Page 44 of Heart of the Sun

Emily sucked in a big breath and nodded as Charlie stepped forward.

“You probably recognize me,” he said, glancing around hopefully before running his hand through his hair and offering a large, toothy smile. It faltered, then dipped as the people standing around looked at him with zero recognition. Charlie cleared his throat. “I’m an actor,” he said. “A…movie star?” I almost laughed at his timid, questioning voice. Despite the tense situation, I still managed to enjoy seeing him knocked down a few pegs.

“There aren’t too many movie theaters out our way,” the woman with her hand on Emily’s shoulder offered, “but our children might know who you are.”

“Oh,” Charlie said. “Right. Hmm… Well…” He trailed off, obviously at a loss and deciding not to follow up with whatever he was going to ask for in the wake of absolutely no one recognizing him.

The sheriff addressed me. “Are you the pilot? Of the plane you were on that went down?”

“No. Our pilot was killed.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

I gave a succinct nod, a knot forming in my stomach as it occurred to me that Russell had been the first body we’d seen, but certainly not the only one between that moment and this one. I wondered vaguely if we’d see more death before we reached our destination and hoped to fuck not, but knew it was clear we’d have to be prepared for anything. “We haven’t been able to get any cell service, and the power’s been out everywhere we’ve been.” I looked around at the people, then back to the sheriff.

The sheriff relaxed his stance. “It sounds like you’ve been through a lot.I imagine the stories that are going to come out of this situation will range from interesting to catastrophic.”

“I imagine so. Do you know what caused this? We’ve heard a few theories.”

One of the men behind the sheriff took a step forward. “Roger Land, who used to be a science professor at the University of Missouri, thinks it was a solar flare. Others say it was a cyberattack that took our grid offline and knocked out our satellites. Lots of buzz from all directions. No one knows for sure.”

“But you’re a sheriff,” Emily said, coming to stand next to me. “You haven’t received any official word?”

“Not a peep,” he said. All three of us looked between each other and a whirlwind of unease rippled through the group. That was really bad news. Not only was the grid down, as well as cell phones, but all official channels had been lost?

The woman who’d comforted Emily addressed the sheriff. “Are we meeting at the community center tonight?”

“Tonight, and every night until this is resolved,” the sheriff said.

“And Kari’s gonna be there so we can ask her about medication?” the woman asked.

“I doubt it,” he answered. “But I don’t have an update on what it’s like at the hospital today.”

“Several of the older folks are on medications that are keeping them alive,” a young woman interjected.

“And there are a number of diabetics in town too,” a man said. “A few of them are kids.”

“I know, Harold. We’re going to discuss all that tonight and pool what we can until official word comes in, okay?”

Harold gave a frustrated sigh and turned away and the rest of the small crowd began following as they talked amongst themselves.

“Sorry I can’t be of more help,” the sheriff said, turning his attention back to us. “Unless you need something on these shelves.I can’t run the cash register, but folks have been leaving money in an envelope behind the counter and I’ve been collecting it for the Redmonds, who own the place. They left yesterday to get to their pregnant daughter who’s in another part of the state.”

I looked around. About the only things left in this store were makeup and magazines. I respected that these people were operating on the honor system so far. It was nice to see after what we’d witnessed just before stepping into this town. “Do you know if there’s a sporting goods store anywhere in the area?”

The sheriff had begun walking toward the front and we turned and followed him. “Yeah, there’s one off the next exit. But one of our residents rode his bicycle up that way yesterday once enough snow melted to see about buying some ammo, and he came back to say it’s completely empty. Not even a pair of sunglasses. Apparently, folks got a little out of hand in a few places.”

I hoped that turned out to be true. That their behavior was unwarranted and needlesslyout of handand they’d look back and regret panicking.

But it’d been four days. Four days with no official word wasnotgood.

We followed the sheriff from the store, stepping out into the chilly but sunny day. The streets were still deserted, even the few people who’d been at the pharmacy were now out of sight. “Why is everyone hiding?” Charlie asked.

“They’re not hiding. Just laying low or gathered together at the church or community center. And quite a few, who could, left to be with family in other areas,” the sheriff said. “We’re not sure what to expect. There’s been some buzz on the ham radio about what might have happened, but no official confirmation of any kind. All just guesses at this point. Whatever happened, electrical systems all went haywire.”

“Any news from surrounding towns? You mentioned one a few exits from here,” I said.

“Other than the short distances a few residents have traveled to and then returned from, no. Like I said, I haven’t been able to contact anyone.” He looked from one of us to the other, Charlie offering a wide smile when the sheriff’s gaze landed on him as though he was waiting to be recognized and his Hollywood grin would make it easier on the man. But the sheriff only offered him a confused frown. “I walked to the main interstate yesterday and saw all the abandoned cars whose electronics are fried. I talked to as many people as I could wave down or were walking. Most were from other areas in the state, all trying to get to family. But one man was right outside Pennsylvania when the lights went out. He said there were mass fires in Pittsburgh, and he barely made it out. He had an old Buick that still worked, and some extra gas in his garage that he took with him but was running low on fuel. From what he told me, all the stations between there and here are closed.”

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