Eric Walters - The Rule of Three

“Looks like you have a full house,” Todd said.

“It’s not the worst thing. I’ll get to find out more about what’s happening, and there’s less chance that my mother will yell at me in front of other people.”

“How upset do you think she’s going to be?” Todd asked.

“Hard to predict. I just hope she was too preoccupied with other things to be worried about me.”

Todd headed home to take a nap. I was sure his parents would be glad to see him home safe and sound as well.

As I went through the door, I could hear voices in the kitchen. There was no point in putting things off any longer. I walked right into the room. Herb, my mother, and her four officers were sitting at the table. They turned to look at me as I entered. I nodded but worked hard not to make eye contact with my mother. I walked over and sat down at the table, acting like nothing was wrong. They stopped talking.

“Am I interrupting?” I asked.

“I was just getting ready to send somebody out to get you,” my mother explained. She sounded like she was working on being calm.

“Mr. Peterson drove us partway with his tractor, and then we walked from where the 403 curved around and crossed over Burnham Drive. It wasn’t far.”

“Farther than it should have been,” my mother said. “You shouldn’t have been out there to begin with. But we’ll talk about it later.”

“Like I said, it’s really my fault,” Herb said. “I just didn’t think there was going to be any major problem out there.”

“And was there?” my mother asked, who was clearly not thrilled with Herb’s decision.

I thought about the pistol in my pocket, the intruders, and Mr. Peterson threatening them with a shotgun. “Everything went fine.”

She looked relieved.

“I was just trying to help them—the way I hope people are helping Dad if he needs it,” I said.

I saw those words sink in. Her eyes looked pained and then softened. We seemed to have an unspoken agreement that if we didn’t talk about him he’d be okay. I guess I’d broken our agreement.

I looked around the table. “So… how did things go on patrol last night?”

“Not great,” Howie, the big officer, said. He’d always struck me as sort of a good-natured kid. Despite all that had happened in the last four days, he still had a smile on his face.

“I knew things were going to potentially be worse than the night before, but I didn’t expect them to be that bad,” Sergeant Evans reported. “Between the fires, the robberies, the looting, and the assaults, it’s just getting out of hand. I don’t mind telling you that I was afraid out there.”

“If you’re not afraid, you’d be an idiot,” Howie added.

“I wouldn’t mind being out there if I thought I was actually doing anything,” Sergeant Evans said, “but we’re useless. We can’t stop anything from happening or fix it if it does. All we can do is watch and report.”

“It’s starting to feel like we need the protection,” Brett added.

“Speak for yourself, rookie,” Sergeant Evans joked.

“Weren’t you the one saying you were afraid out—”

“Okay, gang,” my mother said, cutting Brett off. “Look, everybody is tired and worried. How about if people go home, kiss your wives and kids hello, pet the dog, and just get some sleep? I’ve got to get back to the station. And you’re going to be back on patrol in only a few hours.”

They all agreed. After they finished their coffee and left, it was just my mother, Herb, and me around the table. If she was going to yell at me, this was going to be the time. Maybe that’s why Herb spoke up.

“I heard some things on the shortwave radio last night that I didn’t think should be for everybody’s ears,” Herb said.

“Do you want me to leave?” I asked.

“I think you should stay, Adam. Here’s the deal. It’s getting much worse in the cities. The bigger the city, the worse the problems.”

“Have you heard anything at all about what exactly caused the outage, where it started, or why? Anything?” My mom looked hopeful.

“Only speculation. No concrete information. Mainly the few people I can reach are only talking about the results.”

I listened as he told us about robberies, assaults, fires being set, and the streets becoming completely out of what the police could control. While he talked, I couldn’t help but think of my father, in Chicago, being part of all of that. If Herb was right, Chicago would be one of the worst places to be.

“So it’s all just breaking down,” my mother said. “We have to hope that tonight it doesn’t get any worse.”

“In fact, you should expect it to get exponentially worse tonight,” Herb replied.

“I was afraid you were going to say something like that,” my mother said.

“Because of your job and training, Kate, you probably know the drill better than anybody,” Herb said. “Either services will be reinstated and it will become much, much better, or they don’t get repaired and each night will be a factor of five or even ten times as bad as the night before.”

“I think I know what to expect,” my mother said. “I just don’t know if we can handle that. I hope you’re wrong.”

He shook his head. “I’d like to be wrong, but I’ve seen this before.”

“Nobody has seen this before,” I argued.

“Not here, but in places where I’ve been stationed. I don’t expect the patterns to be different here. They haven’t been so far. After three days is when things start to get hairy.”

My mother looked worried, though not scared.

“Are you hearing anything official from any level of government?” Herb asked.

She shook her head. “A few hand-delivered messages from the chief. Both stations in his command are understaffed, with officers deserting to protect their families.” She paused. “At a time when things are getting worse, my colleagues and I have fewer officers on hand. That’s compromising our ability to contain the situation.”

“The solution may be to try to do less,” Herb said. “Your choice is to protect everything badly or protect some things well. What would you think about drawing back the patrols to only look after this neighborhood?”

“I can’t do that. Not yet.”

“Would you consider putting more civilians on sentry duty?”

“That we could do.”

“And arming those civilians?” Herb asked.

She didn’t answer right away. I wondered what she’d say if she knew I had Herb’s pistol in a holster strapped to my waist.

“I don’t think I have the authority to make that decision,” she said.

“You’re the only one who does,” Herb said. “Although I understand why you wouldn’t want to do that… at least not yet.”

She shook her head. “Hopefully not ever. You know, Herb, I really appreciate what you’re doing, the perspective you’re bringing.”

“I’m just trying to offer whatever insights I can to help you with the decisions you have to make. I guess I feel lucky I’m not in your shoes and grateful that you’re there showing leadership.”

“It feels more like partnership. I’m happy you’re here. Thanks for all your input. I need to get back to the station. Adam, you’re in charge of the twins… assuming they wake up.”

“I’ll watch them.”

“And I’ll help,” Herb offered.

My mother got up and left the room, leaving Herb and me alone.

“So what really happened last night at the farm?” Herb asked.

“What makes you think anything happened?”

“You’re not a very good liar even when you don’t say anything. Was there a confrontation?”

“Nothing that we couldn’t handle.” I pulled the gun out of its holster and offered it to him.