Chapter 10
The moment the motor roared to life, relief coursed through Veronica.
Her eyes moved to Gregory, who had a broad smile on his face.
In his stare, though, she could see a look of complete shock and disbelief.
It was a little surprising, given how much her friend knew about mechanics.
The rest of the world, though, she knew, would also be struggling to understand the basic concepts of electromagnetic pulses.
As relieved as she was to have the motorcycle running, it brought with it another set of problems. The ancient beast was loud, to say the least. With no map on her phone to guide her back home to Colorado, the roughly one-thousand-mile journey would be dangerous.
She would have to take steps to ensure the bike wasn’t stolen each time she stopped.
Finding fuel was going to be another concern.
Veronica knew with the five-and-a-half-gallon tank, she could make it a little over a hundred miles.
Everywhere she went, she would have to take into account the fact she likely had one of only a few running vehicles in the area.
Eventually, people would realize they, too, could have machines, but before that time came, there would be chaos scattered throughout the nation.
Suddenly, Veronica was incredibly thankful to Gregory for loaning her the handgun.
The idea of using it made her sick to her stomach, but she knew the longer the lights were off, the more desperate people would get.
She wouldn’t be safe on the road by herself without protection.
Adding to the weight in her mind was the knowledge that getting fuel was going to be a potentially deadly chore.
It wouldn’t be as simple as pulling into a gas station and pumping a few gallons into her tank.
Every move she made had to be made with caution.
“Do you still have that old atlas that you used to have in your office?” Veronica asked. “I remember seeing it in there a few times.”
“I sure do. If you think that atlas will help you get to your family safely, then you are more than welcome to take it along with you as well. Whatever you need, you can have.”
“Thank you. It will come in handy since I want to stay off the main roads as much as possible. If I can use it to find all the back roads along the way, I feel like I’m going to have a better chance of getting there without running into many problems.”
Gregory smiled. “As I said, you’re welcome to anything you need that’s going to get you there as quickly and as safely as possible.
Still, I have to tell you that I don’t think it’s the best idea to leave so soon after everything has happened.
People are going to wonder what’s going on, and when that kind of fear enters someone’s mind, it’s hard to tell how they’re going to react. ”
Veronica nodded. “I agree with you to a certain extent, but I really feel that the sooner I can get out of here, the better chance I’m going to have of getting to Colorado unscathed.
I just think that if I get moving before people have time to realize what happened, it’s going to be safer than after they realize that life as they know it has come to an end. ”
Gregory nodded and said nothing, though she knew he was still worried about her.
Watching the man as he turned and headed back for the office to grab the atlas, Veronica focused her attention on going over the bike one last time.
In an ideal situation, she would take it on a handful of test rides before setting out on such a long journey.
Given the circumstances, though, she didn’t have that luxury.
Shutting off the motorcycle, she went to her toolboxes and quickly started tossing things into the two hardcover saddlebags on either side of the bike.
There wasn’t much room, and every ounce of weight she added would slow her down and lower her gas mileage.
All she needed was the tools to keep her and the bike on the road.
It wasn’t long before Gregory rejoined her, handing over the tattered atlas as he gave her a worried smile.
Veronica wished she could put his mind at ease but wouldn’t lie to him and pretend like it was all going to be fine.
She was about to set off on a perilous journey, one he might never know the outcome of, given the lack of technology. Communications were at a standstill.
“Can you think of anything else that might be useful to you on your trip?” Gregory asked.
Veronica shrugged. “I know there’s not going to be much of anything that works on the technology side of things, but just in case, do you happen to still have that old ham radio in the backroom?”
He nodded. “I have it, but it was plugged in at the time of the EMP strike. I already took a look at it to see if it was going to work, but it’s definitely fried.”
“Damn. In the back of my mind, I was hoping it was just sitting back there and not plugged in. You don’t happen to have any spare parts for that thing, do you?”
“Actually, I do. I don’t know how long I’ve had the ham radio, but it has been quite a few years. It used to be something I would use all the time, but there hasn’t been a lot of use for it recently. I’m not even really sure why I still had it plugged in.”
“Well, if you have the extra parts for it, you should use any spare time you have to start replacing them. There’s still a good chance that you’ll be able to get it up and running once again.”
“I’m going to take your word for it on that one, but even if I get the damn thing working again, I don’t know what good it’s going to do. What’s the point of having a radio that works when no one else in the country does?”
She desperately wanted to give him some sort of hope about the future but knew in her heart it would simply be false.
Given the horrors she had already seen, the young man dying in her arms, and the complete lack of any emergency vehicles wailing outside, Veronica was doubtful that the country was going to rebound as quickly as its inhabitants hoped.
Things were going to get considerably worse before they got better again.
“For starters, I know for a fact that there is a radio at my parent’s homestead in Colorado,” Veronica said. “If you can get that old thing up and running, I’ll try to get mine fixed when I get there, and we’ll be able to communicate.”
“I guess I’ll get to work on this soon as I can. It would be nice to know you made it there safely and that your family is all right as well. I do wonder how long it’s going to be like this. Do you think this is something that is going to last a long time?”
She hesitated for a moment. “There’s no way of knowing for sure how hard our country was hit with the EMP, but if everything I read and heard over the years is true, it might be another year before we have any kind of power.”
Gregory cursed under his breath. “I was really hoping you were going to say something like a month or less.”
“They have only done small testing with what the results of the EMP would be, so I don’t know. I just know in order to replace everything they would have to replace to get the power going again, it’s going to be a while.”
“If that’s the case, then I need to get back home as soon as possible. I can’t imagine how worried my wife is about everything.”
Veronica felt the tears prickling in her eyes but quickly pushed down the emotion.
She didn’t want Gregory to see how terrified she truly was, not only for herself but for her friends as well.
At the thought she might never see her friend again, Veronica went to Gregory and pulled him into her arms. He had been like a father to her, loving and kind and helping her when she was still new to the city.
She owed him a great deal of gratitude that she would never forget.
After a few minutes, she pulled away from him and returned to the bike.
Glancing at the atlas, Veronica knew she could make it to the California border on back roads from memory alone.
After that, fuel and survival were paramount in her mind.
Pushing the bike to the main garage door, she watched Gregory manually open it before slipping out.