New Dark Age: Ch. 2 and 3

Chapter Two


         Barney looked up at the first wall of the dam.  It was gigantic.  The amount of manpower it must have taken to build just this small part of the project was hard for him to fathom.  He peered back along the line of volunteers, awaiting registration.  The line stretched on for at least four hundred meters.  All those people were leaving something just like him.  He wondered at how destiny had brought all those people away from their family and friends.  Some of those in line were undoubtedly criminals.  Some probably leaving a bad relationship.  There were some that looked too young to be out on their on, these would be turned back and given a bus ticket home.          
         The line started to move and Barney was pulled back to his present situation.  He missed his mates but knew he had to put all that behind him now.  This was a new life and he was determined to make the best out of it. 
         When he was just five years old he singled out his mother.  She had been a real bitch.  After his dad died she began taking halucidrine pills.  They allowed here to be somewhere else in her mind as it pumped synthetic energy to keep her awake during her third and fourth straight shift at the factory where she worked.  Then at Kid’s Korner, the home where he grew up an orphan when those pills eventually killed his mother, his enemy had been the system.  All the other kids there had been sent in for violent reasons.  One kid named Tommy had beat his little sister so bad she would never leave a wheelchair.  Most all the other kids were similar to Tommy.  Having committed such acts of violence that they had become dangers to their family.  Barney’s only crime had been becoming an orphan with no family to take him in.
         His time spent at the home had taught him to be strong and had implanted a sense of pragmaticism that would not allow him to trust anyone.  Barney had seen the very worst side of the human race and he would never allow himself to forget those memories.  Because of his outlook he had always spent his life alone.  Having the occasional girlfriend that left when they realized he had no sense of commitment didn’t really bother him.  He only went through the motions because he was bored and wanted to pretend to have a bit of normalcy in his life.  These flings always ended the same.  She would start asking or hinting about a long-term relationship and he would pull back and push her away until she left.  He had never in his life been close to anyone except his father.  That had been when he was seven years old.  His harsh life had begun when his mother received that phone call from the colonel of his dad’s regiment.  His father had died in an off base accident in a civilian plane.  Since his father’s death hadn’t been government related his mother had received no benefits except the small life insurance policy his dad had taken out which only lasted about six months.          

         Rhis waited in line with the rest of the hopefuls.  She had begun calling the mixed lot of people from all across the continent hopefuls after talking to a few of them.  They were basically all the same person in different outfits.  Everyone was here for virtually the same reason, to get away from something else.          She stood in line waiting to sign a one year contract, no point training volunteers if they just left a week into it.  To her left stood the first section of the dam, she marveled at it’s size.  Finally she felt as though she was going to be a part of something good.
“Excuse me.” A man behind her said.
“Yeah?” she said without turning.
“Would you happen to know what time it is?” he asked.
“Two thirty.” She said, still not turning around.
“Thanks.  Where are you from?”  he asked.
“What’s it matter?  I’m here now.” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Damn, I was just trying to make small talk,” he said a little hurt.
“Why don’t you try and make it with someone else,” she said.
“You looked like the only interesting person around, so I thought I would try to get to know you,” he looked down at his shoes a little embarrassed.
“Look, I’m sorry,” she turned and met his eyes and her breath caught.  His eyes were the most beautiful shade of green she had ever seen.  Rhis couldn’t suppress the smile that erupted on her face.
“What’s so funny,” he started to smile himself.
“Nothing , I just wasn’t expecting to see such a lovely face,” she said still smiling.
“That was an abrupt change in attitude.”  Barney began to feel as though he was going to like this place.
“So, hopeful, what is that you are running from,” Rhis asked?
“What do you mean hopeful?”  Barney thought for a moment that she was patronizing him.
“Nothing, it’s just that I’ve noticed that almost everyone here is running from something, hopeful that they can escape their inner demons, hence why I call us all hopefuls.  I’m running from the big city and a life filled with sadness and hate.  So what is it you are running from?”  For some reason Rhis had instantly like this man, whether it was his innocent demeanor or if her loneliness had finally forced her to open.
“I guess I am running from a torn childhood and a life...”
         As Barney began to talk Rhis was trying to figure out why she had revealed her current state to this stranger.  She hadn’t done that since she had met Sarah in college.  Something about this man had sparked her curiosity.  She could not understand why she just wanted to tell him her entire life story, but she knew that was going too far so she would hold back for now.  It was good to have a potential friend here.

“Then after I was discharged from the U.N. Army I saw this place on the news and decided to come and check it out.  Are you listening to me,” Barney wondered whether he had bored her to death.
“What?  Oh yes I’m sorry.  It’s just that I don’t usually talk to people I don’t know but something about you and this place seems to get the best of me and I cannot help myself.”  She looked down, a little embarrassed.
“I know what you mean.  It kind of gives a person a fresh outlook and brings down all those old walls.”
“That is exactly the way I feel.”
         They talked until they were both registered then said their goodbyes but promised to hang out some more around the compound.  As Rhis walked away Barney climbed up to the top of the partially constructed damn.  The Gulf of Mexico glowed in the afternoon sun.  From his vantage point Barney could get a good view of his new enemy.  The gulf stretched on for miles and if looking through his peripheral vision he could see it inching its way towards the new dam.  All his life he had known who his enemy was. Now standing over his new town he vowed to begin a life that was filled with love, trust, friends, maybe he could even start a family and be the dad that he never had.  Barney watched as the sun disappeared behind the water, temporarily setting the gulf on fire and then giving up another day’s fight and allowing the night its full glory.

Drakuv stood in line waiting to be registered with all the other volunteers.  All his plans over the last ten years had been destroyed by his wife and him losing his job.  He didn’t place the blame on his job but solely on his ex-wife.  How he missed his kids.  Since the law passed that did away with the joint custody he had no hope of ever getting to see his kids.  What kind of world had this become?  A world where it was better for kids to lose their father all together than to just see him every other weekend.  He knew most of it was his own fault.  Working long hours at the plant, trying to get a promotion in hopes of providing a better life for his kids had all worked against him.  The drinking stage he went through and racking up not one but two felony charges, one for driving under the influence and one for aggravated assault during a fight in the local pub, had cost him the entire custody case.  Now he was left to ponder his meaningless life.  Being a devout catholic left suicide out of the question, even though he had never really thought about it.  He stood here in this line of other volunteers hoping for a miracle, a miracle that would bring him out of his despair and provide him with a new path.  He had to push his kids and wife from his mind and try to move on.  Maybe it was for the best, him and the kids if he just left quietly and moved on in a new direction.

         Barney approached the registration table.  The man behind the desk was obviously military.  His hair cropped close to his head, no facial hair and his clothes all neatly pressed and aligned perfectly.
“Name, sir,” the soldier asked.
“Charlie, Charlie Wilson,” Barney had planned this out a little.  The registrars were not looking at licenses or passports, probably knew some people were running.
“Occupation?”  Again, short and crisp.
“I was a plant manager at a power company, but they went under…”
“Birth date,” the man interrupted.
“March fifteenth, two thousand fifty one.  I’m thirty three,” Barney said.
“I can subtract, sir.  Your reason for signing up?”  The old soldier was starting to aggravate Barney.
“I killed three people and I’m running from the law, smartass,” Barney stared into the soldiers eyes as he looked up.
“I’m leaving a failed marriage and the loss of my kids to the screwed up court system that took them away from me.  On top of that I lost my job at the local power plant because a nationwide company came in with lower prices and shut us down.  Any other question?”  Barney was fuming by this time.  His anger rarely got the best of him but this asshole had pushed him.
“No, sir and I apologize.  I’ve been here all day and I forget that most people are leaving hard circumstances.”  The soldier looked abashed and Barney began to calm down immediately.
“It’s alright I’m just having a bad day, hell I’m having a bad life,” the man laughed as did Barney.
“If you will step right over here and face the camera I’ll make you a name badge.  The you can be on your way, and again I’d like to apologize.”
“Don’t worry about it.”  Barney turned to face the camera as it flashed.  The badge came out almost instantly.  He picked it up and followed the posted signs that would lead him to get his assignments for a dorm.
         The dorm that he was assigned was close to the lapping waves of the Gulf of Mexico.  The constant, droning sound of the waves would help him sleep.  He lay down for a nap.  He had driven all night not wanting to face the dreams of his kids screaming his name and saying that he had left them and that he didn’t love them anymore.  The first night after the judge’s decision he had awoken not an hour after going to sleep screaming that he did love them.  He blinked away the tears as he tried to get some rest. 
         Not two hours later he awoke with tears streaming down his face.  Again the dreams had returned to torture his sleep.  In this one Ollie had stood on the Fault Bridge and watched as he drove away from her.  She was asking why her daddy didn’t lover her anymore.  The image tore at Drakuv’s heart and further widened the chasm that had found a permanent place in his heart.  He rose from the bed and headed outside.  He was going down to the water to sit and think for awhile.  He didn’t want to go back to sleep, didn’t think he ever would.
         The water’s gentle lapping against the shore did little to help his mood.  He had phoned a lawyer after the trail only to learn that the law was completely against him and he really didn’t have any chance of seeing his kids again.  The moonlight shone from the tears that were pouring from his eyes.



Chapter Three


         Syn sat watching the news.  He didn’t usually put a lot of stock into what the media had to say about anything.  They were all so liberal that he had to take everything with a grain of salt.  He just wished that sometimes they would report some good news.  His reason for turning to the news tonight was a hope that he could gain some insight into the recent disturbances with the sun.  All the scientists were saying that the sun had reached its maximum and that we could expect disturbances with communications world wide.  Just as the news switched back to the newsroom the screen flickered followed by the lights blinking on and off several times.
“Damn power outages.  I’m getting tired of this crap.”  Syn stood and started gathering up the candles that he had ready for instances just like this.  He started placing them around the house and lighting them.  As he sat a few in the big picture window at the front of the house a bright light from outside caught his eye.
“What in the hell is.  Aris come here now,” he screamed.
“What is it?”  He could here the fear in her voice.
“Look at that.  What is it?”
         
         In the sky to the south was a bright, blue and white light that spread over most of the sky.  As it came closer the lights went out and everything within the house went silent.  Syn turned and looked at the window doors in the dining room and noticed that there was a light there as well.  He ran to the back doors and peered at the sky.  Through the pine trees that stood behind the cherry blossom he saw the same thing that they had seen through the front windows.
“What is it Syn?”  Aris’s breath was short.
“I don’t know.  I’ll call Tristan to see if he knows anything.”  Syn grabbed his phone but it was dead.
“Forgot to charge it.  Where is yours?”
“I’ll get it.”  Aris came running back into the dining room, phone in hand.
“Yours is dead too,” Syn said.
“Can’t be I just charged it last night,” she said.
“Well, it is.  You sure you charged it?”
“I just pulled it off the car charger.”
“I’ll try the landline,” Syn said as he picked up the phone hanging on the kitchen wall.  He pressed the button on the handheld phone several times but it would not power on.  Syn could feel his heartbeat in his head as his breath quickened.
“Get A.J.  We’re driving over to Tristan and Mary’s house.”
         Aris began packing a bag for their daughter as Syn persistently tried all the phones in his arsenal, even digging out the phone that stayed attached to the wall.  It, too, was dead.
         Syn loaded his small family up in the electric car.  He turned the key but nothing happened.  He knew he had plugged the vehicle in to let it charge when he came home but it had a half charge on the battery.  He got out and checked the batteries under the hood.  When he lifted the hood he caught a strong odor of smoke.  All the cables were fine.  He stepped over to Aris’s gas burner and tried to start it up.  Again, nothing.
“Aris you can take the baby back in the house because neither car will work.”
“Can’t you fix them,” she pleaded?
“You know I’m no good with mechanical stuff, but I’m going to try.”
         Aris got A.J. from the back seat and went back inside.  She pulled the kerosene space heater from the closet and fired it up.  Made some pallets around it in the upstairs loft and bedded down for the night.  She had a feeling that they would have to wait this one out.
         Syn, meanwhile, was busy checking everything that he knew to check.  Finally he pulled the cover off the fuse box and immediately smelled smoke again.  As he tried to pull the fuses out he noticed that they were all melted.  The first thing to pop into his head was an electromagnetic pulse.  He had heard them mentioned on some radio station on his way home from work.  Maybe that was what had happened.  With the sun acting all weird the idea was not that far fetched.  He started back into the house.

         From his spot on the beach Drakuv had a clear view of the light show in the sky.  He didn’t know what to make of it.  He got up and ran inside the security station and asked the guards what was going on.  They told him to not worry and go back and get some rest.  He looked like he needed it.  He headed back to his dorm and lay down determined to get some sleep.
         As he started to drift off he heard shouting outside on the walkways.  He got up and looked through the front window.  Security personnel were running all over in obvious disarray, which seemed very out of place for the constant military demeanor the place had.  He threw on some clothes and walked outside to see if he could get some information.  He noticed as he stepped outside that a good many of the other volunteers had joined him. 
“Hey, what’s goin on,” Drakuv shouted to one of the guards that passed close by.
“Nothing, just go back inside.  Everything is under control.”
“Hey, buddy we are not in the army so you can’t order us around.  Either you tell what those lights were and why it has your and everyone else’s panties in a wad or I’ll just go to the security house and ask there.”  The speak was a young man from same dorm as Drakuv.
“Sir, if you will please go back inside.  You will be briefed, er, I mean, someone will be around to explain it all to you very soon.”  The guard had took a few steps away from the watching group outside the dormitories as he was speaking.
“Fuck that and fuck you.  I’m going to the security house.”  The young man started toward the front of the compound.
“I’m going with you.  Can’t sleep anyway.”  Drakuv stepped in beside the young man.
“Suit yourself.  Names Barney,” the young man extended his hand.
“I’m Drakuv,” he said taking the offered hand.  “Friends call me Drak.”
“Well we ain’t friends.  Scratch that.  Nice to meet you roomie.  Sorry, I’m just a little on edge.”
“Looks like you aren’t the only one.”  Drakuv pointed to the swarm of soldiers, both in uniform and civilian clothes, around the security house.
“It’s going to be difficult to get answers out of these guys.  You army or anything Drak?”
“Nope, you?”  Drakuv was beginning to get apprehensive as they two men neared the security house.
“Yeah, I was in U.N. Special Forces.  Let me led.”  Barney stepped ahead of the older man, a grim look of determination etched into his young face.
“Aye, aye.”
“I was army not navy, sorry but I hate swabbies and  fly boys, no offense.”
“None taken, lead on.”
         Drakuv followed as Barney walked up to the closest soldier in uniform.
“What the hell is going on here private,” Barney fell back into his old life with no effort.  Having only been out of the army for six months it wasn’t much of a stretch.
“Sir, I don’t know, sir.  I just arrived yesterday but it has something to do with the lights in the sky.”  The young soldier was obviously shaken.
“Who is your C.O.?”  Barney had done this before.
“Sergeant Grant, sir,” the man looked at Barney expectantly.
“Carry on soldier.”  Barney turned to Drakuv, “wait here.”  He disappeared inside.
         Barney eased through the door and surveyed the activity going on inside the cramped building.  The higher ranked officers were going in and out of an office at the rear of the building.  Barney made his way to this office.  Standing there unmolested he knew that something big had happened if security was this lax, or the C.O. was an incompetent fool.  Barney walked to the door like he belonged there.
         When he reached the door he listened to catch snatches of what he could.
“Sergeant Grant all communications are down.  Cell phones are dead, walkies don’t work and there is no radio frequency on any channels.  Also, there is no power and the back-up generators are fried.  An additional point sir, the surrounding country side is dark.”
“Damn it, what is going on?  Carry on and see what else you can find out.”
         As the man left Barney stepped into the sergeant’s office.
“Who the hell are you?  How did you get in here?”  the sergeant had stood at Barney’s entrance.
“Easy sergeant.  I’m a volunteer and your security is lax outside.  I’m ex special forces, U.N..  I just want to know what is going on but it’s clear you don’t know.  If you ask me those lights looked like a high altitude detonation of a nuclear weapons, and the fact that all the electrical equipment is fried coincides with an emp.  If that’s the case you better get these civilians calmed down immediately, no disrespect sir.”
“None taken and I appreciate it.  Would you care to help?  They’ve given me nothing but raw recruits here besides my personal staff and they are tied up trying to survey the extent of the damage.”  The sergeant’s eyes were pleading but the rest of him was stone cold.  Barney considered it inexperience and so agreed to help.
“I’ll gather up the civilians in the main conference halls and start giving them information, but it would be best if I had some to give them.”
“Well, soldier, I don’t have a hell of a lot to give you.  Couple of minutes before the blackout I was watching the news and a report broke in about the lights showing up over Australia followed by the same problems we have here.  Then immediately after a similar report came in about east Asia, central Asia, Europe, Japan, Ireland, the west coast then it went dark here.  That’s all I know at this time.”
“Asia, Europe…whatever it is seems like it’s following the light of the sun.  May have something to do with all this solar activity that has been all over the news.”
“Damn, I didn’t think about that.  It may have but don’t scare the volunteers.  We don’t want a panic and mad dash for the door.  Try your best to calm them.  Lie if you have to.”
“Won’t be a problem, sir,” Barney saluted from habit and turned to leave.
         
         Drakuv was starting to get worried when Barney appeared in the doorway.
“Holy crap.  I thought you had been pinched.”
“Pinched?  You ain’t that old are you?”  Barney was laughing at him.
“No, just worried is all.  My kids used to say that I was an old…,” Drakuv trailed off.
“What is it, Drak” Barney asked.
“Nothing, just a soft spot.  What did you find out?”
“Not much.  All the electrical equipment in the compound is fried so they have no way to get information.  My theory is that we have experienced the beginning of a nuclear war.  Those blasts, and they were blasts, looked like high altitude nuclear explosions.  The kind that have very big electromagnetic pulses, hence the fried electronics.  We had to study all that shit at basic.  The U.N. is terrified of a nuclear war ever since all the nuclear matter from Iran and North Korea started disappearing.  The brass never believed the stories that the weapons were destroyed.”
         The two men stopped talking as the ground began to shake.  The tremor became worse and at once both men were thrown to the ground.  The earthquake went on for a full two minutes.  As the men were regaining there feet a loud report issued from the damn and a large portion of the incomplete wall fell away having not yet been stabilized properly.  The question of Barney calming down the volunteers became moot at that point.  The whole of the compound came alive.  People poured from the dormitories holding what ever belongings they could carry.  The situation had grown larger than anyone’s control.  As Barney and Drak were recovering from their spill the sky once again lit up.  This time only from the north and the color of the lights were different.
“That’s the aurora borealis,” said Barney.  “What the hell is it doing way down here?”
“Remember the solar maximum.  Has it ever been this far south?”
         Both men looked up as the lights continued southward, lighting up the entire sky.  The lights flowed as far south as Cancun, Mexico.  All over the world people were thrown into a panic as the sky lit up above them and the ground erupted under them.  Volcanoes spew forth lava and tidal waves raced across oceans and crashed into shores.  The earth was seeing its darkest day and there was no light at the end of the tunnel.

         Dr. James Burns sat staring out his window over the city of New York.  He had predicted this day almost two years ago.  Not the exact date but that it was coming.  His warnings had gone unheeded.  Now that the solar maximum had reached its peak the Earth was the one that suffered.  The only part he hadn’t predicted was the extent of the electrical damage and the concentrated gamma ray bursts.  He had looked through all the text he could think of and nothing he could find explained those bursts.  It was as though high-altitude, nuclear explosives had been detonated to coincide with the geomagnetic storm.  The effects on the electrical components of most machinery should have only been temporary but throughout the city all the machinery was still inoperable.  He had to figure out what had caused this and how it could be reversed.  How wide spread was the damage?  The city had been dealt a deadly blow.  People didn’t know how to function without power of any sort.  If the effects were permanent man might never recover.
         Dr. Burns left his seat near the window and headed to his cabinets to take stock of his dry goods.  After separating everything out on the kitchen table he estimated he had enough to last a week.  A trip to the supermarket was out of the question.  As he could see it from his window he knew that by the time he got inside there would be nothing left.  He walked over to a bureau tucked into a corner.  He unlocked the roll up top and removed his handgun and the box of bullets he kept beside it.  It wouldn’t be long before looters and starving people began to attack the residents of the city.  He was just glad he didn’t have a family to feed.  His only love had been his research.

         Rhis was packing her things into here new suitcase.  She didn’t know where she would go but she was getting out of the death trap that the dam project had become.  Making sure she had all her belongings stowed away she headed for the door.  The sunshine was dim as she walked outside.  A strange cloud cover had appeared overnight.  She guessed that hell had ascended from its depths and started a slow take over of the world.  As she joined the volunteers that were leaving en masse someone grabbed her arm.
“Where are you going, Rhis?”  It was her new friend Barney.
“I’m leaving.  I’ll wait for you if you want.”
“Why would you leave,” Barney seemed tired, his eyes bloodshot.
“Why the hell would I not?”
“Where are you going to go,” Barney tried to take the suitcase from her hand.
Jerking it back she said, “I don’t know but anywhere is better than here.”
“Wrong.  Nowhere is better than here.  This compound is government controlled and you are a volunteer for that government.  They are obligated to house you, feed you and clothe you in case of emergency like this.  You don’t know the extent of the damage done out there.  If it is very widespread this place will be your best shot at any kind of survival.  If this damage is permanent they will have to post guards outside the doors to keep people out and once you leave you won’t get back in.”
“Trust him he knows what he’s talking about.”
“Rhis, this is my friend Drakuv.  Friends call him Drak.  We met last night when the chaos ensued.”  Drak extended a hand in greeting.  Rhis took it as tears welled up in her eyes.
“You mean that there is nothing out there but more of this?”
“I’m afraid so.  At least that is what all the intelligence points to.”
“Intelligence?”
“Sorry, it’s habit.  I’m former Special Forces.  I was with the U.N. Army for six years.”
“Oh, well, if what you say is true then I guess I don’t have a choice but to stay here.”
“Yeah that’s about right,” said Drak.
“Well shouldn’t we tell all these other people that are leaving,” she turned to shout at the crowd but Barney grabbed her arm.
“Don’t do that.  If what I believe has happened then it’s going to be short rations as it is.  We don’t need any more mouths to feed around here than we have to.  I know it sounds harsh and cold but I’m a survivalist by nature and I was programmed even more in the Army.  Trust me.”
         Rhis started to cry and buried her face into Barney’s shoulder.  He stroked her hair trying to calm her.  Barney looked at Drak and noticed that he had tears streaming down his face as he looked toward the gate.
“Soft spot again,” Barney asked?  Drak only nodded.