The owner shifted his body and leaned on his cane at a different angle. The slight movement of his body to one side revealed a dusty shelf under the counter behind him. Robert immediately recognized an old mechanical credit card machine, the type that required the card to be placed flat in the device with a sales receipt placed directly on top of the card. Once the card and paper were in place, the top of the device slid across the paper and card, imprinting information from the card onto the receipt.
“There,” Robert said, pointing to the dusty credit card machine. “Just use that and when the power comes on, run the card.” Robert placed his driver’s license on the counter. “Here’s my identification.”
The man poked at the old machine with his cane. “Well… I don’t like to use that piece of crap… and haven’t for a while… oh, well… okay, let’s get you outta here.”
A sense of relief erased the tension in Robert’s body. His pulse slowed and his body relaxed. He glanced out the store’s window, past the silhouette of Richard smoking, and saw the water awaiting them. He was anxious to get home and desperate to see his children. He tapped on the window to get Richard’s attention and motioned for him to get back inside. After each man exchanged his credit card for supplies, they thanked the man for his assistance, then carried their bounty outside, around to the side of the building.
Kyle crouched down on the narrow sidewalk, patted his pile of gear, and said, “We should get started.”
Richard mentioned that he had seen an air compressor behind the store. The three men used it to put air into the rafts and placed the remaining equipment into each raft after it was inflated. Then the three men carried the rafts to the boat dock. They removed their suits and changed into clothes more suitable for the journey ahead. They put the rafts in the water and climbed aboard. Robert began to paddle first. Kyle was right behind Robert, and Richard followed in close succession. Robert did not paddle fast, wanting to accustom his body to this new activity. As he slowly paddled, trying to find an efficient rhythm, he studied his surroundings.
The water was calm, reflecting like a mirror the upward outcroppings of a rocky bluff. No boats were in sight as the ripples from the three rafts erased the mirror-like reflection in the water. Robert heard the screech of a large bird echo off a nearby cliff. He looked up and saw an eagle. It looked magnificent, and so graceful coasting in the air above the clear lake. The eagle swept its wings back and began to descend toward the water. Its speed increased rapidly as the eagle plunged downward. In a brief moment, the eagle was directing its power upward away from the lake. Its wings pumped furiously. He could see that the eagle had a large fish clasped firmly in its talons. The fish was trying to convulse itself free, to no avail. Robert watched the large bird disappear with its meal as he felt the talons of his own hunger grasp his stomach.
He knew that hunger was going to be a new companion. Life before today was so easy. If he was hungry, he could just go to the refrigerator or pantry. If he needed more food, he could go to a grocery store that was open twenty-four hours a day. Robert wondered if he could remember ever being hungrier than he was now. Food had always been easy to come by. He could remember eating for the fun of it, or simply out of boredom. On rare occasions, he would eat junk food, but made up for those transgressions with intense physical exercise. He knew that he was in excellent physical condition before this event, but maintaining health and stamina while scavenging for food would be a challenge. Kyle was also very healthy and in good shape, while also being several years younger. Richard was another story. Robert knew that Richard was in serious trouble. He was a chain smoker, practically lived on junk food, and never exercised.
Robert was desperate to get back to his family and fought the urge to break away and go off on his own, at a pace neither of the other men could maintain. Conversely, Robert surmised that there might be a survival advantage in maintaining the group. As he paddled toward the shore on the opposite side of the lake, he theorized that it might be safer to stay close to land on the wider bodies of water. If something happened, they could get to shore quicker that way. After they had glided across the smooth water for several miles, they noticed a camping area toward the right, near the opposite shoreline. As they floated closer to the shore, tents and a few vehicles were visible at the small campsite.
“Hey, let’s get closer and quietly drift by,” said Robert, in a hushed tone. “Let’s see if they say anything to us. I want to get a feel for how other people are reacting to what has happened.”
They could smell the wood smoke from a campfire close to the edge of the water. There were also some cooking utensils near the fire. Robert gently paddled closer. He warned the others to stay back away from the shore. If the lakeshore was free of hazardous obstacles, he would wave them in closer. Robert’s raft met the edge of the lake and rubbed bottom. Taking his shoes off, he stepped into the cold water and pulled the raft onto the shore. He motioned for his two companions to come in closer and sat on the edge of his raft. A man with short hair and thick razor stubble came out of a camper and, looking down at a rectangular pan in his hands, stepped toward the campfire and Robert sitting on his raft. When the man glanced up, he was surprised by Robert’s presence.
Startled, the man looked around and said, “Oh, buddy, you scared me to death. I didn’t see you there.” Then he asked, “Are you camping around here? I didn’t hear a car pull in.”
“No, we’re just floating by and thought we might stretch our legs for a second.”
Kyle and Richard were almost to the shore. The man stopped in front of the tent closest to him, put a large pan of cleaned and filleted raw fish down, and then whispered something into the tent’s opening. A woman whispered back from inside the tent, “Just ask them.”
“Can we borrow your cell phone? I can’t get my truck started and it seems like the batteries went dead in all of our stuff. I need to call a tow truck to get a jump start.” The man looked back toward the fish. “We ran out of ice and I’m going to have to cook all this fish now or it’ll spoil. It’s really more than we can eat. You’re welcome to have some. There are paper plates on the table.” The man looked toward Robert and asked pleadingly, “Do you care if I make a call?”
“I’m sorry, we’re just roughing it. We don’t have a cell phone with us,” Robert said, with remorse.
“Damn. I’ll keep waiting for someone else.” The man picked up the pan of fish. “I better get this fish cooked up. Tell your friends to come ashore. It’ll be ready pretty quick.”
Robert felt sorry for the man and wanted to tell him everything he knew about the EMP and the collapse of the electric grid, but was afraid of what his reaction might be. Right now, even though most electronics were not working, he still might sound crazy to the stranger. He wanted to avoid all confrontation, and with firm resolve, reminded himself that his only objective was to get back to his family. He could not save the world.
The man placed the pan of filleted fish over the fire and in moments, the cooking fish smelled delicious. As the aroma wafted his way, Robert felt his mouth fill with saliva. He had an impulse to devour the half-cooked fish. Sharing food with a stranger was an unexpected bonus; it could help to stretch their supply of food for the journey. He knew they had some food in the rafts, but it would be good to conserve as much as they could.