2020: Emergency Exit Read Online Free PDF Page B

survive the trek across America, would Hawaii still be a safe zone? And even if it was, how long could we possibly live there, cut off from the rest of the world? What were we even supposed to hope for at this point? What were realistic expectations? I had absolutely no idea.
    Hope is a loaded word. It can keep you going when you have it, or stop you dead in your tracks when you lose it. Trust me . The hardest part is persevering when it seems all hope is lost. I had a feeling we’d be testing our resolve on this trip. Probably more than once.
    It was a little less than three hundred miles to Cabela’s from the cabin, about seven to eight hours at this pace. I turned my attention back to the darkness outside. The whole situation defied explanation. I couldn’t imagine how the entire attack had been carried out, or how far reaching the residual effects went. How many other survivors were out there, equally as bewildered and overwhelmed as we were?

FIVE: “How It Went Down”
     
    After September 11, 2001, the military commanders of eight of the world’s most powerful militant countries met privately and discussed a joint venture to rid the world of America. Permanently. Counting on a full-scale retaliation for the Al Qaida attacks, and anticipating the superpower’s significant long-term distraction by that Middle East focus, these eight countries cemented their pact: China, North Korea, Russia, Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Japan and Libya. (Cuba withdrew after their government collapsed in 2017.) Twelve years of planning, followed by six years of implementation, and only a single week of execution. They used America’s severe oil shortage and ensuing economic crisis to barter for what they needed to build and pull off a massive chemical and electromagnetic attack. “The Seven” created a new Russian car company, Lakaya, they wanted pushed in American markets. If the U.S. government promoted them on par with Ford, Chevy and Dodge, Russia would provide all the oil the U.S. needed. It was a no-brainer for U.S. politicians—lining their pockets and creating thousands of stateside transportation and dealership jobs—and served as a perfect Trojan horse for The Seven. Essentially, the U.S. financed its own demise.
     
    Japanese and Russian chemical engineers manufactured automobile insulation packets for all Lakaya vehicles, with a deadly airborne contaminant strong enough to choke the oxygen out of any living being within seconds. The contaminant became lethal only when combined with the compound encapsulated in the detonators, which were packed securely inside the steering column of every vehicle. An accident, no matter how severe wouldn’t crack the compound capsule or mix the chemicals. The capsules could only be opened and detonated remotely, with a shared code, from a mainframe far away. When detonated, the airbags served as the propellant for the mixing and initial distribution of chemicals. Small vehicles were packed for small towns. Bigger vehicles were prepared for bigger towns and cities. Specific model distribution was organized accordingly. Ultimately, the bigger the vehicle, the greater the resulting contamination zone. A motorcycle could kill everything within two miles. A bus could expand that range tenfold. Airplanes could cover one hundred miles, easily, but they were only used at a dozen locations, the eleven largest mainland airports and one in Hawaii. The Federal Aviation Administration’s constant inspections made chemically packed airplanes too risky to mass-produce and distribute. Their placement was far riskier and had to be coordinated the exact week of the attack.
    Vehicles, on the other hand, were mass produced in China, packed and branded in Russia, and stocked in Asian ports until the planning stage was complete. They were then shipped to, and distributed throughout, the United States. Grateful for the economic assistance, the U.S. opened its ports for the next several years to freighter after