The Long Walk Home: EMP: EMP

By Stephanie Albright

Sophie is at work on Friday morning, when the power goes out. As she waits for it to be restored she notices that her fully charged cell phone won't turn on. A horrifying thought crosses her mind and she runs to look out the window. The street is full of cars that are all stalled and people milling around looking at their non-working cell phones. She realizes that this is much worse than a simple power outage and that she must act quickly if she wants to survive. Sophie convinces a co-worker to join her attempt to get home, even though in her heart she knows deep down that she will be disappointed when she gets there.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stephanie Albright
• Release date: Jan 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215167007

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Stephanie Albright

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 2021 Stephanie Albright

All rights reserved.

ISBN-9781499141184

Dedication

To my readers and all the preppers out there.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There are so many authors, bloggers, and YouTubers that have given inspiration for this work. I am humbled by the amount of knowledge available.

That’s the thing about the collapse of civilization, Blake. It never happens according to plan – there’s no slavering horde of zombies. No actinic flash of thermonuclear war. No Earth-shuddering asteroid. The end comes in unforeseen ways; the stock market collapses, and then the banks, and then there is no food in the supermarkets, or the communications system goes down completely and inevitably, and previously amiable co-workers find themselves wrestling over the last remaining cookie that someone brought in before all the madness began.

― Mark A. Rayner, The Fridgularity

Chapter One

Your power stations, your cars, your creature comforts. Well, you lived too long. The bill’s due. Today.

― David Mitchell, The Bone Clocks

It was Friday morning . I was headed to the break room for a doughnut and a refill for my coffee, then back to sitting in an office with two women that hated each other. I was almost back to my office when the lights flickered, then went out. Well, shit, I muttered. I made it to my office with the light coming from the front windows, I found my purse and felt around for my flashlight. One of my coworkers lit a candle on her desk. I took a large drink of the terrible coffee and sat down. As I picked at my doughnut, I realized how quiet it was.

I grabbed my flashlight, it wouldn’t turn on. Carefully, I headed out to the front of the store. There were no cars moving out on the street. A few people had raised their hood and were looking intensely at their engine, willing it to work. I walked back to the office and grabbed my cell phone, it was dead, but I had just taken it off the charger before I left home two hours ago.  Oh, fuck, I said, out loud.

What’s wrong, Sophie? my office mate, Alice asked.

I think we have been hit with an EMP, I said, dropping into my chair.

She laughed, then looked at me. You’re not joking, are you?

I wish I was, I replied. I’m getting out of here before the chaos begins.

Shouldn’t we just wait for help?

Help ain’t coming, I said. They don’t have working vehicles either. The military might, but they aren’t coming here to Birmingham to go house to house. I watched the truth of my words set in.

What are you going to do?

I’m going to grab some food, water, and cash, then go to my car and get my hiking gear and start walking towards home. Do you want to come? You live on the way to my house, don’t you?

You will go by my road, are you sure you should do this? Why don’t you wait and see what happens?

Because the longer we wait, the less daylight we will have and the more people will be out being assholes, and I want to get past the cut-off to the prison before they start getting out. Make up your mind, I’m leaving as soon as I get my shit together. I went back to the breakroom to get my cheese sticks out of the fridge and six bottles of water. Then I grabbed my turkey jerky and meal bars out of my desk drawer. I opened the safe and put in an IOU for $200 and took out the cash in small bills.

Why are you taking money? Alice asked.

Right now people still think it’s valuable. I can get food and stuff I need on the way home with it, I explained.

She walked over to the safe and put in her own IOU. You’re right. My husband has been telling me for years that something like this was going to happen. He will go get his son from school, then start walking towards me.

Go grab some bottles of water and let’s get out of here. Do you have extra clothes or a blanket or anything in your car?

My husband put a bag in there, just in case.

Thank God. Don’t tell anyone that we are going. No one else lives out where we do and there is no reason for them to tag along.

As I was walking out I remembered there was a can of bug spray on the filing cabinet and I grabbed it.  I didn’t want to be eaten by fire ants if we had to sleep on the ground.

She grabbed all the food from her desk drawer, got some water and we went out the back door to the parking lot. I used the key to unlock the trunk and grabbed my backpack. Then I got in the back seat and changed into my hiking pants and shirt. It was mid-September, but it would get into the mid to low 50’s at night in the hills where we were headed and I had no faith that we would cover fifty-four miles before dark. We would likely be sleeping outside for the next couple of nights. I prayed it wouldn’t rain.

I got my jacket from the front seat and started stuffing it into my bag. My husband’s small 9MM was in the pocket. I had forgotten to give it back after my walk last night. I stuck it in my pocket and thanked God for my forgetfulness. I just wished I had a pocketful of ammo to go with it.

Alice changed and dug her bag out of her trunk. I pulled everything out and quickly made sure she at least had the basics. Her husband had done better than I had in some ways. She had an emergency sleeping bag and quick-dry clothing. She had a life straw, a collapsible bladder and water treatment tablets, and a nice knife. Her first aid kit was way better supplied than mine and she had four freeze-dried meals.

Do you have a gun? I asked.

Yes, it’s in my purse.

How much ammo do you have?

I have a full clip and two extras and I know how to use it, my husband makes me practice.

Put it where you can get to it quickly. I’m not going to put my holster on until we get out of town but I have a small pistol in my pocket. Once we get out of town I’m going to wear mine out where anyone who would want to bother us can see it.

Okay, do you really think anyone will bother us?

I hope not, but I’m expecting it. You ready?

I guess so.

You know that there is no way we will walk fifty-four miles before dark, right? I have a small emergency tent, you have an emergency sleeping bag in your bag, we will be fine. Your bag has stuff in it I didn’t think to put in mine.

She paled a bit, then took a breath. Let’s go!

We walked the six blocks out of town without attracting any attention at all. Everyone was so focused on their phones that didn’t work and their cars that wouldn’t run, that they didn’t notice two women walking down the sidewalk in hiking gear. We crossed the bridge out of Birmingham and started our journey north towards home.

It was around nine when we left, we have about nine hours of daylight left. I mapped walking with Google maps before. It said nineteen hours, but I think that was a bit optimistic considering half of it is uphill. I pulled my .22 pistol out of my bag and strapped it on my hip.

Those first few hours we walked in silence, each lost in our own thoughts. There weren’t many cars stalled here and the ones that were there had been abandoned already. This two-lane road didn’t have much traffic, most people preferred to drive 80 mph on US 22.

It seemed to take forever to walk the six miles to the first small town on our route. I turned toward the gas station and diner. Why are we stopping? Alice asked.

Bathroom break, and maybe get some information about what we are facing. It takes me ten minutes to drive here, we just spent like three hours walking here. We should probably get some extra food before people start to panic.

Oh, I just want to go home.

Me too, I just want to get there safely and in one piece.

The door to the diner was propped open and we went inside. It was filled with candlelight and we were greeted warmly by the owner and his wife. There were several other people inside eating. We are emptying the freezer before the gas cuts off, come on in.

The man pointed at a table, Have a seat, we are at the Brunswick stew- burger level of the freezer, which will it be? he said, smiling.

The stew smells delicious, I’ll have that, I said.

I’ll take a burger, Alice said.

It was quiet in the diner. Everyone either ate in silence or whispered to their companions. The food came and it was even better than it smelled. I had two bowls of stew and probably a half-gallon of sweet tea. This is probably the last time we will eat in a restaurant, maybe ever, I said, quietly.

I didn’t realize that the owner was behind me. You’re right. I have a ham radio and it seems it is this way over most of the country. Where are y'all walking to?

Sipsey, I said.

You have a ways to go. I’ll have my wife put some stew in a jar for you, do you have a way to heat it up?

Yes, sir. We have small pots and a folding grill.

I’ll be right back. Go on into the store and see if there is anything you need. You have a long walk ahead.

He came back with two jars of stew and refused to take any money. That’s no good to anyone anymore, he said. But you might find someone on your way who still thinks it is. Keep it, it might come in handy on your journey.

The only thing we took from the store was a few energy bars and some chocolate. Thank you for the meal and supplies.

You two be careful out there. It’s a whole different world now than when we got up this morning, don’t forget that.

We won’t, Alice said, hugging him.

We stepped outside and back on the road. It had taken us roughly three hours to walk six miles. That would mean two nights at least out on the road.

We have about five hours of daylight left. Let’s make the most of it, I said. Google was way too optimistic, I think it will take us around two more days to get home.

Well, my husband told me never to tell anyone this, but I guess I can tell you now. He has an old truck that he says will run even if we are hit with an EMP. He will go get his son and then come for me. I’m sure he will take you home too.

I hope that truck will run, but no one knows for sure because this has never happened before. So, let’s plan like we will have to walk the whole way just in case. I haven’t heard an engine since this started. I was hoping some good ole’ boys would have their trucks going by now.

You’re right, but it will be awesome when he comes.

Yes, it will.

It was so quiet. No vehicles running, no planes flying, no televisions or radios playing, even the birds were strangely silent. Occasionally, when we passed a house, we would hear a dog bark, but we hadn’t seen another person since the diner. Which I didn’t think was a bad thing at all.

"The sun is getting low in the sky, we have about an