THE DAY: A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series) (16 page)

St.
Antonio Hospital

Crown
Point, Indiana

              
Harlan
Robbins promised his wife Dorothy, after she ran out of her
pills,
that
he would make his way to the hospital in Crown Point, south of town,
to try and get her medications. As he walked out to his pick-up truck, he was
concerned that it might not
start,
based on some
articles he remembered reading about EMP effects. He said a prayer and turned
the key, starting the six cylinder engine. Whew, that’s a relief, he
thought. He couldn’t image trying to tell his wife that he couldn’t
get to town to get the pills she had to have.

              
What
Harlan didn’t know as he pulled out from his farm was what he would
encounter on the ten minute drive to Crown Point. As he drove north on County
Road 55 he was surprised to see that not much seemed to have changed. He
expected to encounter several stranded vehicles, but the further north he drove
he realized that whatever the nuclear blast did in Chicago, it didn’t
send out electromagnetic pulses to fry the electronic circuits of newer motor
vehicles, at least in their area of the country. Seeing no abandoned vehicles
along his route he started looking at the farm houses and then the homes close
to each other, south of town, to see what people were doing. He saw very few
people outside their homes, which didn’t really surprise Harlan, as he
anticipated that most folks were still just hunkered down in their homes,
waiting to see how the attacks on America would affect them.

              
He
further relaxed as he saw the five story hospital building up ahead. Pulling
off the road into the hospital’s mostly deserted parking lot, he changed
his mind. He watched as two men ran out the main entry doors of the hospital,
their arms full of blankets and what appeared to be bed sheets. What is this,
he asked himself? He pulled up by the entry doors, switched off his truck and
headed into the hospital. He noticed trash, smashed bottles and empty medicine
boxes lying on the sidewalk. Before he got to the doors, a petite woman,
obviously distraught, rushed out of the hospital.

              
Harlan
reached out, grabbed her shoulders, stopping her and asked, "
Whoa
, what’s wrong little lady?
What’s going on here?"

              
The
sobbing woman, whom Harlan could now see was a nurse, based on her uniform and
Crown Point hospital name badge, at first tried to twist away from his grasp,
but then looked at his face and age and realized he wasn’t a danger. She
leaned her head forward on Harlan’s chest, crying and saying, "
They shot Doctor Scott
….and Doctor
Belcher, and I don’t know who else. The hall is full of
dead….There’s
blood
everywhere.
They’ve cleaned us all out….they took everything….they
just came in
and…."

              
"
Calm down
, now….
Who
shot the Doctors? Who took what,
little lady?"

              
Collecting
herself, the fleeing nurse sobbed out her reply, "About two hours ago
several men….with guns….came into the hospital. They shot the
receptionist, my friend, Molly, up front….
oh, Molly, Molly
….then they went down the hall, shooting
anyone
they saw. I was at the end of the
hall when the shooting started. I hid in the supply storage closet, near the
pharmacy….I could hear them talking as they cleaned the pharmacy out.
They took pillow cases and dumped all of our meds in them. They broke open the
narcotic cabinet…took it all….
everything
.
I stayed in the closet….but I finally came out after they were gone. By
then, the rest of the staff had either been shot dead….or scared
away….apparently all of them, nurses…the business staff.
Everybody’s gone
. When I left the
closet I glimpsed two men who grabbed blankets and bed sheets running down the
hall and out the door."

              
"I
saw them. I can’t believe that they would shoot doctors….And
nurses….What kind of animals would….
Lord, have mercy
….I can’t believe….Now, little
lady, are you saying that you’re
totally
out of pills? No more meds
?....
My wife has to have
three different medications….or else….she….may. Oh man, this
is
not
good
….But, what about the patients?"

              
"We
have twenty eight patients who need care. The two docs who were on duty are
dead. I didn’t see any nurse who’s alive. The ones who didn’t
get shot
must have left. I expect
some may be back, but sir, without any meds, how are we going to provide
medical care? I don’t know what we’re
going to do
."

              
Harlan
relied sadly, "I don’t either, little lady,
I
don’t either."
   

Abilene
State Savings Bank

Abilene,
Kansas

              
Harry
Weaver considered himself to be a relatively savvy businessman. He had, after
all, sold appliances at Weaver’s Home Appliance Store on downtown Cedar
Street for almost twenty years. As soon as a customer in Harry’s store
brought his attention to the breaking news flash on one of the television sets
on the wall of Harry’s store, though, Harry knew that the world had just
changed.
Big time.
Harry excused himself and went to
his office at the rear of the store. He first tried to call his brother in Las
Vegas. Uncharacteristically, his brother, who was retired and almost always at
home, didn’t
answer
. Next Harry tried to call
his sister at her beauty shop in Los Angeles.
Again, no
answer.
Harry then began to seriously worry. He hesitated to call his
only child, who was an intern at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas. His first
thought was what he would do if his son didn’t answer the cell phone
which had been a gift from Harry. The news report he had just seen on the
display model television in his store didn’t give a full list of American
cities which had been hit. What if Dallas was on the list? He didn’t
think he could handle the loss of his son. As a widower, his son and his two
distant siblings were his only close family.

              
Saying
a silent prayer, Harry punched in the numbers for his son’s cell.
"Hello, Dad. Are you alright?"

              
"Yes,
son, but more important….
how are
you
? Did Dallas have any….you know….bombs….
nukes
? I’m sure you’ve heard
about New York and DC and…."

              
"Look,
Dad, I can’t talk long, we’re on emergency status. No bombs in
Dallas, thank God, but Houston, we understand, was hit. We’re packing up
medical supplies to take to Houston, or whatever’s left of it. As a
precaution, you should put about 100 drops of iodine in some water and drink
it. Do that every day for a few days, until the fallout has dissipated. Even
where you are in Abilene, you’re likely to get wind-blown fallout from
the west."

              
"Thanks,
son, I’ll do it, but you need to get back to work. Be
real
careful if you get very close to
ground zero in Houston…..Just be careful….
I love you, son
."

              
Harry
closed his store and walked home to follow his son’s iodine regimen.
After slowly sipping the fluid, Harry began to think. What should I be doing,
he pondered. What
should
I be doing?

              
In
the shower the next morning Harry knew what he had to do, and do quickly. If
the U.S. has been hit as hard as it sounded from the isolated news he was able
to get, what with all of the major news and cable networks no longer
broadcasting, he knew his business would be hit almost as hard. Who would want
to buy an appliance when the nation was partially destroyed? As a businessman
for two decades Harry suspected that the multiple nukes would have a
devastating effect on the country, even out in the plains of Kansas. His business
was effectively done for – finished – kaput. In the months before
The Day Harry had laughed at some of the news coverage of so-called
preppers
, whom he viewed as extreme. When he heard that a
pastor of a small church in Abilene had moved his family to Panama to avoid
participating in America’s so-called sins, he just shook his head,
wondering why anyone would voluntarily give up living in the greatest country
on the
globe?

              
After
thinking it all through, Harry headed to his bank, the Abilene State Savings
Bank, where Harry maintained his personal and business accounts. Harry
wasn’t wealthy by any means, but he mentally calculated on his brisk walk
to the bank that his personal account held over thirty thousand dollars and the
store’s account was north of a hundred thousand, most of it in low
interest paying certificates of deposit. It was a few minutes before nine, the
time that the bank opened for business, when Harry turned the corner and soon
realized that he wasn’t the only bank customer with the same idea in mind
– to get their money out of their bank. As he walked up to the
bank’s still-locked doors Harry counted eleven people standing in line.

              
Harry
knew the two people standing at the end of the line, a couple who had done
business with his store, almost since he opened in 1994. Turning, the couple
saw Harry as he approached. "Harry, how are you today
?....
Did
you hear about Russia and Iran. Both Moscow and Tehran were hit hard, but
not
by Israel. I heard it on my short
wave right before we came over here. Looks like the same kind of fire and
brimstone that was rained on their troops which invaded Israel.
Those
cowards
.
Those
murderers
.
They’re getting
exactly
what
they deserve. A guy in our church says that the Bible prophesied that when they
invaded Israel they would pay for it. Can you
believe
it? God help us."

              
"Murderers,"
Harry replied, disgust in his voice, "
Why
in the world
would they do it
?....
Russia?
And Iran?
We should have
stopped
Iran
from getting nukes when we had a chance. How many died?"

              
"They
didn’t say. We haven’t heard anything about death tolls. Are you
here for the same reason that we are?"

              
"Yeah.
To get my
money
."
As they were
talking, several more walked up, joining the line, which was now around the
corner of the bank building.

              
At
9 AM promptly the front door was unlocked, but instead of allowing the waiting
customers entry to the bank lobby, a bank uniformed guard came out and
announced, "Folks, I’ve been asked by management to tell you that
the bank is
closed
today." His
words were met by shouts of anger,

              
"
What?
This is a business day
.
"

              
"
You can’t do that
!"

              
"We
want our
money
."

              
"Where’s
management? Bring the
cowards
out
here. We’ll show them what they can…."

              
The
guard ducked back into the bank. The line was no longer a line, but was instead
a mob, gathered at the front door, banging on the glass of the doors and the
front windows. Frightened bank employees peered out at the angry mob. Harry
caught the eye of the branch manager whom Harry had known from his first day of
business. Harry nodded his head slightly, indicating that he would meet him at
the bank’s service door, located in the alley behind the bank. Harry
mumbled that the bank obviously wasn’t going to open today and slowly
pulled away from the Bank’s customers who were taking out their anger on
the bank’s doors and windows

              
Checking
behind him to insure that he was alone in the alley, Harry knocked softly on
the bank’s rear service door. It was immediately opened by his manager
friend. "
Get in here
, Harry,
what’s that all about out there? Who organized
that mob
?"

              
"What?
Are you deaf and dumb,
ol
’ buddy?
We just want our money.
My business now
will be toast, at least for a few months….or maybe years….
who knows
at this point in time how bad
it’s going to get, even out here in the plains, away from the nuked
cities? My son in Dallas tells me they hit Houston. That means that a
huge
percentage of our refining capacity
is gone.
No
refined gasoline or
diesel fuel will translate pretty soon, I’m sure, into
no
food being hauled to stores, which
means violence, massive thievery,
you
name it
."

              
"Aren’t
you just
a bundle
of morning joy?
But, Harry, why were you at the bank this early? You generally make late
afternoon deposits."

              
"Well,
duh, why do you
think
? I need my
money
….and I need it today. Look
at that
crowd,
it’ll be a hundred times larger
once people figure out what’s happened. So, fork it over, I
wanna
get outta here before things turn ugly."

              
"Well….uh….Harry….uh….we
can’t
do that."

              
"Can’t
do
what
? I want my
money
. I only have a little over a
hundred and thirty thousand dollars between my two accounts….give or
take. So, give me the form I need to sign and I’ll get out of your
hair."

              
"Harry….I
just told you….we
can’t
do that."

              
"I
heard you the first time, but I need my
money
….
now
."

              
"Look,
Harry, let me explain this. We don’t carry that kind of cash in the
vault. Your money, most of which as I recall is in CDs, is invested in loans to
other customers, Harry, it’s not
here
."

              
"Who
do you think you are….George Bailey? I know how fractional banking works,
but I know you either have or can soon get a measly hundred grand or so.
That’s
chump change
for you
guys. So
come on
, I’m not
leaving until I get my money.
Got it
?"

              
The
Abilene State Savings Bank branch manager looked over at the two bank guards
who were standing in the bank lobby at the bank’s front doors, their
hands resting nervously on their holstered revolvers. One of the guards looked
back and saw the manager motion for him. He strode back to the manager, who was
standing next to an obviously irate Harry.

              
Harry
recognized what had just happened, hissed, "So, that’s how it is,
hunh
?
You threaten to shoot a good customer
who only just wants his money. I get it….
I get it."

              
"Harry,
nobody’s going to
shoot you
, or
anyone of those people pounding on the front of the bank. That being said, we
don’t
have the money you want, so
you’re going to have to leave. Tom, will you take Harry to the back door,
please?"

              
"Wait….
wait
….I understand that
you’ve got a lot of people that are going to want their money, I’m
willing to compromise….just for now, you understand. Later, I’ll
want all of it.
But for now, how about just
thirty thousand?"

              
"Harry….Harry….I
really wish we could, but we only keep
a
few thousand bucks
in cash to handle the very few people in this day and
age who need actual greenbacks. With banking online and credit cards, we just
don’t have a call for that much cash."

              
Harry
wiped the sweat off his forehead. He had worked himself into arrhythmia, stressing
out over money, which he had told himself he wouldn’t do. He tried one
more approach, "As a favor, to one of your best, long-time customers, how
about
five thousand
, the rest next
week, after you get more cash? What do you say?"

              
"Harry,
we
can’t
do that….But….well….here….come
over to the teller cage."

              
Once
there, the bank’s manager unlocked the cash drawer. He counted out five
one hundred dollar bills, six fifties and enough twenties and tens to total an
even thousand dollars. He counted it out in front of Harry, handing it to him,
and in a lowered voice said, "You
didn’t
get this here. If it becomes known that we’re giving out money to some,
even to a few
customers ,
they’ll
break through
the doors they’re
only pounding on now. Stick this in your pocket and get out of here. But,
Harry, you better
be
prepared for what is quite likely
about to happen."

              
Harry
looked at the small stack of bills in his hand, looked at the manager and said,
"Only a grand?
That’s it?
A
measly
thousand bucks?"
Seeing that he had just been given all he was going to get, he asked, "
What
should I be prepared for….a
grand
sure
won’t help all that
much."

              
"Harry,
those bills may buy you some food or gas or whatever…
today
….but
see
if
anyone
will take paper money for food in
another day or two. My point is that even if you had all one hundred plus
grand, very soon it won’t do you
a
bit of good
. Think barter, Harry,
think
barter
. The dollar was sinking fast
before
the attacks on America, but now the dollar’s
all but dead
."