Steven Konkoly - The Perseid Collapse

“You need this?” said a young woman, holding out his red chemlight.

“Thanks,” he mumbled.

“Is everything okay? You don’t look… the same,” she said.

“I’m fine,” said Alex, walking forward.

He swept the Spartan interior with his rifle light. A crumpled blue comforter hung off Ryan’s bed, draping the tile floor. An empty plastic bin lay tipped over on the bed. Most of the cardboard boxes stacked on the floor were unopened, his priorities upon arrival clearly focused on a young lady at Boston College. A few books and pictures covered his desk. One picture of the Fletchers and—Ed was going to love this—several pictures of Chloe. He couldn’t believe how badly they had underestimated that relationship. He threw the chemlight next to the bin on Ryan’s bed and deactivated the rifle light.

Alex sat on Ryan’s bed and leaned back against the cinderblock wall, wondering if he could take a small nap. Just the thought of closing his eyes for a few moments caused him to sink down the rough wall to the mattress. He dug into his front pants pocket and pulled out a dark tab, ejecting a small pill directly through the foil into his mouth. Designed to release its contents upon contact with saliva, he held the P-STIM under his tongue for thirty seconds, kick-starting the amphetamine boost. It worked immediately.

He lay there calculating the time it would take him to reach Chloe’s apartment, no longer contemplating sleep. Moving cautiously, a 3.1-mile walk through the back streets of Brookline shouldn’t take him more than an hour and a half. Two at the most. His watch read 2:37.

Plenty of time.

He took the family picture from the desk and removed the picture from the silver frame, straining to see the image in the dim red aura. He knew it well enough. The four of them in cushioned wicker chairs, on the wide porch at the Chebeague Island Inn. He stared at the picture, unable to put it away.

“Nobody’s coming for us?” said a girl standing in the doorway. “You’re really just someone’s dad?”

The gravity of the situation came into sharp focus, weakening his knees. He’d been so single-minded kicking his way into their lives that he hadn’t stopped to consider their predicament. The kids were stranded, waiting for a rescue that would never arrive. He folded the picture and tucked it into the pouch holding his license.

“You need to seriously consider leaving this place,” said Alex, brushing past her.

“And go where? What happened out there?” she said.

Alex stopped outside of Ryan’s room and glanced around the hallway at the flashlight-illuminated faces. They were just children. He swallowed hard, barely able to meet their stares. How many had shown up for early orientation? Hundreds? Thousands? His thoughts drifted to the parents experiencing the ultimate nightmare just days after sending their babies into the world. They’d said goodbye this weekend, unaware that some of them would never see their children again. The odds were long against most of these students surviving. Without food and water, they would have to venture into the city.

“What’s going on in the city? What’s wrong with you?” she demanded.

“Nothing,” he said flatly. “Has anyone here been outside of the towers? I mean outside of the building?”

“We didn’t think it was a good idea. The shooting started yesterday afternoon and got worse all night. That’s why we blockaded the stairwells. We figured we’d wait for the military or police to start evacuating us,” she said.

“Taking their sweet-ass time, too,” said a kid holding a baseball bat over his shoulder.

“You guys don’t know, do you? Holy shit,” he whispered.

“Know what? What don’t we know?” said the young woman, directing her flashlight in his face.

“The power outage isn’t confined to Boston. It’s everywhere. We’ve been hit by an EMP,” said Alex, pausing. “Nobody is coming for you.”

To my wife, for encouraging my return to the post-apocalyptic genre. I forgot how much fun it can be to plan the end of the world. She’s been invaluable to the transition from writing about hardened covert operatives to “civilians.” I need constant reminding that the Fletcher’s are not the Petrovich’s, as much as I want them to be in certain situations.

To the beta reader crew for another round of rock-solid commentary and edits. Trent, Nancy, Jon and Bruce. I’m not sure what to say after six novels, other than—Thank you!

To the production crew, for another standout effort. Felicia A. Sullivan—once again meeting my “deadline” with grace and precision. Jeroen ten Berge—for producing a killer cover design and encouraging me to pursue The Perseid Collapse as a series. Stef McDaid—for the top-notch formatting job. Bloody brilliant as always! To Pauline for proofing the work. She’s the final layer, keeping the last of the typos and nasty sentences from reaching the reader.

A special thanks goes out to Randy Powers of Practical Tactical. Earlier this year, Randy interviewed me regarding The Jakarta Pandemic (interview here) and general disaster preparedness. I thoroughly enjoyed his questions and the practical lessons he found buried in The Jakarta Pandemic . He beta read The Perseid Collapse with a prepper’s eye and provided me with an early copy of Practical Tactical’s Handbook . Not only did this guidebook help shape the final disposition of the Fletcher’s wide array of survival gear and strategy, it currently serves as the “go to” guide for the Konkoly household.

Finally, to the readers, friends and fellow writers who supported my transition to full-time writing. None of this would be possible without your encouragement.

Steven Konkoly graduated from the United States Naval Academy and served as a naval officer for eight years in various roles within the Navy and Marine Corps. He lives near the coast in southern Maine, where he writes full time.

He published his first novel, The Jakarta Pandemic , in 2010, followed by four novels in the Black Flagged series: Black Flagged (2011), Black Flagged Redux (2012), Black Flagged Apex (2012) and Black Flagged Vektor (2013). The Perseid Collapse is Book One in a planned series of three books. The Perseid Collapse: Event Horizon will be available in the spring of 2014.

Please visit Steven’s blog for updates and information regarding all his works:

www.stevenkonkoly.com

Copyright 2013 by Steven Konkoly. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author, except where permitted by law, or in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, contact skonkoly@earthlink.net.