of the counter she grabbed things like antibiotic ointment, Band Aids, and vitamins – just in case food got scarce, she could still get some nutrition.  From behind the counter she grabbed some antibiotics.  She stood there thinking about what else she might need, but she couldn’t come up with anything.  She hoped she wouldn’t regret taking so little, as she hopped back over the counter and pushed her overflowing cart to the door. 

Several of the neighbors were already there waiting for everyone to finish up, but when Molly mentioned getting medications, they all went back inside. 

As she stood alone outside soaking in the sun, she thought she spotted some movement out of the corner of her eye.  It startled her a little, but when she turned to find its source, there was nothing.  She glanced around quickly, looking for what she thought she’d seen, and came up empty.  It made her a bit uneasy, so she decided to wait inside for everyone.  Molly looked back over her shoulder as she turned her cart around, but still didn’t see anything.

Her neighbor from the end of the street, Burt, was just walking up as she was coming back in.  Burt was a police officer.  He hadn’t been down to the station since the Blackout, prioritizing his family above work.  “Didja forget something?” he asked Molly.

“No, I just wasn’t keen on waiting outside alone.”

He didn’t press Molly for details, but scrutinized the horizon. 

It took about an hour, but eventually all were gathered back together at the front of the store, ready to push their carts back home.  There was plenty of daylight left to make the trip, so they were in good spirits. 

Burt walked next to Molly as they reached the half-way point.  “So Burt, not to pry or anything, but how come you didn’t go back to the station?”

He was looking straight ahead as he walked and only gave her a sidelong glance and a grunt. 

“I mean, it’s none of my business, but aren’t you worried about work?  Couldn’t you get in trouble for being a no-show for this long?”

He chuckled, but it was just a noise to make.  There was no joy in it.  “What makes you think there’s anyone there to yell at me?”

“Well, I just assumed, I guess.  I mean, isn’t your motto ‘to protect and serve’ or something like that?”

“Yeah well.  I guess the job isn’t quite as chivalrous as it used to be.  And quite frankly, I need to protect and serve my family right now.  If the power comes back tomorrow, I’ll worry about work then.  But that’s a big ‘if’.  Quite frankly, I-“ He stopped short when Molly jerked her head to the right.

He looked over that way.  “What?”

“I thought I saw something.  In fact, I thought I saw it earlier, in the parking lot.”

He scanned the area with his dark eyes.  The road they were taking was bordered on either side by tree farms.  It was nothing but rows and rows of palm trees ready for purchase by wealthy developers. 

Someone up front gasped.  “I think there’s something in the farm,” a woman Molly recognized from the next street over said.  Molly was trying to think of her name when Burt interrupted. 

“What did it look like?  Was it an animal?” 

It wasn’t unheard of to see panthers in the area.  But there were enough people that they should’ve been safe from attack.  At any rate, it was unusual for the big cats to attack people.  Molly wasn’t worried.  They were all just a little high-strung from the week’s events. 

“I’m not sure.  It moved away so quickly.”

“Where was it?”  Molly asked. 

She pointed to the farm on the east side of the road.  Molly had a bad feeling. 
Is there more than one creature stalking us?
  She thought.

She looked at Burt uneasily.  He frowned.  “Just keep moving and stay together.”

They were only afforded a few more steps before their assailants made themselves known.  Eight men stepped out of the woods from both sides and quickly surrounded the group.  They were dressed from head to toe in black, and sweat beaded on their foreheads in the October heat. 

“Well now, where do you think you’re goin’?”  The first one to speak was tan and scruffy looking.  His beard was unkempt, and he had a wild look in his eyes.  Molly thought by his accent that he might not be from around there.  It was more Southern than they were used to. 
Maybe they came down from Georgia?
  She couldn’t tell.

Burt instinctually took command of the situation.  “We don’t want any trouble.  We’re just heading home.  Good day to you,” he said, and tried to lead the group past the men. 

They laughed.  “I think all that stuff is too much of a burden for you folks.  Let us lighten your load.” 

Molly glanced around and saw that each of them had something in their hands.  One had a long stick that looked like it used to be a broom handle.   Another had a crowbar.  Another had a baseball bat.  All were equally dangerous.  All Molly and her neighbors had were groceries.  The men shifted their weight menacingly, toying with their would-be weapons.

Burt attempted to reason with them again.  “Now, listen.  There’s plenty of food left at the store.  Why don’t you guys just go get some for yourselves?”

The one with the mangy beard responded.  He seemed to be their leader.  “You folks don’t want to share?  You obviously got all the best stuff, and I was always taught to share if I had something better than my neighbor.  I think we ought to teach these folks a lesson.” 

They closed the circle and Molly started to panic a little.  There were more in Molly’s group, but they weren’t skilled in fighting.  Some of the women in the group took the occasional kickboxing class, but that was about it. 

They glanced around nervously as the men got closer, and before they could react, Burt made the first move.  Apparently he was keeping a pretty impressive knife in his waistband, underneath his shirt.  He caught the man closest to him off-guard, and held it to his throat. 

“Like I said, we don’t want any trouble.  If you’re looking for food, go get it yourselves.” 

The man Burt had attacked lifted his chin a little, and Burt responded in kind.  A small trickle of blood dripped from the point of Burt’s knife. 

The leader chuckled, his beard bobbing.  “Well, fellas.  Looks like we found a group with some spunk.”  The men laughed nervously, waiting for their leader to tell them what to do. 

“Alright.  That’s fine.  We’ll go,” he said, never breaking eye contact with Burt.

Burt backed off a bit, but kept his knife at the ready.  As soon as they opened their circle, Burt led the group through it.  The men leered at them as they passed by, but thankfully that was all they did. 

It occurred to Molly as they walked away that the men might have had information about other cities, and the conditions in the surrounding areas.  She mentioned this to Burt, and he scoffed.  “Molly.  They were not interested in helping us in any way.  In fact, I’m quite certain they would have hurt us, given the opportunity, and if they had been a little hungrier.”

“But they might be able to tell us if there’s power in other cities.  Why we haven’t gotten word from anyone yet.”

Some of the others in our group perked up when she said that.  They were all so desperate for information, it was difficult to let even the smallest chance for knowledge of the outside world slip by.

“What happened here is information enough,” he said, a little louder, so others tuning in could hear.  He scanned the faces watching them.  “Obviously the Blackout isn’t an isolated incident.  I’d imagine those fellows are wandering around just looking for food.  They were probably homeless when the power went out, and didn’t have anything stored up like we all did.  They have nothing to lose and everything to gain.  Their very presence is an indication that our best-case scenario isn’t playing out.”  Burt looked at Molly long enough to make sure she comprehended his point, then he moved ahead.

“Come on, guys.  Let’s get home to our families.”

They picked up the pace and walked the rest of the way home in silence. 

How much longer can we survive on speculation of what’s going on beyond the city limits? 
She thought of Jimmy’s radio and wondered if he knew the answers. 
How much longer will we be kept in the dark? 

9.

The next day, the power was still out.  In the morning Gary and Clint raided the airplane’s stock and had a fair amount of ‘food’.  They had ordered cheese and fruit trays for the passengers and ate them first.  The chips, nuts, drinks, and candy they hoped wouldn’t be needed.   

Throughout the day they watched streams of people leave the main terminal buildings, but Clint and Gary stayed put.  They walked past the FBO building dutifully, simply following the person in front of them.  Gary wondered where they were all going, thinking that not many of them could live within walking distance of the airport. 

But then, if my home was only a two or three day’s walk from here, I’d have left last night.  Maybe.
Gary folded his arms over his chest and watched them walking.  If the power came back soon, they’d be stuck out there.  Gary frowned. 
Maybe I’d have stayed put. 

On the third day, Gary concluded no one was coming.  He was getting cabin fever, and he was sick of sitting around.  The power was still out, and they were living off of vending machine food and the last of the rations from the Hawker.  Water was an issue.  Luckily there was a river across the field that they could get water from to flush the toilet with, but drinking water would be scarce if the power didn’t come back soon.  Gary finally broke down after day two and washed off in the river, but it was pretty brisk.  It wasn’t something he wanted to make a habit of.

He came to the conclusion that they needed to move on from the airport before Clint did.  His co-pilot was very duty-oriented and thought they should stay where people knew where they were.  Gary just wanted to get back to his family.  He wasn’t planning on walking the entire way, but he thought maybe they could walk to the closest city that had power. 

The airport wasn’t that far from I-95, and Gary knew they could walk to Eddystone without too much trouble.  He thought they could probably do it in less than a day.  Then maybe they could see what was going on and form a plan of attack. 

Gary started taking inventory of their supplies and seeing what could be packed and carried.  There wasn’t an endless supply of food, so one way or another they were going to have to leave soon. 

He approached Clint.  “Clint, I think we should leave.” 

“Why?” 

“Well, we’re running out of food, and haven’t seen anyone for days.  I think we need to move on from here in order to make some forward progress towards getting home.”

“What about the clients?” 

Gary laughed.  After three days of waiting, Clint was still planning on sitting here.  “I don’t really give a rat’s ass about them, Clint.”  His volume rose with the frustration of stagnating for the past three days.  “I care about not starving to death, and getting back home!”  He took a breath.  “Besides, even if they aren’t just as stranded as we are, and they come waltzing through that door, what are we going to do?  It’s not like we can take them anywhere.”  He let that sink in.  “Look, Eddystone is only a few miles from here, and I think it would benefit us to pack up what we have left and start walking.”

“Why not go into Philadelphia?  It’s a bigger city and more likely to offer help, don’t you think?”

Gary considered this option, but logically it didn’t make sense.  “No, I don’t think so.  If the power has been out at the major metropolitan airport for this many days, the likelihood that it will be on in the city is slim to none.”

Clint considered the options, and Gary became impatient.  “If you want to stay, I’m not going to stop you.  I’ll split up the supplies fifty-fifty and you can do what you want.  But I sure could use your help.  I’m not sure how far I’ll have to walk to get information, and it would be nice to have another person along the way.”  He paused.  “At any rate, I’m leaving today.  Now, in fact.  So, come if you want, or stay.  It’s your choice.” 

Gary picked up his backpack and slung the extra bag full of drinks and food over his shoulder.  He left two other shoulder bags full of similar supplies on the floor.  Clint got up and picked up the bags.  “You sure you got everything we need?” 

Gary smiled and shook Clint’s outstretched hand.  “I sure hope so.” 

They were nervous about walking along 95, so they changed the route a bit.  They were both so conditioned to cars driving at high speeds on the highways, neither thought it smart to walk there.  So, they decided to take 291 down to Chester, and see what could be found there.  If necessary, they could always connect with 95 in Chester.  

However, when they started walking along Industrial Highway, it became clear that there were no cars to be afraid of.  They were all abandoned and scattered about the road, frozen in that singular moment.