Page 22 of Wait For Me

“November-Alpha-6-Echo, this is Whiskey-Alpha-6-Hotel-Bravo-Kilo.” The radio buzzed to life.

Arthur motioned for Tessa to come closer. “Are you ready for this?”

Every part of her being was screaming at her to run up the steps and drag her kids back to her house. This could wait until tomorrow. Just give me one last good day where I’m not scared out of my wits and wondering what will happen next. “Yes.” She nodded.

“Alright,” he whispered as he pressed his thumb against the button on the receiver and held it close to his mouth. “WA6HBK, can you tell me what your status is?”

There was an instant crackle, a cluster of broken word sounds, and the line went silent. Arthur frowned, adjusting the dial. “We haven’t had issues with this frequency since the storm finally cleared yesterday.”

“How is this even working?” She moved next to the equipment.

Arthur pointed to the lithium battery it was connected to as he pressed the button on the speaker again. “Repeat, WA6HBK. There was some interference on our end.”

“It’s bad, Top.” The voice was shaky and electrified by static. “I didn’t think it would happen this fast. The riots are out of control. They’re burning the city to the ground.”

“What city?” Tessa whispered as anxiety raised the hairs on her skin.

“Riverside.” Arthur pressed the button. “It’s not too late to get out of there.”

The silence was punctuated by a short laugh. “You aren’t going to do much better, Top. I spoke with WA7BLN this morning and they’ve got record temps down there in Yuma. People are dying in the streets. It’s about the same for N5DRB in El Paso with the riots. We’ve got confirmation the chain reaches to at least Chicago and they’re rumoring it’s worldwide.”

Arthur’s eyes closed, the lines of his face deepening with a heavy sadness. “How are our boys up north doing?”

“Living the dream.” There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. “Are you heading out soon?”

Arthur glanced sideways at Tessa, choosing his next words carefully and she realized he didn’t trust her all that much. Somehow, that stung. “Not today. Sally can’t go.”

“Give her my love,” WA6HBK’s voice crackled back. “Hey, I’ve got to sign off and check the perimeter. The dogs are going wild.” Arthur replaced the handheld speaker on the clip and turned the beast of a radio off.

“What was that all about?” Her eyes darted to the stairs.

“Didn’t you hear him?” Arthur asked. “It’s getting bad everywhere. Days without power and riots are breaking out in the cities. No one can access their money and there is a dwindling supply of food. Do you understand me when I say that things are going to get much worse soon?”

She took a steadying breath. “But we’re far enough away from the major cities that it won’t be as crazy here, right?”

“That’s what I thought when I built this place.” He dug his boot into the dirt floor. “But it just kept growing and more people moved in. Now there’s too many to take care of. The system is breaking down. Our little hill isn’t safe anymore.”

“How long until it gets worse?” The words slipped from her lips. She knew this was insane, but the man on the other end of the line had no reason to lie and her father’s warning was haunting her.

“Honestly? I don’t know.” Arthur folded his arms over his chest and stared at her. “Could be hours, could be days, could be a few weeks.”

“But in a few weeks the power will be back on so we can just hold out until then.” The rationalization brought her comfort. Everything that had happened in the last few days was a raging sea of chaos and she clung to reason like a life vest.

“That’s what you’re not understanding. The power is not coming back on in a few weeks.” The intensity of his statement made her blood run cold. “We’ll be lucky if it takes a few months. The government was never prepared for this. There are thousands of fried transformers all over the country right now, and I would assume all over the world. This isn’t some nuclear attack, the sun doesn’t care about a specific region, every nation is probably facing their own problems. And it takes almost a year to make one of each of these transformers needed to get the power grid back online. There will be no outside aid. No one’s coming to help. Until they can figure out how to fix these parts, the world is on its own in the dark. We all are on our own. So, I’ll ask you again, how much food do you have?”

Tessa took a step back, her pulse racing through her veins as the walls started closing in. Maybe Arthur was paranoid like her father. But what if they both are right?

“My dad said a year. I didn’t want to believe him. He told me to bring the kids back home right when all this started.” Her foot found the bottom step.

Arthur paused with his hand on the lantern switch. “Where does your father live?”

“A small town in Idaho,” she whispered. There was no use holding anything back now. “He’s the sheriff there. It’s where Landon and I grew up.”

“And you didn’t go?” Arthur shook his head, trying to understand.

“Not without Landon.”

Tears filled Arthur’s eyes and she looked away. She didn’t need his pity. They stood in silence for a minute and she took the next step up.

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