36 Hours: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survival Fiction Series (13 page)

As Alex reappeared, she was holding up her cell phone to show Madison another alert from FlareAware. It was another geomagnetic storm warning.

“Mom, I really think we need to go.”

Chapter 23

10 Hours

1:35 p.m., September 8

Dallas Cowboys Training Facilities

Ford Center at The Star

Frisco, Texas

Colton’s palms were sweaty. Despite the cold temperatures in the conference room, he was visibly sweating. He wanted out of there! Colton couldn’t remember a single word mentioned by the attorneys since he read the online articles and sent Madison the text.

“Well, it appears we have the basis for a deal, and I’ll have our people in New York draft a formal agreement,” said one of the suits for CBS, who remained fairly quiet while the NFL and Colton’s legal team hashed out the details. “I would like to remind everyone that we need to keep this under wraps until halftime of this evening’s game. Commissioner Goodell, Mr. Jones, and CBS sports director Bob Fishman will be conducting a news conference to make the formal announcement. I’d like to thank everyone for their—”

Suddenly, Jerry Jones burst into the conference room. “Everybody, I need you to listen.” Jones was visibly shaken. His jacket was off and tie loosened. Something was wrong. Colton immediately felt for his phone.

“I have been advised by my staff there apparently is going to be a warning issued regarding flight travel and cancellation of public events.” Jones instructed one of his aides to turn on the television monitors in the room. FoxNews with its commonly used
Breaking News
graphic filled the screens.

“
Airlines are scrambling at this hour to comply with FAA restrictions just handed down as we bring you breaking news from Washington. Apparently, solar activity has suddenly increased, which is disrupting the use of GPS and other satellite-dependent devices. There are now reports of increasingly long lines at airports as passengers traveling the northernmost routes of the United States and Canada are being affected. SEA-TAC and JFK have reported two security breaches as panicked passengers rushed through TSA checkpoints in an effort to reach their departing flights. Thus far, we’ve received no official word from the White House, but the press pool has been put on notice that a statement will be issued by Secretary Sullivan shortly. We’ll have more on this story as it develops
.”

Jones continued. “I’ve received a phone call from Commissioner Goodell, whose flight has been grounded out of New York. He is telling me that, in all likelihood, tonight’s game will be—”

But Jones was interrupted by the buzzing of muted cell phones that were set to vibrate. Within thirty seconds, text messages were received and voice mails were listened to.

Many of the attendees in the conference room, except for Colton, were receiving wireless emergency alerts. Since 9/11, public safety officials had used the emergency alert system as a reliable method of delivering warnings of impending natural or man-made disasters. Governmental websites like NOAA, FEMA, and Ready.gov provided a variety of notification options.

In Colton’s home state, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, or TEMA, created a Mobile Preparedness App for all major cell phone platforms. In addition to warnings of an impending disaster, the app provided locations of shelters, evacuation routes, and local emergency management contacts based upon your location.

At any given time, a user could visit the app and determine the state’s emergency activation level. Level five was considered normal, and level one indicated a catastrophic disaster. Colton was unaware that his state had declared a level two, major disaster.

“A solar flare?” said one of the attendees.

“Possible power outages,” said another.

Jones continued. “The game is likely to be canceled. Now, I live here, so this is easy for me to say. It’s possible this is a false alarm, as there is not an official statement from the President or her staff. But for any of you who would feel more comfortable getting home to your families, I suggest you leave now. I have cars waiting downstairs to take each of you to your chosen destination.”

Papers were being shoveled into briefcases, and the lids snapped closed before some of the executives hit the conference room door. Pleasantries were not exchanged. Handshakes with their host were sidestepped. It was every man for himself.

Colton sat stunned for a moment before he gathered his belongings. Most of the NFL and network people flew in on private jets from New York or California. They would meet up with their aircraft at the nearby executive airport in Addison. Nobody offered him a lift. Colton realized he was the only attendee that flew on a commercial airline.

As he left, he stopped to shake the hand of the NFL icon Jerry Jones. “I want to thank you, sir, for what you have done for my client and me. I hope this is not as serious as it portends to be.”

“I agree, young man. May I assume you’re flying back to Nashville? You’re welcome to ride this out at my lake house near Tioga.”

Colton smiled and declined, saying that he wanted to get home to his family. He picked up his pace and headed down the hallway toward the winding stairwell leading to the lobby. He was remarkably calm considering he rang the warning bell with Madison an hour ago.

Madison! Doggone it. I need to call her
. He tried in vain, but all circuits were busy. Colton suspected much of America would be lighting up the cell phone lines over the next hour, attempting to spread the word of the impending flare.

How am I gonna get through? I need to get on a plane!

Chapter 24

10 Hours

1:52 p.m., September 8

Sam Rayburn Tollway

North Dallas, Texas

The black Lincoln Town Car raced through traffic on the toll road named for former Texas Congressman Sam Rayburn, who served as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for seventeen years, the longest tenure in history. Rayburn was actually a Tennessean by birth, having been born in Roane County near the Cumberland Plateau.

Colton tried not to watch as his driver emulated a frustrated NASCAR driver who’d rather be at the Texas Motor Speedway. Instead, Colton focused his efforts on trying to get flight information online and changing his reservation. He was not having any luck. He kept receiving a
502 Bad Gateway Error Message,
which meant the servers for the websites were overloaded. He had less luck getting through on the phone. His texts appeared to be going out, but he was unsure whether they were being delivered. It was very frustrating.

The driver found his way to DFW, and Colton immediately headed to the American Airlines ticket counter. He read the departure board while he waited in line. The first available nonstop flight left at 2:25. After that, he would have to wait until 4:44.

The line wasn’t moving, and Colton craned his neck to get a better view of the ticket counter. The passengers appeared frustrated as the ticket agents stared down at their computer monitors. Ten minutes had passed, and nobody had been issued a ticket.
Something is wrong
.

It was hot and stuffy in Terminal A, and the travelers began to feel the heat under their collars as well. Colton looked at his watch and saw that it was nearly 2:00 p.m. Even if a seat was available on the earlier Nashville flight, there were so many potential passengers in line that he knew that flight was realistically out of the question. He began to doubt whether he could make the 4:44, for that matter. The TSA checkpoint lines were so slow that the FAA was recommending allowing three hours to pass through security—
under normal travel conditions
. This was hardly normal.

Colton had to make a decision. He recalled that it was roughly six hundred fifty miles or so to Nashville from Dallas, and it was all interstate. He performed the calculations in his head. The only major cities that would hold him up were Little Rock and Memphis. Little Rock had a bypass, but Memphis would be a pain in the butt.
If I average eighty miles an hour, that’s eight hours. Home by 10:00. Decision made.

Colton left the line and was headed down the escalator toward Ground Transportation and the car rental companies when he heard the PA announcement followed by groans and shouts of anger. American Airlines had just announced that their outbound flights were either grounded or canceled due to lack of equipment. Because so many flights from northern airports had been canceled, there weren’t any inbound planes available to meet connections. At that moment, commercial airline travel came to a virtual standstill across the nation.

Colton ran down the remaining few steps of the escalator, pushing his way past half a dozen people. He approached the Hertz counter and was pleased to find that there was no line. He stood there patiently for a moment, waiting for a rental agent, but no one arrived. He looked around for a bell or a buzzer to ring. Nothing. But then he noticed a sign upside down on the counter that read NO CARS AVAILABLE. A frustrated customer must have slammed it down in disgust.

He immediately looked around at the other counters. The counters were vacant, but there were several signs that read NO CARS AVAILABLE.

Now what?
Colton wandered through the rental car area, rubbing his temples and looking to his cell phone for guidance. He tried to call Madison again with no luck. He hadn’t received a response to his text.
What am I gonna do? I could go back to Frisco. Maybe Jerry Jones could take me to his lake house?

Colton began walking toward the taxi stand, and he saw a small rental car counter tucked around the corner from the main rows of the national brand names. It was called Divine Auto Rental, and there was a lonely customer service agent waiting for the next traveler. Their sign read
CARS AVAILABLE
.

Just what the good Lord ordered, he laughed to himself.

Chapter 25

10 Hours

1:48 p.m., September 8

Kroger Grocery Store

West End Avenue

Nashville, Tennessee

Just as Madison and Alex turned their overloaded carts toward the checkout aisles, the sights and sounds of cell phones coming to life filled the aisles of the Kroger store. It was not the grocery store chain’s equivalent of the famous K-Mart Blue Light Special of years past. This was a special alert of another kind—
here comes the sun, and not in a nice way
.

The State of Tennessee elected to use its Amber Alert Warning system to post a notification about the geomagnetic storm. As of 2013, AMBER Alerts, which were used exclusively for the purposes of notifying the public of a serious child-abduction case, were automatically sent through the Wireless Emergency Alerts program to all cell phone users. Everyone with a WEA-enabled phone was automatically enrolled for three alerts—presidential declarations, imminent threats like terrorist acts, and AMBER alerts.

Although a national program, it was typically utilized by local law enforcement and governments. Tennessee’s governor issued an imminent threat warning regarding the coronal mass ejection inbound from the sun.

Within the store, over a span of thirty seconds, the shoppers went from dead silence to a panicked mob. Many saw the alert, which began with the words
Imminent Threat Warning
, and lost sight of the message which followed.

Earlier in the year, a much-publicized
Imminent Threat Warning
was issued by newly installed Governor Charlie Crist of Florida declaring a state of emergency in the Daytona Beach area. The Daytona 500 was cancelled moments before the green flag dropped, causing a mass panic and the deaths of seventeen people. It became a major source of embarrassment to the newly inaugurated President.

“We’re under attack!”

“Terrorists!”

“Are we at war?”

The shouts of fear and hysteria filled the air amidst the sounds of metal shopping carts crashing into each other. Cell phones rang and were answered. Others attempted to reach loved ones. Madison kept her head and urged Alex to hurry to the checkout aisle.

Out of twelve available lanes, only one “twenty items or less” was open, the self-checkout, and five regular lanes. Madison resisted the urge to use the “twenty items or less” aisle out of fear of reprisals from her fellow shoppers, and moved down to aisle four. The woman and the young boy from earlier were checking out, and one elderly woman with a modestly filled basket was in line in front of them.

Madison assessed their haul and was pleased with herself. Behind her, the sounds of chaos ensued. At the entryway to the left of the checkout aisles, people tried to force their way through the sliding doors, causing a jam. A store employee attempted to assist the new shoppers and received a shove to the floor for her efforts.

Shouts and arguments filled the air from the aisles. The crash of broken glass caused a momentary silence before the mayhem continued. Madison was astonished at how quickly the situation devolved into pandemonium. As Alex slid the blue divider stick behind the elderly woman’s stack of Ensure, Madison thought about how the behavior of human beings was so unpredictable. They were not wired to accept change very well. Their psyche was too sensitive. She wondered if it had always been that way, or was it because society was too coddled now and therefore unable to adapt.

Alex began to unload Madison’s cart as a heavyset man rammed his shopping cart into her backside. Madison lurched forward and looked back at the man, who was obviously impatient. The line behind him had developed, and there were angry shouts demanding more open checkout lanes.

Ordinarily, Madison would try to monitor the prices as they were rung up on the electronic register system. Today, it was impossible to keep up. Although they had been in the store for nearly an hour at this point, it had been anything but a leisurely shopping day for mother and daughter. This trip reminded Madison of an episode of
Supermarket Sweep
, which had aired on Lifetime years ago.