“I don’t think it’s a spaceship,” Thomas said. “But it might be a star that exploded. I’ve never seen one before, but I think that’s what it would look like. And no matter what it is, it’s going to be a big problem if the power doesn’t come back on soon. Which street do I turn on?”
“Right here on Swan Lake. Then your second left. Now just a few houses up. Yeah, right there. This is it.”
“Great,” Thomas said. “Let’s get you going.”
He stepped out of the car and helped the woman and her daughter onto the sidewalk.
“Thank you so much,” Chanda said. “I can’t thank you two enough.”
“We were happy to give you a ride,” Skylar told her.
Thomas took Chanda by the shoulder and pulled her aside. He spoke in a quiet voice.
“I want you to know it’s possible the power might not come back for a while, and you should prepare in case it doesn’t. Go to the grocery store right away and buy whatever food you can, like rice and beans and stuff that will last a while. Beef jerky. Canned vegetables. You realize if cars and trucks don’t work, it means no more deliveries to grocery stores. Without those deliveries, the city will run out of food very quickly.”
“You’re scaring me.”
“And before you leave for the store, fill your tubs and sinks and all your bowls with water. Without electricity the pressure will die in a couple of days and your faucets will stop working.”
“Are you joking? How do you know this?”
“Do you have a bicycle?”
“My daughter does. I think mine works but the chain needs oil.”
“When you go to the store, buy oil for the chain. Do you have cash?”
“Why do you act like this is the end of the world? Why don’t you think the power will come back?”
“Maybe I’m wrong,” Thomas said to her. “But what would you do if the power didn’t come back on for a month? A year?”
“Oh, my God,” Chanda said. She reached instinctively for her daughter and Skylar could see she was near tears again. “You don’t honestly think that could happen?”
“There’s no way to know for sure, but it’s better to be safe. How much cash do you have?”
“I don’t know. Like ten bucks?”
Thomas reached into his pocket and retrieved a money clip. He peeled off two hundred-dollar bills and handed them to her.
“Use this to help. But don’t hoard it. Spend it all today. When people figure out the power isn’t coming back on, they’ll stop accepting cash. They’ll want something else, like to trade.”
“How do you know all this? Who are you?”
“Just a guy who writes movies, honest. But I’ve also done a lot of research about something called an electromagnetic pulse. It can come from a solar flare or a nuclear weapon or even a supernova, and it can knock out the power and kill every electronic device. If that’s what this is, things will become very different. Do you have a gun?”
Chanda looked at him for a long moment without answering.
“I think you’re overreacting. This isn’t a third world country.”
Thomas glanced at Amanda, then back at her mother.
“Maybe not. But that could change really fast. Stock up on food and water, just in case.”
Chanda looked both frightened and defiant, and Skylar wondered what she would do in the mother’s shoes. Without context, the things Thomas had said seemed outlandish. But Skylar had read his script, and she couldn’t see any reason why the real world would fare better after an EMP than his fictional one.
“Thanks for the ride,” Chanda finally said. “I’ll think about what you told me. But I hope to God you’re wrong. Honestly, I hope you’re full of shit.”
Once their passengers were gone, Skylar had nothing to do but look around, and all she saw was dread. Hordes of people were crowded on sidewalks, clustered in groups, looking at the new star, looking toward the airport, streaming into and out of convenience stores and banks and churches. Others were on bicycles, and she even spotted two off-road motorbikes. But almost everyone she saw, no matter who they were or what they were doing, stared lustily at Thomas’ Mustang. And to Skylar it seemed like a feral sort of envy.
Again she thought of her mother and father in New York. They’d both grown up poor and knew the meaning of hardship, but today they lived in an expensive apartment on the Upper West Side. Her father worked in the Empire State Building, on the 53rd floor, and her mother’s office was a short walk from their apartment. Both would have been at work when the new star appeared, but what were they doing now? With no elevator, on bum knees, how would her father ever make it to the street?
Her brother, Sean, lived in Echo Park, and he was one of the smartest men Skylar knew. But there were twenty million people in southern California, and the only agriculture Skylar had ever seen near the city were vineyards and fruit orchards. What were twenty million people going to eat when there were no trucks to bring them food?
What about Sallie and Jessie, her two precious Chihuahuas?
Even though she was a girl and couldn’t always help it, Skylar took great pride in not crying in front of other people. Especially men. So she looked away from Thomas, toward the street, and through her tears saw a woman pushing a stroller. The woman’s face was stricken white. Skylar made eye contact with her and then quickly looked away, into the side mirror. She saw movement in the side mirror. It was a policeman waving his arms.
When she leaned closer, hoping to get a better look, she finally realized the officer was waving at them.
“Thomas, there’s a—”
“Cop, I know. We’re not stopping. Don’t turn around.”
“What? Why?”
“Because he probably wants my car and I’m not giving it to him.”
“But he’s a police officer, for heaven’s sake. Maybe—”
Thomas had slowed to navigate an intersection choked with stalled cars, but now he was through it and accelerating again.
“You want to risk it? You want to walk two more miles to my house?”
Skylar thought again of her family, stranded, and shut her mouth.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “If this really is a pulse, no one will be able to help us if something goes wrong. There are seven million people in this city. For the police, having one working car would be like shooting a rifle at a spaceship. It’s not going to make a difference. But for you and me, it makes all the difference in the world.”
“You really think no one is coming? You really think the government doesn’t have a plan for this? I just can’t believe today of all days is the end of the world.”
“Until we know for sure, we should proceed like we’re on our own. Don’t you think?”
“I’m worried about my family,” Skylar said, and gave in to the tears. “Especially my parents. They live in Manhattan. What are they going to do?”
Thomas reached over and lightly squeezed her shoulder.
“I’m sure they’re okay. At least right now they are. And maybe you’re right. Maybe the government is already on its way to fix all this.”
It annoyed her that Thomas wouldn’t address the improbable nature of what was happening. Not just this awful disaster, but specifically how similar it was to the screenplay he’d written. The Pulse, after all, was the story of a global catastrophe ignited by the same kind of technology-melting apocalypse the new star had induced. Thomas had written about planes falling out of the sky, about fires that swept across cities, about people caught in unfortunate places like elevators and Swiss gondolas that were trapped halfway between the ground and their distant destinations. That Skylar had flown here to discuss an apocalyptic story which was now in the process of unfolding was inconceivable. It was frightening. And Thomas hadn’t said a word about it.