Page 41 of Heart of the Sun

I leaned forward as Charlie mumbled something about a comet. “You did?” I asked. “You think we’re at war? Why?”

“I didn’t say I think we’re at war,” Tuck said. “I said I’d considered it.”

“It’s worth considering,” Leonard said as he avoided a car sitting in the middle of the road. “The government done war-gamed this. You wanna know the quickest and easiest way to take over a country? You set off an EMP, right? A real big one high up in the sky using a couple nukes. That high up, they don’t affect humans but what they do is shut down the entire grid. Whole country goes dark. Even the majority of generators get knocked out. No gas. No water. Eventually, no food. The attackers simply wait for the majority to die and then they move in and finish the job.”

“An EMP. An electromagnetic pulse, right?” Tuck asked.

“Another man we talked to mentioned an EMP as well,” I said, worry making my skin feel itchy. But Leonard had to be exaggerating about the rest of it, right? He was clearly more than a little kooky.

“Yup. It’s a wave of energy that knocks out grids and other electronics. Musta been powerful as hell, because I’d never heard vehicles would be affected, but here we are.” He gave a small laugh and patted Bridget’s steering wheel affectionately. He looked over at Tuck. “The thing about warfare like that? It’s not bloody. No one has to look a person in the eye and pull a trigger or drop a bomb that means instant death. All you do is launch a missile from some ship out in the sea, straight up into the sky. There’s a certain distance from a crime like that, you know? Even though it’s one of mass extinction. Because the blast doesn’t hurt anyone, it’s too far away for that. It’s the aftermath that does the damage.”

“You think that’s what happened?” Tuck asked. “That’s your theory?”

“No idea. Like I said, I’m gonna wait this one out at the lake.Do some ice fishin’. See what’s what. If you’re smart, you’ll do the same.”

Tuck glanced back at me. “Our people are farther away than that,” he murmured.

Our people.Only what he really meant was my and Charlie’s people. Not that my parents didn’t care very much for Tuck; I knew my mom had written to him religiously even when he was locked up, though he rarely wrote her back. But old friends—even loyal ones—weren’t the same and it suddenly struck me what a kindness he was really doing. He was taking me and Charlie home, but where did that leave him? He had an uncle in LA, but he’d left his house and gone to my family for help when he really needed it. And should I even wonder about Tuck’s future plans anyway? He was doing me a kindness, but he’d also betrayed my trust, and put me at risk. And himself. And he was so damn reactive and…ornery. God, he spun my mind around and right now, there were too many other things spinning my mind as well.

“…you gotta do what you gotta do,” Leonard was saying when I tuned back in. “What I can tell you is all those minivan moms in their fancy electronic vehicles are shit out of luck.” Then he let out a guffaw.

The loud noise made me cringe, and a chill moved over my skin. I glanced at Charlie, but he rolled his eyes and brought his finger to his ear and made a gesture that clearly stated he thought Leonard was less than stable. I gave Charlie a weak smile and looked out the window.

Tuck and Leonard chatted as we drove past farms and exits for what looked like small towns. Several times, Leonard had to pull into a field or section of brush as abandoned cars blocked both lanes of the road we were traveling. And we also saw a few cars heading in the opposite direction, the drivers slowing and peering at us with wide eyes as they moved past.

It seemed obvious that they were out looking for answers,or maybe supplies, lucky like Leonard that they had never upgraded their old vehicle to something more modern with all the newfangled bells and whistles that had promptly gone kaput right when people really needed them.

God, I sounded like my mom. Those were words she would have used. And with the thought, a swell of grief expanded my lungs and made it difficult to breathe. Was she okay? Were she and my dad safe? Did they have enough food?Calm down, Em. They’re all the way in California. They’re fine.But they were probably worried sick about me. Distraught with no way to get answers because there was no power where I was.

I lay my head on Charlie’s shoulder, the rocking of the car lulling me into a fitful sleep where I dreamed of bomb blasts and seas of screaming people. I woke with a start and Tuck looked back at me, his brow dipping as he took me in. Next to me, Charlie let out a soft snore. Then Leonard said something, and Tuck turned around, focusing back on their conversation. I tuned it out as best I could. I was already deeply disturbed by the fallout of this power outage and knew that at least in two cases, it had resulted in death. The shoes currently on my feet were a continual reminder of that. I didn’t need to let my mind spin toward war and mass starvation.

From what I’d heard Leonard say to Tuck, a drive that should have taken three hours, had so far taken us closer to five because of the slow nature of having to weave through broken-down traffic that became heavy in some areas. But I was deeply grateful for the ride, and though the lack of working traffic lights all the way from Springfield, Illinois, to the middle of Missouri, told me that we hadn’t escaped the power outage, we were closer to home than we’d been.

And I hadn’t had to walk.

The rocking of the car made me realize that I hadn’t emptied my bladder since right before we’d flagged down his car. “Uh,sir, would it be possible to stop for a short bathroom break at the next convenient spot?”

Leonard glanced in his rearview mirror, and I gave him a smile. “Sure thing. I could use a stretch myself.” He drove for a few more minutes until we came upon a wide area on the side of the road that was easy to pull off on.

A section of pine trees provided a spot to find some privacy, and Tuck got out and pulled the seat forward so I could exit too. Next to me, Charlie sat up and yawned. “Bathroom break,” I told him. He nodded and followed me from the car.

Charlie and I began heading toward the trees when I looked up to see a man emerge from the brush to my left. My heart seized, and I grabbed for Charlie, both of us stumbling back toward where Tuck was still standing. The man waved the weapon in our direction and then pointed it toward Leonard. “Show your hands and move away from the car,” he said.

My pulse spiked, heat blasting under my skin as my gaze darted to Tuck, who was watching the man with narrowed, wary eyes and then to Charlie, whose mouth was hanging open. We all raised our hands and shuffled to the side of the road, Tuck positioning his body so it was mostly in front of me.

“I only want the vehicle,” the armed man said as he moved toward Leonard’s car. “I got family I need to get to, and I need that car now. Step out,” he demanded, and Leonard did, standing slowly and moving around the open door.

“Her name’s Bridget,” Leonard said. “Rebuilt her myself. Put a lot of time into her.” He raised his hand and ran it along the top of the open driver’s side door and then leaned against the body. “And a lot of love.”

Then before I could even blink, he leaned into the car, stood back up with a rifle, and fired it at the gunman just as the man yelled, “Hey!”

The word was cut off as the man’s body jerked. I sucked in a breath that got lodged in my throat as the man’s chest blossomed red,his eyes bugging as he made a choking sound, dropping his gun and falling backward to the ground. I let out a scream, and Tuck stepped more fully in front of me.Oh my God, oh my God. What the hell just happened?I felt like I was suddenly floating, that heat spreading along my nerve endings, making me feel like I might pass out.I can’t breathe.

“Which means,” Leonard said, staring down at the man who was jerking, blood leaking down his chin, “that I’m not giving her up without a fight.”

“You murdered him. Oh my God, you murdered him.” Had that been my choked, incredulous voice?

“I saved myself,” Leonard said, looking up at me and letting me know that indeed the words had come from my mouth. “And I protected my best girl. You think I was just gonna let this sonabitch rob me?” He waved his rifle in the air. Where had he pulled it from? Under his seat?

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