clogged with them. They looked abandoned. I looked and looked and I couldn’t see anyone inside of the cars. I thought maybe there had been an accident and traffic was backed up. But it was kind of eerie. There were no sounds. Usually you can still hear the car engines and what not. But I couldn’t hear any of the normal sounds. Then I noticed that down a ways it looked like some people were standing around arguing and yelling. At least that is what it looked like from here. Peoples’ hands were gesturing all around wildly. Then several people started fighting. I got scared then. I thought, oh no, we could have a riot right here like is happening in those other cities that have been on the news lately. I thought I’d better call 911 and report this before it gets out of hand. My cell phone is dead. It was fully charged this morning. I glanced at my watch and it is dead too. See?” He showed Preston his dead cell phone and watch.

The breath Preston was about to inhale stuck in his throat. His stomach clinched in fear. He felt like he had an electrical shock go through his body. The clerical worker went on with his report of events, “Then I looked far down the freeway and I saw a lot of people walking down the off ramp. I turned and looked all around and saw a few people standing out behind one of the buildings down the road. They were watching what was happening too. One guy turned and noticed me and jogged over here. He asked if my car would start. I said no, “I have a dead battery or something.” He said the same thing. Their cars won’t start either. I told him how weird this all was because my watch and cell phone are dead too. He agreed with me that it was really weird because their watches and cell phones are dead too. I told him I discovered this when I was trying to call the police because I was worried a riot might start. They are worried about the same thing. He said he had to get back to his co-workers. I then starting thinking about how strange all of this is and I realized this could be something else. Like a terrorist attack or something. But this is Madison, Wisconsin. Why would a terrorist attack us here? What do you think it could be?” Preston said, “I’m not sure but I do know that this isn’t anything good, that’s for sure.” He walked over to the wall and picked up the land line phone that was there. It was dead too. He noticed that his hand was shaking. The phone system used to be shielded. Too bad it still wasn’t. He would like to call Joe and Jane and tell them what had happened here. He thought, “Damn, damn, damn it. This had to happen when I’m all the way over here. Why did it have to be right now?  Why not next week when he would’ve been at the new building? It would be five miles closer to his apartment.”

Preston turned around to face the clerical guy and said, “I’m leaving. You should start walking home to check on your family too. This could get ugly real quick. It may not be safe for long out there. Imagine New Orleans and 9-11 all rolled into one.” The other man got paler listening to Preston’s advice. Preston turned and gathered up his coat and what not that he had lying around and headed for the outside door. When he reached it he turned around and told the man, “Good luck.”

Preston understood immediately that it had to have been an EMP. It was the only thing that would cause the power, cell phones, watches and all the vehicles to go dead at once. His Army training was about to pay off. He hurried over to his truck. He pulled his bug out bag out from behind the seat. He took off his work boots and put on his hiking boots. He pulled out his special belt. He checked his 1911 Colt 45 and made sure it was loaded and ready to go. He secured it. He then checked his two extra clips he always had on the belt. He thought, ”Yup, they’re full just like they are supposed to be.” He then grabbed the bottled water he kept behind the seat that he had for emergencies and filled his camel pack. He had added this to his Alice pack just last week. He thought to himself, “Good move.” He carried enough gear and supplies to live for three days in it.

It was eighteen miles to his apartment. He had already mapped the shortest route that he felt would be safe to travel. It kept him out of the main part of the city. He would keep to the wooded areas as much as possible. He thought, “Why couldn’t this have happened next week?” Next week he would’ve been at the new place. The new place was five miles closer to his apartment.

The clerical guy must have told his story to the rest of them in the building. He saw everyone coming outside to try their cars. None of them started. One of the other clerical workers came up to him and asked, “Why in the heck do you have a gun?” Preston replied, “You had better start to understand what all of this means real quick. We have been hit with an EMP. We are at war with some other country. From this moment on everything will be different than it ever has been before. Everyone will be walking unless you have a bicycle. People will not be in their right minds. Most people won’t understand what has happened. From this moment on it will be pure survival of the fittest and smartest. It will be like New Orleans and 9-11 rolled into one. Trust me on this. I am retired from the military. I know what I am talking about. You had better start walking home to protect your family.” The guy shook his head and said, “Your nuts. They will have this all fixed in a few days. The power goes out and you freak out. You are so over reacting.” Preston looked hard at the guy and said, “Listen genius, there is only one thing that will take out the whole power grid, cars, cell phones and watches. In other words everything that is electrical. That is an EMP. Period. There is nothing else that could do this. There is no quick fix for this. If the device wasn’t shielded properly then it’s dead.” Preston gestured all around them then said, “Just like this.” The guy said, “I don’t believe you. You are just over reacting. There is no way this was an EMP. Our government protects us from stuff like that. This is America. We are the number one super power. No one would dare do something like this. Our government makes sure of it. It always has, and it always will. You are just so over reacting. You are just plain nuts.” The guy turned away from Preston and walked over to one of his coworkers and started talking. Preston thought, “Well, I tried to warn them. It’s all up to them now. They are morons. Overwhelming evidence smacks them in the head and they just flat out refuse to believe it.” He turned back to his truck to check if he had everything that could be useful. He would not be coming back this way. Not ever again.

Preston took off towards the wooded lot across the street at a jog. One of the bosses called out to him, “Hey, where are you going? Wait up. I want to talk to you.” He stopped and turned around. It was one of the Executive’s in a suit, tie and dress shoes that had called out to him. The man approached Preston and said, “It is against company policy to have a gun on the premises.” Preston just shook his head. He looked at him standing there all spiffed out in his suit and said, “You are brain dead, moron aren’t you? You don’t like me carrying a gun on company grounds? Then fire me. I’m going home.” Preston was done talking to these morons. They won’t listen. They won’t even consider the facts of the situation. Granted it was not something that they had ever been faced with before. But still they were acting totally brain dead. He turned and started jogging again. He could hear the Executive mumbling about something else as he left. He thought, “Good luck, moron.”

Preston smiled as he jogged. He was picturing in his mind the Executive walking home in his spiffy suit and dress shoes. I hope he has blisters on top of blisters when he reaches home. If the suit doesn’t run into any kind of trouble. I wonder if he can make it home. That is the most important question right now. That thought wiped the smile off his face and sobered him right up. This situation was no laughing matter. He came out of the wooded area right where he should be. He started walking down the street. It was filled with abandoned cars. He had three blocks to go until the next area where he would need to turn to make it to another wooded area. He had gone three miles already. He was making excellent time. He had fifteen miles to go. It normally takes twenty minutes to drive ten miles. Walking is three miles per hour. He had another six hours to go before he would make it to the apartment. It was a whole new world out there to get used to now. He had to make it home before everyone’s confusion wears off and they start to understand the reality of the situation. Then people were going to be mighty angry.

Preston’s new woman in his life was named Sharon. They were living together in his apartment. They had been together for five months. He had moved to the city ten months ago to get a job. She had been born and raised in the city. She liked to socialize. She liked going out at night. She loved parties. They had met at a singles bar downtown. She had her hair done twice a week at the salon and her fingernails done every week. It was a ritual for her. She never missed an appointment. No matter what else was going on in her life she made sure to never miss pampering herself. She deserved it. She worked hard and had earned it. She was always telling herself that. People liked her now. She would not be like her mother.

Her mother worked hard her whole life and never had anything. Her mother cleaned other people’s houses. Sometimes for extra money she would clean bars at night too. Sharon’s dad had taken off when she was two. They never seen or heard from him again. She grew up in a one room basement apartment. That apartment was always cold and damp. Summer, spring, fall or winter, it was cold down there. The only time it was nice was when it was 90 degrees out with 85% humidity in the summer. When she was thirteen she got a job after school so she could buy herself decent clothes. She was so tired of everyone laughing and making fun of her all the time. It made her feel small and unworthy. She would be somebody when she grew up. She would make sure it.

Her mother worked herself to death. Sharon was eighteen then and just about to graduate high school. When her mother was forty years old she looked like she was seventy. Sharon made a vow that it would never happen to her. She took secretarial courses at the community college while she worked two part time jobs. When she finished the courses she would get a good paying job. No cleaning up after other people for her. No way. She would make something of herself. No more good will clothes either. Now she had two closet’s full of new clothes. She had eight credit cards. She was somebody now. She was rich. She could go out and spend money whenever she wanted to. It made her feel good to shop.

Sharon was at work when the power went out. An hour later her boss told her to go ahead and go home. They were up on the fifth floor. She had to walk down the stairs. The elevator was not working. She walked out to the parking lot outside and saw all the cars still there. “That’s strange,” she thought. She had seen and heard people leaving the building. A few people at a time for the last hour as their bosses told them to go ahead and go home. She didn’t know what to make of it, but it didn’t really concern her. She got into her car and it wouldn’t start. She kept trying and trying and it still wouldn’t start. “Damn Preston, I knew I should have taken it to a real mechanic last week,” she thought. She pulled out her cell phone to call him and give him a piece of her mind but her phone was dead. “I know I charged it last night,” she thought. She got out of the car and walked back into the building. She looked at the stairs and sighed. “If I ruin my new designer shoes, I will just have to kill him,” said thought angrily. This is his entire fault. If he would have let her take her car to a real mechanic this wouldn’t be happening. She climbed the stairs and went back into the office. Her boss wasn’t there. He must have left the back way. He parked his car down the street at a parking garage. “Damn,” she thought. And the phone isn’t working either. Well, she would just have to get out to the main street and see if she could get a cab. She thought, “Preston is going to reimburse me for that cab fair. He is also going to pay for whatever he had done to her car too.”

She left the building. She had a passing thought that it was strange that she hadn’t seen the security guard either. He usually was always downstairs in the lobby so he would be available for whatever he was there for. She started walking down the street her stride showed her anger at Preston. She noticed all the cars. They were just all over the place every which way. She walked further on. She got to the main street and people were standing around all over the place. She had heard the people long before she got there. Everyone was talking. It sounded like a gigantic bar with everyone talking at once. They were all standing in little groups. It kind of looked like a church social would look like. Except the language definitely wasn’t anything you would hear there. She looked around thought, “What on earth is the matter with them?” She joined the people on the sidewalks that were walking and continued on. She kept looking around to see if she could see a cab but all she could see was cars stopped everywhere and people. People were everywhere and acting kind of strange.

She continued on. After seven blocks her feet started to hurt real badly. She had several blisters on her feet. She noticed a shoe store up ahead. She thought, “I’ll stop and get me a pair of running shoes. He is going to pay me for them too, the jerk.” She limped up to the store and went inside. The clerk was just closing up. There was just one shoe clerk there. She looked at the running shoes and chose a pair. She grabbed a pair of socks too. She went up to the clerk and said, “I’ll take these.” The clerk looked at her and said, “Do you have cash?” She said, “No. I have a credit card.” The clerk said, “The credit card machines are not working. I can only take cash right now.” She said back to him, “You can run my card on one of those machine things and then run it through when you get the power back on.” The clerk said, “I can’t do that. I don’t know that your credit card is good.” She said, “It is good. Of course, it’s good.” The clerk said, “No, I can only take cash right now.” She was getting exasperated by this time. She said, “Fine. How much is it?” He pulled out a tablet and pencil and figured it out. He turned to her and said, “That will be $142.51.” She looked in her purse and she only had $110.00 on her. She said, “Will you take this and put the rest on my card?” He laughed at her and said, “Look lady I told you I can only take cash.” She said, “My car won’t start, I can’t find a cab and I might have to walk home I have already ruined my designer shoes. I need these can you please make an exception and put the rest of it on my credit card?” He just stared at her. Finally he said, “No. Cash only. Go to the bank and then come back when you have the cash.” The bank was back three miles the other way.

She started to cry. This was just getting to be too much for her. She looked at him and pleaded, “Please?” He rolled his eyes and then said, “Fine, if it will get you out of here.” He took the cash and her credit card and then asked for her license. She gave it to him. He copied everything down and then had her sign the credit card slip. He told her, “I know where you live now. If this doesn’t go through they will take it out of my salary and I will hunt you down to get my money. Understand?” She said haughtily back to him, “My credit is good.” He asked her what size shoe she wore. She said, “A 5½.” He went into the back of the store and returned with a box. She grabbed the shoe box and socks and went over and sat down to put them on. When he saw the blisters on her feet he started to feel a bit sorry for her and was glad he decided to help her out. He offered her a few band aids to help. She smiled at him and said, “Thanks.” He thought, “Wow, she really is pretty. I wonder if she has a boyfriend or husband. Maybe I should ask her out.” He cleared his throat and then said, “Do you have a boyfriend or husband?” She was done putting the new shoes on. She stood up holding her ruined shoes. Her feet still hurt but it was a lot better then before. She smiled at him and said, “I have boyfriend but maybe not for long. He is a jerk.” He smiled at that comment and said, “Would you like a bag for your old shoes?” They wouldn’t fit into the running shoes box. She answered him with, “Thank you that is very nice of you.” He brought her a plastic bag with the shoe store logo on it. She placed her ruined designer shoes in it. She walked over to the door and then turned back to him and said, “Call me next week and see if I’m available.” She then walked on out and rejoined the people walking on the sidewalk. The clerk finished locking up and then realized he didn’t have her phone number. She never gave it to him.

As she walking home to the apartment she kept noticing all the stopped vehicles. It was very disturbing. There was no normal city sounds. Just people talking, arguing and she saw a few fist fights. But everyone was walking. You could actually hear the steps of their feet. It was pretty eerie. There had been a few police officers that were surrounded by people asking questions. It looked like they didn’t agree with whatever had been said. They all looked pretty upset. All people were talking about on every block was how the power was out and that the cars didn’t work. She thought with a flash of anger, “Did they let Preston work on their cars too?” Maybe he had lied about being a helicopter mechanic. She had never seen him at work. Maybe he was really a car mechanic. If he was he was a very bad car mechanic at that. Her car had been running fine. It was just making a little noise somewhere under the hood. He said he could fix it right up. She had wanted to take it over to Max her regular mechanic. But he insisted he could fix it up in a few minutes. He got under the hood and did something or other and now it won’t run. Maybe he had lied about being a mechanic and didn’t want her to know about it or where he really worked. People lied all the time. “You can’t trust anyone,” she thought. She was going to give him hell when he got home. All of this was his fault. He owed her a lot of money for all of this. She would make sure he paid her back too. She turned the corner and there was the apartment down the street. She was relieved to be home. Her feet hurt a lot. Thank god she had only had to walk three miles. She wasn’t sure if she would have made it if it would have been any farther away. She was tired, thirsty and she was panting to get a breath. Preston was always telling her to get into shape. Maybe she should think about joining a gym.

Everywhere Preston went he saw people walking around the dead cars. Most people were still just standing around trying to figure out what to do. He avoided as many people as he could. To anyone watching it would seem that he just would disappear. He would be there one minute and gone the next. He came out in one area by a park and just down from where he was a guy was trying to get a bicycle away from another man that had been riding down the trail. A fight broke out. He stayed in the woods across from them and went down farther to cross the trail. He just shook his head. It was a miracle that this was the only violence he had seen so far today. He really hoped it would be the last. But he knew better. It was just a matter of time. “I wish I had my mountain bike right now,” he thought. Then realized he would probably spend more time having to defend it than would have been worth it to have it right here in the middle of the city. It was better that his bike was at home. It would be really useful in getting out of the city now that vehicles were a lost cause. He had to get home and get on the road to his retreat. Joe and Jane were counting on him getting there. They had to get survival and protection plans started as soon as possible. ASAP. He hoped Sharon made it home okay. She only had three miles to walk. She should have been there hours ago. He only had two miles to go now. “Best get on with it,” he thought. “Time is a wasting and he wasn’t getting any younger,” he thought with a smile remembering Jane’s favorite phrase. She was always saying that. It was starting to get dark. Night was coming. Night would bring a lot of new troubles and worries all by it’s self. He was sure of it. He started to jog again.

Jane had soaked her feet. Then she bandaged them all up. She wasn’t good at this sort of thing. The bandages looked like they would fall off before too long. She put her thick warm pajamas and slippers on. She pulled on her fleece robe too. It was getting cold in here. The apartment had electric heat and the power was out. So, there was no heat. She kept walking over to the thermostat and tapping it with her fingers saying, “Come on, come on. It’s getting cold in here. Turn on.” She was getting hungry. She had missed lunch with all the stuff that had happened to her today. She just completely forgot to eat. She went over to the cupboard and got out some crackers. She got out her specialty cheese she bought at the wine and cheese shop. She ate a few. Then decided that it had been one hell of a day and she would open a bottle of wine too. She deserved it. She got out a wine glass and the wine opener. When she finally got the wine opened she had chipped a nail and broken another clean off. She got pissed. She always took care of her nails. It was important to her to have long pretty nails. She would have to replace them with fake ones now. She hated to do that. The glue always made her fingers itch. This was another grievance against Preston too. If he was here like he was suppose to be she wouldn’t have broken her nail and chipped the other one. “Where was he?” she thought. She kept hearing loud voices arguing, shouting and glass breaking outside. She had heard some banging and people shouting inside the building a time or two also. She looked out a few times and seen a few fights. “What in the world was wrong with these people?” she thought. The power goes out and they start acting this way. They were sure going to feel foolish when the power came back on, she would bet on it. She closed the blinds and lit some candles to shut the sight away. She didn’t want to see stuff like this. It made her very uncomfortable.

She grabbed a new magazine off the coffee table and looked through it and drank her wine and waited for Preston to get home. She had several subscriptions to fashion and make up magazines. She had to keep herself up and look her best at all times. It was very important to look your very best no matter what. The longer she waited the madder she got at Preston.

For the last mile to the apartment Preston kept seeing more and more people that were angry or confused. Most had a dazed look on their face. Who knew how far they had to walk to get home. It was dark by this time. Preston had the 45 very close and ready to use. Dark was when the predators came out in the cities. And tonight was going to be very bad. There were so many victim’s just waiting to happen. All of them were just trying to get home. They had no way to protect themselves. “It’s going to be a blood bath,” he thought. His next thought chilled him to the bone, “The streets tomorrow morning are going to be littered with the dead and dying.” It felt like he was in a horror movie. Or back in some third world country again. He had seen this before. He knew what it was going to look like. The thought made his stomach turn over. To know it was happening right here in America just broke his heart. He had fought to keep crap like this from happening here. Many a good soldier’s died to keep the average person here from knowing the horror of what people can do to other people when civilization goes down the rabbit hole. Everything from this moment on would be a whole new way of thinking through situations. There were so many things to consider. He was starting to get upset and breathing harder. He told himself, “Just calm down. Take slow breaths. Control the situation; don’t let the situation control you.” That was his old sergeant’s advice he gave all of the new recruits.” It was sound advice. He just never really expected everything to fall apart quite like this.

Preston crept around some cars staying out of sight as much as possible. He made it to the back alley. He didn’t want to confront all the people standing around outside the front door to the apartment building. There was glass littered all over the place. It looked like someone had been beating on the cars and the lower floors of the apartment buildings along the street. Some of the vehicles even had slit tires. He could see it clearly in the moonlight. He wished there was some cloud cover. If he could see them then they would be able to see him too. He stayed in the shadows as much as possible but he would have to break cover to cross the alley. He could see a gang of seven kids down the alley at the opposite entrance. They were drinking. He could see the beer bottles in their hands. There were several broken beer bottles there too. He then saw one of the kids throw his beer bottle at the wall and laugh. He grabbed another beer out of the bag on the ground. He thought, “Oh this is just great. I don’t need a bunch of drunken kids right now.”

He hoped they didn’t have any weapons and decided to prove how tough they were with him. He really didn’t want to hurt them. Or kill them. He took a deep breath and calmly walked across the alley. When he got half way across the kids spotted him and yelled, “Hey.” He turned and looked at them. They started to run up to him. He thought, “Here it comes.” When the first two got up to him they stopped and said, “Did you come from the other side of the city?” He answered them, “Yes.” The rest of the kids caught up with the first two. They stopped and stood next to their friends. One of them asked, “Is it like this there too?” He answered, “Yes.” Another one of them asked, “Do you know what happened? Why everything is not working?” He thought for a few moments deciding what and how much to say to them. He then decided to tell them the truth. He said, “We were hit with an EMP and it fried everything electrical.” The kids thought this over for a few moments then one of them asked, “You mean like a bomb?” He said, “Yes.” Another one asked, “How long till it can all be fixed?” He said, “As far as I know it will probably be five years or more before things can be repaired enough to work again. That is if there are enough technicians left in the world to do it.” The kids looked shocked at this news. Another one of the kids asked, “Do you think this is like World War 3?” He answered, “Yes. We were hit with an EMP. We would have retaliated against whichever country that did it. We either sent back an EMP of our own or we sent enough nukes to bomb their country into glass and deep craters. But, it won’t stop there. Every other country that has the capabilities to send an EMP or bomb will get into the act too. They will send out bombs to whatever countries they don’t like or are enemies with. The only thing keeping the stability was that no one was insane enough to push the first button to do this. Well, someone went insane and did push the button. By the end of this night most of the world will have been bombed into the dark ages.”

All the kids looked pretty scared at this statement. The apparent leader of this group then asked, “You were in the military, right?” Preston answered, “Yes. I know what I am talking about if that is what you’re getting at.” The leader then asked, “What should we do?” Preston thought for a few moments and said, “If I was you I would be securing as much water, food and first aid supplies as possible. I would get my family to a secure place that can be easily defended. I would then go to the library and get as many books on building windmills and other power sources and learn how to make and maintain them as possible. All energy sources like steam power and solar too. That is a commodity that will be in high demand in the future.” The kids looked pretty uncertain by this time. Preston said, “I have to go now. Good luck to you all.” They said, “Ya, good luck to you too.” They turned and started back down the alley to where they had been. They looked like they were in a deep conversation. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He thought, “I tried, that’s all I can do. They were good kids. I hope they make it. The world is going to need resourceful kids in the very near future.” Preston walked up to the gate and climbed over it. He didn’t have a key. Only the landlord did. He walked up to the back door to the building and got his key out. The door still looked secure. No broken glass or anything yet. He put his key in and unlocked the door and then stepped through. He secured the door behind him. It wouldn’t stay secure for long. He stayed in the shadows as he crept along the hall and up the stairs.

His apartment was on the third floor. There was debris laying on some of the stairs. It looked like someone’s suitcase had popped open and spilled everything out as it tumbled down the stairs. There was a man’s shaving stuff and a woman’s make up scattered all over the place. And clothes were hanging all around too. He walked over as much as he could. It would be good to leave this stuff right here. It could be a good noise maker to alert him if someone was coming up the stairs. He could only hope so anyways. He got up to the apartment and he put his key in the first lock and unlocked it. He then unlocked the deadbolt. He turned the handle and pushed to open the door. The handle turned but the door wouldn’t open. Sharon must have put the secure bar he had for it into place. He tapped lightly on the door with his fingers and said, “Sharon it’s me open up.” He could hear her moving around some and then the sound of the bar being removed. He could now open the door. He entered into the apartment.

Sharon was standing there in her pajamas and slippers. She had a wine glass in one hand. She was starring daggers at him and pointing her finger at him with the other hand. She yelled at him, “Nice of you to show up. It would have been even nicer if you would have come home on time. I have had one hell of a bad day thanks to you. What I want to know is what in the hell did you do to my car? You said you knew what you were doing. Well, obviously you don’t know squat about cars. Look at all the other cars that don’t work either. What did you do to them? You said you were a mechanic. I think you are lying. I think you’ve been lying to me the whole time. You know what you did? You made me have to walk home. Walk. You owe me mister. You owe me a lot. I have blisters because of you. I have a ruined pair of designer shoes you owe me too. I had to stop and buy a pair of running shoes. The clerk was a creep and kept giving me a hard time about paying with my credit card. As if my credit isn’t any good. Do you know how being treated like that made me feel? Then the jerk comes on to me. He was an asshole. He was a complete asshole. Just like you. Then I get here and the place is cold and dark. I have to bandage my feet because of you. I have a headache trying to read my magazine by candlelight because of you. I broke a fingernail and chipped another one opening the wine. I deserve a little wine after the day I had. This wouldn’t have happened if you were here to open the wine. But were you? No. You were god knows where while I’m left here to suffer alone. This is all your fault mister and I won’t put with it at all. Get your shit together and get out of my apartment. Preston reached out and took the wine glass out of her hand. She yelled right in his face, “Don’t touch me you asshole. I mean it get your shit and get out. Now.” Preston opened his mouth and before he could form a word there was a loud banging on the door.

He looked at the door and then at Sharon and then looked at the door again. Another loud, longer knock on the door rang out. He told Sharon, “Shut up.” She kept screaming at him. He told her again in a firmer voice, “I said shut up. Right the hell now.” Sharon wasn’t paying any attention to him at all. He grabbed her arms and shook her and said in a loud voice, “Sharon, shut the hell up.” That got her attention. She pulled away from him and screamed, “Don’t touch me you asshole. You’re all a like, just lying assholes.” He grabbed her and held her with one arm and put his other hand over her mouth. She struggled to get away. The hand over mouth was still holding the 45. It was right there in front of her face. She started trembling and breathing fast. She was afraid of him now. He said by her ear, “Shut up.” He held her more tightly. Someone was literally banging on the door by this time. He said in a very threatening voice, “Stop struggling.” Her body stiffened in his arms. Then he said, “If I let you go will you stop screaming?” She nodded her head yes. He said, “I’m going to take my hand off your mouth. If you start screaming again I’m going lock you in the bedroom. Do you understand me?” She nodded her head yes again. He took his hand off her mouth. She stayed silent, just breathing with heaving gasps and crying. He said, “Stay right there while I see who it is.”

He walked over to the door and leaned on the wall besides it. He didn’t even try to look out through the peep hole in the door. He knew it was too dark to see anything. The banging was continuous by this time. He said, “Who is it?” A female quivering voice answered him saying, “It’s me Amy your next door neighbor. Are you two okay?” Sharon swayed drunkenly and slurring her words said, “Are you going to shoot her?” Her eyes were opened wide in shock. No one had ever treated her this way before. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want him to hurt her. She whispered, “You know I don’t like guns.” He ignored Sharon and said loudly to Amy, “Step back away from the door.” He heard her move. Then she said, “I stepped back. Now what should I do?” He said, “Are you alone?” She answered him, “Yes, I’m alone.” He said, “Where is your boyfriend?” She said, “Gone for the last month. I kicked him out.” He said, “All right, I’m going to open the door just enough for you to enter. If anyone else tries to come in I will shoot them. Do you understand?” Amy hesitated and then said, “Yes, I understand. It’s just me. I’m by myself.” Sharon started screaming out, “He’s got a gun. Oh my God, he has a gun.” He turned to her and said, “Shut up Sharon.” She kept screaming and crying loudly.  He took one threatening step towards her and she backed up and put her trembling hands tightly on her mouth as if to hold in any sounds that might escape. She stood very still. She was crying hard and her body was shaking. Preston opened the door and Amy walked in.

As soon as Amy was through the door he quickly slammed it, locked it and dropped the bar into place. He re-holstered the 45. Sharon started crying and screaming loudly, both at the same time again. She kept screaming over and over again, “He’s got a gun.” Amy looked at Sharon and saw the red marks on her face. She turned around and stormed over to Preston like an avenging angel bent on dealing out the wrath of God. She demanded in a loud angry voice, “What did you do to her?” Preston sighed and said, “It seems this is my entire fault, at least according to Sharon. She was just telling me to get my stuff and get out of her apartment.” Amy looked at him with her eyes flashing a wrathful gleam and said to him, “This is your apartment.” He said, “I know. Amy said, “That isn’t what I asked you. Did you hurt her?” He answered her with a sigh, “I was just trying to explain what happened to you. Do you want to know or not?” Amy said firmly, “Answer me, did you hurt her?”

Preston took a few moments to think back through the last few minutes and what he had done to make Sharon shut up. He then answered Amy, “I guess that would depend on your definition of hurt? Amy said, “What do you mean? It is never called for to be violent to a woman.” He said, “I wasn’t violent. I was trying to get her to shut up so I hear out in the hall. I had to know if it was safe to open the door.” Amy remembered seeing some fighting here and there and other violent acts today. Humanity hadn’t been at its best today that was for sure. Yes, people had gone completely nuts today. As she was jogging home she saw down a side street where a guy had taken a tire iron and beat another man with it. Amy said, “I guess I can understand about the being safe part. People weren’t very nice today were they? But you didn’t have to be mean about it did you?” “I might have been a little more forceful than I meant,” he admitted.

Amy let out a relieved sigh and said, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to barge in here and start yelling at you. I just got scared when I heard all the yelling start.” Before he could say anything back to her he noticed Sharon had started to fall down and Preston grabbed her just in time before she hit the floor. He said, “Sharon I’m going to put you to bed. We’ll talk when you wake up, okay?” She was still crying. He carried her out of the room and Amy could hear the rustling of the blankets. She could hear him tell her, “You’re just drunk right now. I’m sorry if I hurt you but you wouldn’t stop screaming. I’m sorry if I scared you too. I didn’t mean to. Go to sleep and I’ll wake you up later when I get everything ready to leave. It will be all right. Just go ahead and rest for now. I’m sorry.”

That statement got Amy full attention. Amy thought, “Leave? And go where I wonder? And how was he planning on getting there?” She heard his footsteps coming back towards her. She said as he walked into the room, “Is she okay? She looks pretty out of it.” He said, “She will be all right.” Amy said, “Can you finish telling me what happened? I’m sorry; it’s really none of my business.” He said, “I might as well tell you everything since you heard most of it.” Amy blushed. It is not very nice to know that your neighbors are listening to your private conversations. He said, “Well, she was accusing me of manufacturing all of this crap today for her misfortune. She wouldn’t be quiet. She then went hysterical and I had to subdue her to get her attention. It was a matter of security and safety. I can’t protect her if I can’t hear if there is danger out there. Anyways, she’s drunk and had a bad day and basically just blamed me for all of it.” Amy said, “Didn’t we all have a bad day?” He said, “Yes, we all did. Anyways that is all that happened. Then you showed up at the door. You walked in like a woman on a mission and started yelling at me too.” Amy blushed again and said, “Sorry about that. I thought you were hurting her. I thought that you two had gone nuts like everyone else seemed to today. Preston realized that she must have seen some awful things today, violent things. They heard Sharon calling out. Preston said, “I’ll be back. I’ll go see what she needs. He turned and headed to the bedroom. Amy just waited in the living room for him. Preston walked into the bedroom and softly called, "Sharon did you need something?" No answer. He called again. Still no answer. She hadn't moved so he walked around to her side of the bed. She was still asleep. It must of been a bad dream that made her cry out.

He said as soon as he was back in the room, “Amy, you have to go back to your apartment and fill every single water container you have, including the bathtub and all of the sinks. Every single glass you have, anything at all that will hold water. Go now. This is the most important thing to do right now.” Amy looked at him seriously for a few moments and then said, “After I do that can I come back over here? It’s scary right now without the power and everyone going nuts. I really don’t want to sit over there by myself. Do you know what happened?” He answered her, “Sure, come on back over and we’ll talk when you’re done.” Amy asked, “Do you have a flashlight I could borrow? It will go a lot faster then to try to do this by candlelight.” He said, “Sure, I do.” He walked over to the door and grabbed his pack. He reached in a compartment and pulled out a flashlight. He handed it to her. She tested it. It worked. She said, “I’ll be right back as soon as I have everything filled.” He said, “Okay.” They walked to the door and Preston let her out.

As soon as Amy was gone he went around the apartment and made sure all the blinds were closed. He took sheets, towels and some old blankets and covered all the windows securely. He was going to light the Aladdin lantern he had and he didn’t want any light to leak out and let people know that there was people up here in his apartment and that they had a light source. Plus it will help to keep it warmer in here. He got out the two burner propane cook stove he had. It was attached to a twenty pound propane tank. He had gotten it for camping and for power outages. His whole apartment was electrical. He got out the old metal percolator he had and got coffee going. Then he lit the Aladdin lantern. He started filling up the bathtub and sink and every container he could find.

Amy walked into her apartment. She immediately went to the bathroom and turned the facet on to fill the tub. She went into the kitchen next and started filling everything she could find that would hold water. She started thinking about Preston and Sharon. She didn’t know either of them that well. She was already living in her apartment when Preston moved in. “What a hunk,” she thought. She sighed. It seemed like to her that all the great hunky men were either married, gay, or all ready had girlfriends. Here she was twenty nine years old and no prospects for Mr. Right. All the men seemed to go for the dainty types like Sharon. The oh, helpless little ole me women. They were all brain dead. She sighed in disgust. In her experience guys didn’t much care for a woman that had even one brain cell in her head. It’s not that she had trouble attracting a guy, it was just that she seemed to attract all the wrong types. Take her last boyfriend, for instance. He had turned out to be a lazy bum. She found out he was a gamer. He sat around all day and played games. It turned out that he wasn’t very bright either.

There was no way to compete with Sharon. Sharon would win hands down every time. She sighed again. Sharon was a dainty, tiny blue eyed blonde. She had an athletic type body. She probably wore a size zero or a size one. She was about five feet tall, maybe five foot one inch. “And her I am,” she thought. “I have brown hair, brown eyes and I wear a size eight. I’m also five foot four and ½ inches tall and I have curves.” How she disliked her curves. All the popular girls had always had an athletic body. She dieted when she was a teenager to no avail. She couldn’t get rid of her curves no matter what. People said she was cute and had a great smile.  “Cute!” she thought with a sigh. Puppies or kittens were cute. Women were not cute. She wanted to be beautiful and sexy, not cute. She had always had a crush on Preston. It was an instant crush too. She saw him for the first time in the hall and was struck speechless. She thought she was going to faint when she realized he was her new neighbor next door. She sighed again. “Now back to reality,” she thought. She knew that there was no chance with Preston. She just wished she could understand why a man like him would be involved with a ditzy woman like Sharon. Sharon with her fancy nails and salon do’s, she thought with a sneer. “Stop it,” she told herself. “That’s not nice or fair.”

She was glad when all the containers were filled. Now she could stop thinking about Sharon and Preston. “Reality sucks,” she thought with a smile. I have successfully avoided thinking about this situation. Now back to the real world. “What in the world could have caused all this to take place?” she wondered. It’s like the Twightlight Zone creepy. She went into her bedroom and put on long underwear and extra socks. She gathered up her comforter and wrapped it around her and decided she had stalled long enough. It had scared her tonight to hear the yelling coming from Preston’s apartment. It also made her mad. She thought Preston was the greatest and it would have killed her find out he was an abuser. She had never heard anything like that from over there before. She was greatly relieved to know it had just been Sharon getting out of hand. She had heard the sneer and contempt in her voice. How could Preston even think that Sharon had any true feelings for him? Her voice told it all. It was just as she had expected all along. Woman like Sharon only thought of themselves and nobody else. That is the beginning and end of the story. Sharon had had a bad day. What a laugh. What about what had happened to everybody else, for Christ’s sake? Did she think it had been a picnic for everyone?

It was time to go next door and find out what had happened today. What had caused of all of this. She had a very bad feeling about it. She had had it ever since she discovered her watch was dead. Then she found out her car was dead and then her cell phone. She remembered her grandfather telling her when she was young, “Stiff upper lip my dear girl.” She missed him a lot. She looked around and decided that she had better blow out the candles and get on with it. “Stop being a silly goose,” she thought. Besides she was wasting the batteries with all her avoidance. Who knew for how long the power would be out? Preston would not appreciate her wasting his batteries. She opened her door and walked a few steps over and knocked a lot quieter than she had earlier. She was worried before when she heard the yelling. She had been afraid they had gone as nuts as the other people out there had been today. She had been greatly relieved when she realized it was just Sharon that had gone loony.

Preston said through the door, “Who is it?” She smiled and said, “Your friendly neighbor who just got water logged.” She heard the locks opening. Then the bar was drawn up. The door opened and there was light. “Wow,” she said. “Did the lights come back on and I didn’t notice?” Preston smiled and said, “No. but I have a lantern. She laughed and said, “It’s like real light.” Preston said, “It is real light.” She laughed and said, “Ha, ha. You must think you’re a very funny guy, huh?” He smiled and said, “I have been known to tell a joke or two.” She said, “I meant it’s like a light bulb bright.” He said, “I know. That’s probably why it was invented. People got tired of being in the dark.” She said, “Well, it works really well. What does it run on?” He answered her, “It will run on kerosene or lamp oil.” She said, “That’s great. I have some lamp oil over at my place. Someone gave me this tiny, little bitty lantern for Christmas one year and it ran on lamp oil. I had to ask the clerk at the discount store what it ran on so I could buy whatever it was to refill it. It seemed they only sold it in ½ gallon jugs. My little tiny lantern only takes about a tablespoon full to fill it. I didn’t know that the bigger lanterns were so bright or I would’ve bought one of those. I have almost a full ½ gallon of oil left.” He said, “That will be a good thing to have.”

She smelled the coffee. She asked, “Is that coffee I smell?” He said, “Yup. I put a pot on to perk after you left. It’s almost done now. Would you like a cup?” She sighed and said, “I would kill for a cup right now.” He said, “Whoa, I’ll have to remember not get the way of the lady and her coffee then.” She asked him, “How did you make coffee if the power isn’t on?” He said, “I have a propane cook stove. I bought it when we had the first power outage. I had a smaller one I used when I went camping. They are real handy to have around.” She said, “I would say they are real handy. You can cook on that stove too?” He said, “Yes, just like a real stove.” She said, “I’m starved. Are you hungry?” He said, “Yes, it was a long, stressful walk home.” She said, “Tell me about it. I had to walk fifteen miles. How far did you walk?” He was impressed. He answered, “It was eighteen miles.” She said, “Wow, that’s a really long walk too. It’s a good thing I jog every morning or I don’t think I would’ve made it.” He agreed. Most people would be hard pressed to go ten miles in a day. She said, “If I bring the food can I use your stove to cook something for us? Unless you want to cook something up? I have two steaks already defrosted. I was supposed to have a girlfriend over and we were going to live it up tonight. We were having steaks, salads and cheesecake for dessert too. It was her turn to rent the movies. I was sitting there trying to figure out how to cook a steak when I heard the yelling and came over here.” He perked right up at that and said, “What kind of cheesecake?” She laughed and said, “You have a sweet tooth too, huh?” He said, “Oh, ya.” She said, “Strawberry and blueberry. Mario at the bakery down the street makes it special for me. It’s half and half one side for each topping. I love both kinds.” He said, “I do too. But Strawberry is my most favorite.” She laughed at that. She asked, “So, who does the cooking?” He said, “I would appreciate it if you would do it. I have to go check on Sharon and start gathering the supplies we can carry in packs.” She started to say something and he held his hand up for silence. He said, “Let’s eat first and then I’ll explain everything, okay?” She paused for a minute and thought to herself, “Well, I guess it can’t be too bad if he wants to eat first.” She said, “Okay, I’ll cook and then we will have the cheesecake.”

They walked to the door and Preston said, “How long do you think it will take you to gather what you need?” Amy answered, “Probably about three minutes tops.” He handed her the flashlight and said, “Don’t use this unless you have to. It will save the batteries. But more importantly it would give away your location if someone is out prowling around looking for prey. Be very careful. I’ll wait right here for you then.” He unlocked the door and let her out. She dashed the three steps over to her apartment. She pulled out her key from her pocket. She tried to find the lock in the dark. After several attempts she gave up and turned the flashlight on. As soon as she had the key in the lock she quickly turned the flashlight off. She stepped inside. She ran to the hall closet and got out her picnic basket. She had bought it last summer hoping to find a guy to go to the park with and have picnics. It came with everything. It even had cloth napkins. “Very chic,” she thought with a laugh. She ran into the kitchen and grabbed the bowl she had the salad in out of the refrigerator and put it in her basket. She then reached in and grabbed the steaks that were still in their wrapper. She set the basket on the counter and grabbed a gallon sized baggie out of the drawer she kept them in. She placed the steaks into it and sealed it up. She was just about to grab the cheesecake in the bakery box when the thought hit her, “I wonder if they salad dressing?” She had seen them more often than not go out to eat. She turned back to the refrigerator and opened it. This would be trickier trying to find the salad dressing bottles in the dark. She finally flipped on the flashlight for just a second and saw where they were exactly. She grabbed them and put them into the basket too. She had Ranch and French dressing. She picked up the bakery box and put it in the basket too. She turned back to the cupboards and thought, “I bet they don’t have any spices.” She reached up and grabbed a few and put them in the basket. She turned to the table and grabbed the salt and pepper shakers and put them into the basket. She started to walk out of the kitchen when she remembered the loaf of French bread on the counter. She grabbed it and put it into the basket. “I wonder if they have any butter? She thought.” She went back to the refrigerator and opened it and grabbed a tub of soft butter. She saw her gallon of milk sitting there. I better grab that too. She was going to have to carry it. There wasn’t room enough left in the basket. She turned around and walked out of the kitchen straight to the front door. She opened her door and walked out. Her door automatically locks when shut so she didn’t have to worry about that. She walked three steps and tapped her fingers on the door. Preston said, “Are you alone?” She said, “Yes, I’m alone. It’s just me myself and I. “The door opened immediately. She stepped into the light blinking her eyes.

Preston quickly shut the door and locked it up tight. Amy was all ready on her way to the kitchen. She was carrying a big picnic basket. He followed her to the kitchen. She set it on one of the counters and turned to him and asked, “Frying pan?” He pointed to a bottom cupboard. She reached down and grabbed a brand new frying pan. She said, “Don’t cook much, huh?” He said, “No.” She took a little water and washed the dust out of it. She set it down on the stove and turned back to the counter. She emptied the basket. He was amazed at the amount of stuff she had put in there. She even brought her own spices. Amazing. She took the cheesecake out of the box and placed it on the counter. His mouth started to salivate. “God,” he thought. He was so hungry and getting more so at each item she arranged on the counter.” She turned and looked at him and said, “Don’t you have some things to be doing?” That question brought him back to reality with a thud. He said, “Yes, I do. I’ll be going to do them now.” He turned and started to walk away. She asked, “You turn on the burner and then light it with a match?” He turned back to face her and said, “Yes.” She said, “That is what I thought. But I thought I should ask just to be sure. How do you like your steak?” He said, “Medium.” She smiled and asked him, “Medium as in medium rare, or medium as in medium well done?” He said back to her, “Just medium.” She laughed and said, “Okay, dinner will be ready in about ten minutes then. Man of many words.”

He laughed as he walked away. He was really beginning to like her a lot. The only other woman he knew of that was a bit like her was Jane. He had always envied Joe having a woman like Jane. His mother had been a petite southern woman. She died when he was ten. His wife had been interested in her shopping most of the time and gossip. She didn’t cook. Sharon didn’t cook either. It was nice seeing a happy woman in his kitchen cooking. It was a novel idea to him. The only other happy woman he knew of was Jane. That is the number one thing he always thought of when he saw Amy in the hall or downstairs in the laundry room. That she was a happy person. It just sort of bubbled out of her and made you want to get closer to her so you could feel a bit happy too. And her body was to die for. Oh wow, that woman had nice curves. He could never figure out what she saw in the few men he had seen her with. They had been such losers. She was way too good for them. The last one had been a gamer. He had seen girls coming and going out of the apartment when Jane was at work. He would bet his last dime that they had been playing more then just Nintendo or whatever it was over there. He also knew how often they had argued. If she wasn’t so young he would have asked her out the first day he moved in and saw her. He had felt like someone had hit him in the stomach when he had seen her walking down the hall towards him and stop at her front door. She turned to him and smiled and said, “Hi I’m Amy. I’m your neighbor. Is there anything I can help you with?” He’d almost swallowed his tongue. He laughed just remembering that. Him Preston Riley, tongue tied. The guy’s would’ve died laughing over that one. He sighed. She was just so damn young.

He went into the hall and opened the closet door. He took out the two packs he had put in there for just such an emergency as this one. He went through them. He then went around the apartment gathering up things to put into them. He was deciding on how many razors he should pack into one of them when he heard Amy call out that dinner was done. He had been trying to ignore the wonderful odors coming from the kitchen while he was packing. He dropped all the razors into the pack and said, “I’ll be right there.” He would finish figuring out how many razors later.

She had set the table for three. She looked up at him when he walked into the dinning room and said, “Are you going to wake up Sharon to eat?” He said, “No. Not right now.” She said, “Oh. I thought she might be hungry and it would help to get her sober faster if she ate something. I cut my steak in half to share with her.” He said, “She won’t eat it.” Amy said in an outraged voice, “What?” He said, “She doesn’t eat meat.” Amy said, “Oh, I should’ve figured that.” Preston looked at her and said, “Figured what?” She said, “That Sharon doesn’t eat meat.” He asked, “Why?” She answered him with a sigh, “Because she is so dainty.” He laughed and said, “You think she is dainty?” She said, “That is quite plain to see.” He said, “She hardly eats at all. A salad or cheese and fruit are what she usually eats.” Amy said, “I know the type. Now sit down and eat your steak before it gets cold.” He said, “Yes, ma’am.” She laughed, pointed her finger at him and said, “That soldier is a direct order from headquarters.” They dug in to the meal. He really liked the salad she made. She had put three different kinds of meat in it and several kinds of cheese too. They were done eating in no time. It had really been good. It was like eating at Joe and Jane’s house. He had had two big helpings of salad. Amy had reminded him to save room for dessert. As if he needed to be reminded of cheesecake. Yup, she was a lot like Jane.

She got up and came back with the coffee pot and the coffee mugs. She asked him if he wanted a cup to go with the cheesecake. He said, “Thanks that would great.” She said, “I’d hoped you wouldn’t mind if I heated up the coffee when I was cooking. How long does one of those tanks last? I didn’t want to be wasting your propane.” He said, “Those tanks will last for about a month for cooking. You wouldn’t be wasting it as far as I’m concerned if it is to heat up coffee.” She smiled at him and said, “A coffee man then?” He said, “It would be damn hard to be in the Army without drinking coffee.” She brought the cheesecake to the table and clean plates. She cut it up into generous slices. She said, “I’m having a piece of each kind. Do you want two pieces of strawberry or one of each?” He said, “Two of strawberry.” She put his slices on a plate and handed it to him. He wasted no time eating his. She took her time and made little noises as she ate her pieces. It tasted divine. If the situation was as bad as she figures it was it might be a long time until she could enjoy any again. She was going to make the most out of it. When they were both done with their cheesecake she cleared the table and brought more coffee.

She sat down again and said, “Okay hit me with it. I know it’s going to be bad, very bad. I can feel it. I figure the only thing that could do this is an EMP bomb. Am I right?” He looked at her with amazement on his face and said, “Yes. It was an EMP that did this.” She said, “That is what I thought. I figured it out on my jog home today. So do you know which country was the first idiot to push the button?” He said, “No. There is no way to tell.” She asked, “So do the movies have it right? Will we really be in the dark ages again for years?” He said, “Yes.” She sighed and said, “I thought so.” He just looked at her with a puzzled expression. She said, “What you thought I was dumb? I watch the SyFy channel. I’ve seen the movies about the end of the world. An EMP was the only thing that fit all of this together into one package.” She looked at him with a very serious expression and said, “The way I figure it is that it is going to be like a barbarian movie, with a zombie movie mixed together with modern weapons thrown into the mix. Am I close to reading this situation right?” He thought for a moment and said, “Yup, that about covers it.” She then said, “What should we do now? What’s the next step? I think it’s getting out of the city. We need to get away from the little zombies as soon as possible. Because in all the movies the little stupid zombies die pretty quick and then the big bad zombies come out to play.” He said, “That’s about it.” She said, “So how do we get out of the city? Vehicles don’t work anymore. Walking would be insane. The only thing left is bikes.”

He was fascinated with the way she worked through all this. The way her mind was right on target. He said, “Yes, that is what I was going to use to leave with mountain bikes.” She said, “Do you have some place in mind to go to out in the country? I don’t know of any place around here. My uncle had a hunting camp back in Maine out in the mountains. But that is too far away to try to go to. Plus this is winter. There will be snow everywhere soon. So that means places to go to will be limited to where it could be reached in the least amount of time.” She looked at him and continued, “You know, you can jump in anytime with some ideas or suggestions of you own.” He laughed real hard at that comment. He said, “Why should I? You’re doing fine on your own.” She said drily, “Thanks a lot.” He looked at her and asked, “Do you have a place in mind to go to?” She thought for a few moments and then looked up at him sadly and said, “No. I never believed they could be so stupid as to push the button that would end the world. I guess I gave them credit for being smarter than they are. I don’t have any place to go to at all. Not without a vehicle.” She thought, “I probably wouldn’t make it anyways even with a vehicle.” She looked at him and said, “I probably wouldn’t make it even with a vehicle. You know all those little zombies that will be around. I don’t have a gun. I would have to stop to pee or to sleep sometime and that is when the zombies would get me. It would be inevitable. Every movie I ever watched shows the stupid, or the tired, or the people without weapons dying first. That will be me.”

Preston was deep in thought for a minute. He then said, “If you had a place to go to what would you bring?” She said, "Whatever I could carry that would be of use for the future. But none of that matters because if you didn’t already have a stocked up place with food it would be useless. There is no way a person could carry enough food for a lifetime on your back. Even if you had vegetable seeds it still wouldn’t matter. There is no way to carry enough food to get through a winter, spring and summer till the vegetables could be planted and then matured enough to eat. And that isn’t even taking into consideration all the other things that you would need. Like tools and books on how to do things.” She was feeling more and more scared as she talked. She had held it together all day long but now after really thinking about it she realized there was no way to survive what was coming. At least not for her.

Preston saw the look in her eyes and knew she just came to the realization of the situation. About who would survive and who wouldn’t. Possibly. You could be as prepared as anyone could be and still not survive. He said, “That was really intelligent the way you worked through this whole situation. That is very surprising coming from someone as young as you are.” She looked puzzled at him and said, “As young as I am? How old do you think I am? Twelve?” He said, “No, not twelve. You’re what twenty or twenty-one?” She laughed and said, “It would be nice to go back to that age and do this all over again. I would save every itty bitty scrap of food I could get my hands on. Do I really look that young to you?” He said, “Yes.” She said, “I’m not sure if I’m supposed to take that as a compliment or an insult. I’ll be thirty in January.” He looked shocked that she was that old. He said, “Really?” She said, “Have you ever known a woman to lie about her age to be older than she really is?” He said, ‘No, no I haven’t.”

He thought, “Wow. I should’ve asked her out months ago.” Then he remembered Sharon was in the bedroom. And he started to feel a bit guilty. Preston had known for the last month that his relationship with Sharon was going no where. He was ready to call it quits with her. He ignored what she had to say most of the time and just made a few comments here and there as she pattered on and on. He hadn’t liked how she had treated Jane when he had brought her up to meet them. That was what mostly had made him see that this could never be anything else. He had promised himself after his divorce that he wouldn’t become serious with anyone who didn’t treat Joe and Jane with respect. They were his best friends. He hadn’t liked the comments she had said to him about them on the way home either. She had asked him if Jane was Butch because she liked to hunt and all that outdoor stuff. Guy stuff. He had felt insulted for them at the things she had said. He had told her to show respect for his friends and not to say such nasty things about them. She had gotten mad at him over it. She had insulted his friends and then got mad when he defended them. They hadn’t slept together since then. He had been sleeping on the couch. He had been trying to figure out how to tell her to move out. He had said to her that things were not working out between them several times and she had just ignored what he said. He had tried. He even gave up hunting this season for her. She didn’t understand how serious he was about hunting either. She didn’t like to think about those poor little animals getting killed. And now this situation had to happen. He couldn’t just leave her here to fend or herself. She wouldn’t last five minutes. She was living with him and it was his duty and his obligation to see to her safety.

 Preston said to Amy, “I have never been a good judge of a woman’s age. I’m sorry if you feel insulted. I didn’t intend it to come out that way.” In his mind he was thinking that he wouldn’t leave Amy here either. An intelligent woman like her didn’t deserve to be abandoned. Besides Joe had said they would need people to form a small community. Joe wanted more people there with them to share the work of raising food. Well, if she was willing to go he would bring her. Gladly. He already knew Jane would like her. It was just going to change the situation now. Now he would have two women to look after and get them out of here. It wouldn’t be easy that was for sure.

He looked at Amy and smiled. Amy just looked at him questionably. He said, “I have a place to go to that is stocked with food. I have two really great friends that are there now. We have room and supplies for more people. You are welcome to come with us when we leave if you want to.” He waited for her answer. She looked thoughtful for a few moments then said, “Yes, I will come with you. Where is it?” He said, “Its in Minnesota. I have a retreat there. We will have to get you a bike. That won’t be easy now that all the vehicles are dead. Bikes will be a premium possession now. Better than gold or silver. Out of all the situations that Joe and I came up with we never seriously considered that this would be the one that would bring the world down. We thought that the dollar would collapse and that would cause the world’s economy to collapse with it. Then everything would go downhill from there. I guess you could call Joe a survivalist. Me too. We got into this after Joe retired from the Army three years ago. He started to hear some really disturbing things and he started to do research on them. What he found out just blew us away. We realized we were all living on a house of cards and it was about to get blown down by a big evil gust of wind. So we started to prepare for a collapse of some kind so we could survive. We have just about everything we could think.” She said, “You’re a survivalist?” He said, “Yes.” She said, “That’s a good thing. Right now we’re going to need a whole lot of them. If the movies and books have it right that is the only way mankind will be able to survive to have a future so we don’t die off like the dinosaurs. At least it will provide some sort of a social structure so we can have a future that won’t make us go back to the caveman days.” He said, “We can only hope.”

He paused for a few moments and then looked at her and asked, “What about your family? Do you have someone that you want to be with?” He was worried that she had family close by and would want to bring them along too. Protecting the two women was going to be hard enough. He would not add to their numbers. That would be insane right now. Amy looked down for a few moments thinking how she really didn’t want to admit that she was such a loser that she had no close family or friends that she would want to see. She worried that he would not want to take her with him if he knew. Should she lie to him? No, she couldn’t do that. She dismissed that thought as soon as it entered her head. It was always best to remain honest and truthful. She took a deep breath and then looked back up at him and said, “I don’t have any close family anymore. My grandfather raised me after my parents died in a car accident when I was eight. He died when I was twenty. I had a great uncle too, my grandfather’s brother. He died a few years ago. He left his hunting camp in the mountains to me in his will. I don’t really know any of my father’s family. They lived in another state. We didn’t visit them very often. We sent Christmas cards and that is about it. My mother’s side of the family lives in England. After my grandmother died in England my grandfather and his brother decided to move to America. My mother was four years old then. He never remarried so she was an only child. So I really don’t have any family left that I would want to see.” She had a very sad look on her face now.

He said, “I’m sorry. I don’t have any close family left either.” He was greatly relieved that he wouldn’t have to explain to her why they couldn’t bring anyone else with them. He asked her, “You do understand that this invitation to my retreat is just for you. You don’t have any girlfriends or anyone else you would want to bring along, do you?” He wanted to make sure she understood about this. She answered him, “No, not really. I have friends but not anyone I would trust right now. And I can’t think of anyone I would want to be with me in a survival situation. They wouldn’t be able to understand the seriousness of this situation. I tried to talk to a few of them about survival and preparing but they didn’t want to hear or talk about it at all. They thought I was nuts to even be thinking about stuff like that. Even after 911 and New Orleans. They just don’t understand how anything could happen to them. So my answer to your question is no, I don’t have anyone who would even believe us to want to come along. They will probably think the government will come and save them to the bitter end.”

He went over to his desk and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. He handed it to her and said, “Write down everything you have that we might need that can be carried in backpacks. Only put lightweight items on the list. After a few hours you will feel like you are carrying around a backpack of rocks. Even with being on a bike and not walking your back will hurt. But they won’t hurt as much as your shoulders will if they are unaccustomed to carrying a pack.” She said, “I jog every morning with a pack.” He said, “Does it weigh at least twenty-five pounds?” She said, “No.” He said, “Then you really aren’t carrying a real pack. You will find that out soon enough for yourself.” She took the pad and pen from him. She looked thoughtful for a few moments and then started writing. Preston walked away and went down the hall to the bedroom. It was time to wake Sharon up and explain the situation to her. Hopefully she would be sober by now.

Sharon was still in the same position he had left her in. He walked up to her and shook her shoulder and said, “Sharon wake up.” Sharon moved and mumbled but did not wake up. He tried again shaking her shoulder. She yelled at him, “Get your hands off me you asshole.” He sighed and thought, “This is going to be a very long night.” He said, “Sharon wake up. We have to get ready to leave to go to my retreat. We have to get out of the city before morning.” She said, “I am not going anywhere with you. Why are you still here? I kicked you out, so go. Get your stuff and get out and leave me alone.” He said, “Sharon, this is my apartment.” She said, “I don’t care. Get out. I don’t want you here. You hurt me. You threatened me with a gun. A gun for Gods sakes, you know I hate guns. You abandoned me today and made me walk home. Nobody does that to me, do you hear me? Nobody. I won’t be treated that way by anyone. Do you hear me? Get out or I’m going to call the cops on you. You abused me. I will send you to jail.” She reached out and grabbed the phone and put it up to her ear. There still wasn’t any dial tone. She threw the phone at him. He dodged it easily. She said, “Leave me alone. I’m going back to sleep. If you are still here in the morning I will call the cops and have you arrested.” He said, “All right get some more sleep.”

He walked back into the living room. He started to pace. Amy was still writing things down on the pad. How much stuff did she have to bring? They weren’t going to be able to bring half of it he bet. Without being able to use a vehicle the supplies they could bring with them was limited to what they could carry. He was curious about the list she was making. She seemed very serious as she wrote things down. He wondered what she would think was important to bring with her. He also wondered what personal items she would want to bring and what they were. Over the years in the Army he got to where he could tell a lot about the people he was assigned with by the things they thought were important to them. The things they dragged around with them from place to place could sometimes be pretty strange. Even when they were on a mission you would be surprised at the weird objects and personal items people would put into their packs.

He thought, “Well, there is just no way we’re going to be able to leave tonight. How in the hell could he make Sharon understand the seriousness of this situation? They had to leave ASAP. The longer they waited the harder it was going to be. The longer they stayed here the more people he was going to have to kill to get them out of the city. How was he going to make her understand that? By tomorrow night people were going to be aware that this was a complete break down of everything. No police. There would only be people taking what they wanted because they were stronger or had weapons. Amy was right all the little zombies will be out in force soon. They had to be gone before the big zombies got organized and took over the city.” He turned towards the dinning room table and looked at Amy writing on the pad. He said to her, “We are not going to be able to get out of here tonight. Sharon won’t get up and she is still mad at me. We should get some sleep. Tomorrow we can gather together what we will take with us. We have to find you a bike. Sharon and I already have one. We will leave tomorrow night.”

Amy looked at him for a long time before saying anything. A million things were flying through her mind. She finally said, “Okay, tomorrow night it will be. How long before the zombies will get to be a real problem do you think?” He answered her with a very serious look in his eyes, “They are all ready a problem.” They had been hearing gunshots and other loud noises off and on all night. She said softly, “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

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