Preppers of the Apocalypse - Part 2: Post Apocalyptic EMP Survival

Preppers of the Apocalypse  - Part 2

A story of post-apocalyptic EMP survival

Chapter 1

As
Ash drove the pick-up truck over the plains, he watched black plumes of smoke
puff up into the air. They looked to be coming from the city, but whatever the
source, it didn’t look good. The smoke was black and soft and it became an
angry cloud over the otherwise blue sky. Ash hoped to God that it wasn’t coming
from anywhere near the Bolton tunnel. The dual lane tunnel was their only
direct way through the Lantern Mountains, and he badly needed to make his way
through to the city.

“The
ride feels heavy,” said Chad in the back.

The
young army recruit alternated between bouts of hyperactivity and chatter, to
napping with his eyes shut and mouth open. Sheriff Ellie Ashurst had taken the
passenger seat alongside Ash, but not because she wanted to be near him. He
suspected that she had sat there to keep an eye on him.

“We
should have taken my 4x4,” she said. “Why’d we have to borrow this heap of crap
from Tony?”

“Because
he’s a prepper,” said Ash. “And he’s a good one. He’s made sure every single
thing he owns ticks like clockwork, including this vehicle. When’s the last
time you popped the bonnet of your car? Do you even know how to open it?”

“I
know how to break your jaw, and you’ll find out how if you carry on like that,”
said Ellie.

She
reached to her pocket, as she always did when she was annoyed, and pulled out
her tobacco pouch. It was leather and she’d sewn the badge of the Pasture Down
Police Department into it. She pinched stringy tobacco between her fingers and
spread it along a paper.

“Anyway,”
said Ash. “Everything we packed is essential survival gear. You’ll be thankful
for it sometime soon.”

Before
leaving Tony Shore’s bug-out ranch, the prepper had let them borrow one of his
pick-up trucks. On top of that, he had let them load up the trunk with survival
supplies. That was the reason the Toyota was a little slower than usual, but
Ash would take survival over speed any time. As long as it could bear the load,
that was okay.

The
truck was packed with Meals Ready-to-Eat; beef flavoured food pouches that
delivered a 400 calorie dose and could last a couple of years. They had a crate
of water bottles, as well as water filters for when they ran out and needed to
locate a source in the wild. Each of them had a sleeping bag. That was the
essentials covered; food, water and shelter. On top of that they had
topographical maps of the Lantern Mountains, a couple of compasses, two
kerosene lamps and a kerosene stove.

The
idea was that they would get to the city and find Ash’s wife, Georgia. He
hadn’t thought too far ahead of that, because getting back to her was the only
thing on his mind. He had a vague plan that he would return to Tony’s bug-out
ranch, because after the EMP hit it seemed a safer place than most. The drive
to Ash’s house and back shouldn’t take them long. Three or four days at most,
as long as they didn’t hit trouble, but they had enough survival essentials to
last them over a week. You had to be prepared for anything.

“Think
we’ll ever get back to the ranch?” said Chad.

“I
want to,” said Ash. “Can you think of anywhere safer?”

Ellie
looked at him.

“Things
aren’t gonna be smooth for you, Ash. Sooner or later Tony’s gonna start taking in
the people of Pasture Down. Tony might have forgiven you, but plenty of folks
haven’t and most never will.”

“What
about you?”

Ellie
lit her cigarette, took a drag and blew sour smoke up at the roof.

“It’s
best that you don’t ask me that question.”

The
smoke hit Ash’s nostrils. He had always had an aversion to smoke since he was a
child and had to spend school holidays at his grandfather’s house. His grandpa
used to smoke thin cigars that tainted his breath and turned the walls yellow. Later
in his life, of course, Ash had taken up the habit himself.

“Think
you can wait until we stop for a break before you smoke that?”

“Who
gave you the leader’s hat?” said Ellie.

Ash
knew he wasn’t a leader, and never would be. He just didn’t have it in him. A
leader had to be someone who could think on behalf of others, not just himself.
Someone like his old sports coach, Louie Shamren. Louie coached their soccer
team from their first match all the way to winning the local championship, and
when Ash thought of leadership, he thought of him. He found out years later
that Louie’s marriage had broken to pieces while their soccer team flourished,
because the man spent so much time away from the house. Being a leader had its
price, and Ash wasn’t sure he wanted to pay it.

“Times
like these, people need small comforts,” said Ellie. She tripped her head back,
closed her eyes and blew smoke out of her pursed lips.

Ash
reached across from her with one hand and wound down her window, letting a
draught into the car. The air outside sucked the smoke from the car.

“They
also need compromise,” he said.

In
the back of the pick-up, Chad leaned forward.

“So
what did you do to get the town so pissed at you, Ash?”

Ash
was really starting to like the recruit. He was always smiling, always
enthusiastic. He alternated between being a bundle of energy who couldn’t sit
still, to flopping sloth-like on the seat as though his whole body had been
drained.

“He
screwed the town out of every cent they had,” said Ellie.

Thirty
minutes later the smoke spread thicker across the horizon, and as Ash pulled
the pick-up to a stop just short of the source, he felt his stomach sink. There
was debris strewn all across the plains, some of it smoking, all of it smashed.
It was obvious what had happened here. A plane had fallen from the sky and
smashed into the ground. The body of it, a hunk of twisted metal, completely
blocked the entrance to the Bolton tunnel.

“Jesus,”
said Chad. “You would have thought that we’d hear this coming down.”

“I
heard something,” said Ellie. “But I didn’t pay it any mind. We’ve had a lot to
think about.”

Ash
kicked the car door open and stepped out. He felt his face start to get red,
and his shoulders were knotting up with tension. Rather than feeling sad, he
felt rage run through him. It seemed like everything was conspiring to stop him
getting back to Georgia, who was miles away and in trouble, and an EMP had
caused chaos everywhere and completely cut off communication.

“Goddamn
it,” he said, and kicked a piece of debris in front of him.

“So
what now, boss?” said Ellie, making sure that ‘boss’ was said sarcastically.

Ash
took a deep breath. Getting angry did nothing but burn up calories. He had to
smooth over his thoughts and make them useful. How would his dad haver reacted
to this? He wouldn’t get mad. He’d think about how they could take something
good from the situation, and then he’d do something. Ash turned to his two
companions.

“Look
for the drinks trolley,” he said. “If it survived the impact, there might be
some water bottles we can take.”

“If
we find any airplane food I’m not interested,” said Chad. “Not even the
apocalypse can make me eat that shit.”

The
three of them combed through the debris and tried to find anything they could
use. A lot of the wreckage had been smashed and twisted beyond recognition.
There were bodies amongst it, too, but Ash tried not to think about it. He
couldn’t afford to get emotional. Sentimentality did nothing for the dead and
helped the living even less.

“Ash,”
said Ellie.

He
looked over and saw that she had stopped. She stared at something on the ground
with her hand over her face. When Ash joined her, he saw that it was the body
of a little boy. This time he couldn’t hide the feeling of utter sadness that
filled him so much that he felt like just sagging to the ground.

***

A
few hours later, after finding nothing useful, they sat in the pick-up truck.
They decided that the best thing to do would be to drive through the Lantern
Mountains. The road through them started ten miles away and came out somewhere
near the city. It meant going back on themselves, but there was no other
option. It wasn’t as if they could move the plane wreckage away from the tunnel
entrance.

“It’ll
take over a week,” said Ellie. “But there’s no other way through.”

“Maybe
we should head back to the ranch,” said Chad.

Ash
shook his head. “No way. I need to get to Georgia. When all of this started, I
was on my cell with her. She told me that someone was in the house with her. An
intruder. And then my cell died. So I need to find her.”

“We
better talk supplies, then,” said Ellie.

They
worked out that they had enough MRE’s to last nine days if they rationed
themselves. A man needs roughly 2500 calories a day and a woman 2000, but they
were looking at getting 1600. If something happened on the mountain pass and
they needed more food, they were going to have to hunt. In terms of water they
were okay. They had enough bottles to last a week, and they had water filters
with them. It just meant that when the bottles ran out, they’d have to find a
stream.

It
took thirty minutes to get to the mountain pass. The road was muddy and it was
a stretch to even describe it as a road. The Lantern Mountains were rocky and
seemed to be made mostly of dark coloured jagged stone that stretched
monolith-like into the sky. It was a place that many animals called home, with
common reports of rabbits, deer, and even the occasional mountain lion.

While
animals of all kinds flourished in the environment, it wasn’t as friendly to humans.
In some areas there were small patches of forest, and the road wound through
terrain that was never really designed for travel. It was going to be a long
trip.

“Here
we go,” said Chad, as Ash drove the pick-up onto the trail. “I love a road
trip. Someone crack open the beers.”

After
an hour of driving Ash realised what a tough ride this was going to be. He was
limited to going twenty miles an hour because the road would twist without
warning, and in some places there was a drop at the side of them. As he guided
the truck along a relatively straight stretch, the vehicle jolted and Ash saw
something fly across his windscreen. He killed the engine.

“What
the hell was that?” said Ellie. “It looked like a bird flew across.”

Ash
wound down his window and saw a coil of rope on the ground next to the wheel.
His chest tightened as he realised what had happened.

“Get
your gun.” he said.

Ellie
looked at him in surprise, but she followed his order and picked up her HK45
pistol and put it in her pocket.

Two
men stepped out from the trees in front of them. They were dressed up to the
nines with camouflage hunting gear, and they held shiny-looking crossbows in
front of them. Their hunting jackets and khaki trousers looked spotless, and
Ash got the sense that these guys were hobbyist hunters at best.

Ash,
Ellie and Chad got out of the car. The taller of the men, who held his crossbow
awkwardly, screwed up his face.

“Better
stop where you are,” he said. His accent wasn’t local. If anything, it sounded
like he was from New York.

“Come
on boys,” said Ellie, and pointed to the police badge on her jacket. She had
her gun hidden in her pocket.

The
smaller man spat on the floor. He had a ginger beard that was light on his face
but thick around his neck. He reminded Ash of a colleague at a sales office he
used to work at who used to spend his weekends on adventure trips, but got
scared when he saw a spider.