Killshot

CHAPTER 1

On the TV screen, the New York Giants were playing the New England Patriots. It’s fourth down, and one, and Tom Brady is going for it, said the commentator. The play clock is counting down; four, three, two, one. The center snaps the ball, and Brady drops back. He looks downfield, sees and receiver open, and...."

Suddenly, the television screen froze, and the screen began to flicker. Son of a bitch, said Patrick as he grabbed the remote. He tried to change the channel, but the screen was still frozen in place. What the hell’s goin’ on?

Mary, his wife, entered the living room, walked past the brightly decorated Christmas tree, and said, What’s wrong, Pat?  

I was watching the Patriots play the Giants when the TV froze up. I can’t believe it happened during one of the best damn playoff games of the year.  

Don’t worry, Dear. I’ll give Direct TV a call and see if they can fix it.

As much as I pay for the Sunday Sports Ticket, they damn well better fix it.  

Before Mary could pick up her phone, the frozen TV frame, with Tom Brady ready to throw a pass, was replaced by a fuzzy image of a female newscaster. This afternoon, we are getting word that millions of Americans are literally in the dark as the entire East Coast lost most of its electrical power around 1:33 pm this afternoon. Thousands of citizens find themselves stranded in elevators and deep underground in the subways. Because the signal lights have failed, traffic on the streets and highways has come to a standstill. The actual cause of this power outage is unknown at this time.  

The newscaster image on the screen broke up for a few seconds, and then she continued. "It has now been confirmed that all of the electrical systems on the East Coast have now gone down.

Individuals in the impacted areas have limited computer and cellphone access, but only as long as their batteries last. The Federal government is telling people in the affected areas to be patient, wait for emergency services, and remain in their homes. Those with severe medical issues will be attended to as soon as possible."  

What’s happening, Pat? asked Mary.  

I don’t know.  

I’m afraid.  

Patrick stood up and hugged her. Don’t worry. This kind of power outage has happened before.  

Do you think this might be a terrorist attack? Maybe it’s ISIS or some other organization.  

I wouldn’t put it past them, but on the other hand, it could just be an overloaded system. There’s a lot of demand for electricity this time of year. I’ve read that when one grid goes down, it puts stress on all the other grid systems connected to it. At least the failure is just limited to the East Coast.  

For now, but my intuition tells me that you should make a run over to Walmart and stock up on some food and water just in case our power goes out here too. Oh, and before you go, you should charge up that power pack I bought you last Christmas.  

You and your intuition. We’ve been through this before, Mary. Remember back when you thought Y2K was going to be a big deal? We spent tons of money on preps, and it turned out to be nothing. It took us years to eat all those damn beans and rice. As a matter of fact, I think there’s still a few containers of dehydrated food out in the garage.  

"I remember, but Y2K was a theory; this is real. Back then, we didn’t have kids, but now we do. If this does turn out to be something more serious, we need to protect them.

Patrick puckered his mouth and nodded in agreement.

I’m worried, Pat. I’m going to go over to Donna’s house and pick up the kids. I’ll meet you back here in about an hour. She grabbed the keys and started out the door, but stopped, turned back toward Patrick, and said, Make sure you pick up a big bag of dog food for Rascal.

A few minutes later, Patrick pulled up beside a pump at the Walmart gas station, filled the tank on his big four-wheel drive 2005 Expedition, then drove on over to the store.

The parking lot was filled with Christmas shoppers, but other than that, everything looked normal. He got lucky, found a space up front, and parked the Expedition near the entrance. He grabbed a shopping cart that someone had left nearby and walked inside. He made his way through the Christmas shoppers, walked to the back of the store, put several cases of water in his cart, and headed toward the canned meat section. He grabbed several cans of tuna, canned chicken, spam, and a few tins of sardines.  

In the next aisle, he tossed a couple of bags of rice and dried beans into his cart and made his way through the crowds over to the sporting goods area. He grabbed a couple of boxes of twelve-gauge shotgun shells and then asked the attendant behind the counter to give him four boxes of 9mm ammo. He pushed his cart around to the other side and tossed a package of Mylar blankets and an aluminized sleeping bag into the cart. His next stop was over in the hardware department, where he put a portable water filter, several replacement filters, some emergency candles, and two boxes of waterproof matches in the cart. As he picked up a tactical flashlight and several packages of batteries, he thought to himself. This is starting to feel like Y2K all over again. If only I had kept all that stuff instead of selling it on Craigslist, I wouldn’t be here buying it now.

He walked over to the automotive section and picked up a gas siphon pump and two red five-gallon plastic gas cans. When he left the automotive section, he strolled down the pet aisle and picked up a forty-pound bag of dog food for Rascal.

As he headed up the aisle, he swung by the paper goods area and finished filling his cart with toilet paper, paper towels, and wet wipes.  

Pushing his cart toward the checkout lanes, he noticed that the overhead lights started to flicker like strobe lights. Before he could make it to the register, the fluorescent lights overhead flashed and then went out. The store darkened, and everyone made a loud gasp. The clerks at the registers stepped from behind their counters and walked toward the aisles.

A large black man, wearing a badge on his vest that read manager, yelled out to the customers at the checkout lanes. Attention Walmart shoppers. It appears that we have lost power and will not be able to complete any more transactions. I am sorry for the inconvenience, but if you are just patient, I’m sure we’ll be back online in a few minutes.  

What if you aren’t? shouted a man standing in the next lane over. What if the power never comes back on? I saw on TV what’s happening out on the East Coast. This is bullshit.  

Patrick could sense that this man’s comment created a deep fear among the people standing in line.  

The man reached into his wallet, grabbed a handful of cash, walked to the register, and slapped it on the counter. There’s more than enough here to cover what I’ve got in my cart, he said as he walked toward the exit.  

Before he could leave, the manager rushed over and blocked his path. I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t let you leave. The man attempted to maneuver his cart around the manager, but again he blocked his way. I’m going to have to ask you to get back in line, sir.  

Fuck you, said the man as he reached in his coat and pulled out a 9mm revolver. Now, get out of my way, or you’re going to be one dead mother-fucker.  

The manager reached for the gun, and the two men struggled for a moment.

The gun went off, and the startled customers screamed and ran as fast as they could toward the exits pushing their carts into each other like bumper cars.

Patrick, uncertain what to do, joined the herd as he made his way outside, quickly loaded his Ford Expedition with the supplies, and raced home.

CHAPTER 2

As Patrick drove down his street, he decided to back the Expedition into the garage so it would be easier to unload. He pushed the button on the garage door opener, but nothing happened. Shit, the power must be off here too, he thought to himself as he stepped out of the vehicle. He grabbed an armload of ammo, walked around to the front door, reached in his pocket with his free hand, and grabbed his keys. He unlocked the door, stepped inside, headed to the kitchen, sat the ammo on the table, then walked out into the garage. He reached up and pulled on the rope connected to the release lever putting the door into manual mode. As he raised the door, Mary pulled the Cadillac SRX into the drive and came to a stop next to the Expedition. Patrick could tell something was wrong when she jumped out of the car and slammed the door. But he knew she was pissed for sure when she walked past him without saying anything and walked straight into the house.  

What happened to you? he asked as he followed her inside. 

As I was heading back home from Donna’s, some idiot nearly ran into me when they blew through a stoplight that wasn’t working. It scared the living hell out of me.  

I’m glad you are okay, he said as he hugged her. It looks like the power must be out all over town. When I got back home from Walmart, the garage door opener didn’t work either. I had to open it manually.

Do you want me to give you a hand with the groceries? she asked.

Yeah, about four of them. There’s a bunch of stuff lying loose in the back of the truck.  

Loose? Why didn’t you put it in a sack?  

I didn’t have time.  

What do you mean you didn’t have time?

You won’t believe what happened as I stood in the checkout line.

What? she asked curiously. 

The fluorescent lights flickered, and then the power went out. Shortly after that, some asshole pulled a gun on a store manager who tried to keep him from leaving with a shopping cart full of goods. After shots were fired, everyone panicked and ran outside.  

Oh, my God. Are you okay?  

Yeah, but the next time I go shopping, remind me to take my gun, he said as he unloaded the cases of water. Do the kids know about the power outage?  

Yes. When I picked them up over at Donna’s, I could tell they were scared. I told them not to worry, and I tried to explain what was happening, but I’m not sure it helped.  

Well, Hunter will soon be fourteen, and Heather is nearly twelve. Kids today are a lot smarter about what’s going on than you give them credit for.  

Back in the kid’s bedroom, Heather was videotaping her brother with her cellphone as he flipped the light switch off and on. Well, this is the end of the world as we know it video, said Hunter as he stood in the darkroom illuminated by the light from the cell phone. The power’s off, and mom said she doesn’t know when or if it will come back on.  

Now, film me doing it, said Heather as she handed the phone to her big brother.  

As Mary helped Patrick carry the rest of the supplies into the garage, she turned toward him and asked, Do you think the power pack charged long enough to run the refrigerator before the electricity went off? 

No, but probably long enough to power the TV. Let’s give it a try and see if we can find out what’s going on, he said as he stepped inside the house and marched into the living room.

He unplugged the TV from the wall outlet and then plugged it into the power pack. Well, here goes nothing, he said as he grabbed the remote and hit the power button.

The TV sprang to life, and the image of a male newscaster appeared on the screen. It’s only thanks to emergency generators that we are able to say good afternoon. There are reports that electrical transformers up and down the East Coast are literally bursting into flames. 

On the screen were pictures of transformers hanging from telephone poles sparking and smoldering. Then one of them exploded into a massive ball of blue-green flame and black smoke. The fiery flames from the explosion completely engulfed the wooden pole and cross beams, and within minutes, the pole and electrical lines fell to the ground in a thunderous cloud.  

With more than one hundred and twenty million people now affected, authorities are bracing for the worst as they fear this colossal and history-making blackout spreads, said the male commentator.

Citizens across the country continue to struggle with grid-locked roadways and off-line public transportation. Without electric traffic controls, the number of car accidents has skyrocketed, making most highways completely impassable. Police, firefighters, and emergency personnel are now saying that they are struggling to keep up with the volume of emergencies and casualties caused by this ongoing crisis. To compound the problem, all ATMs are down in the affected areas, and people are lined up around their banks waiting for them to open, hoping they can withdraw cash. Every major airline has canceled all flights, and planes remain grounded as the entire nation has been designated a no-fly zone. Planes already in the air are being re-routed to the closest airports that are still operational. 

Mary picked up her cell phone, dialed a number, and held it against her ear. I’m going to call mom and see if the power is still on over in Austin.  

After a few seconds, she furrowed her eyebrows and said, I’ve got a full battery, but my phone’s not working. All I’m getting is a message that says emergency calls only.  

It’s a lot worse than I thought, said Patrick. 

I hope mom’s okay, she said as she hit the disconnect button. 

On TV, the commentator continued. "The most immediate concern for authorities in New York, Philadelphia, Boston