Tyler had heard enough of this guy’s nonsense. He pulled his cell phone from his back pocket. It hadn’t turned on automatically, a fact he found odd. He pressed the home button. Nothing. Next, he pressed and held down the on/off button. No luck.
“What are you doing?” Kinsey asked.
“Calling a friend to pick me up. I’m not listening to this bullsh—”
“Watch your language!” Becca ordered. “Your father wouldn’t stand for such bad language.”
“Well he’s not here to do anything about it, is he?” Tyler retorted.
Becca needed to keep her cool and be understanding. She lowered her voice, speaking softly. “I know it’s hard on you.”
“You know nothing about it,” Tyler shot back. “You grew up with two parents. I don’t get that privilege.”
“I’m sorry, Ty.” Becca reached to her son to push the hair back from his forehead.
“Don’t, Mom.” Tyler shied away from his mom and stared at his dark phone, refusing to acknowledge his mother’s attempt to diffuse his anger. “I’m not a little kid anymore.”
“Phones aren’t working,” Kinsey said.
Tyler huffed. “My battery must be low or else there’s too much interference from all the concrete here.”
“No, Tyler. You don’t understand.” Kinsey folded her arms across her chest.
“Understand what?” he growled.
Ethan interjected at what would surely become another squabble between siblings. These teens, especially Tyler at fifteen with more testosterone than brains, needed a strong male influence, and considering his father was deceased, Tyler was only acting out his grief and frustration. It was hard enough navigating the teen years, but without one of the parents, it would be doubly difficult.
“I’m a pilot, former military,” Ethan told the boy, “and I’ve attended conferences about the real possibility of an EMP. The electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear explosion would have destroyed the electrical grid and anything relying on electronics such as modern cars and phones. Infrastructure, the financial markets, will be crippled. City supplied water will stop working in a matter of days, grocery stores will be looted, and people will do whatever they need to do to survive.”
Tyler scoffed. “Mom, do you believe this crap?”
Becca didn’t reply.
“Kins, do you?”
“Ty, come with me,” Kinsey said. “I want to show you something.”
“What is it?”
“It would be better to see it for yourself. Are you alright to walk?”
Tyler stretched and walked in place to test his legs. “I’m good enough.”
Kinsey led her brother up the stairs to the walkway leading to the concourse. He was speechless as he tried to avoid the faces of dead people piled near the walls. The hustle and bustle of restaurants was silent, and the only meager light provided was from the setting sun. A survivor gave Tyler and Kinsey a wide berth when spotted. From there, Kinsey wended her way to the area with a good view of the city including downtown.
“This is what I’m talking about,” she said.
Tyler leaned on the chest level concrete barrier, resting his forearms on the rough surface, his eyes sweeping the city. His mouth dropped open at the scene. Cars stopped in the middle of the street, the parking lot full, people aimlessly wandering around. No sounds of the city could be heard, and no planes above with white contrails streaking across the sky were seen, no traffic helicopters, no sirens, honking. Nothing. The eerie quietness permeated the once noisy city. Even the wind blowing through the concourse had an eerie quality.
“This is crazy,” Tyler said.
“This is reality,” Kinsey replied. “Do you remember the blast at all?”
“No. The last thing I remember was Mom saying she’d be back before the National Anthem. After that, I guess I was knocked out. I woke up with a headache, and no clue where everyone was or what had happened.”
“It’s just as well. I wish I had been knocked out. I’ll never be able to get those images out of my mind.”
“I’m sorry, Kins.” Tyler put his arm around his sister, hugging her. “It must have been awful.”
“It was. I was so scared and didn’t know what to do.” Kinsey leaned into her brother. “I’m sorry I left you alone.” She swiped under her eyes, rubbing away the tears.
“Don’t be. You were really brave, and I’m sure Dad would be proud of you.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry I was a jerk earlier. I wish Dad was here.”
“Me too.” Kinsey swallowed a lump in her throat. “Let’s try not to fight anymore. Okay?”
“Deal. Let’s head on back to where Mom is. I’ve seen enough.”
Chapter 11
Two levels below the family group and the pilot helping them, and among the chaos and carnage, Joe Buck and Lexi Carter reminisced about the street they lived on as kids. Joe had helped Lexi hobble over to a chair near one of the food vendors. He retrieved another chair so she could prop her leg on it.
“Do you remember the time when you and your brother were on the roof, and me and two of my friends were throwing mud at you?”
“Seriously? You were part of that?”
“Yup.”
Lexi chuckled. “My mom was so mad at me and Lonnie. We tracked mud into the house, and you and your friends’ poor aim broke a window.”
“Oh, I didn’t know about the window.”
“You can thank my mother for not letting my dad call your parents. I remember them talking about how you’d probably get beat by your dad. Was that true?”
Joe took a big breath. “It was. I’ve tried to put it all behind me and move on.”
“I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
“You’re not. Once I turned seventeen, my dad never beat me anymore. I could hold my own against him. He threw me out of the house
