EMP Catastrophe | Book 1 | Erupting Trouble Hamilton, Grace (read book .txt) 📖

“Again, I hope you’re not implying that I would be simply enjoying the views while you pedaled.”

“I could find a battery charged scooter.” Matthew nodded enthusiastically, attached to the idea. “And a sidecar.”

“Perhaps we could find a pogo stick and leap across the highway,” David snarled.

“I hear skateboarding is coming back into vogue.”

“Matthew, so help me—” David’s face suddenly collapsed, and his hand thumped against his chest as if trying to clutch his heart. His eyes screwed up in pain, and Matthew reached out, put a steadying hand against his father’s shoulder.

“Did you already take your pill?” Matthew asked, all banter disappearing. He might feel nostalgic for teenage antics, but he was a middle-aged man with a wife and two kids. The time for teasing was over. “Dad, seriously. Did you already take your pill?”

David hedged, looking slightly ashamed. “You can only take so many in a short amount of time.”

Matthew stared at him for a moment. “I’ll be plain then. Did you take a pill at all?”

David looked away from him. “I…didn’t bring them.”

“You didn’t bring them.” Matthew felt like a mockingbird, echoing back and forth.

“That’s what I said.”

“How could you not bring them?” Matthew asked, feeling the fuse on his temper burn closer and closer to an explosion.

“If I didn’t bring them, I didn’t have to take them.” David looked up at him, somewhat apologetic.

“Oh, very logical,” Matthew said sarcastically. “So logical that the veteran who always told me to be prepared forgot the very pills used to keep him alive.”

David scuffed his booted toe against the pavement. “I should be able to get through one day without them.”

“No, you shouldn’t. The whole point of them is so you don’t keel over and die. They’re supposed to help you to, you know, not have another heart attack.”

David went quiet and Matthew knew he’d hit a nerve. Matthew put a hand over his face, taking a deep breath for calm. The idea of weakness thrummed in the back of his mind, a conviction that threaded through David’s words and actions since the whole day had spiraled into something out of a terrible dream. His father was desperate to get home because he’d forgotten the pills that were responsible for keeping him alive. Weakness. His father’s heart attack had made him unable to do any strenuous activity. Weakness. His father refused to let Matthew do any of the heavy lifting because he feared it would make him look weak.

Why couldn’t David understand that surviving a heart attack wasn’t a sign of weakness? He’d pushed his body too hard. Healing took time. Just because he didn’t have the virility of a younger man, it didn’t mean he was weak. Surviving was hard. Surviving made him strong. Matthew would absolutely not let this idea of weakness be the thing that took his father away from him.

Knowing that his father had no medication with him made everything that had occurred so far on their outing take on a new perspective. Things were different now. His father’s life was at risk. He needed to find another solution to get home. Something fast and effective.

He looked around, desperate for a solution. The parking lot looked like a vehicle graveyard, the rainbow of colors twinkling glittery hues in the sunlight. Even so, most of their owners had abandoned them for shelter, or to seek a way back home. Matthew had spent all morning asking for help, to no avail. Everyone he met was in the same situation. Right now, he and David stood in the middle of an industrial center far from any residential neighborhoods, with stores which were most likely closing due to the power outages. There was no place that he could knock on a door, and beg for shelter while they figured things out. Waiting someplace wouldn’t work anymore—not without David’s pills. It was time for action.

The faint sound of a welcome bell dinged. The front door to Wilson’s Antiques opened. Matthew squinted into the sunlight, seeing the store’s owner walk out. Bill shut the door tight. A flash of keys shone from his hands. Matthew took in a deep breath. “Hang on,” he told David and walked towards the manager, ready to try again. Nothing left to lose.

“Hi there, long time no see.” Matthew flashed a winning smile at Bill. “Thanks for the help earlier.”

Bill turned to him with surprise on his face. “Still here, huh?”

“Nowhere else for two guys from Galena to go, you know?”

Bill nodded in sympathy. He finished locking the store up and slipped the keys into his pocket. “Nothing’s working inside and most of the customers have left. No power, no sales. Not much use staying open and dealing with irate customers. Not everyone is as nice as you folks.”

Matthew’s smile turned more genuine. “Yeah, there were some real characters in there earlier. Listen, I don't mean to be pushy, but we’re still stuck out here and my father’s in a bad way. Is there any way you can help me?”

“If you’d like, you can walk with me into town,” Bill offered. The light caught on his glasses and the sheen of his balding head.

“I don’t feel comfortable leaving him,” Matthew admitted.

“Fair enough. Well, tell you what,” Bill said, “I’ll keep an eye out for anyone in town who might be able to give you a ride and send them this way.”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.” Matthew knew it wasn’t much, but at least it was something. With no way to contact family or help, he’d take any scrap of assistance he could.

“No problem. Good luck to you and your father. You’re good people.” Bill stuck his hand out and Matthew took it, shaking the store manager’s hand in both agreement and goodbye. Bill headed out across the parking lot, and Matthew turned, headed back toward his father.

“Says he’ll keep any eye out for anyone who can give us a ride and will send them our way,” he