Chapter Two
The Beginning Of The End
Claire kicked a stone absently as she walked down the high street. She was heading in the direction of Madison's house, which was out in the suburbs. It wouldn't take her long to get there. She had found some gum in her jacket pocket, and was now chewing it to try and stave off hunger. She hadn't eaten since breakfast. The sky above was heavy with cloud, and a few drops of rain hit her face as she crossed an intersection. Her cell phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket, pressing the button to take the call. It was her mother.
"Claire, honey, I want you to come home now, okay?"
Claire frowned and continued to walk.
"Mom," she protested, "I need my Chemistry book. I told you."
"I know, but there are all these reports about lightning... I just think you should come home before we get any of these storms, all right?"
Claire turned around reluctantly. "Okay, but I --"
She broke off, staring at the sky. Above the bridge the clouds were swirling, just like a whirlwind, and for a split second a far-off flash of lightning lit up the sky.
"Claire? Claire, are you all right?" came her mother's voice, loud and insistent.
"Mom," Claire said shakily, "look out the back window."
There was a pause, followed by the sound of the curtains rustling and a sharp intake of breath.
"Come home, Claire, okay? I want you home right now."
Sarah sounded worried. Before Claire could reply, there was a loud noise - it sounded electrical, magnetic, not like thunder at all, and a clearly visible bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky about a mile from the bridge. Not a second had passed before the lightning came again, hitting the same spot. Again, again and again it struck, and Claire realised suddenly that the call had been cut off. She looked at her cell phone, tapped the screen... nothing. It had died. She shoved it into her pocket and began to jog down the street in the direction of her house, a confused frown etched across her face. Why were these freak storms happening all over the world? Why had her cell phone died when the battery had been fully charged that morning? And what did EMPs have to do with all this?
She stepped out into the road at the intersection and heard the squeal of tires. She turned just in time to see a Ford Mustang swerve dangerously and come to a screeching halt a couple of yards from where she stood. She remained rooted to the spot, her head swivelling from the car to the lightning still streaking down from the sky. It was close. The noises were getting louder. She looked back at the car and saw a boy inside it - the same boy she had seen on Ray Ferrier's lawn just half an hour earlier. She jogged up to the car and raised her voice above the sound of the storm.
"Are you Mr. Ferrier's son? Can you give me a ride home?"
The boy inside shook his head, turned the key in the ignition and looked back at her. He shook his head again, his expression confused and apologetic. He leaned over and opened the passenger door.
"I can't, I'm sorry. I don't what's going on. The tank was full..."
There was a sudden flash of lightning accompanied by a loud blast, much nearer now. Both teenagers ducked their heads instinctively.
"Jesus," the boy said, sliding out of the car. "I don't know what to do."
"I've got to get home," Claire said, looking back at the swirling clouds. "You coming?"
The boy looked at the car fretfully. Eventually he seemed to decide to leave it, and they both began to walk quickly in the direction of the bridge. Claire stayed silent, a thousand thoughts running through her head at once. Were these lightning strikes some kind of electromagnetic pulse? Was that what had stopped the phone and the car from working? She didn't think that was possible. Storms caused power cuts, which blew out the electricity lines, right? So how come it had affected batteries? She stole a glance at the boy. His face was partially hidden under a black baseball cap, but he looked just as anxious as she felt. She noticed dark, curling hair under the cap, and a pair of headphones around his neck. He was dressed warmly.
"Weird, huh?" she said, nodding towards the scene over the bridge. The lightning seemed to have died down, but the clouds were still whirling. It looked like a tornado forming. Claire had seen shows on television about twisters, and they always seemed to start with swirling clouds, just like this. She hoped to God that wasn't what was happening here, but what else could it be?
"Really weird," the boy agreed, thrusting his hands into his coat pockets.
"What's your name?" she asked, squinting up at the bridge. There were cars on it, but they weren't moving. People were standing at the railing, pointing up at sky.
"Robbie Ferrier. What's yours?"
"Claire. Claire Freidman. I live next to your dad."
"Lucky you," Robbie said, smirking. He had a really cute smile, she noticed. She didn't get the chance to notice much more about him, though, because they had reached Claire's street, and there were people milling about all around them. She saw cars in the middle of the road, stationary. Ray Ferrier appeared. He looked agitated and angry. Claire stuck around just long enough to hear him berate his son for taking off in the Ford, before she spotted her mother at the door to their house, beckoning her over frantically.
Sarah ushered Claire into the house, one hand on her daughter's arm, the other clutching her dead cell phone. She had been sitting on the couch when she'd phoned her daughter, and hadn't noticed the storm until Claire had told her to look out the window. Sarah had been astonished. Even with her limited amount of scientific knowledge, she knew that the wind never blew towards a storm, and that lightning was always accompanied by thunder. And wasn't there a saying that lightning never struck the same place twice? She had been frantic when the call was cut off. She had spent about ten minutes trying to replace the batteries in her phone, but when it hadn't worked she had given up, and decided to go out and find Claire herself. Fortunately she had spotted her daughter out on the street, with Ray Ferrier and his son.
"What were you doing out there with Ray?" Sarah asked, closing the door and locking it for good measure.
"I wasn't with Ray," Claire replied, running through the sitting room to stare out of the kitchen window. "I was with Robbie."
"Who's Robbie?" Sarah asked, coming to stand behind her daughter. But Claire didn't answer. They were both looking at the sky, which seemed to have returned to normal. The clouds had stopped swirling, but they could hear police sirens and shouts. Sarah put an arm around Claire and sighed heavily. "Don't worry, okay? It's just a bunch of freak storms caused by global warming. They said it would happen. The environmentalists."
"I don't know," Claire said. "I was looking on the Internet at this site about EMPs. Electromagnetic pulses. You think that's what's causing all the batteries to blow?"
"It could be," Sarah replied, although she wasn't sure how a storm could produce anything magnetic, much less anything that could blow out an entire town's batteries.
At least it's blowing over now, she thought, relieved. She turned away and began to pour herself a coffee. She expected they would have a full explanation of the events on the news the next morning.
Then, out of the blue, there came a loud explosion. Sarah spilt her coffee, and it ran down the cupboard door onto the floor. Her head snapped up. The blast had sounded close. Terrorists? She pushed her coffee aside and grabbed her jacket, which was hanging over a nearby chair. If a bomb had gone off, she wanted to know whether anyone close to her had been hurt. She knew her colleagues had been intending to go out for a drink in the city this evening. She had to find out what was going on. Perhaps it was related to the EMPs Claire had been talking about.
"Where are you going?" Claire asked, wringing her hands.
"I'll be back in thirty minutes, I promise," Sarah said, grabbing her keys. "Lock the door, okay? I'm just going to find out what's going on."
Claire followed her to the door. When Sarah had stepped out onto the sidewalk, Claire shut the door firmly. Sarah heard the lock click. Satisfied, she took off down the street at a run, heading for the intersection two blocks away.
When Robbie got to the house, Rachel was waiting for him at the foot of the stairs. He didn't take off his jacket; he just sat next to her and stared out at the street.
He was still slightly shaken after the car incident, and was also angry at being scolded by Ray. Robbie had taken the car impulsively, without really thinking about the consequences. He had been so angry after the baseball game in the yard that he had wanted to get back at his father somehow. Taking Ray's prized Mustang out for a joy ride had seemed like the perfect revenge. He hadn't counted on getting stranded in Main Street, however. The car had died right there in the road. He had been so surprised that he had almost run over the dark-haired girl - Claire, wasn't it?
He didn't think she went to his school. He would have noticed someone that pretty long ago, or his friends would have pointed her out. She was different from the girls in his classes. They didn't chew gum because they were all health freaks, and they all lived in city apartments or the suburbs. The girls he knew all had long hair, with blonde streaks and dyed roots and God knew what else. Claire's hair was dark and short, and she was poor, and she chewed gum. It was refreshing.
"Where is he?" Rachel said, interrupting Robbie's thoughts.
"Gone," the teenager replied. "I don't know. He took off somewhere, probably to get the car."
"Where's the car?"
"Main Street," Robbie said, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He and Rachel had spent most of the day helping their mother and Tim pack for Boston. Then they had piled into the car and driven into the city. It had been a long day, and Robbie was getting weary.
"Main Street?" Rachel repeated. "Why is it there?"
Any other brother would have become annoyed at her constant questions, but the two siblings shared a close bond, and Robbie simply shrugged.
"It just died," he said. "It stopped working. They all did."
Rachel fell silent. After a moment, they both jumped as something exploded loudly a couple of blocks away. They heard people shouting and yelling. Robbie stood up.
"Dad's out there," Rachel said after a minute or two, her eyes wide and fearful.
"I know," Robbie replied, watching a blonde woman run past the door. It looked like she was heading in the direction of the noise.
"Come on," he said, turning to hoist his sister to her feet. "We're going to get something to eat, okay? Ray'll be back soon. Then we can think about contacting mom and Tim."
"Okay," Rachel said quietly, but Robbie could see that she was feeling far from okay. Brotherly instinct took over, and he picked her up, hugging her tightly. He carried her into the kitchen, where he set about making them both sandwiches. He gritted his teeth as he opened the refrigerator, trying to ignore the explosions issuing from across the river.
I hope Ray's okay, he thought, despite himself.
