As We Fall Page 7

  “And what happens when the generators run out of gas?” a woman asked.

  “Good question. What I can tell you is that the generators in the hospital and school use both gasoline and solar so we will be able to keep those going for as long as we get sunshine.”

  “And then what?” asked an elderly man among the crowd of six hundred that had gathered to hear what was being done.

  “Yeah! I would like to know why the food prices have shot up since this started?”

  “Supply and demand,” Richard replied.

  “Fifteen dollars for a loaf of bread?”

  “Look, I don’t set the prices. I am in the same boat as all of you.”

  “Ah but you have money,” someone yelled.

  Richard shook his head. “People, people. Have you heard anything of what I said?” He paused. “Myself and several other companies in the town have donated a large sum of money to cover the cost of food and water at the emergency shelter. I have also gone above and beyond and provided additional generators so that our town isn’t in complete darkness. We are doing the best we can under the circumstances. The food at the grocery stores is for those of you who have money. We do not control price hikes. If you have a problem with that I would recommend you head to the shelter for what you need. However, please be aware that as resources dwindle, we will be rationing out what we have, which also includes candles, flashlights and insulated blankets. You will also see an increased police presence in the streets. Also, because we have issued a state of emergency, there is a curfew in effect. So please be inside your homes no later than eleven and do not emerge until six in the morning until further notice.”

  “Are you kidding me?” a man in a checkered shirt stood up stabbing his finger.

  “Howard, calm down.”

  Howard Boone was a feisty fella who ran the local butcher shop. When he wasn’t chopping up meat, or hunting, he was usually found knocking back whiskey down at the bar. Catch him at the right time and he was as pleasant as could be but God help anyone who crossed him. He had a mean streak a mile long.

  “I won’t be told when or where I can go.” Howard shuffled out of his aisle and shoved open the back doors on the town hall auditorium. He wasn’t alone in his objections, several families got up and left.

  “Please. People. What we are trying to do here is for the benefit and safety of you all. Our emergency services are already overwhelmed by the need right now and all we are asking for is some cooperation while we wait this out.”

  “Which raises a great question. How long do we have to hold out?” someone shouted.

  “I can’t answer that. No one knows right now. We are dealing with unknowns. What we do know before the power went down is this is some form of attack on the country. Fortunately there was no mention of nuclear weapons or bio warfare. It appears that the interconnected infrastructure was the target. I’m sure that our government is working hard to get the grid back up. Until then our job here is to protect life and property. In addition to that we will provide timely and efficient updates to the public, and put into effect an orderly evacuation if it’s called for.”

  “Evacuation?” a woman cried out.

  Citizens were reacting and latching on to any word that would give them reason to complain or dispute. Richard gazed out at the worried faces. It was rare to see this many people out at the meetings. In years gone by, the turnout was pitiful. Few people cared about the town they lived in unless it directly impacted them.

  “Like I said, we are still assessing the situation. There is a limited amount of information that has been released but we will keep everyone abreast of any changes.”

  His reply made many of them scoff, others murmured and the rest nodded.

  “For now I’m going to hand you over to Dave Stephens. Have a good evening everyone, and stay safe.”

  Richard stepped down from the podium and exited through a side door that took him into a corridor with offices on either side. He made his way to the rear and exited into the parking lot where his driver was waiting for him in a 1959 Rolls-Royce. He breathed in the crisp mountain air and squinted into the sunshine. As an avid collector of classic cars, he couldn’t get enough of them. If he wasn’t going to shows, he was searching online for what he could get his hands on next. The upside, he wasn’t without a vehicle when the shit hit the fan. Now, having said that, it wasn’t like all the vehicles had stopped working. The breakdowns and collisions only seemed to affect those that had some form of connection to the Internet, the rest were fine but without gas it wouldn’t be long before they all stopped working.

  One of the first orders of business that Richard had put in place was clearing the roads of vehicles that had stalled. Tow or push, keeping the roads clear was critical for emergency services.

  “Sir,” said Terrence, his personal driver, opening the rear door. “I gather it all went well?”

  “It did, thank you.”

  He slipped into the back and reached for a bottle of bourbon, and a glass.

  “Home?”

  “To the hospital.”

  “Very well.”

  The car rumbled to life and peeled away heading for St. Anthony Summit Medical Center in Frisco, fifteen minutes away. Breckenridge had an emergency care service but the general hospital was located in the small town of Frisco just north of Breckenridge. Along the way he looked over the paperwork he’d been given by Dave Stephens and then tossed it to one side. His mind was with his daughter, and his granddaughter at Harvard. Since communications had gone down he’d been unable to get in contact with Anna and with reports of downed aircraft, he wasn’t going to take the chance of boarding his private plane.

  Richard stared out the window at the golden aspen leaves, pines and spruce that swallowed the town. By late October snow would be falling and then the situation would drastically change. He’d hoped this wouldn’t last beyond a day but they were already two days into this and there was no hope on the horizon. Unbeknownst to the residents of Breckenridge — city officials, police and the hospital were at a loss for what to do. With several cars still on the road, one of the local police officers had headed to the surrounding towns to see if the situation was any better — it wasn’t. As it stood they were biding their time and hoping the event would be handled by state officials. If it wasn’t, things were only going to get worse.

  Fortunately, there hadn’t been any violence but after several outbursts that evening, he didn’t think they were far off from desperate people taking matters into their own hands. The only reassurance he had was that the police were patrolling.

  Terence pulled up to the emergency doors and let him out.

  “Will you be long, sir?”

  Richard leaned in and replied, “Give me half an hour.”

  He closed the door and headed into the glow of the hospital. Several members of staff acknowledged him with a nod or a wave. Being the one to provide additional generators gave him a sense of pride but it wasn’t because he wanted to help residents, as much as it was to help his own daughter. Helen had been admitted to the hospital a day before the power went out to undergo more testing related to abnormal heart trouble, and ongoing health issues. They had already booked her in for bypass surgery. It was due to take place tomorrow so Richard had made sure the hospital had everything they needed.

  As he stepped into the elevator and rode up to the second floor, he adjusted his suit and tie, and swept back his silver hair. He never liked hospitals. The last time he’d been in one was when he lost his wife twelve years ago to breast cancer. Her death had nearly destroyed him. Elly had been his rock, that one steadfast thing in his life that kept him anchored and helped him to reason through the challenges his daughter faced in her marriage.

  Sam — he’d never liked him.

  From the moment Helen brought him home to meet the family, he knew that Sam was a wrong fit. While he came across as a good, well-mannered individual, it was the career in the military that bothered him.
Yeah, he didn’t want his daughter marrying a man who might never come home. How could anyone live like that? But it wasn’t just that. It was the reality of military marriages. They rarely worked, at least the ones he’d come across hadn’t. It was the pressures, the pull of combat tours, and the ease of being able to cheat while away from home. Then there was having to cope with a man that had seen all manner of horrors overseas. It worried him. It wasn’t a life for his daughter. No, there were better men out there. So when the arguments started he saw his opportunity and capitalized on it. The day Sam walked away was a good day for everyone. Sure, Helen gave him the cold shoulder for a couple of months for what he’d done but the fact was it proved a point. Sam couldn’t be trusted and for all his training when the going got hard he walked away. In Richard’s mind he was a disgrace to the Navy SEALs.

  The elevator dinged open and Richard stepped out and made his way down to Helen’s room. The door was slightly ajar. She had the best room in the hospital, all expenses paid. Seated beside her bed, holding her hand, was Eric. Eric Porter had been a complete godsend; the kind of man that he’d always hoped Helen would end up with, the kind of man that he would have gladly welcomed into the family if Helen had been willing to accept him.

  Richard knocked on the door and Eric turned his head. “Richard.”

  “Eric. Good to see you.” He looked at Helen. “Hello, my darling.”

  “Hey Dad.”

  Eric stood up. “Well, I’ll just be outside. Maybe I’ll go find us a bite to eat. If there is anything.” He smiled.

  She nodded. “Thanks.”

  Richard gave him a pat on the back as he passed him. The door closed and he took a seat beside her bed. “Eric’s a good man.”

  “Yeah, he is.”

  “You know after you heal up from the surgery, you’d be…”

  “Dad.”

  “I’m just saying. He could give you a good life.”

  “I’m quite content being single.”

  Richard nodded. “Well, I’m not giving up. Before I kick the bucket I plan on walking you down the aisle, you hear me?”

  She smiled, and then her expression went serious. “Any changes?”

  “No, the lines haven’t come up yet but as soon as they do, I will get in touch with her. She’s a smart girl. And I can’t think of a safer place to be than Harvard.”

  “Well let’s hope they’re okay.”

  Richard cocked his head ever so slightly and frowned. “They’re?”

  Helen met his gaze and she adjusted herself in her bed. “Look, I don’t want you to get angry. I can’t deal with you getting angry but I arranged for Sam to pick her up.”

  He stared back in utter disbelief. “When were you planning on telling me this?”

  “Contrary to what you think, Dad, I don’t have to run everything by you. I couldn’t get out there and it’s been a long while since Anna has spent time with Sam.”

  “And there is a good reason why. He’s a loser.”

  She sighed. “There you go again. This is why I didn’t tell you.”

  He raised his voice ever so slightly. “You should have told me, Helen. I could have gone and got her.”

  “Yeah, and then you would be stuck out there as well. At least he’ll get her home.”

  Richard scoffed and leaned back in his seat.

  “She has a right to know her father.”

  “He’s not her father. He’s a bum — nothing more than an absent, angry man. Do I have to remind you?”

  Helen shot back, “You antagonized him. What did you expect him to do?”

  “I expected him to leave.”

  “And he did. Thanks to you.”

  “Yeah, and you’re better for it. He didn’t deserve you, Helen.”

  She frowned. “Who are you to say that? I loved him.”

  “Love? Please. That wasn’t love. He was away more times than he was home. For God’s sake he couldn’t even make it back for his own child’s birth.”

  “Because he was on an operation. Do you think he’s the only military personnel who has missed their child’s birth? I knew what I signed up for when I married him, Dad.”

  “No you didn’t.”

  “Stop doing that.”

  “What?”

  “You know it. Controlling my life. For God’s sake, I’m forty-two years of age.”

  “If your mother was here, she would…”

  Helen shut her eyes and squeezed them tight. The EKG monitor started beeping faster. “Don’t you dare bring her into it. She loved Sam and you know it.”

  Richard put out his hand. “Okay, okay, calm down.”

  A nurse came to the door. “Everything okay?”

  Helen waved her off. “I’m fine.”

  The nurse was hesitant to leave without checking her vitals first.

  Once she was gone, Richard stared back and got up and went over to the window. He looked out across the parking lot and up towards the Rocky Mountains. It wouldn’t be long before they would be covered with snow. “I think once you are out of surgery I’ll have you come and stay at my place.”

  “I have my own home,” she said.

  “It’s just precautionary. I’ll have one of the nurses visit daily to check on you and…”

  “Just say it like it is, Dad, you don’t want to be alone, do you?”

  “Well it would be nice to have some company.”

  “Then you shouldn’t have pushed everyone out of your life.”

  “I didn’t.”

  She scoffed. “Those people around you only come around because of your money.”

  Richard looked back at her. “I resent that.”

  She reached for a glass of water. “Resent it all you want. It’s true.”

  He watched her swallow a few gulps before he got close to her and took her hand. “You know I love you, right?”

  She nodded then sighed. “You need to promise me, Dad, if anything goes wrong when I’m in surgery and I don’t make it—”

  “Oh don’t speak like that,” he said cutting her off. “You are going to be fine.”

  “If I don’t make it, I don’t want you interfering with Anna’s relationship with her father.”

  Richard snorted. “She’s old enough to make her own decisions.”

  “So was I but that didn’t stop you.”

  He pulled his hand away.

  “Promise me.”

  He groaned and looked away.

  “Dad.”

  “All right. I promise. But unless the power grid comes up I don’t expect to see her back here.”

  “You really don’t know Sam.”

  “I know enough,” he said rising to his feet and exhaling hard. “Is there anything you need right now? Food, water, tea?”

  “How did the meeting go?” she asked.

  “Exactly as I expected. People aren’t happy with the situation but we’ll get through this as a community.”

  “As long as you are at the helm, right?” she said with a smirk on her face.

  “You know me well.” He looked around the room. “You want me to see if they can put an extra bed in the room for Eric?”

  “Dad.”

  “Okay. I’m just thinking it might make things easier, being as he’s spent a lot of time here already.”

  “Yeah, perhaps you can tell him to head on home.”

  “He’s keeping an eye on you.”

  “That’s what I’m worried about.”

  Richard smiled and came over and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Everything is going to be fine. They have you booked in for tomorrow. Dr. Sawyer will be doing the surgery. You’re in good hands. I’ll check back later this evening, okay?”

  NINE - DOWNFALL

  The atmosphere in the truck was uncomfortable for a while after Mason and Lisa’s argument; however, it didn’t take long before the steady stream of traffic heading out of the city distracted them. Multiple times Mason veered off to the edge of the road to pull out the map a
nd find an alternative route because so many vehicles were clogging up the streets.

  Vehicles that were operating were having a hard time weaving around the stalled ones as many of them had given up the ghost in the middle of the road, cutting off any way through, while others had veered onto the hard shoulder making it hard to go around.

  Sam figured the journey would take roughly thirty hours by car if they didn’t stop and didn’t have traffic but with all the stopping and starting, and detours, they were looking at it taking at least three or four days, maybe more. They had planned on sticking to I-90 and heading west but it was a mess, and after seeing another downed plane they knew they would have to head onto the back roads until they found a clear spot on the highway. Then of course there was the fact that they had a limited amount of gas, and most of the stations were either closed or had jacked their prices so high, that it wasn’t feasible. Besides, it was dangerous. The one time they’d stopped to take a leak and grab a bite to eat, they’d seen one guy stumble out of a store with a gash on his forehead, and a group chase after him to give him a beatdown. Sam wanted to intervene but the others begged him to just get in the truck.

  “You want to get us killed?” Lisa shouted as they drove away.

  “If that was your kid back there I bet you’d be singing a different tune,” Sam replied.

  “Well it’s not. I agreed to come with you, not end up as a human piñata.”

  “Lisa, give him a break,” Mason said flashing a glare in his rearview mirror.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Chase said as they passed through the town of Westborough. “Things are escalating fast.”

  “You think?” Lisa said shaking her head.

  “Why don’t we all just calm down?” Anna said. “Can someone pass me the water?”

  Chase showed her an empty bottle. “We’re already out.”

  “Are you joking?” Sam said, turning around and looking into the back.

  “I was thirsty,” Lisa said.