Final Panic

15

Rob didn’t know where he was going. He didn’t have the slightest idea.

The Subaru engine was whining terribly, the tachometer pushing into the red zone.

He was forgetting to shift. And he knew that wasn’t good. He was wasting gas. Putting unnecessary strain on the small four-cylinder engine.

But his mind was a nexus of panic and focus. All he could think about was getting to Jessica. Rescuing her. Fighting with everything he had.

He was aware that he wasn’t approaching this rationally. He wasn’t acting the way Jim would have acted.

Jim would have taken a mental step back from the situation, evaluated his options, and proceeded calmly and diligently along the best route.

Instead, Rob felt like he was just plowing on full steam ahead without really considering the consequences.

After all, what happened when he ran out of gas?

What happened when he found himself stranded, unsure of how to get back?

What happened if he crashed? After all, he was driving erratically.

He was doing everything wrong. There were a thousand errors he could potentially make. And they were all more likely in his current mental state.

And, still, there was no sign of Jessica.

There was no sign of anyone.

All he knew was that he was heading southwest. Well, he didn’t even know that for sure. It was just his best guess.

Rob hadn’t spent much time outside the greater Rochester area. Aside from a couple of trips to New York City when he was younger, and a few school field trips, he’d barely seen what was beyond his immediate surroundings.

And before now, he’d never seen a problem with that. He’d figured that everything was pretty much the same everywhere. He’d figured that if he’d been to New York City, where he’d been shocked by the rudeness of the people and the speed with which the organized chaos moved, he’d pretty much seen it all.

Now he was wishing he’d at least glanced at a few maps. Or spent a little time with one of those web pages that showed you an area’s topographical features.

Rob was out of his element.

Pine trees rushed by as he drove along at a brisk eighty-five miles per hour.

His eyes were constantly moving, scanning the road for any sign of a motorcycle.

But what was he going to find?

The riders were long gone. Jessica was long gone.

It wasn’t as if they’d leave behind a calling card. It wasn’t as if they’d leave behind some item that was immediately recognizable as belonging to them, like a motorcycle helmet or a pair of leather saddle bags.

For the first time since he’d sped away from the lake house, Rob seriously considered turning around.

After all, had he even done the responsible thing? He’d left Aly there, protected only by her uncle. And Jordan certainly wasn’t someone you could rely on. Not in a life-or-death situation.

He’d done what he’d thought was best, and now he was second-guessing himself.

It had been an impossible call.

After all, he’d known in that instant, as he’d watched the motorcycles speeding away, that there was no getting Jessica back once she was gone.

It was a one in a million chance she’d return. And it’d be all up to her. She’d have to escape herself. Then find her way back. Without any gear. Without a map. Without knowing where she was.

Jessica was capable. More so than Rob. More so than a lot of people. But that didn’t mean she’d be able to escape her captors.

Especially not with a blow to the head.

Rob was panicking. His breathing was ragged. His thoughts were going every which way.

He was sweating, even though the air was cool and the windows were down.

His vision was going fuzzy around the periphery.

Rob made a snap decision.

He jerked the wheel, and the Subaru careened to the side of the road, crunching over some gravel that lay on the shoulder.

Rob slammed on the brakes.

The car shuddered to a stop.

He forgot to hit the clutch, and the engine stalled.

There he was, sitting on the side of the road, the nose of the Subaru pointing out towards the trees, its rear bumper hanging into the road.

Without the sound of the engine, silence seemed to ring out. It was an overwhelming silence, one that cut right through him.

The only thing he could hear was his own heart pounding.

Rob threw the door open and bolted out into the road.

He was freaking out.

He hadn’t felt this bad since… he couldn’t remember when.

He stood there in the middle of the road, leaning forward, his hands on his knees, breathing like he’d just run a marathon, cold sweat covering his forehead.

He had to get it together.

People’s lives depended on the decision he was about to make.

If he continued on, he was putting Aly at risk. Not to mention himself. Who knew what dangers lay beyond this stretch of road.

If he turned back, that’d be it for Jessica.

Rob wasn’t cut out for these types of decisions.

What would Jim have done?

Would he have cut their losses and turned around?

No, Jim would have thought of something much cleverer a long time ago. He would have nipped the situation in the bud. Right from the beginning, he would have acted differently.

But that was because he was Jim and not Rob.

Maybe Rob just needed to go with his gut. All this thinking was driving him crazy. He’d never been an intellectual sort of guy. He’d always let his gut and instinct drive him.

And look where it’d gotten him. Too many lost jobs to count. Too many unpaid bills and long-standing legal problems.

Well, he had a clean slate now. He didn’t owe anyone any money. There wasn’t even any money.

Maybe his instincts just hadn’t worked well in the modern world. Maybe the modern pre-EMP world had worked against what came naturally to him.

Maybe in the post-EMP world, his gut instincts would serve him correctly. Maybe humans were wired for life-and-death survival situations. And those prewired instincts simply didn’t work well when it came to credit scores and reliable employment. Maybe all along, Rob had been fighting against impulses that would now serve him well.

Or maybe he was completely wrong. After all, he’d been wrong too many times to count.

His gut was telling him to keep going. To search for Jessica.

Maybe it wasn’t what Jim would do.

But Rob wasn’t Jim.

Rob shook his head like a wet dog, trying to shake away the panic.

He took stock of his surroundings, trying to resettle himself.

He was alone on the road. It was just him and the stalled Subaru and the trees. Nothing for miles.

But that couldn’t have been the case. There must have been someone out there. Somewhere. Probably in hiding.

After all, it wasn’t like this part of the state was that deserted. Sure, there were fewer people here per square mile than there were in the greater Rochester area.

But it wasn’t deserted.

It wasn’t Wyoming.

Rob may not have known a lot. But he knew that much.

So, there must have been someone around.

Maybe there was someone who knew something about some guys on motorcycles.

After all, it hadn’t been that long since the EMP. The chances that some biker guys had moved in from another area, well—that was certainly a possibility, but not as big of a possibility that they were native to the area.

Now that Rob had made his decision to press on, he was a little calmer. And now that he was a little calmer, he realized that his best course of action was to simply find someone from around here, ask them about local bikers, and then track Jessica down that way.

With a clear plan in his head, Rob rushed back to the Subaru.

He was still nervous, his hands and feet not completely under his control, and he stalled the wagon twice more while trying to start it.

But he got the engine started, put it in reverse, and got back on the road.

Now all he had to do was find someone.

He glanced at the gas tank.

Was it an eighth of a tank left? A quarter? It was hard to tell. The level always seemed different, depending on what angle he looked at it.

It didn’t matter much, anyway. All he had to do was get to Jessica. After that, they’d be able to get back with or without the Subaru. They’d figure something out.

Jessica was more important than the vehicle. And not just as a human being. But for her practical value as a member of the group. Rob knew very well that his own odds at survival were far stronger if Jessica was alive and well.

Rob was pretty sure he’d seen a house on the roadside a couple miles back. He’d just sped by it at the time and hadn’t given it a good look. But there was a good chance, he supposed, that someone local was still there.

He got the Subaru turned around and went speeding on down the road, headed towards that house.

It was a simple home, just one story, with a perched roof that covered a small attic. The yard in front was just dirt. There were a couple odds and ends scattered about, like old tires and rusty bicycles.

There wasn’t a car in the driveway, so Rob parked the Subaru there, making sure to lock the doors and pocket the keys.

Maybe no one was there. Maybe whoever lived there had left. Maybe they’d fled, thinking that other areas of the country would offer them solace. Or maybe they were already dead. Or stuck at work, never to return home again.

There were a thousand possibilities.

Rob felt strange, hoping that someone was actually at home. Normally, it would have been better to stay clear of anyone. People meant danger. People could mean death.

As Rob approached the house, he spotted something in the backyard.

If he wasn’t mistaken, it was a pickup truck hidden under a tarp. Someone had piled up leaves and sticks, trying to hide the shape of the vehicle. But from where Rob stood, it was unmistakable.

Rob gulped down the rising panic.

But this was what he wanted, wasn’t it? He needed to talk to someone.

As he approached the front door, Rob reached for his gun.