Matt slowed to a stop, puzzled. “I went shopping.”
The man sneered. “Yeah right. Five finger discount?”
“I paid for this stuff!” Matt protested indignantly.
The guard toyed with his belt, almost but not quite fingering the pistol holstered there. “Listen, kid. I’ve got to say that with riots spreading all over the city you pushing a shopping cart full of swag with a baseball bat sitting on top makes you look a lot like a looter.”
“I paid for it!” Matt repeated.
“Whatever. They don’t pay me enough to care either way.” The man jerked a thumb towards the dorms. “Get to your dorm. Campus administration has declared a 24 hour a day curfew as long as the riots continue.”
Dismay surged through him. “I was just going to pack up some things and drive home!” he protested. “I’m not planning on staying here!”
“Not planning on staying here,” the guard mimicked snidely. “Poor guy. It must be so terrible having to sit comfy on a couch watching the world end on TV. And lucky me I get to be out here making sure you’re safe to complain about the privilege.” He jerked his thumb at the dorms again. “Dorm. Now. And don’t let me see you outside again.”
Silently fuming, Matt allowed himself to be escorted to his dorm. Thankfully the security guard had nothing else to say across the short distance, although he also didn’t offer to help Matt get his cart through the doors. He seemed perfectly happy to stand there watching Matt’s clumsy efforts, though. Matt finally got his cart into the lounge, ignoring the odd looks of the students sprawled on the couches or across the floor there as they watched the news doing just what the guard had accused Matt of.
There was no way he was going to hang around until the riots ended. He had a feeling they would only get worse from here, and maybe even spread to campus. Curfew or no he intended to leave today. He’d just wait until it got dark and sneaking out was potentially easier. Decided, Matt made his way back to his dorm to pack up everything he’d need.
At least now he had plenty of time to try to get in touch with his mom.
Chapter Six
Day Seven: Evening
Trev didn’t even realize his phone had lost signal until he got to the auditorium and heard other townspeople who’d come for the meeting talking about it.
He stepped aside at the entryway and pulled out his phone. Sure enough he was showing no signal, not even roaming. Lewis was also checking his phone when Trev glanced over, and at his questioning look his cousin shook his head. They’d been busy all afternoon cataloguing stuff in the shelter and making a few adjustments and improvements Lewis couldn’t make alone and had been waiting for Trev to come down and help with, so neither of them had tried to use their phone. He wasn’t sure if no signal meant all the service providers had cut out at once, or if maybe the nearest cell towers had been knocked out. How would that affect the internet?
Before he could explore those thoughts further he was intercepted by a bustling dress and strong arms enveloping him in a tight hug.
“Oh Trev, it’s good to see you made it safely,” Mona Larson, Matt’s mom, said as she stepped back and patted his arm. Her face was scrunched with worry that he doubted was for him. “Matt said you were heading down and Lewis told us about your injury, but we still started worrying when you didn’t show up after a few days.”
Trev lifted his leg a bit to wiggle his foot and tap his knee with his knuckles. “I was off my feet for a day or so but I’m fine now. I just made it in earlier today.”
“Well be sure you don’t push yourself too hard!” she said, concern genuine even in her distracted state. “I was worried you might make your injury worse what with all the distance you still had to walk. Is it healing properly?” Before he could answer her impatience seemed to get the better of her. “Listen, have you heard from Matt? I was in a call with him when it dropped, and before that he’d got caught in a riot and I think me may have been attacked when April was talking to him because he suddenly hung up on her.”
“Matt was caught in a riot?” Trev demanded, having trouble sorting through her frantic whirlwind of words but definitely catching that. “Is he okay?”
“That’s what I’m asking you! His call was dropped while I was talking to him and if he’d left after that he should’ve been home by now! It’s been more than twice as long as he needed to make the drive.”
He and Lewis exchanged glances, and his cousin shook his head. “I haven’t talked to him since the day after the attack,” Trev answered. “Did his call drop when the cell service went down?”
She frowned, although she looked a bit embarrassed. “Well yes. But the call just ended so suddenly I was afraid he might’ve been caught in an explosion that took out the cell service or something. I know that sounds silly, but with him in the middle of the riot it’s hard not to think like that.”
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Trev assured her. “Everyone’s cells all went dead at the same time so it’s pretty unlikely he was anywhere near whatever knocked them out. Have you seen anything about Orem on the news?”
The matronly older woman’s frown deepened in genuine frustration. “I don’t know. Cable went down about the same time as the phones, so no internet or TV and the signal from most of the broadcasted TV and radio stations is too weak to make it down here.”
Well that answered his question about internet. Say what you will about the shelter he and his cousin had built being a perfect setup for the end of the world, but it was isolated. Lewis had relied on his phone for internet while living there, which obviously was no help now. “Maybe the Mayor and City Council will have some news about what’s going on up north,” he offered.
That seemed to be enough to placate Mrs. Larson. She nodded and gave him another hug, and Lewis one as well, then hurried back to where her husband was saving her seat near the front of the auditorium.
Trev and Lewis had just barely found seats near the back when John Anderson, Aspen Hill’s Mayor, stood and walked up to the podium. Behind him the City Council sat on folding chairs, looking uncomfortable for more reasons than just the plastic seats.
“Good evening, everyone,” he said, the speakers booming his voice across the small auditorium. “I think you all know why we called this meeting.” He waited, perhaps expecting a chuckle from the crowd, but got only silence so he hurriedly continued. “Aspen Hill is in a true disaster situation, unlike anything we’ve seen before. It’s up to us as a town to plan for how we’re going to deal with our problems and all work together to survive until order can be restored. But first there’s something important we need to tell you all.”
Trev tensed. From the look on the Mayor’s face whatever it was wasn’t good. He looked to be physically working himself up to the news, and the stony faces of the councilmen and women behind him didn’t bode well either.
Anderson took a deep breath, then continued. “A few years ago we accepted Federal funds with the agreement that in an emergency situation we’d take in refugees from the more populous areas up north. Just before the cell towers went down this evening FETF, that’s the Federal Emergency Task Force, called in to let us know they’d already sent the first group our way down Highway 6 on foot.”
Although thanks to Lewis he’d known about the town’s arrangement to take in refugees Trev was still surprised by the admission that people were already on their way. The new surge of outrage and anger he felt at the news was also unexpected. He thought the room would erupt into angry shouts, but instead it remained silent and people didn’t seem to be responding to the bombshell. Either nobody fully realized the gravity of what the Mayor had just revealed or they were too stunned to respond.