Chapter 1: The Bombs
Hershey, Pennsylvania. Tuesday September 19, 2006: 8:05 pm ET
For me, my friends, and my fellow countrymen, September 19, 2006 would be a day that would forever be engraved in our minds. It was the day that the United States of America was torn apart, shattered, never to fully recover within my lifetime.
Introducing myself, my name is Lee Wright. I'm 18 years old and I live in Hershey PA, just a few minutes east of the state capital of Harrisburg and in "The Sweetest Place on Earth" due to the local chocolate industry. I live with my parents and younger sister, who were away in Canada visiting some friends leaving me behind at home for a week or so. For now, it was just me.
The day was pretty typical for late September. I had gone to school, drove to bowling practice, and come home at around 5 to finish up a bit of work and eat dinner. Now that it was late in the evening around 8, I was busy playing video games. The president was supposed to give a state of the union address tonight, but I don't enjoy watching political news. I decided to get up and head downstairs to finish off some pizza in the fridge. Probably best not to stay glued to the screen too much.
As I got up, little did I know that I would see something that would give me and many others the shock of our lives. I was in the morning room in the kitchen when I looked out the window to see a huge, orange, mushroom shaped cloud rising to the east. WAIT, A MUSHROOM SHAPED CLOUD? No way, this couldn't be right? Was it some sort of prank like the ones on YouTube? I didn't know, but I had to get a closer look!
I pulled open the sliding back door, and darted out onto my deck to investigate. Once I was outside, I could see that I wasn't the only one who wanted to see what was going on. Dozens of my neighbors and friends had gone outside as well. People stood on their lawns, looking at the rising mushroom cloud while a small crowd had gathered at a nearby intersection. All of them were pointing at the mushroom cloud and mumbling amongst themselves anxiously.
I was just as concerned as everyone else. Were we under attack? Was this some sort of accident or test? Before I could ask myself another question, my cell phone rang. Without hesitating, I flipped it open and held it to my ear.
"Hello?" I asked nervously.
"Lee muh dude? Are you seeing' this man?" asked the other person.
It was my friend Aidan. And he sounded worried.
"Yeah man, I'm seeing it too. You alright though?" I asked.
"I'm alright, but I don't think the people in Philadelphia are! Check out the TV! I'm in Harrisburg right now, and it's chaos! There are policemen and people all over the place!" he said.
I sprinted back inside without bothering to close the sliding door and smashed the power button on my TV. Man, my heart was rolling, and I'm not talking about last week's bowling tournament! Instead of the usual evening news reports or cartoons, the screen was grey and a loud beeping sound came from the speakers before the words "Pennsylvania Emergency Alert System" came on the screen.
"The Pennsylvania Emergency Alert System has issued a nuclear attack warning for the entire United States of America. All civilians are ordered to seek shelter immediately from resulting fallout. Within Pennsylvania borders, there have been tens of thousands of reports of a mushroom cloud over the city of Philadelphia with many similar reports of another mushroom cloud over or near the city of Pittsburgh." announced the government system.
Hold on! PITTSBURGH GOT HIT TOO!? Was this doomsday!? As much as I wanted to go back outside and look to the west, I needed to hear more.
"All electricity and communications are down in nearly the entire state with the exceptions of the Allentown-Scranton Metropolitan Area, the city of Williamsport, and the Harrisburg-Carlisle Metropolitan Area. Multiple attempts to contact officials within the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas have failed. The Pennsylvania National Guard has been activated, and the governor has declared a state of emergency. All policemen and first responders are ordered to remain on standby and report to their stations. All medical facilities have been placed under government control to prepare for a possible influx of refugees from the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas." continued the announcement.
Oh s#%t! So I was pretty sure that Philadelphia was gone and maybe Pittsburgh, but what about the rest of the country? Well, at least my parents and sister were okay up in Canada where it was safe. I'll have to contact them later ASAP once I make sure I'm safe.
"More and more reports are coming in and as muddled as the information is to the state government, other confirmed hits include Denver, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Hartford, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. All citizens are advised to stay tuned in for further announcements and instructions. The governor has announced he will address the state in 20 minutes."
OH MY GOD! This was doomsday? The entire country was under attack, our capital was gone, the lights and communications were down in most of the country, and no one knew what was going on or how to handle it.
Just then, I heard a voice coming from my pocket.
"Lee? Lee? You there? Are you okay man?" said the voice worriedly.
Oh geez, I forgot about Aidan! "Yeah, I'm okay. For now." I replied. "How's the city looking?"
"Harrisburg is holding up for now, but more and more people are starting to panic. The police are keeping things under control for now and I think that once the refugees from Philadelphia get here, it's going to get really ugly. Anyway, I wanted to see if you wanted to come to my apartment. My parents are out of town in Erie and I could really use some company and I think you could use some too. By the way, Louisa is coming over too and so is my girlfriend Alexis." said Aidan. "It's safer to be near the city right now I think."
Hmmmm… I was okay here at home, but what if the refugees came and looted the place? They would be desperate and I didn't want to be alone when they got here, which would probably be in a few hours. With my mind made up, I replied to Aidan.
"Alright, I'll come over. I should be there in 15 minutes." I said before hanging up.
Under normal circumstances, I would've said "bye" or "see ya", but there was no time to waste! I sprinted upstairs and grabbed a small suitcase, stuffing as much of my clothes into it as I could. I then grabbed my backpack and emptied it of all my school stuff. I had a feeling that I wasn't going to be using any of it for a long, long time. I brought it and my suitcase downstairs and threw as much food as I could into the backpack including canned goods, a box of noodles, some drink mix, instant coffee and tea bags, other goods. I also threw in a first aid kit and some soap and batteries. Finally, I went upstairs and went to my parent's room and grabbed the .38 pistol that my dad owned for self-defense. I also grabbed as many rounds as I could and stuffed them into my fanny pack with a lighter, a box of matches, my cell phone, it's charger, and a portable battery. I was probably going to need the gun alter for self defense.
Once I had everything, I threw it all into the backseat of my car except for the fanny pack with the pistol and drove off towards the apartment building where Aidan lived. I left the neighborhood with no problems and surprisingly, there wasn't as much traffic out as I had expected. Anyone who was out was heading on I-83 south towards Cumberland County across the Susquehanna River. I got off I-83 at the Cameron Street exit before I drove down the pike and pulled into the parking lot of the apartment building that Aidan lived at. It was a large, 11-story building that was fairly new and fully updated. Man, he was really lucky to live here and I was really lucky to be taking refuge here for possibly a long time.
I gathered my stuff and pushed my way through a crowd of people in the lobby gathered in front of a a large TV and a few radios before I ran up the stairs to Aidan's apartment on the 10th floor. I was huffing and puffing by the time I got to Aidan's door and knocked.
"Who's out there?" said a familiar voice loudly and defensively.
"Bro, Aidan, it's me, Lee!" I replied.
I heard the deadbolt slide away and the loud clicking of a lock before the Aidan pulled the door open.
"Lee, muh dude, glad you made it safely!" he said as we shook hands.
"Yeah, me too." was all I could say before I went in.
Once I had walked in, Aidan not only closed the door and locked it, but he also dragged a table across the front completely blocking it.
"Can never be too safe man." he said as he led me into the apartment. In the front room, his girlfriend Alexis and my girlfriend Louisa were on the sofa.
"Lee! You made it!" cried Louisa as she ran over to give me a tight hug.
"Uh, I missed you too!" I replied. "Now, what are you guys up to?"
"The governor's gonna speak!" answered Aidan as he brought a crank radio over to the front room.
He began cranking it as he used his other hand to set it to the right station. That wasn't necessary though as the governor was on every station.
"Good evening Pennsylvania. A short time ago, I was informed of a large scale nuclear attack across the United States that had destroyed at least 20 cities, including Philadelphia and possibly Pittsburgh. Despite the best efforts of our finest technical operators, we have not been able to make contact with the Federal government in Washington D.C therefore, we will have to assume the worst. As of now, electricity, utilities, and communications are down in the majority of the country. We are very fortunate to have all of our services still functional, but in order to conserve valuable electricity, all South Central PA utility companies have been instructed to shut off electricity from 10:00 pm - 6:00 am starting in 2 days. The National Guard has been activated and will be securing Central Pennsylvania to deal with the future influx of refugees from the Philadelphia, Baltimore, D.C., and Pittsburgh areas. At this time, all policemen, local authorities and officials, and first responders are to be on standby at their stations. As for all civilians and anyone else who is listening to this, the state government here in Harrisburg will keep you updated. Please rest easy and God bless America." The governor finished with a solemn tone as the radio went back to static.
Aidan, Alexis, Louisa, and I sat back, unnerved before Aidan broke the silence.
"So uhh Lee… how much stuff did you bring?" he asked.
I showed him everything I had brought with me in my backpack and fanny pack. Aidan looked impressed.
"With the addition of your suppliers we probably have enough food to last a week." he commented.
Alexis decided to speak up. "We should conserve the luxuries such as coffee, sugar, tea, and candy cuz I don't think we'll see too much of that for a while."
"Well hopefully the governor will hook us up with Canada or a few other countries. That way, we can get some extra supplies." added Louisa. "In the meantime, we should got to sleep. We gotta be ready for what happens tomorrow.
"Right. I'll take the first watch. Gotta watch out for looters." I said, withdrawing the pistol from my fanny pack.
"Okay. Alexis and I have my room and you and Louisa have take the guest bedroom." said Aidan. "Let's all try to get some sleep. I'll relieve you in 4 hours Lee." he said. "You're the man!"
Louisa came up to me and gave me a peck on the cheek. "Stay safe Lee! Goodnight!" she smiled.
Whoa, we haven't kissed since the spring dance at the high school last year! Maybe this was the opportunity to get closer, but for now, I had watch duty to worry about.
The others mumbled their 'goodnights' and headed down the hall. I heard their bedroom doors slamming shut behind them as I took a seat on the sofa. I shut off all but 1 of the lights in the apartment to save electric like the governor said we had to. I had no trouble staying awake because butterflies tumbled around in my stomach like a washing machine out of anxiousness. I nor my friends or even the state government knew what to expect, but all I knew was that the next few months would be a struggle to maintain order within our state boundaries and ration whatever supplies we had. I was worried for the PA, the whole country, how the rest of the world would cope with our temporary downfall, my friends from school, and most of all, my family up in Canada. Surely they would be safe, wouldn't they?
To be continued...