Stay Together Chapter 12 by Maira Dawn
Chapter 12
(COPYRIGHT©2024 MAIRA DAWN)
The news hit Emily like a punch to the stomach. She gasped and looked around, sure that her own face was turning as pale as everyone else’s in their group.
“You always hear people talking about something like this happening and I’ve always worried just a little, but I never really thought it would,” Nancy said in little more than a whispered breath.
Emily nodded slowly. There were at least two prepper families that she knew of in her grade at school. On occasion, some of the students made fun of them. Though she never had, Emily had to admit she’d always considered it a bunch of nonsense. But the news her father had just shared got her thinking. Surely, the country’s entire electrical grid could only go down with outside help.
Whose help?
Her mind shied away from any other musings on the subject. Not having electric for the foreseeable future was bad enough without thinking about enemies.
Her dad placed a reassuring hand on her mom’s shoulder as they huddled with the Johnson family near the chaotic airport entrance.
Out the large window, Emily could still see the planes smoldering on the tarmac outside, their metallic skeletons jutting into the smoke-filled sky. And more than one panicked shout echoed through the terminal.
Emily shuddered. How could this be her life right now? What would the rest of the day have in store?
“We can’t stay here,” James said, his jaw set with determination. “It’s not safe. We need to get home.”
Liz nodded, her blue eyes wide with fear. “I agree, but how? Look at all these people. Many will start trying to flee the city. And...the cars. None of them are starting.”
James glanced around the airport. “You’re right. A lot of people are leaving, probably trying to get out of here before it gets too late in the day. But the cars, they’ll start. This is an electrical grid problem and nothing else. Right, Ian?”
The retired Air Force pilot met his gaze and shrugged. “That’s what they’re saying right now. Other than that, I’m sorry, but I don’t have any answers. We’ll just have to try the cars and see.” He glanced around to find quite a few people settling in for the long haul. “Let’s take these leftover supplies back to the manager. I’m sure he’s going to need them.”
“Maybe he will spare us a few things?” Liz asked. “We only have a few snacks and no water with us.”
“I’ll ask,” James said. “But I’m thinking that we should all stay together. Then, once we pick up what we can, we can head to the parking lot.”
As they pushed through the masses of stranded people, Emily shoved the bottle of water her dad had just given her deep into her backpack. Better to keep that hidden right now.
At a small kitchen in the back of the terminal, they found the balding manager deep in the cabinets sorting through cans and jars. “Trying to see what we can do for a meal today.”
“Well, there are these leftovers,” James said, handing a cardboard box filled with water bottles and packs of pale crackers at the man. “Figured you could use these.”
“Thanks. I...I don’t know how much longer we can hold out here.”
James nodded grimly. “If people are smart, they’ll keep heading out. That’s what we’re gonna do — try to make it back to our neighborhood.”
The manager turned back to the cabinet and rummaged through it, producing a few dented cans of beans and vegetables, a flashlight, and a Swiss army knife. “Take these. Someone left the flashlight and knife here a few weeks ago. And the food? Well, it’s not much, but it’s something. Don’t forget to grab some water bottles.”
James clasped the man’s hand briefly. “Thank you.”
Standing near a metal coat rack, Emily spied a couple of backpacks. “Do you think anyone is coming back for these?”
The manager shook his head. “Doubtful. Look through them for any I.D. or anything of importance and leave that here. But take the packs.”
While her dad thanked the manager again, Emily and the other rifled through the packs. Only one had a wallet. Another had a cellphone. And the third had nothing important. They handed over the personal stuff and kept digging.
Emily’s eyes lit up when she realized all three contained various types of granola and protein bars and at least one more bottle of water.
After saying goodbye to the manager, the group moved back through the airport lobby. Some people had divided up two quieter areas into a place people could sleep. On the other side of the lobby, an area was being set aside as a place for children to play.
A man in his thirties held the hands of his young children as he directed them toward the toys. He nodded at Liz when she smiled at the little girls. “This play space is going to be a godsend. These two have caused nothing but heartache the last few hours.”
“It’s hard when they’re toddlers.”
“Sure is! I hope we aren’t stuck here for too long.”
Emily glanced at her mom. It seemed the man hadn’t heard the news yet.
“Well,” Liz said. “It seems it’s going to take a while from what my husband heard on the radio.”
The man shook his head. “It’s all fake news. That’s what the guy sitting next to me said. He said social media has been predicting something like this for days.”
Liz frowned. “Well, I don’t know about that.”
“Don’t worry,” the man said with a smile. “It’ll be just fine in a couple of days.” He glanced at his children and raised his eyebrows. “Or sooner, I hope!”
“Poor deluded man,” Liz murmured as he walked away.
The walk to the parking garage took a while and gave Emily another look at the downed planes. Were there others just like this at other airports? Would they pass other disasters on their way home? Were this her life now?
She was still wondering about what might happen in the next few days when they rounded the outside wall of the parking garage. With all the people leaving the airport, she’d expected it to be somewhat empty. It wasn’t.
Voices echoed through the concrete building, but other than that, an eerie stillness had fallen over the lot. And the garage was full. Row after row of cars filled the area.
A few people leaned over their car engines, trying to figure out the problem. Others milled around their automobiles, just staring at them as though that would will them to life. A mother and father sat on the ground, leaning their backs against their car, blank looks on their face.
An angry scream erupted in the upper corner. A man kicked his vehicle repeatedly.
Nothing in this scenario made sense. Why would all these cars still be here?
She leaned to her left and looked down the road that should have been clogged with cars. It wasn’t. People clogged the street.
Something was wrong—really wrong—here.
Emily did the only thing she knew to do. Ask her father. “Dad . . . what is happening? What’s going on?”
James heaved a sigh. “Something I was hoping wasn’t happening.”
Liz brought a hand to her face. “It’s more than the grid, isn’t it?”
“I think so.” He put a hand on their shoulders. “I’m sorry. But maybe our car or Ian’s will work. A few are. We’ll check them both out.”
Mike stopped in his tracks. “Wait! What? If the cars doen’t work, we have to walk home?”
“Let’s not worry about that, son, until we have to.”
“I’m not worried about it. I’ll just live at the airport.”
“You can’t live at the airport, Mike. They’re going to run out of food,” Emily told him. She turned to her father. “What does this mean, Dad? Is it like the post-apocalyptic movies? Are people going to get all mean and stuff?”
Liz answered her daughter. “People will be people. Some will be nice and some won’t be. As for the rest of it, we’ll need to take one thing at a time. Don’t worry. We’ll be fine. We are always fine when we’re together.”
Their father put a hand on both the children’s shoulder. “We’ll make it home, one way or another. I promise.”
Mike stomped off toward the first ramp. “We better. My Switch is there.”
Emily didn’t have the heart to tell him it probably wouldn’t be working, anyway.
They climbed the manmade ramps that soon felt like mini-mountains all the way to the seventh floor. Emily breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted their SUV.
“So, this is a good thing to pray for—that our car starting—right?”
All four adults said, “Yes,” simultaneously. Then Ian added, “Little Lady, I’ve been praying about this since the planes hit the ground.”
A small laugh escaped Emily’s lips, even though the situation wasn’t funny at all. All she wanted to do was to slide into that vehicle and rest as they drove home.
And have everything normal when they got there.
Continued . . .
Please remember this is a developing story and in a rawer state than what I publish. As such, it has only been self-edited and you will see some errors.
In addition, some changes may occur between now and publishing, including major storylines. I try to avoid this, but it sometimes happens.
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