Feral Nation - Insurrection (Feral Nation Series Book 2) Page 21
“Electromagnetic pulse?” Stacy asked. “What exactly is that?”
“A strong surge caused by solar activity, most likely. I’ve read quite a few articles in the science journals recently speculating that we’ve been overdue for a powerful solar event that could have an impact on our technology. It’s happened before, but not since civilization was so dependent upon the power grid.”
“Cara Anderson said there were weird lights in the sky late last night. We didn’t see any because we were inside.”
“No, I didn’t see them either, but Mr. Denton said a few people told him they did. That’s why I think it was a solar flare. It can cause visible effects like that. It looks a lot like the Aurora Borealis, which we almost never get to see at this latitude.”
“But if it happened last night, then why did the power go off just now, right before school started?” Lisa wanted to know.
“The lights people saw last night were probably from a much smaller solar flare that occurred first. They usually occur in series. The one that caused the damage today was far stronger. We wouldn’t have seen the lights because the sun was already up and the sky too bright, but I’ll bet they were visible farther west, especially on the West Coast, since they’re two hours behind us.”
“Would it really affect places that far away the same as it did here?”
“Oh yes, definitely. Let’s just hope the results were not as devastating elsewhere as they apparently were here. This could be an unprecedented disaster if it’s as bad as some scientists have predicated such a pulse could be.”
“Well I didn’t feel anything,” Stacy said. “It doesn’t look like anybody got hurt, and it didn’t start any fires or anything like that, at least not that we can see. It must not be so bad. They’ll just have to fix the power lines and people may have to get new cell phones. How is that really a disaster?”
“What about cars?” Lisa interrupted. “They went dead too. What’s up with that?”
“They stopped running because just about all the vehicles on the road today depend on multiple electronic components to operate,” Mr. Smith said. “But to answer Stacy’s question; this is really bad because all the things that probably were damaged can’t be fixed without replacement parts and a means to get them where they’re needed. That includes things like transformers that are essential to the power grid, but that’s not even the real problem. The real problem is that communications could be down all over the country. People everywhere will be isolated and cut off, and stores will run out of food and other essentials if the trucks are not running to bring in more. You know how it is when a hurricane hits the Gulf Coast. Now imagine one big enough to affect the entire United States, and you will begin to get the idea.”
“So I guess we’re not going to be having class today,” Stacy said. “Can we go home then? My mom wasn’t back this morning when she was supposed to be, and now I’m worried about her. What if her car stopped on the highway somewhere along the way?”
“I think we’re going to dismiss everyone shortly,” Mr. Smith said. “I know you live close enough to walk home, Stacy, but if you do, you need to go straight there and stay put. Do you know where your father is working today, Lisa? I’m sure all the law enforcement agencies are going to do whatever they can to get some information and assist anyone they can.”
“He had to go to Colorado with my mom for a funeral. Their plane was leaving this morning, and Mitch drove them to the airport. I spent the night with Stacy because of that.”
Lisa saw by the look on Mr. Smith’s face that he thought that was bad news. Did it mean her mom and dad wouldn’t be able to come back on Friday because of all this? She looked around her at all the confusion and wondered what was going to happen next. Then it occurred to her that Mitch might be stranded too. If he was still in New Orleans, he was going to be furious, because he hated cities with a passion. She didn’t know what she was going to do if he didn’t return when he was supposed to. All she could do for now was stick with Stacy and Jason until they all found out more.
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More by Scott B. Williams
THE FOLLOWING LINKS WILL take you to the Amazon Kindle versions of my most popular books that are available now. New books are coming all the time so stay up to date by signing up for my book alerts via my New Release Updates
Feral Nation Series
Feral Nation - Infiltration (Book 1)
Feral Nation - Insurrection (Book 2)
The Pulse Series:
The Pulse: A Novel of Surviving the Collapse of the Grid (Book 1)
Refuge After the Collapse (Book 2)
Voyage After the Collapse (Book 3)
Landfall: Islands in the Aftermath (Book 4)
Horizons Beyond the Darkness (Book 5)
The Darkness After Series:
Enter the Darkness (Series Prequel)
The Darkness After (Book 1)
Into the River Lands (Book 2)
The Forge of Darkness (Book 3)
The Savage Darkness (Book 4)
Apocalypse Series:
Sailing the Apocalypse: A Misadventure at Sea
Nonfiction:
On Island Time: Kayaking the Caribbean
Bug Out: The Complete Plan for Escaping a Catastrophic Disaster Before It’s Too Late
About the Author
SCOTT B. WILLIAMS HAS been writing about his adventures for more than twenty-five years. His published work includes dozens of magazine articles and twelve books, with more projects currently underway. His interest in backpacking, sea kayaking and sailing small boats to remote places led him to pursue the wilderness survival skills that he has written about in his popular survival nonfiction books such as Bug Out: The Complete Plan for Escaping a Catastrophic Disaster Before It’s Too Late. He has also authored travel narratives such as On Island Time: Kayaking the Caribbean, an account of his two-year solo kayaking journey through the islands. With the release of The Pulse in 2012, Scott moved into writing fiction and has written several more novels with many more in the works. To learn more about his upcoming books or to contact Scott, visit his website: www.scottbwilliams.com