Ryan Westfield - Getting Out

The cop got out of his car. His hand was on his gun in its holster. He approached the truck slowly. He bent down to lean over the windows. He was a tall man, with huge muscles.

“Street’s closed,” he said.

“I was just heading out to go on a camping trip with my kids,” said Georgia, figuring she might as well try the diplomatic approach first.

“Sorry lady,” said the cop. “No one’s coming in or out.”

“What’s going on?”

The cop didn’t answer for a moment.

Georgia was starting to get a read on him, watching his face carefully in the darkness. At first he’d seemed like one of those super stern cops. But she could see now that he wasn’t like that. There was something human in his face.

“Sorry lady,” he said, repeating himself. “Truth is, none of us have any idea what’s going on.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” said James, from the backseat. “You’re the police. And you’re saying you don’t know what’s going on.”

“Everything went dead,” said the cop. “As I’m sure you saw. It’s not just a power outage. All I know is that I drove right to the station. So did a bunch of us. No one knew what to do without the radios. So the only thing I know is that we don’t know what’s going on. It was some kind of EMP.”

“EMP?” said Georgia. She thought she’d heard the term before, but she couldn’t remember what it meant, or what the letters stood for.

The cop shrugged. “I don’t know what it is,” he said. “Something that knocks out all electrical gadgets or something. All I know is nothing works.”

“Electromagnetic pulse,” said James.

Georgia turned to look at him, surprised.

“I think I saw it in a movie,” he said, shrugging. “What it means is that the stuff won’t turn back on.”

“So what’s going to happen?” said Georgia, to the cop.

The cop shrugged. “Truth is, I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for backup since the sun went down, but no one’s come. The only thing I know to do is keep the road blocked like they told me. There are some other guys farther up the road, keeping all traffic from coming into the neighborhood, so you’re the first people I’ve seen since this all happened.”

“You mean they’re blocking Baker Street? That’s the only way into this neighborhood.”

“Yeah,” said the cop. “And I haven’t seen anyone else.”

“You mean no one else is home? All these houses are empty?”

Georgia was starting to realize that they were the only people in this entire neighborhood… Well, there might be someone at home, someone who didn’t go to work, or hadn’t gone to work that day. But she knew that the majority of the people around here were out of the house most of the time. It was the kind of neighborhood where people often worked two or three jobs just to keep afloat. They didn’t have a ton of time to spend at home.

“So you can’t let us through?” said Georgia.

“Sorry,” said the cop. “Even if I did, they’d stop you on Baker Street.”

“OK,” said Georgia. She was thinking fast. She knew that even though this cop seemed friendly, things might take a turn for the worse if she told him she was going to disobey his orders or his advice. She respected cops a hell of a lot. They had to put up with a lot of shit. But she also knew them well. She went hunting with some of them. She knew what not to say to them. She knew how to avoid a conflict. “Thanks, officer.”

The man tipped his hat. “I’ll be up there at the corner if you need anything,” he said. He got back in his car.

“So we’re stuck here?” said Sadie, sounding terrified.

“I thought you didn’t want to leave,” said James.

“Quiet, kids,” said Georgia. “I’ve got to think.”

Georgia didn’t panic at first. She knew there would be a way out if she needed one. She knew she had to get out, whether or not the cops wanted her to.

This might be more of an opportunity than a roadblock. If no one else was home, she could use this opportunity to take what she needed from their houses. She didn’t exactly have a lot of food. James and Sadie tended to eat whatever she brought home, so it wasn’t like she’d been able to stock up a lot of food.

“OK,” said Georgia. “Listen carefully. This is what we’re going to do. And I don’t want to hear any arguing about it. We need more food if we’re going…”

“I thought you were like an expert hunter,” said James.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen. We might be in a situation where we need food and I can’t hunt.”

“Wait,” said Sadie, divining what was going to happen. “You’re suggesting we’re going to break into our neighbor’s houses and steal their food because they’re not here?”

“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting,” said Georgia. “Except that I’m not suggesting it. That’s what’s going to happen. Period. My priority is protecting you two, and that involves feeding you. And for all we know, our neighbors may never get home. Who knows what’s going to happen with the road block.”

“Cool,” said James. “I think the McKinneys have a ton of food in their basement.”

“OK,” said Georgia. “We’ll start there. We’ll fill up the truck. Everything we can possibly carry. And then we’ll get out of here.”

“Sounds cool, Mom,” said James, apparently impressed with his mother’s criminal inclinations. “But how are we going to get past the cops?”

“We’ll think of something,” said Georgia. She thought of her rifles. She didn’t want to use them. She’d never shot anything other than an animal. But if people were turning into animals, maybe she’d have to do what she had to do… But shooting a cop? There was no way she could do that. She had too many friends on the force. And he was just an innocent guy… Then again, it was her family she was thinking about.

“Have you two lost your minds?” said Sadie, her voice shrill. “We just need to stay here. That’s what the policeman said. And there’s no way we can just break into the McKinneys’ house…”

“Why not?” said James. “Mr. McKinney works all day managing the car wash. There’s no way he’s home. Charlotte’s at school. She’s in my math class. And Mrs. McKinney works today.”

“How do you know their whole schedule?” said Georgia.

James didn’t say anything.

“Because he spies on Mrs. McKinney taking a shower.”

“Gross, James,” said Georgia, chuckling to herself.

“I do not,” said James.

“I caught you doing it,” said Sadie.

“I don’t want to hear any more,” said Georgia. “And I mean that. Now here’s what’s going to happen. James, you and me are going to head inside. Sadie, you stay in the truck.”

“I want to go back in our house,” whined Sadie.

“End of discussion,” said Georgia.

She killed the truck engine. She should have turned it off earlier to save gas, but her mind had been turned to other things.

She and James got out of the truck. Sadie sat in the front seat with her arms crossed.

Georgia grabbed one of her rifles from the bed of the truck. She considered handing one to Sadie for a moment, but realized that the chances were higher that Sadie would accidentally hurt herself with it rather than use it to defend herself. She cursed herself for not taking Sadie to the shooting range. She’d taken James, who’d been eager to learn. Georgia had figured that there’d be time to convince Sadie to learn. Now it was too late. Sadie would have to learn on the road, when it was necessary. She’d have to get over her prissy ways and learn to do what she had to do.

“Don’t I need a gun?” said James.