EMP Catastrophe , Hamilton, Grace [crime books to read txt] 📗

with a watery smile. “Sorry. It’s all so overwhelming.” She looked up at Matthew. “I’m not going anywhere specific. I’m just drifting. Finding temporary work here and there just to make ends meet. My mother and I…well, we aren’t speaking at the moment. She kicked me out. I’m…well, I’m alone.”

She turned big doe eyes on Matthew, and his heart twisted for her. He asked, “But you’ve been traveling a lot, then, sounds like. You know the roads and towns around here pretty well?” David furrowed his brow up at Matthew, but Matthew knew David wouldn’t be upset at him for offering help to Jade—after all, she wasn’t going to hurt them. He had his arm wrapped around her like he'd already taken her under his wing.

Jade nodded and wiped her eyes. “Yeah, I know the towns along the interstate, I even know some of the people in the area. Not great friends by any means, mainly acquaintances, but I can get along. I know you guys have places you need to be. You don’t need to stick around on my account.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean it like we wanted to leave you,” Matthew said. “Quite the opposite, in fact. I just think it would be great if we could stick together for a while and help each other out. David and I haven’t traveled on foot before and would love to utilize your familiarity with the area to get back to Galena. We own a small hotel around there. If you wanted, you could stay at the hotel for as long as you needed. As a thank you for helping us.”

“Oh,” Jade said, looking lost.

“I didn’t mean that to sound weird,” Matthew fumbled. “I just meant that if you’re on your own, the hotel is a safe place to wait for whatever is happening to settle down. You’re more than welcome to stay with us if you’d like.”

He was sure she was going to say no. They barely knew each other, and he didn’t want his offer to seem unsafe—a young woman asked to accompany two older men to a hotel in the mountains all in the name of safety? Sounded like a horror-thriller plot. He wished he could go back in time and rephrase everything better, handle the situation better than he just did.

But Jade’s suspicious, lost appearance melted away. Matthew felt she was sizing him up with the calculating gaze of a cat, trying to figure out his motivations. A smile spread across her lips, and while tears still shone in her eyes, she looked almost relieved at Matthew’s offer. “That would be really nice, actually,” she said. “I’d love to join you guys. Galena, here we come!”

15

The prison loomed behind Kathleen along with her SUV—that stupid hunk of metal that refused to start. She couldn’t figure out why, but after waiting and trying and waiting some more, she decided action had to be taken. Both her and Allison’s phones were dead. She couldn’t figure out why they didn’t have signal, but she couldn’t reach anyone. The idea of heading back into the prison filled her with dread, but once she saw other people stranded like she was, she didn’t feel so alone. At least they were in downtown Chicago. So as she and Allison left the parking lot on foot, she knew they’d be able to find help.

That’s what she’d thought. Instead, they’d waited uselessly around bus stops and subway stops, tried to hail taxis, all with mounting fear that nothing was working. Cars piled up in the streets. Electricity had been cut for miles. No one knew what to do. But over the last few hours, Kathleen's panic had downgraded to calm acceptance. Problems became obstacles, and as a math teacher, she always knew how to solve for X. After everything, Kathleen stormed into a bicycle shop with Allison in tow, prepared to purchase two bikes to get them home to Galena.

The upcoming trip filled her with dread, but she was fit and Allison was young, and people biked cross-country all the time. So what if no one could use their phones. What did it matter if every mode of reliable transportation had been wiped out. This was fine. It was fine. It was.

“I don’t see why we can’t walk to check on my friends,” Allison grumbled. “Kaycee is literally fifteen minutes away. And Lynn is in mid-town, I bet we would get signal there. Biking is a complete waste of time and money. What’s the point when we won’t even need them later? Seriously, Mom.”

Kathleen picked out a hybrid bike with gears and sized it up to Allison who crossed her arms.

“Mom, did you hear me? I’m talking to you. Mom. Mom!”

“Allison, what will Kaycee and Lynn be able to help us with? You can’t call them, we don’t even know if they’re home, and I’d rather not wander all over Chicago just so you can see your friends.”

“You said I’d be able to see them today.”

“Yes, I did. But I did not expect us to almost get stuck in a prison riot or to have our car die, or to be biking back to Galena because the whole of Chicago is out of power. I think those supersede any promise I made so you can talk with Kaycee about the latest trend in Snapchat.”

“I can’t even get on Snapchat so how would you know? You’re like Grandpa sometimes.”

“Hold this.” Kathleen shoved the hybrid at Allison. Allison paused, almost refusing to take the bike, but then grabbed the handles. Kathleen straddled a silver mountain bike for herself, flipped the gears. Next to her, a couple frantically filled a backpack with energy bars. Down the way, she heard shouting as another customer demanded to know why the store was out of refillable water bottles. The industrial ceiling lights were off. “Good enough,” Kathleen said and pointed to the front of the store like directing a plane to land.

“This is so stupid!” Allison said, yanking the bike