Post Grid: An Arizona EMP Adventure Read Online Free PDF Page A

or Planning . Several men sat at the table with yellow legal pads in front of them; one had a name tag that read Fire Chief Lane . The “white shirt brigade” stood as Kelly approached. She stood at mock attention out of habit. “I'm here from the hospital. It's burning down.”
    All of the men behind the table and all those within earshot listened intently, brows furrowed, as the nurse started to recount her tale.
    “Stop, stop,” Chief Lane said after just a few words from Kelly. “Everyone over here,” he said, waving his arm in a sweeping motion, beckoning everyone in the lobby. “You've got to hear this.” Thirty people stood mute, glued to her account, until she finished.
    Chief Lane let his large frame fall backward into his chair. He put his elbows on the table and ran his hands through his silver hair, his face pale and blank. “We sent two bike officers to investigate the plane crash, but they haven't returned,” he said hesitantly, as if carefully composing the words that were to come from his mouth. “I really don't know what we can do at this point. The city doesn't seem to have a single running vehicle. We've seen a few old clunkers running around, but they weren't stopping for us. A few police officers and firefighters have reported to our makeshift EOC (Emergency Operations Center), but others have left to check on their families. We don't have any real personnel count. Our radios and phones aren't working. We'll try to round up some resources, but at this point, we have very little to offer.” Chief Lane stood, bent forward, hands still on the table so he was eye-to-eye with Kelly. “This is not a routine plane crash or power outage.” A grave look came over the chief's face and he looked down as he spoke. “It's much more.”
    “That's it?” Kelly shouted, slamming her hands on the table.
    “Yes, ma'am.” He said, looking up slowly, meeting her gaze again. “What would you have me do?”
    There was an audible gasp from all present, including Kelly.
    She stared blankly. She wanted to yell, jump up and down, something. Her shoulders fell. She didn't know what she had expected to find when she got to the fire department, but this wasn't it.
    “Oh, my...” The words escaped her thin lips in a mere whisper.
     
     
     
    Chapter 2
    CAP (Civil Air Patrol) - Day 0
     
    It was a beautiful morning. Jess, a strapping lad of sixteen, looked up from the Arizona Gazetteer, the all-in-one topographic map book for the state of Arizona, to identify the large mountain he saw on the map and try to get his bearings.
    “Hey, Dad, is that Mount Ord?” Jess asked, pointing out the car window to a rounded, towering peak to the southeast with a cluster of radio antennas and cell towers on it.
    “Yes, Mijo,” Jose called Jess by his Spanish nickname.
    Jess was a Civil Air Patrol cadet. The United States Air Force Auxiliary, the Civil Air Patrol, was a step in Jess's plan to get an ROTC scholarship and then fly F-35s for the Air Force. He had flown with his dad for as long as he could remember. Soon, he would solo.
    Jess had interrupted his father and Major Rabbinowitz chatting in the front seats about some article in Scientific American magazine. Captain Jose Herrero looked down from watching the road and glanced at the GPS suctioned to the windshield. “What's our next turn, Mijo?”
    “You've got the GPS right there on the dash, Dad, and I saw you program the coordinates at Mission Base. Can I stop this now?”
    “No, you are supposed to be navigating by the map all day today, for practice.”
    “I got checked off a year ago on map and compass when I got my Ground Team qualification, and I'm getting a little queasy back here,” Jess said, puffing out his cheeks to emphasize his discomfort.
    Jose cleared his throat in a manner only fathers can do.
    “Yes, sir,” Jess said in the sing-song voice of compliance. “Looks like about a half mile to our turn-off. We're going to turn left, west.”
    “Good