William Stone - How We Survive - EMP Survival in a Powerless World

“Guys, that’s not going to hold them. If my son and I could tear it down, you better believe it won’t hold a desperate mob.”

“They sound angry,” Jess said. “We better get out of here!”

The pounding at the door began immediately, getting louder and angrier with each passing second.

Justin called from behind. “There’s an open door in there!” he yelled, pointing into a closet. “Maybe it leads somewhere.”

The Hatfields sprang into the closet, finding a dark hallway. Things grew less and less dark as they ran through. Clearly, they were heading somewhere. But where?

At the tunnel’s end, they stepped out and found themselves in the kitchen. With the mob following down the hallway, they spun in desperate circles, checking for some way, any way out.

Hatfield spotted an air duct behind the sink. It was narrow—maybe too narrow. “This will be a tight squeeze, but we’re out of options, guys.”

“We don’t know where it leads!” Justin yelled.

“If nothing else, it’s safe. We can hide out up there until we find a way out of the building.”

He hoisted up his wife, watched her pull herself through the opening, knowing if she could get through, the kids would get through. His own body was another question, but he had to think of the kids and his wife first.

With some effort, Jess got several feet inside, grunting and groaning her way up slowly.

Justin was next, easily navigating the slender opening until he disappeared.

“All right, you two!” Hatfield said. “Tami’s going to need extra help. I got her from down here, but she’ll need you to pull her up.” He climbed the sink, then reached back and hoisted her beside him. Together, they looked up, staring at the opening.

“Dad, I’m scared.”

He cradled her face for a second. “We got you, honey. Always.” With his grip firm on her waist, he hefted her up, her lone available hand stretched to its limit. Justin grabbed her wrist, then tugged her. Jess did the same while her husband took her by the legs and moved her in the same direction.

The loud mob got closer, louder. Gunshots rang out, and Hatfield could hear bodies tumble to the floor.

A grunt from his wife signaled a problem. Hatfield made up for it by pushing harder. Soon, his daughter was up and through. The only body left was his own. Tugging himself up was no struggle. He reached the opening, then gave it a closer look, trying to judge its size. It would be a snug fit, that was sure.

Looking farther up, he saw how they each kept from falling out. The side of the duct had ridges they could grip with their fingernails and could also set their feet on, just firmly enough to prevent them from sliding down. Farther up still, he could see the sky.

He got in up to his shoulders with extra effort, but getting beyond that would be tricky. He grunted through another upward yank but got stuck at his arms. With nothing supporting him from below, he couldn’t go farther.

Tami reached to him with her free hand, grabbing his shoulder, making little impact. Jess was just above her, but reaching beyond her would be tricky. She’d need to rearrange her body—hard to do with such slippery sides.

She reached down and took hold of his arms. They got him to his waist, then his knees. Soon he was high enough to place his feet on the ridges and scale up with the rest of them.

The pack of loud and desperate people banged inside the kitchen. But the Hatfields were gone by then.

“Awesome,” Justin called from twenty, maybe thirty feet above, his voice no longer echoing, suggesting he’d made it out.

One by one, Jess, Tammy, and Hatfield yanked themselves to freedom. The noise of the crowd had nearly disappeared by then.

Justin stood at the roof’s edge, staring down, then called, “It’s insane out there!”

His father joined him. The two of them gazed across the city, watching fires rage on, explosions spark, and gigantic mobs of people flood into random directions.

The weirdest of all was what they weren’t seeing—lights, smoke coming from chimneys, planes in the sky. Everything a city dweller tends to think of as a sign of life was absent. It was as if the world had died a violent death.

“Just what Dad always predicted,” he said, his voice heavy with lament. He turned, glanced at his family, particularly his daughter.

Tami managed a weak smile. “The ice is starting to melt.”

“Suppose we should get out of here?” Jess asked.

Hatfield nodded.

Justin called from the other side of the roof. “Guys, there’s a fire escape over here!”

They took off, Justin once again going first. Jess followed, teeth clamped in a terrified grimace.

Hatfield laughed a little. “Still no fan of heights, huh?”

“Nope.”

“You okay with one hand, honey? Could be kind of tough.”

Tami nodded, jaw tight with confidence. “No probs, Dad. I’m kind of getting used to missing an arm.”

Even with the nightmare unfolding around them, Hatfield was proud of his family—especially Tami for showing the courage he’d never seen from her before. He scaled the fire escape after his daughter, checking back on her every few seconds.

At the bottom, they all took a cautious glance around. They heard nothing, but the quiet could be deceptive or possibly even a good cover for anybody up to mischief.

“Okay, everybody. We’re headed northwest in order to get back to the shop. We’ve got about two miles, and we want to get there as quickly as possible and as safely as possible.”

They took careful steps down the sidewalk, staying close to the buildings—but not too close. “Let’s make sure we stay in a group in case we get any surprises.” His hand was at his side, near his holster. Every distant noise brought it a little closer.

After a few blocks, the family eased up enough to walk at a slower pace. Hatfield watched his kids in front of him, proud of the way Justin was helping his sister, even comforting her, arm around her shoulders as her spirit seemed to lag from time to time.

He shared a grin with his wife, then she lay her head on his shoulder. He lifted it up and half-jokingly said, “Head up, young lady. It may be quiet, but we need to stay alert.”

She gave him a playful salute, and they laughed together for the first time since the day began to come undone.

The brief moment of quiet reminded him of how they had met. He rewound to an awful time in his life, crashing on Phil's couch, an older brother of his friend. No money, no job. And just when it seemed the news couldn’t get worse, the phone rang.

Phil answered it in the kitchen, then called for him, a trace of annoyance in his voice. “Trevor! Come and get it, dude. It’s that chick, Michelle.”

He sprinted for the phone, answered it, trying to mask the excitement in his voice. “Hey, how are you?”

“I’m fine. How’s Luke’s brother?”

He turned to find Phil standing there, fists impatiently on his hips, not even pretending he wasn’t listening to the call. “Uh, yeah, he’s cool,” Trevor said.

“That’s good.” She paused like there was something she needed to say, but she couldn’t find the right words.

“So… when do you think we can see each other?”

Another pause. “The thing is…”

Trevor wasn’t sure where this was going, but it wasn’t good news.

“I don’t think the two of us meeting would be such a good thing. I’m sorry.”

“You mean, like, ever?”

“Yeah, sorry.”

He stared at the floor, a million unasked questions gnawing at him, but there was something in her voice that told him it was no use. She wasn’t going to budge.

“I’m really sorry.”