Richard Stephenson - Collapse

“Please turn around,” said Dr. Stone.

The citizens of Truth or Consequences had erected an effective roadblock, cutting off their town from Interstate 25. A dozen cars were parked side by side, blocking off the road. Orange construction barrels were scattered at random intervals in front of the barricade. Six men with shotguns stood on the roofs of their cars. Parked in the road with traffic was a police cruiser, its red and blue lights flashing. Max returned the gesture and turned on his red and blues. Two police officers exited the cruiser, drew their weapons, and walked towards the SUV.

“Oh God,” said Dr. Stone in a trembling voice.

“It’s okay, just put your hands on the dashboard. Elizabeth, place your palms on the roof above you and don’t move. Let me handle this.”

The two police officers stopped ten yards from the SUV. One of them motioned for Max to roll down his window. Max kept one hand on the steering wheel and with the other, did as he was instructed.

“Sir, I’m gonna have to see your badge,” the officer demanded. “If you truly are a cop, you know the drill, and everything will be fine. Now, slowly exit your vehicle. The passengers need to stay where they are.”

“I understand,” replied Max. Max put both hands out the window and slowly opened the door with his left hand. He stepped out onto the pavement and took two steps away from the vehicle. Since his weapon was holstered on his right hip, he took his left hand and brought it behind his back to retrieve his wallet from his back right pocket. He took out his badge and held it up in the air.

“Toss it to me,” said the officer. Max tossed it at the officer’s feet. He slowly bent down and picked it up. He studied the badge and the credentials.

“Name?”

“Maxwell Thomas Harris.”

“You’re a long way from Arkansas.”

“You mean Texas.”

“Okay, look right at me. Don’t turn around and look at your vehicle, what town are you from?”

“Santa Fe.”

“Good. Badge number?”

“Badge number is RAS91172”

“OK, Chief Harris. My apologies to you and your passengers for that ordeal. I’m sure you understand that seeing a police vehicle from Texas raised some suspicions. Didn’t know if it was a stolen vehicle or not.”

“It’s not a problem. Would’ve done the same thing myself. Can my friends step out now?”

“Yes, yes, I’m sorry. Please.”

Max leaned down and looked into the window, motioning for them to come out.

“Ladies, I’m Eduardo Sanchez, I was telling your friend here…”

Elizabeth interrupted, “We heard everything. Don’t worry about us, we understand. I’m Elizabeth and this is Dr. Stone.”

“Hello.” Dr. Stone was still shaking.

“Doctor, I’m pleased to meet you. I’m sure that wasn’t the sort of welcome you expected. I hope it won’t ruin your opinion of our little town. We’re just trying to protect our families and homes from harm.”

“Things are so bad you have to close off the town?”

“Yes, ma’am, I’m afraid they are. I know this might seem a little forward of me given what just happened, but we’ve got a lot of hurt people who could use some help. Our doctors got their hands full.”

“Of course, but I’d be more comfortable if Elizabeth could come with me.”

“Not a problem. Gary! Take these ladies down to Dr. Henslee at the hospital.” An older gentleman nodded and escorted Elizabeth and Dr. Stone to his car.

“What happened?”

“Simply put, the Unified National Guard is what happened.”

Max’s eyes got big. “Really?”

“Chief, are you a veteran?”

“No, sir. Been a cop for twenty-one years.”

“Well, I’m a veteran, served three tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. I was Infantry, stationed in Fort Hood on 9/11. I can tell you that the men who came into our town should be ashamed to call themselves soldiers. No sense of honor or decency. The way they were acting, you’d have thought we were fighting The Empire of Iran right here in America.”

“What do you mean?” asked Max.

“Well, I served my country and swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Doesn’t seem like they swore the same oath I did.”

Max shook his head. “I thought we were getting out of Texas, away from disaster and headed towards civilized society.”

“Well, I can assure you we’re civilized people, Chief.”

“I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant. Poor choice of words.”

“I know what you meant. Didn’t mean to snap at you. My nerves are on edge.”

“Mine, too. We ever get the time, I can tell you some stories. What were you saying?”

“Yeah, anyway, they came rolling into town yesterday morning. We were glad to help; everyone wants to do their patriotic duty,” Officer Sanchez began to walk back to the barricade and Max followed. “They said they needed supplies, and we didn’t object. The manager at Wal-Mart welcomed them in and was prepared to give them whatever they needed. He asked the company commander to come up with a list so he could keep track of his inventory and submit it for reimbursement. Well, the good captain said that wouldn’t be necessary since the government wasn’t going to reimburse them for anything. He got nervous and called me over to the store. Captain told me the same thing. Said it was an emergency and he was going to take what he needed, didn’t have time for paperwork.”

“How polite,” said Max.

“It gets worse. They had probably six empty five-ton trucks. They filled up three of ‘em with food and water. Manager came unglued, said he was gonna get fired for sure. Captain didn’t give a damn. I was hoping they would hurry up and leave. No such luck. They had an empty fuel tanker and parked it in front of our biggest gas station. Tapped right into the underground tank and filled the damn thing up. Stealing from Wal-Mart is one thing, but the gas station they raided is privately owned. Don’t get me wrong – it’s still a crime either way, but Wal-Mart is an international chain with plenty of backing. The gas station owner is local. Stood right there and watched his business being taken right out from under him. No way he’ll ever be able to make up the loss.”

“He didn’t give up without a fight, did he?” asked Max.

Officer Sanchez nodded with a distraught look on his face. “I get there and the owner is demanding some sort of signed paperwork that he can submit to the military to get his money back.”

“Same story?”

“Exactly the same. ‘State of emergency’ and all that bullshit.”

Max looked confused. “What am I missing? I know things are going to shit, but what’s the emergency?”

“Well, I suppose coming from Texas you don’t know.”

“Know what?”

“Iranians detonated a nuke over the east coast. The Pulse wiped out all the electronics. Rumor is the power is out all over the eastern United States”

Max stopped dead in his tracks. His home state of Texas was truly going to be a wasteland. Recovery would never come. “Son of a bitch! Pulse? You mean an electromagnetic pulse? I didn’t know detonating a nuke high up in the sky would cause something like that.”

“That’s exactly what it did. Before they got uncivilized, the military folks told us all about it. They call it ‘The Pulse.’

“I thought Texas was in bad shape. We’re going to lose this country very quickly. Well, at least the National Guard was taking the supplies to people who need them.”

“That’s what I thought, too.”

“Oh come on! You can’t be serious!”

“Wish I was joking, I promise you.”

“What the hell were they doing with them?”

“They didn’t even try to lie about it. Smart thing would have been to feed us a bunch of bullshit about taking the supplies to help victims of The Pulse. Nope. They’re taking supplies to Howard Beck’s house in Colorado.”