NightFall (12 page)

Rob glanced into rear-view mirror at
the kids.

“
You guys doing all right
back there?” he said, rubbing his eyes.

Kelly nodded, still in a quiet state
of shock after what they had been through.

“
Yeah, I guess,” Josh
said. “But I don’t understand why we have to go to the cabin. Why
not just stay at the house? What difference does it
make?

“
We have a plan,” Mila
answered. “And we have to stick to the plan.”

“
Sounds like a pretty dumb
plan to me,” Josh said, scoffing.

“
The longer we stay at the
house, the harder it will be to leave. And trust me, we would have
to leave at some point.”

“
Yeah, but—“

Rob cut him off.

“
I understand it’s not an
easy thing to ask of any of you. But it’s the only way.”

Mila looked back at Josh with an
attempt to console him. “It will only be for a couple of weeks.”
She then turned to Rob. “Right?”

Rob nodded. “A couple of weeks tops.”
He knew, however, that it could be much longer. What else could he
say? After what Kelly and Josh had been through, Rob didn’t want to
fill their heads with the true reality: that they could be there
for months. A total grid shutdown posed detrimental effects for
years on end, or things could go back to normal in a matter of
months. Whatever the outcome, he knew that adapting to a
survivalist lifestyle would have to be gradual.

Josh threw his hands. “I don’t like
this one bit.” He shook his head in frustration and spoke in a
hopeless, defeated tone. “Why did this have to happen? Who did this
to us and why? I just… don’t understand.”

“
I’m sorry, Josh. I really
am,” Rob said.

The car went silent again. Josh looked
out his window, not saying a word as they passed another lines of
cars parked on the interstate. They crossed the bridge over the
Hudson, another landmark closer to home. The emergency radio
crackled. Mila held it up, tilting the antenna, trying to get a
better listen to the broadcast.

“
Highways from the West
Coast to the East, from the Mid-west to Southern states are at a
complete stand-still. Seventy-five percent of the nation’s power
grids are reported as non-functional as the federal government, and
emergency response management agencies have reportedly implemented
measures to address the growing crisis. Air space has been
restricted nationally to military only. Residents of all affected
areas are advised to remain in their homes until assistance can be
made.

“
Those left stranded on
highways and roads are urged to remain calm and wait for assistance
at emergency refuge centers. They are not encouraged to remain on
the roads, which are being cleared for official transportation of
casualties as well as other emergencies… More details to
follow.”

Then the broadcast ended.

Mila clutched the radio, stunned. If
what they had heard was true, things were far worse than he could
have imagined. Rob had hoped… hoped that the EMP had encompassed a
limited range. But any such optimism was now gone.

“
We have to get to the
cabin tonight. There’s no other way,” Mila said
adamantly.

Judging from what they had seen in the
city, the United States was either undergoing some kind of foreign
invasion, or that the government had resorted to extreme measures
to handle the crisis.

***

Their neighborhood was largely the
same as it had been earlier that day. The garbage truck was still
there, long abandoned. Any cars in the driveway in the morning were
still there. Anyone not home earlier, didn’t look to be home now.
There was an eerie quietness to the street, but it was a breath of
fresh air after the city. Rob made it back to the house with a
half-tank of gas left. It was late afternoon, and the evening was
upon them—where anything could happen.

They pulled into the driveway, and Rob
asked Josh to jump out and open the garage door. The Datsun was a
hot commodity, no matter where they were or how safe they
felt.

“Everything looks fine here,” Josh
said. “Why don’t we just wait here, sleep on it? The power could be
back on in the morning for all we know.”

“Please just open the garage door,”
Rob said.

“I’ll do it,” Mila said, opening her
door.

“No,” Rob said, touching her arm. He
looked into the rear-view mirror. “Do what I asked.”

Josh huffed and got out of the car. As
he walked to the garage door and pushed it open, Mila said, “He’ll
come around at some point. Don’t worry.”

“I know,” Rob said.

After opening the garage door, Josh
went inside the house through the garage without looking
back.

Rob spoke in a hushed tone. “We think
it’s difficult getting the kids to adjust tonight? Imagine
tomorrow. The more they get settled in, the harder it’s going to
be.”

“I don’t mind going to the cabin,”
Kelly said from the back seat.

Rob turned. “That’s good. Now we all
have to pack and be ready. Do you think you can do
that?”

“Yeah,” she said in a flat
tone.”

He pulled forward into the garage,
unnoticed by anyone on the street. Their neighbor Ken was nowhere
to be seen. It was late afternoon and they were already losing
daylight fast.

“
Nice to see that we’re
all on board,” Rob said. “We’ll load up the car and get on our
way.”

Mila sat quiet and reserved as Rob
turned the ignition off. She thought of her earlier urgency, of
wanting to get to the cabin as soon as possible. After seeing what
had become of their town, their streets, the neighboring city, she
had thought her mind made up. But something about the familiarity
and comfort of their home made everything better.

It was hard to explain to Josh and
Kelly why the importance of uprooting their lives for an
undisclosed period. And then there was her job. What of the
hospital? What of her patients? Could she really leave it all
behind? She was beginning to feel a little bit like
Josh.

But she also trusted Rob’s instincts.
His quick thinking had assured her so far that they had a chance.
She thought of Chet, the man who harassed her. She was lucky to
have her gun on her. How many more people were out there, closing
in on their neighborhood, just like him?

“
All good?” Rob asked and
turned off the ignition switch.

Mila and Kelly said, “Yes,” in return.
Being told to pack for potentially months in a short amount of time
and space was a bit overwhelming. This much, Rob
understood.

“
Just focus on the
necessities,” he said. “We can always make a two trips if
needed.”

They opened their doors and stepped
out. Rob went to Kelly and knelt down in front of her, offering a
light hug.

“
How are you feeling?” he
asked. Her face still looked shaken.

“
OK, I guess. Just a
little hungry.”

Rob took her by the hand and led her
inside as Mila followed. It was getting dark and the air was
stuffy.

“
I’ll open some windows,”
he said.

“
Come on,” Mila said to
Kelly. “Let’s see what we can pack for you.”

They went off down the hall as Rob
opened the living room and kitchen windows, letting in a cool
breeze. He thought about the house and how much he wanted to take
everything. We’re they doing the right thing abandoning it? Was
there any other way? He eliminated his doubt as he walked toward
Josh’s room. His son could be heard riffling through his
closet.

“
How’s it going in here?”
he said, pushing the door open. His blinds were open, and the sun
was rapidly descending. A lush, orange sky could be seen outside
the window. They were running out of time. Traveling in the
mountains at night posed its own challenges—their headlights could
be seen for miles.

Josh threw a pile of clothes onto his
bed. His room was a mess of books, video games, and shoes,
skateboard, books lying everywhere.

“
What am I actually
supposed to pack here? I have no idea.”

Rob strolled in and took a seat at the
end of his bed. “No electronics. They’re useless now. Clothes.
Hygiene stuff. Winter jackets. Blankets. It’s going to get cold up
there.”

Josh stood in the middle of the room,
shaking his head. “I just don’t get it.”

“
We won’t be there
forever. All I ask is that you understand that the safety of this
family is my top priority,” Rob said, as he sat on the
bed.

“
Yes, Dad. I get it.” Josh
bent down, grabbed another pile of clothes, and tossed it on the
bed. “This is the worst day of my life.”

Rob stood up and approached Josh,
helping him sort through his clothes. “Things will get better, I
promise.”

Josh didn’t respond and just seemed to
hang his head in defeated.

“
After you get packed. I
need your help with a few other things.”

“
Like what?”

“
Making sure that your
sister and mom are good to go. We’re the men of the family, Josh,
and we need to act like it.”

Josh grabbed his cell phone. “My
friends. They could still be at the museum, or they made it home.
But I’ll never know, will?” He threw the phone across the room,
hitting his dresser.

“
We have work to do,
Josh,” Rob said. “It’s time for you to put everything behind you
for now, and do what’s best for your family.”

Josh turned to Rob, surprised by his
matter-of-fact tone. He was too exhausted to argue any longer.
There was nothing left to say.

They walked to the garage together and
got to work. Helicopters raced above the house, giving them chills.
With only an hour or so of precious daylight left, they got to
work.

The Datsun was quickly loaded with
everything that could fit inside the trunk and on the top of the
car. Rob wrapped containers and boxes over the top railing with
bungee cords like they were going on extended vacation. Josh
thought of cabin and what he was going to do out there. He liked to
fish and then noticed his pole in the corner near the washer and
dryer. He grabbed it and then remembered something else.

“
Do we still have room for
my tackle box?” he asked Rob.

Rob finished fastening the last
bungee. “Yeah, there should be some room in the truck.”

Josh went into the house to get it.
After the initial shock, their trip was beginning to feel more like
a vacation. Rob did a mental check of everything they had packed so
far: emergency food kits, medical supplies, bug-out bags, weapons
and ammunition. In the meantime, it seemed as if everyone was
packed and ready. Mila and Kelly brought their bags out. Josh soon
followed. For Rob, it was a sobering sight to see. They were really
leaving.

***

After packing everything they needed,
the family took the forty-minute drive to the cabin, with a quarter
tank left of their gas, and a jumbled congestion of vehicles along
their path. They left their house with the windows closed, locked,
and covered, hoping to return home soon.

It was early evening as Rob up the
winding hills of Bear Lake Mountain Road to where a quaint
three-bedroom cabin awaited, far into the mountains and away from
the civilized world. Rob knew the roads well, and he also expected
to find a few others who had cabins in the area. People, like him,
who prepped. With no way of knowing who had made it or not, Rob
didn’t hold any expectations, but little by little, he was sure
people would began to arrive.

His people owned bug-out vehicles as
well with escape plans similar to his. He trusted each them and was
certain that they could stave off the elements together and live
off the land safely in relative harmony.

The camp community consisted of two
families and two couples—all resourceful preppers—who had had
purchased the cabins in the event of a national crisis or disaster.
They were residents of Nyack, except for one Long Island family,
and they were also frequent customers to his store. He hadn’t seen
a lot of them in a while and hoped that they were OK.

“
Have heard from anyone
else?” Mila asked, referring to the prepper group.

“
No, not yet,” Rob
answered. He fiddled with the emergency radio in his lap, trying to
get a decent signal. “I hope to see everyone soon, or at least in
the next day or two.”

Mila grabbed the radio from him. “Let
me see that. You need to keep your eyes on the road.”

Not much more came over the radio.
There were continual advisements for residents to stay inside their
homes, almost as if that was the government’s only plan. But it
beyond that, they weren’t any closer to finding out who was behind
the EMP and why. The time wasn’t right and the government wasn’t
speaking. There would be no real answers for some time.

Twenty miles from the cabin, Kelly was
knocked out, resting after some Ibuprofen Mila had given her. Josh
stared out the window as Mila dug through her purse.