Surviving The Grid (Survival Series Book 1) Page 3

  This was surprising, since society had taught them all that many things were indeed necessary, such as cars and televisions, game consoles and tablets, and a thousand other things. Now they all would be useless, hunks of junk that offered no functional use other than to barricade a door. They couldn’t even be burned for a fire.

  That was the worst-case scenario anyway. Darren hoped it was just a simple power outage and it would be fixed by the time he reached home. At least he knew where the car was, and he could return there if needed. He’d lose out on the money he would have earned tonight, but he’d be in the same boat as everyone else. Hopefully there would be some kind of crisis payment to everyone for the money they’d lost.

  He wondered what Brent was telling Michelle right now. Michelle loved her stories about princesses and knights and monsters. Brent was more into video games about big arena fights and battles for glory. Darren dearly hoped Brent was taking care of his five year old little sister right now. They were so young, so vulnerable, and they were at home sitting in the darkness. There was nobody else to take care of them. He should have tried harder to get a better job. It wasn’t right that he was struggling to make ends meet, burning the candle at both ends when he had been all set up with a healthy pension and a satisfying future.

  At least if the worst-case scenario did happen, he’d be better off. He’d already faced the end of the world once. That’s what it had felt like when Stacie had left him anyway. He’d lost everything but his kids then, and as long as he didn’t lose them now, he would find a way through this with them.

  Of course, when he rode this train of thought he couldn’t help but think about the alternative, losing them. Darren honestly didn’t know how he would cope with that. Even thinking about it made anger coil within him, and it was as though the thunder reflected his own rage.

  He managed to walk along the sidewalk and ducked in between the shelter offered by store signs. There were fewer people around here, but some still were populating the streets, mostly unsavory characters who shouldn’t have been around anyway, such as junkies and hookers. There were a few homeless people as well. They likely didn’t notice any difference between this night and other nights. Darren wondered if the homeless shelter nearby would open up its doors to anyone who needed shelter. Then he wondered if ordinary people would offer sanctuary to those who needed it.

  He wanted people to treat each other with kindness. Those were the values he had tried instilling in his children, but he hoped nobody would go knocking on his door until he returned home. The last thing he needed was a stranger in his home. Sadly, these days, nobody could be trusted. There always seemed to be darkness lurking behind people’s eyes. Darren knew this well, because there was a darkness that filled his soul too.

  He tried to ignore it, but when Stacie had left him, and he had lost his job, Darren had been filled with anger and rage. He couldn’t even lash out at anyone because those responsible had exited his life, and over the course of the last year this anger just had festered within him, without an outlet. There were times, usually when he had a difficult customer in his car, when it threatened to boil over, but so far, he had managed to remain calm.

  However, this darkness afforded an opportunity for the darker impulses to come to the forefront of his mind and be indulged. There was a taboo nature to this outage, a dark time for dark deeds, and people certainly were getting on his nerves.

  Someone called out to him. He didn’t bother looking around, figuring it was just another kid who wanted to harass him. The person didn’t relent, though, and he heard the patter of footsteps behind him.

  “Help me! Please! It’s my husband!” the woman cried out. Tracks from her tears streaked down her face and her lower lip trembled.

  “He’s been attacked,” she said, and dragged Darren to a nearby alley. Darren had no choice but to help her, really. He knew some rudimentary first aid, although he wasn’t sure how much help he’d be if the wounds were severe.

  The woman was so distraught he couldn’t get any more words out of her. She wailed as they reached the alley.

  “I’ll try doing what I can,” Darren said. He saw a man slumped to the ground, head lolled to the side. Rain had pooled on his jacket.

  “Please! You have to do something!” she said.

  Darren reassured her again, and then leaned over the man, reaching to feel the man’s pulse. As he did so, the man’s eyes jolted open and he jerked his head forward. Darren felt something hard pressing against his chest. He looked down and saw a gun. His heart beat quickly and he swallowed his fear. All it took was one twitch from the man and Darren’s life would be over.

  “Don’t move, and give me all you’ve got,” the man growled. His breath stank, and his teeth were yellow. The anger swelled within Darren, but he did as he was told.

  Chapter 3

  “I don’t think you know what’s going on, do you?” Darren asked, reaching behind him. He glared at the woman, who had stopped crying as soon as her partner had revealed his true nature.

  “I know that you’re easy pickings,” the man said.

  “There’s been a power outage,” Darren said.

  “What do I care? Don’t mean anything to me. Now give me your wallet. I bet a guy like you has a lot of cash on him.”

  “Actually, I don’t. I mostly carry cards, and right now they’re useless to you,” Darren said, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. He offered it to the man, who snatched it out of his hand. He looked inside it, and then scowled.

  “What the hell is this? There’s nothing in here.”

  “I told you. I’m just trying to make my way through life.”

  “Well, I’ll take it anyway,” he said, putting the wallet into his own pocket. Panic flashed through Darren’s mind.

  “Wait, you can have the wallet and everything inside it, even my cards,” he said, thinking he could just call up the bank and cancel them in the morning. Right now, the ATMs wouldn’t working anyway. “But please, let me have the picture of my kids in there.”

  The man took notice of Darren’s pleading tone and explored the wallet again. He dug his fingers around, still pointing the gun at Darren, although the man did stand up, and Darren moved back a few paces. The man slipped out a picture of Stacie, Brent, and Michelle together. He let out a low whistle.

  “Now, she is a looker. How did a guy like you get a chick like her?” he said.

  “Just lucky I guess.”

  “Yeah, well, I guess your luck just ran out. I think I’ll keep this for myself. Might help me on the long, cold nights,” he said, and cackled with laughter.

  Darren scowled at him. His face darkened, and a black cloud swirled within his soul. He’d taken a hell of a lot of punishment in his life and never had fought back. Now it was time to change that. He’d read a lot about self-defense and even had put it into practice with a few classes, but he’d never used it out in the real world.

  Adrenaline surged through his body. He knew that one wrong move could end his life, and he’d never make it back to Brent and Michelle. But he didn’t think this man would let him go anyway. Darren visualized it in his mind. He saw himself being a man of action, taking a stand against a monster like this, and he knew he would survive.

  While the man still was cackling with laughter Darren twisted his body to the side, getting himself out of the line of fire, and then gripped the man’s gun-holding hand, pushing it away from him in case a shot did fire. Then he spun on his heels and backed into the man, thrusting an elbow into the man’s face. He heard a satisfying crack as the tip of his elbow met the man’s nose. The man staggered backward, grunting in pain. Darren quickly wrested the gun away,, then pointed it at the man. The woman started toward him, but Darren swung the gun at her. She put her hands up.

  “Now give me back my wallet,” Darren said. The man spat blood at him but threw him his wallet. Darren plucked it out of the air. “I suggest you get back to your homes if you have them. This could be a lo
ng night.”

  He turned and ran, and when he reached the end of the alley, he twisted backward to make sure the two of them weren’t going to follow him. The man was nursing his wounds, and the woman was tending to him. Darren disappeared into the darkness, sprinting away for a few minutes to put as much distance as possible between him and the two of them. When he stopped, he had a broad smile on his face and gasped deliriously. The rush of excitement he felt was something that had been absent for a long time. Staring down that man made him feel strong and powerful. It was like something out of a movie, and he couldn’t believe he had pulled it off. There was no way Brent would have believed it either. He’d never guess his father could be such a badass.

  Darren’s heart still was beating powerfully out of his chest. He looked down at the gun. It wasn’t as heavy as Darren had imagined, but it might prove useful to scare off threats. He checked that it was fully loaded, and then stuffed it against the small of his back. He rubbed his hands together and enjoyed reliving the moment. For the first time in a long time it felt as though he was taking control of his own life.

  Ever since Stacie had left Darren had tried being a father, a mother, a friend, so many things that trying to be a man had been low down on his list. He’d lost his sense of self, but now that feeling was returning, the feeling that he could take on the world and the world would fall to its knees when faced with his power. He was indomitable.

  Once the rush had died down, Darren realized he was going to need a few things. The last thing he had said to the couple who had tried to rob him seemed prescient. It was going to be a long night indeed, especially if people like them roamed the streets. Walking home wasn’t going to be a simple task. There would be threats to contend with, and if this power outage was worse than he feared, he would have to make sure his children were safe.

  He had to fight his first instinct to get home. There was a small retail store that sold camping and outdoor equipment near where he was, so he decided to stop there to stock up on gear. He had a lot of stuff he needed at home since he went camping with the kids quite often. It was a cheap way to spend time with them, although it wasn’t as fun as going to a place like Disneyland.

  Thinking about it, he hadn’t taken the kids camping for a long time. Maybe this was a sign to change that. He wanted to give his kids valuable life skills, stuff they couldn’t learn in school, and camping afforded him the opportunity to do that. There was nothing like the look on their faces when he created fire out of nothing. They were amazed, and while they were in the woods, he wasn’t just their dad any longer, he was someone they could be proud of.

  Keeping to the shadows to hide from any nefarious people lingering around, Darren skulked toward the outdoors store. Like all the other buildings it was dark, but the Moon was bright, and the frequent flashes of lightning illuminated the area. At this time of night, it was closed, but because of the power outage the alarms wouldn’t be armed and there would be no security footage.

  Part of him felt guilty for doing this, because it was technically illegal, but his run-in with the people in the alley gave him a sense that he could do anything he wanted. He was a man, he was powerful, and if anyone tried to tell him otherwise, he had a gun he could wave in their face. The world had taken so much from him and now it was time to take something back.

  He tried the doors, but they were locked. He peered inside but could see no movement. He licked his lips as he took the gun from behind his back and held it by the barrel. He lined up the angle with which he was going to strike, and then slammed the butt of the gun against the glass doors. He had to do this a few times before the glass shattered. Small shards cascaded over the floor, and when he walked, they crunched under his feet. The glass panel was massive, but as soon as a small part of it was cracked, the rest of it soon followed. It fell like the rain, and the store was open to him.

  Darren took one wary look around but, with nothing to stop him, he moved inside. The whole store was open to him.

  There was something so deliciously taboo about creeping around an empty store like this. Darren never had been one to flaunt the rules of society, but given this opportunity he couldn’t really resist. He made his way through the aisles, greedy eyes looking at all the things he never could afford.

  Of course, a lot of things in this store he simply didn’t need, but there was no harm in looking. The price tags meant nothing to him now and the cash register stood at the front of the store, alone and forgotten. If this outage did last for a long time, then Darren wasn’t going to be the only one looting. All the other stores in the city would be ripe for those who had nothing better to do with their time. Some probably were being looted now. He imagined the crowd he’d passed through was getting restless and eventually would move on from singing and hugging to more violent outbursts of emotion.

  Still, those imbeciles probably would look to steal things such as TVs and game consoles, all the things that society told us we needed, instead of useful things, such as what Darren was going to get.

  He looked down the aisles, creating a checklist in his head. There were a few things he had to consider, the main one being time. He didn’t want to spend so long in here that he was away from his family. He had to stick to the essentials. The first thing he got was a sturdy backpack in which to store the things he needed. Not knowing what was going to happen, there was a chance he was would have to do a lot of walking. So, getting a good backpack was essential, as was deciding what exactly he was going to put in it. He didn’t want to overload the pack and give himself issues. He wanted to keep a good pace walking home, and still have strength to spare in case anyone attacked him.

  He thought he’d better get another item to use for self-defense as well as the gun, because guns could run out of bullets, and there was no telling how easy it was going to be to get his hands on them. He certainly hoped that wouldn’t happen. He didn’t want to picture himself in situations where he had to use the gun, but he didn’t want to leave that kind of thing to chance. Unfortunately, this particular store didn’t supply any of the firearms he’d come to expect with the larger retail chains.

  In the end, he ended up with a machete, a compass, a lighter, a waterproof poncho, some waterproof matches, which he was careful to stuff deep into the backpack to ensure they didn’t get damp, and an oil lamp. A lot of the stuff in the store was bulky and didn’t suit his purposes. He also grabbed some sturdy hiking boots, which were better for this kind of thing than the sneakers he was wearing. His feet were soaked. So, squeezed his socks out onto the floor, replacing them with a pair of thermal socks. In fact, that struck him as a good idea, and he managed to change his entire outfit. Whoever came into work the following day was going to be in for a big surprise when they arrived and saw a pile of damp clothes lying on the floor.

  He felt better for being in crisp, dry clothes, and used the machete to cut away the tags. He also got a baseball cap, and before he left, he noticed there was a cooler by the cash register. It was dark, so he almost didn’t notice it at first, but he went up to it and pulled out a few bottles of water. While there, he noticed there were some protein and cereal bars, so he grabbed a handful of those as well.

  Feeling quite pleased with himself, he wore a smug smile and got ready to leave when he heard a noise from outside. Panic set in and he ducked behind the cash register, hiding in the shadows. His heart beat quickly, but he tried controlling his breath. From his vantage point cowering underneath a desk he could see the door. A group of men came in, laughing and joking with each other. They seemed in good spirits and were a little disappointed that someone had come in here and beat them to it.

  They disappeared from Darren’s line of sight, but from what he could hear they went straight for the crossbows and other weapons, pulling them off the shelf. They also discussed which other targets they were going to hit. Darren glanced at the door. It was so close, all he needed was to be quick and he could run without them noticing.

  Then one
of them laughed, declaring he had found a pile of wet clothes. Darren hung his head in embarrassment. He kept glancing toward the door. He was ready to make his move when one of them said he was going to check the cash register. Darren melted into the darkness and watched as this man reached over and pulled out a fistful of cash, stuffing it into his pockets. Then he jumped up on the counter and opened a protein bar, chewing it loudly.

  This was a disaster. Darren couldn’t escape while that man was there.

  Another guy called out, and then there was a huge thwack as a crossbow bolt thudded into a nearby wall behind Darren. The man on the counter swore and jumped off, hurling epithets at the other man, saying he could have been killed. Darren knew this was his chance. He couldn’t wait any longer. With the pack slung over his shoulders he sprinted away, shoving the door open. Of course, this was enough to get the attention of the men in the store, who called after him. Darren ran quickly, heading toward the park, glancing back to see what they were doing. He was alarmed when he saw the one with the crossbow take aim.

  Darren veered to the side and plowed into some nearby bushes, falling to the ground as a crossbow bolt splintered a tree branch in front of him. He stayed there a few moments and breathed a sigh of relief when nothing else happened.

  Heart pounding in his chest, he scrambled up and looked back to see the group of men standing in the store’s doorway. In that moment Darren was thankful for the cloak of darkness that shrouded him. They gave up their chase, evidently not too bothered about finding whoever had been in the store with them. They returned inside to plunder the store, while Darren could continue his journey home, decked out in his new gear, holding equipment that may well save his life.