Read Online NightFall by Roger Hayden - Free Book Online

steady speed . He
maneuvered around vehicles dead the road, randomly moving between
three lanes of traffic. Mila cracked her window and let in a fresh
breeze. A motor-like whopping sound caught their ears from
above.
    “ Is that what I think it
is?” Rob said pointing up.
    Helicopters flew in the distance.
Three military Apaches. He’d never seen anything like it, certainly
not around upstate New York. The four-blade, twin-turboshaft
helicopters trailed off and became small dots in the sky. They were
headed south, toward the city—a sign of the chaos that most likely
awaited Rob and Mila.
    In the long run, the city
didn’t have a chance, he believed. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe
instead of mass panic and fear, they city would remain calm and
civil; though Rob thought it unlikely. Martial law was inevitable. And then what?
    They neared line of cars spread along
the right shoulder of the road. There had been an accident. Rob
slowed as Mila looked up from the map, concerned.
    “ What is that? A traffic
accident?” she asked.
    There were no people around. An
abandoned four-door Nissan Sentra had smashed into the side of a
Volkswagen Jetta in its front quarter-panel and pushed it to the
side of the road. Plastic and glass was strewn across the pavement.
The third vehicles, A Ford F-150 was parked behind the other two
unscathed.
    They proceeded past the accident with
caution and came upon a clear stretch of road, which provided
temporary relief. They were entering a rural stretch of road where
fields and trees and farmhouses flew by. Far up ahead on their
right was an eighteen-wheeler semi-truck, parked to the side. Its
trailer had a giant Target logo.
    As they passed, Rob scanned the truck
with deep interest. Both rear doors were closed and bolted shut,
and there was no sign of the driver. The desire to investigate was
there, but they were on a time crunch.
    Maybe on the way
back , he said to himself.
    He turned to Mila and spoke. “You
know, once supplies begin running out, people will be raiding these
trucks like wildfire.”
    “ I know. Just terrible,”
she responded.
    “ Pretty soon the shelves
in the stores will be empty, food will run out, and people will
grow desperate. And that’s when everything starts.”
    “ What about air travel?”
Mila asked. “Can’t we just get out?”
    “ I don’t know,” Rob
answered. “The obviously have helicopters, and I’m sure there are
still planes flying around. From my understanding, electromagnetic
waves travel down, not up.”
    Mila smiled and held his
hand. “Or how about we just take a rocket
and go into outer space?”
    “ I’d liked that,” Rob said
with a smile and keeping his eyes forward.
    The Datsun barreled down the mostly
open road, nearing the end of their scenic route and edging into a
more populated area, closer to their destination. One large green
traffic sign indicated that New York City was less than five miles
away. They were closing in, determined to face whatever the city
had in store for them.
     
     
    Big Apple
     
    From Manhattan to Brooklyn to Queens
to the Bronx to Staten Island, New York City was already in a state
of disarray. A massive power outage had occurred across all five
boroughs in a stunning fashion. Normally busy roads frequented by
millions of commuters daily were completely clogged and at a
standstill. The same gridlock could be found on the Brooklyn
Bridge, the Queens Expressway, and the New Jersey
turnpike.
    The vibrancy of Times Square—all its
thousands of flashing signs, giant screens, and Broadway
ads—diminished in an instant to blank screens. Massive skyscrapers
from the Chrysler Building to the Empire State Building to the One
World Trade Center were dark. Every office on every floor of every
building was without power. Noisy road construction from all over
the city, normally blaring from every direction, had stopped, as
equipment sputtered, failed and went silent.
    Yankee Stadium, Madison Square Garden,
JFK National