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In China, those in rural areas suffer little to no ill effects. Their television, radio and internet capabilities go down in the first day, but any vehicles and other equipment they have is old enough that it can’t be affected by Damocles. In the cities and factories and ports, however, it is an entirely different story. Fires tear across the cities, started in the factories by industrial equipment that malfunction. Explosions rock the ports as dangerous chemicals are swept up in the blaze. Towering apartment buildings burn from the ground up, resulting in the deaths of untold numbers of people. Narrow streets that are already crowded at any given time of day are now filled with burning cars and the bodies of the dead.
In London, a tanker filled with fuel and loaded with clothing, electronics and more foreign goods for import smashes through the port at full speed. The captain is flung across the bridge, having stayed on the ship through the end to try and find a way to bring it back under control. The ship begins spilling fuel onto the docks and wat
er surrounding them until a stray spark sets it alight.
In Russia, the Red Square is dark as is the rest of the country. The power grid is the first to go down, removing one way for the people of the country to heat themselves. With the cold of winter pressing in they will have to find another way to find heat or they will die. Trains that crisscross the massive country are stuck on the tracks, their engines locked into place. Engineers work to remove them and replace them with older models without computer systems, but they will not be fast enough. Isolated cities and towns that depend on the trains for food and medicine succumb to panic and infighting within days.
In Brazil, the loss of power and the destruction of an oil refinery near the capital city signals the breakdown of law and order. Riots break out across the country. The police and military organize to quell the rebellion but drug cartels add fuel to the flames, assisting with the decimation of the government and the killing of thousands of innocents. The new government sets up shop within days and quickly establishes a more brutal regime than the one before. It will be only a few weeks before rebellion is once again at the doorstep, if the populace at large manages to find a way to survive for that long.
Chapter 6
The Waters’ Homestead
Outside Ellisville, VA
The next morning, after breakfast, Dianne watched out the back window as a light dusting of fresh snow fell from the sky and settled on the trees and ground. The trees no longer had leaves—having shed them with all of the snow—and their spindly branches cast sharp shadows on each other in the early morning’s light.
While she watched out the back window, thinking of nothing in particular, Dianne helped Josie stay upright while the little girl squeezed into a pair of snow pants that were nearly too small. Mark and Jacob were in the kitchen, playfully arguing over some sibling rivalry while they waited for Josie and Dianne to finish getting ready. When Josie was finally dressed Dianne grabbed a jacket and pair of thin work gloves and put them on before looping her rifle around her back. The gloves, while thin and offering little protection from the cold, would ensure that she could easily manipulate the rifle should the need arise.
Once they were outside, Dianne sent Mark and Jacob down to the barns to bring back the snow shovels and feed the animals while she and Josie stayed on the front porch. After a few minutes of whining and wearing her mother down, Josie finally got Dianne to agree to help build yet another snowman.
“He can guard the house!” Josie exclaimed, holding up a short branch that was roughly in the shape of a handgun. Dianne smiled and shook her head as she rolled up a large ball of snow for the base of the snowman.
Fifteen minutes later, when the snowman was nearly done, Jacob and Mark came trudging back through the snow, dragging three snow shovels behind them. “Here you go, mom.” Mark held out a shovel before plopping down in the snow, remembering just in time to adjust the rifle on his back so that the barrel didn’t hit the ground.
“Thanks, guys. Animals all doing okay?”
“Everybody’s fine. They look pretty tired of being cooped up and there’s going to be a lot of poop to shovel out, but they’re okay.”
“We can work on that tomorrow. I need to get the stalls rearranged anyway. For now let’s just see what we can do about this driveway.”
After a few groans and gripes, Mark and Jacob got to work with helping Dianne clear out the snow in the driveway and parking area in front of the house. The work went relatively quickly and the trio moved on to clearing around the side and back of the house so that the truck would have a clear path to get back around front should they want to go out. Josie busied herself with decorating her snowman near the front porch while the three worked, staying content and quiet until Dianne heard her tumble and roll as she ran around the house.
“Josie?” Dianne turned and helped Josie up to her feet. The little girl’s face was masked in fear and Dianne felt her heartbeat increase. “What’s wrong, honey?”
“There’s a man in the driveway in the woods.”
Dianne didn’t bother asking any questions. Turning to Jacob, she hissed orders at him in a quiet voice. “You and Josie get inside right now. Get upstairs, in your room with the door locked. Got it?”
Jacob nodded, slightly afraid of the tone in his mother’s voice. He took his sister by the hand and they ran through the snow up onto the back porch and inside the house. While they were going inside Dianne started heading back up the slope around the house with Mark in tow. When they neared the front porch Dianne drew her rifle and whispered for Mark to stay back, ready to support her if needed.
Staying close to the house, Dianne scanned the woods in front and to the side before looking over at the driveway. There, just as Josie described, was a man who was walking along the driveway toward the house.
His clothing was dirty and covered in visible stains and he clutched his jacket to his chest, shivering in the cold. His walk through the foot-high snow was more like a shuffle and he stumbled every few steps, barely managing to keep from toppling over. His beard was long and thin, and the hair and skin around his mouth was tinted yellow. His face was gaunt, though he didn’t give the appearance of someone who was lacking in food. Overall he looked to be about sixty though that estimate was likely to be far from accurate given the condition of his skin and hair.
“Hold it right there.” Dianne spoke loudly and firmly, keeping her rifle at the ready and aiming it just slightly down from the man. The man looked up at Dianne and she shivered involuntarily upon seeing his abnormally large pupils.
“Hello!” The man waved vigorously, then scratched at his neck before tucking his arm back around his chest. He was still shuffling forward when Dianne raised her rifle and switched the safety off.
“I said hold it!” She shouted at the man and he froze in place, swaying unsteadily as he eyed her.
“Whoa, hang on a second!” The man’s arms were shaking as he pulled them away from his chest and raised them. His jacket was unzipped and Dianne could see the thin T-shirt he was wearing underneath. It, like the rest of his clothes, was stained as well, though she could make out distinct patterns of red on it.
“What do you want?” Dianne growled at the man, watching his every movement carefully.
“Hey I was just trying to find something to eat! Didn’t mean to start anything!”
“We don’t have anything here.” Dianne motioned behind the man with the barrel of her rifle. “You’d best be moving along. There might be something to scrounge in town.”
