A Town Called America Read Online Free PDF Page A

seconds he was gone. The faint sound of his bike in the distance lingered in the air for a moment until there was only silence.

SIX
    R ick and Chris sat inside the cabin; the only thing breaking the silence was the windup clock ticking on the wall.
    Tick, tick, tick
.
    It was 6:00 p.m., and the sun had set. Since they’d arrived, neither had spoken a word, and in the silence, it felt as if some unknown evil were looming nearby, an evil that was waiting for the right moment to strike.
    Rick had fallen asleep on the sofa, waiting for whatever was to come next. Chris, for some reason, had found a comfort in Rick that was unusual for her. It scared her, and she tried to rationalize it in her head, but in the end, her feelings overtook her mind. Later that evening, eventually succumbing to her feelings, she lay down next to him on the sofa. Chris lifted Rick’s arm from his sleeping body and put it around her waist, as if he were her savior and protector.

    The next morning Chris woke, slid off the couch where Rick was still sleeping, and staggered to her feet. She wasn’t a morning person by any means, but the sound of the constant rain battering the cabin’s metal roof had woken her early.
    As soon as she stood up, she smelled smoke in the air. It was sobering, especially because she knew it wasn’t from the fireplace, as the flames were dying out.
    “Rick, Rick, wake up,” she said, shaking him lightly.
    The lantern had gone out some hours before, and the room was in complete darkness other than the faint glow of embers smoldering in the fireplace.
    Rick sat up, rubbing his eyes and running his fingers through his thick hair a few times in an attempt to focus. On his feet, he fumbled, almost losing his step, until he finally found the lantern and lit it. In the soft glow, Chris explained that she had tried to use the sink, but the water wasn’t working.
    “Look, here’s the deal,” Rick said quietly. “Yesterday the announcer on the radio was talking about a total system failure. He said the M.M. apparently has set off multiple EMPs. If that’s true, then power, water, generators—all of it will be permanently useless. I couldn’t understand everything he was saying, but I did hear him say the M.M. was heading toward a town not far from here.”
    “What’s an EMP?”
    “Look, you know the power grid has been in shambles for years, and most people don’t have electricity anyway. But what it means is that they’ll set off an electromagnetic pulse.” Chris looked confused, and Rick knew she didn’t understand what he was saying. “Think of it like this. A huge wave of invisible electricity blasts this room—it would fry anything electronic. If it hit our town—or even somewhere close to it—nothing will work, not ever. No vehicles, no watches, not even a toaster. Anything with a circuit board will be permanently dead.”
    “Well, what causes them?”
    Rick took a deep breath. “It can be from energy from the sun—like a solar flare—or manmade machines like a warhead or missile. I’m not an expert, so all I can say is that if they were announcing this on the radio, we’re in a bad way. I can’t remember the last time I heard anything on a radio, so if a town is sending out an emergency broadcast, we’re in trouble.”
    Chris gave him a skeptical look. “How do you know so much about EMPs?”
    “I read, Chris. I like to read.”
    Suddenly Rick noticed a faint smell in the air, like something burning. From his expression, Chris knew what he was thinking. “I smell it too,” she said, “but I don’t know where it’s coming from.”
    Rick walked around the cabin in circles, attempting to follow the smell, until he stopped at the door. Opening it slowly he realized something was very, very wrong.
    “What time is it?” he asked Chris.
    “Not sure. The wall clock isn’t working.”
    Rick couldn’t be certain, but his best guess told him it had to be at least 6:00 a.m., yet there was very