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that’s the problem, sir. About half of them seized up when a power surge of some sort hit the system.”
    â€œWhat are you saying, Don? They don’t have enough pumps?”
    â€œNo, sir. They’re working like crazy to replace what they can, but . . .”
    President Harris wipes his brow. “How bad is it going to get, Don?”
    A pause on the other end of the line. “If it continues to rain, some parts of the city will experience Katrina-like devastation.”

C HAPTER 19
    Durant, Oklahoma
    Â 
    W hen the ambulance doors slam shut, Zeke darts back into the house to grab the keys to his father’s pickup. After locking up, he steps outside and whistles for Lexi. She races around the side of the house as Zeke opens the door to the pickup. Lexi jumps aboard and he slides behind the wheel. The engine rumbles to life and he slams on the accelerator, leaving a trail of gravel and dust swirling behind them.
    Zeke whips the pickup into the short driveway to his home and jumps from the cab. Lexi follows and enters the house when Zeke swings the door open. He tries to explain to her that he’ll be back soon and gives her tummy a quick rub. He locks the door and hurries back to the pickup. After a quick U-turn he steers the truck onto the roadway. The two homes are located a couple of miles south of the main highway leading into Durant. Zeke white-knuckles the wheel as he steers around the larger potholes and shudders over the washboard sections where the asphalt and gravel have given way.
    At the highway, he turns east and gooses the pickup up to seventy, hoping like hell a farmer on a tractor doesn’t pull out in front of him. He focuses on his mother and the uncertainty of his father’s health. The worry etched on her face as the ambulance doors closed gnaws on Zeke.
    On the outskirts of town, he eases off the gas and slaps his thigh—Ruth needs to know what’s happening. For the second time in one day he wishes he hadn’t turned his back on technology. Zeke makes a left on Route 69 near downtown and drives toward the hospital.
    Durant is a small town, home to a little over fifteen thousand people. But it’s the hub of southeastern Oklahoma and home to the largest hospital in the region. He turns off at the hospital exit and slots the pickup in the first available parking spot. The lot is jammed with farm trucks of every size, many with hay spears pointing toward the heavens. Most are covered in a thick layer of gravel dust with slashes of red mud along the fenders. Zeke locks the truck and runs toward the emergency room entrance.
    The automatic doors part and he follows the signs to the waiting room, where he finds his mother slumped in a chair. He takes a seat next to her and wraps an arm around her narrow shoulders.
    â€œDo we know anything yet?” he whispers in her ear.
    â€œNo. They wheeled him into the emergency room as soon as we arrived.” Her tears have ended, leaving a salty residue on her cheeks.
    â€œDid he say anything in the ambulance?”
    She shakes her head.
    â€œDo you want me to call Ruth?” Zeke says.
    â€œNot until we know something. The kids are in school and I don’t want her thinking she needs to rush up here. I think it would be best if we had something more to tell her, don’t you?”
    â€œYou’re probably right.” Zeke turns his gaze away from the hurt in her pale green eyes. They sit in silence.
    The lights in the waiting room flicker and flash off, only to re-illuminate a moment later.
    â€œThat’s strange,” Zeke says.
    â€œWhat’s that, son?”
    â€œThe lights. When Dad and I were working in the shop the lights flickered on and off a couple of times. We thought the issue was isolated to our area—”
    â€œMarshall family?” a tall black nurse says, using the heel of her tennis shoe to hold open the door. She’s dressed in purple scrubs with a stethoscope