G Hopf - The End

Jimmy slowly drove the truck into the garage. Gordon stepped outside and looked both left and right to see if anyone had seen them. He couldn’t see much now that the sun had set and it was getting dark outside. The neighborhood seemed eerie and unnatural with no sounds or lights. After his quick scan of the neighborhood, he pushed the door back down.

With the garage door shut, he turned to Jimmy and said, “Let’s get this unloaded.”

Simone had come in the garage with a lantern which painted the garage with a yellow glow.

Both Jimmy and Gordon wasted no time in unpacking the truck. The wives stood in the doorway to the garage. Gordon noticed Samantha and stopped for a brief moment to look at her. They made eye contact and Gordon smiled, then went back to work unloading.

“Well, Simone, I hope you like lima beans and Spam!” Jimmy said jokingly as he stacked a case of Spam on top of the case of canned lima beans.

“Was all of this necessary?” Simone asked, helping grab loose cans and items. “This is a lot of food, how long do you think the power outage will last?”

Jimmy looked nervously to Gordon. Gordon stopped unloading and answered her question, “Simone, this could last a while. After we’re done unloading, I’ll explain what I think is going on.”

Gordon went back to stacking when they heard a knock at the front door.

“I doubt it’s the pizza guy,” Jimmy joked as he headed into the house.

He opened the door slightly and peeked out. His neighbor Melissa stood on his porch holding her newborn baby.

“Hi, Jimmy, I’m sorry to bother you, but have you seen Eric?”

“Uh, no. Sorry, I just got home myself.”

“I can’t reach him, my phone won’t work, and my car won’t start. I’m kind of freaked out,” Melissa explained intensely. She was rocking back and forth attempting to soothe her baby, who was making some noises.

“Uh, come on in. I’m sorry, come on in,” Jimmy said, fully opening the door.

“I don’t want to impose. Do you have a phone that works?” she asked.

“No, sorry; our phones are down too. Now come on in.”

“Maybe for a minute, thank you.”

Stepping inside the foyer, she held her baby close. Just as Jimmy shut the door behind her, Samantha walked in from the garage.

“Hi, Melissa! How are you doing?

“Hi, Samantha. I’m fine; just haven’t heard from Eric since the power went out. It’s getting late and I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Come on in, sweetie,” Samantha said. She walked up to Melissa and put her arm around her and walked her down the hall to the living room.

Jimmy watched as the two ladies walked down the dim candle-lit hallway before he proceeded back into the garage.

“That’s it, all unloaded,” Gordon said, placing the last can of food on top of the stack.

“Wow, that’s a lot of food,” Jimmy remarked, looking at everything they had brought back.

“Not nearly enough, pal. We will definitely need to go back out tomorrow.”

“How is that not enough food?” Simone asked, staring down the impressive stacks of food.

“Let’s go inside, grab a drink, and I’ll explain.”

They all marched into the house.

The group all gathered in the living room. Gordon sat down in a large cushioned chair in the corner. It wasn’t until then that he realized how sore and tired he was. He took a drink of the Knob Creek bourbon Simone had poured him and closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, everyone was staring at him expectantly.

Gordon sat up and said, “Well, I assume since everyone is looking at me, they want to know my thoughts on all of this?”

Simone nodded then said, “Yes, ‘cause I’m kinda freaking out here.” There was a frantic tone to her voice.

Jimmy reached over and touched Simone’s knee. She brushed his hand away and snapped, “Listen, I need to know what’s going on. Why all the food, what’s up?”

“Just relax. He’ll explain,” Jimmy said reaching back, squeezing her knee.

“Don’t tell me to relax! Something is going on and it doesn’t sound good,” she shot back at Jimmy.

Knowing their back and forth was not productive, Gordon interrupted, “Simone, you’re right, something has happened and it’s not good.”

“Okay. I’m listening,” Simone said.

“We must accept that our way of life has been altered, and prepare for a life without any of the luxuries of modern society, like electricity. I don’t know the extent of the problem or what is happening outside of our city, but I’m guessing it’s widespread.”

“What does that mean, ‘You’re guessing it’s widespread?’ What has happened?” Melissa asked, seeming annoyed, but really more nervous and scared.

Gordon continued, “Everything I’m about to tell you is an educated guess. I do not know exactly what happened, but what appears to have happened is that we’ve been attacked by an EMP bomb.”

Simone nervously interrupted again, “EM what?”

“EMP; it stands for electromagnetic pulse. One can be produced by detonating a nuclear bomb.”

Simone gasped, “Oh my God!” She reached over and grabbed Jimmy’s hand.

Gordon continued on, “An EMP is just a super charge of electricity. Anything that is electrical or has circuits gets fried within a millionth of a second.”

“What about radiation?” Melissa asked.

Gordon acknowledged her concern and answered, “From my knowledge on the topic, there are no effects from radiation. The bomb was probably detonated a few hundred miles in the air. The strategy behind an EMP is to wipe out everything electronic. This is where it becomes a major problem. Everything in our lives runs off of electricity, everything! With no power or transportation, all food and water supplies will dry up, fast. A single grocery store will only have about a three-day supply of food. Without trucks bringing in new supplies, that’s it. Water will stop flowing as well, because we get water pumped to us from somewhere. Without power, those pumps will cease to work. We should not expect to get help from anyone, because the government and law enforcement are in the same situation: no operable cars or power. Depending how large and where the bomb was blown up, this could be affecting the entire country.”

“How long will we be without power?” Simone asked, terrified. She was gripping Jimmy’s hand very tightly.

“Simone, that’s a good question. Worst case could be six months or more.”

“What?” Simone couldn’t believe his answer.

“If the power stays off for longer than a week, we will start to see society collapse plain and simple. The life we knew before is gone and I don’t know if it will ever come back.”

Simone put her head in her hands and started to cry. Jimmy put his arms around her and tried to comfort her.

“What do we need to do?” Melissa asked.

Gordon was staring at Simone, and then turned to answer Melissa. He thought to himself how interesting it was how each individual responds to situations. He admired her pragmatism.

“First thing is not to worry too much about Eric. He’s probably finding a way back home now. Unfortunately, that probably means walking back. That could mean he won’t show up until tomorrow sometime, so don’t panic if you don’t see him tonight. While you’re waiting for him, you need to go back home and fill all of your tubs and sinks with water. Make sure you clean them out as well as you can before filling of course. Do not use the toilets from now on. Eat the food in your freezer and anything that is perishable first. Keep your canned foods for last. Locate all of your fuel if you have any, candles, matches, lighters, flashlights, etcetera. Use all of them sparingly.”