Tucson, Arizona - August 8th, 2023 0718 hours
Antonio
Antonio was staring at the incoming missile in the distant sky when John yelled out to cover his eyes and look away. The object of his focus had him so mesmerized that he almost didn’t react. Fortunately he snapped out of his fugue in time to turn his head just as the weapon exploded in the air. Even after the shockwave rolled through the complex, shattering windows and snapping trees, it took a moment blinking his eyes before he could see without any bright spots.
“How are we not dead?” He asked weakly, slowly standing where he seemingly collapsed.
John rolled over and looked up at the strange lightshow overhead before looking at his phone that was on the fritz, “That was an EMP, though I don’t think it was supposed to be set off that far up.”
“Seemed pretty damned close to me.” George muttered, he looked like he was about to say more when his wife, Dorothy called out to him.
“GEORGE! WHAT JUST HAPPENED!? HONEY!?” George turned into his apartment to calm his wife leaving Antonio with John.
“You think that was it?”
“No, listen. You hear anything?” John asked as he stepped further out of the alcove and slowly spun in place with his head cocked at an angle, listening to all the sounds coming in from around the apartment complex.
Antonio stepped out of the alcove next to him when the first distant “popping” noise caught his attention. At first he thought people had already started shooting at each other, but the popping was too rhythmic. And it was getting louder and closer as they listened.
“Shit, that’s the power transformers. Sounds like the whole grid is going down.”
As they stood there, John only nodded. They listened to the eerie silence that was only broken by the occasional sound of cars crashing or people screaming as the sound of the power transformers exploding from the EMP induced power surge reached a crescendo. Just when the cacophony of popping, crashing, and screaming began to fade in his mind, the sound of a large struggling engine screeched in protest over their heads.
Everyone still outside looked up as a large passenger plane streaked overhead, seemingly close enough to touch. All gathered held their collective breaths for the inevitable. Some were openly praying now. When nothing immediately happened a few started to relax. Then they heard the explosion in the distance and knew the pilot hadn’t successfully landed his plane. The fireball rising several miles away confirmed what its explosion reported.
“Shit.” Antonio breathed shakily.
“What the hell was that!?” George poked his head out, clearly barely in control of his emotions.
“Plane crashed, look, there’s another, gonna hit the mountain.” John pointed.
Both men looked up at another much more distant plane that was trailing smoke from almost all of its engines angled at a steep dive towards the side of one of the mountains to their northeast. Within seconds the plane smashed into the ground in a brilliant display of fire and smoke that seemed to splash up across the peak in an orange and yellow wave.
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“Guys, we need to…” John started to speak when the largest explosion yet roared from behind them. Even in the sheltered alcove of the apartment building Antonio could tell that the day had gotten momentarily brighter. The tremors that followed dropped the three men to the ground. There was a collective wail from the surrounding tenants as moments later a tremendous shockwave rolled across the landscape from behind them.
He chanced a look up and saw an untold amount of debris soaring through the air that consisted of everything from small bits of paper or plastic, tires, glass, and even sections of roofing. Antonio even thought he saw a person fly by, though he hoped his eyes deceived him. He didn’t want to think what would have happened if the complex they were in wasn’t shaped like a square with another high concrete wall on the outside of it.
Antonio started to stand when John reached over and forced him back down and yelled, “That was the one that got away! That was the shockwave! We need to move, man!”
Antonio yelled back, the winds blowing through the complex were nearly deafening, “Move where!? What do you mean!?”
John rushed into his apartment to the bedroom to look out the window, crunching through already shattered glass. Antonio followed close on his heels and was further stunned at what he saw through the window. John only glanced before digging for a bag in his closet and fishing out a long black shotgun from within. He then shoved it towards Antonio who shook his head in confusion before he realized what John was doing.
“You know how to use this!?” John asked as he fished through a metal box to produce a pair of electronic ear protection. He fiddled with the switch, seeing a red light come on he nodded in satisfaction then handed a pair to Antonio.
“The metal box protected them, we need to get the keys to our apartments, then hit that CVS down the street before anyone else gets that idea first. We need antibiotics, first aid stuff, and any medicines our families require for daily use. Insulin, heart meds, that kinda shit.Then we grab jerky and water, as much as we have room for!” He’d pulled out a large green backpack, as well as a blue gym bag and started for the front door while Antonio looked on in confusion, his mind still catching up to the reality of their situation.
Antonio followed a second behind him and halted abruptly when John handed him a box of shotgun shells, “Stuff those in your pockets. Go tell your wife what you’re doing, I’m gonna’ go get the apartment keys from Mike. I’ll meet you back here in a few minutes.”
Antonio snapped out of his fugue when he heard his wife, Anna, calling out to him, “ANTONIO! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!?”
He followed John out of his apartment with the shotgun awkwardly held in one hand while waving to his wife, “I’M HERE BABY! LOOK! I’M GOING TO GO GET SOME THINGS WITH JOHN! GET BACK INSIDE AND LOCK THE DOOR! I’LL BE BACK SOON!”
“DAMN IT, ANTONIO! WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE A GUN!? THE KIDS ARE SCARED! I’M SCARED!”
“BABY! DON’T ARGUE RIGHT NOW, I HAVE TO MOVE FAST! GET INSIDE! I LOVE YOU! WE’LL BE BACK IN A HALF HOUR! I PROMISE!”
She glared at him with his youngest child on her hip, then softened her expression and nodded while tugging his oldest by the arm and retreating inside their apartment. When he looked up to where John had been he saw the big man stomping across the courtyard with an AR-15 slung over his shoulder.
George stepped out and looked at Antonio with worry on his face when he saw the shotgun in his hand, “Where’s he going? Where are you going, man!?”
“Uh, he’s going to grab the keys to our apartments, those electronic locks are worthless now I guess.”
George looked back at the door and huffed a slight chuckle, “They were always kinda worthless.”
Antonio was about to walk away when he noticed Dorothy’s tear streaked face through the screen door. “You guys need anything? We’re going to try and hit the CVS before anyone else does.”
George looked back at his wife, then turned to Antonio and nodded, “Yeah, actually, if you would, she’s almost out of her blood pressure meds.” He produced a pen and paper to write down the name of a couple medications and handed the slip to Antonio, who then slipped it in his shirt pocket. He hadn’t stuffed that one with shotgun shells yet. Then he waved and made haste to catch up with John.