The End (12 page)

“How long will we be without power?” Simone asked, terrified. She was gripping Jimmy's hand very tightly.

“Simone, that's a good question. Worst case could be six months or more.”

“What?” Simone couldn't believe his answer.

“If the power stays off for longer than a week, we will start to see society collapse, plain and simple. The life we knew before is gone and I don't know if it will ever come back.”

Simone put her head in her hands and started to cry. Jimmy put his arms around her and tried to comfort her.

“What do we need to do?” Melissa asked.

Gordon was staring at Simone. Then he turned to answer Melissa. He thought to himself how interesting it was how each individual responds to situations. He admired her pragmatism.

“First thing is not to worry too much about Eric. He's probably finding a way back home now. Unfortunately, that probably means walking back. That could mean he won't show up until tomorrow sometime, so don't panic if you don't see him tonight. While you're waiting for him, you need to go back home and fill all of your tubs and sinks with water. Make sure you clean them out as well as you can before filling, of course. Do not use the toilets from now on. Eat the food in your freezer and anything that is perishable first. Keep your canned foods for last. Locate all of your fuel if you have any; candles, matches, lighters, flashlights, et cetera. Use all of them sparingly.”

“What about Sophie?” Melissa looked down to her baby in her arms.

Gordon paused and looked at Melissa rocking Sophie. “She'll be fine. You're breast feeding, right?”

Melissa nodded.

“Then she'll be okay, as long as you take care of yourself. Do not give her any water unless you know it's clean. I recommend you go home now and start prepping. We'll keep an eye on you from here. If you need anything, come by.”

Jimmy reassured them. “Yes, Melissa, don't hesitate. Come by if you need anything, anything at all.”

Melissa stood up and started for the door. Gordon followed her out.

“Melissa, if you need anything please let us know. I'd say call, but . . .” Gordon made a weak attempt at humor.

Melissa smiled and said thank you. “I'll let you all know when Eric makes it back.”

Gordon watched as she walked off into the darkness toward the sidewalk. He closed the door and went back into the living room. Jimmy was trying to console Simone, who was still very upset. Not wanting to intrude, he left the room and walked down the hallway toward the playroom. He saw the small light flicker off and on in the room and heard laughter. He walked up to the doorway and looked in. The kids were under a blanket with the flashlight; they were turning it off and on.

He then realized Samantha hadn't been in the living room when he walked in on Jimmy and Simone. He assumed she'd be in the kitchen, but when he checked, it was empty. He spent the next few minutes looking for her. Finally he checked the garage, saving it for last because he couldn't think of any reason she'd go in there by herself. He opened the door and, sure enough, there she was. She was holding a notepad, taking an inventory of the food they had just brought back.

“What are you doing?” he asked, already knowing her answer.

“Taking inventory; it needed to be done. Why don't you go and get the bike and trailer and bring it back so we can take our half home,” she suggested, not looking away from the notepad.

“That's not going to happen. I am sore as hell and like my grandad used to say, ‘work smart, not hard,'” Gordon replied.

Not looking at him she responded, “However you get this home, just get it done.”

“Yes, ma'am.” He walked over to her and stood behind her. He reached around with his arms and brought her close to him. “I love a take-charge woman.”

“Gordon, now is not the time,” she said, shrugging him off.

“Okay. I just love it when you start to bark orders,” he said, and then slapped her on the butt.

She stopped writing for the first time since he walked into the garage and snapped at him. “Really, you think this is an appropriate time?”

Gordon stepped away and said, “It's okay, I know where you live.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Gordon went back into the living room. Jimmy was still on the couch but Simone was gone.

“Where did Simone go?” Gordon asked

“She went to go check on the kids.”

“Hey, I'm going to load up my supplies in your truck and take them to my house, okay?”

“You do that,” Jimmy responded. He reached down and grabbed his glass of bourbon and tossed it back, downing the whole glass.

Gordon looked at his friend for a moment, then headed back to the garage. He was tired but there still was a lot of work to do before he would rest.

Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma

Flanked by an entourage of people, Conner walked briskly toward the aircraft waiting on the tarmac.

“How is it this plane is operational?” Conner asked, pointing at the aircraft.

“It's an E-6 Mercury, sir,” Griswald answered loudly. He almost had to yell as they grew closer to the plane. The high-pitched whine of the plane's engine made it hard to hear. “We did do something right, sir. We have a fleet of these which are hardened against nuclear or EMP attacks. They are a mobile command post to be used for incidents just as this.”

“Glad to hear some of our money was spent wisely,” Conner responded.

Standing at the base of the stairwell, he looked up contemplatively. He'd walk through the door as Speaker of the House and out as the President of the United States. Grabbing the rail, he jogged up the stairs. A uniformed officer saluted and led him to a furnished conference room on board.

Griswald and a few members of the entourage followed Conner into the conference room. Conner turned to Griswald and asked, “Any update on my wife?”

“No sir, not yet. Sir, we have not been able to track down a judge but we do have a Bible. May I suggest we get you sworn in so we can proceed with any response we may have to these attacks?” Griswald implored.

“Okay, let's do this,” Conner said, standing up.

Griswald turned to his aide. “Give me the Bible and the oath of office.”

The aide stepped forward with both requested items.

“Stand there and hold the Bible,” Griswald instructed his aide.

Conner placed his left hand on the Bible and raised his right hand.

Griswald proceeded, “Mr. Speaker, please repeat after me. I, Bradley Raymond Conner . . .”

Conner repeated, “I, Bradley Raymond Conner . . .”

“. . . do solemnly swear . . .”

“. . . do solemnly swear . . .”

“. . . that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States . . .”

“. . . that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States . . .”

“. . . and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

“. . . and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God,” Conner finished, overwhelmed with emotion.

Griswald put his hand out. “Mr. President.”

Conner took his hand and shook it, then gave his first order as president: “General, I need an up-to-date briefing on the status of everything.”

“Yes, sir,” Griswald answered enthusiastically.

All those in the room took their seats. Griswald sent his aide to find out what new information might have come in since their last briefing over an hour ago.

“While we wait, can you tell me now how our forces are positioned around the globe?” Conner asked.

Griswald turned on the large flat-screen monitor at the head of the room. He pulled up a map of the world and started to touch options on the side. With each tap on the screen, avatars representing military units began to appear on the map.

“Sir, what we know as of this morning is that we have carrier groups positioned here and here. We also have two Amphibious Ready Groups positioned here and here. Each ARG represents a reinforced battalion of Marines and all the air assets they would have to accompany them. In Afghanistan, we have two more battalions of Marines. Our land-based Army units in Europe have been unresponsive. This is due to an EMP detonation over central Europe which has destroyed the entire power grid from England to central Russia. All military units in the contiguous United States are down. We have been able to reach Hawaii and Alaska. There we have a mix of Army, Navy, Air Force, and a Marine Infantry Brigade located in Hawaii. Many of our attack and ballistic missile submarines are fully operational and are located here, here, here, and here.”

Interrupting Griswald, Conner asked, “General, tell me what you think happened or how it happened.”

“Sir, we believe that the EMP bomb was deployed on a missile and fired from some type of ship-based platform.”

“What happened to our missile defense systems?”

“Sir, we don't know why the missile was not intercepted or if an attempt was made to intercept it. We strongly believe it was fired from offshore, probably on board a container ship.”

“Why do you believe that?” Conner asked, leaning forward and placing his elbows on the table.

“One reason is that the ship would have to have been large. We did not have any intelligence on any large, state-flagged military ships nearby, so this was probably a container cargo ship. It would have had to be large enough to hold the missiles and ordinary enough not to be noticed. We are not sure if both missiles were deployed from the same ship or separately. We have to assume the missile that hit D.C. was fired from somewhere in the Atlantic. This would have reduced the distance and time for the missile to travel, increasing their odds of success. Now, if they both weren't shot from the same ship, then a likely location for launching the missile that had the EMP would be the Gulf of California.”

“Do we have any idea who did this?”

“No, we do not know for sure.”

“Answer this question with all honesty, with the entire power grid down across the country, when can we get it back up and what can we expect from the loss of the grid?”

“Sir, based upon all estimates, it would take as little as six months to as great as eighteen months to get the grid back up. The main problem is that all the power plants are down; we have no means of direct communication to speak with them. We don't have the assets in country now to bring in supplies to get them back up. Without power and without transportation assets, it's not just the power grid that is gone but the entire interstate infrastructure that supplies critical food, water, and medical supplies. The general population, specifically those located in major cities across the country, will start to feel the strain from the lack of food and fresh water within days. Local authorities have no means of assisting their local populations because all of their assets are down too.”

“Okay, so no power for a while. The main issue I'm hearing from you is a lack of food for the general population.”

“Yes, sir.”

“What can we do?”

“Not much right now, sir. What I suggest is we recall all of our military assets from across the globe. Bring them home. They have operational equipment and can assist in resupply to local municipalities.”

“How do you propose that?”

“You asked me to be honest, sir, and, honestly, I don't know even where to begin.”

Conner sat back in his chair. He was deep in thought. He then propped back up and asked, “General, without power, food, water, and medical supplies, what do you estimate will happen to the general population?”

“Sir, we have done those studies before.” He got up from his chair and approached the screen. He tapped a few buttons and pulled up a timeline. “Before I begin, sir, let me start by saying that right now there is not a lot we can do to assist the general population. Right now they are on their own. What we must focus on is getting the grid back up and maintaining the continuity of government. Once the grid is up, we can start to focus on supplying the general population.”

“I don't agree with you completely, but I hear what you are suggesting. What I am asking is what are we looking at in terms of casualties?”

Griswald turned around and tapped the screen; a graph came up. “Within the first few minutes of the detonation of the EMP, we estimate that approximately one hundred and fifty thousand people died.”

“What?” Conner said loudly in disbelief.

“Yes, sir. Based upon the detonation time we can estimate that approximately three thousand aircraft were in the sky at that time across the country. Assuming the average passenger load would be fifty people, you get to our estimate pretty easily. The EMP would have knocked out the aircraft's engines and they would have fallen to the ground.”

“Good God, that many people?”

“Sir, it's just the beginning. The nuclear bomb that struck Washington, D.C., was an approximately one-hundred-kiloton bomb. The epicenter of the explosion was near Kingman Park in the District. Everything within one mile of the explosion was completely destroyed. The Capitol and White House fell just outside of that zone, but a couple of aerial photos, seen here, show those structures are just about leveled.”

Conner sat silently in awe of the photos he was seeing.

“Mr. President, the initial loss of life estimated in Washington due to the nuclear attack is probably in the one hundred thousand range. We estimate another hundred thousand will perish due to radiation exposure, dehydration, and starvation.” Griswald paused, allowing the information to settle with Conner, while trying to process it emotionally himself. He then continued, “Mr. President, I need to warn you, the following numbers are staggering. Within the first month, the total loss of life will be about three to five million, within three months about fifteen to twenty million. By the six-month mark another fifty million, and, if nothing changes, within a year, ninety percent of the United States population will be dead.”